NAVAL EXPANSION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22628, 20 July 1935, Page 9

NAVAL EXPANSION

GERMANY’S PROGRAMME i LARGE DESTROYERS A REPLY TO FRANCE I Germany’s naval programme for 1935, I in accordance with the provisions of the ! agreement with Britain, whereby she may build up to 35 per cent of'.the*naval tonnage of the British Empire, was officially announced on July 8. A cable message from Berlin on that date stated: The following ships have been either laid down or will be laid down in 1935:—'two battleships of 26,000 tons, with 11-inch guns; two cruisers of 10,000 tons, with,eight-inch guns; 10 destroyers of 1625 tons, with five-inch guns, some of which were laid down in 1934; 20 submarines of 250 tons, the first of which were placed in commission on June 29 and two others already afloat; six submarines of 500 tons and two submarines of 750 tons.

Preparations are being made for the construction of the first aircraft carrier, and plans are being prepared for battleships to be laid down in 1936 and subsequent years, on the principle of qualitative equality. All the ships laid down or contemplated in the 1935-1936 programme were planned, prior to the conclusion of the Anglo-German agreement. SURPRISES EXPLAINED Commenting on the programme, the naval correspondent of the Daily Telegraph (Mr H. C. By water) says: “The real surprises of the,German naval programme are the many big destroyers and the large number of submarines. Each of the 16 destroyers is nearly 300 tons larger-than the latest British ships, and the armament is also heavier. They are actually flotilla leaders of exceptional power, probably the Germans’ reply to the French “ pocket cruisers,” of which 32 have sc far been built or are laid down. The two battle cruisers are obviously a reply to the French 26,500-ton vessels Dunkerque and Strasbourg. They have., been masquerading for more than a year as 10,000-ton vessels. The only British ships combining their high speed and heavy calibre guns are the Hood, Renown and Repulse, and the last two will certainly be slower than the new German units.

“ The submarine programme means,” he adds, “ that Germany has already provided nearly half the tonnage to which she is entitled under" the Anglo-German agreement. ' The 250-ton vessels are evidently being built in large numbers to provide training 1 facilities for the officers who are to man the bigger submarines of the future.

“ The whole programme will certainly be carried out with unusual speed, for German shipbuilding and armament factories are fully mobilised and have been working overtime for the past year.”

BRITISH PLANS FOR EXPANSION Mr Bywater says that, owing to big foreign building programmes and the lapsing of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1936, Britain is actively studying her own naval expansion. The programme is expected to include 10 cruisers, bringing the total to 60, which, however, will be 10 less than Lord Jellicoe, Lord Beatty and Admiral Sir Roger Keyes declare is the minimum for safety; also a large expansion of the fleet air arm, enabling battleships and cruisers to be equipped with two machines each. Aircraft carrier outfits will be brought up to full strength, and the anti-submarine forces will be developed unless an agreement is reached meantime for the reduction of foreign submarines. Britain will ' not enter into naval competition with America, as both Britain and America recognise that their' mutual strength in the Pacific is essential to peace. SECRET BUILDING The German naval programme (commented the special correspondent in London of the Sydney Daily Telegraph) is I described by most commentators as having been drawn up with special reference to recent developments in the French Navy.

The Times points out, however, that the vessels in the categories of battleships, cruisers, destroyers and submarines have been either laid down or ! designed before the signature of the I Anglo-German agreement. The NewsChronicle declares that the several larger ships anil submarines referred to have been under construction for some time, and a number of destroyers were laid down in 1934. One submarine was unostentatiously placed in service in the Baltic last .month, and two others are already in the water. Thus Germany makes a startling revelation to the world of the extent to which navies can be built secretly. * Mr Bywater’s statement that Britain does not. intend to enter into naval competition with the United States of America is based on the considered British view that the rapid development of naval strength in the Pacific, culminating in the virtual transfer of the entire American Fleet to Pacific waters, constitutes an effective guarantee of peace in the Far East, and removes the necessity for Britain to take into account American strength when estimating her requirements. It is understood that this has been accepted by the Admiralty as : the guiding principle of policy, especially as the American view is that adequate British strength in the Eastern Atlantic is the prime factor in the preservation of peace. Following rumours of the British intention to. withdraw from the Mediterranean, it was also announced that the British Mediterranean Fleet will be reorganised to consist of five battleships and three battle cruisers.