The Washington herald., 1916-11-19
LORD FISHER SCORES
BRITISH SEA TACTICS
0usted Admiralty Chief Says War
Might Have Been Shortened.
BY JOHN L. BALDERsroN.
CcoDyhsAt. ND. ss .. nec'ws ss.'O.pss

durinS the frst year Of the war been
able to destroy the German high seas
fieet"
.,our strategy in the North Sea through
out. has been defensive" .'s;.-
The 6rst Of these statements b At
trfouted to Lord Fisher. the old seados
who was forced to relinquish his place
as irst lord of the admiralty by his feud
with Winston Churchill. The second re-
mark was made by Arthur Pollen, the
most brilliant and best informed OF BTU
ish naval critics.
Both declarations would be accepted by
expert opinion anywhere as mere state
ments OF evident truths, and yet, taken
together they amount to TINS. tnat ahs
strongest navy in the world has failed
to force an Issue with q feet Of less
than half its strength. although the re-
suits of complete victory would deter
mine the issue of the whole European
struggle in favor Of Britain and mel
allies.
II follows that the view Of the naval
situation current among civilians All over
the world, but nowhere so strongly held
as In these islands. 10 entirely false. Inc
man In the street regards as axiomatc
his belief that the German Meet might as
well be at the bottom OF the sea as
skullxing In Its harbors or In the kiei
Canal, and that the full benent OF tri-
unphant sea power II now being reaped
by Great Britain and her allies.
Worth Million Troops.
So far Is this from the truth that the
mere existence Of the German armada Is
probably worth more to Won Hindenourg .
armies than would be a million fresh and
thoroughly equipped troops added to his
forces, and II Germany succeeds In
squeezing anything like draw out OF
the great war, she will owe her success
In withstanding q world in arms as much
to the good seamanship of her admirals
and the fortunate mist that descended at
the battle of Jutland as to the fighting
prowess Of her soldiery.
1T Is in the North Sea, where the main
battle fleets of Britain and Germany
maneuver, that the result of the whole
war could be decided by q Trafalgar Tor
either side; but there are three other
prospective fields of naval engagement
where the strategical position Is amazing
ly similar In the Baltic, in the Adriatic,
and In the Black Sea, the North Sea
situation is paralleled. In all four areas
inferior fiotillas whose chances Of success
IN offensive action are exceedingly min
ute are contained by fleets which be-
Heve that the risks involved in attack
are too great; the whole German cam
paisn against Riga and Dunaberg Is
crippled and has apparently been brought
to a permanent stop because of a Rus
sian battle fleet which has scarcely nreo
a shot; the Austrian success in holding
back the Italians from Trieste and the
whole hinterland Is based upon Austrian
warships which have never been in action
and are outnumbered five to one BY their
foes in the Mediterranean; Mackensen's
successful onslaught upon Rumanta has
been made possible by the German war
ships Goeben and Breslau and few an
tiquated Turkish ships which could not
stand for ten minutes before the new
Russian sea feet.
what Naval Victories Would Mean.
So il the defeat Of the main German
armies could be accomplished after the
destruction Of the high seas fleet in the
North Sea, 1t Is also true to say that
assuming neither Britain nor Germany
victorious on the water, a German VIC
tory over Russia would be more likely
n the Russian Baltic fleet were destroy
ed, Italy could deliver a staggering blow
against her chief enemy II she could sink
the Austrian ships, while the disappear
ance of Turkish and German fotillas in
the Black Sea would involve the collapse
of the whole German coalition in the
Near East. and the probable capture OF
Constantinople. And yet, with the excep-
tion of the indecisive brush on Jutland.
there has been no sea fighting Of serious
Importance during twenty-seven months
Of war in any one of the four inclosed
oceans whose command Is of such vital
strategical Importance.
why? In this story the factors which
bring about such a strange deadlock, a
deadlock so complete that the world pub
lie has half forgotten that warships other
D an submarines exist, wTil be dealt with
80 far as they are known or can be pub
Hcly discussed. 1t ought not to be neces-
sary to say, first, that the reason the rival
fleets do not fight each other Is not be-
cause they are afraid Of their enemies.
There probably Is not a big warship in
Europe whose officers and men are not
spelling for trouble, Opinion has been
much confused. however, by the taunts
hurled backward and forward in the
newspapers Of the belligerents.
Each Hurting Defiance.
Germany and England are in this re-
spect the worst offenders. Not a day
passes without. sneers against the cowar-
dice Of the other side; and the fervent
hope that the enemy's fleet will come
OUT and give our heroic seamen the OPP
portunity they have longed for during
weary months of waiting Is expressed by
newspapers and public men on both sides
Of the North Sea with equal frequency
and conviction. An outside observer Is
irresistibly reminded of two small boys
standing In their own yards and breath
ing threats OF battle and bloodshed across
the fence. you come into my yard and
you'll seeI' says one. shaking his fist.
You Just 50 much as put your leg over
the fence and I'll show you!" howls his
enemy. And both lads are quite sincere,
for either would struggle valiantly II
bis enemy undertook an invasion.
Putting Britain and Germany in the
places Of the two small boys. the fence
between them becomes the North Sea.
The reason a decisive action Is not fought
In the North Sea Is not because the Ger
mans skuIk In the Kiel Canal behind mine
fields and coast defenses: nor Is II be-
cause Jellicoe hides somewhere around the
other side of Scotland or Ireland so sub
marines can't get him.; the first taunt is
one Of the favorites. OF the British small
boy, the second the counter-attack OF
the German urchin. In the striking phrase
Of Arthur Pollen, the North Sea II "a
kind of No Mans Sea between two en-
trenched fleets This authoritative. opin-
lon makes British and German sneers al
one another over their naval policy as
rfdIcailo11z "a IL frooDs In the trenches