Strong Navy Needed

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 268, 2 February 1928, Page 11

Strong Navy Needed

U.S. ADMIRALS VIEW PROTECTION OF COMMERCE By Cable.—Press Association.— Copyrig'r NEW YORK. Wednesday. Admiral C. P. Plunkett, whose recent utterances concerning the nearness of war called forth criticism anc censure, is reported by the newspaper “New York American” to have made the fol lowing statement in an interview: "America now has more at stake in seaborne commerce than has Britain, and our own commerce is fully as far flung as hers. That commerce requires the same, if not greater, protection. “Supremacy in seaborne commerce is ours: nor can we turn back from such supremacy. We see now that we must have a merchant marine, and ttu latter presupposes a navy adequate to preserve it. “If we engage in trade rivalry we may expect war. Remember that in building merchant ships we enter a highly competitive field. “I have yet to And in the history of our country a single incident where our superiority led us to aggression or to the crushing of any people anywhere.” 35 NEW SUBMARINES In giving evidence before the Naval Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives. Admiral J. D. Beuret of the naval construction staff, said 2,350 additional men would be needed to man the 35 new submarines included in the proposed five-year build ing programme. This would make a total of 27,355 additional men needed for the augmented fleet. The Assistant-Secretary of the Navy. Mr. T. D. Robinson, said that since the United States did not know how* many submarines Britain might build after 1929, it was necessary to have 35 new submarines in the American five-year programme. This was in spite of the fact that the American submarines in commission already were in excess of the number maintained by Britain.—A and N.Z.