The Dominion. TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1914. WIRELESS AND WARFARE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2225, 11 August 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 1914. WIRELESS AND WARFARE

The cutting of the submarine cables is a possibility which must always be taken into consideration'at war time. During the existing international crisis there have been rumours of attempts to interfere with the means of communication by cable between different parts of the British Empire. At a/ time like the present the complete stoppage of all messages from the outside world would naturally give rise to much anxiety. It would createa feeling of intense unrest and uncertainty which would have a very disturbing effect on the community. Fortunately the invention of wireless telegraphy has provided a supplementary method of keeping in touch with other parts of tho Empire, and even if tho enemy' succeeded in severing our cable communication it might still be possiblo to escape entire isolation. Unfortunately _ the TransOcean wireless scheme is not quite complete. It is in operation across the Atlantic to North America, but Zonolulu is not yet linked up,"though a.station on. that island is being constructed and is nearly finished. It will bo completed very soon; indeed, the Sydney station is expecting a message at any time'. - There are,, however, a. number of low-powered stations around the Australian coast, and connection can be made with the .Malay/States. Temporary means of communication might also be established across the Pacific, as there are always several ships passing to and fro which could provide a chain between Australia and North America, which would also serve New Zealand as we are in wireless communication with the Commonwealth. It is not at'all likely that the combrned wireless and cable system'could be'put; completely • out of gear. Both the Eastern and Associated Company and the Pacific Cable Board do. Business with Australia and New Zealand. The former bias many alternative routes, and it is stated that there are nearly 50' different ways by which it could get a-messase to iondon, while tho Pacific Cable Board's messages can pass across the Atlantic by 17 different cables. There is'one cable across the Pacific Ocean, with landings at Fanning Island, Suva (Fiji), and Norfolk Island. It then branches to Southport (southern Queensland), and Doubtless Bay (New Zealand). The enemy would have a good deal of cutting to do in order to establish the complete isolation of Australasia from Europe, and when the Honolulu wireless station is completed the task would become practically impossible Besides linking tho Empire together, wireless telegraphy is invaluable in naval warfare, and is no .doubt being put to the fullest use by the British fleet now operating in the English Channel and the North Sea! Our warships aro ablo to keep in constant touch with each other, and they are almost certain to be in daily communication with the Admiralty authorities, ashore. The advent of wireless telegraphy must tend to create a more complete system of central control in naval operations, which will naturally lessen the need for isolated initiative on the part of individual commanders-in-chief. This view.is exprßßßad by Ms, Thcksfield k ia- Ms book an. Naval. IPac/fiic, Ho.

states- that this weakening of individual initiative is not necessarily a disadvantage, and even so far as it is a disadvantage at all, it is more than balanced by the immense corresponding Advantage of keeping tho War Staff at all times in direct touch with every part of the field of naval operations, and. thereby making it the focus of all "available information, and tho directingauthority for all tho larger strategy of the campaign. , As an illustration'of the value ■of wireless telegraphy in war Me. Thuesfield points out that when Nelson . was returning across tho Atlantic after chasing Villeneuve out of the West Indies his only way of letting the Admiralty know of the progress of events was by sending the news by means of 1 a brig. As soon as this information arrived the Admiralty issued orders altering the disposition of the fleets, which were then blockading French ports. This led directly to tho action .off Finisterrc, "and in the' sequel to the abandonment by Napoleon of all. his projects of invasion and the destruction of the allied fleets at Trafalgar." What an enormous advantage it would have been to Britain if Nelson could . have communicated with the Admiralty by _ "wireless" while still a thousand miles off the British coast, and received his orders in the same way! The use of wireless telegraphy has no ( doubt enabled the British North Sea fleet during the present war to take a much wider sweep in their work of clearing the waters of hostile cruisers than would otherwise have been possible. Our warships may be out of sight, and yet in constant touch, each one knowing what the others are doing, and always ready to respond to any call.