THE SUBMARINE MENACE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3339, 13 March 1918, Page 15

THE SUBMARINE MENACE.

The Admiralty supplies the following' figures of shipping for the week as relating to submarines, which compare with the previous week as follow: Feb. 24- Mar. 3. Arrivals for week 2274 2015 Departures for week ... 2398 2209 Vessels over 1600 tons sunk 14 12 Vessels under 1600 tons sunk 4 6 Unsuccessfully attacked ... 9 6 Fishing vessels sunk ... 7 The French shipping statistics for th© week are as follow:—Arrivals, 863; sailings, 748; sinkings, two vessels under 1600 tons; unsuccessfully attacked, four. Italian shipping figures for the week ended Saturday, March 2, were: Arrivals, 334; departures, 285. There were no sinkings, and one vessel was unsuccessfully attacked. The armed Allan liner . Calgarian, o{ 17,515 tons, turbine-driven, with a speed of 20i 'knots, was torpedoed off the- Irish coast on March' 1. There were 6CO soula on board. The lives of two officers and 46 men were lost. The Cork Steamship Company's packet Kenmare has been sunk by a submarine. Six out of a cvrew of 26 have been saved. >o The captain and five of the crew of the Norwegian steamer Havna have landed., itiBritain. The vessel was torpedoed without warning, and sank in a minute. Twelve of the crow are missing. The survivors clung to a raft all night. They saw eight oii another raft, all of whom died or were washed off. . The survivors found and righted a lifeboat, in which they drifted for 50 hours before they were rescued by an American destroyer. While the men were in the water the Germans refused: help. Yamanates, a Japanese naval attache, who has come to the United States, says that the Allies sank 15 U boats in the Mediterranean during February. Admiral von Mueller*, head of the en. ginecring branch of the German navy, has informed the newspapers that submarines will sink 600,000 tons of shipping monthly from January ,to June, 1918, thereby halving the total British tonnage," excluding vessels under 2COO tons.

LIGHTS ON SHIPS. Sir Eric Geddos's statement regarding tin} darkening -of ships was fehat _ the enemy were often assisted by insufficient precautions as regards lights on ships. Absolutely complete darkness was essential for their protection. '■''>■-. The British Admiralty attaches vital importance to the darkening of ships as explained in Sir Eric Geddes's statement, and. desires' that the fullest possible publicity should be given to it by placarding and otherwise, and that the protective measure* prescribed should bo immediately and implicitly carried out. WORK "OF SPIES. Commander Nicholas, speaking at Nowport, said ho was prepared to say that the subrfiarino which sank the hospital ship Glanaret Castle know when she left New. port. Pie demanded that aliens should nofc be allowed about the docks, and declared that' there are spies in every port on tho Bristol Charnel. No vessel left unknown to the submarines. As examining officer for the Bristol Channel, he knew what he wa«i talking about. Replying to a suggestion by Major Hunt in the House of Commons that aliens should bo excluded from tho docks in view of the statement that tho sinking of the Glenaret Castle was due to spies at Bristol Channel ports communicating with German submarines, Mr W. Brace (Home Office) said that aliens were already excluded from thel clocks. Alien sailors from Allied and neutral ships were not allowed to land unless they, were from friendly ports, and then only under strict conditions.

A FIENDISH CRIME. . The Central News has ascertained the details of the revolting murder of a Belgian fishing skipper last week. A German submarine sighted his smack, arid fired without warning, destroying the mast and sails, and wounding the skipper. -..The skipper was refused quarter, but was told that the crew could savo their lives. The submarine approached and ordered the Belgians to put two Germans aboard with bombs. The Germans found the skipper wounded and helpless, and they shot him dead with a revolver m sight, of the crew, among whom was the skipper's son. The Belgians wore then cast adrift in a cockleshell boat, but were picked up afteir severe privations.

THE SHIPPING SHORTAGE. In the' House of Lords Lord Lytton, in replying to Lord Beresford, stated that the shipping fosses in the Irish Channel were greater in 1918 than in any previous period of tho war. The Government would shortly onnounce the true position in regard' to shipbuilding!. Sir Leo Chiozza Money stated in the House of Commons that 17 standard ships, totalling 86,C00 tons, had been built up to the end of February. Dr Macnamar, Secretary to tho Admiralty, announces that three. national ship yards have been established for assembling the parts of standard ships, and he could promise 34 ibips, which ha hoped would all be completed in 12 months. They would lay the first keel in April and launch the first ship in October. The Government's anticipation regarding the numbers of men to be released from tho army for shipbuild ing had not yet been realised. In the Chamber of Shipping Sir John Ellormsin (head of the well-known shipping ■firm of that name) moved a resolution, which the meeting carried, regretting the unsatisfactory progress of commercial "shipbuilding", which, he said; was due to taking the initiative out of the hands of private owners The number of standard ships produced in a year did not equal the sinking for one fortnight. Tho United States Shipping Board announoe that 31 ships, aggregating 190,400 tons, were completed in January and February. It is estimated that vessel? aggregating 220,955 tons will be launched in March. The officials believe that the shipping progrnmme is now running smoothly. The Anglo-Swedish Agreement concerning fhipnin'.r tonnage has occasioned indignation in Germany. The North German Gazette states that according to the Declaration of London these ships must be considered enemy ships. Tin's transfer of tonnage was equilavent to n direct participation . in the economic war against Germany. Neutrals, therefore, were committing acts incompatible with neutrailty. GERMAN RAIDERS. 'Lloyds states that in addition to vessels previously named, the' Wolf captured the American sailing vessel John Kirkby, the French ship Mareschal Davout, and the Norwegian barque Storebror. A sailor among the Igotz Mendi's captives states that the Wolf was equipped with four torpedo tubes and seven 9in guns, all hidden so as to make the Wolf appear to be a cargo steamer. She carried 500 mines, and her main object was to mine various points overseas. Captain Benson, interviewed, said the Germans desired greatly to make a. dash homeward > with tho captured N.Y.K. steamer Hitchi Mam, thus seeming her rich cargo of copper, tin. rubber, and tea; but they reluctantly decided to sink her owing to lack of coal. The bread aboard i*:e Igotz Mendi was unlimited in quantity and excellent in quality, Donavan. a Now Zealand jockev. acting as baker. The Wolf caught all wireless messages, enabling hex. to avoid danger, including several armed British transports. It has been ascertained that the 10-otz Mendi -(wrecked off Jutland) was never, in Australian waters. She loaded coal at Durban for Colombo. Tho German press is violently attacking Denmark for interning fclm Gorman prize crew on the Igotz. Mendi. The Government

has protested that this is an unfriendly act. German newspaper are hinting that an ultimatum will be sent to Denmark. The Igotz Mendi has been salvaged and is safe in Skaw Harbour. She is little damaged, and her valuable cargo. is being unloaded. A Chilian schooner has landed at Talcahuana 58 officers and crew of the See Adler. They were rescued from the schooner Fortuna, which was wrecked in the vicinity of Easter Island