BRITISH FLEET

Evening Post, Issue 79, 2 April 1936, Page 6

BRITISH FLEET

IN THE MEDITER-

RANEAN

CHANGE OF DISPOSITIONS

It is an open secret that H.M. Admiralty has before-it the question of a reorientation :of • its; disposition in the Mediterranean, writes A. J. P. Crawford in the "Sydney Morning Herald." ■New factors in-the situation • there are ■.".the rise of- Italy tq the status of a firstClass .military Power; the : Abyssinian >ar involving Great Britain as a leading member-of the' League of Nations, the vulnerability of Malta to sud-. ■den attack by air.- ■ . ; Our main interest ,there-is-.naturally the ■ maintenance \ofv-Empire lines of communication. -At/present the necessary concentration of a-huge British Fleet in' Egyptian ports and neighbouring waters involves ;a; corresponding weakness.in home defences. -In these days of possible swift attack such a risk cannot'be lightly 'disregarded even though only temporary. A visitor to Alexandria today finds the Navy seemingly settled there for years Every; kind, of-.auxiliary is in tfiexharbour t6;attenti!bn the;warships, except,'of course, dry-docks;.ships proceed in nrotatibn to Malta and Gibraltar for this-latter service. There are shore hospitals, a Fleet Club/with its own bus -■' jservicejiand- other, amenities. The Egyptian'^ Government is stated to have 'asked for and received an assurance^that, the" occupation- of Alexandria as a ■permanent nayal base is not contemplated.- physical disadyantges as well as political. The recent -storm which set ships adrift and caused others .to., put to,sea for, safety showed thisiiri'np uncertain manner. .-. ,-v, r . . >■; :• The Outer Harbour is.very extensive, but very poof':inde'ed.: as an anchor holding- ground:?«':; While th:e warships have taken:every possible-precaution, especially in the-light of rqcent experience when a cruiser gpt--adrift and nearly fouled an oil -tanlcer, it is apparent that itf'the' crowded state of the harbour today certain units may easily: prove unmanageable ;anS' would be liable to cause •untold damage. They cannot all be expected to have sufficient steam up', continuously. SHALLOW SEA. The Egyptian'V coast is? nowhere abrupt, and. the;sea is very shallow off the ports. Port; Said .-is'particularlyaffected by the:' discharge of silt from the Nile-;aeltaV- and : dredgers are continuously' employed keeping the harbour and approaches clear. The two breakwaters;have been much lengthened of recent years. Time was when the Eastern. Exchange Hotel, , wellknown to all who have travelled from here by the Canal, looked on the'shore. The sea has receded nearly a quarter of a mile, to aline level with, the «tatue of-Ferdinand de Lesseps, built at 'the end of the original;.: breakwater. Alexandria, does not suffer quite so much,'but the' approach:is very shallow 'There are two channels running from the'barbour ■; mouth for, a considerable distance out to sea. The Big and the Little^ Passes, as they, are called,'are bqrdered by shallows and rock 'and in-bad weather there is often no admittance to the harbour for a few days.. .The prevailing wind is. from the'northerly points of the com-pass.'-and when,it is of any strength a very rough' sea is very quickly kickA harbour approach such as that de-; scribed is easy to mine, and also easyto countermine. It was during.^ wait, for mine-sweepers to report the', channel clear that several ships were torpedoed one black day during the Great War. '~. . ......-• ; ' A delegation is now. sitting in endeavour to arrange the terms of a treaty to establish the terms on which thje two countries will work together in the future: - It is impossible to say what . success will attend their efforts, as. Egypt will have to realise that there are new forces at work, and that mere reliance on the League of. Nations will not necessarily spare her irony attack. Also tharthe British Empire;is vitally, concerned to see that no undue .risks. are rvui. At the same time Egypt cannot ,be called an altogether desir-. able hifiterland, politically, for a permanent base. She has-one ad-vantage-in "the-way of-oil supplies, and a certain immunity from land" attack, as she is bordered by Palestine, the Sudan, and several'hundred miles of inhospitable dtsert to the west. She is, however^ becoming more vulnerable to air attack as the science of aviation progresses, and is devoid of -natural physical features to minimise^' the effect of such enemy action. There'can be fewer flatter countries,in the world, and few with better weather for flying. Intending R.A.F. pilots learn their air training there in a tnifd of the time found necessary in the. United; Kingdom. :''■";': •,-: ■ •.;ifivCr';.'-i- ■ Italy lias recently proclaimed : that her neW^bomberahave twice'the range of their,,predecessors. The'rehave been numerousv"repprts also ithat ■more and more Italian '> airmen—ttie: latest figure for one lot. was.a thousand —had left for. the Italian islands-in the Aegean, Ehodes particularly being mentioned. Whether or not such rumours are part of : the Duce's propaganda or bluff, the fact remains that potential danger in the air.is..a,yery vital problem, indeed. Our own-air-force in Egypt has been very, much,strengthened of late, but none of out ilieague friends in the Near East "is possessed' of any-air forco of consleciuehce, nor, for that matter, of 'any riavy worth considering. ■ ,;. ITALY. ! ■Restoration of friendly relations with Italy, and a strengthening of the.bonds of international collective security are doubtless jthe two^most desirable factors for the safety ""bt our Empire communications in the Mediterranean. In their absence, however, the potentialities of the situation compel consideration of an alternate naval base of a more suitable nature than Malta and the Egyptian ports. Rumour has been busy with talk of a new port in Cyprus. The coast there is generally exposed, and subject to sharp'storms,'and it would undoubtedly-be .a costly and lengthy affair to-construct a port large enough to be J permanent value. Haifa, in Palestine, has the advantage of being the terminal :of an oil-pipe Una but is also exposed. The new fiarbour, incidentally; has' proved to be a, great commercial, success, and there is, ; talk of'its vPresumably v however, there'would be' international objections to the'use'of sudh a port in a -mandated" tef rito^ .as a fortified and permanent basej'lof a riivjr.

Greece hasjiecently-offered the hospitality of her ports, arid possibly might be induced .to part with or lend one of her islands in;the Aegean for at least temporary use in-case of urgent need.

It is far-from being suggested that •what is wanted is primarily a place for ships to hide, frt.' New conditions of warfare,,' and', the s swiftness of action possible to countries governed by dictators inevitably; must induce'reconsideration of plans based on pre^aViation strategy, and discretion in largely untried new.conditions,is very probably the better part of valour.' • There has been talk' Offf f a new 'species of ray which would put modern aero engines out of action, and also of anti-aircraft protection devices of astounding proficiency, bat '.no auth'o'rity--can state with any certitude that tremendous and possibly irreparable damage could not be done to the most powerful coopedup fleet by a determined enemy prepared to sacrifice hundreds of aero-

planes. -It is more than ever true today that, although he may be; blest who hath his quarrel just, much more so is he who gets his blow: in first. -

The ideal naval base does not seem to-exist-today, and the search for one must end in a compromise solution, taking into consideration all ■ the factors involved, principally strategical, political, and geographical. Should collective security become an established fact of proved value, so much the better; it is a strange commentary that our present • difficulties in the Mediterranean have been caused by our attempt to put the theory into practice, vis-a-vis a co-signatory to . the League of Nations.. The best solution to be hoped for is a restoration of good relations with Italy.at an early, date.