GERMANY'S NEW EMDEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19279, 18 March 1926, Page 10

GERMANY'S NEW EMDEN.

FIRST POST-WAR SHIP. CONSERVATIVE DESIGN. Emden has been selected by the German authorities for a new cruiser, the first warship to bo built for the German Navy since the war. She has recently been commissioned for service in the Baltic.

The Naval and Military, Record says the Emden is, in exterior appearance, virtually a replica of the German lightcruiser type, with cutwater bow, two funnels, the forward one considerably higher than the after one, a "pillar mast" for the support of the fire observation station, and a very light mainmast, which supports the searchlight platform and carries the wireless aerial. The chief protection is on the principle ot "honeycomb bulkheads" packed with cork, which the Germans claim to have given such good results during the war. In tho matter of armament disposition, the design of the Emden shows a curious conservatism. She mounts eight 5.9 in. guns of 50 calibre, mounted singly in barbettes. Four only of those are on the centre line; the others are on the beam, backed by superstructure. The result is that she can never possibly bring more than six guns into action at once, arid then only on a beam bearing. Four 12pounders in shields comprise her antiaircraft battery. She carries two torpedo tubes abreast of the "pillar mast," and doubtless has several submerged tubes. Her loaded displacement is 5500 tons, and • her speed is given as 30 knots. There is nothing in her external appearance to suggest that she is designed for mine-laying. That she can be taken as really representative of German ideas as to the best type of cruiser it> is impossible to believe, in view of the severe restrictions under which she was built. Probably she embodies rather better tillround value on her displacement than any other type of cruiser afloat. The Japanese Kisi class, which she somewhat resembles, have a much higher speed, but i considerably less fighting power.