Springfield Weekly Republican

The Mystery Ships

Some weeks ago reports were made public in this country of two superliners, the Rex and the Duce, which Italy was proposing to build and which, it was said, would have the astonishing speed of 35 to 40 knots in crossing the Atlantic. A good deal of mystery surrounded the report. It was rumored that this unprecedented speed was to be attained by the adoption of a new Italian invention and that among other striking features the ships would have additional propellers placed in recesses amidships.

That the two mystery ships would ever be built was at first somewhat doubted in American shipping circles and it does not yet appear that contracts for their construction have actually been let. But the plan for their construction appears to be regarded with less skepticism since it is now reported that their design will not be along such novel lines as at first intimated. It is also said that their maximum speed instead of being 40 knots will not be more than 35.

This at least brings them within the range of previous engineering accomplishment. That speed has already been reached for short periods by a number of the light cruisers over which so much controversy has lately been raging.

Steaming at 35 knots - for it is now stated that steam, rather than the internal combustion oil engine, is to be the propelling force - the proposed Italian liners would be enormously expensive to operate if the experience of other lines with fast ships is to be taken as a guide. But the thing can be done if Mussolini and the Italians are willing to pay the price.

It is said that the ships will be used in the New York-Naples service as fast express liners with a view to making the run as near to five days as possible. They are to be used exclusively, according to the plan, for first-class passengers and mails and by eliminating freight will be able to make quick turns around at each end of the run. It is suggested that Mussolini's favor of the plan for building these vessels is based upon a desire not only to capture as much as possible of the transatlantic patronage but to have, in the event of war, powerful naval auxiliaries able to carry large numbers of troops quickly to points of conflict.

There is some additional color in the report from Italy because of the fact that the North German Lloyd company is already building two liners, the Bremen and the Europa, which are said to be designed to take the speed ribbon away from the British Mauretania and to surpass its sustained speed of 26.06 knots with a sustained speed of 27.5 knots or more.