The sun., 1916-11-13
NAVAL LOSSES IN The WAR.


THE Sun Of November 8 there was a
wireless message from Berlin purport-
ing to give statistics concerning the wal
losses sustained by the British navy to
date. This message obviously emanated
from the foreign branch Of the official
VOLTS Telegraph Bureau. which has a
unique and worldwide reputation for
Misrepresentation and mendsclty. but
also has sufficient candor to print on Its
le~tterheads a note to the effect that II
does not guarantee the accuracy OF any
item II news 1t circulates. In the In
terest OF truth may l crave a little
space in order to correct and supple
ment the naval statistics given In the
message referred to? 1t states that the
British loss in battleships and cruisers
alone now stands at sol. 40 tons. a
wilful exaggeration OF the actual total
to the extent OF nearly 10000 tons.
The following is a complete list OF
all the British battlcships and cruisers
which have been lost to date Audacious.
King Edward VII. Triumph. Bulwark.
Formidable. Irresistible. Ocean. Goliath.
Russell. Majestic. Queen Mary. indie
fatigable, lnvincible. Defence. Warrior.
Black Prince. Natal. Hampshire. Argyll.
Good Hope. Monmouth. Aboukir. Greasy.
Iiosue. Nottingham. Falmouth. Arethusa.
Amphion. Hawke. Pathfinder. Hermes.
Pegasus. The aggregate displacement
was 3SG,765 tons. In addition. about
thirty ~destroyers mot fifty) and twenty
Ave submarines mot seventy-six) have
been lost.
For purposes OF comparison Il Is
worth while to set forth the correspond
ing German losses. about which Berlin
maintains an eloquent silence. The fol-
lowing list takes into consideration only
those losses which have been positively
verified and deals only with battleships
and cruisers "a" ,kaiser class one.
Il ,Kaiser class Westfalen. &c
deutschland class) Pommern. Lutzow.
Seydlitz. Won der Tam. Butcher. Scharn-
horst. Grelsensu. Yorck. Friedrich Karl.
prinz AdaIbert. Wiesbaden. Rostock,
Frankfort. Elbing. Karlsruhe. Magde-
burg. koln. Malnz. Emden. Dresden.
Nurnberg. k3nIgsberg. Leipzig. Bremen.
Frauenlob. t'ndine. Ariadne. Hela. Al
batross. The aggregate displacement
was 3oO.li7 tons. In addition thirty TO
th!rty-hye German destroycrs and 100
submarines have been lost. We should
perhaps lie justified In adding to the
German list the Goeben, 22.640 tons.
and the Breslau. AIS tons. for both
these vessels. rusting at Constantinople.
are lost to Germany for the duration OF
the war and II Is highly doubtful
whether they will ever see Germany
again.
with regard to the British list. II
should be observed that with one soil
tary exception. namely. the Audacious.
every battleshlp or cruiser that has been
lost has been officially announced by the
British Admiralty. A diame,rically OPP
poslte policy has been pursued by the
German Admiralty. which habitually
conceals every loss unless the fact be-
comes known from neutral sources. 1t
was not until survivors from the ships
had been picked up by Danish and
Dutch fishermen that Germany acknowl-
edged the sinking OF the giant battle
cruiser Lutzow and the cruisers Wies-
baden. Ros,ock. Elbing and FraIenlob
in the Jutland fight. As her own ships
saved the survivors OF the two Kaiser
class hattleships and the battle cruiser
Seydl!tz. and almost certainly Of the
Hindenburg as well. tho loss Of these
rot un!mportant units was kept dark
FOR military reasons" Few impartial
naval experts who are IN touch with all
the facts would hesitate TO add so 1000
tons or more 10 the total OF German
losses. but as certain OF these losses
cannot be positively identified ! have
refralned from inserting them In the
LIST. II should I've added that the British
vessel Genista. sunk recently of Ire
t.-4 vAk rr,fsAr NJ oil hht "a
small mine sweeper. one OF the many
hundred now engaged in keeping the
seas open 70 friendly and neutral navi-
cation.
do not wish 10 minimize the British
losses. but | would point out that they
represent the price paid for the command
o, the sea. which IL the Allies greatest
asse, and the sure guarantee Of their
ultimate victory. Considering all that
command Of the sea implies and It's
vital significance IN the present war.
Great Britain has purchased II at n
relatively small cost. Nor must 1t be
forgotten tat in spite OF these losses
the British navy to-day is at least one
half as strong again in men and ships
az II was on the outbreak OF war.
What II &c. on the other hand.
has Germany won to offset her 400 900
tons Of lost naval shipping" She re-
mains as tightly hlockadcd "a ever he
fore. and her one time immeuse ocean
horne trade. which represented ca per
cent. Of her entire revenue in peace
time, has DIV !ndled to n few hundred
tons OF rubber ard nickel precariously
carried by n submarine. Mr.. Winston
Churchill once drew upon himself the
wrath Of Teuton writer's by abiding 10
the German feet az a luxury" Has
not the course OF the war down TO date
absolutely vlndicated his judgment?
Nrw yopK. November II r.