The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1916. SUBMARINE WARFARE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 243, 11 October 1916, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1916. SUBMARINE WARFARE.

For the cause that lack* axsistano*. For the lcrong that needs resittamem. For the future in the distance, Ami Ike gocd that we cam do.

The enemy is displaying increased submarine activity, and is operating in a new field. Within the last week we have had news of the destruction of two large transports in the Mediterranean, and the sinking of eeveral vessels only a few miles off the American coast. From the military point of view the j Mediterranean operations are probably j the more important. The loss of life j in the French transport Gallia was serious, and by two blows the Allies were deprived of 33.000 tons oi shipping.! A large number of lives have been lost | by the sinking of transports in the ifcditerr&nean. There among ( other losses, the Royal Edward disaster, in which a'thbusjilfa jfien'pyrftliedJ'tWe' Ramazan, in which the death-roll was three hundred; and the Provence, a French ship, which carried Wer-"avnwra£ sand soldiers to the bottom. Bat the enemy has not made the most of his opportunities in the -Mediterranean. Considering the magnitude of the Allies' operations and the difficulties in the way of combating the submarine in these waters, they have not been very badly hit. and doubtless the military and naval authorities were pre- ' pared for substantial absolute losses when they decided to eend armies to Gallipoli and Salonika. Transports have to travel great distances in the Mediterranean. The entrance to the sea from the Atlantic is narrow, but the depth of the water and tbe strength of the currents make it impracticable to use nets. German submarines can therefore pass in and out, and Austrian vessels can come down from the Adriatic. The enemy hae had bases on the north coast of Africa and on the shores of Asiatic Turkey, besides numerous secret depots on Greek islands. "The organisation of the German submarine campaign in the Mediterranean was magnificent" writes Mr. H. W. Wilson in ''The Great War." "They seem to have bribed to treachery every Greek worth bribing, and the hunt for their secret bases in the Greek islands occupied our men for many months." Less has been-heard of the counter measures taken by the British and the French in the Mediterranean tHan of.the anti-sub-marine campaign in British waters, but! we ran easily imagine that they imposed I a very heavy strain on the fleets. According to Mr. Wilson, there were some remarkable successes, but the Admiralty has wisely been silent about what has been done. These measures were so effective that when the Salonika expedition was on the j way, and the withdrawal from the Dardanelles was being undertaken, the enemy's submarines were reduced to almost complete impotence. Armies numbering a quarter of a million men, with a vast amount of material, were transported without dieasteT. Since then operations on a large scale have been continued with small relative loss. The Serbian Army -was moved from Corfu to Salonika; Italian aud Russian contingente were brought to the ante theatre; Australasian and .Russian troops -were transported to France— ail without jnkhap. And all the time the work of reinforcing and eupplying the armies in Macedonia and Egypt has proceeded. Mr. Wilson, who writes very candidly, and even alarmingly, about these activities of the enemy, comes to the conclusion that the military damage -wrought in ten of the most critical months of warfare was much less than might have been expected. We do not wish to underrate the seriousness of the Menace, but to try to draw the situation in its tree proportions, Theenlnng of a twaeport make* * noise, bnt tae doaeoa of chip. that I« M^™" l along ihe ronim mxy mmoticed. The appearance,bf a submarine o» : submarines off the American eoaet.is aot surprising. Indeed the surpriie fr that the GermK|»- i»Te not done th» Wore,

ior it has long been known that submarines could operate at this distance. Perhaps the unremitting attentions of the British Xavy have been responsible for the delay. Submarine activity against merchantmen is marked by periods of great activity, followed by lulls.,' in hie review in Anguet of the second! year of the war Mr. Arthur Pollen eaid* there were many signs that the German] Government would try to use sub-] marines to the limit of their power.] [."The utmost that Germany can ever do' is for brief periods to double the ferocity I of its efforte. and so double the loes wcj muet endure. But sach periods can' never exceed four or five weeks, and so must always be followed by periods of comparative inaction. So long, therefore, as merchant shipowners and underwriters maintain their nerve, there need be no apprehension as to the substantial, stability of the British and Allied sources, of supply, or of our capacity to carry on the war "to the full extent of our resources." That shipowners have not lost their nerve is shown by the fart that British and other lines are not: cancelling their sailings. It must be admitted, however, that it win be ver/ difficnlt to cope with submarines operating in waters so far from Britain. It i≤ not likely that the TJS3 was "built in America. If it was, and it could be 'proved t&at it was, the United States would be liable for the injury it caused to our shipping. It is more likely that it is getting supplies and information from America. We know how in the I early days of the war German crujeew obtained help from the United States. The Government may do its best to pre serve strict neutrality, but the cunning of German sympathisers and -corruption in the Federal service may easily defeat its intentions. This development will be no surprise to the Admiralty, which may be presumed to have made plans to meet it. So much ingenuity and resource ia.s been displayed in combating submarines in British waters that, in 6pite of the greater difficulties off the American coast, the word impossible should not bf applied to the new task. While we are dealing with submarine warfare, we may draw attention— though it is rather apart from the phase* of the subject we hare been discussing— to the amazing attitude adopted by tihe German Government with regard to the submarine merchantj man Deutschland. Herr yon Jagow, the i German Foreign Minister, solenmrr es- | plained to the United States Government that the Deutschland was "as fragile as an egg-shell,'" and therefore ft-as entitled, "on the highest grounds of j humanity," to be treated tenderly. He declared that to eink such a boat at sight would be "a cowardly and dastardly act," and if Britain was so wicked "Germany would expect the Government of ihe United States to voice the energetic protest of ■ civilfeation and humanity." Yet Germany herself has sunk merchantmen at sight over and over again, and gloried in the deed! We hope our readers will not forget this rich little incident To-day we have ths positive assertion of the captain of one of the British ships torpedoed off the American coast that his veasel was sunk without Tvarain?. Indeed, there have been several instances since Mr. Wilson believed that he settled the submarine controversy with Germany of veseels beinc sunk without warning. So far the German Government seeme to have taken the exact measure of Mr. Wilson, and it may be that it is now gambling on the fact that the Presidential election is near. But statesmen who are stupid enough to hold up their hands in horror at the thought of the Deutschland being attacked at eight may be stupid enough to provoke Mr. Wilson a little too much.