BRITISH NAVY

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21259, 1 November 1940, Page 7

BRITISH NAVY

GUARANTEE TO GREECE

MILL STRIKE AT ITALY

LORD CHATFIELD’S VIEWS

(Official Wireless) (Received Nov. 1, 1 pm) . RUGBY, Oct. 31 Listeneis to the British Broadcasting Corporation’s "war commentaries” to-night heard with interest i the former First Sea Lord, Lord j Chatfield, answer his own question, which came towards the end of his address: ‘What will bo the effect on our fleets responsibilities of imple- | menting our guarantee to Greece?” Lord Chatfield said: “Obviously that will be considerable. The Greek ! ■ Navy consists of a cruiser, 23 tor- j pedo craft and six submarines. They ; are well trained and will play a part | by our side. Italy, by invading i

Greece through Albania, can maintain her armies by a short sea route across the Adriatic—not an easy sea for our fleet to operate in—but always there are possibilities of night actions. “If Italy plans to extend her operations by sea to the Greek islands our fleet may be given that opportunity to strike for which it has waited, for the laws of strategy teach you your enemy’s weak spu ‘, and those sea and air forces which we can spare from the defence of these islands against Germany should enable us to strike some violent blows against Italy. “Now Italy’s objects may be to divide our military forces so as to weaken our resistance in Egypt, but sea and air power will be more value to help Greece than a large army sent to Salonika, with all that means in transport and supply. “The waters of Greece are now a new battle-ground for us. Thanks to Greek hospitality our Navy for years has exercised there. Her harbours and islands have valuable strategic points well known to our sailors, which we shall doubtless use, but one must remember that bases cannot be improvised simply or so rapidly as before, for they have to be defended against air and submarine attacks.” Strong British Fleet “It is too early in Italy’s new adventure, however, to discuss such matters,” Lord Chatfield said. “I obviously cannot give you a comparative statement of the forces in the Mediterranean, but we have concentrated there a fleet able by its efficiency to contain the Italian Fleet, to guard the Straits of Gibraltar and to hold the Straits of Gibraltar, and to protect the Suez Canal. “Fighting in the narrow waters of the Mediterranean the fleet had gradually to take the measure of its Italian opponent, his Navy, his Air Force and his submarines, testing their fighting capacity.” There Lord Chatfield left it. Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence during many arduous months before Mr Chamberlain’s resignation, it is significant that Lord Chatfield began with the assertion that “the laws of sea power have not so far been vitally modified by submarine warfare.” He added, however, that having lost the Channel ports, enabling the enemy to mount coastal batteries at the narrows, the passage of convoys there, from being a routine traffic problem, had become a naval operation. .. _ . Lord Chatfield continued immediately, however: “Nevertheless our trade continues to flow along this route, which the enemy has done his utmost to deny us.”