The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH AND INCORPOTATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1939. THE SUBMARINE MENACE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 217, 14 September 1939, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH AND INCORPOTATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 1939. THE SUBMARINE MENACE.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that toe can do.

Britain's existence—and, incidentally, New Zealand's ability to sustain living standards at a level comparable with that to which it is accustomed—depends on the continued flow of food and other supplies along the sea routes. JFor that flow to be free it is of course necessary first for the Allied naval forces lo have command of the sea, and there seems no reason to doubt that, in so far as the surface of the ocean is concerned, that command is assured and will remain so. In the last war four months elapsed before the outer seas were swept clear of German warships. This time, if any German warships are at large,, we have not heard of them, nor of any damage done by them to British merchant shipping. As for German merchant shipping, Lord Stanhope announced yesterday that it had been clear?d from the seas, so that it would appear that the only danger from surface craft will arise from disguised armed merchantmen which, like the Wolf, may slip through the blockade. But imitators of the Wolf will have no easy passage.

The principal danger, as in 1914-18, seems likely to arise from the activity of German submarines, which have already inflicted losses described by Lord Stanhope as somewhat severe. Once again, though much earlier than in the last war, the Germans, fearing the progressive effects of (ho naval blockade, are attempting to "crush Engli.-h economic life through U boat action against English commerce." They have started earlier, but the British have started their counter-measures earlier, too. There is impelling need for the efficient operation of ' all such measures. According to authoritative estimates early this year, there were owned in the United Kingdom at the end of 1913 5017 vessels (steam and motor vessels of 500 tons grass and over), amounting to 16,937,000 tons gross. At the end of last August there were 3325 vessels of 13,952,000 tons gross. These ships include all those on which in war time the Royal Navy draws for various purposes to supplement its own fleets. In 1916 more than 1100 ocean-going ships were so requisitioned for naval purposes and were not available for commerce. In war time there is safety in numbers, and the possession of a larger number of small ships would spread the risk of stoppage of supplies and facilitate the maximum use of ports, both large and small. But it is estimated that since the last war there has been a reduction of 25 per cent in British tramp tonnage.

This great reduction in the volume of British tonnage has long been a source of anxiety, and no doubt was largely responsible for the decision to institute the convoy system promptly on the outbreak of war. (Last time it was not instituted until May, 1917, after the Allies had lost nearly a million tons of shipping in a single month.) Necessarily, at the outbreak of war, a certain number of British merchant ships were in places , where they could not be protected, and some of these have been sunk. But the convoy system is "operating with increased efficiency every day," and when it is fully in operation "there is no reagon to suppose it will less decisive than it was 20 years ago." That is a highly reassuring prediction, for by September, 1917, the British loss of shipping had fallen to 200,000 tons a month, while the loss of convoyed ships had been reduced to a bare 1 per cent. Nor should it be forgotten that, although the capacity of submarines has been extended since 1918, so have the means of combating them.