WORLD’S NAVIES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 75, 10 March 1933, Page 8

WORLD’S NAVIES

A SURVEY BY "JANE'S.” ‘POCKET WARSHIPS.” Alterations in the design of the United States Navy’s new 10,000-ton cruisers have largely restored their seaworthiness mid fighting efficiency, in the opinion of Oscar Parkes, editor of ‘‘Jane's Fighting Ships,” the 1932 edition of which has just been published. A vear ago, writing in his famous encyclopaedia of the world's navies, Mr Parkes criticised the design of the Pensacola type cruisers, saying they rolled and vibrated excessively and were too lightly armoured. Now, however. he finds this criticism no longer Accessary. ‘■Construction was too far advanced in the Indianaolis class for drastic changes to be made as a result of the lessens learned in the earlier cruisers,” he writes, "but the modifications introduced are sufficient io justify the claim they will be considerably better than the 9000-ton Augusta.” Ho records approvingly the fact that 1000 tons of extra armour have been distributed over the new cruiser Portland, just completed at Quincy, Massachusetts. As for the still newer Astoria class, he notes sweeping changes in design and asserts, "These ships v ill have better protection than tbe l ort land class, as the armour has been distributed to better advantage.” The deadly fighting efficiency of Japan's new warships is mentioned frequently. There is a fearsome looking photograph of the new 10,000-ton cruiser Atago, with a thick forward funnel tilted backward and a giant superstructure of control towers, range And ers, and bridgework towering above her 630-foot deck. "Henceforth,'’ Mr Parkes remarks, “we may expect every canon of conventional design to be violated, as far as Tokio products are concerned.” Despite the Arago's ugliness and "fierce face,” he asserts, the new vessel has many original features, and nor builJcrs have shown “ample initiative •bil ty to cram more than two pints into a quart pot.” A photograph is also published of the unfinished 7660-ton cruiser Ryujo. on which day and night shifts have been wording to complete her by February. Despite the meagre details of Japan’s newest ships. Mr Parkes writes: "It is evident the 6-inch gun cruisers will be far better gunned than their European equivalents." The first photograph of the much discussed German “pocket battleship” Deutschland is published, together with many new details of her : rmament. She is to have eleven-inch guns of a new Krupp model, firing a 6<(llb. projectile with a range of 30.1XJU yards, and an elevation of 60 degrees. But Mr Parkes notes that the Deutschland's length is 609 feet, only eleven feet less than Great Britain's fullfledged battleship Revenge. He writes that “the term pocket battleship is a mis iomcr both as regards size and function.” b nularly there are new details of the French battlesnip Dunkerque, intended as a reply to the Deutschland. Acrording to "Jane’s,” the Dunkciqiie will be armed with eight 13.1'in. guns in two quadruple tuirets, and bei displacement will be 26.000 tons. This, the editor remarks, may nullify the British proposals to limit battleships to 25.000 tons with 12m. guns or even under the conditions to 22,000 tons and Ilin. guns. Ingenious new vessels belonging to aim l Iler powers are pictured, notably two new Chinese cruisers which are able to mount large guns on the small displacement of 2500 tons. In the am; Iler as well as the large navies it is apparent the designers are busy transfonning cruisers into aeroplane carriers by adding catapults. Despite nearly a year’s talk on disarmament, the new “Jane’s” is eleven pages larger than ever, and contains more photographs of newly completed warships than have appeared in a single volume for many years.