SEA WAR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 February 1942, Page 2

SEA WAR

MAGNITUDE OF NAVY’S TASK BRITAIN’S SUCCESS WITH AERIAL TORPEDOES. ( MR ALEXANDER REVIEWS SITUATION. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, February 18. The First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr Alexander, in a broadcast, said that since September, 1939, the Royal Navy had been engaged in a sea war of magnitude which was difficult to grasp. “A great deal of play has been made with a Japanese torpedo attack from the air against our ships,” he said, “but many people forget that the Navy set the standard, first at Taranto and Matapan and against the Bismarck. “Italian battleships have been sunk or damaged, many of Italy’s cruisers have been destroyed, large numbers of destroyers have been wiped out and Italian submarines have been sunk in dozens. In the last three months we have taken a particularly heavy toll of U-boats, German and Italian, in the Mediterranean. “Moreover, since the Germans became so anxious to prop up Mussolini's failing forces and retain a hold on North Africa, they have found a continuous interruption in their communications and dozens of transports and supply ships have been sunk and many more heavily damaged. In the three months from November to the end of last month the Navy, with the help of the Air Force, destroyed 148,000 tons oi enemy merchant ships and warships on the supply routes to Libya. “In spite of the strain upon us of a general war at sea,” Mr Alexander went on, “it is a fact that Navy and merchant ships have been able to do much to carry urgently-needed tanks, aeroplanes and equipment through the winter of storm, ice and darkness into an Arctic port. We must and will continue to help the gallant fight in Russia to the fullest extent our resources will i permit in relation to our other commitments. One cannot but feel that, the arrival in Russia of so much equipment has already played a part in the plans the Russian General Staff was able to make.” Referring to the loss of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse, Mr Alexander said: “I can imagine what a storm of criticism would have been launched if these ships had stayed in harbour.” Britain and America, he added, could certainly outbuild, and finally outmatch what the enemy could do, provided they all pulled hard and strong together. “I would like to say to those who have been in the thick of the conflict, with all its bitter fighting and hardships, ‘Well done and thank you for your gallant work. Be assured our spirit is that, come what may, we w.ill not cease from the strife till your deliverance is secured,’ ” he concluded. “And to those of our brethren in the Allied forces and populations who are now either fighting or preparing to fight, ‘Hold the fort, for we are ccS-n--ing.’ ”