DOMINION NAVY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26045, 8 January 1946, Page 4

DOMINION NAVY

CRUISERS TO PAY OFF REPLACEMENT QUESTION (P.A.) AUCKLAND, Jan. 7. It appears to be definite that H.M.N.Z.S. Gambia, which, since November has been refitting at Devonport, will not return to Japan. Instead, she is expected to leave next month for the United Kingdom, where she will pay off and end her comparatively short association with the Royal New Zealand Navy. The departure of the Gambia will temporarily leave H.M.N.Z.S. Achilles as the only cruiser in the Royal New Zealand Navy. She is representing this country in Japanese waters, and it is not believed that she will return to Auckland for some considerable time.

It is also believed that the days of the Achilles as a unit of the Royal New Zealand Navy are numbered and that after a necessary refit she will return to the United Kingdom and pay off. Thus before 1946 is out both the Achilles and the Gambia will have completed their New Zealand duty. This fact is generally accepted in the R.N.Z.N., and there is already much speculation about successors. At present, facts cannot take the place of conjecture. The replacement of the Achilles and the Gambia is a matter of State policy, and any decision must be taken in conjunction with the United Kingdom Government and the Admiralty. It is generally believed, however, that New Zealand will continue to include at least two cruisers in her naval strength. The favoured theory is that these two ships will be what are usually called anti-aircraft cruisers—that is, ships which can engage in surface action or shore bombardment, but which are mainly designed to add to the anti-aircraft screen of a convoy squadron. The task force or fleet Dido class of cruisers is mentioned as being likely to provide New Zealand with its new cruisers.