“Taranaki Central Press” FRIDAY, MAY 21, 1937. ITALIAN NAVY

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 439, 21 May 1937, Page 4

“Taranaki Central Press” FRIDAY, MAY 21, 1937. ITALIAN NAVY

The cabled report that Italy is laying down twenty submarines this year, additional to the programme already authorised, shows the rapidity with which she is building up the smaller classes of her modern navy. When the new ships are completed she will have 108 submarines.

Sixteen months ago Italy had 5 3 modern submarines and I 3 building, so that apparently she has completed or nearing completion 22 ships laid down since January 1, 1936, if the cabled figures are accurate. Her navy is small, but fast and powerfully armed.

Two battleships of 35,000 tons, laid down in 1934, must soon be in commission. The cruisers and light cruisers are all modern and are capable of speeds from 35 to 40 knots, and the flotilla leaders and dastroyers are credited with being the fastest in the world. Then Italy, although not the first to develop the small motor torpedo boat as an effective unit, has made great use of it. This so-called MAS type, of which some two hundred are reported to be already in commission, is a light speed boat, carrying two torpedoes and able in a smooth sea to exceed 60 knots in a short burst. Britain, which during the war built ninety “coastal motor boats, did not pay further attention to the class until a year or two ago, when some of the fast Italian boats were seen cruising in the Mediterranean. The Italian designers attach great importance to speed in all the smaller classes of ships, and some of the modern destroyers have engines of 95,000 horsepower. The newer submarines are all speedy and well-armed, and in some respects, such as the equipment with apparatus enabling the crew to escape from a damaged ship that is submerged, they are more advanced than those of other Powers. The Italian theory of defence is that speed and numbers are the first requirements, and that is why fast small ships and aeroplanes in great numbers are absorbing so much of the armament expenditure.