ITALY'S NAVY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22389, 8 April 1936, Page 13

ITALY'S NAVY

BIG PROGRAMME MEDITERRANEAN AIMS NEW SHIPS AND BASES WARNING TO ATTACKEES By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright ("Received April 7, 10.35 p.m.) LONDON, April 7 The Daily Telegraph's naval correspondent, Mr. Hector Bywater, says Italy is planning a big naval programme immediately the Abyssinian war is over. The aim of Italy is the absolute control of the south-eastern Mediterranean and the highway eastward. The programme includes the rapid completion of two 35,000-ton battle cruisers, the Vittorio Venito and the Littorio. Also the programme includes the construction of more cruisers, destroyers and submarines, additional naval aircraft, new fortified bases and aerodromes in Sardinia, Sicily, Libya and Eritrea. Exercises to test the practicability of blocking the Mediterranean route between Southern Italy and Africa have been carried out already. The French naval bases of Bizerta and Tunis are not regarded as serious obstacles to Italy's new ambition, as it is claimed they could be rendered untenable by an overpowering air offensive. Both are less than an hour's flight from Italian aerodromes. It is claimed that Malta, only 65 miles from Sicily, could be neutralised in the same way. There are at present more than 400 Italian aircraft in Sicily and Sardinia. Italian spokesmen say the new policy is purely defensive, but any Power which attacked Italy might have to reckon with the total stoppage of its eastern trade.