NAVAL LOSSES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 1122, 16 December 1914, Page 1

NAVAL LOSSES.

OFFICIAL AND UNOFFICIAL. HAS THE AUDACIOUS GONE? A COMPARATIVE TABLE. Since the outbreak of war one of the most difficult tasks for the newspaper reader has been to discover exactly what damage has been done to the opposing fleets. There have been reports giving most circumstantial stories of the sinking of great ships, but unless they are given the hall-mark of official credence little reliability can be placed on them. Early in the war it was reported that the Askold and the Emden had fought in the East and both had sunk, while later two German armoured cruisers were reported to have entered Hong Kong in a battered condition. The only two vessels answering to the description on the China station were the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, but subsequent events showed bow fallacious these reports were. In the following tables, however, the naval losses which have been admitted by the authorities as official have been set out, and others about which there are doubt are placed in a separate list. It may be stated that the report of the sinking of the super-dreadnought Audacious off the Irish coast on October 27, though persisted in by the passengers of the Olympic, has not been denied so far by the Admiralty. On October 28 the Admiralty stated that it was unsafe owing to mines to approach within fifty miles of Tory Island off the' North Irish coast, and two merchant steamers were sunk about October 27 off the coast. Tlie Audacious,, however, is not included in the officially known losses, neither is the loss of the German battleship Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse nor the cruiser Hertha. The German battleship was of little value, i having been reconstructed in 1908 and j afterwards passed straight into thej reserve. | The following table shows a compari- j son between tnei British and ' German | naval losses, giving the tonnage of each, boat and the losses in each class:— BATTLESHIPS. Britain—Bulwark (15,000 tons): one boat, 15,000 tons. Germany—Nil. ARMOURED CRUISERS. Britain—Aboukir (12,000 tons), Cressv (12,000), Hogue (12,000), Good Heps s (14,100), Monmouth (9800); five boats, i 59,900 tons. Germany—Torek (9500 terns), Scharn- i horst (11,600), Gneisonau (11,600), | Friedrich Karl (8851); four boats, | 41,051 tons, ! PROTECTED. OftTJISERS. j Britahi—-Hawke (7350 tons); one i .'s33o.tons*'''-".-'-• ■ • 1 ' \ Germany—Magdeburg (4520 tons); : one boat, 4620 tons. • LIGHT CRUISERS. j Britain—Hermes (5600 tons), Am- j phion (3400), Pathfinder (2940), Pegasus I (2135); four boats, 14,113 tons. ! ' Germany—Mainz (4300 tons), Koln j (4300), Ariadne (2645), Hela (2000), I Koenigsburg (3460), Emden (35(XJJ. Leipsig (3250]), Nurnburg (3450), Dres-! den (3600); nine ooats, 30,595 tons. j : GUNBOATS. j Britain—Speedy (810 tor®), Niger ! (810); two boats, 1620 tons. - s Germany—Panther (900 tons), Comet ti (971), Vaterland (170), Tfeingtau (170), i Geier (1627), Cormoran (1640), litis | (000), Mowe (650). Tiger (900), Luchs (900), Jaguar (9CO), .two others, (say, ; 500 tons); thirteen boats, 10,233 tons, i TORPEDO CRAFT. i Britain—Nil. I Germany—S9o (370 tons), Sll6 (420). I Sll7 (420), Sllß (420), Sll9 (420), 5124 I (470), Taku (280), five others (say, 2000 | tons); twelve boats, 2800 tons. | SUBMARINES. . ' Britain—AEl (800 tons), E3 (800). Do (580); three boats, 2180 tons. Germany—Uls (450-tons), UlB (450), two others (say, 1000 tons); four boats, 1900 tons. ARMED LINERS AND AUXILIARIES. Britain—Oceanic (17,214 tons), La Corrientina (8507); two boats, 25,721 tons. Germany—Konigin Luise (2463 tons), Cap Trafalgar (18,700), Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse (14,349), Bethania (7548), Spreewald (3899), Rhodoa (1925), Markomannia (4505), Berlin (17,324); nine boats, 71,013 tons. In addition there are "unofficial" losses, under which, heading are included any vessel which has been reported as lost but whose loss has been either officially denied or not confirmed: —British : Audacious, super-Dread- j nought (23,000 tons). German : Kaiser j Wilhelm der Grosse, battleship (10,600 i tons); Hertha. old cruiser (5650); tvro ! destroyers (880); seven submarines (3500). ! AUSTRIAN LOSSES. Tips losses sustained by the Austrian Navy include:—-Zenta, cruiser !2264 tons); Kaisirin Elizabeth, cruiser 4064); Termes, armoured monitor 440); torpedo boat (1978 tons); destroyer (350); submarine (230). The unofficial reports include—One destroyer (350 tons); eight torpedo boats (600); two submarines (460). RUSSIAN. Official announcements give tlie following losses to the Russian Navy:— Pallada, armoured cruiser (7887 tons); Jemtchug, light cruiser (3100); Donetz, gunboat (1224); Prut, mine-layer (6480). JAPANESE. Fo far the losses to the Japanese are as follows:—Takachiho, old cruiser used for mine-operations (3100 tons); destroyer (500). FRENCH. Two small French boats have been gunk:—Zelee, decrepit and unarmed 1 gunboat (646 tons); Mousquet, destroyer (307). TURKISH. Since its late arrival in the war the Turkish Navy has sustained the following losses:—Mussudyeh, old battleship (10,000 tons); Durakeiss, gunbosiw; Kinabada, armed steamer; one gunboat sunk near the Dardenelles.