NOT MASTERED YET

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 April 1941, Page 9

NOT MASTERED YET

ATTACKS ON MERCHANT SHIPPING NAVY’S HEAVY TASK. COMMANDER FLETCHER’S SURVEY. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, April 1. Although mercantile losses by enemy action for the week ended at midnight on March 23, which totalled 59,141 tons, are considerably less than for the preceding three weeks since the Battle of the Atlantic started, naval circles emphasise that it must not be assumed that this great menace to a coming British victory is yet mastered. It is freely recognised that losses in the coming weeks may be heavy. This prospect, however, is not regarded as cause for despondency, and it is emphasised that the proper method to assess the losses is to study the average weekly figures of losses over a period of months rather than those of individual weeks.

The weekly average for August was 84,000 tons, September 103,000, October 86,000, November 86,000, December 70,000, January 55,000, February 74,000. For three weeks in March the average weekly losses were 84,000. The average weekly loss from the beginning, excluding the Dunkirk period, is 65,000. Interesting neutral comment on Britain’s shipping position appeared in the Swedish newspaper “Morgan Poston" on March 27. when tribute was paid to the continuity of British trade. • “It was a remarkable performance to increase deliveries of textiles, chemical and electrical goods,” it said. “Countries had found they could not only depend on Britain’s delivery of goods ordered, but also on their delivery on time. Neither U-boats nor bombers had been able to break the British shipping patrols. If the losses remain as now they can be entirely replaced by new ships built in Britain pr the United States,” the paper added. Events of the last day or two provided a very fine curtain-raiser to remarks by Commander Fletcher, Parliamentary Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty, who said he would like to deprecate any criticism just now of the morale arjd courage of the Italian navy. The battle in the lonian Sea showed what a remarkable degree of co-operation there had been between the three fighting forces, Army. Navy and Air Force. The Navy had a tremendous task. It had to watch for hostile navies, traverse all the oceans of the world, and cover an immense blockade. Criticism of the Navy he thought was very small indeed, and when it arose it was generally because there were not sufficient armed vessels provided to protect convoys.

“Some peqple think you can get ships as you can call a taxi-cab in London." he saicl. “When it is raining heavily you may wail a long lime before you get a taxi, but as far as the Navy is concerned it is raining heavily all the time.” The Battle of the Atlantic was now opening. The great bulk of seaborne traffic was concentrated in the North Atlantic, and our job in protecting it was far more formidable than in 191418. In the last war five navies cooperated in the task of defending shipping in the Atlantic. Now Britain was undertaking it single-handed and must expect the battle to be severe, as Hitler had pledged himself to victory in 1941 and could not achieve that vic-

lory unless he won the Battle of the Atlantic. Every Tuesday there was published a list of sinkings of British and Allied vessels, and these, said Commander Fletcher, were absolutely true. Very often they contained sinkings of vessels not actually engaged in trading with this country. "We can say definitely at present that the sinkings do not appear to be on a scale sufficiently high to give Hitler the victory to which he pledged his people."