These articles have been taken from various periodicals and newspapers. The Institute has not at any time had any official means of confirming them or establishing their accuracy, and they have been incorporated for what they are worth.
STRATEGY
This map, adapted from one issued by tile British Admiralty, shows the trade areas in which German submarines could operate if Germany had naval bases in the Cameroons, German East Africa, and German New Guinea. The outlines (see key on left) represent a radius of 4000 miles; the cross-shaded areas are doubly dangerous to sea traffic because they would be exposed to U-boat piracy from two bases.—Literary Digest, 9/11.
Reports from the American naval base in France note that the record of submarine activity for the months of June, July, and August, the period most favorable to their operations, shows a steady fall in the Allied shipping sunk and a steady rise in the number of submarines destroyed.—Literary Digest, 9/11.
THE SANCTION OF THE SEA.—Here there are three matters of the utmost moment as to which the broad rights of the case must be left in no ambiguity. They are, first, the restitution due for the tonnage of the world destroyed; secondly, the future of the German colonies; thirdly, the future of submarine war. With these justice and common sense require that Germany should receive a fair ration of sea service and raw material.
There must be no hesitation in dealing firmly and promptly with the tonnage question. It is the typical case of conflict in moral standards. Over twelve million tons of the world's shipping has been destroyed by enemy action, and practically all of it by action condemned by every code, national or international. It has been destroyed in obedience to the German belief that where their country can be advantaged, no treaty, no obligation voluntarily incurred, no moral precept, shall have the least weight. Right up to October 6, when Prince Max, of Baden, asked President Wilson for peace, the leading German papers were publishing lying articles revelling in the achievements of the submarine, pointing to the alleged 19,000,000 tons of shipping it has sunk as if it were a great German triumph, as if these activities only had to continue to make Germany safe. Even Perseus—by far the sanest of the German naval and patriot writers—cannot hold back his tribute from this stupendous result. In mere justice "to the magnificent work of our submarine crews" he must point out that no one could have imagined, that in the second year the monthly figures of loss would still exceed 600,000 tons! And he quotes, with approval, Admiral Scheer's message to the Reichstag: "You may tell the country with a good conscience, that I have not a moment's doubt we shall bring England to negotiate yet by means of our submarines." Here then is a question on which Germany is truly impenitent. I make no point of the fact that her submarines are still at work, that the Leinster was sunk before the President could answer the appeal for peace. For the submarines are probably beyond recall. My point is, that here is a type case of what is involved by "justice."
First, there must be the arraignment and trial of those guilty of such horrors as Fryatt's judicial murder, the outrage of the Belgian Prince, the sinking of hospital ships, etc. Next, the cargoes lost must, at least in part, be made good, and certainly the families of every seaman and passenger wrongfully murdered, compensated for their loss. Clearly, until these moral and material debts are paid, the civilized world can have no sea dealings with Germany at all. It goes without saying that the damage to shipping must be made good without delay. To the extent to which the tonnage now in German ports fails to make this good German shipyards must, for so many years as are necessary, be devoted solely to this task! Finally, it is so to speak apart of the disarmament of Germany, not only that every submarine shall be surrendered, but that every shipyard, arsenal and engineering shop that can be used for making submarines should be kept under close Allied supervision.
I put these sea questions first and call them type questions, because the injury here is not one solely against Great Britain, but is an outrage upon the world. The declaration of ruthlessness was a declaration of war against all countries; and in insisting upon its condemnation and punishment and on reparation for the evils it has done, we should have with us, as on no other matter, the support of all the world. Here at least there can be no question but that the maxim of St. Vincent will apply.
The German Colonies.—The German colonies cannot be restored for three reasons. First, the whole of their colonial enterprise has been a moral enormity. The Germans have but one method in treating natives. It is the method they have exhibited nearer home in the treatment of Belgium and conquered France. To those who doubt this I would commend the study of that admirable volume, von Hügels The German Soul. It is the work of one who knows the German intimately and treats him with an insight that is as sympathetic as it is severe. Colonial enterprise has more than anything fostere4 the brutality to which Germans are prone. Von Hügel dissects and analyses this tendency with the precision of a demonstrator in physics. His case is completed by this extraordinary incident. "Not a decade ago," he says, "at a centenary celebration connected with the town and university of Heidelberg, one of the scenes enacted, which symbolized German colonial rule, began with German colonial officials in tropical costumes bastinadoing their native subjects, and ended with these same officials stringing up on trees these same colored men."
The next reason against the restoration of the colonies is that the Germans have been as bad neighbors in Africa as in Europe. They have introduced there exactly the element which the United States in the days of Monroe resolved should never disturb either of the American continents. And it is a final point that, just as the German colonies have been made starting points of treason and rebellion in neighboring states, so their seaports might in future be made available for outrages at sea. The security of the world's trade demands that this opportunity, like the possession of submarines, should not be given.
The Future of the Submarine.—There is, lastly, a question that affects the future of all sea war, and that is: What rules, if any, can be made to secure a tolerable use of the submarine in future times? As my readers know, I have for three years maintained that the simplest solution of all would be for the great powers to declare the submarine contraband of humanity, to forbid its manufacture in their own countries, to see to it that it is not manufactured in any of the late enemy countries, and to threaten any country that attempted to contravene this regulation with a ruthless boycott. There can be no practical difficulty in the elimination of the submarine if Great Britain, the United States, France, Italy, and Japan agreed to make it effective. Had this been proposed by Great Britain before the war it might have been objected to on the ground that the nation with the strongest surface fleet had the greatest motive for abolishing that form of naval force that threatened to drive the surface fleet into obsolescence. But war has fortunately proved that for practical purposes the submarine has not affected surface warfare materially. As an instrument in battle, or as an instrument to be used against the principal battle units, it has failed almost completely. But the most conspicuous of its disappointments is, as we have so often seen, its total inability to prevent invasion by a power possessing superiority of surface craft. It has lost, that is to say, the one role universally assigned to it in pre-war days—that of being a cheap substitute for navies for weak powers. The argument is familiar, and need not now be developed at length.
But if there is any reluctance to accept it as conclusive, then at least restitution for all damage done by submarines should be established for all times as a law of future wars. It is possible that, if it is once clearly understood that the civilized community will insist upon the replacement of every ship and every cargo that the submarine destroys, that there may be some hesitation in employing it in an outrageous manner.
It cannot be too strongly emphasized that in the forthcoming peace discussions the conduct of sea war will be among the most debated of all matters. There are many in England who are prepared to abandon the right of search, and to accept those principles loosely associated with the phrase, the freedom of the seas. The fallacies underlying this discusson are many, and this is not the time to expose them. But from one observation I cannot forbear. In the wars in which the sea rights of Britain were the most relentlessly asserted, the sea service of the world suffered not at all. Few of the prizes that were taken or lost were destroyed. Neutrals during war had every facility for trading with the most powerful of the sea belligerents, and, when war was ended, the total sum of the world's tonnage was vastly greater than at its beginning. It is the new and not the old principles of war that have produced the present lamentable state of things.—Land and Water, 24/10.
NAVAL SQUADRON OVER SEAS.—The message Senator Thompson, of Kansas, brought to the Secretary of the Navy from Admiral Hugo Rodman, on his return from a trip abroad, was: "Tell the Secretary we have everything we need over here and that everything is running perfectly smooth, and, for God's sake, let us alone." The senator, referring to this message, in a speech in the Senate said: "With such a spirit we need have no fear that our navy is not in safe hands, for like the command of Admiral Dewey, even with the cables cut, whenever a fight comes, which all of our men and officers are itching for, victory will sure be on our side." Mr. Thompson states as positive facts that the Germans have never had more than 320 submarines; that more than one-half of them have been destroyed; and that it is impossible for Germany to keep more than 10 per cent of those remaining in operation at any time. Referring to the British Grand Fleet, he says:
"Sailing in single file, without counting the numerous destroyers, submarines, submarine chasers, and other smaller craft, it is said to be about 80 miles in length and requires hours going at ordinary speed, to pass in review. With such a fleet no one ever need worry about the German Navy coming out of its hiding place and doing any very great damage. There is perfect harmony between the British and the American officers in this command. Admiral Beatty, of the British Navy, is, of course, supreme in command, but it frequently devolves upon our American Admiral Rodman to command, and whenever orders are given by either commander they are obeyed and respected as if of equal authority. Admiral Rodman is one of the resourceful and practical men of the navy, so much admired by the people of this country."—Naval Monthly, November.
LESSONS OF THE WAR
THE DEPTH CHARGE ARMAMENT OF A DESTROYER.—An American destroyer with her depth bombs ready to be discharged is, indeed, a dangerous craft to monkey with. She is a menace not only to the enemy, but to any other craft with which she might collide in the darkness, running without lights and to herself as well. If one of her depth bombs loaded with its heavy charge of T. N. T. should be accidentally exploded there would be little left of the destroyer.
The deadly depth charge, which is proving to be the conclusive answer to the submarine menace now, is being released from every quarter of the destroyer. Two of these big cylinders of high explosives can be dropped from the bridge by the pressure of a button, amidships Thornycroft throwers drop a charge from either side of the destroyer, forming a barrage.
"Y-Guns" Located Amidships.—“Y-guns " are stationed amidship with two barrels, each of which throws a depth charge one to port and the other to starboard. Finally astern there are two long lines of depth charges running on miniature railway tracks, ready to be dropped over the stern.
With all these depth bomb charges ready to be let loose forward, aft and amidships a complete enveloping barrage can be put in operation at any time. With the destroyers completely enveloping the transports the water barrage extends its protecting sweep entirely around the fleet.
Vigilance Against Collision.—Great care is taken against any collisions in the darkness which would release the depth charges. While the shock of a collision would not cause an explosion the depth charge might destroy its own ship by exploding when it reached the depth fixed by the fuse. Such an explosion has actually occurred in one case doing considerable damage, but causing no fatalities.
This incident has given warning of the extreme care needed to guard against night collisions when the fleet is going through the darkness with all lights out.—Washington Evening Star, 8/11.
SEA-POWER AND TURKEY.—Because sea-power was not directed by Britain with full comprehension of its power, Turkey was forced, not into neutrality favoring the interests of the Entente Powers, but into the war as a partner in the Quadruple Alliance. One uses the word forced advisedly, for if in the one case moderate Turkey was coerced, in the other it would have been Enver Pasha and his confederates who would have been coerced, or, in short, German ships drove Turkey to her ruin, British ships would have saved her, for the secret treaties of intrigue would have been torn to shreds by the guns of the most effective of all diplomatists, a British fleet. But the Goeben and Breslau got there first—arguments which turned the scale for war in the counsels of the Porte four years ago. That these two ships should have exercised such a decisive influence on events there was a demonstration of the potency of even a fragment of sea-power. As Turkey has realized to her cost what a mistake she made in 1914 she might have come to terms with the Allies long ago. But her fleet, commanded and largely officered and manned by Germans, vetoed any such course of action, and, reinforced by what remains of the Russian Black Sea fleet, is an argument which will take some surmounting. But if Constantinople is subjected to the pressure of enemy sea-power, which having forced Turkey to enter the war now forces her to continue in it, the Provinces of the Ottoman Empire bordering on the Levant are subjected to the pressure of Allied sea-power. Hence the move made by the Vali Rahmi, who governs the richest and best ordered Vilayet in the Turkish Dominions, to enter into negotiations with the Entente Powers. involving the fate of Smyrna, the Ottoman city next in importance to Constantinople. His sympathies may be with the Allies, but he would never have acted independently of the Porte only for the successes of amphibious warfare.—Army and Navy Gazette, 19/10.
THE WAR AT SEA.—Why Germany Cannot Have Her Colonies.—"If the German colonies were to be returned to Germany," says Mr. Walter Long, "the lives of our heroes would have been wasted." The Pan-Germans know that the game is theirs if they can but get their colonies back, and they will leave no stone unturned to regain them. The Allies are fighting for a permanent peace, but if Germany gets her colonies back we shall have grasped at the shadow of peace and dropped the bone of security, without which there can be no real peace.
