THE FRENCH FLEET

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 5, 5 July 1940, Page 8

THE FRENCH FLEET

BRITAIN TAKES OVER

MOVE FOR SECURITY

Acting with the vigour and promptitude customarily associated with his name, Mr. Winston Churchill has used the British Fleet to prevent French battleships from falling into the hands of a ruthless and treachI erous enemy, and the news which he was able to give the House of Commons means that the Empire's safety at sea is materially increased. Had to be Done. That this step had to be taken in conflict with French seamen and that it should have resulted in casualties to them is regrettable. But the step was not merely precautionary, it was an essential act in defence of Britain, which could not afford to see a powerful naval combination fall into the hands of a man whose whole history shows that he has no knowledge of the meaning of a solemn undertaking. Had the French battle fleet managed to join the Germans, its eleven battleships now in commission or virtually ready for sea would have been augmented by six Italian battleships and two or three German battleships, a total of about twenty ships, half a dozen of them of the latest types. Against this we could have opposed only fourteen ships, and even if all five of the King George V class were in commission (they were recently reported to be almost ready for sea) the battle fleet, would have been no more than equal in numbers to the Axis navies. Fewer Modern Ships. What would have been even more serious is that in modern ships we should have been eclipsed. The enemy would have had the French battleships Jean Bart and Richelieu, both of 35,000 tons and mounting eight 15in guns. He would have the'two new Italian ships Littorio and Vittorio Veneto, also of 35,000 tons and mounting nine 15in guns. And he would have had the German battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz, of the same size and carrying eight 15in guns, plus the battered Scharnhorst, the pocket-battleship Lutzow (ex-Deutschland), and twey Italian vessels, the San Giorgio and San Marco, classified as second-class i battleships and mounting four lOin. guns. Moreover the building programme i>£ France and Italy includes four moire 35,000-ton capital ships similar to these mentioned above and the German programme at least one. In these circumstances it will be seen that the Nazis and their allies had parity at sea, send more than parity, within their grasp. Is it conceivable that they woyild have allowed the opportunity to escg.pe them because of an undertaking given to a beaten France?" ] Loopholes Existed. Moreover, the undertaking left enormous loopholes, one of these being the exception of coastal service from! the promise not to use French warshijps in the conduct of the rest of the '< campaign, another the German and Italian right to denounce the whole agreement at their pleasure. ; Today, thanks to the Chjurchill offensive, the position is altered. Of the eleven French battleshipa.; which were in commission, or near completion, seven are accounted for. One is at Alexandria, two (possibly the unfinished ships Jean Bart and Richelieu, the most powerful of all) ar&. in British ports, one has been destroyed, another heavily damaged and possibly captured, one smashed and driven ashore. The seventh, a battle-cruiser j of the Dunkerque class (26,500 tons and mounting eight 13in g|uns) has fled back to France, much damaged and after having been hit iby a torpedo. Odds in Our Favour. Two of the battleships put out of! action belonged to the Bretagne class, 22,000-ton ships mounting eight or ten 13.4 in guns; the vessel which was driven ashore was France's only other battle-cruiser, a sister-ship of the one which escaped. And this vessel which avoided the British naval .net will not be of any use for many months to come. This means that at the most the J Germans and Italians can muster 13 capital ships against our 31 or 22 ships, | if the French battleships at Alexandria j are taken over. ■. | In the field of cruise:rs the results of the British action are .equally satisfactory. At the beginning of the war France had 18 cruisers, seven of them Bin gusi craft. Four more" light cruisers were building. Of the 18 craft in commission (reduced to 17 toy the loss of one ship) two light cruisers in Britain have been seized. Four of the seven heavy cruisers are bottled up in Alexandria. Others are certain to have been stationed abroad to protect the colonial empire. In the important Indo-China colony, for- example, there would be a French squadron, even in wartime. Lost to the Enemy. In consequence it is improbable that half the cruiser strength of France is in enemy hands. Th(» seaplane carrier sunk was possibly i#ie Beam which was designed as a battleship, was of 22,100 tons and accommodated 41 aircraft, or else the Commandant Teste, a 10,000-ton ship, the official rating of which is "aircraft ti.'ansport." Of the whereabouts of the French mosquito fleet we know little. When the war began France owned 84 flotilla leaders, destroyers, and torpedo boats, and some of the last-mentioned may be included in the '200 small craft cited by Mr. Churchill. . Half a dozen destroyers had been: lost before this month, and eight are in British ports. Others are at Alexandria, and some were in the battle of Oran. There were 86 submarines, a year ago, some of them cruiser bciats and capable of long-range work.; The fate of these is also obscure. : Surface Ships Safe. What is clear is that the French navy cannot now be a menace to our surface %hips; that, the command .of the sea is unaffecte>d by the fate of the remainder of its squadrons; that the possible invasictn of Britain supported by a naval striding force of equal size (provided the ipassage of the Mediterranean could be forced) is a vanished threat. i Today, in home waters, -the British battle fleet still holds a great preponderance o:£ strength. In the Mediterranean a reinforcement of the enemy which -would have weighed the balance against us has been prevented. Once again the Navy has proved Britain's shield.

NAVAL AUXILIARY

SUNK AT PORTLAND

RAIDS BY GERMAN PLANES

MACHINE-GUNS USED

(U.P.A. .and Official Wireless.) (Received July 5, noon.) LONDON, July 4. It is officially announced that a naval auxiliary vessel was hit and set on fire Jin an enemy daylight raid on the Isle of Portland. One tug and one lighter were sunk and some damage vras done to buildings. There were a few civilian casualties. Military objectives were not hit. • Enemy aircraft dropped several bombs in a town in the south-west of England. Spitfires engaged the enemy o^er the sea and two German planes a!re believed to have been brought down. At least 20 German machines were attacked, and several running fights ensued. Bombs were dropped! from a height of 200 ft. after which the Germans attempted to ma- ! chine-gun people; j It is stated officially that a small number of enemy planes last night intermittently attacked the eastern counties. Bombs were dropped at randoim. One building was set on fire. There were no casualties. One; of four women who were seriously injured in last 'evening's raid on the south-east of England has died. WORK OF FIGHTERS. The Air Ministry revealed that seve a German bombers were brought down in yesterday's raids over Brit- j am. ! Six more were so severely damaged that they were unlikely to reach j horr.se. The sixth raider to be shot down —a ' Dornier flying pencil—was first siglhted dodging in and out of the cloiuds by a patrol of Hurricanes. They immediately attacked and, within a few seconds, the bomber went into a '.steep dive and crashed in a wood in.l south-east England. jThe seventh victim was a Dornier 225, which was chased out to sea by thi.ree Spitfires. Anti-aircraft fire caused tyro of them to discontinue the pursuit but the third continued alone and, fifteen miles over France, the British pilot silenced the German rear-gunner with his first burst. The second burst caused the Dornier to wobble and, after the third, the Dornier's nose .-went up and it stalled at about 100 feet. | GERMAN CLAIMS. The German High Command states: "German bombers on July 3 successfully attacked British port installations, coastal fortifications,' aerodromes,' camps, war industry plants, including the Aldershot camp and the Reading aircraft factory, and heavy coastal batteries near Newhaven. Two heavy bombs hit a large ship in a British convoy in the English Channel. "British planes bombed northern and western Germany, unscrupulously attacking the civilian population. Several enemy planes last night carried outj raids over Belgium and Holland but caused no substantial damage. Six enemy planes were destroyed. Four; of our planes are missing.'-*