THE COLONIAL DREADNOUGHTS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 377, 30 April 1910, Page 2

THE COLONIAL DREADNOUGHTS

READY IN SUMMER OF 1912. STATEMENT BY MR. MeIvENNA. THE NEW PROGRAMME. London, March 18. The two Dreadnoughts which are to be built by the Australian and New Zealand Governments will be completed by the summer of 1912, and leave these waters in the autumn of that year. Reference was made to the colonial Dreadnoughts by Mr. McKenna, First Lord of the Admiralty, in his speech in the House this week on the motion lo go into Committee of Supply on the Navy Estimates. He said: "Let me remind the House that in the Estimates no mention is naturally made of the two ships which are being built by the Australian and New Zealand Government. These two ships will be very shortly under construction and they will be completed about the summer ot L'Jit. "I should like to take, this opportunity of repeating once again the gratification which the Government feels at this co-operation of our two great dominions with a National Navy. (Cheers). We feel no£ only the great advantage of

•this addition to our world's naval strength, but we also .recognise the evi- . deuce, if evidence were necessary, of the . unity of our Imperial sentiment. (Hear, hear). The scheme of the Australian , Navy and the details of the ships which i we.shall have in New Zealand waters have already been stated to the House, j and 1 do not propose to go further into 1 the matter now; but I only remind the i House that in the summer of 1012 these two ships will be in European waters and they win not leave European waters i until the late autumn, certainly the I autumn, of 1912. | "OUR ABSOLUTE SUPERIORITY." , "At the time they do leave the five j new ships of this gear's programme will ibe approaching completion. The actual j state of our Navy in home waters as regards ships of the Dreadnought tv.r. 1 battleships and cruisers, will then amount to this: We shall have in March, | lillz, 20 of these ships, we shall have in the course of the summer of l!) 12 the Australian and -New Zealand ships added to our 20, and by the time that they leave our waters \vc shall have the five new ships of the present programme approaching completion, so that we may rest satisfied that throughout the year 1012 and down to March 31st, 1913." our absolute superiority in the latest tvpe of ship is secure. (Hear, hear). "I hope the House will notice this fact. We shall have under construction at one and at the same time eight ships which have been laid down or'ordercd in the course of the present financial year.' We shall have further the two Australian and New Zealand ships, and we shall have at the end of this next year five ships of the new programme also under construction. Thus 15 of these vessels will be in course of building at the same moment in British yards, and ,1 hope that fact will reassure those who are under the impression that Great Britain is falling behindhand in its power oi construction. (Hear, hear). ''Behind this fleet of course we shall, have an incomparable fleet of ships of earlier types. I do not think it necessary to go through the list of our large battleships and cruisers; but I can say this, that these earlier ships of ours, are equal, if not superior, to the fighting power of any foreign ships built in the same period, that thev are much more numerous than the corresponding ships in any foreign navy, and .that, no matter what life you choose to give to the battleships, no matter what the number of years may be after which you are ™- mg to declare these battleships ami cruisers obsolete, at anv date you like to choose, you will find that the British Navy maintains in the strict sense of the term the two-Power standard laid down by the Prime Minister. 1 hope that it is an assurance which will be accepted as sufficiently safeguarding our present and future security. (Cheers) NEW ZEALAND DESTROYERS.' "As regards destroyers, it is proposed to lay down 20 in the course of the coming financial year for service at home stations. I regret that in the statement I issued to the House I did not refer to the three other destroyers we are building, but which are for service in New Zealand waters. We pay for them, but under our arrangement' with the New Zealand Government we »•■• pose to send the three destroyers to the Pacific, and they .will not'be replaced by corresponding boats coming from the China station.

"Therefore we cannot regard these three destroyers as anv addition to our strength, as we can in the case of the three boats which the Australian Government is building The period allowed for construction of our destroyers is 18 months, and the order will lie given next June.

"By the end of 1011 the whole of these destroyers will be completed."