Evening journal., 1918-01-07
WHY'S THAT POP UP
As WAR PROGRESSES
Big Interrogation Especially
Applies to Bottling Up
U-BoatS
CRITIC WANTS To
KNOW TACTICS

British control Of tho sea, in the old
sense, is absolute. yet the British are
not enjoying the fruits Of that control.
for, 10 mention aolhing else Sor the
moment, there il the head of the
Naisers line thrust into the unclosing
lions jaws writes &. W. Gilbert. in
Leslies. The army, weary Of its inch
hy-inch task Of advancing straight
through an intrenched line, always tho
most diflcult mode of progress. asks
"Nhy?" Generals Of The staff I'm Wash
ingtOn when the recent drive was made
on the German trenches near the coast.
and a mine with TONS Of explosives that
shook England was touched of under
the Kaiser's men. asked if they knew
YOU well enough to be frank. why it
was the ships took no part. They were
skepllcal and predicted little profit
from the military administration. The
why they asked is one of the big
Why's" Of the war.
There are other Why's as big and
as battling Here is one. technically
similar 10 the one Just asked II IL is
a principle Of warfare that you cannot
base line on the sea when the enemy
parties from further down the coast at
tackine your rear.~it is equally prin-
ciple Of warfare that your navy must
seek out the enemy's fleet and destroy
it, or If il will not give battle drive
u into some bay or harbor and con
fine II. II IS like checkers. either yOu
capture your opponents men orr you
block them so that they cannot move
without being jumped. Now, so far as
the surface fleet Of Germany is con-
cerned that strategy has been obserV-
ed strictly from the first.
Germany's baitleships, cruisers and
destroycrs cannot emerge without risk
ing destruction. But with regard b. the
u-boats. all is different They are
neither destroyed nor confined. It is
pretty clear that they cannot be de-
stroyed. Yet no attempt is being made
even 10 conflne them. The problem with
regard 10 them is not straiegically
Ii0erent from the problem with
gard to the German surface fleet at
The outset OF the war You will re-
member th6s there were German crllis-
rs and raiders over all The surface of
the ocean, and that ia the first months
OF the war they did a great deal of
iamage. 10 is a rule Of naval strategy
hat YOU must ignore the scattered
nits and devote your attention lrst
loo conflnlng or destroying the main
lody Of the enemy. The British did
his. II they hadn't If the whole Brit
IN fleet had gone chasing over the sur
face OF the seas after Hitting raiders
and commerce destroyers. Il would
lave done precisely what il is doing
with REGARD TO submarines
The main German U-boat fleet is al
WAYS in the hsrbor, that Is IN bottle
whose neck invites closing. Only
small fraction Of it is busy raiding at
any one time When you begin 10 talk
nf numbers OF submarines you are just
guessing, but this is the best guess
that has been made. and. anyways.
totals for the purpose OF what is to be
aid make little difference. so long as
he proportions are right, and there Is
GOOD technical opinion for believing
hat the following proportions are
'ight.
Here, then. seems to. be the best esii-
nate Of Allied naval authorities Of
iermany's submarine strength A total
strength Of $50 U-bOals. Of which only
lbOut 20 are operating In British waters
li any one time. The reason for the
small number Ia operation lies In the
ielicacy Of the machinery of the craft
and i'm the necessity for frequent re-
pairs. Close the neck of the bottle
and YOU shut in six-sevenths Of the
r-boat fleet, and better still. all the
boats outside have 90 return 90 the bot
10 in three or four weeks.
Every principle Of naval strategy says
that this is the way TO fight a hostile
leet. and it has yet 90 be shown that
he rules of sea warfare do not apply
lust as much 20 vessels below the sur
ace Of the water as TO vessels upon
he surface Yet for three years no at
empt has been made 10 apply the les
sons Of naval warfare 90 the fight
against the submarine. The world Is
lcginning TO ask why
There IS another why" Just as big
as these two that have gone before. II
$. why do the Allies not fly over the
ierman lines and attack and destroy
he German army's communications?
Why is The airplane harnesscd 20 the
frontal attack instead Of being develop
ad for use IN the much more vital pur-
bose OF harassing the rear? Germany,
NTH her U-boats. changed her war
rom one Of frontal attacks 90 one
AGAINST communications. She strikes at
supplies Of food and munitions des-
tined for the allied army at The front or
for the industrial population at home
Who are a necessary part of the mod
,rn war system. Germanys c0mmuni-
'ations are on land. The airplane may
serve TO strike at them in the same way
The submarine serves 20 strike at the
Nnies' communications on the sea. BY
changing their war into one on COM
munications the Germans made great
progress toward breaking the deadlock.
or would have done so II they had not
brought this country into the ilght
against them in the process. The les
son is. before the Allies. Why don't
they. too. adopt the war on communi-
rations. bending their energies toward
developing the airplane for that pur-
)ose2
NfafoI NuorEora iaxualara anil etani