BRITISH SEA POWER.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 August 1915, Page 12

BRITISH SEA POWER.

BLUNT NAVAL 'PRBS.SUKE. NORTH SEA ACTIONS. The net result of twelve months' naval operations is that all the German warships which were outside the North Sea in August last have either been destroyed or driven to the shelter of neutral ports, and German commerce has been (paralysed, while the efforts of the enemy to whittle away the British margin of superiority have been quite unsuccessful.

The main line of German naval policy soon declared itself as one of wearing down and attrition of the hostile fleets, especially the British, by the laying of mines and the energetic, use of its submarines. On August 5 the mine-layer Konigin Luise was caught while operating in the North .Sea; but the following day the British cruiser /Amiphion, which achieved this first success itself, struck a mine near the same place and .Teas lost with 131 officers and men. In August 0 the cruiser Birmingham discovered and sank the German submarine TJl.'i. The first engagement of serious consequence occurred in the early morning of August 2S, when strong forces of

British destroyers, supported by light cruisers and battle cruisers, the entire squadron under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty, intercepted and attacked the German destroyers and cruisers guarding We approach to the Genman coast in the Heligoland Bight. The British destroyers, without loss to themselves, sank two German destroyers and damaged others. The German cruiser Mainz and another of the Koln class were sunk, another disappeared on fire and in a sinking condition. The only British boats damaged were the flotilla cruiser Amethyst and the destroyer Laertes.' On September 5 H.M.S. Pathfinder was destroyed by a mine and 259 men lost off the north of Scotland.

SUBMARINE ACTIVITY. On September 13 submarine E9 (Lieut. Commander Max K. Horton). which had already distinguished itself in the Heligoland fight, torpedoed and sank the (German cruiser Hela, and on October 7 the same submarine sank a destroyer near the mouth of the Ems itself. On September -22 three British 12,000-ton cruisers, sister ships of a somewhat old type, the Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy, were attacked in rapid succession by d submarine in the open sea, and all sank with heavy casualties. In consequence of the mine-laying 'by the Germans the British Admiralty announced on October 3 that a British mine-field had been laid at the mouth of the Thames. An open route was still retained between the north of this field and the south of the German minefield, leaving uninterrupted the sea coast ibetween Harwich and the Belgian coast. Another British cruiser, the Ilawke, fell a victim to a submarine 'on October 15. On October 17 four British destroyers—the Lance, Lennox, legion and Loyal—supported by the new cruiser Undaunted, caught and destroyed by a mine and 258 men lost off Dutch coast.

VOX SPEE'S SQUADRON. ' After the full of Ostend there were signs of attempted submarine activity ifrom the Belgian coast. One submarine which attempted to atack the monitors and fleet assisting in the coast battle south of Ostend was rammed and sunk by the destroyer Badger. About this time the British submarine E3 was lost. On October 3.1 the old coast defence vessel Hela was sunk by a German submarine in the Straits of Dover. On Sunday, November 1. a naval battle took place off the const of Chile between the battleship Good Hope, the armored cruiser Glasgow, and a German squadron consisting of the armored cruisers Ghoisenau and Soharnhorst and a liglit cruiser. Tht Germans had the advantage in guns and speed, and succeeded in sinking the Good Hope, tiie flagship nf Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Crailock, and the Monmouth. Full complements perished with the ships. Submar- | ines were responsible for the loss of the seaplane-carrying ship Hermes in the Straits of Dover on October 31, and the gunboat Niger in the Downs on November 11. On the other hand, the destroyer Badger rammed a German submarine off the Dutch coast on October 2t. On November 3 a small squadron, reported, to consist of two battleships and five cruisers, were seen off Yarmouth. The Halcyon brought in the news, and pursuit was given. In the cour-e of the chase submarine Do struck a mine thrown out by the retiring Germans and was sunk, a like fate befalling one of the German cruisers, the Yorck, when re-entering harbor.

