New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-11-19

Wilhelmshaven. which lies ten to fifteen miles
from the open sea. =,
But what I have described is not all
Thirty miles north Of Wilhelmshaven and
the same distance west Of Schleswig-
Holstein lies the tiny island Of Heligoland.
It is of sandstone formation and rises nearly
200 feet out of the water considerably
higher than Fort Wadsworth at the Mar
rows. An old German rhyme recalls the
fact that the land is reddish, the grass
green and the beach white, colors whlcn
those Of nv readers who have stamp col
lectons will recall as being those OF the
English Heligoland stamps. | call it tiny
island. for it is less than one square n'ile
in area. II is triangular in shape. with
base of about a quarter of a mile ana
height of about a mile. The island was
coded to Germany by England in the days
of Queen Victoria $500, when the un-
sophisticated English we're siding with the
Turk and thought Germany their oosom
friend.
A Priceless Base
To-day the island is Of untold value to
Germany for not only is it powerfully forti-
fed, but it and an adjoining sand bank have
been made into harbor and shelter for
submarines, destroyers, light cruisers, Yep
pelns and aircraft generally. The water
near by is shoal enough to permit of efec-
tive protection by mines clear across 70 the
coast lines, if necessary, and the English
have here, in front Of the great ports
have referred to and close to Kiel, the other
great naval port on the Baltic, nest from
which the smaller German hornets fire.
quently sally forth. The larger vessels do
not venture on the high seas very often. In
return the English have never ventured to
make serious attack; the so-called Heligo-
land fight in 1914 was utterly void Of
serious results and no attempt has been made
at all on Wihelmshaven.
Ny readers will naturally endeavor to re-
call some similar condition of things on our
own coasts, but as a matter of fact none
exists. The islands of Martha's Vineyard
and Nantucket, with the adjoining shoals
and crooked channels are, it is true, some
what analogous to the German islands, for
they are strung out in q long line and have
behind them few small ports that would be
useful in war, and the all important Cape Cod
Canal. Our own port Of New York presents
situation we'll worthy of comparison, be-
cause il has two exits over hundred miles
apart one through the Lower Bay, the
a landsman can readily grasp the advantage
this gives our fleet, and the difficulty an
enemy would have in attempting TO blockade
New York. This advantage. however, en-
phasizes the necessity of making He'll Gate
safely navigable for such huge ships as the
Pennsylvania, not to speak of our new bat
te-cruisers Our feet can go from here
TO Newport, almost the entire distance in
side of Long Island, and be perfectly safe;
and in like manner a German feet can go
from Wilhelmshaven to Kiel via the sea and
the Kiel Canal and not be in the open for
more than twenty niles, the whole distance
being only little over hundred miles,
about as far as from New York to Fishers
Island And while in the open sea it will
be behind the mine fields and other protec-
tons of which Heligoland forms the outer
most point Twenty miles is about the dis
lance from the Battery TO Sea Bright. or
from Oyster Bay to Bridgeport. The dis
lance from Wilhelmshaven to Kiel around
Denmark is many times one hundred miles,
and the Baltic is accessible to the Allies
only through very difficult channels. Thus
the Germans can shift their feet from the
North Sea to the Baltic with absolute i'm
punity in a very short time, an advantage
which virtually doubles the value of that
fleet At the same time whether that feet
is at Wilhelmshaven or Kiel it is safe from
an attack from the sea-at all events no
attempt has been made to attack the former
port, because, | assume, it was impossible
in the judgment of naval men to make such
an attack with any degree of success, Mr..
Churchill to the contrary notwithstanding.
Impregnable Approaches
- 30
and the mainland, and all around Heligo-
land, are channels, which, of course, are
protected by forts, mines and submarines.
Guns mounted on Heligoland would be ex-
ceedingly difficult for the allied warships
to meet. In fact, it is hardly possible to
achieve success against such guns. Here,
then, in the southeast corner Of the North
Sea, is a perfectly safe retreat for warships
of all sizes, with Notifications innumerable.
OF course, the Belgian coast must not be
overlooked in this consideration. While
Antwerp cannot be used as a war port, Zee
brugge and Ostend are so used, the former
in particular. Endless submarine and de-
stroyer attacks have started from Zee
brugge, which port has been repeatedly
bombarded from the and sky. But the very
fact that in spite of this it is still useful
port for the Germans shows how difficult
is an effective naval attack on harbor.
1t will be remembered that we never were
able to force the entrance Of Charleston;
that Fort Fisher fell only because of the at
tack by the army following on the naval
bombardment, and Mobiles defences fell be-
cause our feet was able to pass the forts
and take up position where the forts could
not reply Port Arthur could not be effec-
lively attacked from the sea-in fact, the
Japanese suffered considerable damage to
their ships through the fire Of the forts on
the high ground at the entrance to the
harbor
ITO be continued to-morroW)