Two existing United States battleships are two inches broader still in the beam. Any addition to the tonnage of battleships which involved a corresponding increase in width would therefore have the virtual effect of halving the potential strength of the American Navy.
There are many students of naval warfare who believe that the continual increase in the range and power of aircraft has made the capital ship an anachronism, as vulnerable as it is costly.
On the vast and clear horizons of the Pacific Ocean, however, the aeroplane lacks many of the advantages which give it the mastery of the narrow, cloud-veiled waters that surround the British Isles, and it is quite certain that the Government of the United States will not allow a Japanese challenge in battleship construc. tion to remain unanswered.
Nor, in view of growing British anxieties in China, is it likely that Britain will do so either.
To the existing' burdens of armament rivalry the Japanese are therefore making a formidable addition. Though the vital duty of developing a great air Force must always come first with the British Government, it may soon be faced by the prospect of immense expenditure upon mammoth battleships designed to fight in Far Eastern waters.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.