Reviews War At Sea

Northern Advocate, 4 September 1941, Page 5

Reviews Wa r At Sea

LONDON, September 3. Cn the second anniversary of the outbreak of war the situation at sea cannot be viewed with complacency, states an official review quoted by the British Official Wireless. Ncr is there any cause for despondency or pessimism, it adds. Taking the war at sea as a whole, and considering the huge burden borne by the Royal and Merchant Navies throughout the seven seas, the position can be viewed with quiet satisfaction and thankfulness. This war is not so much a war of fleets and squadrons working together, as of small squadrons and isolated ships operating over huge areas against an enemy which is always elusive. The only area where anything approaching a fleet action has been fought is the Mediterranean, where, on the occasion when contact has been made, the Italian fleet has usually sought safety in flight. One Area Eased So the third year of war starts where the first year ended —with the Navy and its many auxiliaries active round the coasts of Britain, in the north and south Atlantic, in both basins of j the Mediterranean, in the Indian Ocean and the Facific, searching for enemy surface raiders. The only area where the burden has been lightened is the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, where the situation has been eased by the British occupation of Italian East Africa.

Besides the more spectacular work, the Navy's every day humdrum task continues at all times, winter and summer. The fact of cruisers spending 300 days of the year at sea, or steaming 102,000 miles means an average of some 25 days of the month at sea and a great strain on the personnel. Dominions Aid Ships of the Royal Australian, Canadian and Indian navies and of the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy have given service in every theatre of war, and men from every Dominion and colony are serving in large numbers in British ships. Warships and merchantmen of the Allies continue to give whole-hearted service. Some extremely useful modern Greek ships arrived safely at Alexandria to work with the British fleet. The Russians claim to have sunk 14 enemy submarines, 10 destroyers, three patrol boats, two monitors, two cutters, four motor torpedo boats, one trawler and at least 30 transports. Comparative Losses In spite of heavy losses and the fury of the enemy’s attack, the merchant navy carries on with undaunted courage and skill. Losses to the end of June from the beginning' of the war were over 7,000.000 gross tons, British, Allied and neutral. Over 4,000,000 tons of German, Italian and other shipping useful to the enemy have been captured, scuttled or sunk since 1939.