A MAKER OF BATTLESHIPS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 14, 1 September 1911, Page 3

A MAKER OF BATTLESHIPS.

Sir Phillip Watts, who has been Director of Naval Construction under ilia Admiralty since 1902, lias announced liis intention to retire, and nis successor is likely to ho appointed very shortly. Sir Phillip is 01 years of age, and lie has been in the service of tho Admiralty since 1885, though for a period he devoted a large part of his time to the work of the great Armstrong linn. Ho is famous chiefly as the man who designed tho .Dreadnought, and so plunged the civilised Powers into frenzied attempts to rival one another in the building of huge battleships. His predecessor in office was Sir William White, who is recognised still as one of the greatest living authorities ou warship construction. Sir William, it is interesting to notice, states in the last number of tho “Nineteenth Century” flint Croat Britain is building more than enough battleships to maintain her naval supremacy against all-com-ers, though ho suggests that there is some shortage of cruisers. Naval circles attach a great deal of importance to t : ;o choice of a'successor to Sir Philip Watts, and the impression is general that the now Director will ho a man who will favour a reduction in the size of battleships. Sir Philip himself is believed to incline towards the view that the 25,000-ton monsters now under construction are approaching tho limit of practicable size, if only because of the overwhelming burden of responsibility that is placed on the shoulders of tho commander. It is not improbable that Mr P. C. Owens, who is Director of Construction for the firm of Vickers, Sons and Maxim, will ho offered tho position. His ability is recognised to he quite exceptional, and ho has'designed all tho battleships ' built at Barrow for many years past, including the huge cruiser-battleship now under construction for tiio Japanese Covcrnmont. Curiously enough, only four men have filled the post of Director of Naval Construction since the era of iron and steel began. Sir Philip’s term of office has been shorter than that ol any of Ids predecessors.