NEW DESTROYER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23828, 2 December 1940, Page 9

NEW DESTROYER

AUSTRALIAN PRODUCT LAUNCHED IN A STORM PROGRESS IN SHIPBUILDING Tastnan Air Mail SYDNEY, Dec. 1 The first Tribal class destroyer to be laid down in any British Dominion, H.M.A.S. Arunta, was launched at Cockatoo Dock yesterday in a howling gale and driving rain. The downpour so affected the tallowon the slips that the destroyer stuck before she had entirely entered the water, and had to wait for the turn of the tide before she could lie completely water-borne. Undaunted by the weather, a crowd of spectators, huddled under umbrellas, watched the launching. The tattoo of the rain on the awning protecting the launching platform made the words of the Rev. A. G. Rix audible only to those beside him. The crowd's first intimation that the Arunta was on her way to the water came when Lady Gowrie crashed the traditional bottle of champagne against the ship's stem. Prior to the ceremony the Governor, Lord Wakehurst, landed at Cockatoo to inspect a rain-drenched guard, and the weather was even "thicker" when the Governor-General, Lord Gowrie, stepped ashore a few minutes later._ "We have taken part in a very important ceremony—the launching of a warship built in an Australian dockyard, of Australian material, by Australian workmen, to be commanded and manned by Australian officers and crew," said Lord Gowrie in a speech after the launching. "This is a symbol of the progress of shipbuilding and naval construction in Australia.

"Cruisers, sloops, destroyers and ;i large number of small craft vitally important to naval warfare in these days have been built on these stocks. Twenty-lour of these small craft are being built for Australia, 20 for the United Kingdom and some for India. 1 am informed that the workmanship of these vessels is of the highest order. "But the ships in themselves, however well constructed, are of little value unless they are manned by the right crow," continued Lord Cowrie. "We have no fear on that score. Australian crews have moved their worth in every action in wnich the Australian Navy has taken part. Our enemies have come to the conclusion it is wise to I give Australian ships and Australian crews a wide berth."