A Navy Reborn

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 728, 30 July 1929, Page 8

A Navy Reborn

FRANCE’S FLEET TODAY Regaining Power and Prestige A PHANTOM of a naval foi-ce, a-fleet worn to the bone, a skeleton of a fleet.” That is how a French officer described his country’s navy as it remained at the close of the Great War. During the struggle, everything had been sacrificed to serve the land forces, and the fleet had suffered severely.

Today a different tale may be told. From the chaos of war a new French fleet has arisen, proudly conscious of its up-to-date efficiency. The lean, graceful Tourville now in the Waitemata Harbour represents a reborn navy second to none in modern technique of construction. The cruiser Tourville, fastest vessel of her type afloat, Is the first 10,000ton Washington Treaty warship that has visited New Zealand. She is named after the Count de Tourville, French commander of the 17th century, whose name Is justly revered as one of France’s greatest hero’s—a Nelson of the Tricolour. To understand the appearance of the Tourville and other vessels of her modern type it is necessary to appreciate not only France’s naval position before and during the war, but also her important requirements. During the struggle with Germany, France was compelled to concentrate the whole of her industrial effort on land warfare. Beyond keeping existing ships in commission and building submarine chasers, her five naval arsenals did no work for the fleet, and were devoted to the needs of the Allied armies. Nevertheless, France’s navy did magnificent work. It patrolled the Straits, in 1915 it repelled the assault of the Turks against the Suez Canal, it hunted German submarines with feverish energy, and it carried the Serbian Army from Corfu to Salonika. It lost four battleships, five cruisers, 15 torpedo-boats and 14 submarines. But, what was still more serious, because building and reconstruction has been at a standstill, the war practically cost France her navy. By 1922 the British naval strength was 73 per cent of that of 1914, but the strength of the French fleet was only 50 per cent, of a force which, in 1914, was fourth among the world’s navies. France’s naval requirements from the point of overseas guardianship are second only to those of Britain. In the 18th century, she lost, through lack of sea power, what promised to be the greatest colonial empire in the world. In the next century she lab-

oriously built up a colonial empire second to that o£ Britain. She does not desire to extend that empire but wishes to keep it, and is responsible for 4,000,000 square miles of territory with 50,000,000 inhabitants. After the war France found herself without forces of the kind required to guard her 36,000 miles of sea communications. Accordingly, she embarked on what was regarded in some quarters as a policy of reckless expansion, but what she thought was really no more than a necessary Ailing of a gap in her national defences. This was the position of France at the time of the Washington Conference. Being ih severe inferiority, she refused to perpetuate the position and, in subquent Geneva discussions, has remained unchanged. The new squadrons which France has created since 1920 constitute light, fast and economical defensive units able to keep to sea for long periods and designed to guard lines of communication, especially the France-Africa link. The open eastern flank is peculiarly exposed to raiding attacks by fast, light forces, and it is for this reason that France has tried to produce warships which will be a match for any other vessels of their class. Such a one is the Tourville, equipped with every modern naval improvement. Launched on August 24, 1926, she differs widely in appearance from our own 10,000-ton cruisers. They are flush-decked, but the Tourville adheres to the high fo’c’sle and cut-away after part. She has two squat funnels, set well apart with a crane between. Particular attention has been paid to the aircraft branch, both in attack and defence. She carries two powerful naval airplanes, and is equipped with no fewer than eight anti-aircraft guns. Her best speed is 36.15 knots. France’s last Tourville was laid down in 1914, but was not completed. She was to have been a battleship of 29,500 tons with a speed of 21 knots and an enormous armament of sixteen 13.4 inch guns. The greatest number of guns of this calibre ever placed in a British battleship is 14, carried by the Agincourt, originally built for Chile.