Germany does not expect to win this war—at least, she can no longer hope for the complete victory she set out to gain—but she sees that science has put a new weapon into her hand, and only asks to be given back her colonies, and to be allowed to bide her time. If the Allies give Germany back her colonies, they present her also with the tempting prospect of being able to subject to her will the free nations of the world by the bringing about of a complete stoppage of maritime traffic.
Admiral von Capelle stated in the Reichstag on May 11, 1918, in the course of a naval debate: "Our whole war industry will be used for the building of submarines, and precautions will be taken to see that for years to come there shall be no slackening in the regular delivery of new submarines." Germany's colonies would provide submarine bases on all the great trade routes of the world. With such bases Germany could wage war on the world's trade, and in a few months the world would be at her feet. Captain von Weise, at a mass meeting in Berlin, said: "We need colonies in the Pacific for military and strategic reasons; we ,need naval bases"; and added, "We must demand a German Africa stretching from the east to the southwest, for we need raw materials." "Raw materials" is a wide term, and what the Pan-Germans mean is that they want sites for naval bases, which are the raw materials for a future submarine war on trade. As for the bona fide raw materials the total export of the German African colonies did not amount to £5,000,000 per annum.
A common argument against annexation is that Germany demands a "place in the sun." She is a great and growing nation, and requires an outlet for her surplus population. To deprive her of what "place in the sun" she has, and to block all outlets for her increasing population, is like trying to block up a volcano, and is bound to end in a violent eruption. The reply to that argument is that the German Colonial Secretary has admited that German colonial policy has been a failure. Dr. von Kuhlman said, "We have no need of colonies for purposes of settlement, but we have great need of . . . . territories . . . . to provide our industries . . . . with raw materials." Statistics prove that as the German Empire has increased in prosperity emigration has declined. From 1910-13 the average annual number of emigrants to German Africa was between 17 and 18 persons. In addition, Germany has imported annually millions of Russians and Poles to gather in the harvest, and thousands of Italians for railway and road construction. The African colonies are not, therefore, required, nor are they suitable as an outlet for surplus white population.
Another argument is that the retention of the German colonies would be as much a cause for smouldering enmity as was Alsace Lorraine. In reply we should say that there is very little analogy between the case of Alsace Lorraine and the German colonies. Alsace Lorraine had been in French possession for 200 years; it had 2,000,000 inhabitants who were obliged to transfer their allegiance to another country: it gave access to the Rhine, which then formed their strategic frontier. Better Germany should have a grievance which she is not strong enough to work off than to remove that grievance and put her in possession of the means of making another war. German writers talk openly of the next war. There must be no next war, but you won't prevent it by giving back German colonies—you will ensure it taking place.
A grave danger that has to be guarded against is Germany's certain attempt to divide the Allies by saying that England is fighting for a knock-out blow in order that she may enlarge her colonial empire. The principal Allied war aim is a permanent peace, and such a peace implies a world security. World security implies a strong British Empire to counterpoise German aggression, as instanced by the course of this war. It will not be denied that had it not been for England, Germany would have had Europe under her foot. If Germany's colonies were restored, she would in the future, using the colonies as submarine bases, engineer a submarine war on trade, and Great Britain could not hope to maintain the vast naval forces necessary to deal with such a world wide war without submitting to an intolerable burden of armaments. When peace comes we wish to reduce armaments, but if Germany gets back her colonies, our naval estimates will be infinitely larger than they have ever been before. In other words, Great Britain would always be at the mercy of an aggressive Germany. Therefore the Allied war aim—a permanent peace—is based on the non-return of the German colonies; and all German concessions must be looked upon as a snare if the price to be paid for them is the placing in her hands of the means wherewith she may make a second and more certain bid for world dominion.
This war, in fact, might be called a Colonial War. Germany intended first to subdue the Continental Powers in order to gain a better strategical position, with outlets to the Atlantic and the Mediterranean at Antwerp or Calais and Salonika and the Sea of Marmora. The Continental Powers crushed, there would have been no need to keep up a great army. Indemnities would have furnished the further means for building ships, and the capture of the French colonies would have provided the necessary oversea bases. Martinique, French Guinea, Dakar, Madagascar, Cochin China, New Caledonia would have furnished bases on every trade route, and with defended and well-stocked arsenals at all these places, with a navy. Capable of disputing the seas with us, built up on the indemnities obtained and on the economies effected by reducing her army, Germany would have been in a position to strike at British colonial power and trade, and would have done so exactly when it suited her, treaties or no treaties. That this is no fanciful picture receives confirmation from the fact that in July, 1914, Germany offered to guarantee the territorial integrity of France if England would remain neutral, but when challenged by Sir Edward Grey she would not guarantee France's colonial integrity, because she knew the value of naval bases. The significance of this incident has been overlooked.
We have had considerable difficulty in taking the German colonies in this war, and such difficulties will be greatly enhanced in future in similar operations owing to the developments to be expected in the defensive strength of shore positions, long-range guns and aircraft. Mines and the employment of submarines will also help the defence, W/T stations will be well inland and nothing short of a first-class expedition will reach them. If the German "Mittel-Afrika" scheme ever materialized, the difficulties would be still further increased owing to the vast size of the territory involved, which would in itself constitute an almost insuperable obstacle.
To cope with German submarines based on the Heligoland Bight we now, require some 10,000 vessels. If Germany had submarine bases oversea we should be compelled to maintain an organization several times as great. The burden of such defensive preparations would strangle our national life, and social reform would be indefinitely postponed. We have disarmed Germany by depriving her of oversea bases, and in the interests of universal peace we must not give her back these weapons, and with them a stimulus and power for future aggression.—Army and Navy Gazette, 5/10.
ATLANTIC
VAST U. S. BASE ON FRENCH COAST.—On the rugged Breton coast there is an American naval establishment which is a sort of composite of the busy activity of the Navy Department at Washington, and of one of the big navy yards on the American seaboard.
Vice Admiral Wilson, commanding the American naval forces in French waters, has his headquarters here, with an executive staff quartered in one of the largest buildings of the city, fronting the Place President Wilson. American bluejackets are on guard at all the entrances, and steady files of American naval officers and sailors crowd the corridors on their various duties.
The streets are filled with American sailors on "liberty parties," often 5000 and 6000 in a single party. And on the water front there is the hustle and activity of a huge navy yard, with scores of American naval craft and transports lying in the harbor, and the shore alive with a vast naval installation.
Besides the rush of the port itself, this is the naval administration center for 300 miles of the French coast, divided into three districts, with a number of the chief ports into which the masses of American men and material are pouring.
Aside from the American transport fleet, which comes and goes, there is a standing personnel of officers and men in these districts, with some 80 ships—destroyers, repair ships, converted yachts, mine sweepers and naval tugs. The shore establishment is on the same extensive scale, with airdromes for balloons and airplanes, great stacks of coal and mammoth tanks for fuel oil.
Naval headquarters is in constant wireless touch with the whole range of this naval activity, along the 300 miles of front and far out to sea, where the convoys are steadily moving in and out. All the orders are issued here for this intricate movement, the meetings at sea at appointed places, and the zig-zag routes which will cheat the hostile craft lying off the coast.
From outside headquarters one sees the wireless antennæ stretching off to a nearby church steeple, thus giving a great sweep of wire for gathering the sound waves. There is also direct telegraph and telephone, so that if need be conversation may go on between the naval chiefs and American officers at Paris or London.
It is a huge work this big establishment is carrying on. On the strictly naval side are the defensive and offensive operations—defence of American and other Allied shipping in the vast movement of men and material across the Atlantic, and offensive in the war of extermination being made against enemy submarines.
Outside of the naval operations there is the steady march of a vast naval construction at all the ports along this 300 miles of sea front, repair plants, fuel stations, oil tanks, water marks and all the requirements of a great naval establishment which is constantly expanding.—Washington Evening Star, 24/10.
ADMIRALTY AT LAST ADMITS LOSS OF BATTLESHIP "AUDACIOUS."—The Admiralty to-night made its first official announcement of the loss of the battleship Audacious, which sank after striking a mine off the North Irish coast on October 27, 1914. The loss of the battleship officially was kept a secret at the urgent request of the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet.
In observing the request of Admiral Jellicoe and officially keeping secret the loss of the Audacious the Admiralty burdened itself with "the secret of Polichinelle"—a secret known to all, even to the enemy.
The first news of the sinking was received here in mail advices on November 13, 1914, which said that the officers and crew of the warship had been rescued in the boats of the White Star liner Olympic. The first authentic description of the sinking was brought here at the same time by passengers of the Olympic and published on November 16.—N. Y. Times, 14/10.
S. S. FRANK H. BUCK SINKS SUBMARINE.—The clever sinking of a large German submarine by a navy gun crew aboard the American steamer Frank H. Buck, off the Atlantic coast on September 3, was announced by the Navy Department on September 10, after the report of the captain had been received. Two shots from the steamer struck the submarine squarely, and she blew up and went to the bottom. The Navy Department announced that the captain of the Buck highly commended the efficiency and conduct of Chief Gunner's Mate Joseph Steffens, U. S. N., and the entire armed guard under his command.
The engagement lasted 29 minutes. The submarine was about 300 feet long, of the early type of German submarines with high bow, and had two 6-inch guns close to the conning tower, fore and aft. She fired in salvos, using about 60 shots, altogether. She was camouflaged and flew no flags.—Naval Monthly, November.
ELEVEN SURVIVORS OF BOMBED BARK PICKED UP BY A SUB-CHASER.—The Navy Department is informed that it survivors from the Norwegian bark Stifender, probably bombed by a German submarine on October 13, approximately 700 miles off the American coast, were taken from a small boat off Barnegat by a submarine chaser on Tuesday. The survivors state that one other small boat left the bark with eight members of the crew, including the captain, aboard.—Official Bulletin, 31/10.
SINKING OFF BARNEGAT.—The United States Navy Department attributes the sinking of the Spanish ship Chatarro, which occurred to miles off Barnegat Inlet with the loss of six of the crew, to either an internal explosion or contact with a floating mine.—Literary Digcst, 9/11.
RUMOR SUBMARINE SUNK.—Travelers arriving at an Atlantic port on two British liners report that an American destroyer of their escort sank a submarine on the third day of the trip.—Literary Digest, 9/11.
TRANSPORT ENGAGES SUB.—October 17.—On arriving at an Atlantic port the army transport Amphion reported a two-hours' running fight with a submarine, 800 miles off the Atlantic coast, on October 12. Eight men on the American ship were wounded, two fatally.—Literary Digest, 9/11.
UNSINKABLE SHIP SUNK.—The American steamship Lucia, equipped with buoyancy boxes and supposed to be unsinkable, was sunk by a submarine on October 19, 1200 miles off the United States Atlantic coast. All of her crew of 90 men were saved, excepting four who were killed by the explosion of the torpedo. The Lucia left an Atlantic port on October 12. She was a vessel of 6774 gross tons, and was built in Austria in 1912.
The vessel, taken over by U. S. Shipping Board at Mobile, Ala., when the United States entered the war, was equipped at a cost of more than $200,000 with an "unsinkable" device approved by naval officials for experimental purposes. She was held in port for several months while air-filled boxes, lining her holds and cabins, were installed. This buoyancy arrangement, its inventor declared, would keep the ship afloat, no matter how much water was taken in through holes torn in her side by torpedoes or shellfire.—Nautical Gazette, 2/1I.
SINKING OFF N. J. COAST.—The sugar-laden ship sunk in an unexplained manner off the New Jersey coast October 27 was the Cuban steamer Chaparro, which left Cardenas, Cuba, for New York, October 21.
