London, Dec. 18, Germany, Japan and Soviet Russia fare today engaged in a secret battle ship building race of unprecedented proportions, the 1939 Issue of "Jane's Fighting Ships of the World" revealed_today.
The cumal declared that the Japanese were leading in this race, with four projected "super" batt ships exceeding 40,000 tons, two of which were reported as having been Jaid down during 1928.
The handbook stated that alt nations throughout the world were Participating in the biggest navat Face since 1919, with at least 25 battleships under construction or authorized, Soviet Russia, according to the journal, claims the most by formidable submarine fect in the world, of which more than half were stationed at Vladivostok, within easy striking distance of Japanese waters.
Tt asserted that the United States' naval building programme was slowly proceeding in the heavier cate~ ones but that good progress had been made with the new 10,000 ton Light cruisers, all of which had been completed.
Tt. was. also disclosed that the Spanish Nationalists' navy had received four destroyers and two submarines from Italy—United Press.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.