FACING THE SUBMARINE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24368, 2 September 1942, Page 2

FACING THE SUBMARINE

Unofficial but circumstantial reports from the United States Rive a more cheerful cast to the previously ominous accounts of submarine sinkings in the Western Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. Figures, stated to come from the official list of losses, support the conclusion that progress is at last! being made with counter-measures against the submarine menace in a vital area of Allied communications, and one in which New Zealand is directly concerned on account of services via Panama. The drop is given as from 109 ships lost in June to 45 in July and 23 in August. Naval authorities in Washington are quoted as believing that the convoy system is now proving effective against the menace. That convoy was the best answer to the submarine war against merchant shipping was never in doubt. Tt was proved to be in the last war, coming to the rescue when Allied fortunes on the sea were at their lowest ebb As an example of its effectiveness, records show that, in the western approaches to the British Tsles, 41 ships were lost in the six months February to July, 1917, and fgur in the following six months. The improvement then was maintained. It may be now, if adequate escort vessels are available. So far, the good

news can be accepted gratefully. It is not yet reflected in the marine underwriting rates, and there may easily be setbacks still to come, but meantime the information is of progress to the solution of a problem which must be conquered before victory can be won.