ATLANTIC CONVOYS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20223, 16 April 1940, Page 2

ATLANTIC CONVOYS

ARDUOUS TASK GREAT STRAIN ON MEN EFFICIENCY OF SYSTEM BY “TAFFRAIL” (Noted British Naval Writer.) C.ale or calm, fog or clear weather, the Atlantic convoys must continue to tun if Britain is to be fed and supplied. Brigaded into sizeable fleets, each , shepherded by its attendant watchdogs, approximately 1000 merchantmen of every type arrive at, or 'sail from, the ports of the United Kingdom even,’ seven days. That an average of only one ship in every 500 sailing in convoy is sunk by enemy action speaks volumes for the efficacy of the system now in force. Not many who sit down to their regular three meals a day can realise the intricate organisation that is required at the British Admiralty and at the headquarters on shore to sail the convoys regularly out and home in the face of the submarine peril. Fewer still understand the immense strain and responsibility placed upon the personnel of the .British Merchant Navy: upon the commodores of convoys, many of whom are retired has officers holding the temporary rank of commodore. Royal Naval Reserve: and upon the young officers in command of the naval escorts who shield and protect the convoys within the area of activity of the U-boats. The Royal Air Force, with aeroplanes many times more mobile than the fastest ship co-operates most valuably and wholeheartedly in the onerous task of trade protection. But whereas the continuous spell of a single aeroplane may be measured in hours, that of a shin must be counted in days and even weeks. Long Periods at Sea Some destroyers and escort vessels, all of them small craft of 1400 tons or less, have been continuously at sea for 13 days on end, and have been running lor as many as 25 days in a month. Since the beginning of the war some of them have spent 73 per ■cent ;of their time .at sea. Their spells in harbour, during which they must complete with fuel and stores, make good running defects, and compete with the masses of official returns and correspondence with which even the smallest vessels-of-war are burdened, have lasted on occasions no more than 36 or 48 hours.

As a general rule the worse the weather the longer the trios, and many of the older destroyers used for escorting the Atlantic convoys are supremely wet and uncomfortable In a heavy sea. •Moreover, they lack such amenities as refrigerators and steam heating. It is a case of tinned food and biscuit after the first three days at sea, and the dismal sights on a destroyer’s battened-down mess deck while plunging against the huge breaking seas of a winter gale in the North Atlantic must be seen to be believed. The shins of the Merchant Navy now go armed for self-protection, as it is lawful for them to go. They mav rightfully retaliate with their guns if attacked; but may not take the offensive. The Convoy System Their gallant story needs a special emphasis; for a U-boat attacks unseen with her torpedoes, and in a gun duel on the surface with a single merchantman usually has the advantage of superior speed and a far larger target. Moreover, having sunk a ship she makes no effort to place the survivors in a place of safety. (Hence the convoy system, where the merchant ships travel in groups protected by naval vessels fitted with those deadly submarine detecting devices known as “Asdics.” As to how they work, the less said the better. During a recent trip in a destroyer in the “Western Approaches” which lasted more than a week we escorted one convoy out to a certain rendezvous and another home. We had variable weather, including three days of fog and the tail-end of an easterly gale blowing against a heavy westerly swell.

Life was not easy. It was distinctly irksome; but the way the ships of our convoys responded to the orders of their commodores and kept station excited our admiration. Through our dependence upon our merchant fleet, the enemy has a'! the targets. So during the earlier stages of a maritime war it is perhaps in*evitable that escort craft should be overworked. Britain can never have too many of them. But already the convoy system is an outstanding success, as it was in 191718. Thanks also to Britain’s striking forces and anti-submarine measures and appliances, one-haif the U-boats that Germany possessed at the outbreak of hostilities have probably been destroyed. They are being sunk faster than they can be built, and if there is any recrudescence of their activity during the coming spring and summer, when the increasin'* daylight is all in the favour of an increased number of lumWa their losses will be proportionate. 1 / sr: I *'r. This war at sea is different from the last. Viewed as a whole, it is mo-re a matter of small single ships, commanded bv oomoaratively .iunmr officers, than of large fleets or squadrons. It is a war of individuals and wits, a test of -initiative, above all. a struggle which -has brought out the hardihood, endurance and superb skill, of the men" of the two sea services upon which the safety and welfare of Great Britain and the Empire 50 vitally depend.