THE ATLANTIC RAIDER
HOW DID SHE ESCAPE?' ' " '■ /' WORK OF THE BRITISH CRUISERS Mr. Archibald Hind, writing in the "Daily Telegraph," discusses the methods by which the German raider operating in the Atlantic might have escaped. He writes:— ! Ono can imagine the remark which' will he made on reading the official announcement that this German raider has got to sea and succeeded in. sinking a number *of British merchant ships. Many persons, almost certainly, \ull ask, in woader, "How ever did the Navy munago to let her slip through?" What should be-said is, "Well, it is marvellous how the. fleet keeps such a tight grip on the enemy, seeing that ho has so many opportunities of bienking fiee with a ship now and again." The late Lord Salisbury used to advise us.to study large maps; in this war wo ought to discuss naval news with charts before.us, then we should understand better the '. significance of news such' as: the item which comes to hand to-day. The conditions at soa, are more favourable to the enemy of to-day for ordinary commerce raiding than they were for the enemy of a\ hundred years ago, and, in addition, .the Germans nave marines;!. , '
. We may learir that the' raider was disguised as' an ordinary trading vessel; possibly-.with a cargo of wood, that,she sailed under a neutral flag, was officered and manned by neutrals, '. and . that her warlike character was well disguised in with a scheme worked out" months in advance by ' some enterprising young German naval officer, who, with two or 'three companions; kept, well out- of sight until the danger,area oovered by our cruiser-squadron to the, north' was passpd. When she was well clear of the British cruisers, the German commander, of course, tnofc command, threw his cargo of timber. overboard, brought up bis guns and mountings from their hiding-places—probably thoy were liidden under the load of wood — set all bands to_ work to put the armament in position, and then, Well clear of our blockading forces, started, 'on a career of commsree destruction. Sometimes such a manoeuvre for eluding the British blockade'succeeds, as in the case of the Moewe—if she did come from a German port—and again, it fails, ns was illustrated by the fate of the Grief, whioh, well disguised, was '. slir>ping throuirh the naval mesh when' she was challenged -and- sunk. The Grief rit will be recallpd, sank the armed- crnispr Alcantara in the fight which took place. ■ y . •
THe Work of the Blockaders. On an • average-the British Cruiser Squadron intercepts and boards eighty vessels a week. That is the work which the officers and men of these ( comparatively few, ships carry out in'l all'weathers, -by-night as by day. How ,they go about the business, imprisoning Germari'ships so successfully, is avstory that must be told when the war is over; but the fact that eighty vessels —which are, of course, all under neutral flags—are hauled up for judgment 'every week bears testimony to, the efficiency of the work. ' .
Let it be remembered' that if there is a very narrow strait to the southward, only about twenty miles across, northward very different conditions exist. To the north of Scotland lie the Orkneys, arid,'.north again, the; Shetland Islands, and between them and. the Norwegian coast lie about'3oo miles .of sea. And, then, hear in mind; that for three- miles.off the opposite coast lie territorial waters over which; Nor'way;asserts her sovereign right; she is*their defender 1 , and not the British Navy; That /right has proved a valuable asset to the Germans, particularly to the enemy's submarines. Remember that fact, the large number, of islands, the.oxtent; of the water, area to J - be guarded/and then recollect that storms, darkness, and fog contribute to add to the difficulties agaiost which the British cruisers have to contend. Nor is that all.- Soirie'neutral skippers do not lay themselves out to assist Jthe British force; on the contrary, they would \ prefer to- benefit the enemy,. either by obstruction or. by dilatoriness in complying with the legitimate requirements of our officers, ;perhaps because it pays them. •'
•The development of the steam engine has;conferred no mean- benefit on the weaker Power anxious to break a blockade. A steam ve3selis hot at the mercy of the wind, as frigates were in the old days. At any moment the frigate or privateer might experience' a shift in the wind, perhaps at a critical juncture, and then she might fall a victim to the blockading' force. ' But now a resselpropelled by steam is as certain in its movements as a railway engine or a motor-car. Tlie weather conditions, if favourable to -the enemy,, are so much to the good, and he conies out naturally when they are likely to_ assist him. The flow of neutral shipping to and from the Northern Powers adds to the work of the blockaders, and offers to ; the enemy opportunities of passing through the cordon under a carefully, devised disguise. The German raider i 3 favoured by many circumstances,- and yet only two have got 'to sea,'in. a period "of over thirty .months'.
1 A Page of History, Th? last blockade conducted by the British fleet was during the American War of 1812. The United States possessed a navy which the Kaiser would have regarded as "contemptible."- It was, indeed, very small, whereas the British fleet was exceedingly laige. British men-of-war were ablo to blockade the American coast iu overwhelming force and cut off commerce. But this country suffered, sadly from the privateers which tlie v Americaiis fitted; out. T-hese commerce destroyers broke out of port, crossed' the Atlan tic, and took heavy toll of British shipping off British and Trish ports. "Wherever on the ocean the British merchantmen sailed; thither ; the American -privateers followed." The losses of vessels soon began to mount up, and then, indeed, the British people took to asking, ""What is the navy doir-g?" President Rooserelt has told the story of the war on British commerco by these fastsailing and formidable American vessels:—
The Irish Sea and the Irish Channel were among their favourite cruising grounds; they circled Scotland and Ireland ; one of them ransomed a Scottish town. The Chasseur, of Baltimore, commanded by Thomas Boyle, cruised for three months off the coast of England, taking prize after prize, and in derision sent in, to be posted at Lloyd's,, a proclamation of blockade of the sea' coast of the United Kingdom.
In September, 1814, the merchants of Glasgow, Liverpool! and Bristol held meetings, and complained bitterly to the British Government of the damages inflicted on them. The Liverpool meeting recited that some ports, particularly Milford, were under actual blockade. . . The rates of insurance rose to an unprecedented height. . . . The Secretary of the Admiralty (Sir. Croker) was forced to admit the havoc wrought even in the Irish and Bristol channels, and could only respond that if the merchantmen would never sail except under convoy of a sufficient number of men-of-war (on which the Admiralty tried to insist), they would be safe. The success of these frigates was achieved when this country had on blockade duty, on jfcbe American coast a
force relatively much greater in proportion to the opposing fleet than we possess to-day. The British fleet was at the zenith of its reputation; it had had about 20 years' experience in dealing with commerce raiders; and yet week by week the toll of losses rose. The depredations continued down to the end of the war.' In those days the enemy had not the advantage of steam. It was suggested in pre-war days that tho modern commerce destroyer would soon*be driven-by want of coal and food to abandon her career, and that steam was therefore no benefit to an enemy benF on commerce destruction. That theory has been exploded by the Emden and other German ships, which filled their bunkers and larders from their victims, as no doubt this latest raider is doing. It is impossible to fix any period when this vessel will be run down, because she will, no doubt, be active by turns, and then lie perdue, once more getting on a trade route when it is known that the pursuit is being conducted elsewhere. She has a big field, for nearly three-quarters of the earth's surface is covered by wateri
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Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3041, 30 March 1917, Page 6
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1,378THE ATLANTIC RAIDER Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3041, 30 March 1917, Page 6
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