The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-03-12
Says They Might Have
Reaped Rich Harvest
Early in the War
BASES WERE THEN
OPEN TO ATTACK
If Germans Knew it They Did Not Have
Pluck to Make Raids-British Grand
Fleet Could Not Exist Without Trawl-
ers, Admiral Says.

HULL, England, Feb 26 (by mail)
How seriously the German subma-
rine might have crippled the British
navy in the early days of the war,
when there was not single British ma
val harbor protected from submarine
attack. was told this week by Lord
Jellieoe, formerly first sea lord of the
admiralty, in speech at the annual
meeting of the Hull Sailors Orphanage
here.
THE work of the fleet was a good
deal more arduous in the early days of
the war than it has been since said
Lord Jellicoe. I'm those days there
were no bases protected from subma-
rine attack and the feet was hunted
from pillar to post to find security to
carry out the necessary Operations of
eoaling. Some of the coaling opera
tons were performed under very ex-
citing conditions. the base being open
to an submarine that cared to come
in.
/ ''If the Germans knew it they never
had the pluck to try it. If they had
done SO they might have reaped a rich
harvest. But we always had to be
thinking of the possibility OF such at.
tack, and whenever I was inside base
spent many anxious moments and
some very amusing Notwithstanding
to look back upon. | mean, but not
amusing at the time. There were con
slant scares of submarines. and we
knew that if submarine got inside
, the harbor it might sink battleshiI
, with each Of the 10 or II torpedoes i
carried. Put yourself in such a posi-
ton and YOU MAJ be able to appreciat,
q little the anxiety that was felt when
g ever a signal was given that a subma
, rinc had been sighted near by.
= CAS- usual in times of anxiety w,
0 called upon the merchant marine, an,
Y an arrangement was made that if
Submarine, got inside. q base meEehan
@ ships should place themselves alongsid
e until the warships could get under way
= Thpn if the torpedocs were fired tn
@ / merchant ships would receive them in
d stead of the battleships.
= That was the arrangement. TIL
s merchant marine, as usual. did exactl
y what they were asked Scores o
t small craft dashed about the harbor 4
e full speed to keep the submarine undo
n water, and if they saw it to endeavo
70 to ram it 1t was extraordinary. hay
h ing regard to the conditions of Sc;
d and weather that many collisions di
d not occur. The skill with which tn
o whole program was carried out tim
IT after time was a grea. testimony
3 the seamanship Of those in charge {
a the trawlers and bigger ships.
le "Thn British Grand Fleet could ne
Nc exist without trawlers. One of th
h omissions in our rre-war naval prepar;
n tious was that We left the navy abs,
3. lutelv unprovided with vessels of tn
d trawlcr type When war came the az
miralty had to depend upon the gene
ositv of the trawler owners to keep tn
= fleets protected. So it is not too niue
to say that we owe the trawler owner
and men a very large debt 1t woul
be impossible to reward them adequat,
~ lv. because if one attempted to besto
decorations aud medals | don I suppo,
anybody in the trawlcr service woul
~ 60 undecorated.
% There have been several outStan,
% ing deeds of gallantry, one or two pa
ticularlv which | would like to tie
&C. about but | shall not tell because the
Is, were performed against submarine
III and if the particulars reached German
the Germans would learn something
- our methods. Moreover, if they eyt
M got hold Of am man or officer who ha
nd achieved some great success again
or the submarine they would not treat hi
ar any too well.
M In an address at the Hull Exchans
m, Lord Jellico said in part: You WI
'on belong to a community connected wit
the sea know better than those WI
eu. live further inland the difficulties wi
". which the navy has had to deal duril