NO REAL THREAT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20262, 1 June 1940, Page 8

NO REAL THREAT

CHANNEL PORTS sea control PROSPECTS REVIEWED DANGER MINIMISED LESSONS OF LAST WAR (Elcc. Tol. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (British Official Wireless.) Reed. 2 p.m. RUGBY, May 31. Britain’s sea control resulted during the opening months of the war . in driving the German fleet from the seas and so harrying and harassing the German mercantile marine, of. whose pre-war tonnage nearly 20 per cent has been captured, scuttled, or sunk, that it is able ft) render little useful service. This control will not,, in the opinion of informed circles here, be radically changed if, the Germans secure and retain certain Channel port's. It is recalled that in the. last ...war. the enemy had the use of Zeebrugge, Ostend, and nearly all the' Belgian codst as submarine bases without effect, in their campaign against British, merchant .shipping, , , Whatever bases they use, tite submarines while operating are subject tp attack hy destroyers and the .swarms of small craft which are their special enemies. These small harriers of the submarine can only be. driven off by stronger forces of surface craft and any such attempt would lead to clashes of bigger units that could have only, one result ~in view of the Allies’ overwhelming,.. preponderance in cruiser arid battleship strength. Many Other Ports Similarly, should the enemy try,to close the Straits of Dover by a minefield, either British, min'esweppers would clear the Channel . unmolested by' surface craft or the attempt to in- . terfere with them would develop into large-scale action. . . . ... Motor .torpedo boats, working, from the Flanders coast,; .might be a menace to coastwise shipping in convoy or out of it. On the other hand, as the last war showed, motor, torpedo boats an? essentially fair weather craft, for use at short range, from their .bases and arp very susceptible to machine-gun attacks by aircraft. Guns that might be mounted on the French coast opposite Dover can hardly be regarded as a serious menace to shipping in the straits. At a range of .18 miles, ship? hugging the English coast', .would be a moying. target very difficult to jijt, and thp. passage could be* made under the coyer of. night. Intensified air attack's on the Channel and Thames estuary shipping may be expected., Experience,, .however, has shown great, difficulty of hitting .ships when,,under n way. ~ ,Jf the narrowed..sea traffig, concentrates the targets for the enemy bombers,. too, does it reduce the area to be clefeiiclea. Sea power is flexible and adaptable. If the worst' were to come anti the sea appitoaches to London were temporally blodked, there wcjuld still bp, many ports in these islands to which traffic coiild be diverted.