Saturday,
HONGKONG TELEGRAPH
June 7, 1941.
Malt
How Far Has Germany's Naval Strength Grown? British Commonsweeth
By Francis McMurtie
from the
is the basis of this Beer
HELLO,' WHAT'S THIS?—During a recent inspection tour of the Southern Command, the King was confronted by this strange apparition. The object at the right loo camouflaged soldier,
In
Editor's Note:The following pedoes, but she has doubtless initiat "E" for "enemy" naval article was written shortly before been repaired by now,
signals It is plain tautology, It reasonable io the recent naval engagement in There were four Nazi battle- would be far more which the Germans lost the pride ships of 35,000 tons under con call them S-boats (schnellboote, or adopt the German -abbreviation, and of their fleet, the newly-completed Bismarck, while the 23-year-old struction when war began, but high-speed hosts); HM.S. Hood was also lost.
only one of them, the Bismarck, appears to havo been completed.
In
Small submarines were in some
in
A
Assessment of submarine strength ERMAN naval strength to. A second, the Tirpitz, may be offers the most dimcult problem at ready this year, though there is the moment. Out of 71 submarines day is far less than it was reason to suspect that she has in service in September, 1939, it is during the last war both actu- been delayed by bomb damage, probable that there are few bur ally and relatively to that of the It is not believed that the re-vivors, in view of the rate of destruc- British Fleet, but this statement maining pair can be delivered tion during the early montin of the does not exactly apply in the before 1942 at the earliest. war. About 30 which were then on case of submarines.
order passed into service last year, Two out of three so-called and many more have doubtless been German exploits at sea in the pocket battleships still survive, built since.
Recent unoMelal estimates suggest past 18 months have not equall- These are the Admiral Scheer
maximum number of U- that the ed those of 1914-15, Thus, and Luctzow (ex-Deutschland), boats likely to be in service this there has been no parallel to the 26-knot slips of 10,000 tons, spring la 150, of which not more than Battle of Coronel, in which two armed with llinch guns, but 50 may be expected to be operating British cruisers were sunk in only lightly armoured. As the on the shipping. routes at one time. action with Adml Spee's squa- Battle of the Plate plainly de- Apart from a regular system of re
licts,
n certain number of submarines dron, to the torpedoing of three monstrated, these ships are must always be kept in reserve for big cruisers, the Aboukir, Cressy merely heavy armoured cruisers training purposes and to replace the
inevitable casualties. and Hogue, one after another, with fpadequate speed. One of by a single submarine on Sept. them, the Admiral Scheer, has is known that during the last war the total number of submarines 22, 1914; or to the sinking by suffered some damage from tor-
ordered by the German Admiralty various submarines of the pedo attack.
from August, 1914, to September, battleships Formidable, Goliath, Only a single aircraft-carrier 1018, was 765. Of these, 450 had not Triumph and Majestic.
of 19,250 tons, the Graf Zeppe Armistice; the majority, Indeed, were been delivered up to the time of the Since September, 1939, British lin, appears to have been com- never finished. At no time did the naval superiority has been en- pleted. Her sister ship is total number in service exceed 170. hanced by the completion of a ported to have been launched in considerable number of new January, 1940, and the balance cases turned out in as short a time as five months, medium-sized craft warships. Such additions have of probability is that she is the in 10 months and larger ones in 18 largely exceeded losses. Before new ship to which the name months. Certain exceptionally bli ordered this year is, out, all five of the Deutschland has been assigned. submarines of special design,
during 1016, were still unfinished 24 35,000-ton battleships of the
months later; delays apparently be King George V. class should be
There are four cruisers of the gan to develop during 1916, partly in service, together with four Admiral Hipper class, displacing no doubt owing to the diversion of aircraft carriers of the Illustri 10,000 tons, mounting Sin guns dockyard and shipyard labour and ous class, five cruisers of the and having a speed of 32 knots. tion to the repairing of slips of the
materials from submarine construc Fiji class and 10 of the Dido Recently one of these is report- High Seas Fleet after the Battle of class. This will bring our total ed to have been operating Jutland. This explanation is put strength up to 19 capital ships, against shipping in the Atlantic, forward by Admi Scheer in his book, 8 aircraft carriers, and 75 crui- a role for which she is far better
written afier the
War. sers, including those converted adapted than the slower and these past disappointments was
It is possible that the history of into anti-aircraft ships.
more heavily armed pocket Hiller's mind when, a few days ago, battleship type. A fifth ship of he spoke of the "new U-boats now Nothing like this has occurred this class, the Bluccher, was last coming from the shipyards," and added the cryptic sentence: "The in Germany. When war began in Oslo Fjord on April 9, 1940. fact that they are coming cannot be there were only two genuine It was probably this ship that doubted."
