WORK SPEEDED UP

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19140, 8 October 1936, Page 10

WORK SPEEDED UP

BRITISH NAVAL PLANS POWERFUL NEW CRUISERS LONDON. Aug. 11. All-round speeding-up of naval construction will make-it- possible to reorganise and strengthen the fleets and squadrons of the Itoyal Navy at. a much earlier date than was at first thought. The Home Fleet is to receive important reinforcements in the near future. Although- tho nine "11" type destroyers of the 1935 programme were laid down less than 12 months ago, they are so far advanced that they will be. ready to commission before the end of this "year. They will then replace the present destroyers of the- 2nd Flotilla, Home Fleet, which includes several units of an obsolete, type. . Thus, at the beginning of 1937, the Heme Fleet will have three flotillas, with a total of 27 leaders and destroyers, none more than two years old. The 2nd Cruiser Squadron attached to this Fleet consists at present of three Leander class cruisers of 7000 tons, armed with eight 6tn guns. Before the end of 1937 these will be replaced by five large new cruisers of tho Town class—Southampton, Newcastle, Glasgow, Sheffield, and Birmingham. The construction of these is being accelerated to such a degree that, in some cases, the estimated building period will be cut bv six months.

The Southampton and her sisters have a displacement of 90C0 tons, a speed of 32 knots, and an armament of twelve 6in. guns, with eight 4in. anti-aircraft guns, 22 smaller pieces, and six toi'pedo tubes. They will thus represent a very powerful addition to the Home Fleet, which for some years has been extremely short of cruisers.