A JAPANESE FLEET

Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 107, 6 May 1916, Page 13

A JAPANESE FLEET

IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

WITH NUMEROUS AIRCRAFT.

COPENHAGEN, 22nd Feb. The German newspapers quote the Italian papers for the statement that th© Japanese Fleet safely arrived in the Mediterranean, having with it a great number of aircraft.—Exchange Telegraph Company. Commenting on the report in the Daily Telegraph, Mr. Archibald Hurd wrote : It was reported many weeks ago that the Japanese Government had determined to send men-of-war into the Mediterranean in order to. help maintain the safety of communications between East and West. Now that the enemy knows all about tho matter, as mdicated by a message from Copenhagen, there is no reason why this dramatic development should not be discussed. Our ally has almost as great an interest in the free sea, passage from Europe' to the Far East as we have, with our anchors in Egypt, Aden, India," New Zealand, Australia, and elsewhere. The Mediterranean is the life-line of our Empire, as it is the lifo-line of Japan's profitable commerce with this part of the world. According to the Jiji Shimpo, of | Tokio, the ships selected for this duty are tlie armoured craiscyrs Kasuga aud Tokiwa, and the protected cruiser Chitose. The Italian papers report that the big ships havo also brought with them "a great number of aircraft." As tho Germans know, to their cost, aircraft can play no small part in putting down the latest phase of piracy on the high seas. AN EFFECTIVE REJOINDER. This constitutes Japan's effective rejoinder to Get-man efforts to sow discord between the members of the Grand Alliance. Several months ago two Japanese liners were sunk in the Mediterranean, with the usual callous disregard for human life. The "owlish enemies, no doubt, assumed that it was a long way for Japanese men-of-war to come to exact punishment and to prevent any recurrence of such outrages, and that, in fact, tliey had nothing to fear from these people in the Far East, whom they profess to despise !' Shades of Frederick the -Great, that it. should have come to this pass! But Japan has many scores to settle with Germany, which always stood in the way of this rising Power, attempting by every insidious and under hand method to interfere with its development. When the detailed history of the prejinn*. world etrußßle corns* to hn written , without such restraint »s must b& obr

served iu face of the enemy, it will be discovered that the European nations which are fighting for freedom owe a debt of deep gratitude to the Japanese. The Government at Tokio might well havo argued that our quarrel was none of their business: that they had no wish to become entangled in European troubles ; that in any case the Treaty of Alliance was not intended to apply to anytliing which happened outside the Far East—which is a fact, of course; and, in short, that they could render good service by maintaining an attitude of benevolent neutrality. Had Japan made snch a stand, we should have had no cause of complaint. The Mikado's Government, however, did nothing of the kind. From the first, offers of cooperation by land and sea were made in order to drive the Germans out of the Pacific, and those offers were made good. Japanese officers and men laid down their lives on. behalf of the cause in which we are fighting. Nowhere in the Far East does the German flag fly to-day.

EXPERIENCE OF NAVAL WAR.

Let those facts be remembered at a moment when; if the Japanese and Italian papers may be believed, this great country, with its pressing internal problems, is stretching out her hands across the world in order to assist in making secure the route between East and West for ships with their freights of defenceless men and women and innocent children. Japan has ranged herself definitely against the AttU'as of the sea. The German Emperor used at one time to ahout about the Yelllow Peril; the world has since realised what is the real peril which threatens civilisation.

Now, according to Italian papers, tho Japanese naval contingent has "safely arrived-in the Mediterranean," and the exponents of "Kultur" will wish they had shown more restraint in pursuit of the policy of fright-fulness, and had at least spared Japanese passenger ships. In seamanship, in war craft, and in guile, the Germans are no match for Japanese seamen. The Japanese had already graduated in war before the fleet of the nouveau riche nation of Europe —with the manners of the nouveau riche —had. a navy of any account. They had a greater and more intimate experience of war than any other seamen in the world: The Japanese have the mentality which makes for success in war. Behind all their other sterling qualities lies a patriotism beside which German patriotism is a hotbouse plant, a tender growth which is already shrivelling, as the newspapers of the German Empire and the riots in the streets reveal'. I have visited many Japanese men-of-war from time to time, and have always realised that the delicate courtesy of officers and men is associated with a fighting edge which it would be dangerous to turn against oneself. Now the Germans, the modern and bloodthirsty pirates, whose deeds have sickened the civilised peoples of the world, will have an opportunity of realising how these companions of ours in 1 arms—among the most experienced and most skilful seamen of the age— can deal with outlawry at sea. THE JAPANESE SHIPS. The Kasuga, Tokiwa, and Chitose, the three principal ships which are to represent the Japanese Navy in tho Mediterranean, merit attention: — The Kasuga was building in Italy for Argentine in 1903, when the war in the Far East broke out, and was purchased with her sister, the Nisshin, by Japan, making a dramatic voyage to the Far East. She is of 7627 tons displacement, ' has a speed of 20 knots, a 6in armoured belt, and four Bin guns in pair in turrets, in association with fourteen 6in quickfirers. She has five torpedo tubes. The Tokiwa is an older, but larger, ship, displacing 9750 tons. She is British " built, having been constructed at Elswick. She has a speed of 23 knots, is provided with a 7in armoured belt, and has an armament similar to the Kasuga. The Chitose has no side armour, but a deck from I.7in to 4.5in thick. She w Tas laid down at Philadelphia in 1898, and displaces 4760 tons. Her guns include two Bin, with ten 4.7in quickfirers, and she has four torpedo tubes, all above water. All three ships, it will be seen, carry the Bin gun, discharging a shell weighing 2101b, with sufficient energy at the muzzle to raise—according to the length (40 or 45 calibres)—73l9 to 10,226 tons a foot. The Japanese anticipated the main lesson of this war, and attached great importance to long-range guns. .

Such -are the heavily-gunned ships which, according to reports from Tokio, are about to assist, with the support of aircraft, in putting down the new piracy in the Mediterranean. Future doviAipmeais will be watched with interest. Never before have Japanese men-of-war cleared for action in European waters, and the Germans will no doubt have reason to regret that they invited,. by their methods of barbarism, this intervention on the part of the Japanese.