IF THE MEDITERRANEAN WERE CLOSED

Evening Star, Issue 22684, 25 June 1937, Page 3

IF THE MEDITERRANEAN WERE CLOSED

CONSEQUENCES FOR EMPIRE POSSIBLE NEW NAVAL BASES To guard against eventual closing of the Mediterranean area by a hostile Italy, England is now quietly preparing for large-scale involving tlie development of new naval bases, whichwill guarantee the security of the Cape route and protect the enormous amount of British traffic flowing from the South Atlantic, according to Captain H. Th. de Booy, retired Dutch naval officer, writing in ‘ Pacific Affairs/ quarterly of the Institute of Pacific Relations. Pointing out that “ Italy’s colonial expansion is not only a matter of grave apprehension for England, but for South Africa as well,” Captain de Booy, surveying the lifelines of the British Empire, deprecates the general belief that the closing of the Mediterranean would be a deadly blow to Great Britain, and indicates a number of new bases on the sea routes to India and in the Far East which may prove of prime strategical importance to the Empire. ‘‘ The total length of trade routes that have to be safeguarded by the British Navy is about 85,000 nautical miles,” the writer shows, adding: “ It goes without saying that even the most enthusiastic rearmament could not maintain a navy large enough to assure simultaneous and complete security to the Empire in the Atlantic, the North Sea, the Pacific, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean. “ Of the 50,000 tons of food and 110,000 tons of merchandise which are imported into England every day, 20 per cent, of the wheat and flour, 50 per cent, of all the meat, 30 per cent, of the wool, and nearly all the tin ore come via South Atlantic. For all this trade approaching England the nearest British port is Gibraltar. However, both the inner and outer approaches to Gibraltar appear threatened by the course of Italy’s and Germany’s colonial aspirations, should the former gain control of the Balearic Islands or the latter the Canaries. “In this event the next nearest haven for British shipping would be Freetown, the harbour of Sierra Leone. Convoys of all ships approaching the British Isles from the South Atlantic wond have to be formed there. “ On the Cape route to India the names of Ascension, St. Helena, Durban, Mombasa, and Mauritius crop up when the security of trade routes is discussed. Recently the Island of Socotra, off the eastern coast of Africa, was surveyed by British naval planes to ►investigate the possibilities of an air base there. “ Although the tension in the Mediterranean has focused attention on the sea routes to India, this does not mean that other bases of strategical importance are forgotten. Not long ago a oruiser of the New Zealand squadron visited the Phoenix Islands, south of Japan’s mandated islands in the South Seas, and it is reported that England hopes to obtain China’s permission for the use of the Paracelsis Islands, between Hongkong and Singapore. “ It is unquestionable that the safeguarding of the route through' the Mediterranean has been a governing factor in all the planning of the British Admiralty since Italy’s intentions became clear. Furthermore, the Spanish civil war had added to the possibility of further direct or indirect expansion of the power of Italy in the Mediterranean. In fact, Gibraltar itself, under a Fascist regime in Spain, would become a symbol of the future hopes of Spanish nationalism. “ Traffic through the Mediterranean carries normally about 20 per cent, of Great Britain’s total imports, of which 9 per cent, come from east of Suez. To lead the sea route around_ the Cape would certainly be a serious inconvenience, hut to state that the closing of the Mediterranean would be a deadly blow to Great Britain is an exaggeration.”-