Bluebloods & Battleships

In a world growing yearly more democratic, on the threshold of a great naval disarmament conference, new editions of the intransigeant annuals of blue bloods and battleships came last week from their respective publishers: the squat red Almanach de Gotha and long blue Jane's Fighting Ships. In recent years, editing the 167-year-old Almanach de Gotha, "genealogical, diplomatic and statistical annual," has been no mean task. Bound by tradition to list only the members of regal, princely and ducal families, the genteel editors have been obliged by a shortage of European aristocracy to fill their sedate pages with such families as those of His Highness Seyyid Sir Khalifa-II-bin-Haroub-bin-Thuwaini, Sultan of Zanzibar; His Highness Maharadjad-hiradja Tribhubana Bir Bikram Jan Bahadur of Nepal, Shah Bahadur Shamshere-Jung. Maharadja of Nepal; and His Highness Seyyid Timour-bin-Feysal, Sultan of Oman.

The matter of choosing suitable royalty to adorn the frontispiece has become even more difficult. After 166 years of continuous publishing the editors decorated the flyleaf of the 1929 volume with the likeness of Amanullah of Afghanistan. Scarcely had the presses stopped rolling than Amanullah abdicated, fled his country, became the scandal of European chancellories.

Last week the new Almanach bore as a frontispiece the round olive face of fat King Fuad I of Egypt. Backed by the government of Great Britain, to whose Sovereign he has been sending presents of pink preserved milk (TIME, Dec. 16), Frontispiece Fuad has an excellent chance of retaining his throne at least until the next issue of the Almanach.*

Unlike the Almanach de Gotha's authors, who maintain a ponderous delitescence, are the British editors of Jane's Fighting Ships. They preface their pages of photographs, statistics and "recognition silhouettes" of the world's warships with a brief foreword reviewing the year's progress in warship building, the outlook for the year to come. Chief comments: "It is difficult to imagine that present proposals for the abolition of the submarine have any chance of success." "The 10,000-ton Washington treaty type of cruiser will prove of very doubtful value for future naval operations. . . . New type vessels are under construction which tend to throw the treaty cruisers into disfavor and minimize their chances of employment ten years hence."

New British and U. S. warships, says Jane's, are stodgy, orthodox. Pioneering in naval construction has passed to the smaller naval powers: Japan, France, Germany. The latter's "pocket battleship," Ersatz Preussen," is quite the most remarkable warship produced since the War."

*For other news of Fuad I, see p. 32.

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