NAVAL LOSSES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24627, 7 June 1941, Page 10

NAVAL LOSSES

LAST WAR COMPARED FEWER LARGE VESSELS MORE DESTROYERS SUNK Only in destroyers and submarines nave the Royal Navy's losses for the 21 months of the present war been higher than those for the first 21 months of the Great War. Big ship losses have been much fewer., although the earlier use of large numbers of auxiliary merchant cruisers has resulted" in more sinkings in this section. To the end of April, 1916, nine battleships had been mined or torpedoed, compared with one battleship, the Royal Oak, and one battle cruiser, the Hood, to the end of May, 1941. Britain entered the last war with a formidable number of big ships, but of the 61 which then flew the White Ensign a very large number were old pre-dread-nought types, and most of those sunk belonged to these older classes.' Modern battleships and battlecruisers with the Grand Fleet numbered 20 and four respectively. Strength in Large Ships When the present war broke out Britain had 15 battleships and battlecruisers. Two have been lost and two new ones, the King George V and the Prince of Wales, are known to be in commission, while several others which were building when Britain last declared her naval programme might well be in use or almost ready for service. Two aircraft-carriers, a type of ship not known in the comparable period ol the last war. have also been sunk, one, the Courageous, by torpedo, and the other, the Glorious, in surface action of! Norway. Cruiser losses number eight, three being destroyed at Crete and two during the Norwegian campaign, but in the first 21 months of the last war 13 had been sent to the bottom, two at Coronel and three by one U-boat in the North Sea shortly after the outbreak of war. Against the 11 auxiliary cruisers lost to the end of last month, five had been sunk to the end of April. 1916. Different Conditions A large proportion of this war's destroyer losses have been incurred in the Norwegian, Flanders and Crete campaigns. Six were sunk at Dunkirk, four in the fiords of Norway and four off Crete. Against the 42 lost,-to d»te in this war. five had been sunk in the comparable period of the last war. When considering the losses of this war it must also be remembered that the Germans took up in 1939 where they left off in 1918 with their U-boat campaign, whereas in the .last war it tcJpk many months to reach; the same intensity. Wider fields 'of, action have also had to be covered through .the participation of Italv and. the defection Submarine losses number against six in the first 21 months of the Great WaT but Britain: started this war with a much larger submarine fleet than she had in 1914, and consequently has been able to use them more extensively. The defection of France has, also had its result, as have the developments .in anti-submarine warfarr and submarine In addition to these losses the Navy had also lost to April.:lSl6, five gunboats and\one monitor. Comparison of these and suchvessels &s minesweepers, drifters and patrol .vessels is not possible, ' ••■-•-:.::•■. ■■■■- -V-. ~ ~:,:.: '