Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-10-19

presented two impressive spectacles In
those terrible months Of April. May and
June. 1917. One was the comparative
ease with which the German submarines
were sinking merchant vessels; the
other was their failure materially to
weaken the allied fleets. II we wish a
counter picture Of that presented by
the Irish sea and the English channel.
. where merchant shipping was con-
stantly going down, we should look to
the North sea, where the British grand
fleet, absolutely intact. was defantly
riding the waves.
The uniformed public explained this
apparent security In way Of its own:
1t believed that the British dread
naughts were anchored behind booms.
nets and mine fields, through which the
submarines could not penetrate. Yet
the fact of the matter was that the
grand feet was frequently cruising in
the open sea, In the waters which were
known to be most infested with sub
marines. The German submarine had
been attempting to destroy this feet for
two and one-haif years. 1t had been
the German plan to weaken this great
UdG&S0 iOECo ny dtdItJOI, tHdt ~
sink enough battleships to make pos
sible a general engagement with some
chances of success; yet the submarines
had not destroyed single dreadnaught
In this situation. merchant ships con-
stantly being torpedoed and battleships
constantly repelling such attacks, there
was certainly much food for thought.
Il 4 X Il
Yet there was no mystery about the
immunity which these great fighting
vessels enjoyed. for the submarine prob
lem. SO far as it affected the battle
fleet. had already been solved The
explanation was that whenever the
sdreadnaughts put to sea they were pre-
ceded by screen Of cruisers and de-
htroyers. These surface craft apparently
served as a kind Of impenetrable wall.
against which the German U-boats were
beating themselves unavailingly. To
the casual observer. however, there
seemed to be no reason why the de-
stroyers should have any particular ter
ror for submarines. Externally they are
the least impressive war vessels afloat
Sailing ahead OF the battle squadrons,
the destroyers we're little, ungraceful
objects upon the surface of the water:
they suggested fragility rather than
strength. and the idea that they were
the guardians Of the mighty battleships
behind them at first seemed almost
grotesque. Yet these little vessels really
possessed the power Of overcoming the
submarine. The war had not progressed
far when 1t became apparent that the
U-boat could not lnger long anywhere
rear this speedy little surface vessel
without running serious risk of destruc-
tfoH.
Yet. until the reports OF submarine
fighting began to find their way into
the papers. 1t was probably the one
type of warship in which the public
had the smallest interest. 1t had be-
came. instead. a kind Of ugly duckling
Of the Navy. Our Congress had regu-
larry neglected It: year after year our
naval experts had recommended that
four destroyers be built for every battle
ship. and annually Congress had appro-
priated for one or two. The war also
found Great Britain without a sufficient
number Of destroyers for the purpose Of
Anti-submarine warfare. The admiralty
had provided enough for screening the
grand feet in cruising and in battle. but
1t was called upon to divert 30 many
for the protection Of troop transporta-
ton. supply ships and commerce gen.
orally that the efficiency of the feet was
greatly undermined. Thus Britain
found herself without enough destroyers
to meet the submarine campaign; this
situation was not due to any lack Of
foresight, but to a failure to foresee
that any civilized nation could ever en-.
ploy the torpedo in unrestricted warfare
against merchant ships and their crews
The one time that this type of vessel
Dad come prominently into notice was
IN 1904. when 1t attacked the Russian
Meet in Port Arthur, damaging several
powerful vessels and practically ending
Russian sea power in the far east. The
history Of the destroyer, however, goes
back much further 1t was created to
fulill q duty not unlike that which it
has played SO gloriously In the world
war. In the late seventies and early
eighties q new type of war vessel, the
torpedo boat, caused almost as much
perturbation as has the submarine in
recent years This speedy little fighter
was invented to serve as medium for
the discharge of a newly perfected en-