GERMANY'S FOREIGN FLEET

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 80, 28 August 1914, Page 6

GERMANY'S FOREIGN FLEET

j TOTALLY INADEQUATE., In the Berlin weekly publication, "Die jWoohe," an article on the German wardships in foreign waters was published labout'the-end of May,, before uhe.prosIpeet of war was forecasted. The artiuli-. which appeared under the heading, '(•Our Warships Abroad," was written i bv.yjaptnhrKiiMvr-ettwv.and dealt.wjjh \ the urgent need for strengthening the fleets at various foreign stations. The views"expressed'are'interesting, in view of "the''War, and the" fpllowing-; translation of the. most important extracts, are interesting:— ~..,..... ' \Viien one examines the ihajS' of the world 'siiid the insignificant' niimber W war* vessels' to represent a large, Power' to whicii the .protection of German- trade on all seas is entrusted, and which is expected to protwt eacih. German citizeu abroad we are faced with a:'-prob-lem dillicult to solve.. Of 'course,, one must remember that in. the cnd„,,t|i.o whole might- of the Empire with its annv and Ileet is behind us. To render siK'e'dy assistance, the empire, cannot ; afford" to be without speedy and'.equip,-., ped ships of war wherever German terests and life may be threatened.. How much this is the case has been brought home to us more than on one occasion , recently. One lhas only to think of i the great Chinese Empire and the enormous mercantile:interests, which are,at st,ake, not only in the present, but, perhaps still more in the "future. One is reminded, of tlie Balkan War, the trouble in Liberia in the previous year, and tne revolt"W Mexico, and consider how we have been interested inj these. The value of the ships extends further than the vbasts and harbors. From wnat we have said it is easily understood- why our main foreign naval force is stationed in Eastern. Asia in Chinese waters. From armored cruiser down to river gunboat, and torpedo 'boat, there - are thirteen vessels on the Eastern Asiatic stations. . - i

The gunboats carry approximately lfj.j men, and the river gunboats about : 30. .whilst the light cruisers'carry from I ;)IK) to .'>so and the - armored cruisers , ?50. , The Eastern* AmutKi, station,: al* though" the smallest of the groups into which the map of .the world is divided, is the best protected.' When we lorfk ■at the east and west American station, .including the. whqlo north and south American coast, and find that this is entrusted to one light cruiser, the Dresden, to be shortly supplemented'dty the Karlsruhe, it is "manifest'> that: we are not worthily represented; "In .Australia a similar condition prevails. The distances separating our islands ilnd pos-session's-are ■ great, and Our two gunboat Oormoran and (ieier; can ;do. little, else .than malce long cruising visits... They are pot sufficient, and the survey vessel Planet can give little tinic in our own waters for anything but for survey purposes, a moral duty from . which. in the interests of shipping we cannot withdraw. West Africa, with our colonies, Togo, Kamerun, and South West. tyas only two gunboats, the (Panther and the Ebcr. and for the last East African station we have, only -one light cruiser, the Konigsberg, and a survey vessel, the Mowe. With, regard to the Medltcr-. ranean, the Balkan war forced.,us to send out the new armored cruiser GoeIvii and the new light cruiser Breslau, thereby depriving our High »Sea Fleet of their services. The despatch of the' detached division of the High Sea fleet consisting of the battleship Kaiser, and Konii; Albert, and the light cruiser Strasburg, has, perhaps, atoned for the long neglect of the American station, but this has happened at the cost of the extension of tin; High Sea fleet, and: jt is urgently necessary that our forces of foreign stations should be strongly increased. It behoves us to soon make good what has already been forecasted in the Beich'sta'g. namely, the strengthening of our foreign fleet, but not nt the cost of the High Sea fleet. Details of the disposition of the various German warships-in foreign waters nt the end of May last, as outlined in the article are as follow*: — Kast Asiatic station. —Two armored cruisers.' Scharnhorst hntl Gneisenau; three light cruisers, Nurnburg, Emden, and Leipsig: four gun-boats,-litis, Tiger. Jaguar, and Luchs; three river gunboats, Tsingtan, Vaterland. and Otter; one torpedo boat: total, thirteen. East American station and West American station.—One light : cruiser, Dresden (being added to by the Karlsruhe)., - Australasian Station.—Two gunltoats, Comorau and Geier; one'survey'vessel,• Planet; totf>l three. . West African station: -Two gunboats. Panther a,nd'T3bei\ East African station,—One light cruiser, Konigsberg; one'survey vessel, Mowe: total, two.'. Mediterranean station—Two armored cruisers, Goeben and Breslau. Total, twenty-three yessels. Xote r ~Siuce,. despatched !to 1 -'South: Amerk-a~-Tvvo battlesHips Kaiser and Koiiig, Albert;:'- and , one. ftgUt' cruiser; Strathburg, .; .-:,•,.,,.. '••,.,",-.-! ~.'.'-,;: