The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, JULY 12th, 1940. BLOCKADE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 185, 12 July 1940, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. FRIDAY, JULY 12th, 1940. BLOCKADE

EUROPE is now, to all intents and purposes, a closed (German preserve:, and the only hope that England has of weakening her enemy is to blockade the Continent. The situation when the French Fleet was likely to be used against us was very black, and even if we had not to evacuate the Mediterranean,'thus giving the Axis Powers free access to the vital war goods of Africa, the situation would have been very precarious there. Now,, however, a third of Britain s Fleet will give, her parity with Italy in surface vessels probably more than parity so far as the larger vessels are concerned —and the necessity of evacuating at least the Eastern Mediterranean seems to have been overcome. It may be taken for granted that the British naval forces at Alexandria are sufficient for all emergencies, for we know sufficient of the realism of British naval strategy to understand that a weak unit would not be left there to be swallowed by overpowering Italian fleets at their leisure. The Empire had sufficient warning of the impending French military breakdown to have withdrawn their ships from any untenable position . While we have good bases in the Eastern Mediterranean, guarding the; vital oil ports in the Mediterranean, we have little information as to the power of the Mediterranean fleet in instituting a complete blockade of enemy ports from trade with Africa—we of course through Suez and Gibraltar hold the gateways to the ocean trade routes yet the recent action against the French fleet indicates that so far our ships have been holding the initiative:. But this is no time for false optimism. Even if a long range blockade., cutting off Europe from oils and those basic metals and foodstuffs which she cannot produce, there is also to be considered the counter-blockade that will certainly be instituted by Germany. Though British naval forces may exceed the combined German and French navies, a blockade is based upon diffusionist tactics rather than open frontal fighting. Britain brilliantly won the first phase of the sea war by hei defeating of the submarine menace; she will now be called upon to meet the menace of submarines operating from basis very close to vital trade: routes, and probably aircraft and light surface craft will be used to prey upon British shipping. At the very least,, the German counter-blockade will necessitate the use of a large number of British cruisers limiting the number available for other naval duties.