Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1916-06-04
Former First Lord Of Admiral
ty Insists That German
Navy Is Less Able to Stand
Blow.
ENEMY'S FLEET Is
BATTERED, HE SAYS
Dispatch Of Troops to Cont
nent Should Be Easier Now,
Is Opinion Of British tx
pert,

my noax,na JuuassL SPECIAL lxssnp ~tss1
London. June 3--Great Britain
still holds undisputed supremacy of
the seas. in the Judgment of Winston
Spencer Churchill. recently first lord
of the admiralty, who now has resum-
cd his parliamentary duties after
service with his regiment at the front
and whose opinion on naval matters
are still eagerly sought in England.
Colonel Churchill gave the Assoeiat-
ed Press the following statement to-
day
II have had an opportunity of ex-
amining the reports of the admirals
and considering the information In
the possession of the admiralty. The
following facts seem to me to be es-
tablished:
THE naval SUPREMACY Of the Brit
sh fleet in capital ships depends upon
superdreadnaughts, armed with 1875
inch and 15-inch guns and these are
sufficient by themselves 20 maintain
control of the seas OF these vital
units Of the first rank We have only
lost one--the Queen Mary. There
appears to be no doubt that the Ger
mans have lost at least one compar-
able ship. IL this should be the Lut-
zow or the DerffIinger, that vessel is
heavier loss to them actually and
relatively than the queen Mary is to
lus.
Coming to vessels of the second
order, we have lost the lndefatigable
and the Invineihj, These are of an
entirely different class from the SUI
pordreadnaughts and, valuable yes
sells as they were, do not rank as pri-
mary units at the present time. A
dreadnaught battleship of the West
fallen type would be a loss comparable
to either.
Have Many Cruisers.
"The armored cruisers Black
Prince, Defence and Warrior belonged
to the third order of ships, of which
we possess a very large superiority.
The sinking Of the two brand new
German light cruisers Wiesbaden and
Elbing is. in fact, a more grievous
loss to the enemy.
"In all these vessels, the most seri-
GUS feature is the loss of their splen-
did and irreplaceable crews.
"The destroyer casualties appear to
be about equal ON these terms we,
being the stronger, are the gamers.
our flotillas have long sought such
opportunities. our margin of su-
periority is in no way impaired. The
dispatch of troops to the continent
should continue with the utmost free
dom, the bettered condition of the
German fleet being an additional Sc
curity to us.
"rhe hazy weather. the fall of
might and the retreat of the enemy
alone frustrated the persevering ef-
forts of our brilliant commanders, Sir
John Jelieoe and Sir David Beatty,
to force a final decision. Although 1t
was not possible to compel the Ger
man main fleet to accept battle, the
conclusions reached are of extreme
All classes of vessels on
both sides have now met, and we
know there are no surprises or un-
foreseen features. An accurate meas
ure can ne taken Oh the StfeHsth Oh
the enemy, and his definite inferiority
Is freed from any element of uncer-
tainty, The fast division of Queen
Elizabeths seems to have vindicated
all the hopes reposed in them.
Il cannot record these facts with
iout expressing my profound sympathy
with those who have lost their dearest
ones. Many Of the most gallant
sailors ever nurtured and some of
our most splendid officers have gone,
but they have died as they would have
wished to die. in blue water action,
which as it is studied viii more and
more be found 10 he a definite step
toward the attainment Of complete
victory"