NAVAL SHIPBUILDING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1555, 25 May 1916, Page 4

NAVAL SHIPBUILDING.

Discussing the possibilities of additions made to the German and British fleets since the outbreak of av ar, Mr Arthur Pollen says : “Germany has never completed more Ilian four capital ships in one single recent year, in I lie last three years the average lime that has elapsed between the laying down and the completion of each ship has been 341 months. It is a, commonplace of .shipbuilding that the time taken to build a’ship hears very little relation to the time necessary tor the construction of the hull, engines, and equipment other than armament. The test of shipbuilding capacity is to Imiid guns, mountings, and turrets. Now the maximum production of Germany up to the year 1914 was nineteen 12in. gun double turrets for the programme for a single year. But, lor the British programme of 1914, the ships promised for completion for the Royal Navy, Brazil, Turkey, and Chili aggregated 11 ships against, (he German maximum of four, and a tonnage of 283,500 against tho Gorman 104,000. These ships Avere to carry thirty-eight 13.5 double turrets, eight. 15jn. double turrets, and seven 12in. double turrets. Bearing in mind that the amount of Avork in producing larger guns, turrets, etc., increases roughly as the cube of the calibre, then fifty-three 12in., 13.5 in. and 15in. turrets are equivalent to more than seventyfive 12in. turrets. It will thus be seen that Avhile in tonnage our 1914 programme was a little less than three times greater than Germany’s maximum output, our ordnance production avus practically four times greater.”