Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1918. THE SUBMARINE MENACE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 55, 5 March 1918, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1918. THE SUBMARINE MENACE.

IT is clear that the U-boat menace is. !by no means coming to an end. Since he has been relieved o{ his position of First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Jellicoe has made a statement that cannot be taken as encouraging, although it is not depressing. Portion, of his speech was cabled at the time, .but further observaitons of great moment were made byi the Admiral "who, if anybody does, should know what : he is speaking about. In one part of his speech Lord Jellicoe said : "I am afraid .we are in for a 'bad time for a few months, but about August, if the nation holds out, I believe w e shall be able to say that the submarine menace has been killed." He went on to saythat the reason British shipping losses ar e heavy in the Irish Sea was that there is shoal w-a'ter on both sides, and the first intimation of the presence of the enemy was usually the sinking of our vessels. The submarine was hunted down, but it stayed on the bottom until it was necessary for the des-tioy-crs to return to port to re-fuel. The submarine then resumed its pirate's career. Lord Jellicoe continued: "Lord Fisher (a former First Sea Lord) prepared a memorandum in 1911 stating that if Germany went to war she would use submarines against our merchantmen. That memorandum went to 'the Admiralty, but nobodv in a responsible position agreed that Germany would do such a thing (at that time Mr Win&ton Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty, and Sir Arthur Knvvet Wilson First Sea Lord). Lord Fisher was right then, as h 0 has been rijyht in many cases. Of course the British Navy was unprepared to deal with submarines. If Lord. Fisher's* words had been believed there would hav e been tinif. to adont measures which would have effectually stopped the submarine*" from setting; out. This is the only way to deal with them. It is a superhuman task to save merchantmen when submarines are out. as the submarines can steam under water for 24 hours, and He under water for another 48 hours. It is similarly difficult to keep submarines to their ports, as the water within a 150-mile radius of Heligoland allows submarines to 'sit' on the. bottom. If j detected on the surface thev flee to. the bottom and await night, when they can continue their course unseen." In concluding his remarks on this subject Lord Jellicoe said: "I hav e asked Mr Lloyd George (Prime Minister) often enough not to make optimistic speeches about submarines, for they are always followed by a long list of losses. The Cabinet can' reserve its optimistic speeches until August." Mr Llovd Geortre onlv a few weeks ago was proclaiming his indifference to the ?nbmarine danger, at the same time that the First Sea Lord was warning the countrv not to think the danger was at an end.