A GREAT SHIP

Hokitika Guardian, 30 December 1932, Page 6

A GREAT SHIP

NEW FRENCH CRUISER. GUNS 23 MILES RANGE. Orders were received at Brest dockyard early in November to lay tlie keel «f the L'unkm-rque. She is the first capital ship to he built for the French Navy for nearly twenty years. The laying of her keel denoted the end of ithe international “battleship holiday,” which has now lasted ten years, according to Mr Hector Bvwater in the “Daily Telegraph.” T'ii? ship (as authorised) will be much larger and more powerful than was contemplated in 1931, when she was first projected. The displacement has been raised from 23,000 tons to 26,500, and the armament from eight I2in. guns to eight 12in. As a result the ship will be the most powerful battlecruiser yet -built, with the exception of H.M.S. Hood.

Thanks to her up-to-date construction and armament, she will outclass the Renown and Repulse, and the three Japanese ships of the Kongo class, which, with the Hood, are the only survivors of the battle cruiser family. TWO YEARS TO DESIGN. For 'two ;years the Section Technique of the French Admiralty lias been working on the Dunquerque’s plans. A shin of novel and possibly epochmaking design has been'evolved. Her speed of 28 knots is low for a battle cruiser, but it has been accepted in order to gain improved protection. The 13in. gun is a new model, specially designed for the ship. It fires a projectile of 11001 b. with an extreme range of -40,000 yards (nearly 23 miles). Eight of these formidable weapons are to be mounted in quadruple turrets. Each turret is a massive armour-plated structure, the two pairs of guns being separated by a stout bulkhead.

This is t'ne first time the quadruple turret has been tried in any navy. It has the advantage of economising weight, but there are grave objections. The firing of one pair of grins "ill tend to cause “jump-off,” thus throwing the turret sights- off the target. More serious still is the concentration at each end of the ship of huge powder magazines and shell-rooms to feed a group of four guns. These spaces will be so- large that they are bound to extend wejl across the hull, and will, therefore, ,b 0 -go near the side that a torpedo explosion might touch them off. As the Dunquerque has been officially described as a reply to the German pocket battleship Deutschland, the following comparison of the two -ships is of interest:—•

Apart from her heavier armament, the Dunquerque will bet far superior to the German ship in ability to withstand every form of punishment. Three German pocket battleships ai’e now under construction, -and th e French Ministry of Marine proposes in due course to build two more Dunquerqu?.s.

ITALY MAY REPLY. It has been seim-officially intimated that Italy will, ‘build a reply to the and various models are now being experimented with at Ths building of an. Italian battle icruker of higher speed and superior armament (i.e., nine 'l3.sin or eight 15iu guns) iwould neutralise the advantage which France hopes to gain by starting the Dunquerque. From the British point of view the French action is open to criticism on the grounds That jt prejudices the Admiralty’s plan to limit future cap'tal ships to 22,000 tons, the Dunquerque being 4500 tons over this limit.

Drspl. tons Dunquerque. Deutsch- . kind. ... 26,500 10,000 vSpeed, knots 28 26 Endurance, kts. 7,000 10,000 Big guns (at 15 kts.) 8 13in (at 20 lets.) 6 llin Broadside, lb ... 8,800 4,020 Cost ... ... £6,000,000 £4,000,000