The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1917-07-14
Merchants Fleets to be Conveyed
Across the Ocean by Naval
Vessels-Drop Iron
"Fence"
(By L. Harper Leech)

w dSulI6tOh -. ~, ouAs
submarine warfare has reached
stage which will probably lead to
complete change of tactics. The
change of method will probably be
as revolutionary as the change IN
land warfare which followed the bat
tie of the Marine, when the war of
maneuvers was superseded by the
war of the trenches.
On land the airplane and the ma
chine gun have relegated the tactics
which man has used on land since
he first began to make war.
But the British admiralty has fol-
lowed the same ideas in ghting the
submarine which have been followed
by all the victorious maritime pow
ers of history. 1t is the simple Of
fensive. Find the enemey and
fight him."
The method is in thorough accord
with the traditions of the British
navy and the national anthem,
"Britania Rules the Waves" Until
very recently it was fairly successful
There was never any trouble about
the fight" end of the plan. But
find the enemy has proved the al
most insoluble problem.
Reduced to tactics, there are four
methods of Citing the submarine:
1.-The Offensive-Hunting for sub
marines with destroyers and patrols
covering the sea with submarine cHas-
ers, dragging the sea with nets,
securing the air with aeros.
2-The Dropping the
idea of exterminating the submar-
ines by bottling up the German coast
with nets, mines and bomb.carrying
cables.
3-The Sea Trench Method-im
prisonment of the submarines by bot
Ting up the German coast with nets
mines and bomb-carrying cables.
Am Attack on the Bases-"Dig
ging the rates out of their holes"
To date. the war against the sub
marine has followed the simple of
fensive. 1t was fairly successful 81
long as the submarine had limited
cruising radius and had to keep clos
to the shores of Britain, BY cover
ing the North sea and the channe
with patrol boats and dragging then
with nets, the British PRACTICAL
drove the smaller submarines fror
the narrow seas.
The Germans countered with 80
foot submarines that could cruise on
in the Atlantic.
The admiralty is up against
mathematical Smpossibipity. Tn
further out it extends the patrol, tn
bigger grows the ratio of patrols
submarines.
Assuming that one patrol boat ca
cover 20 miles of sea, it would r,
quire four times as many patr(
boats to cover the sea 200 miles o
shore as it would take to protect tn
sea for 100 miles out, while onl
twice the number of submarine
would be required to blockade tn
circumference of the patrolled are
200 miles out as would be require
for the smaller circle.
VT ha lv,,;f 10 IL
would require 16 times the number {
patrols to combat four times tn
original number of submarines.
The only solution of this problem
in the opinion of many nav Il me
is for the British navy and it's allie
to change its tactics and devote i
energies to conveying and protector
merchant shipping.
Ships must wait until all the CO
voy is loaded sail at the same spe
and make the same ports. The nur
Der of trips per ship will be Ct
down. The docking facilities of Il
ports will have to be enlarged. I'll
quantity of freight which can be d
livered will be lowered perhaps
per cent.
This tremendous traffic profile
has prevented the adoption of Il
convoy system up to this time.
But that way safety lies, accordil
to experts who have the facts.
The convoy and the patrolled s
lane will cut down losses to a neg
gibe amount.
Especially is this the case in fl
weather, when airplanes can be C,
Rad along on mother ships TO SEQ
the surrounding waters for subn
rinees. Naval airmen say that t
submarine will never come to t
surface when an airplane is about
fair weather. In rough weather t
submarine suffers terrible handica
of I;u,itad xic;ap apd tornadn RON,