The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-07-17
Torpedo Shortage May Cost Germany
 Submarine Coupe

Washington, July l7.-There is req son to believe that the German tor pedo supply is weakening, says headquarters today.
 The increasing frequency with which press despatches report merchant ships successfully lodging German torpedoes, says the statement, sug- gests to the technically. trained mind that the German torpedo is deteriorat- ing dn speed and hence in accuracy of fire at long range. ----
 At the outset, the statement con- tinues, the Germans were extremely careful to conserve their torpedoes. Merchant ships were sunk by gunfire wherever possible. But the aruning of merchant ships and the constant inn provement dn the Allies system of de- fense against submarine attack has driven the, submarines under water and they are now forced to use torpe- does in almost every attack. The in crease in, the number of submarines has further added to the strain upon the German stock of torpedoes.
 "A analysis of. reports submarine attacks now indicates that this un- precedented expenditure of torpedoes Is beginning to tell upon the effective ness of the U-boat warfare. The Ger
 mans are pressing their subrnarine campaign with all possible vdgor and the na1rnf1er of attacks on merchant ships appears to be increasing Also the zone of submarine operations is constantly widening. Yet this in- creased fury with which the U-boat warfare is being waged has failed to increase the number of merchant ships sunk. The Germans apparently are being forced to constantly greater efforts to maintain their. average of stnKings and even so are slipping back slightly.
 The explanation Of this offered by certain naval experts is that the Ger
 mans are being so pressed flor time in the construction of torpedoes that they can no longer maintain their speed and their acuracy of fire It is estimated that the German torpedo has lost nearly ten knots in speed outset of the war.
 . It takes normally six months to construct a torpedo and costs many thousand dollars. There is also a chance of Germany running short in some material essential in their man ufacture. Whether this has occurred Is not known but the conclusion has been reached that the individual Ger man torpedo is losing in efficiency
 The UJboat warfare as now being waged, it is said, was undoubtedly not thought out and prepared for by Ger many before the war. Therefore the stock of torpedoes was not sufficient for the purpose. The deficiency has been made up by increasing the out put of torpedoes. But with the tre- mendous land operations she has es- sayed.. Germany could not have de- voted g. maximum of labor or mate rdals to the making of torpedoes Had she done this 1t ds not doubted she could have kept up the supply But
 sacrifices in the torpedo supply were made to satisfy the folly of the Crown
 Prince at verd1n. s< Naval experts are rightly coratinr- ing to stress the vital importance of attempting to destroy the power of the submarine by some new develop ment in naval strategy No degree of deterioration in the effectiveness, of German torpedo attack would lessen these efforts at effective warfare against the submarines Yet the in- terest of naval experts has been att tracted by this recent record of per rormance of the German torpedoes. They are wondering whether Germany tcan stand much longer the strain of staggering expenditure of torpedoes