Reports to the Navy Department to-day do not show conclusively whether it was a torpedo, a floating mine or an internal explosion that sent the vessel to the bottom, but officials believe the investigation now in progress will demonstrate that it was not a torpedo.—Washington Evening Star, 29/10.
The Naval Service Department announces that all hands of the auxiliary patrol vessel Galiano were lost when it sank on October 30, 1918. The next of kin have been informed by the Department of Naval Service.—Shipping, 9/11.
SINKING OF THE U. S. S. "SEATIA" BY MINE OFF MARYLAND COAST.—The Navy Department is informed that in addition to the 7 officers and 40 men of the U. S. S. Seatia, sunk by a mine off the Maryland coast, near Fenwick Island, November 9, previously reported landed, 2 officers and 15 men were landed last night at a coast guard station, and Lieutenant Guy M. Jones, Army Quartermaster, and 16 men who were taken from rafts were landed at Cape May, N. J. Reports state that approximately all who were on board have been accounted for.—Official Bulletin, 11/11.
SHIPS WITHOUT CONVOY STILL USING. CAUTION AGAINST MINES.—Two British liners arrived November 9 from England with passengers and mails, after passing through the German submarine zone unescorted for the first time in more than three years. They were piloted through the mine fields by destroyers as far as the Irish coast, and then steered their own course for America. Each vessel had mine-sweeping apparatus rigged, as there is still a great danger of ships being blown up by floating mines.
U. S. CONVOYS NCREASED.—In three mouths, from one American base, United States destroyers escorted 121 troopship convoys—773 ships. In the same period they escorted 171 merchant convoys of 1763 ships in all, making a total for three months from one base of 2536 ships.
While American destroyers have convoyed only 27 per cent-of all the troops brought across, the percentage for the single month of August for example was 34.
There are 155 British ships now exclusively engaged in bringing over American troops.—Baltimore Evening Sun, 11/11.
U-BOAT CHASERS CROSSING THE ATLANTIC.—A wooden motor boat, 110 feet in length, is a small craft to make the Atlantic crossing. It is true, motor boats much smaller than this have crossed under their own power, and in more than one case, the venturesome trip has been made by nonprofessional sailors. As is well known, we have built several hundreds of these submarine chasers, and they are doing good work on both sides of the Atlantic. With their fine, high bows, rather graceful sheer, and single mast amidships, they are a familiar sight to residents on our Atlantic seaboard, where they have been doing regular patrol duty.
A large number of these craft, also, have been for many months engaged in patroling the seas off the coasts of Great Britain and France, particularly in locations which are known to be the favorite haunts of the U-boat. When they are engaged in offensive work, they go out in groups of several, and by observation and by their listening devices, they try to get in touch with the underwater pirate. As soon as he has been found, .the group of chasers follows a course of maneuvers which is designed to make it impossible for the enemy to get out of touch; and the area below which he is operating is heavily attacked with depth charges.
Many of the chasers were taken over by French crews and are now in service under the French Navy off the French coast. A large number of them were taken across by American crews which were composed largely, and in some cases exclusively, of men of the naval reserve. When the vessels were towed across, the towing ships were frequently converted yachts. As will be noted, the passage was frequently made in heavy weather, with the seas running so high, that at times the little chasers were invisible from the deck of the towing yacht—Scientific American, 2/11.
NORTH SEA AND CHANNEL
GERMAN NAVY SURRENDERED TO ALLIED FLEET—Somewhere out in the misty expanse of the North Sea five big American battleships took up their positions in a 50-mile line of greyhounds which early November 21 will witness the surrender of a powerful German surface fleet, under the eyes of King George, Admirals Beatty, Sims and Rodman.
Germany's sea surrender began at dawn November 20, when 20 U boats gave up to Admiral Reginald W. Tyrwhitt's fleet of cruisers and destroyers 30 miles off this port and steamed into Harwich led by British cruisers. To-night the undersea serpents, deprived of their sting, lie anchored here under the Union Jack.
Only meager crews, just sufficient to navigate them, took them out on their last journey under the German ensign, which was hauled down at the rendezvous. The German sailors were a sullen, dejected lot.
They were eager to have the whole humiliating business over with. Few raised their eyes until they had at last boarded the German transport Fierraventans, which is to take them back to Germany.
Admiral Rodman, U. S. N., on the New York, and Captain Beach, commander, will lead the American squadron to-morrow, the other ships being the Florida, Texas, Wyoming and Arkansas. The whole 50-mile line of warships will be headed by the British superdreadnought Queen Elizabeth, Beatty's flagship, aboard which the king and his heir will witness the great display.
The following account of the surrender of the first batch of 20 German submarines, which was accomplished this morning at sea, is given by an eye-witness of the incident. More than 80 other German submarines are to be handed over to the Allied naval command before the end of the week.
After steaming some 20 miles across the North Sea the Harwich forces, consisted of five light cruisers and 20 destroyers, were sighted. The flagship of Admiral Tyrwhitt, the commander, was the Curacao. High above the squadron hung a big observation balloon.
The squadron, headed by the flagship, then steamed toward the Dutch coast, followed by the Coventry, Dragood, Danal and Centaur. Other ships followed in line with their navigation lights showing. The picture was a novel one, as the great vessels, with the moon still shining, plowed their way to take part in the surrender of the German U-boats.
Soon after the British squadron started the "paravanes” were dropped overboard. These devices are shaped like tops and divert any mines which may be encountered, for the vessels were now entering a mine field.
Almost every one on board donned a lifebelt, and just as the red sun appeared above the horizon the first German submarine appeared in sight.
Soon, after 7 o'clock 20 ,submarines were seen in line accompanied by two German destroyers, the Tibania and the Sierra Ventana, which were to take the submarine crews back to Germany after the transfer.
All the submarines were on the surface with their hatches open and their crews standing on deck. The vessels were flying no flags whatever, and their guns were trained fore and aft in accordance with the terms of surrender.
A bugle sounded on the Curacao and all the gun crews took up their stations, ready for any possible treachery.
The leading destroyer, in response to a signal from the admiral, turned and led the way towards England, and the submarines were ordered to follow. They immediately did so. The surrender had been accomplished.
Each cruiser turned, and, keeping a careful lookout, steamed toward Harwich. On the deck of one of .the largest of the submarines, which carried two 5.9 guns, 23 officers and men were counted. The craft was estimated to be nearly 300 feet in length. Its number had, been painted out.
Near the ship was a lightship. Three large British seaplanes, followed by an airship, were observed. The Harwich forces and the seaplanes and airship made a most impressive sight.
One of the submarines was seen to send up a couple of carrier pigeons and at once a signal was flashed from the admiral that it had no right to do this.
When the ships had cleared the mine field and entered the channel, the "paravanes" were hauled aboard. On reaching a point some 20 miles off Harwich the ships dropped anchor and Captain Addison came out on the warship Maidstone.
British crews were then .put on board the submarines to take them into harbor. With the exception of the engine staffs all the German sailors remained on deck. The submarines were then taken through the gates of the harbor and the German crews were transferred to the transports which will take them back to Germany.
As the boats went through the gates the white ensign was run up upon each of them with the German flag underneath.
Each German submarine commander at the transfer was required to sign a declaration to the effect that his vessel was in running order, that its periscope was intact; that its torpedoes were unloaded and that its torpedo heads were safe.
Orders had been issued forbidding any demonstration. These instructions were obeyed to the letter. There was complete silence as the submarines surrendered and as the crews were transferred. So ended a historic event and the first portion of the German submarine fleet is now in the hands of the British Navy.—Baltimore American, 21/18.
GERMAN NAVY DELEGATES MEET ADMIRAL BEATTY.—Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty, commander of the Grand Fleet, received Rear Admiral van Meurer and the other German naval delegates aboard the flagship Queen Elisabeth in the Firth of Forth, Scotland, Friday evening.
The German cruiser Koenigsberg, carrying the delegates, having arrived at the rendezvous selected in the afternoon, Admiral Meurer was taken to the Queen Elizabeth by a destroyer. The German admiral was "piped" aboard the flagship's quarterdeck, where he and the other Germans were received by Commodore Hubert Brand and escorted to Admiral Beatty's cabin, where the conference lasted till the early hours of Saturday morning.
Admiral Meurer sat opposite Admiral Beatty, who had fronting him a model of the battle cruiser Lion, a memento of his famous flagship, while on the cabin wall at his back was a fine picture of Nelson.
The German civilian delegates remained aboard the Koenigsberg.
The conference was resumed Saturday and was concluded Saturday evening. Among Admiral Meurer's staff were a Zeppelin commander and a submarine commander.—Washington Evening Star, 18/11.
HOW THE "JUSTICIA" WAS AVENGED.—Just previous to the fate of a U-boat being sealed, the submarine had torpedoed the great liner Justicia, which was attacked on July 19, and only sank on the following day, after no fewer than seven torpedoes had been fired at her. Sixteen of the engine-room staff were lost, but 455 survivors were rescued by being transferred to other ships. During the submarine's persistent attacks all possible defensive measures were taken, and it is possible that she was seriously damaged immediately after her last attack. Either then or a little later, a depth charge, dropped close to her, exploded with such violence she was severely shaken and her electric batteries became flooded with sea water, causing poisonous fumes to be given off, and thus forcing her to the surface. She was sighted by a destroyer, which at once attacked, and two other similar craft afterwards joined in. Fire was opened at a range of between 7000 and 8000 yards, and the submarine was holed twice. After the first hit the captain and the crew abandoned her, leaving the first officer and engineer aboard to sink her. Before they were able to make good their escape the second hit was secured and the bows rising high out of the water, she sank stern first.
In connection with the destruction of the enemy submarine, one D. S. O., two D. S. C.'s, three D. S. M.'s, and three "Mentions" have been awarded.—Army and Navy Gazette, 19/10.
AMERICAN FLIER WINS FIGHT WITH SUBMARINE.—Ensign Carson, Braving Shrapnel Fire, Shoots Two of Crew and Bombs U-boat.—The first case in which it is known that a submarine fought back when attacked by a seaplane resulted in the probable destruction of the submersible by an American aviator, Reserve Ensign J. F. Carson, it was announced by the Admiralty to-day.
With shrapnel from the elevated forward gun of the submarine bursting around his seaplane Ensign Carson maneuvered until he was able to pour machine gun-fire into the crew, felling two of them and driving the others inside. The submarine submerged, and as she was diving two bombs were dropped on her.
Within a few minutes the bow of the U-boat appeared on the surface and remained visible about four minutes. More bombs were dropped in this interval and it is believed the undersea craft was either badly damaged or destroyed.
Ensign Carson's machine, with two others, was on patrol when the submarine was sighted on the surface, and the ensign made for her. As he was getting into position to use his machine gun or to bomb the undersea boat the German fired five shrapnel shells, three of which burst close to the seaplane, doing it some damage. The other seaplanes did not take part in the attack.—N. Y. Times, 16/9.
SANK TWO U-BOATS, GOT D. S. O.—Captain Hayes Also Shared in $10,000 with Officers and Crew.—The end of the war has made it possible to tell how Captain Bertle Hayes of the British transport Olympic, which sails this afternoon for Liverpool, won the Distinguished Service Order for sinking two U-boats on May 12, 1918, in the English Channel off Portsmouth. For this exploit $10,000 was given by the Admiralty to the captain, officers, and crew. Both submarines were destroyed at daylight, and survivors were picked up from them by the American destroyer Davis, which was about a mile away on the port quarter.
One submarine came up on the starboard bow of the Olympic as the mist cleared away, and was rammed immediately. As the bow of the 50,000-ton ship was cutting her in two another U-boat appeared on the port quarter, half a mile away, and was sunk by a shot from the 6-inch stern gun. Twenty-seven of her officers and men were rescued by the Davis, with five from the U-boat that was rammed. The Olympic sunk another U-boat in the Mediterranean in June, 1916, by gun-fire, but as there were no survivors it was not counted as official by the Admiralty.
