NAVAL WARFARE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22566, 9 May 1935, Page 18

NAVAL WARFARE

BATTLESHIPS NOT OBSOLETE, LESSORS FROM AMERICA NEED FOR CONVOY SHIPS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) , (By Air Mail.) LONDON, April 13. At the annual dinner of the Institution of Naval Architects, which was attended by the Duke of York, Sir Bolton' Eyres-Monsell, First Lord of the Admiralty, said that the recent Greek revolt and American experiments showed that bombing from the air had not made battleships obsolete. In 1921 he said, the United States carried out some bombing experiments on an old German battleship. A speaker in the House of Commons gave the impression that it took only three minutes to sink a ship. Those three minutes were the final three minutes of experiments lasting two days. On the first day, although a large number of heavy bombs were dropped and 13 hits registered, the hull was undamaged and the protective deck intact. The ship was eventually sunk on the second day, but itf must be remembered she was a passive target, was old-fashioned, had insufficient deck protection, and no means of dealing with damage received. A more interesting experiment was .carried out by the, U.S.A. in 1925 with the Washington, which embodied the then latest ideas of underwater construction. The tests were conducted 'by placing bombs outside the ship, and at the' most effective depth and distance to test resistance of the hull. The board which inquired into this and other experiments reported that after suffering the explosions of three underwater bombs of the largest size and two torpedo' explosions nls6 of the largest size, directly against the hull, with i no repair of leaks and no blimps going, the Washington remained afloat fpr four days end was finally sunk by'gunfire. As the result of the whole series of experiments, the board reported that the battleship had not been rendered obnolete by air attack. Thoroughly up-to-date evidence on'tin subject has been obtained from the recent revolt in the Greek- Navy. An old cruiser, the Averoff, which was completed in 1911, with no deck protection and two antiquated 3-inch A.A| guns, steamed slowly out of harbour on Friday alt rnoon, March 1, with what appeared to have been a somewhat scratch crew. A modern trained air force went in pursuit from the same base on the following morning. The Averoff continued to go about unhampered and undamaged exactly where she wished. Few people lealised the great defensive power j vvhich even our old battleships had to-day against air attack. The battleship of the future would be a veritable fortress of defence. CHEAPER DESTROYERS. Another subject brought up by the naval correspondent of the Daily Telegraph is the need for smaller and cheaper destroyers to serve as convoy escorts and anti-submarine craft. He points out that a crisis would probably put the navy so short of modern destroyers that none could be spared for the vital duty of convoying the merchantmen bringing foodstuffs, oil,' and other essential supplies to this country. A well-known flag officer who has had wide destroyer experience during and since tho war writes: "We should make an immediate start with the building of these smaller destroyers. At the first hint of danger such craft would be in urgent demand, but they would take at least a year to build. " So let the Admiralty begin by ordering a dozen at once. This would in no way conflict with our treaty obligations, and the whole 12 could be built for little more than half the cost of a County cruiser. Without a large number of such craft we shall be absolutely incapable of giving' adequate protection to convoys." " FORD " MODELS NEEDED. An ex-destroyer captain writes: " Much of my service during the war was in boats of less than 800 tons. This

is quite big - enough for most convoy work. Your point about giving more opportunity for independent command to officers under commander's rank is most important. A few flotillas of 800-ton destroyers would give many such officers the chance for which they are longing, and thus raise the standard of seamanship and initiative in the fleet." "If the Admiralty," says an experienced naval designer, " would adopt the mass production system and cut out all but the most essential equipment, they could build these 800-tonners very cheaply. Our present destroyers are ' Rolls-Royce models,' as the First Sea Lord has admitted, but, in view of their special duties, they cannot be otherwise. " In addition, however, we need a great many ' Ford model' destroyers for convoy and patrol work. With one or two exceptions, the sloops we are now building are quite useless for convoy service."