1 JUNE 1912, Page 3

The protected cruiser Melbourne,' which is being con- structed for

the Royal Australian Navy, was launched at Birkenhead on Thursday. This ship is the second to be launched of the four cruisers which, with six destroyers and three submarines, are to make up the Australian fleet unit. Captain Muirhead Collins, representing the Federal Govern- ment, pointed out that the importance of the occasion lay in the fact that the vessel represented a new and progressive naval policy undertaken by one of the Dominions--a policy which, whilst satisfying national aspiration and the position of a self-governing community, would point the way to a common sharing of Imperial obligations.