PURSUIT OF THE RAIDERS. The command of the sea expressed itself in other ways, notably by the driving into neutral ports or other refuge of the entire German mercantile m'arine, apart from the ships captured in the first i days of the war. In theWirse of tier , roving commission the converted auxiliary cruiser Carmama in an equal fight caught and sank the German cruiser Cap Trafalgar on September 14. H.M.B, Highflyer had already sunk the converted liner Wilhelm de Grosse on Auguse 27. On the other hand 11.M.5. Pegasus was taken unawares in Zanzibar ihoribor on September 20 by the cruiser Ivonig'sberg and destroyed, with the loss of 25 killed and 52 wounded. On October 2 11.M.5. Cumberland captured nine small steamers and the gunboat Seden in a raid up the Cameroons river. Of the German raiding cruisers the ■most successful was the Emden, which fust appeared in the Bay of Bengal between September 10 and 14, and there captured six British steamers, of which ■five were sunk-. On the 22nd she appeared oil' Madras, which was shelled for 15 minutes, and had its petroleum tanks set on lire, On the 29th the capture of four more British ships and a collier 'were reported, and on October 21 the Emden was heard of in the Indian Oean. Nouth-wesl of Ceylon, where six ships had been raptured. On October HI t 'to cruiser suddenly appeared (disguised) in the roadstead of Penang, where she completely surprise! and sunk the Russian 'cruiser .lemteliug and a French destroyer. On October 15 11.M.5. Yarmouth had captured the German collier Marko■mannia and the Greek l'nntoporos. which were believed to be suppliy ships for the Emden, and on November !) the raider was herself caught by the Australian trniser Sydney at Keeling. Cocos Tslan.l. forced to tight, ami destroyed. The value of the 17 ve-scLs she had eantured was estimated at £2.200,000. ', SIR V. STVRDKE'S VICTORY. ' The pursuit ot the raiding German cruisers now increased in intensity anl | on DevMirber 8 Sir Christopher Cradock ■ 'was avenged. A British squadron con- | taining two battle-cruisers under Sir F. ' C. T), Sturdec, which hud been secretly ' despatched from the North Sea, met 1 Admiral von Spee oft' the Falklaads. Th«

iSchariihorst, Giieisenau, Nurnberg and (Leipsic were sunk. Only the Dresden escaped and she was brought to account some weeks later. The Karlsruhe, wliosc Whereabouts was for some time a mystery, was lost through accidental causes. Two remaining Gentian converted incrvhanlujun were forced to seek the shelter of an American port. The last page in this branch of naval warfare was turn, ed a few weeks ago, when the Konigs<berg, ' vli had been bottled up off the toast . .iennan East Africa on Novcinher S, was destroyed by monitors. A series of raids undertaken by the Genman navy against unprotected portions of the English coast ended disastrously. On the first occasion the.Germans lost their eriuser Vorck, wh'ch struck a mine; on the second they succeeded in subjecting Yorkshire towns to a short 'bombardment; but on the third occasion they met the .battle-cruder squadron under Admiral Beatty, and before the Germans could escape to the 'protection of their mine-fields the Blu'cher was sunk and two of the German ■battle-cruisers were seriously damaged.

WAR OX MERCHANT SHIPPING. In consequence of inability to do .my further injury to the British navy or British shipping by surface crafty tiie German Admiralty instituted on February 18 a submarine "blockade" of Biitain. The reply of the British Government was to increase the stringency of the blockade of Germany by coni'i3'::'.t;ng all enemy property found on the high 'seas, even in neutral vessels. The attacks of German submarines upon British shipping have been continued spasmodically since February 18, and have involved many crimes against humanity iwhich have shocked the world. The greatest of these was the torpedoing of the Cunard line: Lusitania on May 7, with the loss of about 1400 lives. In consequence of the loss of American lives on the Lusitania and other vessels the United States despatched a Note to Germany. Diplomatic relations have ro far been preserved between the two countries, but the Lusitania in;iaei:i is, not yet closed. -From Febnuivy 18 to June" 20, German submarines had sunk 75 British ships, apart from fishing vessels. The total British mercantile marine comprises 10,123' vessels. A considerable number of neutral ships have also been destroyed by the Germans, who •have suffered the loss of a number cf submarines. DARDANELLES FIGHTING.

Towards the end of April an attempt was made by a powerful Britlsi an J French squadron to *'crce the passag; of the Dardanelles, closed by Turkey on her entry into the war. The forts at the entrance to the Dardanelles were silenced, but in an engagement towards the Narrows, on March 10, the Bnti°h battleships Irresistible and Ocean and the French battleship Bouvet were sunk by floating mines. Naval operations wore then discontinued ti'.l a land force was prepared to co-operate. In pupporting the land forces three mere Bri-, tish battleships have b;-;n lost —the Goliath by destroyer attack, and the Triunrah and Majestic by submarine attack. * The chief Turkish losses have been the sinking of the battleship Messedieh by a British submarine in th-j Dardanelles on December 14, and the loss of the cruiser Mcjideh by striking a mine in the Black Sea on April 5.

