THE BRITISH NAVY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 28

THE BRITISH NAVY.

THE SIXTH DREADNOUGHT. LONDON, December 29. At Portsmouth, yesterday the first keelplate of ihe sixth battleship of the Dreadnought type was laid down. January 1. The Imperial Navy League insists that the next Naval Estimates shall provide for a total expenditure of" £40,000,000 if Great Britain is to lay down keels I where Germany lays down, one.1 January 2. The Daily Telegraph states' that the ' Dreadnought' Collingwood will shortly .be j commenced at Devonport.. I Messrs Vickers, Son, and Maxim have contracted for another- Dreadnought hull' and machinery at £628,000. The vessel is to have a displacement of 19,300 tons, compared with the Bellerophon's 18,600" ions. These six great battleships and their displacement are "as follows: — Dreadnought 17,900 tons. Bellerophon 18,600 tons. Temeraire .» 18",600 tons. Superb 18,600 tons. Fifth Dreadnought ... 19,300 tons. Sixth Dreadnought ... 19,500 tons. The vessels will probably carry 13.2-inch guns instead' hi 12-inch guns, and the moequito-repelling armament will be 4-inch guns or 4.7. Tlig new men-of-war will be the biggest and most powerful afloat; and will be completed for sea two years after the laying of the first keel-plate. The following figures will show the rapid increase- in the siza of battleships froni the date, in 3905, wEen the -British Admiralty gave the world a lead with the Dreadnought : — - ' Tons". Dreadnought- (British) ... 17,900 Bellerophon (British) 18,600 - Sachsen (German) 18;700 New ship -. 20,000Pacificator (U.S.A.) -20,000 New Japanese ship ,'21, 000 .^ New Russian ships ... ... 25,000 It has been predicted that .within the ! nexj few. years, the .size of. battleships' will rise to' 30,000 tons, or 2500 tons less^ than the new Cunarder- Lusitania. ■ | " The unique experience, of Brifci&h ship- | i builders will place them in the most favour- > Table position, for the- building of theee ,' monster' unite, and should enable them in \ the future, .'as in _€he past/ to sweep the deck of foreign orders. * ~ According to a Home paper, the battleships or battleship-cruisers* building, completed, or "to be, laid down before the close of the 'summer of 1907 -are as England : 4 Dreadnoughts, 3 Invincibles ; " total 7. " ■ Germany : 4 Dreadnoughts, 2 Invincibles ; total 6. " France : 6 Dantons ; total' 6., Japan : 4 monster battleships, 2 monster cruisersj total 6. Souths American Republics:* 6 Dreadnoughts; total 6. " United States: 2 Michigans, 2 Pacificators; total 4. ' x All these ships, have been ordered since January, 1905.' Apparently, if the New York American is correct; the jour new American battleships recently ordered are additional. ' ' ' -