Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-05-25

able to obtain a conservative estimate
in quarters where reliable statistics
are available: and am informed tha
a total loss OF one hundred would be
II anything an over-statement Of the
truth. This figure includes many
boats which were supposed 70 be lost
because they were believed to have
been heavily hit by shell-fi.'e.
Losses Exaggerated
Fer some months | have had q
growing conviction. based upon a very
close study OF the campaign, that the
submarine losses were not nearly sc
large as represented and that with the
growth in size, speed and sea-keeping
qualities of the submarine, the prob
lem Of meeting and breaking up the
so-called blockade is becoming in
creasingly difficult
1t is my belief that at the time OF
the Jutland fight, when the German
High Seas Fleet las driven back, with
heavy losses and in a badly battered
condition, to its naval bases, Germany
| realizing the hOpelessness Of any at
! tempt to defeat or break through the
British fleet, determined to cease all
work upon the construction Of capital
ships and bend its whole ship and
engine-building capacity to the crea
ton Of great fleet Of submarines for
war upon enemy and neutral COM
merce. Saving and except that this was
an utterly illegal form Of warfare, the
Germans were perfectly right in stat
ing that therein lay their last chance
Of victory" For II is a fact that,
granted a sufficiently large fleet of
submarines, the Allies can be, II not
starved, at least so hampered by a
shortage Of food and raw materials
for the manufacture Of guns, shells
and military equipment, that they will
be unable to win such an absolute
victory as to enable them to dictate
the terms OF peace. This is the situa-
has stated that 1t Is her purpose to
force the Allies to compromise
peace, and whether she can do it or
not depends first and last upon her
ability to set afloat and man, within
a definite period Of time, the thousand
or more submarines which would en-
able her thus to bring the Allies to
their knees.
What Is the German submarine ca.
pacity? Is 1t sufficient to enable her,
say within the year, to build, equip
and man a thousand or twelve hun
dred boats? Nobody outside Of Ger
many can answer that question; but
l believe that she Is probably we'll able
to do this, provided, Of course, that she
Is not herself brought to her knees
through collapse OF her finances,
through starvation, or by the absolute
overthrow Of her armies.
Standard Type Of craft
OF course, the only plan by which
Germany could build a thousand sub
marines in a year, would be by what
has come to be known as the manu-,
featuring method, Of which a notable
example is found in the great Ford
plant at Detroit. 1t is pretty safe to
say that she has adopted a standard
type Of craft, the details Of which are
based upon the experience Of the past
two and half years, and that she has
enlisted the whole of her shipbuilding
plants, public and private, and a cor
responding number of her engine
building firms, in this work.
l have made investigation Of the
capacity of the German yards as re.
CARDS building ways, and it discloses
the interesting fact that, without lay
ing down any additional ways, she
could have under construction at any
given time about $50 submarines Of
the size Of the U-53 which came to
Newport last year. The 800-ton sub
marine requires about 80 feet of clear
width in order to allow a working
space around the hull, and its length
Is something under $50 feet. Each
of the three 625-foot drydocks at Will
helmshaven, for instance, would per-
NIT of the construction of six subma-
rines on its floor, and eight boats
could be constructed in each Of the
larger docks, 1922 feet in length. Also
the floating docks, Of which the Ger
mans have 80 many, would form ex-
cellent building ways The smaller
dry-docks, 500 feet or less in length,
and the floating docks would take two,
three or four submarines, as the case
might be. Moreover, ways suitable
for submarine construction can be
built rapidly on foreshofe or river
bank, and the actual shipping and
dockyard capacity, so far as building
ways is concerned, could quickly be
doubled. If the Germans thought fit,
they could have a thousand subma-
rtnes under construction at the same
time. !
The limiting factor as to ttme-capa-
city, however, would not be the provi-
sion of ways, or even the construction
Of the bulls, but rather the rapid con
struction of the internal equipment
OF this the engines would present the
least difficulty; for Germany is the
great Diesel-engine country, and If
they extend themselves in a concsFted
effort of this kind, the leading heavy
Oil engine builders, such as Krppps,
the Emden Works, the Augsburg
Works and the Neuremburg Works,
reinforced by less known firms and
the large numher If enpin airing