ANTI-SUBMARINE CRAFT.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 January 1916, Page 7

ANTI-SUBMARINE CRAFT.

NEW MONITORS: THEIR DESIGN. ERS AND BUILDERS.

There lias been lifted by till? official correspondent in the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force a corner of the veil which has very properly shrouded in secrecy the features of the design of our new warships, It may therefore not be inappropriate to refer, so far as such revelation renders possible, to the magnificent work done, firstly, by those responsible for design at the Admiralty, from the Director of Naval Construction downwards, and, secondly, by the shipouilders and engineers who have so expeditiously carried out the construction work. In this latter cMegory we, of course, include al l workers who have, perhaps with some regrettable exceptions, shown a devotion to duty and displayed a degree of patriotism' which arc highly to be commended. The particulars given apply to the new monitors designed at the Admiralty. Tn numbers, in size, in importance, and In the originality of the design of the fighting qualities, they are only representative of a vast amount of work done for the increase of the invulnerable strength of the British Navy. The publication of the particulars by .Mr. K. Ashuiead Bartlett enables the monitors at the Dardanelles to be taken as examples of the work done by those responsible for the Admiralty design and for construction. Without accepting as technically accurate the somewhat picturesque details published, it may be assumed that the Admiralty designers have succeeded in producing vessels with the heaviest of guns which are practically immune to torpedo attack. Some mount twin 14in guns in a central turret, others 'have one 9.2 in bow and one Oin stern guns, and others, again, two Gin guns. The 14in guns lire projectiles of %-ton weight, and the range is 15 miles. Our Oin gun, it is "throws 1001b of high explosives 12 miles without over-reaching itself." The vessels are not of great speed—monitors for aphibious warfare need not be. The particulars given establish the efficiency of the design, and vest with gratifying interest the fact that only six months elapsed from the demand for their design was made until they tired their first shot. The advent of German submarines in the Aegean Sea, and the possible dangers to our modern ships of the line, with their long-range guns, suggested the need for craft with corresponding gun power, hut involving less risk of personal and material loss. It is a great credit to all concerned, notably to the workmen in the shipyards, that this need was so promptly met. Such acknowledgment is the more justified as the achievement is typical of much that has been done in connection with new construction since the outbreak of the war, and regarding which nothing can yet be written.