The Dominion MONDAY, NOVEMBER. 5, 1917. DEFEATING THE SUBMARINE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 35, 5 November 1917, Page 4

The Dominion MONDAY, NOVEMBER. 5, 1917. DEFEATING THE SUBMARINE

Reviewing the submarine situation in his capacity as First Lord of tho Admiralty, Sir Eric Geddes is careful to make no rash promises. Looking ahead, he has no moro to'say than that at present the submarine warfare is going well for us, and that one is justified in regarding tho future with courage and confidence. But the specific facts supplied by the First Lord are full of promise as pointing to the defeat of the enemy's underwater campaign. The tonnage figures cited by Sir Erio Geddes are of particularly good augury. They show that the amount of tonnage lost in recent months has been very greatly reduced as compared with the' period at which tho campaign reached 'its height. The reduction is much more pronounced than the weekly returns issued by the Admiralty (dealing with the number of British ships sunk) would indicate, and it is especially noteworthy that tho reduction is progressive, though it is, of course, liable to fluctuate. Looking at the details supplied by the First Lord it will be seen that the enemy sank about 150,000 tons of British shipping in August, and about 100,000 tons, or possibly somewhat less than that amount, in September. Contrasting these totals with the 505,000 tons of British shipping sunk April laßt we have a most encouraging indication of tho success that is attending tho anti-submarino campaign. At the rate which ruled in September the destructive work of the submarines was far from keeping pace with new construction. The Germans claimed to have sunk in that month shipping of all nationalities aggregating 672,000 tons; They actually sunk, according to

Sir Litif! Geddes, "far less than one-third of that amount." Taking it that tho actual losses wero about 200,000 tons (less than half of the total consisted of British ships), tho enemy was destroying ships in September at a rato largely offset by new construction in Britain alone, and very greatly exceeded by tho aggregate output of new tonnage in Britain, the United States, and other countries. It is possible that losses in October were somewhat higher than in September, bub it is clear that the Germans would have to enormously increase the present rate of destruction even to keep pace with tho construction ol new tonnage in the countries with which it rests to maintain and increase tho Allied mercantile fleets.

One point upon which Sir Emc Geddes supplied defiuite information relates to the speed at which the Germans are building submarines. Tho enemy, he said, was building submarines faster than hitherto, and had not yet attained his maximum strength. But if tho enemy is in a position to increase the strength of his flotillas it is evident that be is obtaining a poorer return for the expenditure of a given number of submarines than at an earlier stage of the campaign. Account must be taken in this connection not only of the heavy reduction in the amount of mercantile tonnage sunk, but of tho fact that as many submarines wero sunk in the last three months as during the whole of 1916. With tho plain evidence thus supplied that increased enemy flotillas are sinking fewer ships than wero formerly suuk by smaller flotillas, and also that the submarines run a shorter career of destruction than formerly, there should be no doubt of the Navy's ability to deal with still more rapid additions to tho enemy's strength in underwater craft. Ono striking evidence of the prevailing trend which should not be overlooked is that sinco tho convoy system was inaugurated in September 995 out of every thousand ships traversing the Atlantic trade routes have journeyed in safety. It is, of course, certain that tho Germans have done their utmost to organise <an effectivo attack on tho Atlantic transport routes, particularly since tho transport of American troops to Europo commenced on a big scale, and it is apparent that their efforts to this end have thus far failed. That the Navy has attained such brilliant sucocss in dealing with the submarines affords, from every point of view, the best guarantee that this success will be continued and oxtended. Tho material resources of tho Navy, as the First Lord indicates, are rapidly expanding, but duo weight must be given to the moral factor, which tells in the submarine campaign as in other fields of warfare. Tho Germans would be' more than human if they were able, in face of the state of affairs depicted by Sis Eric Geddes, to prevent a deterioration in the, spirit and determination of the personnel of their submarine flotillas, which in itself will fatally undcrmino efficiency. They are endeavouring to hide the facts of the campaign by a policy of systematic falsehood. One object of this policy doubtless is to sustain the resolution of the officers and men who go to sea in submarines, some of them, very probably, with scanty training. Depending on such means Germany is •bound to fare badly in a contest of determination, grit, and ingenuity with the British Navy.