NAVAL WAR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 May 1942, Page 3

NAVAL WAR

IN THE MEDITERRANEAN <& ELSEWHERE ADMIRAL CUNNINGHAM’S SURVEY. LESSONS OF EXPERIENCE. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, May 26. “The time has come when we- have the forces to meet the enemy in the Mediterranean on terms of equality,” said Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham. “1 have every confidence that if we have learned the lessons of 1940, 1941 and 1942 we shall rapidly and surely overwhelm him. “Till now, we have lacked the very essentials of victory. If, in the circumstances of the past, men could achieve so much, what will they not be able tb do when at length they have the means? “We must learn the lesson that sufficient trained air forces are an indispensable part of sea power. The Navy can never have complete mastery of its own element unless it controls all the tactical instruments requisite for action at sea. “The passage of the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau through the Channel suggests that however good the liaison between the Coastal Command and the Navy, there may be room for improvement. If the services could be integrated, the problem would be solved. “We have already lost a formidable fleet in Far Eastern waters, chiefly because of dive-bombers and torpedocarriers. British ships appear to succumb more easily to this form of attack than the enemy. The question arises whether enemy ships are better armoured than ours or whether British torpedoes are less powerful. “There is an urgent need to provide the Fleet Air Arm with better tor-pedo-carrying machines. Dive-bombers are-excellent and most dangerous weapons, but they have not much range. There are other methods of destroying a fleet.”

Admiral Cunningham said he did not believe that the French fleet at Toulon would fall into German hands.

In the present phase of the Mediterranean war, he said, it was a case of each side trying to destroy the other’s supply lines. We were attacking the enemy’s supplies to Libya by sea and air, and at the same time the enemy was attacking our jumping-off place at Malta as well as our convoys.

Despite the calls made on our strength, by the war in the Far East, our offensive spirit was still very much alive. Admiral Cunningham quoted as an example how only two months ago Rear-Admiral Vian, had brought a convoy to Malta in spite of a greatly superior Italian fleet. What is more, we had damaged the enemy flagship and sent the whole party packing home, and this had been done when tour heaviest ships were only light cruisers. It was a strategic masterpiece. Paying a tribute to the land fighters, Admiral Cunningham said: “Let there be no mistake; the ultimate victory in war is won by the foot-slogging soldier forcing his way through the enemy’s defences.”