Obsolete Battleships.

Hokitika Guardian, 30 July 1921, Page 3

Obsolete Battleships.

THE NEW ZEALAND RELIEVES ONE. The announcement is made (says the “Army and Navy Gazette”) that at Home the Colossus and Hercules arc to |,e relieved as flagships ol the Resetve at, Devonport and Rosyth respectively hv the Glorious and New Zealand. They are two of the eight 12in gun battleships which the First bord announced in March were to be scrapped. It is interesting to note that with the pass_ in,, of these vessels the British battlefleet will contain no ships over twelve years old from date of laying down, or eleven years old from date of launch, or ten years old from date ol completion, , .Judged by .pro-war standards, when twenty years was reckoned as th ( . effective “life” of a capital ship—instead of twenty-five, as at one time this would seem very satisfactory. Closer examination, however, shows that of the ffO capital ships on the effective list .all but two were .completed d" 1 - ing the first half of the ten-year period, that is, in or before 1910. and only two, the Rami Hies and the Hood, have been completed since. In other words, Off per cent, of our fleet is already semi obsolete. It is in circumstances such as j these that the Admiralty have been obliged to decide to resume the building of capital ships. As Mr Amery said in reply to a question in the House, the construction of the new ships will take | approximately three years from the ! date of the contract l>eing signed. n ' ' a ten-year age limit were to he fixed then, it would he found that of ou>existing ffO capital ships only Iff would he under age and the other 17 obsolete.