THE CHINA MAIE, DECEMBER 31, 1940.
BRITAIN MAY HAVE TO USE HER BATTLESHIPS
THE GERMAN sea blockade may soon force the British government to alter a fundamental policy of the Royal Navy and throw battleships of the line into the risky business of convoying merchant ships.
The British almost came to that pass in the world war when, as the American Admiral Sims put it, submarine warfare had starved the British to within six weeks of surrender.
But the convoy system answer-their attack. It's like this: all ed the U-boat. At first destroyers three weapons are used for both were assigned to escort vital sup- | observation and attack. An ob- plics Battleships stood by for servation plane sights British
The destroyers did so merchant vessels gathering for: well, the battleships never were convoy 700 miles out. It reports used.
back to L'Orient by radio. L'Orient sends out subs and sur-
Inter use.
And so the battleships remained the backbone of the grand fleet, carried out time-honoured British policy to remain intact, wat for the supreme moment of life U1 death for the empire.
This time it is different.
Threat Is Greater
|
FRANKFURT TARGET BOMBED
One objective raid- ed by British bombers in Germany on Sun- day night was a mili- tary objective in the Frankfurt area, it was learned in London last night, says ter.
Reu-
SERVANTS
QUARTERS RAIDED
The servants' quarters of face rauders and a bombing squa- No. 5, Carnarvon Road, were raid. dron of planes. The surface raided by the police yesterday morn ers hang far out to sea, risking no ing, resulting in the arrest of
But their guns can outrange seven men and two women. a destroyer convoy.
trap.
to
So, the question now up in the The quarters were alleged British high command is whe.have been used for gambling by ther to risk battleships singly to Cheng Wan-chau, 32, cook, who protect vital war supplies.
was fined $50 by Mr. E. Hims- 'The submarine raider 'plane
The British had fifteen battle worth at Kowloon this morning. menace is a German triple threat ships when the war started. They The other eight persons had greater to-day than in 1917, al-lost the Royal Oak to a submarine ball of $2 each estreated on fail- though the British public isn't Three battle cruisers, the Renown, ing to appear.
the Repulse and the Hood, can also
Table money, $5.03, was donat- cope with planes, subs and sur-ed to the Poor Box. face raiders. That makes 17. But five battleships at least are in the Mediterranean. One or two more,
aware
of it yet. Here are eight reasons why:
1 The Germans have the wes- tern tip of France, saving their subs and surface raiders and
planes hundreds of miles of risky perhaps, in the Far East.
ocean travel from home bases to convoy lanes and back.
as ever are
2. The Germans perfect co-ordinators. They have blended the attack of their subs and pocket battleships and 'planes --and they are working them all from the same base-L'Orient, France.
Aces in the hole are the five, 30-knot battleships started in 1937. They are either ready for action, or are even now with the
Brand fleet somewhere off north- ern England,
for these battleships. But the em- The German triple threat is bait
pire lifeline's in danger. The Bri- tish may have to throw 'em in- 3. The British gave up by and hope for the best. their treaty with Ireland in 1938, naval bases at Lough Swilly, Berchaven and Cobh. That makes their flotillas go miles to 400 miles farther for refueling and repair.
200
4.
DOCTORS PROBE
BY RADIO
In the world war, the British had the help of the French, Ila- Juan, Japanese, and Juter the American fleets for blockade, pa- trol, and convoy. To-day they face the task of blockading The wireless set is the Europe, fighting in the Mediter- ranean, and patrolling far eastern waters all alone.
5. At the start of the world 500 destroyers. Counting the 50
war, the British had more than
old ships we sent them recently they have no more than 200 des- Troyers to-day.
6.
Only One Lane
to
newest ally of surgery Doctors are using them in hospitals where people in- jured by bomb splinters| are being treated.
The surgeon has only to con- nect an insulated "probe" to the wireless set, "tune in." and the presence of bomb fragments in the body can be detected rapid. ly.
¿
Ireland's stubborn neutrality atel the German conquest 11
When France forced the British to for-
the "probe" touches bomb fragment in the body it pru- sake two of their convoy lanes- through the English channel
dures a loud click or scratching noise in the loud-speaker, easily London, and through St. George's channel to the Irish
the sounds distinguishably from sea and Li- verpool.
made by bone fragments, or non- That leaves one lane
metallic objects. around the northern tip of Ireland. on which the Germans can con- centrate.
7 Nearby Scandinavia and France supplied many vital war subplies and much food to Britain during the world war. To-day
the British must bring in their
supplies from far-Bung posts of empire, South America and the United States.
Dr. James S. Hall, of Victoria Infirmary, Deal, describes the pro- cedure in the "British Medical Journal. He writes:
No Music
less set to the patient, switch it "Take any valve-operated wire-
on, and open out the volume con- trol.
6. The British had well over 18,000,000 tons of long-range mer-
"If a programme is heard, tune chant shipping at the start of the tive condition, Connect a few feet it out, leaving the set in a sensi- world war: They had
only of wire
insulated 13,000,000 tons when
ending in an this war probe to the aerial terminal or storted. Recently they've been los- ing 100,000 tons a week.
socket, and the apparatus is com Even
plete. with the neutral shipping they've acquired; the best estimates indiAs the noise heard is due to chte they have only 12,000,000, tori capacity changes in the aerial cir
to-da:*
of
Two Immediate solutions the problem are possible. The first is to get the Irish bases they need, so desperately 1 for aeroplane observation. But that might mean. bloodshed, since Eamon de Valera will never consent to abandon neutrality. The other way, is to convoy, merchant ships with battleships.
Battleships or battle cruisers can outrun and outrange Ger many's pocket battleships, Battle- ships, or battle cruisers can with, stand the withering attack of dive hombers. With destroyer screens, they have better than ever chance to escape the submarines.
Risk Still Heavy
For..
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cult of the set, touching the pati- ent's would give no result, while a ring in his buttock yields a loud and on his finger or a piece of bomb
speaker increasing with the size distinct click, the noise in the
of the metallic object touched."
AR.P. badge or tle-pln | And Remember:
BARRACKS LOSS
Sapper Bayack, of the Royal Engineers, has reported the theft of a gold finger ring, valued at $70, from his quarters in Welling- ton Barracks yesterday.
PUMP STOLEN
A motor pump valued at $50, was stolen last night from
the Kow
But there's still a heavy risk, Heep Yunn Girls School, for the Germans have co-ordinated | loon: City
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