THE IRISH SEA RAID.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 249, 30 March 1915, Page 7

THE IRISH SEA RAID.

LIVELIER DOINGS IN THE PAS] 1 .

AMERICAN AND FRENCH RAIDERS.

(By H. W. Wilson, in the Daily Mail.) Tile operations of the German milimarines against British merchant shipping, even if they should in the future bo ten times as successful as they have been in the past, are not likely to aifuet John Bull's calm. They" are about as effective us mosquito bites on an i.lophant's hide. The qualities of the German submarine are not adapted for a war against commerce' on a grand scale. The German submarines which have done the best work hitherto (excepting U9, under Lient.-Commnader Weddigen, which, sank the three British cruisers of the Cressy class) have been the boats of the group from Ul7 to U24. These are about the size of our E class, have oil engines ,of 1400 horse-power, drivng them at 14 to 15 knots on the surface, and beiow. when in diving trim, have electric motors of !)00 horse-power, giving them a speed of 0 or 10 knots. They carry one 14-pounder gun, a* small anti-aircraft gun, and four torpedo tubes, with a crew of 25 or 30. The distance which they can cover is 2000 miles. They ran descend to depths of 100 ft, and eaii dive in 15 seconds. They can remain below at least 24 hours, and in some of the latest boats 72 hours. There is reason to believe that the sea-keeping capacity of these boats and the distance which they can cover may be greater than had been supposed. It is practically certain that some of the TJ2I class, the vessel which sank tl;e British merchantmen in the Irish Sea, have spent at least a month cruising without revisiting their base. A small number of yet more powerful submarines are complete, one of which, the TOO, sank the Russian cruiser Pallada in the Baltic. Thcsß can do 18 knots on the surface and 10 knots submerged, and can cover 3000 miles. Yet another. German submarine of very large' size, probstMy about 2000 tons, has only recently been tried at Kiel, and is believed to be fitW as a mine-layer, besides carrying »t least one 4in gun and a number of torpedo tubes. There are said to be fifty German submarines now under construction in the Fatherland.

The average tramp steams only 10 or 11 knots, and has tlierefore not much chance of avoiding a German submarine running on the surface. But tJic suitmarine only carries one, or at least two, small guns, and these .can do no great damage to the merchantman. Tl would seem, then, that the best cou.'se for any captain in the merchant service who is challenged by a German submarine is to clap on what steam he can ami run away from her or else to st'-'-Ji' straight at her and run her down. Fith-'r way bo presents a small target and compels her io dive, if she means to finish his ship off. Under water few submarines can really do more than 10 knots, and the tram]), with moderate luck, should have a Rood chance of escape. Ti the submarine begins firing she. will infract to the spot any destroyers or 'Navy patrols that may be in the vicinity, when sho will be hunted and perhaps herself sunk. ' The habits of the German submarine are now well known. These boats >est their crews by proceeding to s>r smooth, sandy beacli which is covered by 20 or .10 fc'et of water, and there they lie sometimes for considerable perm's, only rising to the surface to renew their air or w'hui they hear the beat of screws. Their men live on what the Navy used to call "potted air." and seemingly thrive upon it. Probably the boat which sank the the Formidable hail been thus waiting at the bottom for some days. The character of their attacks on British commerce and their locality will in no way surprise students of past naval wars. Both American and French cruisers in the Napoleonic wars haunted the Irish Sea and the Channel. British merchantmen were seized oif Dover by daring French privateers under the very nose of our gunboats. In ISOS the rii-k of capture was heaviest nearest lioitu:, and that in spite of Trafalgar. Tims to the south of Ireland the insurance charged against the war risk was 4 to 5 guineas per cent. In Lloyd's List about this time we have such entries -as these: 1 —

"1803, July .—Several vessels have been captured between Lynn and the Humber and taken to Ostend." '"1800, January, 21.—A French lugger privateer was oil' Dover on Sunday and., it is reported, captured two brigs." 1800, February 21.—Several vessels from Yarmouth with grain for Liverpool, Chester, Bristol, and ports in the Channel, are missing and supposed to have been captured' between Yarmouth and the Downs."

Our Navy, though it commanded tht. sea and blockaded the French coast, could not prevent small, fast, light eraft from darting out and attacking British commerce. The situation was thus exactly analogous to that which exists today," when the British Navy, controlling the surface, cannot prevent the German submarine from creeping out beneath the surface and accomplishing a certain amount of destruction. Tt- was in the American War of ISI2 that the depredations of small, light craft were most remarkable. Then, we read. American Privateers cruised regular ly off the British coast. Captain Hailey, who commanded the True-Blooded Yankee, actually seized a small island off the Irish coast and held it as a base for a week. He levied ransoms on small towns near-the coast; on several occasions he landed; burnt seven British vessels in one Irish port; ran into Dublin Bay and there sank a schooner in broad daylight. Another privateer, the Prince do Neauchato!, took bnotv to the value oi £OOO,OOO in the 'English Channel and Irish Sea, and in ISI4 captured the packet from Cork to Bristol. . Again, the Surprise cruised for 103 days in the English and Irish Channels and took 12 British vessels.

Such was the sate of affairs that in 1814 the Naval Chronicle complained: "The depredations committed on our commerce by American ships of war and privateers lias (sic) attained an extent beyond all former precedent. . . They have literally swept our seas, blockaded our ports, and cut up 'ur Irish and coasting trade. . . . The insurance between Bristol and Watei'ford and Cork is now three, times higher than it was when we were at war with '.ll Europe! The Admiralty Lords have been overwhelmed with letters of complaint or remonstrance; public meetings have been held at Liverpool and Bristol

. . . . and many severe strictures passed upon the public conduct of thn.-i'' at the head of a (Tails. . . . The sys-

tem of maritime warfare adopted by the l : nited Slates consists in burning, wat-

tling, and destroying everything they capture."

A correspondent of the Chronicle declared that "the coast of Ireland and the English Channel was blockaded by half a dozen Yankee cruisers." This took

place, though all the time the American coast was being subjected to a most stringent blockade by our warships. There was no censorship then, an£ any person was allowed to air his fads and grievances. Thus it is recorded that in August, 1814, the directors of two insurance companies remonstrated with the Admiralty on the want of protection given to British commerce in' Home waters, and wore politely told that mi adequate British force was stationed at Home, and that the merchant captains were in large measure to blamo for the loss of their ships by their disobedient or bad seamanship, 'thus, too, the people of Glasgow, whoso river, the Clyde, was constantly threatened by the marauders, passed a furious resolution, asserting it "disposing and mortifying that our ships cannot with safety traverse our own channels, that insurance cannot be eil'ected but at an excessive oremium, and that a horde of Amcrieim erasers should be allowed unheeded, unmolested, unresisted, to take, burn, or sink our own vessels in our own Unlets 'and shores in sight of our harbors."