THE SUEZ CANAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 16870, 31 May 1915, Page 6

THE SUEZ CANAL.

There is something rather ludicrous in the idea of the Porte declaring the Suez Canal to be a “war zone," because so far as we are permitted to know the Turkish fleet, with the exception of one torpedo-boat, is bottled up in the Sea of Marmora. None tho less, the threat to blockade the canal has to be taken seriously, in view of the fact that one enemy submarine is certainly active in the eastern Mediterranean, and possibly others may be at work. There js no definite information as to the numbeT of submarines that Austria has at her disposal. Six boats, two constructed at Fiume and the others in Germany, were in commission last August, and it is possible that two others were delivered from Kiel before the war broke out, though that point is in doubt. Two new boats, however, were sent overland and the parts assembled at Fiume or Pola and others may have followed. The earlier submarines have -w, restricted range, probably not more than 1200 miles at economical speed, but the "later German-built boats are credited with a cruising range of 3000 miles. It was stated that one or two Austrian submarines were sunk by the Allied fleets in the Adriatic at the beginning of the war, but details of these incidents are lacking. The question of interest, however, is not how many submarines Austria has, but how many of them are capable of undertaking extended cruises in the Mediterranean. If there are only two at large they may cause the Allies considerable loss until they are put out of action, and locating them will be largely a matter of luck. It may bo assumed that a regular patrol of tho Levant and of the coasts of Asia Minor is ’oeing maintained, but while the Levant may be sufficiently watched it would be hopeless to attempt a thorough examination of all the islands of the Archipelago. There is likely to be some interference with the trade through the Suez Canal and ships maybe last as they have been around the coasts of the British Isles, but it should be less difficult to guard the approaches to a single port than it is to maintain n patrol of all English waters, ancf if the warships can be spared for the search it could be made impossible for file enemy to hold a supply ship for the submarines within three hundred or four hatred miles of Port Said. The safety of the canal route is of the utmost importance to Australasia, of course, and developments in the region will lie watched with the closest attention.