A BACKGROUND OF THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 34, Issue 259, 29 July 1941, Page 6

A BACKGROUND OF THE WAR

In The Mediterranean DEFEAT OF E-BOATS

The sea affair held a prominent place in the weekend news, chiefly in connexion with naval operations in the Mediterranean. Following an unsuccessful attempt by submarines, Eboats and aircraft to prevent the passage through the Sicilian Channel of what is described by the Admiralty as an important convoy the enemy early on Saturday morning carried out with

E-boats an attack on the naval harbour of Valetta in Malta, which was repulsed with heavy loss. Apart from those destroyed by the harbour batteries which prevented the entry of any, the remainder of the enemy flotilla was either sunk or badly damaged by pursuing R.A.F. fighters which also shot down three aircraft for the loss of one machine whose pilot was saved. It appears that at least 17 of the enemy’s torpedo craft were sunk during the operation. Naval Strong Point

Contrary to a widely-held belief that it is a “deserted village” in a naval sense, Malta has been throughout the war, and particularly since Italy’s entry, an Important strong point In the central Mediterranean. Situated about 1000 miles from Gibraltar and rather more .than 800 miles from Alexandria, the respective war bases of the naval forces commanded by Vice-Admiral Sir James Somerville and Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, Malta, in fact, is the only British territory within easy distance of the channel or “alleyway” between Sicily and Cape Bon on the African coast and consequently the only possible base for naval and air forces charged with the protection of sea traffic through that channel.

That Malta possesses exceedingly strong defences is certain. Valetta is only about 60 miles from the southeast point of Sicily and has been subjected to hundreds of air attacks and alarms during the last 13 months. The severity of the enemy’s losses testifies to the efficiency of the island’s anti-aircraft defences. The complete failure of the E-boat attack, the first he has made by sea, doubtless will increase the enemy's respect for the strength of Malta’s harbour defences. It must not be imagined that ships, naval and mercantile, have not made considerable use of Valetta harbour during the last year. It will be recalled that the aircraft-carrier Illustrious, damaged in the attack on a convoy carrying important material assistance to Greece in January, put into Malta for repairs and afterward proceeded to Alexandria. The place has not fallen into disuse as the principal British naval dockyard in the Mediterranean because o£ its close* proximity to enemy territory. It is constantly used by ships carrying troops, supplies of all kinds and aircraft for the maintenance of the defending forces. The enemy’s unsuccessful E-boat attack on Saturday doubtless had as its objective numerous ships in Valetta harbour. E-Boats’ Exploits

The term E-boat has come to be used to describe any or all of the small high-speed motor torpedo craft used by the belligerents; it was first of ail the designation of the German vessels of this type. In. the Royal Navy they are generally known as motor torpedo-boats. The Italians call them, “motobarche anti-sommergibill” (anti-submarine motor-boats) —M.A.S. for short. In an article in.Brassey’s Naval Annual (1928) Rear-Admiral Sansonetti wrote of the M.A.S. as “those high-speed motor-boats widen during the last war played such a brilliant part in many naval episodes in the Adriatic, to which the Italian Navy has remained faithful and which are copied today by many other navies.” As a matter of fact the Royal Navy developed the motor torpedo-boat in its own efficient way during the war of 1914-18 to a much greater extent than the Italians. The Navy List of January, 1919, showed motor-launches in commission numbered consecutively up to M.L.580.

It is true that one Italian naval officer, Lieutenant Luigi Rizzo, “made history” by his daring exploit with a motor torpedo-boat in the Adriatic. He it was who on December 9, 1917, penetrated into Trieste harbour in a picketboat and torpedoed the old Austrian battleship Wien. By the merest accident on June 10, 1918, Rizzo and another Italian officer, cruising off the northern islands of the Dalmatian archipelago, sighted in the grey of the dawn a squadron of Austrian battleships. Dashing in in the uncertain light Rizzo dropped, two torpedoes which hit and sank the 20,000ton battleship Svent Istvan (St. Stephen). His companion twice missed the Tegetthof by a narrow margin. Both officers escaped.

A large number of British motor torpedo-boats took part in the memorable operations against Zeebrugge and Ostend in April, 1918. Some were employed to lay smoke-screens and others to take off the crews of the blockships. Several were lost in the operations, but all greatly distinguished themselves. A Daring Operation

Probably the most daring and successful operation ever carried out by these-small craft was the attack on the Russian warships in the hands of the revolutionaries in Kronstadt in August, 1919. It was here that Lieutenant (now Captain) A. W. S. Agar, V.C., D. 5.0., gained his Victoria Cross for his exploit of torpedoing and sinking the cruiser Oleg. Following this brilliant success a larger operation was planned and successfully carried out. On August IS, 1919, a flotilla of eight motor-boats commanded by Commander C. C. Dobson, D. 5.0., worked their way past the innumerable forts and guns protecting the approaches to Kronstadt and through the intricate channel with its maze of sandbanks, shoals, moles and buoys to the inner harbour. It was a remarkable feat and produced remarkable results. While one boat commanded by Lieutenant L. E. S. Napier torpedoed and sank the patrol cruiser, Lieutenant W. Bremner dealt similarly with a submarine depot ship. Napier also torpedoed a large destroyer acting as guard ship in the harbour. Lieutenant Brade put two torpedoes into toe battleship Perosvanni. Lieutenant McBean also hit this ship as well as the dreadnought battleship Petropavlovsk. Despite the distraction caused by the seaplanes, the forts opened a devastating Are on the motor-boats, several of which were destroyed. Nevertheless, the attack succeeded completely and the Russian fleet was completely immobilized. , . , . In the words of Admiral Cowan, British commander-in-chief in the Baltic, the great results achieved by this attack were gained “not only by dauntless bravery at the moment of rhe attack, but by strict attention to and rehearsal of every detail beforehand by every member of the personnel, both in the boats and- the nircrafC.’—sl SID.W.).