CO129-581-16 British propaganda in Hong Kong 18-4-1939 - 29-10-1939 — Page 84

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Improvement in Phipbuilding.

2

Some months ago an announcement was made that a substantial

subsidy was to be given to British shipping by the British Govern-

ment. Over a period of five years nearly £13,000,000 was to be made

available, mainly for tramp shipping, including vessels in the deep-

see trade but not in the coasting trade.

The latest quarterly returns of Lloyds Register show that the

Government's policy has already had an effect on 3ritish ship-

building. As compared with the previous quarter there are now sixty

more ships under construction in British yards and after allowing

for new ships commissioned, the volume is greator by 195,000 tons.

331,000 to

There has also been an impressive increase

402,000 tons of the work begun during last quarter. Orders for

about 750,000 tons of merchant shipping have been placed during

the period; in the ordinary course of events, by the end of next

quarter, there should be about 1,000,000 tons under construction.

Thus the decline has been reversed in Great Britain, whereas

in other countries, after an advance at the beginning of the year,

the work in hand has diminished. Excluding Russia, for which no

information is available, the shipping under construction abroad

is 2,068,000, which is less by 39,000 tons than it was three months

ago.

British shipbuilding yards are also busy on naval vessels.

is reported that by the end of the rear forty now warships and a

number of auxiliary craft will have been launched, including five

battleships, five large cruisers, seven smaller cruisers, four

large aircraft carriers, from ten to fifteen destroyers and nine

ocean-going submarines. About twenty-five motor torpedo-boats

also are being built, the latest being vessels of 32 tons.

It