SIR J. JELLICOE AND THE U-BOATS.

Hokitika Guardian, 31 March 1917, Page 4

SIR J. JELLICOE AND THE U-BOATS.

Menace Never Greater. More Steamers UrgentLondon, Jan 17 Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, the First Sea Lord, made one of his rare and deeply interesting speeches on the work of the Navy yesterday, after the honorary freeedom of the Fishmongers’ Company had been conferreed on him. He said : In the Napoleonic era, the ships _ .1.

opened fire with guns at ranges of about 800 yards. The ships of to-day open fire at 22,000 yards (or eleven nautical miles) range and gunfire begins to be very effective at 18,000 yards. The torpedo as fired from surface vessels is effective certainly up to 10,000 yards’ range, and this requires that a ship shall keep beyond this distance to fight her guns. As the conditions of visibility—in the North Sea particularly—are frequently such as to make fighting difficult beyond a range of 10,000 yards, and as modern fleets are invariably accompanied by very large numbers of destroyers whose main duty is to attaok with the torpedo the heavy ships of the enemy, it will be recognised how great becomes the responsibility of the admiral in command of a fleet, particularly under conditions of low visibility. As soon as destroyers tumble upon a fleet within torpedo range the situation becomes critical for the heavy ships. The submarine is another factor which changed the situation, as this class of vessel, combined with the use of mines, entirely prevents the close blockade resorted to in former days. In addition, these two weapons add greatly to the anxieties of those in command. • Submarines and mines compel the watching force to take up th6ir statiou farther and farther away. In spite of

this, and in spite of the German boast as to the occasions on which the German Fleet has searched the North Sea for the British Fleet, our enemies have only on one occasion ventured sufficiently far with tbeir main fßet to give us an opportunity to engage them. No vessels, neutral or British, had sighted the High Sea Fleet far from its ports on any other occasion. Raids on the British coast with fast cruisers or battle-cruisers have been carried oat, but on each occasion the passage from German waters has been made apparently under cover of the

night, the fnemy appearing off our coast at dawn and rearing before comparatively small forces. Such feata are now undertaken probably only in the hope of 6nt ciDg us into the adopiiou of a falsa strategy by breaking up our forces to guard ail vulnerable points. I do not criticise the Geimans for their strategy or for not running any risks with their fleet. On tbe other hand, their boasts of searching the North Sea for the enemy must be proDounced as without justifiable baßis. The approximate number of vessels of all classas which comprisa the British Navy of jto-day is neat ly 4000. Gur activities range from the White Sea, where v?e are doing onr best to assist om gallant Ku»?ia>> Allies, past the North and South Atlantic, where oruiner-aqubdrous are at work, o : to the far Pacific, where we work in ceeration with the Japanese. In the Mediterranean we are working with the Fienoh and Italian navies in the Balkan campaign and in tbe Adiiatic. In Fast Africa our Navy has rendered great services, and on the Tigris and in the Red Sea. 1 might draw attention to the arduous and continuous work of the Cruiser Squadron in Hinas waters which is preventing supplies from, reaching the enemy. It examines weekly an average of eighty ships of all kinds. Sir John paid a warm eulogy to the mercantile marine, upon which we have been dependent for tho movement of our troops overseas. He continued. : Over sever, million man have been transported, together with all the guns, munitions, and stores required by the Array. The safeguarding of these transports, both from the attack of such surface vessels as have been at large and from submarine attack, has been carried out by the Navy. We have had to draw also upon tbe mercantile marine for tbe manning of all our patrol and minesweeping craft, nearly 2,500 skippers being employed as skippers in the R.N.R. The number of R.N.R. executive officers has increased almost fourfold einoe tbe outbreak of war. APPE AL TO SHIPYARDS, The submarine menace to the Merchant Service is far greater now than at any period of the war and it requires all our energy to combat it. It must and will be dealt with—of that lam confident. But we have to make good our inevitable losses, and in order to dc this we are dependent upon the shipbuilding industry. The first essential is the whoie-hsarted cooperation of the men iu the shipbuilding yards and in the engineering workshops. In the same way as Sir Douglas Haig bas appealed to the munition workers to give up holidays and to devote therneelvea to the supply of those munitions which are e sential for the safety and success of our comrades in the trenches, I now appeal to the men in the shipyards and engineering shops to put forth their best efforts continuously and ungrudgingly to keep np the strength of our mercantile marine and to provide these gallant fellows, who have gone through innumerable dangers and hardships when their ships have been sunk, with new vessels to carry on transport of the necessary supplies of food and .material for the manhood and industries of the country.

Let there be no question of strikes, no bad time-keeping, no slacking, aud let mastei’3 and men remember how great is their responsibility not only towards the Nr.vy and the nation but also towarda «.nr Allies. Daiing two i nd a half years of war the endeavor to ke. : p the Fleet at a high pitch of efficiency has necessitated strenuous and unceasing effort afl at and ashore. The spirit of our forefathers lives on ia ail its vigour. No ODe cau ask for a finer personnel than we have in the Navy. Every man in the Navy is eager and prepared to do his duty 1 ask that the nation shall do its part by working with equal selfdenying dihgeuce as are our soldiers and Bailors, eo that there may be provided that great variety and enormous volume of material which is required for the fighting force.-, and that all rasa and all women shall, by practising Btrict economy, render possible the maintenance of adequate financial sinews of war. If all do tb&ir part all will bo well with us. Of one prominent fact I can speak with full confidence born of experience—the nation can depend ca the Navy being ready, resourceful and reliable.