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Show r . " - ,r - ' i , , f (f , - -"Vi. ' -- - 4 - ' - v". v.y' v.fa-y, - . 1 - v: ' x . 1 . zr.j.f.pjzmysymm& jtrronai photo f - w fflf y By JOHN D. GRANT ' l I, ''f ' iri naval powers of Europe are ' gt. l . Iatest a(ltIil:ion to Its navy, the , fp'V '1 l!tfg "mystery" ship or "vest pocket" J vf f ' ' I. ( tar launched at Kiel. ' , sC-3" j The cruiser, which has taken f ('3 f S -f t "S3W4fcS. 'Vip 32 months to build at a cost of - f' " I f 'f 1 7 --- (SL- $20,000,000, is admitted by Trench f f I "CL "PX? experts to be the greatest small J ""ia lighting ship eer built. There , 'Xl l) ' ' " " ' are many pessimistic experts in ' ''iv S $ " ' - -eds7' -"a the French naval staff who insist that ton for ' iVctt fV t i ff t I 3 , SZ ton the Deutschland will greatly surpass the SAZ fi $ i ' ' ' new 23,333-ton London-treaty cruisers France "?T-4i. vC ?l ',4 is to build. - ' - V The new lightweight engines in the Deutsth- i'f',s',4l:'' , ' -W land, which have been brought down in weight ' v M I s to 18 pounds per horse power unit, have no equal ' f"' tti 1 In any other navy and the adantage of the "Tff Til i 4 -' tf t "i German warship lies in the fact that, fitted with 'Wil nA f f V ' V such engines, it can outspeed any otlier ship in KtgwCr J 'it f I 1 '' a long cruise. That makes it partioalaily dan- FXkCPI V Jh $ ' ', I1 gerous as a raider along the commerce sea r"3U ? 1( f v 3$?''! lanes of the world. i r I 3pV 1 x rv Even among its newest cruisers, Great Kntain ' T4 V'f'lt has nothing to compare to the DvutsUiland. . P , . ' - ' f f-'A Li France and Italy, each allowed two 23,333 ton liJ,H S- ; ' . ',-J 'V ''C'P?- cruisers under the recent agreement, way devel- lX M P. C ii - ' f J r t?H op something its equal, but the superior ton- rfm'J r-n -A , . , k' i V m 2i nage will make the French and Italmn ships fe'k BtK ' . t:fc3S2 twice the targets. ; , V.Slfrl n One of the most striking features of the TT Jt Vl, i I'V TOT5 4 , Deutschland is the fact that the ships new w'lVf'.W'" ' i TTTll, i eleven-inch guns are able to fire three times the . , Vtv v "V- 1 , weight of ammunition of similar guns of the old ' , i ' 'v'' &if3 build. This, coupled with the gulps' range of v'r' W- ' wt ' 'j , " k "fafe almost 30 miles, the greater speed and ease of Wxl ' h' V'- maneuvering, greatly increases the military val- t--Z toW JT1,,'T- ue of the ship. Close to 20 antiaircraft guns dItl '4 &&&3f and special fog creating apparatus nelp protect -ryL,,,rrJZZ. , ' -""i the ship from air attack. 'TtSTasr'CJSQZS? COT W? KZTS UhrHrxxi & Kcfr 4 By JOHN D. GRANT JW-iE naval powers of Europe are frankly bothered over Germany's f Iatest addition to its navy, the iXif "mystery" ship or "vest pocket" cruiser, Deutschland, recently (ti' launched at Kiel. V J The cruiser, which has taken . v3 32 months to build at a cost of X- $20,000,000, is admitted by French "PsjT? experts to be the greatest small lighting ship ever built. There are many pessimistic experts in the French naval staff who insist that ton for ton the Deutschland will greatly surpass the new 23,333-ton London-treaty cruisers France is to build. ' The new lightweight engines in the Deutschland, Deutsch-land, which have been brought down in weight to 18 pounds per horse power unit, have no equal In any other navy and the advantage of the German warship lies in the fact that, fitted with such engines, it can outspeed any otlier ship in a long cruise. That makes it particularly dangerous dan-gerous as a raider along the commerce sea lanes of the world. Even among Its newest cruisers, Great Britain has nothing to compare to the Deutschland. France and Italy, each allowed two 23,333-ton cruisers under the recent agreement, iway develop devel-op something its equal, but the superior tonnage ton-nage will make the French and Italian ships twice the targets. One of the most striking features of the Deutschland is the fact that the ship's new eleven-inch guns' are able to fire three times the weight of ammunition of similar guns of the old build. This, coupled with the gulps' range of almost 30 miles, the greater speed and ease of maneuvering, greatly increases the military value val-ue of the ship. Close to 20 anti-pircraft guns and special fog creating apparatus nelp protect the ship from air attack. The ship has relatively small draft, enabling her to sail in shallow waters where submarines cannot follow. At the same time her ability to