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Hokitika Guardian, 23 May 1932, Page 4

The new French cruiser, Algejue, with designed speed of 32 knots, and with armament consisting of eight Bin, guns in four double turrets, eight 3.9 in. high-angle guns, eight J.Sin, machine.guns, and two 21.7 in, triple torpedo tubes, is the first of a new class of 10,000-ton cruisers and wag laid down shortly after the complex tion of the last of the six in the original class at the end of 1930. She j,„ a knot or two slower than her predecessors the Tourville, Duquefine, Suffren, Foch, Colbert, and Dupfeix, speed having been sacrificed for armour sufficient to keep out the shells of guns of the same enilibre as her own, and her single funnel and mast and flush deck give her a very different appearance. Those fillips are slightly faster than the corresponding British cruisers, but have, if anything slightly lighter armament. As in the case of the German “'pocket battleship" Deutschland, welding has been used extensively in her construction in place of riveting, for the fiako of economy in weight. The Algcrie, howover, although, five knots or six knots faster than the Deutschland, is much | loss heavily armed; the latter vessel l ea cries six J.lm. gars, eight fi.Oiu. and four 3.-till. Other rivals of the Algarie are the seven IO.fiOO-tou cruisers -of Italv, two of which arc capable of a snerd of 37 knots, and arc armed with right Bin. and Id 3.9 in high angle guns, and eight torpedo-tubes.