Captain Hayes has commanded the Olympic since the end of October, 1914, when she figured in the unsuccessful attempt to tow the battleship Audacious after she had been mined. The Olympic has carried nearly 300,000 troops since then to Mudros, Alexander, and from Canada and the United States to England and France without accident. She has had many narrow escapes from torpedoes, some missing her by barely five feet.—N. Y. Times, 16/11.
TELLS TROOPSHIPS RAMMED U. S. DESTROYER.—Details of the ramming of a United States destroyer by a British troopship in the English Channel last month, as well as the names of the vessels involved, were brought to New York yesterday by 25 members of the crew of the American destroyer Shaw, who arrived from Liverpool on the Canadian Pacific liner Melita.
Mention of the accident—without the names of the ships, owing to the rigid censorship—was made after it occurred in London cable dispatches. It is now possible to give the account in full.
It was the United States destroyer Shaw, which was rammed off Portland Bill in the English Channel on October 9 at 5 a. m., by the British transport Aquitania, and 35 feet was cut off the bow of the Shaw, with the loss of 2 officers and 14 seamen. Directly the Shaw's bow fell off, as if sheared by a knife, the forward oil tank, which had been cut open, burst into flames and added to the danger of the crew. Two other destroyers raced to the rescue at full speed and made fast, one on either side of the damaged vessel. The bow waves thrown by the destroyers swept over the broken decks of the Shaw and extinguished the flames.
The forward bulkhead held, fortunately, and the injured destroyer was towed into Portsmouth, where she is now being repaired in the naval dockyard.
Captain J. T. Charles, R. N. R., who commanded the Aquitania when she left New York for Southampton on October 2 with 5000 American troops, was not at fault for the collision, as his was the overtaken vessel.
The Shaw tried to cross the Aquitania's bows, which was steaming at nearly 23 knots, and at a critical moment, according to one of the crew, the steering gear jammed and the next moment the sharp bow of the Aquitania cut into the destroyer, sending the forepart, with 14 men and an officer, to the bottom of the Channel.
One of the crew of the Shaw, who was on deck at the time of the accident, said:
"Our craft was one of several destroyers that had been sent to meet a big convoy of troopships of which the Aquitania was the largest. The bridge was in command of Commander Glassford, who was watching keenly for U-boats, as he had heard there were some lurking off the English coast.
"Suddenly the lookout man sung out: ‘Periscope on port bow!’ The Shaw immediately darted ahead at a speed of 35 knots and tried to cross the Aquitania's bow from starboard to port. We were about 100 feet ahead and had time to clear when the steering gear jammed, and the next minute there was a crash as the Aquitania cut right into us about 35 feet from the bow.
"I had just time to jump overboard as the forecastle deck went down beneath my feet, and after a few minutes in the water I was picked up by the crew of another American destroyer."
Another of the Shaw's survivors, who was standing on the afterdeck, said that the men down in their bunks at the time had no chance to escape. One officer was burned to death by the blazing fuel oil, he said, and his body was found afterwards when the vessel was docked at Portsmouth. Other injured sailors were taken to the base hospital at Portsmouth, and 25 of the crew are remaining on board the Shaw.
The Aquitania was in New York two weeks ago, but there was no mark on her bow to show that she had been in collision, and Captain Charles and his crew of 1200 officers and men kept the matter secret, as the war was still on and the publication of such accidents to warships was regarded by the British Admiralty as giving comfort to the enemy.—N. Y. Times, 16/11.
THREE BRITISH TRAWLERS BATTLE FOUR U-BOATs.—Three British trawlers, although outranged by the enemy guns, recently fought four German submarines until put out of action by the U-boats. According to an account of the engagement published in the Times the armed trawlers Onward, Era and Nellis Nutten were patrolling near the North Sea fishing ground when a submarine came into sight.
The trawlers opened fire on the submarine and the submarine replied. Soon three more submarines appeared out of the haze and all joined in the attack on the trawlers, who kept up the unequal fight despite the fact that the Germans excelled them in gun power and speed.
The captain of the Nellie Nutten, finding his ship helpless from a shot through the stern, steered toward a Dutch lugger and abandoned his own vessel, which soon went down. The captain saw the Era in flames and the Onward out of control, and when he looked for them again soon afterward they were gone.—Washington Evening Star, 29/10.
TWO BRITISH MOTOR-BOATS INTERNED.—Two British motor-boats with their crews, who took part in a fight with enemy aeroplanes near Terschelling on August 11, have been interned in Holland, having been discovered in Dutch territorial waters.—Army and Navy Gazette, 21/10.
GUNBOAT SUNK.—One of His Majesty's torpedo gunboats sank on September 30 as the result of a collision with a merchant vessel. One officer and 52 men are missing, presumed drowned.
BRITISH DESTROYER IS SUNK.—A British destroyer sank following a collision with a merchant ship on October 26, the Admiralty announced this evening. There were no casualties.—Philadelphia Ledger, 1/11.
MINE SWEEPER LOST.—A British Admiralty statement issued yesterday evening, says the British mine sweeper Ascot was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine November10, off the northeast coast of England. Fifty-three members of the crew were drowned.—Baltimore American, 20/11.
The Financial Secretary of the British Admiralty tells the House of Commons there is reason to believe that all German destroyers and torpedo-boats which had their bases at Ostend and Zeebrugge have escaped to German ports.—Literary Digest, 9/11.
HUNS SCUTTLE BIG VESSEL TO CLOSE UP OSTEND HARBOR.—Before leaving Ostend the Germans scuttled a large mail boat alongside the old British warship Vindictive, which was sunk in the channel there last May. They thus made doubly sure that the channel will be blocked for a long time.
Inspection of the city shows that British shells did terrific damage to enemy military and naval establishments, but did not harm the residential or business sections to any extent. The only money to be found in Ostend and other liberated Belgian cities is German. Many of the smaller children, especially in Ostend, use German as their own language. The enemy apparently went out of his way to teach his tongue to these children.
Germania of Berlin, the organ of the Centrist party, prints an obviously inspired commentary on the evacuation by the Germans of the Flanders coast, saying it will have an inconsiderable effect on the conduct of the naval war.
The newspaper says that all the German-constructed military works at Ostend, Zeebrugge and elsewhere were either dismantled entirely and carried off or left in an unusable condition.
"We have succeeded in getting all the ships home," it says. "A few serviceable ships that we were forced to leave were dismantled and then destroyed."
The importance of Flanders as a base for submarines, it continues, recently declined considerably because "measures taken by the enemy made the conduct of U-boat warfare from the Flanders coast so difficult that for some time past it had been more or less given up."
ZEEBRUGGE IS A WRECK AFTER GERMANS LEAVE.—Zeebrugge is the picture of desolation, according to dispatches received recently at the Belgian legation. The semaphore, the buildings of the Compagnie Maritime and the Solvay chemical works are a heap of ruins. On the mole itself all the buildings have been destroyed, and the system of railway tracks and overhead cranes is out of commission.
After the passage between the mole and the shore had been partially closed by a British submarine in the raid of April 23, the Germans set up two heavy guns, commanding the approaches to the harbor, between the passage back of the mole and the entrance to the Bruges Canal, where the wreck of the British cement-laden vessel, sunk in April, still is lying.
The only signs of life in the desolate place, the dispatches say, are loud reports followed by huge jets of water and dense clouds of black smoke coming from the explosions of mines, laid by the Germans, which British sailors are blowing up.
The whole Belgian coast in the vicinity of Zeebrugge had been transformed into a series of fortifications bristling with wire defences and storage depots connected by railway. The celebrated seashore promenade is broken up by trenches and protected shelters of machine guns and small cannon.
The roads are in fairly good condition, but all bridges and locks were destroyed by the Germans in their precipitate retreat before the irresistible dash of the Belgian troops.—Washington Evening Star, 28/10.
Dredging operations had been taking place at the entrance to the Bruges Canal, in order that the vessels sunk by the British might sink deeper, and so avoid blocking up the waterway. It is understood that at high tides submarines can now pass over the sunken vessels.—Army and Navy Gazette, 19/10.
NORWAY CLOSED THREE-MILE ZONE.—The Norwegian Admiralty have announced that the territorial waters of Norway have been mined and are closed to ordinary traffic. The mined area is off Stavanger and the southwest coast of Norway.
HOW THE U. S. NAVY HAS COOPERATED WITH THE BRITISH FLEET IN LAYING THE NORTH SEA SUBMARINE BARRAGE.—Secretary Daniels authorizes the publication of the following concerning the part of the United States Navy in the construction of the North Sea mine barrage, the largest ordnance work of the kind ever undertaken and an important factor in the anti-submarine warfare:
One of the most important accomplishments of the Bureau of Ordnance in this war has been the establishment in cooperation with the British Navy of the North Sea mine barrage, designed to bar, so far as possible, the egress of German submarines from their home bases into the Atlantic. For this project a new and improved type of mine was invented, many thousands manufactured and transported overseas, large bases were established abroad for assembling and issuance to mine planters, a fleet of mine layers was sent and has been maintained in foreign waters, a score of merchant vessels were fitted out and have been engaged in transportation of the material from this country, and a mine-loading plant with a capacity of more than a thousand mines a day was erected and has been in operation for many months.
Admiral Strauss in Command.—Rear Admiral Joseph Strauss, former Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, is in command of the mine force abroad; Captain R. R. Belknap directs the mine planters; Captain O. G. Murfin is in charge of the forces and bases ashore, where several thousand men are engaged; and Commander S. P. Fullinwider is in charge of the Mine Section of the Bureau of Ordnance, which keeps the forces overseas supplied.
From the time this country entered the war, officers of the Bureau of Ordnance contended that a most effective way of combating the submarine would be to blockade the enemy's coast by means of mines or anti-submarine devices, and urged the placing of an anti-submarine barrier around the North Sea to prevent submarines from getting into the Atlantic. They made a thorough study of the various types of barrage, including nets, nets in combination with mines and bombs, and mines alone. They concluded that mines offered the only practicable solution of the problem; but no mine then existing appeared to be satisfactory for the purpose, so efforts were concentrated on the evolution of a new type with which such a barrier could be established. The immense number required for the project and the operation of mining in such great depths of water presented new and difficult problems.
The New Type of Mine.—The mining section of the bureau, under the direction of Commander Fullinwider, produced a new type of mine, the success of which has surpassed all expectations. The first step was to devise a new firing device, and the officers saw possibilities in an electrical anti-submarine device which Ralph Browne, an American inventor, had submitted to the department in May, 1917, which, while not of practical value in the form submitted, embodied an element which could be utilized to advantage in a naval mine. The inventor, in collaboration with officers of the bureau, constructed a model apparatus which on test, July 9, 1917, gave gratifying results, and the bureau immediately proceeded with the design of a mine in which the apparatus could be used. The firing apparatus having been completed, other parts were designed as rapidly as possible, each part being put into manufacture as it was designed and tested. To insure the practicability of planting mines by either British or American planters, outside dimensions of the American mine and planter were made to conform to the standard British gear. Lieut. Commander H. Isherwood, R. N. V. R., worked with the bureau to accomplish this end, and assisted in designing the complicated mine anchor.
Tentative plans for a North Sea barrage were submitted to Admiral Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, on June 12 1917; the development of a mine peculiarly adapted for use against submarines was announced July 18, and plans for a British-American joint offensive operation were submitted on July 30, 1917. After being approved by Secretary Daniels, they were submitted to the British Admiralty by Admiral Henry T. Mayo, on his visit to Europe during August and September, 1917, were accepted, in modified form, by the British authorities and the details of the joint operation worked out. Upon Admiral Mayo's return, the Bureau of Ordnance was directed by Secretary Daniels to proceed with the procurement of the necessary mines.
