THE UNDER-SEA BOATS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 1736, 10 July 1917, Page 4

THE UNDER-SEA BOATS.

> ®- FRENCH DEFENCE METHODS. SMOKE, NETS, MINES AND SEA- • PLANES. Paris, May 26th—Replying to interpellations on submarine warfare last night in the public session of the Chamber of Deputies, Rear-Ad-miral Lacaze, the Minister of Maiine, gave an interesting outline of the means of defence France had adopted against the under-sea boats. “I sec no reason why I should not speak of these methods in public,” said Admiral Lacase. “It would be childish to think they are unknown to the enemy. They consist of a system of patrol boats, of arming merchantmen with guns, and fitting them with wireless; of seaplanes, nets, mines, smoko-raising devices, and drag-nets, “I sought to get patrol boats built here and buy them abroad. [ scoured the world over with missions, covering the ground from America to North Cape, from the Cape of Good Hope to Japan, but England had been beforehand. When I entered the Ministry I found 2-13 patrols. Now we have 552.” (A Socialist voice: “It is formidable”) “I do not say it is formidable,” continued the Minister*, “nor even sullicient, and I have drawn up a scheme whch will increase the figure to 500. I continue to buy in London, the world’s centre for shipping. I am obliged to do so because our shipyards had been almost completely abandoned; because, as a result of’that short-war theory which weighed so regrettably upon all decisions taken at the outset of the war, the yards had been transformed into war material factories to meet the pressing need of the national defence. We have now got backmost of the arsenals and a number of private yards, together with skilled workmen. PATROLS EFFECTIVE. “The guns we mount on the patrol boats have been referred to disdainfully, but you cannot put ten-centimetre gains on a small vessel. A patrol boat on guard, armed with 95-millimclro guns, met two submarines armed with 105-milli-motre guns, sank one and put the other to llight. ’ “We have 1,200 drag-nets as well as 170,5(10 curtain nets and 5,000 twenty- fool float nets, which indicate the presence of submarines. We have special bombs for submarines, and apparatus to throw them. “We have organised seaplane posts ai! around the (-oast, so (bat the zone of actions of each post joins that of its neighbour on either side. By October all merchantmen and patrollers will be fitted with wireless, and all merchantmen supplied with guns of as heavy calibre as possible, for which measures programmes have been drawn up even beyond what was thought possible. “For building the plates and frames required, M. Loucheur, Un-der-Secret ary for Munitions, in charge of the manufacturing sections, has started up again all the rolling mills. They will be able to supply us with the plates I asked for, and we hope that the merchant marine will also be able to obtain tlu.j quauity of plates to which'it is entitled.”