GUNS BRISTLE ON ALL SIDES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17905, 22 July 1926, Page 1

GUNS BRISTLE ON ALL SIDES.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN MEDITERRANEAN? LONDON, July 12. A British naval writer declares that though the Mediterranean at the present time is bristling with naval armaments the completion of the building programmes now in hand will see the navies and air fleets more powerful still. While Britain has in that area the fastest, largest, and most heavily-armed battle-squadron alloat, France and Italy are engaged in a neck and neck armaments race. “While it is true that there is an immense gravitation of naval power towards the Pacific, where thousands of miles divide the rival armadas, there is - a tremendous naval concentration in the Mediterranean, and this is attracting much attention to the Continent.” says the naval correspondent of the “Daily News.” “The British Mediterranean Fleet is still formidable. Vice-Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, hero of the Zeebrugge and Ostend raids, commands 87 vessels, including many of the newest, largest and most powerful units. He has six battleships of the Queen Elizabeth and Royal Sovereign type, constituting the fastest, largest, and most heavily armed battle-squadron afloat. “It. is armed with -IS 15-inch guns, compared with the 13.4-inch guns of Continental navies. This force will shortly be. reinforced by the latest battleships, the Nelson and the Rod- “ The fleet, includes two cruiser squadrons capable of a speed of twenty-nine knots, two aircraft carriers, four destroyer flotillas, and six submarines, all of the latest types. “Malta is now a hive of activity. “France and Italy are strenuously striving to maintain the naval equilibritim. The. French Mediterranean squadron consits of six dreadnoughts, all inferior to those of the British fleet, six cruisers, forty destroyers, thirty submarines, and many reserve craft. “Italy has at present a naval force superior to France, except in battle- j ships, of which she has seven, but two of these are obsolete. She has ten cruisers, fifty destroyers, and thirty submarines. “France is building six cruisers, thirty destroyers, and thirty-one submarines. Italy is building two cruisers, sixteen destroyers, and twelve submarines. She is also developing a new base in Sardinia, and is modernising the existing Italian bases. “It is not an exaggeration to say that the Mediterranean is bristling with armaments, yet the navies and air fleets already mustered will be greatly augmented when the present building programmes are completed.”