The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-06-25
| CHURCHILL URGES
NAVAL OFFENSIVE
BY GREAT BRITAIN
Would End Deadlock By
Putting the Surplus of
Warships in Action.

London, June 25.-Winston Spencer
Churchill, in an article in The Sunday
Pictorial, demands an aggressive pol
| icy for the vast surplus fleets under
the Allies command, especially since
Americas entrance into the war.
1.-THE Allied navies," he declared
shave today at least two dreadnoughts
for every one at the disposal Of Ger
many and Austria, and, in addition,
more than four old battleships to one
for the enemy. But the superiority IN
weight of metal, modernity and ton
mage is far greater even than these
immense figures imply. Are we really
to be content to see this vast mass OF
about 200 battleships wait idle on the
off chance, of the German fleet emery
ing to fight, until peace-perhaps an
unsatisfactory peace-is declared!
when three old battleships were
sunk in the Dardanelles it was repre-
sented as a great naval disaster, but
what kind of disaster would 1t De
when, on the day peace is signed, nun
dreds of batt1eships are found to have
been practically unused and pass INTO
obsolescence, to- be supplanted IN
future wars by. airplanes and subma-
rines?
I'VE must nave d NdSL pidS- "1eOA
fleet capable of engaging the full
strength of the enemy with good pros
poets of success, but after that has
been provided for an immense surplus
| of old but valuable vessels remains,
| and it is in their adoption for and
employment in aggressive action that
escape from the present deadlock can
| still be found. n :.
| sn is only when we are able to de-
wise and execute some method OF ag-
| gressive naval warfare against the
Germans that we shall find his weak
ness and our strength; that we shall
| liberate our splendid navy from the
| enchanted circle the submarine has
drawn about it and compel our enc
mics to absorb themselves so much In
| the process of their own defence as to
| leave them no leisure to compass our
ruin.
The combined naval force of the
Grand Alliance, including only dread
| noughts, pre=dreadnoughts and bat
| tfe-cruiserss opposes Apr oximately
! 173 capital ships to sc similar ships
Of the Central Powers. However, fthe
quoted figures for none of the bellig-
| erents, except the United States, are
| accurate.
|
Great Britain is supposed to have sew
enty-seven capital ships and Germany
orty-eight But what the relative
| losses are cannot be established, and
both powers are known to have more
| than replaced any loss sustained. The
| neved to be stronger now than at tbs
| beginning of the war.
! Moreover, the full weight Of the Al
| lies capital fleet cannot be thrown
against Germany's forty-eight ships
Forces must be detached to contain
| the Austrian feet of Sixteen, . fol
which work Italy possesses only thir-
teen capital ships. Turkeys capital
fleet of two, or four if the Goeber
| and the Breslau be counted, might be
! contained by Russias Black Sea fleet
| The United States fleet of thirty-foul
| capital ships may be counted an I'M
| impaired addition to the forces of the
| Entente, but Japan is hardly likely
to send her entire fleet of thirteer
dreadaoughts and pre-dreaancnghts
Into the North Sea.