THE BRITISH NAVY.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 August 1918, Page 5

THE BRITISH NAVY.

ITS IMMENSE ACTIVITIES. I IMPRESSIVE FIGURES AND FACTS. Received AVgUt 8, 8.40 p.m. , London, August ". The Press Barean hat issued a statemat affording an idea of the activities •4 .the British Navy. It shows that betwstt the declaration of war and June SO kit, the Allied needs involved tne M* carriage of 20,000,000 men, 2,000,000 animals, and 110,000,000 tons of naval and military stores. The total losses of men embarked, due to enemy action, to April 30. reached, relatively, the trivial figure of 3282. The' transportation of well over a million Americans, to July 31, involved the organisation of 51 British ocean VSdOtjkf, 3&Tdestroyer escorts, 40 American ocean escorts, and 335 destroyer escort*. Tn the course of such duties the Britii4i escorts steamed over a million and a-guarter miles monthly. The patrol vessels engaged in frustrating submarine activities voyaged at least 6,000,000 miles monthly. In the home waters, the evident success of convoying is shown by the fact that British steamboats exceeding 500 jrross tons and from the United Kingdom on the main oversea routes, whereof 93i8 per cent, were convoyed between March, and June last, sustained submarine lanes totalling L 23 per cent., as compared with J5.41 per cent, losses between April and June last year, before convoying was established. The world's new merchant construction for the quarter ended June 30 amounted io 1,248,274 gross tons, comprising UXfl6o British, 800,308 Allied and neutral. This, compared with the world's output of 870,317 for the quarto ended March 31, and the world's output far the quarter to June 30, exeeeded the losses froav all causes by £90,698 Cable Assoc, and Beittar ■ ~'■■ 'f;iv tf*AFANi»B STEAMER TORPEDOED. Ottawa, August 7. Survivors who have arrived at a Can* a/San Atlantic port report that a Jap»n*s* freighter was torpedoed off the onset.' An American schooner rescued Jlw envx.—Ans.-N.Z. Cable Assoc. AMERICAN .LIGHTSHIP SUNK. New York, August 7. A lightship in North American waters *** shelled awl sunk. The crew are sWc. lift SUBMARINES SUNK. New York, August 7. Mr Lloyd George has announced that »S0 German gttaarfaea haVe been sunk, (■if a* then daring tha hwt twelve wwtlh*—Ara.<&Z. Ontoe Asm XagWJULUf fiEaTTTNQ LOST. London, Angnet 7. Sfarwar lost fourteen hjsjllu in July

BRITISH CONSTRUCTION. A LARGE INCREASE IS JULY. Received August 8, 10.5 p.m. London, August 7. The new construction of British mer chantmen completed in JulsJ reachet 141,948 gross tons, giving 905,194 fo the seven months of this year an< 1,490,025 for the year ending July 31 as compared with 83,073 for July las year, 578,643 to the Ut of Septembe: last year, and 865,147 for the year end ing July, 1917. The Controller-General states tha July is always a bad month for ship ping owing to the workmen's holidays while this year a serious influenza epi demie proved an additional drawback nevertheless, the British output fo July, 1918, increased by 174 per cent as compared wth July, 1910, and 71 pe cent, as compared with July, 1917.—Aus N.Z. Cable Assoc, and Reuter. LOSS OF THE WARILDALondon, August 7. A YVarilda survivor, interviewed sak the explosion wrecked and jammed thi iron watertight door of one of tin wards- That accounted for the chie loss cf life as they could not get at thi wour.ded there. Lowering the boats yrm difficult and several capsized throwinf the wounded into the water.—Aus.-N.Z Cable Assoc. GERMANY'S BLACK RECORD. Here is Germany's black record of at tacks on hospital ships: February, 1915.—Unsuccessful altemp to torpedo the Asturias in the Englisl Channel. March 30, 1916.—Portugal torpedoei and sunk in the Black Sea. One hun dred lives lost, including many women. November, 1916.—Britannic and Brae mar Castle sunk in the Mediterranean Not sufficient evidence to. prove whethe I they were mined or torpedoed. February 1, 1917.—Order put in opera tion that all hospital ships would b treated as belligerents, and attackc forthwith. March 20, 1917.—Gloucester Castle tor pedoed, with loss of 43 lives; 39 injured March 30, 1917.—Gloucester Castle tor pedoed in mid-Channel. All the wounde saved. April 17,1917.—Donegal torpedoed; 2 wounded and 12 of the crew lost. April 17, 1917.—rLanfranc torpedoed 19 British lives lost; 15 German wounde drowned; 152 German wounded rescue by British vessels at the risk of bein attacked. May 26, 1917.—Dover Castle torpedoe in the Mediterranean at 6 p.m. Agai: torpedoed at 8.30 p.m., and sunk. Al saved except sU men believed to hav been killed by explosion. January 9, 1915.—Rewa torpedoed i the Bristol Channel (outside prohibite area) at midnight, the torpedo strikin immediately under the illuminated re cross. There were 650 on board, includ ing 300 wounded from the Mediterran e»n. Three Lasrp.rs were killed. March 10, !!>'• -Guildford Castle, i Bristol Channel. Torpedoed twice, bu not sunk. June 27, 1918.—Llandovery Castle toi pedoed over 100 milts from land an nearly 300 miles from the prohibite area; 234 lives lost of 258 on board.