Some Skeptics at First.—At first some officials looked upon the plan as impracticable, mainly on account of the immense amount of material required and the inadequate number of mine layers available. But these difficulties were overcome and the British and American authorities agreed upon the plan which has been put into effect.
Many thousands of mines had to be produced, and as rapidly as the several parts were designed, contracts were placed for their manufacture. Coincident with this work numerous experiments and tests were made of each part. The routine method would have required the design and test of the mine and all its attachments as a whole before undertaking manufacture, but a year's time would have been lost if this routine had been followed. To obtain the new mine in large quantities, and to preserve due secrecy regarding its characteristics, a radical departure from usual manufacturing methods was adopted. Naval plants did not possess the facilities for manufacturing more than a thousand a month, and these plants were congested with other war work. There were no private plants experienced in the manufacturing of mines. It was impracticable to develop a great plant for the sole purpose of making mines, as there was insufficient time and its purpose would have been only temporary. The expedient was therefore adopted of subdividing the mine into its many elements and having these elements manufactured in different commercial plants, all the parts to be finally brought together and assembled into finished mines at a mine depot. The work was divided among about 140 principal contractors and more than 400 subcontractors. The major portion of the work was done in automobile plants, which possessed the organization and equipment for quantity production.
A Hazardous Undertaking.—Having the various parts made at so many points was a somewhat hazardous course to adopt, as the manufacturers would have to tool up and get into quantity production before a single mine could be assembled and tested, and such a policy could be justified only as an urgent war measure, where time was a vital consideration. For this reason Rear Admiral Earle, Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance, accepted the risk and pushed the work to the utmost. The results fully justified the means adopted, as a full year's time was saved, and the mines when finally assembled and tested under service conditions functioned as designed. The cost of the new mine is much less than that of similar products before the war, notwithstanding the higher cost of labor and material, and this is due to the quantity production methods followed out and the keen competition between contractors.
While the mine itself was being placed in production, a number of ships were converted into mine planters, a mine-charging plant with a capacity of a thousand mines a day was erected to load the mines, an important railroad shipping pier was taken over for the handling of mine material, and other necessary arrangements made. Abroad mine depots were fitted out for the assembly of mines and their issuance to the mine-planters.
Fleet of 20 Transports.—A fleet of more than 20 merchant vessels was taken over by the navy and fitted out for the sole purpose of transporting mine material overseas. Captain R. R. Belknap accomplished the work of procuring, fitting out, and organizing the vessels for mine planting. The task of fitting of mine bases on shore abroad was intrusted to Captain O. G. Murfin, who proceeded overseas in November, 1917. The arrangements for the receipt of the various parts, transportation, and final assembly were made rapid and automatic, and on a scale never before attained in such work. From American ports material started across early in February. Since that time there has been a constant succession of such shipments and only one vessel carrying mine material has been sunk by submarine.
Rear Admiral Strauss was selected as commander of the mine force, and sailed in April, 1918, followed by the mine planters under Captain Belknap in May, vessels of the force reaching the bases on May 26 last. Since that time many miles of mines have been planted and the American mine layers, working in conjunction and close cooperation with the British, have made a vast area impracticable for enemy submarines.—Official Bulletin, 30/10.
ZEPPELIN RAIDS ON LONDON.*—By Kapitan-Leutnant Freiherr Treusch von Buttlar-Brandelfels.—Air raids on England are dependent on weather conditions and the phases of the moon. A raid is only possible when there is no moonlight. This happens for about 12 days in each month, lasting, roughly, from the last to the first quarter. An object as large as an airship forms, even at a great height, an excellent target for anti-aircraft guns, and during the course of this war the art of shooting at objects in the air has been thoroughly learnt. An airship in attacking must always do so under cover of the night. The second consideration is the weather. The most favorable weather for air raids is during a light westerly wind, because the airships, when attacked by gun-fire, or having lost one or more machines, are able to return home far more quickly and safely with the wind at their backs, than when they have the wind against them, as they do in case of an east wind. The strength of the wind naturally plays a decisive part in the operations. As a rule there is very much more wind high up in the air than on the earth down below. The chief anxiety of the commander of a marine airship is that of judging the weather conditions rightly. For this purpose the weather forecasts which are sent out three times every day by the Seewarte are most necessary; the reports of the wind gauge belonging to the various stations in the German Bight and in Flanders are also extremely valuable. Generally speaking, it is possible to tell in the evening, from the weather forecasts, whether there is any prospect of undertaking a raid or not.
Every commander has the most explicit orders concerning the forthcoming enterprise, with full details as to the objective, and anything else of importance. Punctually at the appointed time the various airships leave their sheds, and take a westerly course towards the English coast. After leaving the German Bight, and approaching the enemy coast the airship continues to rise, until shortly before it reaches the English shores it has risen to its greatest altitude. The journey west is generally accomplished very easily and without contretemps of any kind, for in the barred zone there is nothing to be seen. I have often undertaken journeys to England by air during which I have not even seen a fishing boat after leaving the German Bight.
The various airships on their way to England meet in the neighborhood of the Dutch Islands. All the airships which are proceeding to the English coast can be clearly seen high up in the sky, and form a beautiful sight in the rays of the setting sun.
An air raid on London, the finest I have experienced up to now, was successful down to the last detail, and forms a capital example of a well-led attack. We had arrived with several of our airships in the neighborhood of Winterton, ENE, of Norwich, close to the coast. Slightly to larboard, close in front of me, was E-31, which disappeared in the darkness about a quarter of an hour later. As soon as we arrived at the coast we saw signs of animation down below. Searchlights sent out their rays, sweeping the sky in every direction, but were not able to find and hold any one of the airships. On these occasions, when we realize that a searchlight is just in front of us, we make a dash to try to get out of the way, and generally succeed in doing so, for the English cannot possibly send out searchlights all over the sky, and it is most annoying to be picked out by one of these lights, and to be fired on by the batteries belonging to it, before reaching our objective.
*From the Kölnicshe Volkszeitung, August 20.
The most favorable weather, therefore, is when a slight haze covers the coast, which does not prevent our being able to see below, but makes it difficult for the airships to be seen up above. These ideal conditions, however, seldom occur.
I kept a straight course from Winterton to London, and during the whole voyage over English territory I did not see a single light, although the air was quite clear, until London came in sight. The distance from Winterton to London is about the same as that from Bremen to Kiel. One can imagine what it would mean to entirely obscure such a tract of country so that no gleam of light is visible. It means the crippling of all the railway traffic in the district, as no train is able to run without signals or station lights. We have often heard that trains, especially in the neighborhoods subject to air raids, have been dreadfully delayed, or have not been able to run at all. We must say, however, that during the war the English have learnt the art of obscuring the landscape to perfection. That is one of our first successes. Air raids like these compel all traffic to cease, at all events while the raid is proceeding, and on how many occasions are the towns plunged into darkness when our airships are in the neighborhood of the English coast simply for purposes of reconnaissance? But how de we find London when all is in darkness? That is a comparatively simple matter, for, firstly, it is impossible to plunge a huge city into such darkness that no light of any kind is visible. Secondly, London lies on the Thames, and that river, with its peculiar bends, forms an excellent means of seeing how the land lies. I simply hold my south-westerly course until I have the Thames and then continue up-stream until I reach the capital. Thirdly, the finding of London has been rendered easy by the English themselves, because they get so nervous when a raid is expected. One notices that, by the aimless way in which they direct their searchlights at first, and when from a considerable distance one sees a collection of rays going straight up into the air, one naturally imagines that there is something the matter, and that there London lies.
Shortly before the attack the last water ballast is thrown overboard, so that we can rise still higher, and the order is given to the mechanics "Full speed ahead." It is a matter of getting over the city and away again as quickly as possible.
The Wachoffizier tests the bomb-throwing arrangements, which are electrically worked. The trapdoors in the gangway are opened so that the bombs may fall straight out and down. The commander of the ship communicates with the men in the gangway, who are dealing with the bombs, by means of a speaking tube from the gondola. Directly the airship reaches the outer circle of the city, pursuing an easterly or northeasterly course across it, she is surrounded by any number of searchlights, and covered by the fire of their batteries. I have on each occasion counted from 24 to 30 huge searchlights, of enormous power, apart from innumerable smaller lights. The airship is discovered immediately the searchlights begin. Generally the whole of the lights are turned on to one airship, so that it is brilliantly illuminated, and it is so light in the gondola that one can easily read a paper. This is a great advantage to us and is provided by the English themselves, as we are able to study the maps and the plan of London lighting, and are able to direct our attack accordingly.
Simultaneously with the searchlights a tremendous defensive fire from guns of every caliber up to the 5.9 gun begins. None but those who have experienced it can imagine the amount of material hurled at us. But, as we know, every bullet does not find its mark, and the aim is generally so bad, owing to the excited state of the gunners, that the salvoes are mostly received at the back of and underneath the airship. Shooting at objects in the air at night time is extremely perplexing, because it is almost impossible to note the salvoes in the air, and it is, moreover, very difficult to discover the shell bursts of the various batteries, in order that the aim might be improved, as these batteries are situated at considerable distances from each other.
The most disagreeable thing in connection with the shooting is the so-called incendiary shells, things like rockets, which one sees in the distance like balls of fire which approach comparatively slowly, until they reach their highest point, and, then suddenly fall. All the time this defence is going on the English receive all that they send us in the way of shots back on their own heads. The city of London is naturally our chief objective, because there there is the greatest traffic, and there the most important civic buildings are situated. When the airship arrives in the center of the city the commander orders bombs to be thrown out. This is done by the Wachoffizier, at regular intervals, a bomb falling every three to five seconds, roughly speaking. When the first 300 kilogram bombs strike the earth they explode with an enormous crash, which even shakes the ship flying thousands of yards higher in the air. The explosive bombs which are hanging in the gangway are electrically despatched from the pilot's car.
In between these explosive bombs numerous incendiary bombs are thrown down, so that all that the former destroy may be burnt by the latter. At the finish I generally throw cut a particularly big bomb, so that the crew may know by the staggering of the ship that our ammunition has come to an end; the detonations caused by the various sizes of bombs can easily be distinguished by those in the ship. The departure from the town is rendered extremely difficult by the enemy, for he begins a kind of barrage fire in the east, and makes fresh use of the incendiary shells I have described. We suddenly see before us in the air a whole row of these brightly burning little balls, one of which is sufficient to set the airship on fire and completely destroy it. We try to get out of their way. Only when we have passed the zone of searchlights have we time to look at what we have accomplished down below. Below us in the enemy city are wide sheets of flame, fires caused by our explosive and incendiary bombs.
An aeroplane is a disagreeable opponent, because one sees it seldom, then only with difficulty, while the aeroplane can easily find the airship, which is clearly visible owing to the searchlights. We cannot, of course, hear an aeroplane, because our own engines make so much noise that hardly anything else can be heard. If the aeroplane manages to reach the airship and rises above it, the latter is generally done for, as the aviator shoots at the airship, which is filled with gas, and sets it on fire, as they do almost every day to the captive balloons at the front. Against these tactics there is only one means of escape, and that is height. As a matter of fact, an airship is able to rise to a greater height than an aeroplane, and is also (and this is the chief point) able to remain at a great height considerably longer than the latter. For the simple reason that flying at a great height is much more strenuous for an aviator, because he is obliged to exert himself far more than in an airship, and, in the second place, it must be remembered that an aviator can only take a limited quantity of benzine. The airship, on the other hand is easily able to remain several hours at a great height. The height is really an advantage in one way, as I am able to economize in benzine, etc., as the engines need much less fuel in the more rarefied atmosphere. When an aviator comes anywhere near our ship he is at once covered by machine gun-fire from the gondolas and platforms.
After the attack we, of course, make for home as quickly as possible, with the wind behind us, and generally again take a notheasterly course out of London. The fires of the west and northwest coast of Holland are generally taken as the points towards which to steer for the German Bight.—Army and Navy Gazette, 12/10.
