SINGAPORE BASE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 305, 30 December 1935, Page 10

SINGAPORE BASE

WORK NEARLY COMPLETE. A £30,000,000 PROGRAMME. LONDON, Dec. 7. Picturesquely described as a “steel hand” in the velvet glove of Britain's displomacy, ’ ’ the great naval base at Singapore will be complete within a few weeks. A seven-year constructional programme, involving an expenditure of £30,000,000 is approaching its end and the base will henceforth be established as the most modern and one of 'the most powerful of its kind in existence. One of the features of the base, which is the nerve centre of a fortified triangle linking Singapore, Darwin and Hongkong, is a floating dock—the second largest in the world—capable of lifting vessels up to 50,000 tons out of the water. More than 60,000 men can stand on its submersible deck, and it took eight Dutch .tugs three months to tow it from Wallsend-on-Tyne to its destination. The official designation of this dock is Dock 1X,., and it is inferior in. size only .to the famous Dock VIII., at Malta. Nor is it the only dock at Singapore. There is also a graving dock 935 feet long in the navy yard, which itself is notable for the perfection of its equipment. It has stores, fuelling wharves, a 2200 feet quay, a power plant, caissons, pumps, cranes and machine and plate shops. Everythng for refitting and repairs is there. Nearby is the Air Base. The 600 acres of military and naval airfield (primeval jungle not so Jong ago) bustles with all conceivable requirements —steel hangars, workshops, barracks, and broad concrete ramps for seaplanes. To the south is a great wireless station, from which the Uom-mander-in-Chief can talk each day with Admiralty in London, with Richmond in New South Wales, and with IDarwin. According to the foreign editor of the Sunday Express, a neighbouring village called Changi has been converted into a fully-fledged garrison town with artillery, engineer and infantry barracks. The surrounding hills are strongly fortified with anti-aircraft and long-range batteries. “Changi and the rest of Singapore,” states his writer, “can shell .the district round the island within a radium of 100 miles —enough to prevent any enemy squadron passing through the narrow navigable channel.’' As to the need for a costly and powerful base so remote from Home, many English people have their doubts. Even the Middle East, to the average man in the street, seems too far away to be a potential source of worry. But the Government, the Admiralty, and the War Office are of a different opinion. They regard Singapore as a key position—as the gateway through which an enemy might easily bring disaster to the Empire}. For that reason the British taxpayer has been forced to pay for something which he persists in regarding as of direct interest only to Australia and the Eastern Crown -Colonies. Nevertheless, Singapore is not a threat to any world Power. It is, however, a potent reminder that Britain is now fully prepared for any eventuality in the Pacific.