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Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 218, 19 October 1914, Page 6

When the Amplrion was blown to bits by mines, the Admiralty Earned the British public that, having regard to the peculiar way in which the naval operations were being conducted, they must prepare themselves for more shocks of a similar nature... Since, then the Pathfinder, has been , sunk, three elderly cruisers : sent to tliq . bottom, and now the Hawke, a cruiser whose usefulness was almost past, has fallen a victim to a torpedo. A 'German submarine saved the Hawke . from the. scrap-heap, but unfortunately the cruiser went down with hundreds of young bluejackets.

Though the ITawke (which flics no more) and her crew never knew it, swift and drastic retaliation was made off the Dutch coast, when a light British cruiser and some destroyers attacked and sank four German destroyers. The casualties on our side were astonishingly smalljust five men wounded. This little victory easily outweighs the German success in the northern waters of the North Sea. The ITawke's fighting value was so small as to be practically negligible; the German destroyers were essential units of the enemy's offensive craft not in. harbour at Kiel. The enemy is relying on his naval guerrillas —the submarines, mines, and destroyers —to reduce the aggregate fighting co-efficient of Admiral Jellicoe's squadrons, and the loss of even one destroyer or one submarine must be appreciably felt by a fleet which, at its best strength, is distinctly inferior to an opponent. On the other hand, the British Fleet is in a position to regard the recent losses without misgivings. Admiral Jellicoe's might is concentrated in the Dreadnought squadrons, and while these are still untouched, the enemy's submarines may pick off an old cruiser scout here and there without in any way altering the naval situation. Notwithstanding the sinking of half-a-dozen warships, more or less obsolete, the enormous strength of the British Fleet is quite unimpaired. The Germans have still before tliem the prospect of a Jong hibernation in the Kiel Canal, or, as an alternative, a desperate resolve to come out into the open and give battle. The little episode off' the Dutch coast will not tend to giveHhem confidence for the latter adventure.