MOST POWERFUL WARSHIPS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 183, 1 February 1912, Page 7

MOST POWERFUL WARSHIPS.

BRITAIN'S NEW CRUISERS WILL BE | WITHOUT RIVALS. From no shipyard in the world has fhere ever been launched a vessel of ■tr that will compare in any. respect, except that of size, with the five British battleships that are to be laid down this vear. These vessels- will not be the largest "armored ships in the world, but in all essentials—speed and fighting power—they will be without rivals. The new ships will (in common with eleven others now building) carry the new 13.5 in gun, throwing a shell weighing 12501b. The 12in gun previously mounted only discharged an 8501b shell. The last of these vessels will be added to the effective list in the spring of 1013, when the British Fleet will have 104 13.5 in guns, and no other navy in the world will carry such powerful weapons. These new vessels will be as superior to the • Dreadnoughts as the Dreadnoughts were to the ships that preceded them. To localise the effect of torpedo or mine explosion the hulls of the vessels are to be sub-divided to a greater extent than hitherto, and it is believed that they are practically unsinkable. At the same time,., as a protection against disaster, owing to grounding or collision in a fog, the authorities have adopted the submarine telephone, which cannot fail to prove an insurance against disaster.