The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-03-06
NAVAL WARFARE RESULTS STILL FAVOR BRITISH Sir Eric Geddes Reviews Situation On Sea for
 Last Year LOSS OF BRESLAU
 SERIOUS TO HUNS Mediterranean Sinkings Will Need More Attention, Says Admiralty Lord

London, March 6.-The introduction of the naval estimates in the house of commons today was made the oc- casion by Sir Eric Campbell Geddes, first lord of the admiralty, for g. lengthy speech in which he summed up the naval situation during the last year. CCopious extract from the first lords speech were received by cable from London yesterday.
 ''On the whole, naval warfare dur ing the last year has proceeded in- creasingly in our favor,'' said Sir Eric. Tt has continued chiefly to test the strength between the enemy sub marine and the measures we and our allies have taken for combating that menace. There have been occasional interlDdes such as the exit of the Goeben and the Breslau and the re- cent raid by enemy .destroyers on a. Dover patrol. Occasional raids on our conveys and the English coast are a natural outcome of the bAockaded en- emy trying to harass the blockading fleet. The exit of the Goeben and the Breslau tfrom the Dardanelles) was a raid of similar character. The Goe- OCA HdSo 1V-AObIOA1 oLtA0 "AA[O SAS ~ ports justify the belief that she was damaged, we must for the present treat her as a still efficient engine of war. The loss of the Breslau is a se- rious one for the enemy in that area and much outweighs from the military viewpoint the loss of our Raglan and M-2S British monitors sunk during the engagement with the Goeben and the Breslau outside the DardaneHes).
 'The Dover raid is, in way, a satisfactory incident It has been commonly believed that the passage of submarines through the straits of Dover had been prevented by nets and Instructions since the early days of the war. That is not true, and undoubtedly a considerable number of submarines passed through, even toward the end of last year. A more vigorous policy was adopted re- gently and the surface barrier is now maintained day and night across the channel. At night patrolling craft numbering more than 100 burn flares, so that any submarine attempting the passage has a reasonable chance of being engaged.
 gro raid this barrage the enemy came out on the night of Feb. 14. cannot comment on the incident, be-
 cause the admiralty in Dover has or
 dered a court martial to elucidate it,
 but I can pay tribute to the heroism and devotion of the men who, after
 being hammered by the warships
 maintained their patrol and went out again the next morning and ever since Everything possible is done to
 protect them.
 Might raids of this kind always can be undertaken by a determined enemy and are a tribute to the ef- | ficiency of the work of the barrage. "In previous statements I dealt l chiefly with the naval situation in home waters. That is not due to a lack of appreciation of the importance of the other theatres, including the l Mediterranean"
 Sir Eric alluded at this point to the l fact that the waters around the Brit ish Isles had been the enen1y's chief l field for submarine operations and l that with American help the greatest successes against the submarine had been obtained in those waters He said. however, that 30 per cent. of
 the losses of merchant ships was ac- counted for by the Mediterranean, and
 that conditions there had been more
 difficult to meet, the resources hav- ing been less adequate and success
 against the submarine less satisfac- tory.
 ''It became increasingly evident,
 continued Sir Eric, that as our re-
 sources improved we would be able
 to turn our attention more to the
 Mediterranean. recently went tc
 Rome for a meeting of the Allied
 naval committee, ana inspected the naval establishments in the Mediter- ranean including those of the Greek
 navy. British naval officers are as-
 sisting the Greeks in the reorganiza-
 tion of their navy, which already is
 co-onersting in the Mediterranean
 and rendering valuable service"
 'rThe meeting of the committee ir
 Rome was representative of all the
 Allies with naval forces in European
 waters It accepted fully the anti
 subuar;na proposals put forward by
 Vice Admiral Cafthorpe, British com mander in chief in the Mediterranean. | It agreed we should forthwith adopt 1 and adant to the Mediterranean the l sana measures that have given suc- l ca.- ,,, +he waters of the British Isles | -@ .,,fi-r,1 il,,a v-3,,a