REBIRTH OF THE GERMAN NAVY

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4008, 14 July 1931, Page 2

REBIRTH OF THE GERMAN NAVY

INGENIOUS NEW VESSELS In the spiked helmet and gray uniform of German Field Marshal, President Paul Von Hindenburg, all ready to christen Germany’s first “ vestpocket battleship,” at its launching at Kiel, leaned over the railing of the sponsoring chancel and made a despairing lunge with the traditional bottle of champagne. But through the error of a shipyard worker, who misunderstood a signal, th© silver-gray hull of the 10,000-ton armoured cruiser ‘ Deutschland ’ prematurely slid down the ways to the sea unnamed for the bottle that was to have smashed against the sides of the warship could not be thrown soon enough by the President and broke into bits on the ground below . Dismay smote the hearts of 60,000 German spectators gathered from all parjs of Germany to witness the launching of this “mystery warship,” which is characterised as the “ most ingenious fighting craft ever launched.” Germany’s naval engineers, whose designs had to conform to regulations laid down in the Treaty of Versailles, writes the Berlin correspondent of the London ‘Daily Mail/ “set themselves the task of creating a 10,000-ton ship equivalent in power to a 20,000-ton battle ship.” By a miracle of ingenuity they have exploited, in the opinion of certain naval experts, all the possibilities within the narrow limits specified by the treaty. According to the ‘ Daily Mail’ correspondent: “They decided to weld and not to rivet the steel plates, and by this and other means there has been an economy of 10 per cent, in weightHence heavier armament can be mounted. “It is stated that the internalcombustion engines, developing 50,000 horse-power, with a weight of sixteen pounds, per horse-power against 110 pounds per horse-power in the Diesel engines used up till 1918, will create a revolution. “A German newspaper has declared that only the British battle ships Nelson and Rodney, and the American battle ships of the Colorado class will be supcior to this pocket battle ship; and that only the British battle cruiser Hood (41,200 tons), and the British battle ships with fifteen inch guns will be its equal. “ The German eleven inch guns will, it is stated, be superior to the American fourteen inch. “Special defensive armament will, it is claimed, allow the ship to pass over mine fields without danger.” In view of world-wide curiosity aroused by the “ mystery ” ship, and arguments of foreign experts to the effect that it must inaugurate a new era in naval construction for all the Powers, the German Ministry of Defence has issued a pamphlet pointing out that other nations are perfectly free to build such ships if they are able. A Berlin United Press Cable quotes from this pamphlet: “It was not Germany, but other Powers which set the limit on tonnage and armaments. Germany merely utilised the full possibilities of this tonnage. The speed and equipment of the Deutschland place it in -a class with the capital ships as fixed by the Washington Treaty, but it conforms strictly to all treaties, being merely a replacement vessel.” Mr Hector C. By water, naval correspondent of the London ‘ Daily Telegraph,’ furnishes details which he says have never before been .published concerning three German cruisers built under the Versailles Treaty regulations, which limit such German ships to a displacement ol 6,000 tons. This distinguished authority discloses these details about the Koenigsberg, the Karlsruhe, and the Koeln: “ Using steam only each of the new cruisers lias a radius of 5,500 miles at fifteen knots, but running on Diesel engines alone, the radius of action exceeds 18,000 miles—equivalent to a voyage from Germany to the Far East and back without refueling! No other warship afloat has a cruising endurance that even approaches this amazing figure. “ The Diesel engines of the new German cruisers constitute a technical achievement of the first order. They develope one unit of horse-power for every twelve pounds of weight, and are thus about 65 per cent, lighter than the usual type of oil engine for marine work. “The Diesel plant in the new crun sers is, indeed, so very light, and occupies so little space, that it was only installed as an afterthought. Yet it these ships a strategic value entirely disproportionate to their tonnage. ‘ The armament is exceptionally powerful, consisting of nine six-inch Krnpp guns of the highest velocity, mounted in three triple turrets protected by armour plating. The guns are quick-firers, each discharging eight rounds a minute, or twenty-four rounds per turret. With all three turrets in action, each ship would be firing seventy-two 105-ponnd shells a minute a veritable torrent of steel and explosives, which only a stoutly armoured target could hope to survive. “ There are also four 3.4-mch semiautomatic guns for use against aircraft. and twelve torpedo tubes. An armour belt covering the waterline, a thick steel deck over machinery and magazine spaces, and numerous water tight compartments, would enable the ships to stand heavy punishment without being sunk. “ A fourth cruiser of the same general tvpe, named Leipzig, is now r being completed. She will bo slightly faster than her predecessors. ‘Yet another naval surprise is foreshadowed from Germany m the shape of a 200-ton torpedo boat propelled by light-weight motors. “In speed and offensive power she will it is claimed, establish entirely new’ records, but meanwhile the secrets of the design are being closely guarded.”