BRITAIN’S DEFENCE NEED

Taranaki Daily News, 31 January 1934, Page 7

BRITAIN’S DEFENCE NEED

MANY MORE CRUISERS. NAVAL MANOEUVRES LESSON. London, Jan. 23. The part the Navy would play in the event of war breaking out, is considered in some Admiralty notes just issued after examination of the summer exercise of the Mediterranean Fleet. Convoy protection will be one of the Fleet’s first duties, it is stated, but convoys cannot operate everywhere. A world-wide system of convoys would demand far too many warships. It will be necessary, therefore, to use a system known as “evasive routeing.” By co-operation between the Navy .and the Mercantije Marine, the merchant ships will be diverted from their ordinary routes, and so scattered on the seas that an enemy raider will be forced to search for her prey. Armed protection would obviously be still necessary on some routes, and the recent exercise of the Mediterranean Fleet gave some valuable experience in attack on and defence of a defined route between Malta and Corfu. A “blue” raiding squadron played havoc on the “red” trade route. Five merchantmen were “destroyed” in 36 hours, and an aircraft-carrier and two cruisers were “lost” by the “Red” squadron in their defence. The lesson, adds the Admiralty statement, is all too plain. To make British trade secure, the Navy needs cruisers in sufficient numbers to be always where they are wanted, and strong enough to fight the enemy when he appears.