BRITISH SEA POWER

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 61, 22 February 1934, Page 7

BRITISH SEA POWER

Weaker Since the War

NAVAL WRITER’S CRITICISM

LONDON. Feb. 16. Emphasising that Britain’s post-war naval vessels have had their fighting power sacrificed for luxury and speed, Captain Bernard Acworth, R.N. (retired), in a book entitled “The Navy and the Next War,” says he consider* that if, in the event of an Anglo-Jap-anese conflict in 1936, the navy pro-

ceeds on existing lines, the main body of the British Fleet would take two months to arrive on the scene, while Japan, whose every unit is ready at an hour’s notice, could reach Hongkong in four days. The British Fleet based on Hongkong consists of seven cruisers, nine destroyers, 12 submarines and five sloops, and it would be opposed by the whole Japanese sea power. With an advanced base in Formosa, Japan could eaptnn Hongkong in a fortnight and dictate terms. The Rodney and the Nelson should never be allowed to disfigure the sea, says the author. The ideal battleship would be an 11,980 tons coal-burner, with a speed of 17} knots, 12in. armour, six 13}in. guns, and a radius of 6500 miles. Fifteen of these could hold the Japanese fleet until the arrival of the rest of the fleet.