ENEMY SHIPS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 62, Issue 4428, 21 May 1941, Page 8

ENEMY SHIPS

GROWING LOSSES. OFFICIAL BRITISH BLOCKADE. There are many signs that the cumulative effect of the British blockade of Germany, Italy and the European countries occupied by the enemy is giving the Nazis food for serious thought. The invaluable Italian leak of the first nine months of the war has been stopped now for nearly 12 months, the neutral fringe of western Europe with its protective territorial waters, is gone, the Mediterranean is virtually a closed sea. It is therefore hardly surprising that the Nazis are making desperate efforts to drill a hole through the wall of steel by way of Vichy. There are also the reports of Nazi plans to advance through Spain in the west, and Syria in the Middle East, with the object of breaking Britain’s stranglehold on the Mediterranean. ENEMY TRADE LOST. Another aspect of the British blockade of Europe is the heavy losses of German and Italian merchant shipping tonnage. We have become so accustomed to pondering British losses at sea that we apt to disregard the other side of the picture. During the last three or four months German and Italian merchant shipping losses have been very little lower than the British weekly average, but much more hampering to the enemy’s activities, because the total tonnage at the disposal of the Axis Powers is very much less than ours. Germany’s own overseas trade was virtually “cut off at the meter” in the first month of the war by the British blockade. Many of her ships were captured at sea, but even more were scuttled by their crews when there was imminent danger of their being captured. The others abroad took refuge in neutral ports, chiefly in the Americas and in Japan. Italian ships kept going till June of last year and were the source of a considerable leakage in the blockade of Germany. When Italy entered the war, her overseas trade suffered the same fate as that of Germany and

not a few of her ships were captured or scuttled themselves. During the last 12 months the German and Italian mercantile flags have disappeared from the world’s overseas ltrade routes. HEAVY LOSSES. Nevertheless, the losses of mercantile shipping under enemy flags have been surprisingly heavy during the last 12 months; and this is an extraordinary feature of this war. Owing to Germany’s control of the western European ports and coasts and to Italy’s dire need to maintain contact with her armies in North Africa and Albania, there has been far more movement of enemy shipping than ever occurred during the war of 191418. The operations of German and Italian merchant ships, however, are not in the course of ordinary commerce, but almost wholly concerned with the transport of troops and military supplies. The immense strain on Germany’s internal transport system of railways and canal's and the difficulties of moving troops and military stores to and from the occupied countries, have compelled the use of merchant ships as coastwise transport. In the case of Italy, the sea route across the Mediterranean and the Adriatic are the only means by which she can maintain reinforcements and supplies to her troops, and experience has shown that the sea is a very unsafe place for her ships. VITAL SEA ROUTES. Ever since Germany occupied Norway and the Low Countries in AprilMay pf last year, British submarines and aircraft, particularly the latter, have taken a great and ever-increas-ing toll of German supply ships. In recent months, scarcely a day has passed without attacks on enemy ships in northern waters. Supply ships and oil-tankers have been the numerous victims of aircraft of the R.A.F. Coastal Command as well as of lurking submarines. This takes no account of the many ships that must have been destroyed or sunk in German harbours by the great raids of the R.A.F. Bomber Command. In the Mediterranean British submarines and aircraft have taken heavy toll of Italian transports and supply ships at sea, many others have been sunk in North African harbours,

and several convoys have been destroyed by British and Greek warships. MOUNTING TOLL. It was officially announced some weeks ago that during the five weeks from February 9 to March 16, German and Italian merchant shipping sunk or captured by British naval and air forces amounted to some 300,000 tons. This is an average of 60,000 Tons a week, very little lower than the weekly average British losses about that time. The steady rise in the success of British patrols—surface ships, submarines and aircraft—in checking the enemy’s attempts to maintain his lines of communication by sea to the more distant points occupied by their troops, is shown by the following figures:— Enemy Losses. Up to July 12, 1940 Tons. Germany 923,000 Italy 259,000 Total 1,182,000 Up to March 16, 1941 Germany 1,449,000 Italy 790,000 . Total 2,239,000 MILLIONS OF TONS. The figures show that since Italy entered the war last June and the Germans gained possession of the Channel and North Sea ports, the shipping lost by them up to March 16, is approximately 1,057,000 tons. Since then British attacks on German and Italian ships have been even heavier and more successful. During the si£ weeks to the end of April their losses have amounted to some 600,000 tons. This makes a known total of nearly 3,000,000 tons since the beginning of the war. .Nor is that the only significant point. Virtually every ship sunk during the last 12 months has been employed on military service as a transport or a supply ship for the enemy’s fighting services. Only a very few of the ships sunk have been attempting ordinary commercial voyages. The total loss represents approximately one-third of the total merchant tonnage of Germany and Italy. Recently a large number of their ships were seized in United States and South American ports, and it is probable that, before long, this large block of tonnage will be requisitioned for the services of those countries, or even to carry munitions of war and foodstuffs to Great Britain. The Battle of the Atlanta is making everincreasing demands on the available shipping, and Hitler and Mussolini may yet see ships of their countries working in the cause of freedom.