SHIPS SHOULD BE BUILT IN N.Z.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 213, 10 September 1941, Page 6

SHIPS SHOULD BE BUILT IN N.Z.

.plea by commodore parry IrEM'. AL OF INDUSTRY URGED KEI’LAUING MERCHANT SHIPS LOST IN WAR. ■ : . Assn.; Auckland, .Sept 9. A ;•'< a for the revival and expansion of tile shipbuilding industry in Nea Zealand was made by Commodoie Parry, Chief ot the Naval Staff, after the launching of the minesweeper Rimu. Not only would it be valuable to the Navy, but it would help iii the replacement of merchant shipping alter the war, he said, referring to the difficulty that had been ] found in securing builders for Naval ships. Commodore Parry said it was a mystery to him why there were not more shipbuilding yards in New Zealand. In the old days there were many yards which built wooden ships, but since steel construction became general the industry had to some extent languished. "If ever there was a country de- . pendent lor its life blood on ships, it is New Zealand," he added. "Yet, lor some reason shipowners needing ships | have gone overseas.” It had been suggested that this was largely because iron was not yet produced in New Zealand. Great advances made by the industry in Australia had been based on the steel industry, and to some extent the Commonwealth had an advantage there. He very much envied the .ships Australia was building, and wished New Zealand could do the same, but now a start was being made the absence of a steel industry was not a real bar. Japan, for- instance, was carrying out a huge programme of shipbultaing, yet she had ne iron. He felt quite sure that this was the opportunity that would be taken. He would like to think that this ship, and her two sister ships of composite construction, marked the transition from wood to steel. The next minesweepers built would be of steel, and would incorporate certain apparatus which could could not be used in composite ships. A steel ship could hold more than a composite vessel of the same size. Even then we should not be content. Corvettes, and even destroyers. were being built in Australia, and we could do with larger ships, too. He felt sure the time was not far distant when we would be building them. "Even if the war ends to-morrow there will be a big demand for the replacement of merchant losses,” he added. “What a fine thing it would be if New Zealand could build at least part of her own requirements in the future.” Supporting Commodore Parry’s remarks, in his address on behalf of the contractors, Mr. E. H. Rhodes said many years ago shipbuilding was one of the main industries of the city. A fleet of fast schooners, staunch barques, and barquentines, and coasters under sail and steam operated from Auckland, and were built and launched here.