BRITISH SEA POWER

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 274, 19 November 1942, Page 5

BRITISH SEA POWER

Effectiveness Demonstrated By

Convoy To Africa

BIGGEST l-BOAT PACK

Rec. 1 p.m

RUGBY, Nov. 18.

Opinion is expressed in competent quarters in London that, never in this war or last, has such a volume of shipping passed through such a concentration of U-boats as existed in the area from well west of Gibraltar to Bizerta and Sardinia during the landing in North-west Africa.

It is believed from recent reports that there must have been 30 U-boats in that area during the passage of the convoy, and. as they were quickly reinforced, it was possible that as many as 50 were concentrated. In face of such a concentration the Allied losses were remarkably few, and, except for one ship, they had all done their job and landed their troops.

The First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. A. V. Alexander, said that there was no final victory yet, and that U-boats remain the greatest of all our problems at sea. "We have so far succeeded in keeping our ocean lanes open," he said. "Whatever the dangers of the U-boat menace, we are not without our answer. Never in the last three years has it been more necessary to insist on the maximum possible effort if we are to expand the advantage which we have gained, to build the foundations of victory."

The First Lord also commented that it was probably because the Axis Powers had gambled on their theory that air power could defeat the sea power of Britain that they had not accomplished their purpose. Sea power had won, as was demonstrated in the last few days.