NEW DREADNOUGHTS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2260, 21 September 1914, Page 6

NEW DREADNOUGHTS

The two Turkish Dreadnoughts which were taken over by the British Admiralty at tho opening of tho'-war are. a valuable addition to-tho Navy. In. two famous British yards—the Elswjck yard and the Vickers yard—there have been building for the past two years two of the strongest battleships yet designed'. Armstrongs at Elswick were building for Brazil the Rio do Janeiro—tho only ship afloat which parries 14 13-sin. guns. Brazil, however, decided that she did, not want this monster. Just at that time Turkey was searching the' world high and low for a Dreadnought to employ against Greece. The other battleship building at Vickers belonged to her but it was not nearly ready. Accordingly, she purchased - t0r'£2,340,000 the Rio de Janeiro, which was rather' nearer completion. It was a more powerful ship that her own, although tho Reshadieh was about as strong as any contemporary . British ship. ■ She renamed the Brazilian ship, and itwa6 last month due to-be docked at Dovonport before sailing for Turkey. It never sailed. ' Britain has bought them both. The two great ships, with their -13.5 m.' guns, 14 and 10 of them :■ espectively, are now in the British Navy—one tinder the name of the Agincourt, the other renamed tho Erin. Alterations were made at the last moment in« the composition of the first battle squadron of the Homo Fleet. Tho Marlborough, newly launched, became the flagship of tie squadron, with Vice-Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly i; command. The Collingwood also took the place of the Tenieraire.