UNITED STATES NAVY

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 250, 12 January 1928, Page 1

UNITED STATES NAVY

New Programme Presented TWENTY-YEAR PLAN REVEALED By Cable.—Press Association. — Copyright. deceived 9.3 a m. WASHINGTON, Wednesday. r- C. D. WILBUR, Secretary of the Navy, before the House Naval Affairs Committee, revealed that the 800-m.-llion-dollar building programme which he recommended to Congress was drafted as a five-year programme for the immediate needs of the navy. He recommended an additional 20-year programme of building and replacement, which should provide 43 10,000ton cruisers and additional submarines and destroyers.

iP" tiILBUR emphasised that the year Programme means no hiri r** building. It is not protom,.? ?® et th e building pro-r-vrnnie °* other nations. Secretary explained that this, a*-. I: w °uld bring the United rw 0 within the equality hrU..' . by the Washington Contwa .I’.“ compared with Great BriJap an S - I - lßbt ' y ab °ve the 5-3 ratio tsw c *ted the insistence of hce a " tbe Geneva ConferV, “ need of increased tonSn»j rs e ®* ,I ’dles.s of that of other evidence of the States’ need for an inUch » crul,er tonnage, also that n nt for us is in no 1a... competitive, to which PreCoolidge Is said to be op,j, j b e said the programme :h, 11j ba,ed on the needs of »i„. d ,tad States Navy, as deter3 0 , rd *he Naval Technical ■ CnVi!i U ]j stated that it would cost hllil , , States a billion dollars to iktt ... of cruisers to the hip, w,,..?* - Britain. He said the under the 20-year profte e«H,» OUId fepresent a conserva- -? a !® of actual protective •rest", hi° a U *' d enou ßh would be too srn.rr, eo * or the nation's peace-*l-yesr Dr* 1 * 83 ' sai< l that if the conti. OKr ? mme were carried out i’weed on the Government, the

danger of war would greatly be minimised. “The United States have needed a first-class navy,” he said. He added that the navy was building to its needs for the protection of the public. The report accompanying Mr. Wilbur’s statement to the committee said, “Smart-looking modern cruisers create a prestige that aids merchants and manufacturers in building up trade abroad, and the measure of commercial success is influenced in no small degree by the prestige which up-to-date, smart-looking cruisers create and foster. The programme is based on the navy’s needs in the same sense as the city’s police force is based upon the estimate of its needs. —A. and N.Z. A Washington cablegram of December 14 read as follows: The Secretary for the Navy, Mr. C. D. Wilbur, has transmitted to Congress the naval building programme, which provides for 71 new vessels to cost nearly £ 160,000.000. It provides for 25 light cruisers, nine destroyer leaders, 32 submarines, and five aircraft carriers. No time limit is provided for their construction, but under the terms of the Bill the construction of the light cruisers and aircraft carriers is subject to the Washington Treaty. Mr. Wilbur did not specify any time in which the construction of the proposed ships should be completed. He said the estimated cost was merely speculative, but he submitted a schedule totalling £ 144,000,000. , . . Mr Butler said the cost would be between £ 140,000.000 and £160,000,000. The estimates provided for an expenditure as follows: —Light cruisers. £3.400,000 each: destroyer leaders. £1,000,000 each; submarines. £1,000,000 each: aircraft carriers, £3,800,000 each. This was the largest navy programme submitted since 1916.