ENGLAND'S COASTAL PATROL

Evening Star, Issue 16991, 13 March 1919, Page 4

ENGLAND'S COASTAL PATROL

BY AEROPLANES TOO THOROUGH FOR SUBMARINES. The German dream of England as_ an island entirely surrounded bv submarines wa-s not realised, because the coastline was entirely patrolled by aircraft. Day after day, winter end summer, from dawn to dark, th© coastal patrol was sustained, only dense fog or a full gale interrupting it. IT© effectiveness of the Royal Air Force anti-submarine patrol is not to be gauged by th© number of submarines sunk—notable as that was —but for the fact that the attacks on shipping during flying hours were reduced to a minimum. During 1918 the Germans initiated an air offensive against our antisubmarine patrol. It took the form of very fast monoplanes, heavily armed. We retaliated by escorting our flying boats and other craft with a purely fighting machine. ; The following figures give Dome idea of th© labor of the E.A.F. anti-submarine patrol. They refer only to the half-year since the R.A.F. became a separate force —from April I to October 31 of last year : Number of hours flown ... ... ...39,102 Hostile submarines sighted 216 Hostile submarines attacked 189 Hostile aircraft attacked 551 Hostile aircraft destroyed ... ... 184 Hostile aircraft damaged 151 Hostile mines spotted 69 Hostile mines destroyed by aircraft 72 Number of bombs dropped 15,313 (This is equal to 66 H tons.) Convoy flights 3,441 Photographs taken ... 3,440 It was not until the submarine menace became exceedingly grave that land tmchinea were brought generally into operation against the u boats. That was in the early months of 1918. Aerodromes were put up Ml round the coasts and squadrons established.