MANNING ENEMY SUBMARINES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1664, 20 January 1917, Page 4

MANNING ENEMY SUBMARINES.

It has been pointed out during recent discussions that no difficulty would be found in obtaining naval reservists for such a .mission from among the crews of German liners which have been lying in the safety of American harbours since hostilities commenced. The necessary ship and supplies could, of course, be found when money is not the principal consideration. The placing of the U boats in the vicinity of Pacific trade routes would be fraught with much more difficulty than arranging for their supplies of petrol and food, but this is deemed to be possible. A submarine of the Deutschland type might possibly make the voyage from Germany, provided her supply ships met with no mishap. The alternative suppositions are that submarines might be shipped in parts and fitted in southern waters, or actually manufactured somewhere on the South American coast, even if it was first necessary to receive the machinery and build a factory. The manning of such foreign-built craft could be accomplished, it is asserted, by a tew trained officers and mechanics, the nucleus of a crew being sent from Germany to America via Holland. Many German vessels are lying in ports in the Dutch East Indies, and there, doubtless, men could be found for submarine crews. Lord Charles Beresford is among those who believe that Germany is preparing to extend submarine operations to the Pacific, but this view is discounted by a naval correspondent in the Daily Mail, who, at the same time, admits that depot supply ships would prolong almost indefinitely the cruising endurance of submarines of the Deutschland type.