The Daily News. THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 1915. WHAT THE NAVY HAS DONE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 256, 8 April 1915, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 1915. WHAT THE NAVY HAS DONE.

From the full text, now to hand, of the impressive and interesting speech, made by Mr Churchill (First Lord of the Admiralty) in the House of Commons on February 15th, many matters of .on-1 siderable concern are made clear to the whole Kmpire. In the first place he contrasted the difference between conditions at the War Office and those at tin: Admiralty at the outbreak of hostilities, pointing out that whereas Lord Kitchener had to create an army eight or ten times as largo as any previously maintained in Great Britain, the Admiralty was faced with no such difficulty ! as Parliament had in the last five years made such generous provision for the Navy that the fleet was of sufficient superiority for all needs, with a good margin for safety in vital matters, a-.id supplied and equipped with every l'.quirement down to the smallest detail that could be foreseen; also with an immense programme of nxrtf construction rapidly maturing to reinforce the fleet and replace casualties. He completely refuted the delusion that sufficient men could not be found to man the now ships, pointing out that when mobilisation took place not only were they able to man every ship in the Navy fit to send to sea, but were able to man a number of old ships which at first had not been intended for use at sea, besides being able to keep the training schools full to the very brim. He claimed that the German Army was not mora ready for offensive than was the British Fleet for national defence, and that after six months of war, when new dingers and new difficulties were comii.'g into view, the Admiralty had every right to feel content with the results of its labors. In commenting on the victory off the Falkland Islands Mr Cliu--chill said it terminated the first phase of the naval war by effecting decisively the clearance of the German flag from the oceans of the world. "The blocking in of the enemy's armed merchantmen at the very outset and the consequent frustration of his whole plan for the destruction of commerce, the reduction of his base at Tsing-Tau, and the expulsion of his ships from the China seas by Japan, the hunting down of the Konigsbcrg and the Einden—the latter by an Australian cruiser—were steps alonj; the path, and the goal was finally reached when Admiral von Spec's powerful sq-uadron, having been unsuccessfully though gallantly engaged off Conine], was brought to action and destroyed >,u December 8 by Admiral Sir F. Stunh'e. Only two small German cruisers and two armed merchantmeiit remain at large, of all their formidable preparation for :d----tack upon the trade routes, and thes? vessels were then in hiding. During the last three months—that is to say, sine? Parliament rose —on an average ab'jut 8000 British vessels have been continuously on the seas passing to and fro on their lawful occupations. Th«re haw been 4.485 arrivals and .'IOOO sailings from the ports of the United Kingdom. Only 10 vessels have been sunk by the enemy, and only four of those vessels have been sunk by above-water craft. Referring to the losses during the six months, Mr Churchill said that during those two great wars, which began in 17!).'! and ended after a brief interval In 1814, 10,871 British merchant ships were captured or sunk by the enemy. Even after the decisive battle of Trafalgar, when we had the undisputed eomnir.r.d of the sea, so far as it can be tactically and strategically attained, the loss of British ships went oji at the rnte af 500 ships a year. In 1806, 510 ships were sunk or capture*—that is. the year I

if tor Trafalgar—in 1807, 55!); in IW, 100; in 1800, 571; and in 1810, 019. Our total 1059C3 on the high seas in the (Irst six months of the war, including all ships other than trawlers engaged in mine-sweeping, including all ships, including losses by mines and vesso'is scuttled by submarines, were only 'i?>. "The losses of the Navy," added Mr Churchill, "though small compared to t".t sacrifices of the army, have been heavy. We have lost, mainly by submarines, the lives of 5300 officers a:id men, and ■., e. have killed, mainly by gunfire, an equal number, which is, of course, a much larger proportion of the German forces engaged. We have also taken in s.Vi fighting 82 officers and 034 men prisoners of war. No British naval prisoners of war have been taken 'ln fighting at sea by the Hermans. When they nad the inclination they had not t,"'.c opportunity, and when they had the opportunity they had not the inclination. For the loss of these British Uv'.'.s we have lived through six months of this war safely and even prosperously. We have established for the time being a command of the sea such as we had never expected, such as we had nc\er known and our ancestors had never known at any other period of our history." Probably the most import;';it matter alluded to by the First Lord of the Admiralty was that in which he foreshadowed a real blockade of the German coast so as to cut off all German imports of food. "So far," he said, "we have, not prevented neutral sV;h from trading direct with German ports. The time has come when the cnjoyme.it of these immunities by a State which has, as a matter of deliberate policy, placed herself outside all international obligations, must be reconsidered. In the months that are to come the British Navy, and the sea power which ;t exerts, will increasingly dominate Jl'e general situation, will be the main and unfailing resource of the Allied natiors, will progressively paralyse the fightir.g energies of our antagonists, and coull, if need be, even in default of all other favorable causes, ultimately by it,;e'f decide the issue of the war." How successfully this blockade has been car; : (d out in spite of Germany's reprisals by means of submarine attacks on me>cliant ships and tramps we all know. Mr . Churchill did not expect that Germany would take this blockade without ictaliating, for he said: "We are to le made the object of a kind of warfare never, before practised, which formerly would have been reprobated and repudiated. Loss will be incurred, but it will not be vital. Our reply will not be wholly ineffective. Germany cannot be

allowed to adopt a policy of open piracy and murder. A declaration will le madfl by the Allies." There can be >u; question that the blockade of imports to Germany must act as a potent factor in lessening the duration of the war. It lias fallen to the lot of the Navy to transport between one and two millions of men, and this has tieen done without loss. What our Navy has already accomplished has had a para lysing effect on the enemy, and the Empire may rest ",s----sured that its work in the future will 1)0 equally creditable and useful, especially as the range and destructive power of our naval' guns exceed those of the Germans. It is not surprising that Mr Churchill's statements were received Iv the House of Commons with enthusiastic approval.