GERMAN COAST DEFENCES.

Timaru Herald, Volume CI, Issue 15449, 11 September 1914, Page 5

GERMAN COAST DEFENCES.

WHERE AND WHAT THEY ARE. SOME FRENCH CX3MJIIBNTS. Some interesting notes of the character ot the iorialicaui,us at tne principal Ueunan ports and at various strategical parts of tho Uennuu coasts were published some mouths ago .11 a French journal-, and attracted considerable attention in German papers. The German practice of entrusting the defence of naval bases to the navy, and of assigning to the amy she duty of defending coastal distr cts of secondary importance, was considered to be superior to tho French system. The fortification of Heligoland presented few difficulties, for tho lofty plateau has enabled guns to be mounted in the most advantageous pos'tions, whence tliey are able to direct a. plunginor lire on hostile ships without W.ng exposed *fo counter bntnAt Ki<*l the same advantage exists in a modified form the guns there be ng mounted in works 130 ft all ore sea level, but elsewhere on the German consls all the battery positions have had to be chosen on flat ground, u-.vir.g to the low-lying shore lino, and their fire cannot therefore bo so effective. At Cuxhaven, says the French r.uthor, the works contain 12-inch guns, while the battor at Morkum, the most easterly of the East Fr'sa. 1 Islands, to fl'h ch German strategsts attach mmense importance, are armed with 14in;h weapons. The fire control system in vogue n the Gorman coast batteries is stated to be interior to French methods. but on the other band, Germnny's network of signal stations, which ensure t''an prompt ti ansm ; ss : on of all hcst'le naval movements to the battery commanders, is h'ghiy praised. Danzg he co'nsxl. i x s to be greatly exposed to a. seaward bombardment, though strong redoubts have been bjll .t at He!a to command tli;> gulf. Is.on gsberg and Pilau are equally expos?:! to attack by ''the Rvss an fleet, winch is t'ae only force takvn into account by those respons'blo for the ceienco of the Baltic crast." Other weak points on tho Noithern coast are Swinemunde, Ahlbsi-k. and Her-liig-dnrl'. The fceiauro of the Is an:! of llugen is mentioned as one of the contingencies which would serious iv nie: new Germany. At Ivel. savs the author, the 'city site cf the b tter'es is an undoubted advantage, but the guns at present in p'ston there are descr bed as very iiuffic'ent. It is inferred that Germany- places no exaggerated reliance on coast d.fences, but ejects to spend most of her resources 011 the seagoing fleet. . It is probably true, as tho author asserts, that no German coast - fortress has any landward defence, and that its reduction bv a strong landing party which attacked from the rear would bo comparatively easy. This omission is due to the confidence felt by t-lie General Staff in their arrangements for ascemblng ah overwhelming force of military at any point on the coastline within, a few hours of the alarm being g'-ven. It is well known that great attention has been given to this quest-ion, which has now been solved :n such a way that even the smallest raid on any portion ot the ccast territory is considered to be an absolute impossibility. The, French author apDarcflt'v does not think much of tho North Sea de-fen-es, wh ch stretch from Svlt to Boikum. Fort Kugelbaake, at * Cuxhaven, is condemned as obsolete, but he mentions the existence of a powerful battery of s x 12-inch guns w ; h : ch has bean established near by, at Dose °l Duhnen, two seasiele resorts west of Cuxhaven. The strengthening of the Cuxhaven works is stated to have been under eons'deration. but in viev; of the 12-inch guns at Helgoland, tiie Elbe estuary is deemed to be fairly sale from attack. How 12-inch guns mounted at Heligoland can be "any prot-E-etion to Cuxhaven, which is 44 m I'os d'stant. the author docs not exAs regards the Jade and tho ivcser, it is pointed out that they can bo only by pass'ng close to tho island of Wangaroogo, and here, the author states, some very powerful artillery, probably 14ine.h, is about to . mounted. Thus "\\ lhelmsbnven, m h ch lictj 34 kilometres -S.E. of Wangeropse, is r.ai'"y better protected than ■y- lc, - Tho fort fications at Borlciim are doscribed as very powerful.