GERMAN SHIPS’ ESCAPE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 16 February 1942, Page 5

GERMAN SHIPS’ ESCAPE

SHOCK TO BRITISH PUBLIC IMPORTANCE OF AIR SUPPORT CRITICISM IN SECTION OF PRESS London, Feb. 14 The successful though perilous passage of three German warships through the English Channel to their home waters naturally commands much space in the British Press, and criticism is evident in many sections. While tribute is j uniformly and warmly paid to the ! gallantry of all the British forces j engaged in the battle against ships ! and vast escorts, no attempt is made j to minimise the facts of the operation or its results. j “The Times.” in a leader, says: “Nothing more mortifying to the pride. o f sea-power has happened in home waters since the seventeenth century. That the blow should be sustained when our resources at sea are strained as; never before is doubly lamentable. The safe passage of the ships leave the id A.F. mourning a distressingly long list of gallant airmen, and a number of painful questions are formulating themselves i i the public mind. “More than pride is involved,” says “The Times,” for the strength of the naval force against which we have to guard will presently be increased by the difference between two battleships and cruisers as stationary targets for our bombers over Brest, and the same ships re-equipped after nearly a year j in harbour for employment on lighting service. That this blow should be sustained at a time when our resources sea are strained as never before is doubly lamentable.” The “Daily Mail” says: "Britain has been flouted within sight, of her own white cliffs. The English Channel is Mare Nostrum and the Straits ot Dover our front gate. That a powerful enemy naval force was able to I steam in broad daylight through these narrow waters has come as a profound shock to the country. “The question on everyone's lips is why the Germans, who are not a. sea - faring nation, succeeded in this kind of operation at which we so recently failed off Malaya. The answer lies in two words —air power. Air support also explains why the German Admiralty preferred to chance the Channel passage instead of sending the ships icund the north of Scotland as we expected. “Why the warships were able to leave Brest is less explicable. The effectiveness of our bombing policy is ! tcund to be called into question. This ! audacious enterprise—a great success I for Germany—will add considerably to her prestige. She will also derive | more solid benefits because the con- ! cent ration of her fleet caused us great embarrassment. The Japanese prevent- ! ed a junction between the British and I American navies, but we failed in a similar endeavour because we failed to develop air power.” APPEAL TO REASON ; The "Daily Express” sums the mati ter up in a leader which combines ! criticism with an appeal to reasoned | judgment. i “People are shocked." it says, “by ! :he daring scuttle home of the German ; warships in Brest. The sore loss of i ma ny fine airmen weighs heavily. But j ]et us be balanced about this incident. ; Do not go rolling heads in the sand bej fore knowing all the facts. "The escape of the ships is most j serious in its implications by showing ! again how the air weapon has com- ; pletely altered the old conceptions of I sea power. People will say the many i bombings of these ships in Brest were ■ futile. True, the ships were not de- ! stroyed, and that demonstrates v. hat a } gamble there is in target bombing. But j the ships were immobilised by the j r A.F. through most critical months of the Battle of the Atlantic. “It is also fair to argue that the Germans would have sent them out into the Atlantic battle if they could have been properly repaired at Brest. AMERICAN COMMENT The “New York Herald-Tribune” says the tactical lessons of the Channel battle are no less important than the event itself. If the vulnerability of battleships to aircraft has been amply demonstrated in this war. the success of the German dash proves that a considerable amount of protection can be afforded by fighter planes even in so dangerous an area as the English Channel. “This is of vital importance in the Pacific battle. It explains on the one hand why Japan moved freely on the sea, when under air protection, and why the united nations can confidently expect to turn the tables when their air might comes into action.” GERMAN NAVAL STRENGTH It is stated in London that if the ships have reached German waters safely. Hitler now in at his disposal the battleship Tirpitz, the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, the aircraft-carrier Graf Zeppelin, if 1 fit, two or three 8-inch cruisers, and two 6-inch cruisers.—P.A.