PROGRESS OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2961, 27 December 1916, Page 4

PROGRESS OF THE WAR

An Amsterdam message gives a highly-coloured account of German preparations for the. intensified I submarine campaign which is announced to open at the beginning of the new year. It is no doubt a purely German story, written to I impress and not to convey information. At all events assertions regarding the construction of "an enormous fleet of submarines" are palpably overdone, and probably most of the details which the message contains are equally unreliable. As even this message admits, limits are imposed upon the submarine campaign by tho time needed to train crews. The current campaign .which has now been in active progress for several months has probably resulted in serious inupon Germany's resources both in boats and crews, and in the light of past experience it seems unlikely that she will be able to improve upon her present efforts for any length of time,

One of a number of details in tho Amsterdam message which puts a strain upon belief is the statement that the larger enemy submarines aro equipped for a voyage of 70 clays. A good deal would depond upon tho distance travelled in tho 70 days, but tho claim is' ambitious. The longest voyage yet credited to an enemy submarino is : that of the Uo3, to the American' coast and back to a German port, and it is credibly reported that this boat replenished her fuel supplies in the Western Atlantic, though she did not do so at an' American port. Uo3 completed the round voyage in six weeks, and could, of courso, have done so in a much shorter period. Some interesting information regarding the U53 and other German submarines was supplied recently by tho naval correspondent of the London Times. In the first place-, ho compared tho particulars, said to be (official, which had been telegraphed from America, concerning the dimensions, etc., of tho U53 with those of tho British "E" class submarines, the latest in commission when the war broke out. The respective details aro as follow: — "J3" Boats U 53 Torpedo tubes 4-5 1 Guna....: Tivo3in. $ no i i "- (One 3m. Periscopes J — Three H.P., oil engines... 1,730 2,400 Speed (surface) 16 knots .18 knots Speed (submerged) 10 knot 6 14 knots Submerged radius — 5,000 knots "There is shown here," the correspondent remarked, "the progress in construction made in two years. Not that tho development indicated in tho German figures comes as any surprise. It was not only antici- ! pated by, but. plainly evident to, our nayal authorities, whose reply cannot yet bo disclosed. On moro than one occasion I have referred to the entry into service, actual or pending, of improved German submarines, tho designs for which had been prepared some months before tho war began. Boats of from 1700 to 2000 tons displacement, carrying four 4in. or 6in. guns, with engines of 4000 horse-power and a speed on the surfaco of 16| knots, had been planned, and there was admittedly no mechanical difficulty in constructing boats of this sizo. Indeed, vessels of even larger types, with 6000 h.p., were in sight. The experience of fcho war would seem to indicate an interesting modification of these designs. The demand for guns has been reduced, as in most, at any rate, of tho boats of which we havo had information not more than two weapons were carried. Onthe other hand, tho speed has gone

up. Vessels of 20 knots made their appearance at quite an early stage of the submarine blockade. The

U53, so far as speed and armament are concerned, represents a compromise between the designs of 1914 and most of the German boats completed during the war. She is neither exceptionally well armed nor particularly fast, but her remarkable feature is her radius of action. Where she might have carried four guns she has only two; her torpedo tubes number only four, and her surface speed of 18 knots represents the medium between the 14-knot boats finished before the war and those of 20 knots which have been employed around these islands."

Events are moving apace in the Sinai Peninsula. Rapidly following up their advance to El Arish, the British forces have now heavily defeated the Turks at Eir el Magdhaba. Prisoners alone number over eleven hundred, and enemy casualties in killed and wounded are described as considerable. In all, the Turks must have

lost in this battle not far short o£ half tho number of men they lost in their ill-fated offensive in August last. In addition they have lost two guns and a largo quantity of arms, and war material. With the capture of Bir el Magdhaba,. tho British offensivo assumes increased importance. The occupation o£ El Arish involved a big forward step, but only the coast route across tho Sinai Peninsula was immediately affected. It is now evident that the British commander aims at securing also the central routo by which the main body advanced on tho occasion of tho attack on the Canal in February, 1915. Bir el Magdhaba stands about twenty miles south of the coast at El Arish, and a further advance of some fifteen miles will placo the British astride tho central route, and in a position to command all save one, and that the least important, of the practicable routes across the _ Sinai Peninsula. As the operations are developing it is apparently intended to drive the Turks over tho frontier into Syria, and it will be remembered that the enemy base _at Beersheba is only about 35 miles beyond tho frontier by road. The Turks_ will hardly make their position in Southern Syria secure otherwise than by assembling a considerable force in that region. Such a concentration might set immediate limits to the British offensive, but it would be an end in itself not unimportant to make the Turks assemble forces in Syria which are likely soon to be badly needed elsewhere.

Heavy fighting is reported on the Moldavian frontier and elsewhere in Rumauia, but as information stands at time of writing the posithe armies is much as it was outlined yesterday. News from Salonika suggests that the campaign in Macedonia is entering a critical phase. German reinforcements—heavy guns and aircraft, and several regiments of infantry— are said to have reached the Macedonian front, and it 5s not improbable that a return blow to the Allied offensive which resulted in the capture of Monastir ■ is contemplated. Meantime the news from Greece is

far frOm reassuring, lit has been stated recently that' Constantine is yielding to the Allied demands in regard to moving his troops south and other matters, but there is a good deal to support an opinion that he is simply playing for time, and that the crisis which is now perhaps immediately at hand may find him. in a position to materially assist his German masters. It is reported to-day that Athens is still given over to anti-Venizelisfc outrages, and that Constantine is supporting a campaign of terror, brutality, outrage, and pillage. Reports of this kind gain colour from the King's public commendation of the troops conccrned in the treacherous attack upon tho Allied detachments landed at Athens in the early days of this month, and if they are accurate, it must follow that the Allies are not making much headway towards enforcing their de*mands. At the moment the outlook.in Greece is decidedly unpromising.