THE BLOCKADE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 27 July 1929, Page 3

THE BLOCKADE

ADMIRAL’S REMINISCENCES

SQUADRON’S 800-MILE BEAT SMUGGLERS QF CONTRABAND

The story of the blockade of. Germany, as seen by the commander of the cruiser squadron whose special responsibility it was, fills the pages of a book of recollections just published by Admiral Sir Reginald Tapper, K.C.B. The squadron consisted mainly of modern liners armed as auxiliary cruisers, and it is noteworthy that Admiral Tapper had much to" do, years before the war, with organising this valuable adjunct to the British Navy. With the best of good humour the admiral tells of the disappointment with which, on the outbreak of war, lie went to the Admiralty- hoping for a job on active service, but found that the war appointments were out, and he was not named. But lie had one consolation which he cherishes: “I was proceeding down the passage toward the new building when I was stopped by a procession. This proved to be accompanying the King, who had come to see the war chart showing the disposition of his fleets on the day after the declaration of war. To my astonishment His Majesty immediately saw mo and stopped to shake hands, saying, “I am sorry you haven’t got a billet, Tupper, but I hope you will soon be employed,” and then passed on.

A TEMPORARY JOB His Majesty’s hope was soon realised. Admiral Tupper was soon “employed.” He said to himself that if, although a qualified commander, and the bolder of the blue riband of naval gunnery, he could not get a billet in a battleship, perhaps lie might be useful in some other capacity, and to his joy—for lie was determined to do his bit somewhere, somehow—Sir Reginald was able to lend a hand in “looking after Bov Scouts.”

“Periodically,” says the admiral, “I went lip to the Admiralty to see how the chances were shaping for a job. I offered to serve in any capacity at sea, in tlie air, or on land.” Shortly afterwards Lord Fisher went to the Admiralty as'First Sea Lord. Lord Fisher and Sir Reginald had not been on the most amicable terms- —they had “parted brass rags” over the Bercsford inquiry, and it seemed as if lio billet could now lie hoped for. But “Jacky Fisher,” in spite of his self-assurance and explosive temper, was "as just as lie was patriotic. Hfe advised that Admiral Tupper ought to be “employed,” and soon afterwards Sir Reginald was sent to Stornoway to organise a patrol area. Nothing more formidable being on hand at the moment, lie went to sea in a trawler. A little later Air (now Earl) Balfour, then First Lord of the Admiralty, offered him the command of the Tenth Cruiser Squadron—“an Unexpected honour,” and the most-im-portant of his whole career. HUNTING FOR GERMANS

In characteristically breezy but modest style, the admiral gives the first authentic account of the work done by the great Cruiser Squadron. He describes in detail the day-and-night

manoeuvres and adventures of llii highly organised force, in all soils n weather, over the 800-mile stretch o sea from the Orkneys to Iceland, dm ing which nearly 13,000 ships were ( in tcrceptcd. "1 insisted,” he says, “on a I ships being boarded and thorough!; searched; if (he weather was too line for hoarding, the ships had to lip shad owed until .they could be boarded—ii Was the only way.” This was the phi I of operations: “As a general rule tlio • ships oi patrol were 3(1 miles apart, for it was 'reckoned that in favourable circuni j- sta'iices the lookout on the crow’s liesl had a range of visibility of 15 miles I’m anything as big as an oeean-goiiifj L steamer, and therefore that there win ; little chance of anything going by. Zig’jzag courses were maintained all the ■ time for fear of submarines, and the i general"rate of steaming was 13 knots, ; with ability to work up to full speed whenever necessary. I “Of course everybody fully realised j the importance of changing the routine as often as possible, for the .German is 'essentially a creature of habit, and it i would not have taken him long to tumble to ours. This would have re--1 suited both in ships getting past us, ’ and submarines attacking us, but wo ' varied the position of the patrolling ships so constantly that any German captain trying to reckon on the- exact position of -the control must have had a heart-breaking job.” SMUGGLING BY NEUTRALS There were, of course, manifold complaints from neutrals when their ships were stopped on the high seas, but the stopping was justified. The admiral kept a log of the artful dodges adopted by neutrals in carrying on trade with the enemy. These are samples:— “Double bottoms, dummy decks, and false bulkheads were fitted to conceal rides and ammunition; sailing ships Were given copper keels and heavily plated with the same metal; hollow steel masts were filled with rubber and copper; while rubber was also made up to look like anything from onions to honeycomb; barrels of Hour contained cotton for the making of munitions; and with all these tricks it is not. surprising that all tlie manifests lmd to be most, carefully examined for falsification.”

It is no wonder the Germans were crippled bv Hie blockade. Their navy was helpless. As the admiral says: “If one " properly built uiul commissioned German cruiser had contrived to get among us for 24 hours she might have wiped out the whole squadron.” But not a single German cruiser appeared. The admiral explains why. He is a 'more than ever convinced believer in the value of the big ship, and chuckles in jest over, a famous admiral’s forecast that in future our dreadnoughts would be useful only for naval dancing parties. “The battleships at Sea pa,” he says, “prevented hostile cruisers from getting out to the Atlantic; thus they permitted the Tenth Cruiser Squadron to exist and carry on its work.” This, in a sentence, is our naval history of tlie war.