ON THE SEA.

Taihape Daily Times, 5 November 1917, Page 5

ON THE SEA.

THE BRITISH FLEET * I SUGGESTED BALTIC RAID | LONDON, November 3. In the House of Commons Sr Eric Geddes, replying to criticisms, said it i would be madness for the British fleet i to pass into the Baltic Sea, as the Ger- i mans occupy and have fortified all the neutral islands. In the rear, German objectives commanded the Gulf of ; Riga in order to gain facilities to at- i tack Rcval and advance on Petrograd. ; No responsible naval officer would support such an enterprise as a British attack on the Germans in the BalticDealing u-itliYisubmnrinism, he -said the measures taken against attack.were very effective. In September...9o per cent of the total vessels,sailing in the Atlantic were convoyed, and since the convoy system was the total loss was five per thousand. The displacement tonnage of the Navy in 1914 was 2,400,000 tons; to day it was 71 per cent greater. The personnel of the fleet before the war was 146,00; to-day it was 390,000. A MYSTERIOUS BOAT SANK OFF BELGIAN COAST. SAID TO BE CREWLESS. Received 10.40. LONDON, Nov 4. Newspapers are puzzled over an electrically controlled German boat which patrols sank off the Belgian coast. Naval writers suggest that it was crewless and was controlled by wireless waves from the shore or from aircraft Electrical engineers are sceptical, as the Admiralty's statement is not explicit. The Ministry of Munitions is prosecuting Arthur Brown, managing director of a firm which has contracted for supplying the French Government with bombs for the Sfdkes' gun. It is alleged that many bomb's were defective and would have killed the gunners firing them. It is not believed the defendant acted treacherously, but with reckless disregard of consequences. ' '^ South Wales examiners rejected the , coalowncrs' conditions; but in-'view of the country's peril agreed to'resume.

NAVAL ENGAGEMENT. DESTROYERS SINK AUXILIARY . CRUISERSudenij "■• COPENHAGEN, Nov 3. On Friday morning c the 'German ! auxiliary cruised Marie', 3000 tons, ] met British destroyers twelve miles 1 north of Kullen. The Marie opened j fire and 7 the destroyers answered. In I ten minutes she' was afire' and thirty of the crew killed. : The" remamue"r took to the boats. A* Danish' : steamer brought seventeen w.ouiiu!? to Copeni hag'en, including the captain, who said his vessel had four guns and a [crew of ninety. She was suddenly attacked, and the shells descended with such rapidity that the men were unable to work the guns. They had only fired a few shots before the ; Marie was a mass of flames. The deI stroyers then ceased firing and rescued about thirty. Other reports state that the fight lasted three hours and that four or five armed- 1 German trawlers 'gaftcipated. Their fate is unknown.

LONDON, Nov 3

The Admiralty reports: An elec-trically-controlled high-speed boat attacked our patrols on the Belgian coast. The attack was defeated and the boat destroyed. FIGHT IN THE KATTEGAT. LONDON,, Nov 3. The Admiralty reports: Our naval forces operating in the Kattegat have apparently been engaged with enemy forces—probably patrols Official information only intimates that certain of our vessels have been detached to bring in prisoners, and we are nearing their bases. A later report states that the forces operating in ' the Kattegat destroyed an auxiliary cruiser armed with sixinch guns, also ten armed patrols. Sixty-four prisoners have" been rescued. We had-no casualties.