BATTLESHIP QUALITIES
By W. E. WOOSNAM-JONES
THERE will be sighs of relief in naval circles this spring when the first two units of our new ' King George V ' class battleships slip down the launching-ways at Birkenhead and Walker-on-Tyne respectively, to be followed in the autumn by three other vessels of the same class. During the past three years no fewer than twelve capital ships have been launched or laid down by Italy, Germany and Japan, and to match these new craft our navy at the moment possesses only two battleships of post-War construction, the ' Nelson ' and the ' Rodney,' laid down as long ago as 1922.
Such a situation has long caused grave disquiet to those who take any interest in naval defence. It is therefore natural that the design of our new ships should have received con- siderable attention both at home and abroad, since for some considerable time the new squadron must of necessity form the spear-head of our naval strength, should this country unfortunately become involved in war. It was to be expected that the new designs would receive a certain amount of criticism, both from within the House of Commons and from outside, but it is 'unfortunatethat much of this criticism has been founded upon a failure to appreciate at their true value the various factors involved in designing the new vessels, and the varying functions which in time of war they may now be called upon to fulfil.
The pre-War naval architect had a relatively easy task. All the complexities of modem defence against such develop- ments as the submarine torpedo, floating and moored mines and bomb attack from the air were practically non-existent. In evolving a new design the specific enemy against whom it would almost certainly be employed could be clearly visualised. And since in a major fleet-action it could be reasonably expected that our own ships would be in a numerical preponderance, a certain amount of specialisation of type was possible.
The situation is drastically altered today. Naval experts now have to contemplate the equal possibility of our new ships having to fight a sudden short-range action in the fogs and gales of the North Sea, a high-speed running chase in the sheltered waters of the Mediterranean, or a long-range major action in the vast wastes of the Pacific. They must be able in all these differing circumstances to resist constant attack from above, beneath or upon the surface. And they must be prepared now, if necessary, to fight against a heavy numerical superiority, since today a naval war on two or even three widely separated fronts is unfortunately by no means an impossibility.
Our naval designers have therefore had an incredibly difficult task in evolving on a treaty displacement of 35,000 tons a design suitable for any or all of these conditions. Within this limit they have had to juggle interminably with the four great vital factors of ship-design—speed, arm fluent, protection, range and seaworthiness, to which may be added habitability. Not one of these factors can be inadequate in a really successful design. A British battleship must be able to reach any spot in the Seven Seas, to get there in time, to take heavy punishment when she gets there, to hit back harder than her opponent, and to do all this in any kind of weather.
To meet these many requirements, our designers are giving us a squadron of five battleships, each of 35,000 tons, engined to do over 3o knots. Each will carry over 14,000 tons of armour plate. They will have very extensive internal sub-division and protection against under-water attack. They will mount a heavy secondary armament of the new dual-purpose guns against air and surface targets, and many anti-aircraft guns. And each will mount a main battery of to 14-inch guns.
Is this a satisfactory and adequate design ? There is little need to worry about the question of range and seaworthiness. The sea-going quality of British fighting ships is admired by foreign experts more than any other of their characteristics. And we may be certain that the range of our new class will not be less than that of the Nelson class, which carries over 4,000 tons of oil-fuel, and at economical speed can cruise half-way round the world. There will be general satisfaction, too, at the enormous weight of armour given to the new class. Over 14,000 tons, more than 4o per cent. of the total displacement, will be devoted to protection. Our designers have taken to heart the tragic lessons of the Jutland engage- ment, which showed that no vessel unable to stand up to heavy and concentrated gunfire has any chance of survival in a modern fleet action. Our new battleships are magnificently protected, and can take any amount of punishment.
The two characteristics against which criticism has been mainly directed are those of their speed and armament. Our present fleet speed is approximately 22 knots, compared with the 3o knots of the new class. It is contended that this speed is unnecessarily and ridiculously high, and that a lower speed with increased protection or armament would be preferable. And another school of thought, led by Mr. Winston Churchill, points out that all the new foreign battleships arc mounting either is-inch or 16-inch guns, and deplores the fact that our new class will mount only the 14-inch gun.
The reasons for the high speed of the new class are not far to seek. It is vital that they should have a fair chance of being able to intercept and bring to action the new foreign 3o-knot battleships whenever a chance offers itself. If these latter vessels in time of war would obligingly guarantee to seek out and bring to action our own ships, we should be very well content with 22 knots. But that is precisely what they will not do. Except in abnormal circumstances an energetic enemy is not going to throw away his 30-knot monsters in an indecisive or possibly disastrous major fleet-action. He is going to use them to strike smashing strategic blows swiftly and unexpectedly—bursting through cruiser screens to sink important military or merchant convoys, cutting trade routes, striking at ill-defended bases, covering high-speed landings on undefended territory.
To be able to throw our striking force swiftly to the scene of action and to intercept and bring to action the enemy is absolutely vital. The old, slow capital-ship tactics are dead. Our present battle fleet is a magnificent shield, but our new ships are designed to act as a sword, striking at and destroying the enemy and frustrating his plans. Speed in any future naval war will be vital. Apart from our ancient battle-cruisers we have nothing that could run down and destroy the 26-knot t-inch gunned German pocket battleships, vessels that would be useless in a line of battle, but are the finest commerce raiders ever built. A war in the Mediterranean would be one of extreme high speed, as both French and Italian designs clearly indicate. And some day the fate of Australia and of the whole British Commonwealth may depend upon the speed with which a British Battle Squadron can steam East from Singapore. Thirty knots is a minimum strategical necessity, and this our designers have given us.
There remains the vexed question of armament. The 16-inch gun with its projectile of 2,400 lbs. is undoubtedly the most destructive weapon, but it has the disadvantage of being relatively slow in its rate of fire, and it is enormously heavy. After providing for 14,000 tons of armour, and machinery of over 130,000 h.p., it would not be possible to mount more than six of these guns- within the Treaty limit of 35,000 tons. Modern high-elevation gun-mountings are almost incredibly heavy. Furthermore, most gunnery officers heartily dislike a six-gun armament. It gives them only a three-gun salvo, and at the long ranges which are normal today a three-gun salvo has a comparatively low chance of making a hit, even when a " straddle " has been obtained. The gunnery officer's ideal is the five-gun salvo, when he can get it, and this the Admiralty have given him, for by adopting the much lighter 14-inch gun they have been-able to mount ten of them in the new class. This gives a five-to-three chance of getting a hit compared with the alternative armament, which, as Damon Runyon would say, is a very fair price. The 14-inch shell is considerably lighter than the 16-inch, but it is quite destructive enough against any possible target, and, as the Jutland engagement showed, it is not so much the actual calibre of the shell that counts as the number of hits obtained. The armament of the new class is admirably calculated to render this a maximum against any target No ship design will ever give perfect satisfaction to every- body. But we may conclude with some assurance that in the new ' King Georve V ' class our naval architects have provided a very satisfactory answer to the many problems which con- fronted them. Our new battleships will be as fast as any capital ships with which they may ever have to deal. In action they will be able to take heavy punishment without flinching. They will be able to fight their guns anywhere, in any weather, against anyone. And they will be able to hit hard and often. There is little room for dissatisfaction with a design like that.
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