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Show 197 Destroyers Now Building Construction Pace Equals Combined Power of Any Two Axis Countries. WASHINGTON. The speed being attained in the construction of United Unit-ed States destroyers to help keep open the sea lanes vital to defense is exceeding the highest expectations expecta-tions of navy officials. After subtracting the 50 over-age destroyers transferred to Great Britain, Brit-ain, the United States had in active service at the end of 1940, 180 destroyers, de-stroyers, 80 more than those possessed pos-sessed by Japan, strongest Axis naval power. And this numerical superiority does not tell the complete com-plete story; military consensus credits cred-its this country's destroyer force with a speed and hitting power superior su-perior to that of any other nation. Japanese destroyers carry only six to nine torpedo tubes, as against 8 to 16 on similar American craft. Another technical achievement in our favor is the fact that on our newer new-er destroyers the torpedo tubes have been mounted upon the superstruc- ture to permit firing in heavy weather. weath-er. The Japanese tubes remain on the main deck. In both fleets the destroyers' five and six-inch guns have been set in turrets, but the American turrets have additional light armament. In some quarters Tokyo's torpedo carriers and submarine sub-marine hunters are deemed top-heavy. top-heavy. 197 Now 'Building.' Two hundred destroyers were ordered or-dered for the United States navy in 1940, and 197 are now listed as "building." The speed with which this program is being carried out can be deduced from the production record set between January 1 and September 30 of this year. By the end of September the keels had been laid for 57 destroyers, 10 had been launched and 12 completed and placed in active service. This is a construction pace superior to that of any two Axis nations combined. An indication of the production speed is provided by several destroyers de-stroyers recently completed. In World war days the average time for constructing a 1,200-ton destroy- er was nine months. When the Edison, Edi-son, a 1,700-ton vessel of more complex com-plex design than the World war models, was launched, 8i months after keel laying, it was deemed an exceptional achievement. But the Bristol and Ellyson, both l,700ilon-ners l,700ilon-ners of the same class as the Tjdi-son, Tjdi-son, slid down their KearnyJ. J. ways only 714 months after keel laying. lay-ing. The destroyers are part of the production of 375,000 men in the country's .shipyards. t Cavalry of lie Sea. Another development which has heightened the importance of our destroyer de-stroyer force is the nature of modern mod-ern warfare. Destroyers correspond to the army's mechanized cavalry. They are swift-moving and hardhitting hard-hitting and are constantly being improved. im-proved. American destroyers can be controlled from so many different protected places that the chance of losing control through enemy gunfire is negligible. United States destroyers are the only ones in the world which can be refueled without with-out stopping at sea. How this is done is a secret. A Latest reports which have reached this country also show that the destroyer de-stroyer is well adapted to combat the dive bomber. The speed and maneuverability of the destroyer has enabled it to avoid being hit by air bombs in many Mediterranean and Atlantic sea battles. |