SPEED AND GUNPOWER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 44, 22 February 1939, Page 7

SPEED AND GUNPOWER

NEW BRITISH BATTLESHIP KING GEORGE V. LAUNCHED [By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright] Received Feb. 21, 8.15 p.m. LONDON, Feb. 21. The battleship King George V. was launched to-day. Its displacement is 35,000 tons, in accordance with the treaty. Its main armament consists of ten 14-inch guns in three turrets and its secondary armament consists of sixteen 54-inch guns in eight turrets, as well as numerous smaller guns. The machinery is geared turbines for which oil-fired boilers will supply the steam. There are four propellers. The ship’s speed exceeds that of the Rodney and Nelson. She carries aircraft in hangars, flown off by catapult. Attention has been paid in designing the King George V. to protection against gunfire, air bombs and mines. The complement is 1500 and the ship is fitted as a commander-in-chief’s flagship. The crew’s accommodation is of a high standard.

SPECIAL PRECAUTIONS

GUARD FOR KING AND QUEEN. (Independent Cable Service.) Received Feb. 21, 9.50 p.m. LONDON, Feb. 21. Scotland Yard took special precautions to guard Their Majesties on a tour of the north-east in connection with the' launching of the King George V. King’s Cross station, where Their Majesties entrained, was heavily guarded and the stations from York to Newcastle were closed as the royal train passed through. A thousand specially-selected police guarded the route from Newcastle station to the naval yard.