SIZE OF BATTLESHIPS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 April 1938, Page 7

SIZE OF BATTLESHIPS

BRITAIN & UNITED STATES DISAGREE OPERATION OF ESCALATION CLAUSE. AMERICA SETTING NO LIMIT. NEW YORK, April 14. Britain and the United States disagree ovei/ the extent of escalation to be resorted to in battleship construction, says the Washington correspondent of the “New York Times.” Britain is apprehensive concerning possible European programmes and wants to hold the size of battleships to a fixed limit, preferring a maximum of 42,000 tons and IG-inch guns. The United States, because of the uncertainty regarding Japanese plans, does not want at the present time to commit herself to any limit. If Japan, as is reported, is building cruisers of 16,000 to 18,000 tons, such construction would be offset in the field of capital ships. No escalation would be required in the field of cruisers. GERMAN HINT. POSSIBLE ENTRY IN NAVAL RACE. BERLIN. April 14. A hint that Germany may enter the naval race is contained in Marshal Goering’s “National Zeitung,” which says the British-German Naval Treaty does not regulate the size of ships. Thus Germany is free immediately to construct 42,000-ton battleships if Britain begins.