sail in shallow waters increases her value for coastal defense, which is of prime importance, for the Germans want the ship to defend East Prussia, which was cut off from the motherland by the Polish corridor. Whether the Deutschland will fulfill all expectations expec-tations of the German naval authorities will be ' determined by time. Nevertheless, the "vest pocket" cruiser is a threat to all other warships and a matter of deep concern to every naval power. Under Article 1S1 of the peace treaty Germany's Ger-many's naval forces are limited to six battleships, battle-ships, six light cruisers, twelve destroyers, and twelve torpedo boats. These units may, under Article 190, be replaced by "armored ships" not exceeding 10,000 tons, light cruisers not exceeding ex-ceeding 6,000 tons, destroyers not exceeding 800 tons and torpedo boats not exceeding 200 tons. Her battleships and cruisers may only be replaced re-placed at the end of 20 years, her smaller craft at the end of 15. And as her present battleships battle-ships a.m all more than 20 years old, she is free to carry out a replacement program. The possibilities within the narrow limits set by the treaty have been exploited with extreme skill and resourcefulness. The limits have not been overstepped by a hair's breadth, but although al-though they were intended to prevent Germany from having a fleet that would be more than ft North Sea or Baltic patrol, the Deutschland is so formidable a type as to give Germany a naval preponderance over all the other Baltic powers combined, to influence the construction programs of the great naval powers, and once more to put into Germany's hands that weapon which she used with such terrible effect in the World war the weapon of commerce raiding. The new vessel is officially termed an "armored "ar-mored cruiser" (Panzerkreuzer), but she is really more like a battle cruiser than a cruiser in spite of her small size, which has earned for her the nickname of "pocket battleship." Her standard displacement is, as the treaty prescribes, pre-scribes, 10,000 tons. Her length, beam and draught are still unrevealed, except that her draught is known to be shallow. She carries six 11-inch, eight 6-inch, four 3.4-inch guns and six 19.7-inch tropedo tubes. Her 11-inch guns are of Krupp manufacture. They fire a projectile weighing 670 pounds at a range of 30,000 yards at an elevation of 60 degrees. They have a patent pat-ent loading gear which, so it is said, will enable them to fire four rounds a minute each. Her underwater protection is said to be superior supe-rior to anything hitherto known. She has a complete belt of armor and two protective decks. Her hull Is electrically welded. She carries Die-. Die-. sel engines that are exceptionally light and powerful pow-erful and weigh only 18 pounds per unit of horse power as compared with 150 per unit, which Is the average for the lightest Diesel engines pn motor ships. They save her a weight of about 500 tons and give her a cruising radius of 10,-000 10,-000 miles at 20 knots. By economizing fuel she could, so it is contended, cruise 18,000 miles without refueling. She is designed for a maximum speed of 26 knots, but it is anticipated that she will be able to exceed this figure. She is only the first of her class the Ersatz Lothringen, Ersatz Braunschweig Braun-schweig and Ersatz Elsass (also known as Panzerkreuzer Panz-erkreuzer B. C and D) are planned to follow. The first appropriations for the Ersatz Lothringen Lothring-en were voted by the reichstag this year. It is, of course, possible that the ship will not completely fulfill what is expected of her. She is somewhat of an experiment and there can be no final judgment until she has made her trial trips. Only two defects seem to be anticipated antici-pated as at all possible: Excessive vibration and a low freeboard which will, perhaps, make her rather a wet mount for guns in a high sea. But even if the 'Slight fears relating to these one of the most remarkable and formidable vessels ves-sels afloat, though also, in proportion to her tonnage, one of the most expensive, for she has cost about $20,000,000. The influence of the German vessel on the problem of international disarmament is already apparent. She proves that maximum fighting efficiency effi-ciency can be achieved without the huge displacements dis-placements of the most modern capital ships like the Nelson, with her standard displacement of 33,500 tons. She has brought the ideal size