On the Sea

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 78, 30 October 1916, Page 5

On the Sea

TME CHANNEL FSCHT. I REASONS FOR THE RAID. (Press Association—Copyright, Austru- • utu and N.Z. Cable Aafeuciuoion. London, October,2B; j No further details have. [Mn published of the defeat of ihu attempt by German, destroyers to hold up th« | cross-Channel transport service'. The Admiralty do not ithd' exact Ideality to be .'mentioned. ..

i It is understood "the Ceri&hn flotilla which/usually; consists of ten boats, came to Zeebrugge. Germany's loss of two destroyers brings her total loss of destroyers to 30, reckoning ninelost in the Jutland battle.

: The result of the, fight shows that ■Admirsl Paeon's Dover patrol is fully ! awa':o. SHcb early on Friday morning a terrible gale has been raging in the Channel.

j In connection with this affair, it is recalled that fresh German naval measures were the result anticipated since Field-Marshal von H'indenburg's assumption of the military command, as i! was asserted he would not allow the fleet to remain inactive, and rt must attempt appreciably to assist tho ■German armies. There is good reason to believe that he will insist on every effort being made to harrass the Channel transport'service. It is noteworthy that the Italian press to-day announce a German report that Hindenburg's power has been further extended, including a powerful measure of control over the navy, in order to ensure co-ordination of the services, thus Hindenburg has been elevated to an unprecedented position, for hitherto only the Kaiser has combined high naval and military authority. The Daily Telegraph says that the raid was thei most ambitious of its kind since the opening of the Avar. Germany employed ten of her newest, speediest, and best-gunned destroyers, in order to make certain of achieving success, and she risked vessels to the value of a million sterling, but their operations merely resulted in the destruction of an empty tran-

sport. The newspapers suggest the necessity for extending the use of mines, in order to close the egress from, Zeebrugge and Ostend. Zeebrugge is now a station for many torpedo boats, destroyers, and trawlers, also a number of submarines, together with wooden dummies intended to mislead enemy airmen when bombarding the port. The coast is defended by interminable rows of 11-inch naval guns, which are buried in-the dunes. Behind the v dunes are heavy howitzers in-a proteetee'd position* s . The" "whole sandy coast is honey-combed with trenches, flanked by subterranean catacombs, constructed of concrete, and being bomb-proof. German torpedoers and other naval craft are constantly moving between Ostend and Zeebrugge. It is understood the Germans have been recently turning' out exceptionally fr.st, wellarmed destroyers, 'which they have TJroughtj to Belgian ports. ..It i> only two hours' steaming l , from Ostend to the South Foreland.

THE GERMAN REPORT. Press Association—-Copyright, Austral lian and N.Z. Gable Association. Berlin, October 28. Official.—The story told by one of the raiders claims to have passed' the Straits of Dover and sunk eleven patrols, also two or three torpedoers, while others were damaged by torpedoers. All the German boats returned safely. FRENCH TRAWLER SUNK; Paris, October 28. Official.—A Channel raider, when returning, sank a French trawler. The crew were mostly saved. THE SUBMARINE TOLL. Stockholm, October 28. The captain of a steamer which has arrived at Oregrund states that German submarines recently sank fourteen steainers off the Finnish coast and the Gulf of Bothnia. THE WEEK-END SINKINGS. Press Association—Copyright. Reuter's Service. (Received 8.50 a.m.) London, October 29. The sinkings during the week-end amounted to six Norwegian, steamer**, one Belgian, one Swedish, one Danish, and two British; and three Danish sailers and two British sailers. BELGIAN RELIEF CARGO SUNK. Press Association—Copyright, Australian and N.Z. Cable Association (Received 9.20 a.m.) London, Ocrober 29. At the inquest at Plymouth on five of the c-re.v of the Greek steamer George Ember.'cos, it was stated Hint the captain told the submarine 'commander he had a Belgian relief 'cargo aboard, but the commander 'ordered the crew into the boats and sank the steamer. ' THE LOSS OF THE CABOTIA. I _ Press Association—Copyright, AustraI lian and N.Z. Cable Association. London, October 28. Two boats and 32 men of the Donaldson liner Cabotia, which was sunk on Monday, are Will missing;.