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Press, Volume LIII, Issue 16037, 20 October 1917, Page 8

While in connexion with Nelson Day we allow our thoughts to dwell with pardonable pride on the might of the British Navy, as shown in this war, we ought not to lose sight of the valuable assistance rendered by the fleets of our Allies, concerning whose work there is a very illuminating article by Mr Archibald Hurd in the "Quarterly Review."

The main point in the article is that the British Fleet is to-day stronger, absolutely and relatively, than when the war opened, and. the pressure which it is exerting on the enemy is greater than at any period' either in this war or in any preceding war of which record exists, unless it be . the struggle of 1861-65 between the Northern and Southern States of America. The re- | suits which have been achieved against a Power which ranked as the second greatest naval Power in the world may be traced ultimately to a master-stroke of strategy—the concentration of practically all the main effective units under the White Ensign in the North Sea. But this concentration could not have taken place had it not been for the co-operation of tho Allied Fleets* Of this we have an illustration at our own doors in the fact that the policy of the Pacific and the convoying of our troops has been entrusted to a very large extent to our Allies the Japanese,

But apart from facilitating our concentration the Fleets of our Allies Lave been of active assistance in operations against the enemy. The Russian Fleet is now engaged in what appears to be an unequal contest against the Germans in the Baltic, but we all remember how, in 1915, under the masterly handling of Admiral von Essen and his able successor, Admiral Nepenin, the Russian Fleet frustrated the determined attempts of the Germans to secure the command of the Baltic. The battle force in the Mediterranean has been supplied by France, who assisted in the Dardanelles operations. Since Italy's entry into the war, the Austrian Fleet has been compelled to keep in harbour behind elaborate mine-fields, dominated by powerful coast artillery, and supported by flotillas of destroyers and submarines.

Probably few people realise all that is conveyed in the statement that the Grand Fleet has been blockading the enemy for more than three years. No one who has not participated in that long vigil can understand thp loneliness of life on board one of the ships. Mr H. C. Ferraby, one of the naval

correspondents who some little timo ago spent a few days with tbe Fleet, declared that the officers and men were divorced froai the land. "Long leave/' lasting about eight or ten days, comes only once in nine months, and "shoro leave," as usually understood, is "absolutely non-existent." Mr Ferraby says he was told by one admiral that ho had not seen a town of any sort except through glassos from some miles out at sea for over fifteen months. "Near tho anchorage of tho fleet, and visible through tho portholes of tho ward-room, there is a rather famous building. I asked ono officer casually if he had been to see it. 'It's only soven miles away,' he said, *but it might as well be seven hundred. I doubt if you will find a man in the ship who has seen it except from here.' " The Grand Fleet "bides its timo." It never knows, from day to day, when it may be called upon to grapple with an enemy making one last desperato throw for victory, and so it waits, not in idloness, but perfecting itself for the hour when it may finally break the naval power of Germany.

In an article in the "Fortnightly," which is of particular interest to-day, when tho Navy League is drawing general attention to the memory of Nelson and to the work of the Navy which is still inspired by the Nelson spirit, Mr Archibald Hurd, argues that Nelson would undoubtedly have approved the strategic disposition of the Grand Fleet. Some naval authorities have questioned the wisdom of concentrating the Fleet so far to the north, contending that there would have been more chance of bringing the enemy to battle if our ships had been placed further south. Mr Hurd expresses tho belief that the plan actually adopted is in accord with the highest traditions of Nelson ! and his brother officers trained in tho I school of war.

If Nelson had commanded the Grand Fleet he would hare "contained" the enemy as Sir David Beatty is doing today, either compelling him to stay in harbour or to fight against odds. As Mr Hurd says, tho disposition of the Grand Fleet ensures too objectives: First, that the enemy shall not escape into the Atlantic or Channel and cut lines of communication, and, secondly, that if it put to sea it should be brought to action before it could do serious injury oven in the North Sea." When Nelson was blocking the French Fleet in Toulon fo r two and a half years he gave the enemy every chance to come out, and on throe occasions the French got out before ho knew of it, inducing him on one of these occasions to dash off in pursuit to the West Indies. The Grand Fleet has been blockading the Germans for a longer period than Nelson blockaded the French, and yet no* once has an enemy battleship or cruiser got past our ships. In the end, Sir David Beatty may be able to paraphrase Nelson's remark—"Yesterday a rearadmiral and seven, sail put their noses outside the harbour. If they go on playing this game, some day wo shall put salt on their tails and so end the campaign."