The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-01-16
TEUT0NS Have
GIANT SUBMARINE
FOR BOMbARDING
New Submersible Blockade
ArOuses Fears of
France.

France.
! Germany's submarine service, which
may be called on for a new and ener
getic campaign against the Allies, ha
been recognized and divided into FIVE
distinct branches The tonnage o.
the majority of the undersea boat.
runs from 500 to 1000, and some Of
the newest are said to be of 5000 tons
Rear Admiral Degouy, the French
Naval expert, commenting on the in.
formation in possession of the French
Government regarding this reorgan.
iZation, says it.. is only from neutra
sources that; the news regarding the
5,000-ton vessels has been received
and intimatss,it still needs ,confirma-
ton. u
The first branch of the service com
prises the small submarines which may
. g used for combing the Dutch Chan
rel and cutting off communication be-
tween Holland, England and France;
Zeebruge.
Larger boats will be employed to cut
Communication with the Scandinavian
tween the western Allies and Russia
arougld the northern route.
The, third class consists Of the crui-
ser submarines of the type of the U-5S,
which recently visited Newport Har-
Dor and carried out the spectacular
raid near Nantucket. They are des-
tined for warfare on shipping between
America and Europe.
In the, fourth branch are the new
submarine. mine layers which are to
block British and French ports.
The fifth category is made up of the
new battfeShip-submari which are
10 be used for bombarding seaperts. A
sample ofswhat may be expected from
them was shown in the bombardment
of F'unchal.
I, They dimensions, it is declared, are
Unprecedented. and the rumors. in this
regard from official sources are given
a certain amount of credence in we'll
Informed circles.
The statement that Germany has
100 submarines. ready for new war
fare IS not merely an exaggeration, it
is actually considerably short of the
facts Admiral Degouy says, basing his
by the Government in a secret session
Of the French Parliament.
Great Britain and France, according
to- the same authority, in an article
in the Petit Journal, have planned EN-,
tireIy new measures to meet the ex-
pected onslaught of the German sub
marines
"It is not next Spring but now that
the great submarine warfare of Ger
many against the western Allies is to
begin, and it is time to speak Of and
especially to prepare for the effects of
the vigorous blow from which our
clever adversaries expect SO much
1T is useless to go ON deluding our
selves with empty statistics. Every
day facts tbat we are experiencing are
pf a. character to cause concern.
I Here we have the Mayor and the
president of the Chamber of Com
merce of the city of Rouen issuing a
proclamation in the worm Of an APP
peal, to the population of RQuen,' and
speaking in serious terms.
z !" The hour of privations has come
the proclamation says, We are into
Winter. As a result Of the transpor-
tation crisis and the insecurity of the
sea routes, and on account of the
enormous requirements Of our muni-
tion factories, the supply Of coal for
cur city may prove insufficient
sis Wheat and Coal.
mo one can any longer seriously de-
ny the damage which can be done to
France and Great Britain, on account
of the Importance for them of the
imports by sea, by a submarine cam
paign conducted with powerful re-
Sources growing constantly more pow
erful, as are those of which Germany
CAM dispose"
! The Admiral then examines the
questions of the number and magni-
ture Of the German submarines and of
their organization for varied employ
merft. ~ ~
what, are the defensive methods
which we are to oppose to these new
engines of.sdestruction which are, en-
lowed with highly intensified offensive
An indication of the kind
of response we shall make may be
gathered from the fact that we have
placed orders in America for 200 spe-
cial vessels to cost $3.50, 900 EACH
Bread ard coal are the two com
r,odities affected by the submarine
cam paign, the lack of Which is ex-
pected to cause much suffering IN
France. Coal has been declared 10
be the basis of the pyramid of war
manufactures: iron also he
ing at the basis; transportation COM
ing next; accessory materials, such as
powder and metals higher up and can
ron and shells being at the apex.
france is consuming much less coal
than before the war, and the reason
IS that there is less ceai available In
J 913 the country used e4.OOO,OOO tors
spd in 1915 only 40,000.o0O tons. In
1fa'l q France imported 24,750,OOO tons,
more than half ofswhich was received |
from England.
kt present there are practically no
a.ccaimuiat e6s stocks except along the |
. France imported only 49,
200, OGttis toms of coal in 1915, some. |
Thing cyer 100000 ions coming
from England. The expected sub
1larine campaign may cut off tire i'm |
p3rtations from England entirely and |
from America is tnInost |
even if the submarine |
warfare. would not affect that source
Also.
The Nations richest coal mines are
in the hands of the German invaders.
rhe other mines Of the country are be-
n8 operated at increased capacity; |
out If foreign importation is cut off |
~ seriously impaired, the necessities