Who's Who At Sea

Biggest bulge in any navy man's Christmas stocking last week was a long weighty book--the 1938 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships. Compiled in Britain, this Who's Who of warships describes, classifies and pictures the armed vessels of the world so that naval officers who spot them on the horizon can tell at a glance to what nation they belong, what type of ship they are, and make preparations to fight or run away. Each year Jane's brings the compendium of marine armed forces up to date with details of new ships, alterations and ships projected. Biggest known buyer of the book: the Japanese Navy, which purchases 1,000, puts at least one on every ship. Next biggest: the U. S.

Notable Jane's disclosures for 1939:

> This year will be the biggest in naval construction since 1919. Every naval power is building huge battleships, talked of not long ago as obsolete because of the advance of the airplane.

> Japan refused to sign the 1936 London Naval Treaty limiting battleships to 35,000 tons, but has given assurances that she did not intend to build bigger ship. Without bothering to call Japan a liar, Jane's reports that Japan is building four, all believed to be "over 40,000 tons," mounting eight or nine 16-inch guns each and having speeds of 30 knots. Two of them reportedly were put on the ways in 1938.

>Britain, having last summer invoked the "escalator clause" of the London Treaty allowing her to build above the 35,000-ton limit, plans to start work on the Lion and the Temeraire early in 1939. Both will be "about 40,000 tons" and will mount an undisclosed number of 16-inch guns. These are in addition to five 35,000 tonners already on British ways which will match the heavier Japanese battleships in speed.

>Germany is planning to lay down a fourth 35,000-ton ship early in 1939 to add to the three she began in 1936-37 as her answer to France's new battle squadron.

>Russia, which hitherto has concentrated on underwater craft, is entering the battleship race, plans to construct three 35,000-tonners, each with nine 16-inch guns.

> Russia is still the biggest fish when it comes to submarines, having "at least 164" built or building, including 40 of 200 tons.

>Italy secretly sold Spanish Insurgent Generalissimo Franco's navy two 1937-built submarines and four old destroyers in 1938, the Falco, Aquila, Guglielmo Pepo, Alessandro Poerio.

Not since 1916 has Jane's been edited by a Jane. Founded 41 years ago by Fred T. Jane, a Devonshire parson's sea-smitten son who had run away to London in his youth to write about ships, Jane's handbook was turned over to Dr. Oscar Parkes on the death of Founder Jane. Dr. Parkes, who combined his practice as a London neurologist with an interest in the world's fighting ships, served during the latter part of the World War in Britain's crack Naval Intelligence Division and as "No. 14 S. 2" he was assigned to spot enemy vessels. To aid British pilots in the bombing he made charts of every German fighting ship as it would appear from the air, directly below, at a distance or on the horizon. Dr. Parkes retired from Jane's editorship in 1935 and the job was turned over to another of Founder Jane's oldtime contributors, Francis Edwin McMurtrie.

A lagging student at Salway College (now extinct), where he was a classmate of Britain's Air Secretary Sir Kingsley Wood, young McMurtrie was presented with a copy of the 1897 edition of Jane's on condition that he buckle down to college work. Immediately he began sending Jane letters pointing out mistakes in the handbook and before long Editor Jane had taken an interest in his critic, crediting him with hav-ing assisted in the book's compilation. Much of McMurtrie's information comes from thousands of unofficial correspondents who mail him their observations, but the bulk of Jane's material is contributed by admiralty offices themselves. Every summer McMurtrie sends out questionnaires to the naval departments of some 40 nations. He receives replies from every one except Russia. Most cooperative was China, which used to send information about its 56-vessel, 57,000-ton navy by return mail. This year China could reply only with the number of its ships that had been "lost."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.