BALTIC AND SKAGERRACK
BRITISH SUBMARINES ACTIVE IN BALTIC SEA.—Since the beginning of the war British submarines operating off Heligoland, in the Baltic Sea and in the Sea of Marmora have destroyed two German battleships, two armored cruisers, two light cruisers, seven destroyers, five gunboats, twenty submarines, one Zeppelin and five armed auxiliaries.
Vessels torpedoed, but which reached port, were three battleships and one light cruiser.—Baltimore Evening Sun, 11/11.
SWEDISH BOAT SUNK.—The Swedish gunboat Gunhild struck a mine on September 24 when cruising in the Skagerrack. Twenty of the crew are missing.—Army and Navy Gazette, 5/10.
MINE SINKS GERMAN LINER.—One Hundred Soldiers and Four Officers on the Hapsburg Drowned.—The Hamburg-American Line steamer Hapsburg struck a mine on October 16, while on a voyage from Riga to Danzig, according to advices from Helsingfors. One hundred German soldiers and four officers were drowned, owing to panic-stricken passengers rushing for the lifeboats, which were capsized.—Washington Evening Star, 22/10.
TOO MANY SUBMARINES FOR HARBOR AT KIEL—Kiel harbor is unable to accommodate all the submarines which have returned from Ostend and Zeebrugge during the past week and some are lying off shore, according to advices received here.—Washington Evening Star, 22/10.
U-BOATS FLY WHITE FLAG.—Reported to Have Been Seen with "Surrender" Signal Hoisted.—Crews of vessels arriving at Stavanger from Karmo Island report that several German submarines, flying a white flag at their mastheads, passed the island bound south, according to the Morgenbladet.
The submarines are believed to have been returning home from their bases.—Washington Evening Star, 28/10.
U-BOAT LOSSES INCITED NAVAL REVOLT AT KIEL—The Daily News' parliamentary correspondent writes that one fact has become known to the authorities here as to the origin of the Kiel revolt:
"According to our information," he writes, "it was the return of the U-boats, bringing with them the terrible news of submarine losses hitherto craftily concealed from the fleet and the German people, which stirred the sailors to revolt. Phantom U-boats which did not return because they were at the bottom of the sea have been reckoned as a fleet in being, and the cynicism and deceit of the high command was its own Nemesis. With the war lost, it was a torch to a powder barrel.
"The last adventure, it may be, of the German High Seas fleet, in setting out to sea is considered at the moment of writing to be susceptible of more explanations than one. If this were done at the instance of the German Government—for the officers must be on board if the fleet is sailing—then the story of the U-boats following to attack it would imply that the U-boats were manned by mutineers."—New York Times, 11/11.
GERMAN CRUISER AGROUND.—Warship near Malmo, Sweden, Refuses All Proffered Assistance.—A big German cruiser is aground near Malmo, Sweden, according to a dispatch from Copenhagen. The commander of the warship refused all proffered assistance. The cruiser is reported to have a large number of airplanes on board.—Washington Evening Star, 15/11.
GERMAN WARSHIP SUNK; DEFIED REVOLUTIONISTS.—The German warship Wiesbaden refused to surrender to the revolutionists and tried to escape to neutral waters. It was pursued and torpedoed by revolutionary battleships and the entire crew of 330 men, including many cadets, perished, according to the Lokal Anzeiger of Berlin.
The Wiesbaden, which is mentioned in the foregoing dispatch, was supposed to have been sunk during the Jutland battle, May 31-June 1, 1916. She was a light cruiser of 4900 tons and was built in 1914.—Washington Evening Star, 16/11.
"SCHLESIEN” SUNK.—The German training ship Schlesien has been torpedoed by revolutionary warships, according to the Weser Zeitung of Bremen.
(The Schlesien, a pre-dreadnought battleship, but now used as a training ship, was reported earlier in the week to have fled from Kiel when the sailors' revolt broke out there. The vessel arrived at Marstal, a small Danish port in the Baltic, where it took on some supplies. It was reported that two German cruisers were waiting outside the harbor for the Schlesien. The ship was 413 feet long and displaced 13,000 tons.)—Washington Evening Star, 13/12.
The German armored coast defence vessel Beowulf arrived late last night in the Northern Stockholm Archipelago. The vessel will be interned. Other vessels of the German Baltic fleet are expected to arrive in Swedish waters.—New York Times, 18/11.
U-BOATS SEEK INTERNMENT; CAPTAINS FEAR TO RETURN HOME.—Five German submarines arrived at Landskrona, Southern Sweden, November 13, and requested the naval authorities to intern them, a dispatch to the Exchange Telegraph from Copenhagen states:
"The submarine commanders said that they did not dare return to Germany.—New York Times, 14/11.
MEDITERRANEAN
Beirut was entered by a French Naval Division on October 7.—Current History.
U-BOAT IS SUNK BY GREEK SHIP.—Sinking of an enemy submarine in the Ægean Sea by shell fire from a Greek merchant ship is reported in a dispatch received by the Greek legation from its government.—Washington Evening Star, 31/10.
SHELLED ESCAPING CREW.—German Submarine, Despite Denials, Pursued Old Methods.—A German submarine, after having torpedoed a Greek sailing ship, is said to have fired on the crew when the men tried to escape from the sinking vessel, according to an official telegram received here from Crete. The lifeboat has been examined and found to be shattered by projectiles from the submarine's guns.
This incident is interesting in view of German denials of such actions.—N. Y. Times, 8/11.
BATTLESHIP "BRITANNIA" SUNK OFF GIBRALTAR.—Torpedoed Saturday—British Admiralty Reports 39 Officers and 673 Men Saved.—The British battleship Britannia was torpedoed near the west entrance to the Straits of Gibraltar on November 9, and sank three and a half hours later, according to an Admiralty announcement to-night. Thirty-nine officers and 673 men were saved.
The Britannia, which had a displacement of 16,350 tons, was launched at Portsmouth, December 10, 1904. She was 453.7 feet in length, had a speed of approximately 19 knots, and carried a peace-time complement of 777 men. Her main armament consisted of four 12-inch guns.—N. Y. Times, 12/11.
SINKING A BURNING MUNITION SHIP.—Naval Officer's Heroism.—The King has approved of the award of the Albert Medal for gallantry in saving life at sea to Commander Walter Henry Calthrop, R. N.
The account of the services in respect of which this decoration has been conferred is as follows:
On the night of April 14-15, 1918, a fire broke out on board the S. S. Proton, an ammunition ship, at Port Said. Commander Calthrop, on being informed on the telephone that the ship was on fire, immediately proceeded to the scene. The ship had already been abandoned by her crew, and was ablaze in Nos. 1 and 2 holds. The forecastle was also alight, and it was impossible to get down to the fore well deck owing to the heat of the flames. Knowing that the Proton had 240 tons of ammunition on board, Commander Calthrop decided to endeavor to flood the ship, and for this purpose obtained assistance and went down into the engine-room and opened the sea inlet. He also tried to break the main sea valve cover, but was not successful in this. He accordingly sent for a gun-cotton charge for the purpose of sinking the ship, and warned all ships in the vicinity to get under way.
He then returned to the Proton, which was now blazing fiercely forward, the sides being red hot as far aft as the bridge, and the bridge screen all alight. He again boarded her with the first and second engineers and went below, trying to break the doors of the condenser with sledge hammers. After about minutes this was found to be impossible, and they returned on deck. By this time a picket boat had arrived with the gun-cotton charge, and it was decided that the ship ought to be sunk as soon as possible. This operation was accordingly carried out.
Commander Calthrop displayed the utmost gallantry and disregard of his own personal safety in making protracted efforts, first to flood and then to sink the ship, whilst exposed to continual risk of an explosion of the ammunition on board. His efforts undoubtedly prevented serious loss of life.—London Times 2/10.
FRENCH SUBMARINE "CIRCE" SUNK BY AUSTRIAN.—The French submarine Circe has been torpedoed and sunk by an Austrian submarine, the French admiralty announced September 28. The Circe's second officer is the only survivor of her crew. The Circe was sunk off Cattare.—Naval Monthly, November.
DURAZZO.—Italian and British cruisers appeared before Durazzo on October 2, and under the protection of Allied torpedo-boats and American submarine-chasers, approached close to the harbor works of Durazzo, and bombarded them until the base and the Austrian ships moored there were destroyed. Despite the enemy's fire the Allied war vessels fired torpedoes against an Austrian torpedo-boat destroyer and steamer. A vessel which was recognized as a hospital ship was not attacked. At the same time Allied airmen cooperated in the work of destruction. No loss or damage was suffered by the Allied forces except slight damage caused by a torpedo from a submarine to a British cruiser, which, however, continued to take part in the fight and returned under her own steam to her base. The American submarine-chasers during their patrol work for the protection of the larger vessels destroyed two enemy submarines. It is now impossible for the enemy to use the Durazzo roadstead for military traffic.—Army and Navy Gazette, 12/10.
TWO SUBMARINES SUNK.—The following statement is issued by the Admiralty:
"It has been ascertained beyond doubt that the splendid American submarine-chasers, during their patrol and escort work for the protection of the larger vessels which yesterday bombarded Durazzo, destroyed two enemy submarines."—Reuter.
Austrian report, October 4:
"On October 2, about 30 units of enemy naval forces and a large number of enemy airmen bombarded the town and harbor of Durazzo for two hours. The material damage done is unimportant. An attempt made by the enemy to penetrate into the harbor with torpedo-boats and gliding-boats (Gleitboote) failed under the fire from our land defences and our naval forces, during which one enemy gliding-boat was sunk."—Admiralty, per Wireless Press.—London Times, 5/10.
THE AUSTRIAN FLEET
October 30.—Paris has a telegram from Rome stating that the Austrian fleet has been concentrated at Fiume.
November 1.—The British Admiralty picks up a German wireless stating that, according to an imperial proclamation, the Austro-Hungarian Navy has been turned over to the South Slav National Council.
Copenhagen publishes Hungarian reports that sailors at Pola, the Austrian base on the Adriatic, have mutinied and seized the warships.
November 2.—A Budapest dispatch says the crews of the entire Austrian fleet at Pola have mutinied, seized all the ships of various nationalities there, and declared they will only obey their respective national councils.
Basel reports that the Committee on Public Safety in Trieste sent a torpedo-boat to Venice to ask the commander of the Allied fleet in the Adriatic to occupy Trieste and that a naval force has been dispatched for that purpose.
An official telegram from Rome states that Italian naval detachments have cleared the coast region on the right of the battle front and reached the Tagliamento. Monitors aided the land forces.
Washington is informed that the Austrian super-dreadnought Viribus Unitis, flagship at the naval base of Pola, was torpedoed and sunk November 1, by an Italian naval tank.
November 3.—An authoritative statement received in Paris says Jugo-Slav leaders have informed President Wilson by wireless of their seizure of the Austro-Hungarian fleet and announced their readiness to hand over the vessels to the United States Government or representatives of the Allied navies.—Literary Digest, 16/11.
ITALIANS BLOW UP AUSTRIAN FLAGSHIP.—Italian naval forces succeeded in entering the harbor of Pola, the Austrian naval base, on the morning of November 1, and sank the American battleship Viribus Unitis, the flagship of the Austro-Hungarian fleet. The exploit is announced in an official statement, which says:
"The Chief of the Naval Staff announces that Commander Rossetti and Lieutenant Paolucci succeeded in entering the inner harbor of Pola early Friday morning and sank the large battleship Viribus Unitis, flagship of the Austro-Hungarian, fleet.
The Austrian Navy Department in a communication issued to-day says:
"On Friday morning, after the fleet had been surrendered to the Jugo Slav National Committee, several Italian navy officers penetrated Pola, placed a mine near the Viribus Unitus and sank her. A majority of the officers and crew were saved."
