THE GERMAN FLEET

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2966, 2 January 1917, Page 3

THE GERMAN FLEET

''GRAND MANOEUVRES" IN CANAL. "Who said the German fleet was inactive!',' asks Mr. j. IU. do Beaufort in the second instalment in tho "Quarterly Review," of his "Voyage of Discovery iii Germany." "Ask the employees of the Kiel Canal locks at Holtenau

and Bruusbuttel. They'll tell you a different story. Ask them how often they have to stand, by, night and day, and labour at their jobs, passing the fleet in and out. Ask the coastguards of the lighthouse at Bulk, on the Kiel Bay. They will tell you of the interesting evolutions of tno German navy, under the watching eyes and protecting muzzles of tho coastal batteries.

_ "Wo lad plenty of time for reflection and for' admiration of the wonderful new locks. • I was fortunate enough to get.an opportunity to land. The captain charged me with the delivery of a stack of documents at the office of the port. It goes without saying that I was properly conducted. Two sailors with loaded rifles and bayonets marched one on, each sido of me. 'What's all the 'excitement about? 1 I inquired innocently of myHwo guardian angels. They replied .almost' simultaneously, and with that peculiar inflection in the voice which ordinary mortals only use when speaking about something spiritual, 'Zu Befehl.. Flotto macht grosse manoyer.' _ ('At your orders, sir. Tho fleet is going through grand manoeuvres.,). No, kind reader, they did not smile; there was not even the suspicion of a.twinkle-,in their eyes. Oh! these Germans; they have little enough sense of humour .at the best of times, bui, _ when it comes to matters concerning their 'fleet, -they refuse to Eee anything but dead" seriouß. business. Grand manoeuvres in war-time I What next? I thought. Grand manoeuvres in a canal 1 Indeed here was an object lesson for those croakers in England who ask, 'What is our fleet doing?' No better illustration of 'Britannia, rules ■the waves'.did I ever see, or have seen sinco, than on that murky spring day last year in the mouth, of the Elbe.

"Later,-at the post office, tasked oil official .what was the object of these manoeuvres. Why didn't they practise outside, in the Baltic, or in the North Sea? Oh I that was a very simple matter. They are trying- several times a monthto reduce the record of the passage timo through tho canal. ' 'Did I realise that their biggest ships could now pass through the canal, from Wick to Brunsbuttel, in a fraction under six hours r I agreed with him, of cour.se, that such a performance was indeed marvellous. ...

"About 9 o'clock the champions of Germany's future were sighted. The battleship Helgoland was leading, and she certainly cut through the water m great style.. With a distance of about a thousand feet between them, seven other large ships followed. Two torpedo-boat flotillas (i.e., 22 boats) accompanied them. Behind the Helgoland came the Thuringen,' then tho Oldenburg, followed by tho Ostfriesland, tho flagship of the Helgoland class. Behind them, again, came some old acquaintances—viz., the ships of the Kaiser class, consisting of tho Kaiser, the Konig Albrecht, and the* ■Friednch der Grosse, the flagship. Tho famous battle-cruiser Moltko brought up the i rear. /. .

"The hugo gates of all the four docks were open as soon as the warships appeared before them; and, without the delay of a second,- the first four battle-, ships wore berthed"! inside. Everything worked with clock-like precision." The Helgoland and ; -her sister-ships fairly bristled with guns. She carried twelve 12in. guns, .with a 66 por cent;: capacity to each broadside. Surrounding the big ones, and (it seemed) in every available spot, were the -lighter calibre guns, the 6.9 and 3.4-inch, of which sho cairied fourteen each. There Beemed to

be as many gun-barrels as quills on a porcupine's back.

"I do not recall exactly how long it took those eight ships and their escorts —using all four locks—to pass from the Elbe into the. canal, but 1 am certain it was less'than 20 minutes from beginning to end. 'Well, , inquired my official escort, 'Germany's cause is not lost yet, eh i> with such 'Prachtkerle' (magnificent fellows) to stand £uard over us.' It was a. magnificent sight, yet it seemed sad. It was wonderful, yet I could not draw any inspiration from it. Again and- again there eamt> leaping back to my mind tho solemn, confident answer of. those two simple sailors,- 'Grbs.se Manover'; and, try as I would, I could not see in' the v/nole performance anything else but a practical demonstration of England's sea- ' poVer. These splendid 6hips deserved a better fate than 'Grand Manoeuvres' in the canal. - ■ ' , •

"The more I saw of tho German fleet, and talked toits officers and men, the more I became convinced that this war is- not going to see a naval bsttle fought out to the bitter end. My trips have proved to me .that, in the widest sense of the term,- the Germans spoke the truth when they, said 'Wβ are rot foing to take any chances with our eef.'". •■■--.. ■, ■