BALTIC AND ADRIATIC. In the Baltic there, has Been no decisive fighting, but there have been losses on both side*. On August 27 the German cruiser Magdeburg was weeked in the Gulf of Finland, and was destroyed by the Russians. On October 11 a German submarine sank the Russian crnis?r Pallada. The most recent action in the ■Baltic was early in .July, .when the German mine-layer ALbUross was disiolcJ and forced to run ashore. The Russians claim to have sunk a cruiser and a torpedo boat a,t the same time. Thj German battleship Pommern was sunk by a TSritish submarine on July 2. The blockade of the Adriatic was undertaken by the French navy at I'm outbreak of the war. i- On August 17 an Austrian cruiser was sunk, and several Austrian destroyers have since been wrecked by mines. The French cruiser Leon Camhetta was torpedoed by a submarine on April 2S. Since her e'ntry into the war Italy has lost two cruisers—the Guiseppe Garibaldi and the Amalfi™ and a submarine and a torpedo boat. The Austrian* have lost several submarines,

NAVAL BALANCE-SHEET. ALLIES' LOSSES 38. . ENDMY LOSSES OVER 57. The naval losses of Great Britain and her Allie3 and Germany and her allies since the outbreak of the war may be stated thus:— GREAT BRITAIN AND ALLIES. Battleships— British: Bulwark, accidentally Mown up; Formidable, sunk by submarine; Irresistible, Ocean, Goliath, Triumph and Majestic, lost in Dardanelles. French; Bouvet, lost in Dardanelles. Total .... .. •.. S

Cruisers— British; Anvphion, mined; Pathfinder, 'torpedoed; Pegasus, gunfire; Aboukir, Cressy, Hoguc, Hawke, Hermes, torpedoed; Good Hope, gunfire; Monmouth, gunfire. French: Leon Gambetta, torpedoed. Russian: Pallada, torpedoed; Jemtehug, torpedoed. ■(apane'e; Takachiho, mined; Asa-ma, wrecked. lUUaii: Giuseppe Garibaldi, torpedoed; Ainalfi, torpedoed. Total 17 Armed Liners and Auxiliaries— British: Oceanic, wrecked ; P>ohila, mined; Viknor.fWrecked; Clan MvNaughton, lost; Bayano, mined; Princess Irene, mine-layer, blown up in Sheerness harbor. Total .., .. 0 Destroyers— British: Maori, torpedoed; Reemit, punfire: torpedo boats 10 and I'2 torpedoed. Italian: One torpedoed. •Japanese: Shirotaye, wrecked. French: Mousquct, gunfire. Total 7 Total number of battleships, cruisers, armed liners, auxiliaries and destroyers lost .. 38 GERMANY AND ALLIES. BattleshipsGerman: Ponunern, torpedoed. Turkish: torpedoed: 1 Tow, v , *~, ~, "";;_., %

CraUWii—(Jcriiiiiti: Magdeburg, Kola, "Mainz, Ariadne, gunfire; llclu, torpedoed; Yore];, mined; C'urmoran, at Tuing-Uu; (Jcicr, interncd; Kinulen, gunfire; Fricdrich Karl, mined; Scharnhorst, Uneise.nau, Xulnbcrg, I.cipsic, Konigs'berg, Blttelier, gunfire; Gazelle, torpedoed; Kolberg, sunk N'oi'lH TSca ; Dresden, gunlire; Karlsruhe, lost. Austrian: Zenta, gunfire; Kaiserin ■ Elizabeth, at Tsing-.tau. Turkish: Mejideh, in Black Sea. Total 23 Armed Liners suid AuxiliariesGerman: Koenigen Luise, gunfire; Wilhelm dor Crosse, gunfire; Sprcewald, captured; Cap Trafalgar, gunfire; Bethania, captured; Itolo, Ehioa. gunfire.; Soden, Markomannia, <iaecia, Ophelia, captured; Ruhin, at Tsing-tau; Navarra, gunfire; Berlin, Karnalc, Loeksim, Holger, Kronprinz Wllhclm, Prinz Kitel I'riedrich, interned; minelayer Albatross, driven ashore in Baltic. Total 20 DestroyersGerman: Seven by gunfire; one toiipcdoed; and four others lost. Turkish: The Turks have also lost a number of destroyers in the ■ Black Sea. Total, over .. ... 12 Total number of battleships, cruisers, armed liners,, auxiliaries and destroyers lost, over ">" The above lists do not include submarines, complete data not being available. Only ascertained losses are included. A number oi other losses have been reported, but the reports lack confirmation.