NEW CRUISERS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16389, 11 July 1927, Page 9

NEW CRUISERS

FOR BRITISH FLEET.

GREAT RADIUS OF ACTION

(By Archibald Hurd in the Loudon

Daily Telegraph.)

Uis Majesty's ship Berwick will b* the lirst cruiser of post-war construction to be completed for tho British fleet. The vessels now at sea ar,j not only wearing out, undor conditions of very hard service, and are not worth the heavy cxpenso of extensive repairs; but most of them are nnsuited for ocean service since they were built for duty in the North Sea, where the distances to be travelled are comparatively short. Consequently in designing the now cruisers for" duty in the great oceans, in accordance with the limits flxod in the Washington Treaty, Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt and his successor as Director of Naval Construction, Sir William Berry, have had to work out a new compromise between offence and defence, speed and endurance, so as to suit new conditions, bearing in mind that the normal displacement of each vessel must not exceed 10,0 CO tons, and that, though the number of guns to be carried is unlimited, the calibre is restricted to Sin. Thus we have obtained cruisers of an entirely original design. Whereas the vessels of the " C " and

" f) " classes, laid down just before a.nd during the Great War, can carry only about 1000 tons of oil fuel, it is nowrevealed officially that the Berwick and her four sister ships of the Kent class will be able to take in as much as 3400 tons. The older cruisers arc credited with a speed of 29 knots, whereas the Kents are to attain at least. 31£ knots "at standard displacement in smooth water, clean bottom, on full-power trial." High speed means heavy fuel consumption, but, nevertheless, the Kents will be able to steam for a mircf) longer time without refuelling than any other cruisers in the fleet, and, of course, they will not always be going at full speed. Enough will be kept in hand for an emergency, as when chasing an enemy craft. HEAVY GUN-POWER,

In comparisons with new foreign cruisers tho question of fuel capacity is often ignored; but it is one of suprcme importance to a country with 80. COO miles of trade routes to defend. It is obviously a simple matter to mount more guns and to attain a higher speed if the store of fuel carried is reduced, and some of the. new foreign cruisers are very ill-supplied with reserves of coal or oil fuel as the case may be. The new German cruiser has capacity for only 11C0 tons, tho American and Italian vessels carry no more than 1600 tons, and those building for the Japanese Navy are also badly designed in this respect. You cannot put a quart into a pint measure. Every ship of war is a compromise, aud the British designers have unquestionably found a happy mean, without an undue sacrifice of gunpower. Eaf.li of these cruisers will mound eight Bin. guns, as well as four 4in. anti-aircraft guns, four o-pr guns, and four 2-pr guns, so that they are well |armed. Tho Bin. gun jflros a projectile weighing 2001 b at the rate of six rounds a minute, with sufficient energy at the muzzle to penetrate not far short of 35in. of wrought-iron plato. Imagine the destruction they can effect when all eight. Of these weapons, mounted on the centre line so as to beat on either beam, aro brought into action simultaneously. These new cruisers arc offensively more powerful than many of the battleships built in the past, and not so very long ago either. They carry, of course, comparatively little armour. Their high speed and their great gu;i-power constitute their main defence against attack. When zigzagging at a speed, of 30 knots or more they would not bo easy to hit at modern ranges of action, though they.are rather long, having a length of 590 ft., with a depth of 16.3 ft. at mean draught. The Kents are, indeed, triumphs of design in view of their great power of 'offence and defence and their high speed, and bear favorable comparison with any cruisers building abroad. Wo could not always claim that distinction, and it right and proper, therefore, that credit should be given now that wo can do so without fear of denial. Whether the Kents will prove good and 1 comfortable sea craft, a matter of importance not only to the crews, but also bearing on their fighting capacity, since a steady gnn -platform is of supreme importance in action, is a matter still to bo proved, but there is every assurance that they 'will behave well in a sea war.

12 OTHERS UNDER CONSTRUCTION There are, as has beeu mentioned, five cruisers Wilding of this class, of Which the Admiralty have permitted some particulars of the design to be known. We are also building four other cruisers which belong to the " London " class, and of these no details have been given, so that apparently they differ in some respects from the Kents, though the displacement will certainly not bo less. -vnd then thero are the three vessels which have just been laid down under the past year's programme, with a further. unit to he begun early next year, all being of this high displacement tonnage. By that time we shall have 13 of what may be described as " Washington cruisers," either completed, as in the case of the Kents, or under.construction. Each of them will cost about £2,000,000. It is a lot of money to invest in one ship, but weight nlust bo given to tho lesser value of the £ sterling in comparing'that oxpenditUEOiWith the amount we have spent in-the past on our cruisers. The amount is actually less than was spent on each of the Hawkins class. The Kents are, consequently, not bad bargains. But it. is well that wc should also be building some smaller and cheaper cruisers. Two of theso vessels, of the " B " type, will be laid down al the beginning.of next year. Thev wil! be of 8000 tons, and probably their cost j will bo about £1,500,000, so that we shall bo able to secure four of them for tho price of threo Kents. When 'particulars of tho design of those later cruisers' arc w vealcd, it wil! be possible to judge whether they are or are not better value than the 10,000-toii type. Their design will bo a severe tost of tho ingenuity and skill of the OonstructiTo Department of tho Admiralty. AN URGENT NEED. It may bo interesting to give some details of all the cruisers how building or projected : 1 • To bo Name Builders compVd. Berwick ... Fairfield ... 192? Cornwall ... Devonport ... 1927 Cumberland ... Vickcrs ... 1927 Kent Chatham ... 1927 Suffolk ... Portsmouth ... 1927 Devonshire .:. Devonport ... -1928 London ... Portsmouth ... 1928 Shropshire ... Beardmorc ... 1928 Sussex Hawthorn ..., 1928 Dorsetshire ... Devonshire ... 1929 Norfolk ... Fairfield ... 1929

York Palmers ... 1929 1 Portsmouth ... 1930 2 Devonport ... 1930 3 ....... Private linn ... 1930 ' Let there be no error. > These cruisers are badly neoded at sea owing to the rapidity with which tho older and less useful vessels are wearing out. • We need more.cruisers more than- any other country owing to our dependence on sea-borne supplies of food and raw materials if we are to live and work. The Dominions also require plenty of cruisers, as Australia, with her two new vessels now in hand, and New Zealand, with her increased contribution to tho support of her division of the Royal Navy, have conceded. Even India is establishing, a navy. Only Canada and South Africa have so far failed to re-. cognise ili a practical manner the peril in which they may stand for want of defence of their sea-borne interests.