The Viribus Unitis is the third of the four ships of it class, the most powerful in the Austrian Navy at the beginning of the war, to be destroyed by Italians. She was torpedoed in the harbor of Pola by a French submarine in December, 1914, but succeeded in reaching her dock.
In a daring raid off the Dalmatian coast on June 9 an Italian light squadron blew up two Austrian dreadnoughts of the Viribus Unitis type. Vienna officially admitted the loss of the Szen-Istvan, but admitted no other loss. However, an unnamed ship of the same class was sunk in the harbor of Pola a month earlier.
The Viribus Unitis was a vessel of 20,000 tons, and carried twelve 12-inch and twelve 5-inch guns. Her complement was 1000 men.—New York Times, 3/11.
ITALIAN WARSHIPS ENTER AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN PORT.—Trieste dispatches announce that Italian warships have entered the port of Zara. The Italian flag was raised by Captain Deboccard, who has been appointed Military governor. The monuments of Francis Joseph and Baron Tegetthoff, former commander-in-chief of the Austrian Navy, were overthrown by the crowd. The occupation of Lussinpiccolo by Italians also is announced.
Zara is a seaport of Austria-Hungary and is the capital of Dalmatia. It is situated on a promontory on the eastern coast of the Adriatic 570 miles southeast of Venice. Lussinpiccolo is a town on an island belonging to the crown land of Istria. It is the principal seaport of the Quarnero Islands, between Istria and the Croatian coast.—Washington Evening Star, 8/11.
TURKISH WATERS AND THE BLACK SEA
NAVAL TERMS OF ARMISTICE WITH TURKEY.—Terms of the armistice granted by the Allied powers to Turkey follow:
First—The opening of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus and access to the Black Sea. Allied occupation of the Dardanelles and Bosphorus forts.
Second—The positions of all mine fields, torpedo tubes, and other obstructions in Turkish waters are to be indicated and assistance given to sweep or remove them, as may be required.
Third—All available information concerning mines in the Black Sea is to be communicated.
Sixth—The surrender of all, war vessels in Turkish waters or waters occupied by Turkey. These ships will be interned in such Turkish port or ports as may be directed, except such small vessels as are required for police and similar purposes in Turkish territorial waters.
Seventh—The Allies to have the right to occupy any strategic points in the event of any situation arising which threatens the security of the Allies.
Eighth—Free use by Allied ships of all ports and anchorages now in Turkish occupation and denial of their use by the enemy. Similar conditions are to apply to Turkish mercantile shipping in Turkish water's for the purposes of trade and the demobilization of the army.
Ninth—Allied occupation of the Taurus Tunnel system.
Tenth—Immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops from Northern Persia to behind the pre-war frontier already has been ordered and will be carried out.
CLEARING DARDANELLES OF MINES.—A large fleet of British mine-sweepers began to clear the Dardanelles of mines November 1.—Literary Digest, 16/11.
EX-RUSSIAN SHIPS TAKEN BY GERMANY IN BLACK SEA.-0fficial British reports revealed by Sir Eric Geddes, First Lord of the Admiralty, during his recent visit here shows that the Germans obtained one super-dreadnought, several battleships of the pre-dreadnought type, and a score of fast destroyers.
ALL BLACK SEA PORTS CLOSED BY RUMANIA.—The British Admiralty reports that German wireless dispatches picked up at Moscow are to the effect that the Rumanian Government has declared all Rumanian ports on the Black Sea and on the Danube closed.—Washington Evening Star, 24/10.
ALLIES ENTER DARDANELLES.—The French torpedo-boat Mangini and the British torpedo-boat Shark entered the Dardanelles on November 9.
Franco-British naval forces occupied Alexandretta, a Mediterranean seaport of Asiatic Turkey, the same day.—N. Y. Times, 12/11.
TWENTY WARSHIPS OFF CONSTANTINOPLE.—German Pressure on the Turks.—A telegram to the Tribune de Geneve states that the Germans and the Young Turk Party are reacting at Constantinople. The Young Turk Cabinet, which had resigned, is trying, with the aid of the Germans, to impede the action of the new Ministry. Twenty warships commanded by German officers have arrived from the Black Sea and anchored off the capital; to protect the Young Turks by force and prevent the government from following Bulgaria in her surrender. The anxiety and excitement are indescribable.
The Frankfurter Zeitung gives the following from its Constantinople correspondent:
Turkey is undoubtedly in an extremely precarious situation owing to Bulgaria's step. The Entente will do everything to cut off Turkey as far as possible. The northeasterly part of Turkish Thrace is almost completely dependent for its food supply on Bulgarian-East Rumelian frontier traffic. But Constantinoule's food supply also requires for the greater part uninterrupted railway import. Constantinople alone uses on the average of 50 trucks of grainstuffs daily, which for a year and a half have been imported from Roumania. The last reserves will suffice for a fortnight almost. If the sea route can possibly also be used it would be altogether insecure owing to the danger of mines.
The Neue Freie Presse learns from Constantinople that Tewfik Pasha has failed to form a cabinet, and Izzet Pasha has been commissioned to do so.—London Times, 12/10.
ALLIED FLEET ANCHORS OFF TURKISH CAPITAL.—The Allied fleet arrived off Constantinople to-day having passed through the Dardanelles November 12, the Admiralty announces.
British and Indian troops occupying the forts, paraded as the ships passed.—Washington Evening Star, 14/11.
ALLIED SHIPS FREE ROUMANIA, HELP RUSSIA.—Commenting on the arrival at Constantinople of Allied squadrons, the London newspapers forecast the speedy opening up of Russia through Odessa and other Black Sea ports, and predict a betterment of conditions at Petrograd shortly through the forthcoming opening of the Baltic to the Entente.
"The way into the Black Sea is clear and great results must follow quickly the appearance of the Allied fleets off the Golden Horn," says the Times. "By opening up the Roumanian coast and the mouth of the Danube the Allies will complete the task of the liberation of Roumania, though in effect Roumania is free already and her German garrison under General von Mackensen is seeking a pathway home.
"When Admiral Calthorpe arrives off Odessa and Sebastopol the Allies will have a gateway into Russia and our coming entry into the Baltic should help to lift the clouds which still lie heavy over Petrograd.
"The German route through the Black Sea to the middle east has already vanished with the collapse of our principal foe. The wheel has come to a full circle and the tragic isolation of Russia is at an end.
"The anouncement that British and Indian troops now garrison the Gallipoli forts and paraded as the ships passed closes the grim but glorious story which began in 1915. Though we failed then, the men who fought at Gallipoli in 1915 broke the military strength of Turkey. She barred our path, but spent the flower of her army in the effort and never recovered from it."—Washington Evening Star, 12/11.
"GOEBEN" STRIPPED BY GERMAN CREW.—In a little wooded bay of the Bosphorus lies the great blue-gray warship Goeben, of notorious history. The Goeben, now called the Yuus by the Turks, has a Turkish admiral, Arir Pasha, on board and a Turkish crew. This morning, with a British naval captain and a major general, I visited her.
What has chiefly damaged the ship is mines, of which she hit five, two in the Black Sea early in the war and three during her sortie and attack on the British monitors outside the Dardanelles last spring. In each case the outer hull of the ship was blown in, but the inner bulkhead held, and thanks to the excellent construction of the Goeben and the multitude of her water-tight compartments, the damage was localized to gaps in the outer hull and the flooding of the compartments around them.
We went down into the stokeholds to see the bent inner bulkheads. The Germans had great confidence in the resistance of their materials. The curving plates of steel are not even supported by timber bulks against the pressure of water beyond them. The effect of these punctures of her outer hull is, however, to reduce to speed of the Goeben probably to 15 knots, so that as a fighting unit she has lost a great deal of her quality.
When the Germans left her November 3 they took away all the plans of the ships and her engines, so that the Turkish crew aboard can find out the details of her mechanism by only actual inspection. The Germans carried off, too, all fire-control, and other scientific instruments, so as to make the ship useless for as long as possible.
From the Turkish officers on board I heard the story of the Goeben's famous sortie from the Dardanelles when she sank the Raglan and another monitor. The Germans alone knew the aim of the raid, but the Turks think it was a sortie without objective. The Goeben hit three British mines outside, but still remained manageable.
She went ashore, they said, in the Narrows only because the German navigating officer neglected the advice of the Turkish pilot, who had steered him out of the straits. The German mistook the position of some buoys and stranded his ship. During the six days she was aground the Goeben was raided day and night by British aircraft. Two British bombs struck the ship, one at the base of the after funnel, which it holed. Neither did material damage. The only bombs available at that time were too small, in fact.
When the Goeben was got off she had hundreds of tons of water inside her, but she made Constantinople under her own power at 18 knots. Even since this damage was done the Goeben has been several times to Sebastopol and back—Baltimore Evening Sun, 19/11.
SUBMARINES AND SHIPPING
U-BOATS RECALLED.—Germany dispatches orders to submarine commanders precluding the torpedoing of passenger ships on October 21.—Washington Evening Star, 21/10.
U-BOAT WARFARE OVER.—A recent Paris dispatch states that there have been practically no U-boat sinkings since October 24. The crew of a British steamer arriving at Ferrol, Spain, reports encountering several German U-boats while en route, according to a Central News dispatch. The U-boats submerged and made no attempt to attack the British vessel.—Nautical Gazette, 9/11.
DISCUSSING U-BOAT CLAIM s.—The Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish Master Mates' Association is meeting here to-day to discuss claims of indemnification arising from torpedoings and other acts during the war. It is expected that claims will be made both on behalf of victims and for property destroyed.—New York Times, 16/11.
FLOATING MINE PERILS.—The recent sinking off the Jersey coast of the Mallory line freighter San Saba as a result of having come in contact with a floating mine, preceded as it was a short time ago by the destruction in a similar manner of the United States cruiser San Diego near Fire Island, makes it evident that our shipping cannot be considered immune from this form of war peril even when navigating within home waters. As evidenced by the loss not long since of the British steamer Wimmera off the coast of New Zealand through striking a mine, these destructive agencies may be encountered afloat thousands of miles distant from the ocean war areas. In some instances set adrift by German submarines or raiders, the majority of the unanchored ones straying in the paths of vessels have broken loose from some one of the great mine fields planted by the two sets of belligerents in the forbidden zones of the North Sea and elsewhere. According to the Netherland authorities, no less than 5047 contact mines—four-fifths of which were identified as of British origin—have been picked up along Holland's short sea-coast in the first four years of the war. In the Scandinavian papers, roaming mines are being reported almost daily and their location specified as accurately as possible for the benefit of mariners. Despite the taking of all possible precautions, however, ships are constantly running afoul of mines torn from their moorings and carried just below the surface by the action of the tides. What proportion of the 21,000,000 deadweight tons of shipping destroyed since the outbreak of the war has been sent to the bottom through having come in contact with mines can never be determined with accuracy. The difficulty of establishing the cause of a vessel's disappearance in the war zone was recently illustrated in the case of the American coast guard ship Tampa, where the United States authorities are in doubt whether this naval unit was torpedoed or merely had the misfortune to hit a mine. As far as Sweden's merchant marine is concerned, a newly published estimate ascribes the loss of 43,244 tons out of a total of 174,472 gross tons sunk through war causes to stationary and floating mines. This would make a proportion of 25 per cent, but it by no means follows that the same ratio would hold good in the case of British or other shipping. Even after hostilities cease, the danger from mines will by no means be past. Although Russia signed a peace and the Baltic was made supposedly safe for shipping eight months ago vessels are still being lost through mines in Finnish waters. When peace returns, therefore, prudent navigators will do well to give former mine infested areas as wide a berth as possible.—Nautical Gazette, 19/10.
MILITARY
405,000 GERMANS CAPTURED ON WEST FRONT SINCE JANUARY I.—TWO hundred thousand prisoners were taken by the British on the Western Front from January 1 to November 5, inclusive, according to an official announcement made in the House of Commons last night.
