Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 14, 1932. THE BRITISH NAVY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 244, 14 September 1932, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 14, 1932. THE BRITISH NAVY.

In a statement last month, the well-informed naval correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph, Mr Hector Bywater, predicted that between then and March next the British Government would place contracts for naval vessels coming within the programmes laid down for 1931 and 1932. He gave a conservative estimate of £20,000,090 for the expenditure, all but a negligible fraction going to British labour and materials. The list, he stated, comprised 4 7000-ton cruisers of the Leander class, 2 5500-ton cruisers of the Arethusa class, 2 flotilla leaders, 16 destroyers, 8 sloops, 6 submarines, 2 gunboats and 3 depot or auxiliary ships. The programme of construction for 1931 was stated in the House of Commons early last year by the then First Lord of the Admiralty (Mr A. V. Alexander). It consisted in the main of 3 cruisers, 8 destroyers, 4 sloops and 3 submarines. The orders, he stated, would not be placed until the first quarter in 1932. By then, however, there was an imperative need for economy, and the National Government, which had taken the place of the Labour Administration, suspended the placing of contracts for six months. The saving, the First Lord of the Admiralty (Sir Eyre's-Monsell) stated, would be £1,300,000. The construction of the three cruisers has now been authorised by the Government, but there is no mention as yet of an intention to proceed with the balance of the programme covering this year. The dictates of economy, the delicate position at the Disarmament Conference, which has yet to prove other than a failure, and Germany’s claim for equality of armaments with other Powers make it questionable whether the British Government will authorise further building yet awhile. Indeed, there will be some who will deem it to be an unwise procedure to have placed contracts for the 1931 replacement programme. Great Britain, however, has done more than any other nation in the cause of naval disarmament. Eminent authorities believe that she has gone too far, and is imperilling the Empire. She has not laid down any capital ships in ten years, and only 17 cruisers have been built since the Great War, four of them in the last five years. In the matter of destroyers, the number is below the authority given in the naval treaties. Lord Beatty has drawn pointed attention to the position of Great Britain under the London Naval Treaty in the matter of the number, size and armaments of flotilla leaders and destroyers compared with France, Italy and other Powers, except the United States and Japan. The restrictions, he says, have not been fully recognised. France, by 1933,

would have 24 flotilla leaders of from 2200 to 2500 tons displacement armed with s.Sin guns, whereas Great Britain would have but 16 of 1500 tons armed with 4.7 in guns. France, also, would have an equal number of destroyers to Great Britain, with power to increase her numbers in both classes of vessels, a power denied to Great Britain. Again, France would possess double the number of submarines in the Britisli Navy. Lord Beatty wrote before the postponement of the 1931 replacement programme, so that the comparison would be even worse. The programme accepted when Lord Beatty was First Sea Lord in 1927 provided for 4 Bin gun cruisers in 1925-26, followed by three in each subsequent year up to 1929-30. It is this programme no doubt that is being continued for 1931 and possibly in 1932. These cruisers are of paramount importance to the Empire in patrolling the sea routes and protecting the Mother Country’s food supplies. They are a form of insurance which must bo maintained, and in proceeding with the replacement programme postponed six months ago the British Government is doing nothing more than what commonsense and Empire security dictate. Moreover, the work that the vessels entail will prove of benefit to shipyards which have been more or less idle for months past.