NAVAL SITUATION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume L, Issue 175, 3 November 1917, Page 5

NAVAL SITUATION

REVIEW BY FIRST LORD •REASSURING STATEMENT. SCANDINAVIAN- CONVOY DISASTER. AN EXPLANATION. ENEMY DOSING MANY SUBMARINES. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association and Reuter.) ' • LONDON, Nov. 1. In the House of Commons, Sir Eric Geddes, First Lord of the Admiralty, reviewed the riaval situaion and explained the measures taken to increase the power and strengthen the control of the Naval .Staff. He anticipated great advantages 1 from the ' fact that the Naval Staff would be increasing its personal ' touch with ' the Grand -Fleet and other naval commands. He justified the non-publication of the British tonnage sunk, because it would afford the enemy information which the enemy would very much like to obtain. He was able, however, to supplement 'Mr xdoyd George's information showing that wewere making reasonably satisfactory progress towards overcoming the submarine, menace. Since the beginning of the war forty to fifty per cent' of the enemy submarines operating in the North Sea, 1 the Atlantic, and the Arctic Ocean had been sunk. The enemy in the last quarter lost as many submarines as during the whole of 1916. j Sir Eric Geddes / continued: As re- ! gards the criticism of the Admiralty on two recent occasions, I believe the criticism was based upon and caused by incomplete formation/ Taking the first case ,that of the Scandinavian convoy on October l'6th, the destroyers Strongbow and Mary ''Rose, with three small armed vessels only one of which was fitted with ■ wireless, escorted, the convoy of twelve ships bound for the Shetlands- from Norway. During the night one of the 'smaller armed vessels which was fitted with wireless dropped back to screen one ship of the convoy which had stopped owing to shifting of the cargo. The convoy was then accompanied by the Strongbow and the Mary 'Rose, both of which had wireless, as well as by the two other small craft not with, wireless. - • • About six o'clock on the morning of the 17th, when day was breaking, the Strongbow sighted two ships to the southward which were closing fast. The visibility was about two miles. The Strongbow challenged and received an unsatisfactory answer* and. immediately ordered action stations. The enemy's first shot wrecked the wireless ■ room and did other and despite the great gallantly with which she was j fought by the captain, . officers and crew, she was sunk. The Mary Rose was immediately attacked by the'two Germans, and blown up by a shot in the magazine. The enemy vessels, which were of a very fast cruiser class, then attacked the convoy, sinking nine. Owing to the fact that the escort vessel which was fitted'with wireless was detached to screen a ship whose cargo had shifted, and owing -to the Mary Rose being sunk immediately and the Strongbow's wireless being put- out' of action by the • first shot, no message reached the Admiral commanding, the Orkneys., the Commander-tip-Chief of the Grand Fleet, or the Admiralty that the convoy had been attacked until the surviving ships arrived at Berwick. The Admiralty" received no information until seven-in the evening. Sir Eric. Geddes asked the House to recollect that the area of the North Sea was 140,000 square miles besides a coast subject to attack of 566 miles, whereas the area of vision of a light cruiser squadron might, be under five square miles. The Scandinavian convoy system started in April, 1917. More than 4500- vessels had been convoyed. This was the first occasion on which a ship had been lost by surface attack in a Scandinavian convoy. This convoy was mentioned particularly, but our other convoys were continually' passing up and down and across the North Sea, and our losses therewith had been proportionately less. The enemy cruisers made the passage at night time, and owing to the circumstances mentioned' were hot molested in the daytime and slipped: back again' at night. After the fullest consultation the Admiralty was satisfied that tne best dispositions were made by the Command-er-in-Chief, having regard to other du-, ties and operations. Sir Eric Geddes paid a tribute to the gallantry and devotion of the officers and men of the ships escorting the convoy. 'Sir Eric Geddes, referring to the output of merchant tonnage in the first nine Of 1917, said it was 123 per cent, higher than for the corresponding period of last year, and .very

considerably higher than the output for the whole of 1915. Standard vessels now ordered represented nearly a million gross tons of shipping. Orver half these were already under construction and the remainder would be taken in hand as soon as the vessels n9 w . on the stocks were launched. A limited number of standardised vessels had been completed and commissioned, but the whole of the yards suitable for building standardised ships could not yet be entirely devoted thereto, because the stocks were already occupied by other craft. The programme of warship construction now in hand was infinitely larger than had ever been undertaken in pre-war history. The output of naval craft in the last twelve months was three to four times as great as the annual average output for a few years preceding the war. SUBMARIHEWARFARE GERMAN CLAIMS UNBOUNDED. THIAL OF STRENGTH STILL 'GOING ON. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association and Renter.) i(Rec. Nov. 3', 9.20 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 2. Continuing, Sir Edward' Geddes said that the Germans claimed to have sunk 808,000 tons of all nationalities last August. They sank little more third of that amount, and British ton- , nage was little more than half of all nationalities. The German September figures were 672,000 tons, but thejK s&nk ; far less than one-third of that amount, | and the British tonnage | than half of all nationalities. The nett reduction of tonnage in the last four ' months is to-day 30 per cent, less thaln estimated' early in July. The total' nett reduction since the beginning of" "the war from all causes in British 1600 tons is under 2,500.000 tons - gross, j or 14 per cent. " After summarising the progress iriade ' in combating submaririism, Sir Edw,ai;d Geddes referred to the fact that, Germans were building submarines faster than hitherto. They had not yet attained their maximum strength.' Tho submarino wr.rfn.re v:s -therefore becoming a tc-rt of determination, gTit and ingenuity between the two contending forces. He concluded -. "The submarine warfare at present is going well : for us. One is justified) in regardr i the future with courage and confidence." i 'He recalled the German mercantile marine before the war. It then totalled. 5,000,000 tons. To-"daj» nearly half had 'been sunk or was in the Entente's hands.