The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-06-12
MINISTER TELLS
HOW French navy
FIGHTS U-BOATS
Hopes for 900 Patrol Ships; Pri-
vateNards Building Sub
marine Chasers y

PARIS, May 26- Rear Admiral La.
caze, the Minister Of Marine, reply.
ing to Interpolation, outlined the
means Of defense against the under
sea boats in the chamber of deputies
today. a.. sra. .at,. .-.f...
~ see no reason why I should not
speak of these methods in public, I"
said Admiral Lacazc. at would be
childish TO think they are unknown to
tho enemy. They consist Of system
of patrol boats, Of arming merchant
men with guns and fitting them with
wireless; of seaplanes, nets, mines,
smoke raising devices and dragnets.
Il sought TO get patrol boats built
here and buy them abroad. secured
the world over with missions, covering
the ground from america to North
Cape, from the Cape of Good Hope to
Japan, but England had been before
hand. When / entered the ministry ]
found 243 patrols. Now We have 552.'
"A Socialist voice: at is formid.
able. -.
Adding To U-Boat Patrol gs. ... .....
s"I do not say it is formidable, con.
tinued the minister, .'nor even sufi
eient, and have drawn up scheme
which win increase sthe figure to 900.
i continue TO buy in London the
worlds center for shipping l am
obliged to do so because our shipyards
had been almost completely abandoned;
because, as result of that short-war
theory which weighed so regrettably
upon all decisions taken at the outset
of the war, the yards had been trans
formed into war material factories TO
meet the pressing need of the national
defense. We have now got back most
Of the arsenals and number of pri.
vate yards, together with skilled work
men. ~
"The guns we mount on the patrol
boats have been referred to disdain.
fully, but you cannot put lO.centimetre
guns on small vessel. A patrol boat
armed with 95-millimetre guns met two
submarines armed with l05.millimetre
guns, sank one aDd put the other to
fight. - M
1--WE have 1900 dragnets, as well as
1T0,500 curtain nets and 5000 twenty
feet float nets, which indicate the pres
ence of submarines. We have special
bombs for submarines and apparatus to
throw them. -NE
Seaplane Posts Organized
1--WE have organized seaplane posts
all around the coasts, Sc that the zone
of action of each post joins that of its
on either side. BY October all
and patrollers will be
fitted with wireless and all merchant
men supplied with guns of as heavy cali
Der as possible, for which measures pro
grams have been drawn up even beyond
what was thought possible.
For building the plates and frames
required, NJ. LOucheur (under secretary
for munitions in charge of the manufac
turing sections) has started up again
all the rolling mills. They will be able
to supply us with the plates asked
for, and we hope that the merchant ma
rine will also be able to obtain the
quantity Of plates to which it is emit
tied. "."i a".' ....
Deputy Emmanuel Brousse delivered |
IN Interpolation concerning the meas
ures which the ministry of marine pur
poses to take to assure safer navigation |
Of the Mediterranean, particularly near
the Spanish coast. He asserted that the |
routes of the regular steamship lines
we're not sufficiently patrolled, adding:
Lately a French vessel and an
American vessel were torpedocd twenty |
kilometers from. Port Nendres. Three
hours passed before the patrol boat was
ready to leave Port Nendres, and by |
hat time the submarine had escaped"
NJ. Brousse also asserted that the sub
marines obtained their supplies and oil
n Spanish waters and that the French |
Medjerda was torpedoed by
submarine which was screened behind
Spanish sailing vessel.
After further discussion, in which sew
,ral deputies criticized the lack of ade
Iuate patrols off Algeria and the Allan
lie ports, the submarine debate was ad
onrned until Wednesday.
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