Royal Navy's Power Has Not Been Diminished by Big Losses

Taranaki Daily News, 21 August 1942, Page 3

Royal Navy's Power Has Not Been Diminished by Big Losses

By Our Special Observer.

Rapid replacement has kept i it still most formidable sea force in the world.

The loss of the eight-inch gun cruiser Canberra is a heavy blow to the listed naval strength of the Australian navy, coming as it does on top of the two cruisers Sydney and Perth. Apart from the old but refitted cruiser Adelaide, the ships of this type remaining to the Commonwealth are only the Canberra's sister ship, H.M.A.S. Australia and the six-inch gun cruiser H.M.A.S. Hobart. Additionally, Australia has suffered severely from losses in her escort vessels and destroyer classes, half of the pre-war strength having been sunk in action with the enemy. Summary of Losses. These heavy losses to one small navy draw attention to the losses of warships by all the belligerent nations and it is timely, therefore, that advice is to hand of the losses suffered by the British fleet since the outbreak of the war. The total given is at first sight a startling one— 415. But many of these are in the very small ship class. The losses of bigh ships are, however, severe. The Royal Navy (including Empire fleets) has lost: 3 battleships (Royal Oak; Barham; Prince of Wales). 2 battle cruisers (Hood; Repulse). 5 aircraft-carriers (Courageous; Glorious; Ark Royal, Hermes; Eagle). 22 cruisers (Effingham; Southampton; Bona venture; Gloucester; Fiji; York; Sydney; Galatea; Dunedin; Neptune; Perth; Exeter; Naiad; Doraetshire; Comwall; Edinburgh; Manchester; Canberra; plus four cruisers contverted to anti-aircraft ships— Curlew; Calypso; Calcutta; Cairo). 14 merchant cruisers. 83 destroyers. >• 38 submarines. 11 corvettes. 10 sloops. 1 monitor. 152 trawlers and drifters. 3 hospital ships. 7 transports. 20 minesweepers. 2 minelayers. Additions To The Fleet. On the other side of the picture, more than 400 warships have been added to the naval fleets of the British Empire since war began, as disclosed in the new edition of Jane's Fighting Ships, the acknowledged authority on all the navies of the world. Names are given of nine battleships, six aircraft-carriers, 22 cruisers, four minelayers, 62 destroyers, 22 submarines, 16 sloops, 119 corvettes and 179 other naval vessels which were not completed at the outbreak of war. In

addition to these, 72 destroyers, . seven submarines, 18 minesweepers, 61 corvettes and. 37 trawlers have had their names published in connection with Warship Weeks in Britain's National Savings Campaign. Jane's Fighting Ships also calls attention to the surprising development of warships building in the British Dominions, especially. Canada, where sloops, corvettes and minesweepers have been (coming off the stocks in numbers unidreamt of before the war. Several de- | stroyers, it is recorded, are also in hand | in Empire shipyards. ! Replacements Are Better Ships. j A balance between the total tonnage lost and that gained would be heavily . in favour of the new ships because of the accretion of battleships and aircraft- ■ carriers. Furthermore, the balance is made additionally favourable by the fact jthat new ships are built and fitted for the needs of this war and not the last, and with benefit of knowledge of new methods of war. Thus, although the "loss" list shpws 83 destroyers against only 62 gained, 119 corvettes have been added to the fleet and only 11 lost. For the job of protection of shipping against submarines, therefor,e the navy is certainly better equipped now than at the beginning of the war. An exact balance is, however, impossible because in the two lists certain ships almost certainly overlap. All that can be said is that despite nearly three years of unrelenting war, for most of the time without support, Britain still has a fleet capable of giving battle to any formations the enemy can put to sea. . Enemy's Losses. The enemy has not escaped , lightly. according to Jane's collated particulars of enemy losses, since war began, Germany has lost the battleship Bismarck, the armoured ship Admiral Graf Spee, the cruisers Blucher, Karlsruhe, Koln, Konigsberg, Leipzig, 21 destroyers, 18 torpedo-boats, nearly all the -70 submarines built before the war and about 80 other warships. Italy has lost the battleship Conte di Cavour, 11 cruisers, 27 destroyers, 14 torpedo-boats, 12 submarines and 27 other vessels, while Japan's losses up to the end of April included the battleship Haruna, -15 cruisers, 15 destroyers, 13 submarines, four seaplane -carriers and seven other vessels. Italy's losses have subsequently been added to by the loss of at least one cruiser and Japan's total by several cruisers, and some destroyers (totallirig nine in all) lost in the Aleutians, since Dutch Harbour, plus— most importantly— six aircraft-carriers. Furthermore, Japanese losses in the Solomons battles are not included. More important than the. actual tonnage figures, however, is the American and British shipbuilding capacity. This is so overwhelmingly in favour of the United Nations that in the long run ship losses will mean less to them than tq the Axis Powers. .. - , ' • "