Some well-informed observers predicted that if ihe United States invoked the escalator clause of the London Naval Treaty, the Navy would construct battleships even above the 43,000-ton class to permit mounting of 18-inch guns instead of 16.inchers. The larger guns, it was pointed out, would give the battleships two additional miles *i range and permit use of shells 400 lb. -heavier than now used in the Navy heaviest naval guns.
Navy officials said that the ability of proposed battleships to pass through the Panama Canal might be an important factor in determining their size but would not necessarily be the deciding factor in the choice of design,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.