COST OF A BATTLESHIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14016, 23 March 1909, Page 5

COST OF A BATTLESHIP.

; THE LATEST TYPES. ABOUT A MILLION AND A-HALF. i The cost of a first-class line of battleship has increased enormously of recent years, and the price New Zealand will have to pay for her battleship will be at least £1,500,000. The Vanguard, 19,250 tons, one,of the Dreadnoughts, cost,without armament, £1,624,878, and the cost of building, arming, and equipping a firstclass battleship of the improved Dreadnought type is nearly £2,250.000. ,;V The Dreadnoughti herself cost £1,797,497, and ' the Lord Nelson about £1,690,000. -: ■ The heavier cost of the later type, such as ;the" St. Vincent and Vanguard, is accounted for by improvements in ; the secondary, batteries and by the provision of a better class (if.the,,biggest, guns, it being estimated that the later vessels have thus been made 30 per cent, more efficient than the Dreadnought. : : , '. ■ • : ! It is interesting to note that the cost of : the battleship itself, without, armament, has decreased. The Vanguard, 19,250 tons, cost £84 a ton, as compared -with £100 in the case of the Dreadnought, 17,900 tons, and £89 in; the case,"of- the King Edward VII., 16,550 tons. . The British ship is -also being produced at a leaser cost than the ship of other nations. The latest French - battleships; cost; £114 per ton, German battleships £101 per.'ton,: and American battleships £100 per ton. ; There' has been considerable diversity opinion > regarding the' question of all; biggun armament. It was the question of fire control which dictated the final introduction of the all-big-gun type, which was an evolution brought about by the continually increasing power of the secondary .imminent. The Lord Nelson which may be taken to represent a typical mixed calibre ship, would be compared ,to the Dreadnought as 7 follows: (j '/'.■' -" -- < Dreadnought. Lord Nelson. Displacement -,■ . > : , (nominal) ... 17.900 tons 16,500 tons Horse-nower ... 23.000 (turbine) '< 16.750 < Kneed (trial) ... 21 knots. . 19 knots Armour— ' ' • '/„. Main -'belt ... , 11m : :. 12in Tipper belt ... 11.8 m | ,'. Bin J . Gun barbettes llin • 14in Gun turrets ... - Bin ' ; Bin ; (12in guns) Gun turrets ... —;:.:' _■ ,7in ■ (9.2 m guns) Cost ... '..- £1,797,497 £1.500,000 Weight of broad-. .. Bide ..»„:. •••::.- 6,8001b ~ ■•;■ 5,3001b ( - While much depends on the actual type of the vessel itself and the armament, the cost of each of the later battleships has been over £1,500,000. -