BRITISH NAVAL SECRETS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17189, 17 June 1919, Page 9

BRITISH NAVAL SECRETS.

DEVICES USED IN THE WAR,

AN, EIGHTEEN INCH GUN.

It was officially admitted recently for the first time that the British Navy had an 18in gun during the war. The announcement wee made by the Director of Naval Construction, Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt, at the spring meeting of the Institution of Naval Architects.

The gun was made lor the "hush" ship Furious. The desiga allowed for two turrets for big guns, and in the Furious " each turret, instead of having two 15in guns, was arranged i,o carry one big gun of ISin bore." In tho end, as is known, the turrets were taken away altogether, as tho Furious was transformed into an aeroplane carrier, and all the space was needed lor hangars and " running-off platforms." Another interesting war-time development which Sir Eustace d'Eyncourt denoribud was the bulge or " blister " that was designed to prevent damage by torpedoes or mines. " The addition of bulges (to the battleships of the Royal Sovereign class) was suggested by myself originally for the Edgar class, for which I designed '.his form of protection in 1914 after considerable experiments had been made," he said . "The monitors Erebus and Ter,?cr, which were blistered were both torpedoed. The latter received three torpedoes forward, but got to port all right, though severely damaged, two of the torpedoes hitting forward of the bulge. The third torpedo, which hit the bulge itself, did very little damage. " The former ship was hit full amidships by a distance-controlled boat, carrying a very heavy charge, but the bulge gave her complete protection, and she was repaired in less than a fortnight.". During the war nearly 300 destroyers and flotilla leaders were launched. Altogether some 2,000,000 tons of warships were added to the navy in the four years Oi war, at a cost of" probably between £250,000,000 and £300,000,000. The total stop spent daring the four yews before the war on new construction "amounted to approximately £60,000,000.