WEAKER NAVY

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 77, 13 March 1933, Page 7

WEAKER NAVY

BRITISH REDUCTIONS. SIR R. W. SKELTON’S VIEWS. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Mar. 13. An arrival by the liner Tainui from Southampton yesterday was Engineer Vice-Admiral Sir Reginald W. Skelton, engineer-in-chief of the Fleet at ■ the Admiralty since 1928, who retired on December 1 from the service, and has now come to New Zealand, together with Lady Skelton, on a nine months' holiday trip. Sir Reginald was appointed to superintend the building of the Discovery for the National Antarctic Expedition of 1900, and he served in that expedition under Captain R. F. Scott as chief engineer. Sir Reginald said yesterday that when he left Home things did appear to be a little brighter. England was an exceedingly sober country in that her people did not get wildly excited over things, and took their misfortunes in the spirit—wellj the spirit that one expected Britishers to take them. Sir Reginald said that he thought that the reduction in armaments in recent years had given a great many thinking people a great deal of real anxiety, and he felt convinced that reduction, as far ■as the British Navy was concerned, had gone as far as it possibly could. In fact, the British Navy had now been so depleted that there would have to be quite a lot of building in tho near future to reach the limits as laid down by tho London and Washington agreements. During the past 100 years the British Navy had only been used for one purpose—as an instrument of peace, he added, but it was very difficult to convince other nations that Britain must have a navy. Many were apt to interpret ■ her plans as aggressive, whereas by reason of the vast overseas Empire, Britain was bound to protect her trade routes. Of course there was keen rivalry for naval armaments between Italy and France, and that tended to cause other countries to compete also. However, Sir Reginald emphasised the fact that tho British Navy was solely an instrument of peace, and he felt’thut it was now as small as it possibly coull be.