BRITISH NAVAL WEAKNESS

Taranaki Daily News, 14 February 1933, Page 7

BRITISH NAVAL WEAKNESS

4 ‘BIG ADDITION NECESSARY’-’ LONDON JOURNALS ALARMED TREATY CHANGE EXPECTED FRANCE AND ITALY BUILD By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Rec. 10 p.m. London, Feb. 13. “Very substantial additions to the British Navy are necessary unless a concrete Universal scheme of fleet disarmament is carried at Geneva,” says the naval correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. “It is unlikely that Britain in. 1936 will renew the naval treaties in their existing form as the effect has been to reduce the British defences' below the safety line while promoting a large expansion of foreign fleets. “Britain is now weaker on the sea than for 150 years, and will have fewer modern cruisers than the United States or Japan. The British personnel is 27,000 smaller than the American. France and Italy particularly are building warships on an unprecedented scale and have added 80 new vessels to their fleets in three years. “Well-informed naval circles regard the following as essential to security: Replacement of , obsolete battleships by vessels of 25,000 tons, of moderate speed, with heavy armour and with eight 13Jinch guns; an increase of 25 per cent, in British cruisers with guns heavier than Six inches if foreign Powers exceed this calibre; the construction of 12 to 16 destroyers annually for several years; lastly, an increase in the personnel of the fleet by at least 10,000. “The United States is concentrating its Pacific and Atlantic fleets in the Pacific Ocean for the greatest manoeuvres the world has ever seen,” says the Daily Express. “People will say this demonstration is intended for the almond eyes of Japan. We would remind the Americans we have interests to defend as vital as theirs, and far more scattered possessions.”