COULD BE BUILT

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 62, Issue 4430, 26 May 1941, Page 5

COULD BE BUILT

SHIPS FOR THE EMPIRE. OPINION OF SHIPBUILDERS. New Zealand could build ships if the Government required the work to be done, said Lyttelton shipbuilders in agreeing with the suggestion made by Mr A. W. Coles, a member of the Federal House of Representatives, who said in Aucklarid that the Dominion could make a valuable contribution to the defence of the Empire by launching new tonnage. While it is doubtful whether dockyard facilities in New Zealand could produce large vessels, many useful craft, which could be used for naval patrol work, mine-sweeping, and other duties, are within the scope of the plant and men available. The patent slip at Lyttelton, for example, could handle vessels of up to 200 or 250 tons, and there is plenty of room for the erection of temporary launching ways. One shipbuilder said that a vessel of about 200 tons could be completed within 12 months. That meant starting from the very beginning and constructing ways. If shipbuilding were thoroughly organised much speedier work could be done.