A NEW FLEET.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIX, Issue 283, 30 November 1915, Page 3

A NEW FLEET.

GROWTH OF THE BRITISH

NAVY

IMMENSE INCREASE IN

STRENGTH

MANY SHIPS OF NEW TYPES.

LONDON, Oct. 14. Two hundred ships of war, at least —not ! counting converted merchantmen—from \ patrol boats to superDreadnonghts, have been added to the British Navy since the commence^ nient of the war. There have been added to tl io British Fleet new ships,' which constitute a fleet equal in battle-power to the whole fleet of the United States, which has. taken jrears to build. - The new fleet consists of super-Dreadnoughts, light cruisers, monitors, destroyers, and submarines, a perfectly balanced fleet in itself.

A SUPER-DREADNOUGHT DESTROYER-.

Of the ships building, there is a battleship of a new type. The details of this wonderful new craft are still obscure, but it will constitute a revolution in battleship construction. This new craft will be 8000 ft. long, which is 150 ft. longer th.m the Queen Elizabeth, that wonderful floating fortress which to-day stands as the premier battleship nf the world. She will bo nearly 200 f- longer than the greatest American battleships. Her speed will be well over 30 knots, possibly 35. This ''super-Dreadnought destroyer" will not carry great armament, nor will she be nearly as heavily armored as many oF her younger sisters. She will have only four or six—the number is unknown—loin, guns. The Queen Elizabeth carries eight. It will be her speed that. will make her" formidable. With her great guns, with greater range than any others in the world save those on 'stiips of her own fleet, and with her great speed, she will be able to stand well off and send in blow after blow against almost any ship afloat.

FIFTEEN NEW BATTLESHIPS.

At the outbreak of the war, England had building a number of battleyiaps oi various classification, but all super-Dreadnoughts. There were also being constructed in this country two battleships for Chili and two for 1 »rkey. These, were taken over by the British Navy. It is difficult to say now many >,hips have been placed into commission during these last fourteen months, br.t it is a conservative estimate that Irani twelve to fifteen are now on active .service. The others wih be o.it. it is safe to estimate by January Ist, 1916. '

i i i Sn-.V Kvi"s thut l)et"'oen August Ist, 191 J. vhieli was just before"the actual ositbreak of war, and January Ist, 1916, seventeen months, England will have placed into commission at least iifteen groat modern battleships. OI course, these ships have not all been built within that period. Practically all were laid down before the be. ginning of the war, some were well on their way towards' completion : but none was in service before so it constitutes a new fleet. The figures are amazing. They show that in the seventeen months mentioned. Britain will produce- 4-!5O.OO0 tons of the finest

battleships in the world. Tonnage is one way of estimating the strength of a fleet. Armament is another. On

these ;-hips of war there will bo emplaced no. fewer than eigh^r of iha magnilicent loin, guns, the largost any navy uses, twenty ]4in.,- twentyeight 13'oin., ten 13m., fourteen 12in., two hundred and thirty-two 6in., and .sixteen 4in., along with sixty-five torpedo-tubes.

A STRIKING COMPARISON

To-day the fleet of the United States consists of eight battleships of the first line in commission. Shortly tiyo others, the Oklahoma and Nevada, will also be out, but those first eight show a tonnage" of 189,650. Then there are building", counting the Oklahoma and Nevada, seven of these first-line ships, which mean super-Dreadnoughts. Their tonnage will be 223,800. The two combined will not equal the new British fleet. Then on the American active list follow nineteen battleships, air of the pre-super-Dreadnought. era, all completely outclassed not only by these newer British types, but also by the first-line ships of the American Navy. They are small vessels, comparatively, slow, and without groat hitting power. Tn an engagement a Queen Elizabeth could "care for'" two or three of them without much dilficulty. Their total tonnage is 233 000. With the exception of two of the first-line ships now in commission no.ship of the American Navy has guns larger than 12in., while of the new vessels being turned out in Englnd. virtually all- have 15in. guns. This gun has been adopted as the best by the British experts; it is the size being used on all new ships.

CRUISERS AND MONITORS

But the building has not been confined to battleships. Cruisers, destroyers, and submarines have been tinned out in prodigious numbers. Two days before the battle of Heligoland Bight in August, 1914, a- light cruiser was turned over by the builders to the Navy. &he was the Arethusa, and she distinguished herself in that dashing raid on German preserves. 'Before- the outbreak of the war there were none of' this valuable type of ship in the British Navy. Today there nre sixteen, wth more coming along. They 'are of 3520 tons, and steam 30 knots. Six more than the sixteen mentioned have been authorised, and will soon appear. The whole American fleet has only three such boats—tho Chester,- Birmingham, and Salem—and they are not much good, comparatively. A type of warship which is being found most useful and of which numbers are being built, is the monitor. Half a dozen are at the Dardanelles. They are slow-going and cumbrous, nut they mount the biggest of guns and are fine for bombarding i land positions.

| DESTROYERS AND SUBMARINES

] Forty new destroyers have been I added to the British Navy since the

war started. By January Ist the number will be' over forty—swift, powerful, modern boats. Not counting a single one of the myriad of these craft in commission before the war, these ships are more than equal to all the American flotillas. Countless submarines have been built here and elsewhere. England, already powerful in this class of boat, probably has fifty more now than sho had in August, 1914.