The Daily News. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1915. HOLDING THE KEYS OF THE SEAS.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 September 1915, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1915. HOLDING THE KEYS OF THE SEAS.

The supremacy of the British Navy is such an established fact that few people clearly understand what it really means. It is therefore quite worth while taking a brief insight into the underlying utilities of the Imperial Government's first line of defence, so as to get an idea of those factors which suffice to ensure the safety of the Homeland and the Dominions.' The only way in which we can fully realise to the full this miracle about the command of the seas is to consider how we should have fared had we (the Empire) found ourselves pitted against Germany—just Britain and Germany at war without allies. There would, in the early stages of the conflict, have been the same desultory guerilla warfare against commerce, with the same results that have already accrued. Germany's shipping would have been swept from the seas, and the Germany navy would either have met its fate or have retired to safe harborage. There could have been no raid on or invasion of Britain for the simple reason that we command the seas, in addition to which Britain's whole land forces ■ would have been available. All that would have been possible for Germany was the infliction of damage by air raids and submarines. Germany, however, would have been far better off in one respect, for all the land routes and markets of the Continent would have been open for her use, but against this is the very serious phase arising from unemployment owing to her ports being closed, for Germany would not, as is now the case, have had to mobilise all her manhood for war purposes. One of the great lessons this war has taught is the case with which a scattered colonial empire run )"• conquered by ;i Power which holds the sea.-.. It is more than probable Ihut, the si i/.un.' of the whole nf Germany's inlonies wmilil lnne been effected more rapidly than has been the case in the present war. Britain could not have crushed the power of Germany, but she could have squeezed the life out of her trade and commerce, and without these no nation can live. It is in circumstances such as these that we olre enabled to appreciate the immense part which the fleet plays in the policy and strategy of an island Power. We have for such a long period regarded the British Navy as a purely defensive arm that its vital importance as an attacking force lias not received due recognition, but it, may now be accepted as an absolute fact that the Power which can arrest its enemy's trade and occupy its colonies is by these means alone enabled to secure an advantageous

peace, besides retaining a power of pressure which must reinforce the effects of success on land. Regarded in the light of a war confined to Britain and Germany, it must be admitted that Britain was thoroughly well prepared, and it is only in regard to a vastly

different combination that the land forces needed reorganising and extending. Even under the special conditions attaching to the present war the services of the British fleet have been marvellously effective. It lias safely landed Die British forces in France; it was a faptor in winning over Italy to the Allies; it

has minimised the submarine evil, and has proved of vital import to the operations in the West and at the Dardanelles. Beyond the long trench line in France stands the British fleet, and, much as our army has done to assure the defence of France, the fleet, by its veto on the use of German sea power, has certainly done no less. The actual fighting done by the British Navy has been insignificant, but it has served to prove that its paper superiority is also a real superiority, not only numerically, but

in efficiency of fighting power. There I Lave been some slight losses, but these: have been more than made up for by new ships, so that to-day our relative] superiority is even more crushing than it was when the war broke out. The one great lesson in naval matters that this war has taught is that the torpedo has proved more deadly than the gun, To-day the British fleet has a firmer hold than ever on the keys of the high sear. Its supremacy is unchallenged, for no enemy daro face it. It has assured our commerce, protected our produce, and guarded our shores, so that we may rest confident that in its keeping our destinies are safe, no matter what may be the outcome of the terrible land conflict that is now raging with such fury and carnage. So long as the British Navy is supreme, so long will the Empire ba eafe from aggression, and the prosperity of the dominions secured.