ENEMY'S CRUISERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15749, 26 October 1914, Page 6

ENEMY'S CRUISERS

SINK 39 SHIPS, 70 VESSELS IN PURSUIT. LITTLE EFFECT ON TRADE. LOOSES NOT HEAVY. APPEAL FOR PATIENCE. STATEMENT BY ADMIRALTY Wellington, October 25. The following official war news has been received by the Prime Minister, from the High Commissioner in London The Admiralty announces that eight or nine German cruisers are believed to be at largtj in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Searching for them, and working in concert under various commanders-in-chief, there are upwards of 70 British ships, including Australian, Japanese, French, and Russian cruisers, but not including auxiliary cruisers. Among these number are some of the fastest British cruisers. The vast expanses of sea and ocean, with many thousand islands and archipelagos, offer an almost infinite choice of movement to the enemy's ships. In spite of every effort to cut off their coal supply it | lias hitherto been maintained, in the i face of increasing difficulties. I The discovery and destruction of j those few enemy cruisers, therefore, ! is largely a matter of time, patience, and good luck. The public should J have confidence in the commander--1 in-chief and his experienced cap- | tains, who are doing all that is pos- | sible in taking the best steps to I bring the. enemy to action. They J have also been occupied with vcrv | serious and important convoy duty i This work has somewhat lessened the i number of searching cruisers, whose | numbers have been continually augmented. Ships Should Take Precautions. Meanwhile, merchant ships must j observe Admiralty instructions, j While it is obviously impossible to j specify all the precautions suggested, I where these instructions have been j followed they have proved effective. j here they have been disregarded, captures have been made. ! The same vastness of the sea J which has enabled the German j cruisers to avoid capture will protect trade. The only alternative I methods now possible would be to | marshal merchantmen in regular i convoys at stated intervals. It is not thought, necessary to hamper trade by enforcing such a system. The percentage of loss is much less than was reckoned before the war. ■ Out of 4000 British ships engaged in I foreign trade, only 30 have been j sunk by the enemy, besides 7 now overdue in Atlantic waters. The rate of insurance of cargoes, which at the outbreak of the war was fixed at five guineas, is now reduced to two guineas, without injury to the solvency of the fund. For hulls, apart from cargoes, the insurance has also been considerably reduced. Out of 9000 foreign voyages undertaken to and from the United Kingdom ports, since war broke out, less than five per thousand have been interfered with, and of these losses a large number have been caused by merchant vessels taking everything for granted and proceeding without precautions. German Trade All Gone. German oversea trade has practically ceased to exist. Germany's fast ships, which could have beer used as auxiliary cruisers were promptly penned in neutral harbours or have taken refuge in their owe ports. Among the comparatively few German ships which put to sea, I 133 have been captured—nearly foui times the number of those lost b\ the British mercantile marine. There is no occasion for anxiety and no excuse for complaint. The more fully the facts concerning over sea trade, and the protection by th< Royal Navy can be disclosed, aiu the more attentively studied, tin greater will be the confidence anc satisfaction with which the situatioi is viewed. SEA ROUTES SAFE. 1 AN OFFICIAL INTIMATION. 'Received Oi toljor 126. 1 a.m.) ? Bombay, October 25. An official message has been re " reived here intimating that all so, ■" routes are now reasonably safe. THE CRUISERS AT LARGE. Tlio following German cruisers ha v been reported ;u> being at large in recer cables:—The Emden, Karlsruhe. .Sehari hoist, Gueiaeimu, Xurnberg, Leipzig Koenigsberg. and Dresden. The Eniuen. which has intli< ted lirav losses on British shipping in India waters and which tired shells into Madra was launched in 1908. She lias a displace ment of 3600 tuns, and carries a compli inent of 321. She is armed with 10 l.li guns, eight 5-pounders, four machine gun ' and two submerged torpedo tubes. SI is capable, of a speed of 25 knots. IT Dresden, which lias been mentioned n several occasions as being at large in tl Atlantic, ami which was sighted by tl Carmania shortly after the sinking of tl j Herman auxiliary cruiser Cap Trafalga r is a sister ship to the Emden. The Karlsruhe, which recently elude t pursuit ill the West Indies, was laid dow if in 1911. and completed last. year. SI has a displacement of 4900 tons, and ca ries a complement of 370. Her nrmavnei '• comprises 12 4.lin guns and two submerge 1- torpedo tubes. The Scharnliorst and Giiei.-,cnau a: ' sister ships of 11.600 tons each. Tin e are alt-ached to the Herman fleet in tl s Pacific ami recently bombarded I'apeet i- They are armed with eight B.2in guns, s bin guns. 20 24-pounders, four machii cuns. and four submerged torpedo tube They are both capable of 24 knots.

The Nurnberg and the Leipzig are also attached to the German Pacific fleet. The N'urnberg, 3450 tons, is believed to have been responsible for the destruction of the. cable station at Fanning island. She was completed in 1908. Her armament comprises 10 4.lin guns, eight 5-poundevs. four machine guns, and two submerged torpedo tubes. The Leipzig, which has been reported on several occasions oft' the Pacific coast of both North and South America, has a displacement of 3250 tuns, and is capable of a speed of 23 knots. She was launched in 1906. She is aimed with 10 4.lin guns. 10 1-pounders. four machine guns, and two submerged torpedo tubes. The Koenigshcrg, 3400 tons, was the cruiser which disabled (he Pegasus at Zanzibar. She ; as completed in 1907. and is armed with 10 4.lin guns, eight 3pounders. four machine guns, and two submerged torpedo tubes.