South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-04-17
Admiral Jellicoe Urges u. S.
Furnish Destroyers and Tugs.
To Fight German Submarines

LONDON, April II. - Adm. Sir
John Jellico, former commander of
the British grand fleet and now first
sea lord. said during the course of an
interview Monday that anything and
everything in the way of small craft.
from destrOyers 10 tugs, would be
the most useful contribution that
the United States could make to the
war against German submarines. In
this connection the first sea lord as
serted that the best hunting ground
for raiders is on this side of the wa
ter, as the possibility of German
submarines operating on the Amer
lean coast is almost negligible I'M
less they have a base on that side.
4 have no desire TO minimize to
the American people" said the ad-
miral the serious situation pre-
vailing as the result of the illegal
use of submarines by the Germans.
Neither is it easy for us to take them
into our confidence and tell them
what we are doing TO cope with the
evil, without providing the Germans
VIII useful llidllOIs NJ illtAli-
DDS existed in the past for fighting
the submerged submarine and the
new inventions and processes for
that purpose take time 70 develop.
We are giving your navy all the in
formation in our possession, and
knowing its record, we have great
confidence that American inventive
genius will supplement it with valu-
able contributions.
Must Save Tonnage.
"As far as the feeding Of the
allied populations is concerned, our
efforts must be concentrated on saw
ing tonnage, while bringing in the
necessary supplies. i'm order to min
imize the effect OF the submarine
warfare. As you probably know, we
have bought large quantities Of
wheat in Australia but as the round
about voyage takes four times as
long as that TO America. the bring
ing of this wheat takes four times
as much tonnage as the carrying
of American wheat 10 the allied
powers. We. therefore. require all
the wheat we can obtain from
America and Canada.
Our situation is by no means as
desperate as the Germans want to
believe IL is. but on the other hand,
il is more serious than many of our
own people realize. Our own ship
ping suffered very little more in
March than during the first month
Of unrestricted submarine warfare.
and other tonnage sunk during that
period was in much the same posi-
ton. and there is no very marked
method of combating the evil.
What has been accomplished is the
result Of inventions and processes
which take time 10 develop, and the
government is we'll aware of the fact
that immediate results could not be
expected
The increasing armament OF our
mercantile marine has made subma-
rines far more cautious. and more
submerged attacks are taking
place. OF course. this has one ad-
vantage. inasmuch as the raiders
raust depend upon their torpedo for
such attacks. and. being able TO car
~ only a limited number, must re-
turn 10 port sooner than when they
made their attacks from the surface.
Your navy department knows just
how many submarines we have
sunk. but the exact number Of L
boats that have actually never re-
turned 10 port is known only TO the
German admiralty, which naturally
does not give us this information.
small Craft Best Protection.
Against a submerged attack, a
host OF small craft forms the best !
protection. We can use everything !
from destroyers TO tugs OF any size. !
The danger OF showing a Qeriscope