AUSTRALIAN NAVY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13803, 1 October 1915, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN NAVY.

LAUNCH OF/ NEW CRUISER. PROBLEMS OF ' THE FUTURE. SYDNEY, October 1. In tho, presence of Sir R. C. MunroFerguson, Sir Gerald Strickland, tlio naval and military and Parliamentary leaders and a. big enthusiastic crowd, the cruiser Brisbane was launched at the Cockatoo dock. . . Mrs Fisher, in-christening the' vessel, wished the 'Brisbane success and opporr tunities to win new honors for Australia and the King's Navy. ■■ •'• As the > cruiser took the' water souvenir hunters m launches got m the way, and were almost run down. To avoid a collision, , the Brisbane's anchors were not dropped,, and she drifted until her stern struck the mud. The services of three tugs were required to drag her off. She was undamaged. The Brisbane is the largest vessel over launched m the Southern Hemisphere, and is the first cruiser built m any of the British dependencies. At the official luncheon Mr Fisher (Premier) claimed that- the policy of the Australian Navy had fully justified itself. Tie Sydney's exploit m sinking the Erhden had brought into existence the name of Australia as a minor power m a way no other action m the. war could have done. We had made a good beginning with the" Na,vy, but would have to go, much further. ~\ , Mr Hughes said wo must continue launching ships, 'whether we liked it or not. '. Thd' great problem of the future must be sought m the Pacific. l He hoped this would be the last -war, but we must prepare for eventualities. He was sure those present would live to see a squadron made up of Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand ships. , . •Sir R. C. Munro-Ferguson declared that the construction of the Australian Navy had been a. triumph of policy. It was a complement of the British Fleet, which was one of the main securities of the peace of the world. Mr Jensen announced that it had been decided tp send to England engineers to acquire knowledge with the object of building submarines m Australia. He hoped the day was not distant when we would be building battleships.