In the same period the French captured 140,000, the Americans 50,000, and the Belgians 15,000.—N. Y. Times, 9/11.
BRITISH AND GERMAN AEROPLANE LOSSES.—During the month of September Sir Douglas Haig has reported the destruction in air fighting of 370 German machines and 60 observation balloons, and the driving down out of control of a further 165. In addition, 13 aeroplanes were shot down by our fire from the ground. Our own losses amounted to 233 machines reported missing. The Independent Air Force during its raids on Germany, and while cooperating with the American First Army in its attack on the St. Mihiel salient, destroyed 15 enemy machines and drove down 10, its own losses amounting to 38. Air force pilots working with the navy, and assisting during the Belgo-British attack in Flanders, destroyed 47 enemy machines and two balloons, and drove down 41, with the loss to themselves of 37 machines. Thus, during the month so far as the figures are yet available, the enemy lost definitely by British action 445 machines and 62 balloons, and in addition had 216 machines driven down out of control. The British machines reported missing during the same period amounted to 308.—Engineer, 4/10.
HOW HUGE U. S. NAVY GUNS MOUNTED ON RAILWAY CARS ARE NOW HURLING SHELLS FAR BEHIND GERMAN LINES.—Ban of Secrecy Lifted by Secretary Daniels.—Special Cars and Locomotives Were Built in This Country—Largest Cannon Ever Placed on Mobile Mountings—Independent Train for Each, Carrying Full Equipment—Manned by Naval Officers and Men.—Secretary Daniels authorizes the following:
Press dispatches from France detailing the destruction wrought back of the German lines by huge naval guns operating with the French and American forces make it possible now to disclose some particulars of these guns and how they were built, which has been a jealously guarded secret.
These guns were originally intended for the new battle cruisers, but a change in the design of the cruisers left the guns available for other use, and as there was in the navy no immediate need for them afloat Rear Admiral Ralph Earle, Chief of the Navy Bureau of Ordnance, recommended that they be placed on railway mountings for land service with the armies in France. He felt that if these guns could be placed upon railway mountings, that would make them readily mobile like the British and French naval guns of smaller caliber, they would prove a valuable adjunct to our artillery forces overseas, and he was directed to proceed with the design and construction.
Largest Ever Placed on Mobile Mountings.—The American naval guns throw a heavier projectile and have a greater muzzle velocity than any previously placed on a mobile shore mounting.
From the first it was seen that in order to make the project successful, the railway battery must be made completely mobile, so that it might operate without being based at any one particular spot. For this reason, it was necessary to provide not only the railway cars mounting the guns, but also locomotives and cars sufficient to accommodate all the operating personnel of the expedition, together with the ammunition, repair shops, cranes, stores and miscellaneous material.
The final plans and specifications which were prepared at the Naval Gun Factory, Washington, under immediate supervision of the Bureau, by Captain A. L. Willard, Commander Harvey Delano and the Bureau's designing draftsman, Mr. G. A. Chadwick, were completed in less than 30 working days, being ready for submission to the bidders about January 25, 1918.
Special Railway Equipment.—Large mounts were to be built, capable of taking these big caliber guns, each mount with its accessories to be operated as an independent train. The equipment included locomotives, gun cars, ammunition cars, crane cars, construction, sand, timber, berthing and kitchen, fuel, workshop, and staff radio cars, cars for officers, battery headquarters and miscellaneous purpose cars.
The locomotives built for this purpose were standard consolidation type with four pairs of drivers. The weight of the engine alone is approximately 83 tons and the weight of the tender approximately 56 tons.
A form of pit foundation is provided to enable the guns to be fired at high angles of elevation. The removal of the gun from over the pit formation and its restoration to complete mobility is but the work of a few minutes. The entire mount is covered with armor plate, 1600 square feet of plate being required.
By shifting the position of the gun mount on the tracks the gun can be brought to bear on any desired target and the proper angle of train obtained.
First Completed Last April.—When the first gun car was completed last April, gun and mount were put through the severest tests and showed accurate fire at much further ranges than had ever before been possible with projectiles of such large size. There was then only one proving ground in the United States, that at Sandy Hook, N. J., owned by the War Department, capable of permitting ranging at extreme distances, and this was, on request of Secretary Daniels, utilized for the proving tests.
The car equipment is unusually complete. One car is a complete machine shop, with every facility for repairs, with blacksmith forge and anvil, lathes, shapers, grinders, and drill presses. Ammunition cars are heavily armor plated. The kitchen cars have complete cooking and serving apparatus; the berthing cars have folding bunks for the men, and other cars carry complete sets of spare parts.
Names of the Builders.—Every effort was made to secure rapid construction, work being begun the day the contracts were awarded. The Baldwin Locomotive Co. built the engines and the Standard Steel Car Co. the box cars. The huge steel girders were fabricated by the American Bridge Co., some of the plates being so large they could not be produced at its Pencoyd works and had to be manufactured in Pittsburgh. Work at all these plants proceeded night and day and the material and completed mounts and cars were produced in record time. Many of the important parts of the gun mounts were made at the Naval Gun Factory, Washington, which worked under forced draft, and had its part of the work done ahead of schedule, as did the other builders.
The first gun, mounted complete, left the Baldwin shops on April 25, 1918, in charge of Captain T. A. Kearney, assistant chief, Bureau of Ordnance, and Lieut. Commander L. B. Bye, also of the Bureau, for the army proving ground at Sandy Hook, where the tests were made in the presence of officers of the army and navy and of the Allied governments.
All Manned by Navy Men.—These guns are all manned and operated by officers and men of the United States Navy, under the command of Rear Admiral Charles P. Plunkett, former director of the office of gunnery exercises and engineering performances.
As soon as the manufacture of the material was well under way the task of assembling and training personnel for the expedition was begun. Rear Admiral Plunkett was placed in charge of the expedition, and under his direction the force of officers and men necessary was built up. The officers were drawn both from the regular navy and naval reserves, and the men for the most part were taken from the Great Lakes Training Station, Chicago.
The training of the men was carried on intensively and in a manner calculated to secure a thoroughly efficient force. The men responsible for the work of erection and operation of these mounts in France were trained by employing them as inspectors at the various plants actually manufacturing the material for the project, so they became thoroughly familiar with every part and with the method of fabrication. The men serving the guns in action were trained at the naval proving ground in the proper method of handling the heavy projectiles and powder charges, as well as in the actual firing of the gun. Others were given training at the army proving ground at Sandy Hook in the installation of the pit foundation; also in practical work in track laying, track repairing, and other essentials of railroading that are necessary in the operation of the guns.
Arrived in France in June.—The first party of officers and men for this expeditionary force arrived in France June 9; the first shipment of material left the United States on June 20, and the entire organization was completed and ready to move to the battle front in France late in August.
This battery was in action at the front for the first time on September 16, and has continued in active operation since that date.—Official Bulletin, 26/10.
Car Equipment.—The car equipment is unusually complete. One car is a machine shop, with every facility for repairs, with blacksmith forge and anvil, lathes, shapers, grinders and drill presses. Ammunition cars are heavily armor-plated. The kitchen cars have complete cooking and serving apparatus; the berthing cars have folding bunks for the men and other cars carry complete sets of spare parts.—Washington Evening Star.
Each gun requires a train of more than 50 cars to carry the crew, ammunition and supplies.—Naval Monthly, November.
These guns were used against the Metz forts and the lateral railway behind the German lines northeast of Verdun which was cut by them at Montmedy and Chalons about November 1.—N. Y. Times.
DECLARATIONS OF WAR AND SEVERANCES OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN NATIONS.—Following is a complete list of the declarations of war and severances of diplomatic relations, with the date of each, in connection with the present war:
DECLARATIONS OF WAR
Austria vs. Belgium, August 28, 1914.
Austria vs. Japan, August 27, 1914.
Austria vs. Montenegro, August 9, 1914.
Austria vs. Russia, August 6, 1914.
Austria vs. Serbia, July 28, 1914.
Brazil vs. Germany, October 26, 1917.
Bulgaria vs. Roumania, September 1, 1916.
Bulgaria vs. Serbia, October 14, 1915.
China vs. Austria, August 14, 1917.
China vs. Germany, August 14, 1917.
Cuba vs. Germany, April 7, 1917.
Cuba vs. Austria, December 16, 1917.
France vs. Austria, August 12, 1914.
France vs. Bulgaria, October 16, 1915.
France vs. Germany, August 3, 1914.
Germany vs. Belgium, August 4, 1914.
Germany vs. France, August 3, 1914.
Germany vs. Portugal, March 9, 1916.
Germany vs. Roumania, August 28, 1916.
Germany vs. Russia, August I, 1914.
Great Britain vs. Austria, August 13, 1914.
Great Britain vs. Bulgaria, October 15, 1915.
Great Britain vs. Germany, August 4, 1914.
Great Britain vs. Turkey, November 5, 1914.
Greece (Provisional Government) vs. Bulgaria, November 23, 1916.
Greece (Government of Alexander) vs. Bulgaria, July 2, 1917.
Greece (Provisional Government) vs. Germany, November 23, 1916.
Greece (Government of Alexander) vs. Germany, July 2, 1917.
Guatemala vs. Germany, April 21, 1918.
Haiti vs. Germany, July 12, 1918.
Honduras vs. Germany, July 19, 1918.
Italy vs. Austria, May 24, 1915
Italy vs. Bulgaria, October 19, 1915.
Italy vs. Germany, August 28, 1916.
Italy vs. Turkey, August 21, 1915.
Japan vs. Germany, August 23, 1914.
Liberia vs. Germany, August 4, 1917.
Nicaragua vs. Austria, May 6, 1918.
Nicaragua vs. Germany, May 6, 1918.
Panama vs. Germany, April 7, 1917.
Panama vs. Austria, December 10, 1917.
Portugal (resolution authorizing intervention as an ally of England) vs.
Germany, November 23, 1914.
Portugal (military aid granted) vs. Germany, May 19, 1915.
Roumania (Allies of Austria considered it a declaration of war) vs. Austria, August 27, 1916.
Russia vs. Bulgaria, October 19, 1915.
Serbia vs. Germany, August 6, 1914.
Siam vs. Austria, July 22, 1917.
Siam vs. Germany, July 22, 1917.
Turkey vs. Roumania, August 29, 1916.
Turkey (holy war) vs. Allies, November 11, 1914.
United States vs. Austria, December 7, 1917.
United States vs. Germany, April 6, 1917.
SEVERANCES OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS
Austria vs. Portugal, March 15, 1916.
Austria vs. Serbia, July 26, 1914.
Austria vs. United States, April 8, 1917.
Belgium vs. Turkey, October 30, 1914.
Bolivia vs. Germany, April 14, 1917.
Brazil vs. Germany, April II, 1917.
China vs. Germany, March 14, 1917.
Ecuador vs. Germany, December 7, 1917.
France vs. Austria, August 11, 1914.
France vs. Turkey, October 30, 1914.
Germany vs. Italy, May 23, 1915.
Great Britain vs. Turkey, October 30, 1914.
Greece vs. Austria, July 2, 1917.
Greece vs. Turkey, July 2, 1917.
Guatemala vs. Germany, April 27, 1917.
Haiti vs. Germany, June 16, 1917.
Honduras vs. Germany, May 17, 1917.
Japan vs. Austria, August 25, 1914.
Liberia vs. Germany, May 8, 1917.
Nicaragua vs. Germany, May 19, 1917.
Peru vs. Germany, October 5, 1917.
Roumania vs. Bulgaria, August 30, 1916.
Russia vs. Bulgaria, October 5, 1915.
Russia vs. Roumania, January 28, 1918.
Russia vs. Turkey, October 30, 1914.
Turkey vs. United States, April 20, 1917.
United States vs. Germany, February 3, 1917.
Uruguay vs. Germany, October 7, 1917.
—Official Bulletin, 7/11.