Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-08-03
GREATEST OF SEA
FIGHTS THIS YEAR
German Naval Critic Claims
His Country Has Won
on Ocean

Berlin. July 20. - Captain Persius, |
the naval critic of the Berliner Tage-
blatt, has written the following review /
or naval operations during the second |
year of the war, from the German
viewpoint, for the Associated Press:
1T seemed likely that the second |
year of the war would end without
sea tight of first magnitude but May 81 |
brought gratifying proof that our |
great battleships were not built in vain |
and that our fleet, despite seeming in
activity, was quietly and asstduously
preparing itself for a blow against the |
strongest sea power in the world. We
still hear the question asked as to
who was the real victor in the fight off |
Skagerrak. A comparison of the clear |
concise reports of the German Admir-
atty staff with Admiral Jellicoe's long |
winded reports, which contain only a |
tew facts, leaves no doubt that the |
German official account gives a thor |
oughly truthful description of the bat
tie. The English version, with its bar
renness of facts, labors in vain to con- |
ceal its improbability.
Whatever the final judgment is of |
the battle in detail the loss of British |
prestige at sea and the pronounced |
success of our fleet remain indisput- |
able If only the British losses in men |
and ships are considered The waves |
British seamen and 117,150 gross reg
istered tons of shipping while the Ger
man losses were 2, Ala men and go, ,720 |
tons. These figures were officially |
published on both the German and |
British sides.
"Numberless authorities, both hos
tile and neutral, have expressed opin-
ions on the battle but the German peo- |
pie will not permit themselves to be |
influenced by any foreign judgment |
They understand alone how proud they |
may be of a navy whose quality and |
honor have stood the test of battle |
with the strongest sea power. They |
know that Chancellor Won Bethmann- |
Hollweg rightly expressed the general |
sentiment in his speech in the Reichs- |
tog on June when he said: This VIC |
tory too shall not make us vainglor- |
ious. We know that England is not |
subdued or conquered by this battle
BY the side of the battle of the |
Skagerrak the other events in the sec
ond year of the war, navally speaking, |
pale into insignificance. In the first
year the activity of German subma- |
rines aroused general astonishment. |
In the second year their activity was
sharply circumscribed but nevertheless
their successes in war upon commerce
were considerable in comparison with
those of the first year.
"On the other hand the destruction
but seldom. The U-27 destroyed an
English protected cruiser in the North
Sea on August 10, 1915. Another of
our boats sank the French armored
cruiser Admiral Charnier in the east
ern Mediterranean on February S,1916
number of minor war vessels were
also sunk.
English submarines did some dam
age to German commerce in the Baltic
and succeeded in torpedoing several of
our warships like the armored cruiser
Prince Adalbert. October %; Undine,
November z, and Bremen, December
II.
Special attention is merited by the
bold flights of our marine aircraft and
their important scout work in the
North Sea and Baltic. Attacks were
made against fortified places on Eng
lands east coast and the English were
able to destroy only two German air.
ships, No. 10 on April l and No. z |
on May 4. Within a few hours our air. |
ships were able to reconnoiter the en-
tire North Sea and they did valuable
service in the battle off Skagerrak. !
Marine aeroplanes also did excellent
work and especially distinguished
themselves in the Baltic where they
were of the utmost and especially dis
tinSuished themselves in the Baltic
where they were of the utmost value
in various ways. On several occasions
fensive with success, damaging war
ships with bombs and capturing mar
chantmen.
In the Black Sea and the Mediter-
ranean German submarines, working
with those of Austria Hungary, oper-
ated successfully in war against COM
merce and destroyed numerous trans
ports laden with troops and war ma
terial. In the Black Sea the Yawuz
sultan Sellm, formerly the German
cruiser Goeben, and the Midullu, for
merly the German cruiser Breslau, |
bombarded Russian fortified towns on
the Crlmean coast at various times and
damaged Russian commerce.
The glorious deeds of several Ger
man auxiliary cruisers remain to be
mentioned. The Moewe, under the
command of Count Won Donna, made a |
successful raid into the Atlantic in
January and February. The Appam, !
one of the steamers captured by il, |
carried the passengers and crew of |
other captured merchantmen to the
United States under the command of |
Lieutenant Berg. The Moewe herself |.
made her home port safely on March /
t. laden with booty.
The auxiliary cruisers Meteor and |
Greif destroyed on August and Feb |
ruary 29 respectively, the much |
stronger armed British auxiliaries
Ramsey and Alcantara.
"On the threshold of the third year
of the war ii remains to be pointed |
out that the German navy has hitherto I
fulfilled it's chief task of keeping the
enemy from German coasts and. be-
yond this, has scored series of sue
cesses that have eXcelled our most can
guine expectations. The German peo-
pie do not ignore the fact that British
sea power still dominates the seas but
nevertheless they look with confidence