London, Mar. 4.
Three 40,000-ton Japanese battleships were launched during the past year and two more such super-@readnaughts were under construction, the new volume of "Jane's Fighting Ships" reported toda:
Japan also has launched three 12,000 to 15,000-ton pocket battleships, which were named Kadekuru, Kashino and: Hachijo, and is building another, according to "Jané's."
German's 35,000-ton Bismarck possibly already is in service, while its sister ship, the Tirpitz, will be ready to enter service next year, the authoritative book on the world's naval forces said.
The new Japanese super-ships are named Nissin and Takamatu, but the third is not named, "Jane's Fighting Ships" said.
The status of British battleships has not changed from the list issued in the previous annual volume.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.