for maximum efficiency down to perhaps 15,000 tons, or, at the most, 20,000 tons. The great advantage is that she can destroy any other vessel of her own size (the 10,000-ton, 10,000-ton, S-inch gun "Washington Treaty" cruiser would be quite helpless in action against her) and with her speed of 26 knots she can run away from capital ships with' heavier armament (the Nelson is designed for a speed of 23 knots). The only ship that could overhaul her with any ease and be fairly sure of sending her to the bottom is the British battle cruiser Hood (41,200 tons normal displacement), with her trial speed of 32.07 knots and her 15-inch guns. In darkness or with low visibility the German cruiser could, it is asserted, make surprise attacks at-tacks on capital ships which could not have been attempted by vessels of her size in the World war. Whether ships will be built in "reply" to her will depend on the course taken by naval disarmament as a whole. The chief critics of the Deutschland, who include in-clude eminent naval experts like Emil Albodt and the late Admiral Galster, hold that the idea of the vessel is based on strategic and political conceptions that are unreal in the world situation situa-tion as it is now. Armaments are not absolute but relative. Germany's new naval program will increase her relative strength only as long as the other naval powers will allow. If the French were to regard this program as a menace to their security at sea, they could build ships more effective than the Deutschland and readjust the balance in their own favor. In other words, the other naval powers can always "go one better" than Germany, for whom there Is a limit fixed by the Treaty of Versailles, whereas for the other powers, although there' are -limits, there are none as rigid as this. Also, the treaty forbids for-bids Germany to replace her vessels before they are 20 years old. There are probably few Germans who have much faith in the future of international disarmament. disarm-ament. But .such prospects as there are so critics of the Deutschland would maintain can only be diminished by Germany's new naval program. There will not be another disarmament disarma-ment conference in which the Deutschland will not lurk in the background and perhaps in the foreground. She has started a rivalry in naval armaments in the Baltic sea. For Poland, sea power has now become a matter of serious consideration. con-sideration. If Germany's own security were increased, then the price of impeding the rather problematic problem-atic progress of disarmament might from the German point of view be worth paying. But so far from increasing Germany's security, the Deutschland has decreased it. Hitherto postwar post-war Germany .simply did not count on the sea and was not even a potential enemy in naval warfare. Now she is a potential enemy, but also one that can, if necessary, be placed in a position posi-tion of permanent inferiority by the building programs and naval alliances directed against her. What makes the arguments for the Deutschland Deutsch-land particularly unreal in the eyes of her critics crit-ics is the general character of a prospective war in which Germany might be involved. Such a war would not be decided by operations as slow as the embarkation and disembarkation of troops, or the gradual economic pressure of commerce com-merce raiding. A dozen German cities in the Ruhr, the Rhlneland. Saxony and Silesia are within easy range of French, Czech and Polish heavy artillery and could be swiftly destroyed without any invasion of German soil. Without heavy artillery, tanks and airplanes, Germany is quite helpless, and the Deutschland, even with her sister ships, does not make her less helpless. Her passenger airplanes might conceivably con-ceivably carry out a few raids in darkness, but they could hardly engage the modern air squadrons squad-rons of the great powers. To build the Deutschland Deutsch-land was, therefore so the critics say a waste of money, and a very large sum, too, and thoroughly thor-oughly bad politics as well. Her champions have won. Natural pride in a wonderful engineering feat has had a good deal to do with their victory. In any case, the "mystery ship" that has so startled the world is not quite the unmitigated and indubitable terror to Germany's potential enemies and the insuperable defense to Germany herself that her own instrinsic merits as an engineering feat might seem to warrant ( by Western Newspaper Union.) |