'There ig more than sentimental jattackment to the report that H.MS. Hawkins, flagship of the British China Fleet in' 1922-23, with her three sister ships, might be saved from the jserapheap "to which all four are Jdoomed this year by' the London Naval Treaty. Hope for their re-Jprieve with: smaller armaments is held out by the British Government's re-armament decision which would give these vessels a longer lease of life view of the urgency in which the JGovernment considers the situation. The unusually fine qualities of these four vessels made them outstanding In the Brilish Fleet and one authority Jconsidered the Hawkins class the nest type of war vessel ever conccelved by naval designers. Hawkins the best-known of the class, hav-Jing also been flagship of the' West Indies Fleet. Vindictive was converted into a semi-aircraft carrier with a catapult and also visited China. HIMS. Efingham and Frobisher are the other two of the class. Six hundred feet long and 9,860 tons, they are capable of a speed of 30 knots and mount seven 7.5 Inch guns among their armament, To satisfy the terms of the treaty, their reprieve demands replacement by 6-Inch guns.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.