JAPANESE NAVY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIV, Issue 1038, 10 June 1924, Page 12

JAPANESE NAVY.

EXTENSIVE BUILDING POLICY. FIFTY-SEVEN NEW WAR VESSELS SPIRIT OF WASHINGTON TREATY. LONDON, March 24. While much lias been said regarding the feelings of the Japanese if we should the development of the Singapore Base, little or nothing seems to have been mentioned here' regarding Japan's naval activities until an article appeared in the Observer yesterday. The information given is no doubt available for all -who have the energy to seek for it, but it must have come as a surprise to many people to find how wide awake and active the Japanese have been since 1900, and that in spite of the Washington Conference. Battleships, says the writer in the Observer, were not the only men-of-war which Japan was building on a lavish scale in 1921. She had, besides, an imposing programme of "auxiliary" construction under way, including cruisers, destroyers, and submarines. The dimensions of this programme had been framed with due regard to the size of the future battle fleet; that is to say, the number of cruisers, destroyers, and so on, was proportionate to the requirements of the "eight-eight" fleet, which would eventually have consisted of eight battleships and eight battlecruisers. When, therefore, the "eighteight" scheme was dropped, it was assumed that a corresponding reduction would be made in the "auxiliary" programme. This anticipation has not been fulfilled. A certain number of small men-of-war were cancelled in the spring of 1922, involving a total reduction of 13,935 tons, but, at the same time, all the remaining vessels were redesigned on a basis of increased displacement and fighting power. In no other country has there been so great a volume of naval shipbuilding since the Washington Conference as in Japan. The following table shows the light cruisers, which have been laid down since January, 1922:—Sendai (5570 tons), begun February, 1922; Jihtsuu (5570 tons), begun August, 1922; Yubari (3100 tons), begun June, 1922; Kinugasa, Kako, Aoba, Furutaka (7500 tons), begun April, 1923-January, 1924; Myoko (10,000 tons), begun January, 1924.

57 NEW VESSELS OF WAR.

Preparations are in train for starting work on the Nachi, a 10,000-ton cruiser; at Yokosuka, some time before next June, and two more 10,000-ton cruisers have boon authorised for building in the fiscal year 1925-20. Within the samo period, during which neither Great Britain nor the United States has laid down a single light cruiser, Japan/has begun or ordered 24 destroyers, averaging 1375 tons, and 22 submarines, with an average displacement of 1173 tons. In sum, therefore, Japanese naval construction since the Washington Conference embraces 11 light cruisers, 24 destroyers, and 22 submarines—s 7 vessels of war, with a total displacement of 145,406 tons. Within the same period, Great Britain has laid down one cruiser mine-layer, and the United States three submarines. In view of theso comparative statistics of post-Conference warship construction, Japan's insistence on the necessity of observing the spirit of the Washington Treaty, as well as its letter, seems rather forced. Japan, of course, is free to lay down as many "auxiliary" ships as she pleases, there being no Treaty limit to the number of these vessels which may be constructed by any signatory Bower; but an analysis of Japan's current build ing programme helps to explain why Australia and New Zealand attach so much importance to the completion ot the Singapore project. Without entering into the very complicated discussion as to the respective merits of great ships and mosquieto craft, it may be stated as an axiom that the restriction of battleships under the Washington Treaty has tended to exalt the relative value, both tactical and strategic, of smaller naval vessels. The light cruiser, the destroyer, and the submarine have, in effect, been promoted several stages up in the hierarchy of naval power.

FEVERISH HASTE.

Now that dreadnought development is arrested by the Treaty,'naval architects are striving to- endow each type of smaller craft with the utmost degree of lighting power. As regards cruisers,' the Treaty fixed 10,000 tons as the greatest displacement and Sin guns as tiie heaviest armament permissible in ships of this category. Japan on her own admission, was the first country to redesign her projected cruisers in accordance with this standard of tonnage and artillery. To her, also, belongs the distinction of having laid down the first 10,000-ton "Washington" cruiser. Her post-Conference activity in submarine construction is revealed by the Admiralty return issued last week, which shows her to have 33 undersea boats building and projected, as against seven for Great Britain and 11 for the United States. Owhv to the reticence of the Japanese authorities on this point, it is difficult to obtain precise information as to the number of boats laid down since the Washington Conference, but the frequent reports in the Japanese press of the launch or trial trips of new submarines suggest that these vessels are being built with a haste which might almost be termed feverish.

SUB-MARINE BUILT IN SIX MONTHS.

From a comparison of dates it is evident that submarines are now launched within six to eight months from the laving of the keel, an achievement which comes near the best performance of German yards in the latter phase of the war when their resources were concentrated on the rapid production of U-boMs. As an example may be cited the Japanese submarine No. 62, approximately in size to the British "L" class, which was 4aid down in November, 1921, and launched in April, 1922. According to the Admiralty return, Japan has now. 44 submarines built, with 33 building and projected—a total of 77 boats, most of which aro of ocean-going design. Considering that the total number of British submarines built and building, is only 68, the Japanese suggestion that this country, in proposing to construct a new dock at Singapore, was infringing the spirit of the Washington Treaty sounds rather grotesque.