NAVAL FORCES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20073, 20 October 1939, Page 2

NAVAL FORCES

BRITAIN’S STRENGTH

POWER OF RECOVERY

LAST WAR CASUALTIES

MANY SERIOUS LOSSES

The loss from submarine action of the aircraft carrier Courageous and tiie battleship Royal Oak has resulted in the expression of German opinion that it will be only a matter of time before • the entire Royal Navy is eliminated. The fallacy of this argument will chiefly lie in the growing ascendancy of the Allied sea forces over submarines and the preponderance of the strength over the German surface fleet.

From a detached viewpoint the loss of two ships which have seen many vears of service is not the severe loss to Britain’s naval strength that Germany stresses. In the last war the Royal Navy suffered the loss of 184 shins. Many of the casualties at ihe time were crushing, and any suggestion from Germany that the Navy can easily be eliminated is answered in Britain’s power of recovery from more serious tragedies than those which have already occurred.

Details of Losses

A .summary of British naval losses in the Great War shows that there were 43 major casualties. They were as follows: — Battleships, First Class (2).—October 27, 1914, Audacious, mined, north coast of Ireland; July 9, 1917, Vanguard, internal explosion. Battle Cruisers (3).—May 31, 1916, 1916, Indefatigable, gunfire, Jutland, May 'll. 1916, Invincible, gunfire, Jutland. Battleships, Second Class (2). — .January 9, 1916, King Edward VII., mined;* November 9, 1918, Britannia, torpedoed off Spain. Battleships, Third Class (9). —November 26, 1914, Bulwark, blown up, Sheerness, January 1. 1915, Formidable, torpedoed, Channel: March 18, 1915, Irresistible, mined, Dardanelles, March 18, 1915, Ocean, mined, Dardanelles: May 12, 1915, Goliath, torpedoed, Dardanelles; May 25, 1915. Triumph, torpedoed, Dardanelles; May 27, 1915, Majestic, torpedoed, Dardanelles; April 27, 1916, Russell, mined, Mediterranean; January 8, 1917, Cornwallis, torpedoed, Mediterranean. Armoured Cruisers (12). —September 22, 1914, Hogue, torpedoed, North Sea; September 22, 1914, Aboukir, torpedoed, North Sea; September 22, 1914, Cressy, torpedoed, North Sea; November 1, 1914, Good'Hope, gunfire, Chilean coast; November 1, 1914, Monmouth, gunfire. Chilean coast; October 28, 1915, Argyll, wrecked; December 30, 1915, Natal, blown up; May 31, 1916, Defence, gunfire, Jutland; May 31, 1916, Black Prince, gunfire, Jutland- May 31, 1916, Warrior, gunfire, Jutland; June 5, 1916, Hampshire, mined. Orkneys; October 2, , 1917, Drake, torpedoed. Monitors (6).

Cruisers (9).—August 6, 1914, Amphion, mined. North Sea; September 5, 1914, Pathfinder, torpedoed, North Sea; September 20, 1914, Pegasus, gunfire, Zanzibar; October 15, 1914, Hawke, torpedoed, North Sea: October 31, 1914, Hermes, torpedoed, North Sea; February 13, 1916, Arethusa. mined, North Sea; August 19, 1916, Falmouth, torpedoed, North Sea; August 19, 1916, Nottingham, torpedoed, Nor'h Sea; July 29, 1917, Ariadne, torpedoed, Channel.

Germany’s Shins

Other losses were:—Three flotilla leaders, 62 destroyers, 10 torpedo boats, 53 submarines, 18 sloops, 5 tor-

pedo gunboats, two aircraft ships, two patrol boats, two minelayers, 13 armed steamers used for boarding, two minesweepers, 17 armed merchant cruisers and two hospital ships.

The total British losses by submarine attack comprised 36 vessels, including 17 capital ships. Of the capital ships there were one second-class battleship, five third-class battleships, four armoured cruisers, one monitor and six cruisers. Other vessels were a flotilla leader, six destroyers, three torpedo boats, one submarine, seven sloops and one torpedo gunboat. Losses in action were: Three battlecruisers, four armoured cruisers, 15 destroyers, three monitors, one cruiser, five submarines, one sloop, one flotilla leader and one aircraft ship, a total of 34. A total of 46 ships, including nine capital ships, were sunk by mines. Actual German naval losses in largo surface ships, exclusive of those which surrendered, comprised 27 vessels. In addition other ships lost were 69 destroyers, 56 torpedo boats, 199 submarines, 31 minelayers, 11 gunboats, and many auxiliaries.