THE U BOAT BLOCKADE.

Hokitika Guardian, 11 September 1917, Page 2

THE U BOAT BLOCKADE.

/ BEING OVERCOME

(Received this day at 1.20 a.m.,) NEW YORK, Sept. 10.

Charles Grasty, the New York Times London correspondent, states the convoy and other anti-U-boat methods of the Allies havo been firmly established in the past few months and have been most successful.

Largo numbers of cruisers and destroyers in the English'Channel are thwarting the U-boats. Transport boats to Franco are practically immune. There is reason to believe that Germany is planning to carry the U. boat campaign to the ocean, in order to offset the Allies attack's.

It is generally known in naval circles that the “U” boats in tho Atlantic Ocean never exceed twenty miles off the British coast. Germany has constructed loss than "three hundred “TP' boats, and 150 now are existing. The necessity of constant repair and supplies and a difficulty of obtaining crew ß owing to the sailors demoralisation and fear of destroyers together with the difficulty of obtaining torpedo material accounts for tho few boats in tho actual service.

The correspondent sends tho figures which may be relied upon as accurate, showing Allied and neutral losses for the past eight months, including August, approximate four million tons, exclusive of ships damaged and beached.

The zenith was reached in April when two hundred thousand tons were sunk weekly.

The “II” boat men were unable to maintain the high pressure and the reaction was noticed. The were comparatively small losses in July and August. The multiplication of losses is greatlw increasing the nerve wrecking of the “U”’ boats duty men wlio are in deathly fear of the destroyers. Therefore it is only necessary to maintain sufficient destroyers to reduce the sinkings to tho level of the new construction and thus defeat Germany.