Arrears were never overtaken, battleships in the Nazi fleet, the was mistaken for the Gneisenau. Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, of So far as can be ascertained, and continued to develop during 26,000 tons, armed with 11inch the 6,000-ton cruisers Nuern- 1017, aTecting the intensity of that year's campaign against shipping. guns. Both these still exist, berg, Leipzig and Koeln; armed Towards the end of the war delays since a Norwegian claim to have with 5.9in guns, are all in exis- became steadily worse. sunk the Gneisenau in Oslo tence, though the Leipzig is be-
* Fjord-in-April-has-never been lieved to have been the ship tor-By-the-release-from-the-army-ha It is true that peaced by H.M.S. Salmon in the summer of 1918 of skilled work- the Scharnhorst has been heavi- December, 1939, and may possi- ers to reinforce the over-driven per- ly damaged by bombs and tor- bly have been sunk. Certainly sonnel of the shipyards, it was hoped this was the fate of one of her to catch up arrears and accelerate -two slater ships, tho Karlsruhe, submarines a month, but the colla
work the extent of turning out 30 collapse torpedoed by H.M.S. Truant in et German resistance, intervened. It, the Skagerrak on April 9 Inst. is clear, however, that the submarine The third ship of this class, the campaign by that time was also suf- Koenigsberg, was destroyed as fering from a dearth of experienced the result of a skilful dive-bomb- older U-boats had to be broken up so
personnel, Veleran ing attack by the Fleet Air Armi that complements of new submarines at Bergen on the same day. might at least contain a few ratings Though the Emden, of 5,400 tons, with first-hand experience of cruis- the smallest and oldest cruiser in the Ing under war conditions. German navy, was reported to have Compared with the last war, there been torpedoed by the Norwegian is no doubt that the enemy submar mindlayer Olav Tryggvason in the inc attack on shipping started in 1939 Oslo Fjord on April 9, 1940, support with certain advantages, the chief ing evidence is entirely lacking The being that it could be opened with report is scouted on the grounds, that full intensity on the first day of hos the Norwegian ship has no torpedo titles. tilities tubes, and, mounts only four 4.7inch Material had been systematically. guns as compared with eight 5.8inch accumulated/in advance to enable in the Emden.
construction to begin on great In all probability the German wat further gain was the occupation of many U-boats at the same time. A ship actually sunk on that occasion was 800-ton torpedo boat Albatros, Dutch, Norwegian and Danish ship- this name having been conferred by verds, and later those of France, in the enemy upon the Olav Tryggva-struction existed.
*UFS
-OVERLAND SAILORS—Members-of-the ̈Royal-Sussox-Re-- giment carry collapsiblo boats across rough country_in_Eng- land during an offensive training course. Assault boats are used in quick crossing of streams,
substantiated.
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son since she fell into their hands.
Four German cruisers of about 3,000 tons, armed with 3.9inch guns, were under construction when war number of Italian submarines to the
Last summer the addition of began. Though nothing, definito is force already operating against com known about these ships, two of then merce in the Atlantic gave may have been delivered by now.
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the com pair a further impetus; and it is not improbable that before long we shall At the outbreak of hostilities, submarines have been manned by hear that all the remaining Italian many's destroyers numbered 22,, of German crews. This may not from 1,023 to 1,911 tons. Eleyen' of them were wiped out at Narvik, and entirely an advantage to the enemy, however, as it will entail carrying two others are admitted to have been a smaller proportion of "old hands lost,
probably in the
operations at Gdynin
Thore in each vessel, a deßnite source of in September, 1030.
weakness, were 17 more in hand, which should
It is to be doubted whether any have been completed by now, raising
Italian warships other than sub- the total destroyer force to 26 units.
Seagoing torpedo boats (000 to 800 marines will be taken over by the German navy, Personnel is in all tons) probably number about 40. In addition to the Albatros, mentioned probability the Achilles heel of the German fleet as it is constituted to- above, one was torpedoed and sunk day, In the space of five years by H.M.S. Swords off the French (1934-38) the total number of off- const Inst. October,
cers and men was increased live- There were over 50 motor torpedu fold, with the result that when war boats in servito or under con- began a high proportion was, com- struction when war began, and this paratively speaking, untrained. This 40,000,000 number has almost certainly been was at the bottom of the refusal of
. 500,000 1,000,000 7,000,000
added to since. Casualties Include the Giraf Speo's crow to put to sea 160,000,000 six sunk during the Norwegian from Mentovideo and face a further operations in April, May and June action.
Verity last; one by ILM.S. Malcolm and Apart from any question of train-
on August 14; W
(two [off; tho
the Ing, the studied policy of evasion French coast list October; and ono which has been followed
In the
Ger- "Rea in the following man warships whenever they have not been in greatly superior forco
For no suficient reason it has bo- is eniculated sooner or later to lead como the custom, following an official to the same state of demoralisation lead, to refer to theso vessels, as that fataliy undermined the la
to owe its origin, to the use of the Seas Fiest 'In_1917-18.
Threo Pačkings: 6's, 119, 279, Sola Agente:-DODWELL & CO., LTD, Obtainable at all Chemists and Drug Stores "enemy E-boats. Since this le sald elpline of the crews of the High
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