AGAINST U-BOATS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 31, 16 November 1939, Page 5

AGAINST U-BOATS.

SUCCESS OF CONVOY SYSTEM. GERMANY'S POSITION SURVEYED. ! i • LONDON, November 14. There is evei’y reason for satisfaction regarding the anti-submarine campaign, as is shown by a comparison with the figures of losses occasioned in the last war by the German unrestricted submarine warfare which started in Febiuary, 1917, when 114 British ships, totalling 260,000 tons,, were lost. In March, 146 ships, of 287,000 tons, were lost, and in April, when _ the sinkings reached the peak, 450 British, Allied, or neutral ships, of 852,000 tons, were destroyed by U-boats, The convoy system was begun in May, 1917, and from then until the war finished, 99.08 per cent, of the 16,698 ships which sailed in convoy completed their voyages. In the present war the convoy system has operated as ships have returned from their pre-war voyages, and of those convoyed 99.7 per cent, have reached their destinations. As regards the fate of the German submarine fleet, it is difficult to give precise details because, when a U-boat founders ‘in deep water no trace is loft. It is thought, however, that Germany began the war with about 70 craft, distributed into largo ocean-going, me-dium-sized, and purely coastal types. To this fleet she can add, it is anticipated, two further U-boats ! each week in the first six war weeks. There is good reason to believe that about one-third of the total German submarine fleet has been destroyed or badly damaged. Thus it must be anticipated that by the end of January she will have about 100 craft available, less any sinkings which may occur in the meantime. It is not unexpected, however, that the destruction rate will remain at least the same, for by then the antisubmarine fleet will have been greatly reinforced, and these ships will all be equipped with the latest detector and destructive devices, which have greatly improved since 1918'. Further, Germany will have increasing difficulty in providing crews, which must be highly trained. Nor must be overlooked the devastating effect on others of the failure of one U-boat in four to return. In the House of Commons the Minister for Shipping (Sir John Gilmour) in reply to a debate on the Shipping Ministry, stated, in dealing with the convoy system, that so far 3040 ships had been convoyed with the loss of only seven. This was striking proof of the co-operation between the Itoyal Navy and the mercantile marine. Although the system inevitably caused interruption and delay in normal working, this delay was being diminished in many cases as a result of discussions with the Admiralty.

He added that the Government’s policy was to prevent improper profit from freights, and this had largely been achieved, although the inevitable delays and diversion of ships because of war conditions had caused strain and inconvenience.

It had been pointed out in the debate that ships built as replacements in the last war had been found of little use when the war ended. This fact was not overlooked, and every spare part available was being now used to construct ships which would be easily adaptable to trade conditions after the war.