Day and Night Vigil of Navy

Manawatu Times, Volume 68, Issue 54, 5 March 1943, Page 5

Day and Night Vigil of Navy

Getting on Top of the U-Boats (British Official Wireless) KUGBY, Mar. 3. The activities and successes of the British naval forces from Madagascar to Dieppe and from North Kuseia to America, in spite of the day and night struggle against the greatest threat ever experienced to our sea lanes by U-boats, was one of the features of a speech by the First Lord of the Admiralty (Mr. Alexander) in the House of Commons, when presenting the Navy Estimates. Reviewing the main developments of the U-boat campaign in the last 12 months, Mr. Alexander said the position seemed to be under control in the last half of 1941, but was changed overnight by Japan’s entry into tho wur, which added two great oceans to the areas where shipping was menaced by submarines and air attack. Part of the escort ships had to be withdrawn for these new theatres, and during the first half of last year the sinkings on the eastern seaboard of America by U-boats operating from European bases were a grievous drain on the available Allied tonnage. At times the losses m that area were three-quarters of the total. With the adoption of the convoy system the losses in that area began to fall and now represented only a small part of the whole. The Royal Navv helped the United Btates Navy in that area, and experienced Coastal Command pilots with planes were also sent to help.

The U-boats then appeared to adopt a new policy. First, they concentrated on the mid-Atlantic, where the convovs were furthest from air support; and, secondly, they spread their forces as far over the main shipping routes as possible. U-boats undertook patrols of long duration and made sharp raids. Rome went around the Cape of Good Hope to the Mozambique Channel and to the east coasts of Brazil. There were also incursions into the Gulf of Aden, presumably by Japanese vessels. U-boat Sinkings Grow in Number Mr. Alexander said aircraft formed an essential part of U-boat warfare, as they forced the U-boats down out of contact with convoys or to the surface, where they could be attacked. More than half the attacks on U-boats were made by aircraft.

From December last to the end of February the tonnage losses by the Allies were much less than in the corresponding months of last winter, although competing against a larger number of U-boats. Mr. Alexander added that there was still probably a larger output of U-boats than the total numbers “killed,” but the gap was being reduced, the results in that direction in tho last four months having been the most encouraging of the war. In February they had achieved the best results against U-boats yet experienced. Referring to the protection of Britain’s shores and the maintenance of the sea route to Russia, Mr. Alexander said these operations had cost the loss of two cruisers, ten destroyers, and six other warships, and above all many valuable lives, but the sustenance taken to Russia had paid a great dividend to the United Nations.

Malta had been sustained and relieved at the cost of three cruisers, nine destroyers and two aircraft-carriers, in addition to merchant ships. With the help on two accasions of a United Rtates carrier, our carriers had transported 744 fighters to Malta. Mr. Alexander also referred to the successful North African landing which, he said, included the biggest fleet of aircraft-carriers ever assembled by tho Royal Navy. Sea transport remained vital to the armies of North Africa, and already a million tons of supplies had been carried to them, in addition to the half a million tons mentioned by Mr. Churchill.

In the Pacific the Australian and New Zealand navies had assisted the United States Pacific fleet to fight the Japanese. Mr. Alexander paid a tribute to the mine-laying done by the Navy and the mine-sweeping which was a “highly specialised and dangerous game.” He also paid a tribute to the work done by the Fleet Air Arm and by the British submarines which were almost daily destroying Axis shipping in the Mediterranean. Fleet Much Stronger Now Taken all round, he said, the Fleet found itself a great deal stronger today than it was a year ago. Although Britain had lost one new and four old capital ships, one new and four old aircraft-carriers, and two merchantmen converted to carriers, she was as strong now in capital ships as at the outbreak of the war and the weight of the Air Force which could be launched from ship-board had increased. The replacements of cruisers nearly equalled the losses, and, despite the heavy losses of destroyers and submarines, Britain now had a good many more of both classes than when the war started. The new ships were individually stronger and better able to meet new weapons. The number of warships, including trawlers, mine-sweepers, and corvettes, completed since the outbreak of the war now reached a total of over 900, and in addition a great number of merchant vessels had been converted into auxiliarv warships. In addition many ships were saved in the repair yards which would have been a dead loss in the last war.