1939-01-16 — Page 29

THE CHINA MAIL, JANUARY 16, 1939

ITALY'S FLEET IN RED SEA

Six Destroyers And Six Submarines

ITALY NOW MAINTAINS AT MASSAWA, ON THE RED SEA, A POWERFUL NAVAL FORCE COMPRISING AN CRUISER, SIX DESTROYERS, AND SIX MODERN SUBMAR-

ESCORT

INES. THIS DISCLOSURE IS MADE IN THE NEW EDITION OF "JANE'S FIGHTING SHIPS."

. It lends point to the official Ger- man survey of Italian naval. strength, in which emphasis was laid on Italy's power to menace the trade routes in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean by virtue of her newly-developed bases in Eritrea and Somaliland.

The new edition of "Fighting Ships" contains more than 3,000 photographs and diagrams of the world's warships.

Specially interesting features are the census of Russian submarines, now reported to number 164, built and building by far the largest undersea fleet in existence; the re velation that Japan's 8,500-ton cruisers, with 15 6.1in. guns, are so topheavy and unseaworthy that the last pair have had their armament reduced by three

guns; and the fact that in the course of the Sino- Japanese conflict most of the best Chinese warships, sunk in action, have been salved and added to the Japanese navy.

To meet the request of numer- ous readers who desire to know the present and prospective strength of the British Navy, in- cluding Dominion forces, the fol- lowing table is given:

Battleships

Battle cruisers

Built Building

7

2524

12

3

Heavy cruisers

15

Light cruisers

46

20

Aircraft carriers

6

Destroyers

167

32

Submarines

54

15

Escort, patrol and

minesweeping craft

85

10

Motor torpedo-boats 16

11.