THE SUPPLEMENTARY NAVAL PROGRAMME.
In July last Mr. Goschen, First Lord of the Admiralty, submitted to tho House of'
Commons lis supplementary programme for til ino incroaso of the navy. 11l doing so, lie said:—Our numbers were equal to those of any two Powers in first-class battleships, taking ships built and building; and lie was prepared to maintain that the 41 ships which lie had mentioned could not be matched in pnver, speed, tend efficiency generally by the flpcU nf any two Powers. The Board bad to consider the cruisers which ha dbecn built by other countries. For instance, one ship, the Jeanne d'Arc, was an armoured cruiser of 23 knots. Besides that, there were building a number of armoured cruisers of 21 knots, and a certain number of protected cruisers of 23 knots. It. was a supreme importance Hint our cruisers, wliioh had to protect our trade routes and food supply, should not be exposed t oraids made in distant waters in case of war by some specially-con-structed imd more powerful cruisers, from which they could not escape. Therefore, the , Admiralty thought they ought to have a limited number of cruisers which would be able to watch the cruisers of high speed possessed by oilier Powers. Ho proposed to commence lour cruisers in addition' to the four cruisers in the original programme. The type was not yet settled. His supplementary programme also included 12 torpedo-boat-de-stroyers. Thus his proposals were:—Four battleships, .fom cruisers, and 12 torpodoboat destroyers. The total liability which would be incurred by this supplementary programme was about £8,000,000, and this, added to a liability of £7,000,000 on the original programme made a total of £15,000,000 on now ships, armaments, and ammunition, spread, of course, over a number of years. The four new battleships would not be of the Formidable class, but of rather more speed and rather less draught of water, so that they would be able to pass through the Suez Canal without lightening; and they would bo designed to meet those ships they were likely to encounter in the waters to which they were sent.
THE SUPPLEMENTARY NAVAL PROGRAMME.
New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10908, 12 November 1898, Page 5
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