Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-01-22
JAPAN PLANNING
NAVAL EXPANSION
Will Build Superdreadnaught,
Two Cruisers, One DESTROYER
and Three Submarines

Toxic Jan. Correspondence of
the Associated Press. )-One super
| dreadnaught two cruisers, one de-
stroyer three submarines and two
special service ships constitute the
program of naval building for Japan
for the coming year. Admiral Kato,
minister for marine, explained the
| naval expansion project before the
| budget committee of the Diet yester-
| day in response to an Interpolation.
The battleship will be about the same
| type as the Fuso and Yamashiro,
which was recently launched, and will
carry twelve 14-inch guns and six
teen 6linch guns The two cruisers
will have a speed of 2S knots. They
| will probably be in the nature of
| light scout ships. Their armament has
not yet been decided. The submarines
| will have displacement of seven
| hundred tons each, a speed of 18
knots on the surface and 10 knots in
the water and will carry one gun.
Admiral kato expressed the opinion
that the war in Europe would not
necessitate any considerable alteration
in the naval armament of the great
powers He fully recognized, he said,
the effectiveness of aircraft and sub
| marines as weapons of offense as dem
onstrated in the present bar. but he
believed that these facts hardly af-
| fected the position of the battleship as
| an engine of war. If the Kaiser's
warships dared not venture from their
own sheltered waters it was because
/ of the powerful British squadrons
awaiting them outside. The absence
of any great naval engagement in Eu-
rope must be ascribed to the very
great difference between the British
and German navies. AS for submarines,
| however. actively they might work
| their activities were they confined
within certain limits and they could
hardly be expected to place the great
battleships hors de combat. The
minister said that equipment was now
! being provided on ships aaginst air
attacks. He was confident that the
dreadnaught remained the basic unit
of great navies.
j Prefer 14-Inch Guns
| The admiral further said that in
deciding the armaments for new bat
| tleships the naval authorities pre-
ferred the twelve 14-inch guns prin-
ciple to the eight 15-inch of the Brit
| ish and German naVieS because they
deemed the former more advantageous
than the latter from the viewpoint of
naval tactics. Furthermore the au-
| thorities believed that there would
occur no change in the shape and size
of warships and naval guns in the
near future. The minister's remarks
brought out the fact that Japans
eventual program includes the estab-
| lishment of a first line fleet of eight
battleships and eight great battle
cruisers.
Admiral Kato was asked particu-
| larly by X. KobayaShi, member of
the committee. as to the comparative
strength of the Japanese navy and
e DYfta nv nd
the United States. The member also
wanted to know whether the naval
authorities were confident of victory
in case of WARRIOR instance, in case
| of war with the United States. He
asked what plan the navy had in
case the United States attacked ia
pan with her naval strength twice
that of the Japanese navy. To this
Admiral kato replied that figures do
not always decide the issue of bait
| tie He is quoted as having added:
'If the American navy inVades Japan
we have only to encounter 1t with the
best tactics and art of warfare, to the
last vessel and last man, meanwhile
relying on the dignity of the august
/, emperor and the strong support of
sixty millions nation. This is the
decision of our navy in such an even
tuality."
| Simultaneous with the opening of
| the Diet has come a sweeping change
in the personnel of the navy. Espe-
cially noteworthy is the appointment
| of Vice Admiral Yashiro, eX-minister
of the navy, to be commandments
| chief of the second squadron; Vice
Admiral Nawa as commander-in-c chief
| of Maizuru naval station; Vice Admi-
raj Murakami as commander-in-ch chief
of the third squadron; Vice Admiral
| Yamaya, who commanded the Japa-
nese squadron to the southern isles
| during the war operations last year.
as vice chief of the naval board of
command; and the transfer of Vice
Admiral Takarabe from commander
ship of the third squadron to the COM
mand of the secondary naval station
at Port Arthur.
Since resigning as minister of ma
rine, Vice Admiral Yashiro, who won
the applause of the public as leader
of the navy cleansing in connection
with the naval scandal of last year
has been leading a secluded life in
a suburb of Kioto devoting himself
to the study of Buddhistic philosophy.
His appointment to the new post to-
gether with his restoration to active
service has attracted much appro-
val
The changes are generally regarded
in Toxic as indicating commence
ment of waning of the influence of men
of Satsuma extraction. The great
leaders I'm the navy have always come
from Satsuma province, hence the
army power had come to be known
as Satsuma.