NAVY OF 4,000 SHIPS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14237, 3 March 1917, Page 7

NAVY OF 4,000 SHIPS.

mm "SUBMARINE MENACE WILL BE DEALT WITH." SIR JOHN JELLICOES AS SURANCE. LONDON, January 9. 'The submarine menace must aud will be dealt with. Of that- lam confident." Sir John Jellicoe, the First Sea Lord, gave this assurance m a striking speech he made when the honorary freedom of the Fishmongers' Company wa a conferred ou him. In a review of the work of the Navy he mentioned tha<t. — The Navy consists of nearly 4000 ships. Ovei* 7,000,000 men have been transported, besides guns, ammunition, and stores. "There ai*e gjfeat differences between the Conditions of to-day and a hundred years ago," said Sir John Jellicoe. "These lie m the greater speed of ships, m the longer rang© of guns, m the menace of the torpedo and mines, the rise of aircraft as scouts, and of wireless telegraphy. "In the Napoleonic era the ships opened fiie witli gun 6 at range* of about" 800 yards. The ships of to-day open fire at 23,000 yards ramge, and gunfire begins to be very effective at 18,000 yards. The torpedo as fired from surface vessels i 8 effective certainly up to 10,000 yards range, and this reouires that a ship shall keep beyond this distaaee to fight her guns. As soon as destroyers tumble upon a fleet within torpedo^ iiange the situation becomes critical for the heavy ships. U BOATS AND MINES. "The submaaiine is another facto_ which has ch__i»ged the situation, as tliis class of vessel, combined with the use of mines, entirely prevents the close blockade resorted to m former days. In addition, tliose two weapons add greatly to the anxieties of those m command. It is' one thing to fight an enemy, that you can s ee. It is a different matter to deal with a hidden foe. ■ • ."Modem conditions add immensely to the responsibility of those commanding fleets. They, cannot get warning of the enemy being at sea until the enemy is well at sea, j .Nelson watching Villeneuve off Cadiz had his inshore squadron close into the enemy's port, and could see what was actually going on inside that iuort. The British Fleet of to-day, watching the German High Seas Fleet, is n_rt. m the same happy pdsitioii. The 'further the watching ships a_*e fron*t the enemy's port the greater is the with which the enemy can escape, and the greater is the difficulty of intercepting him. "Li our day submarines and mines compel the watching force to take up their station further and further away. In spite of this and m spite of the German boast on which the German Fleet has searched the North Sea for the British Fleet, ioui"j enemies have only on one ventured sufficiently far with their main fleet to give us an opportunity to engage them. "No vessel^, neutral or British, have sighted the High Sea Fleet far from its ports on any occasion. It is true that on August 19 of last year the enemy's fleet came within measurable distance of the English coast, being sighted by some of our patrols, but turned back, presumably because the presence of our Fleet was reported by their aircraft. RAIDS. "Raids on the -British coast with fast cruisers or battle-cruisers have been carried out, but on each occasion the passage from German waters has been made, apparently, under . cover of the night, th© enemy, appearing off our coast at dawn, and retiring before comparatively small forces. "Such feats were, of course, impossible m the days of slow speed, and are now undertaken probably only m the hope of enticing us into the adoption of a false strategy by breaking up our forces to guard all vulnerable points. Ido not criticise the Germans for their strategy, or for not running any risks with their fleet. Oh the other hand, their boasts of searching the North Sea for the enemy must.he pronounced as without justifiable basis. "It may he interesting to state that the approximate number of vessels of ' all classes which comprise the British 1 Navy of to-day is nearly 4000. Thia includes battleships, battle-cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers, submarine boats, mine-sweepers, patrols, and many other miscelleaneous craft, all of which are necessary for the. effective conduct of a war of to-day." Sir John Jellicoe reviewed the worldwide activities of the Fleet, from the White Sea to the Pacific, and paid a tribute to the mercantile marine. "Without our mercantile marine."' he said, "the Nayy — and, indeed, the nation — could not exist. Upon it w« have been dependent for the movement of our troops overseas — over seven millions of men having beeu transported, with ' all the guns, munitions, and stores rei quired by the Army. "We have had to draw also on the ; personnel of tbe mercantile marine not ; only for the manning of the transport ships, but also vettty largely for the 9 manning of the whole of our patrol and ' mine-sweeping craft, nearly 2500 skips pers being employed as skippers * R.N.R. * "Those of us who have been closely ' associated with the officers and men who man our armed merchant vessel? , and patrol craft have realised from thc . first day of the war how magnificent were their services, how courageous their conduct, and how unflinching I their devotion to duty, under the most dangerous conditions. "IT WILL BE DEALT WITH." r "The submarine menace to the mer- - chant service is fa_r greater now than I at any period of the war, and it requires all our energy to combat it. It I _nust and will be dealt with. Of that i I am confident. t "I appeal to _ the men .m tlie shipt yards and engineering shops to put x forth their best efforts, continuously I and ungrudgingly, to keep up the strength of our mercantile marine, and to provide those gallant fellows, who have gone through innumerable darifers and hardships when their shipe aye been sunk, with new vessels. . "Let there be no question o! strikes, no bad timekeeping, no slacking ; and let masters and men remember how great is their responsibility, not only towards the Navy and the nation, but also towards our Allies." ' Sir John Jellicoe paid this tribute to ' the men of the Fleet : — "I said at the outset that conditions 1 affecting naval warfare differed to-day ■ from those of a hundred years ago. ' Thero has, however, been little change l m our men, except m the development ■ of higher principles and m fuller re- [ cognition of individual! responsibility m > tho national cause. The spirit of our > forefathers lives on m all its vigor and ' devotion to King and country m the i officers and men of to-day; with this added; that there is a higher standard . of personal worth, of mental alertness, * and of moral rectitude. No one could 1 ask for a finer personnel than we have >m the Navy. Education has enabled . eyery. man to arrive at a just appreciation of the justice of our cause, and. to conduct himself as becomes a man, fighting foi' the freedom of the smaller nations and for the liberty of humanity . , ______-_M----_Maa----_--a-MHi

j from the threatened thraldom of military slavery. Can there be any doubt of the issue when this fundamental belief is associated, as it is, with all-per-vading patriotism and unflagging zeal to accomplish the end that we and our Allies have m view? Every man m the Navy is eager and prepared to do his duty. "If we all do oui" part a_l will be well with us. Of one prominent fact I can speak with full confidence born of expenenoe — that the nation can depend on the Navy being ready, resourceful, and reliable."