Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-02-17
BATTLESHlPS
WON THE WAR, .
SAYS GERMAN
Declares Submarines Have
Been Given Too Much
Credit.

Saint BlaSien. Baden, Feb. 16.-tBy
the Associated Press. )-BattleShipS
won the world war, and will win flu
ture wars, in the opinion of Admiral
Won TirpitZ. at one time head Of the
German feet and minister of the
navy. during the critical period of the
historic struggle. He reattir,ned his
faith in above water craft during an
interview here today and declared
that. strangely enough. owing 10 the
~peculiarities Of the war. the subma-
rine had been given greater import
ance thar was warranted by the facts.
England. Japan and the United
States recognized the fact. he said,
that in the world struggle for su-
premacy outside of Europe Ian forces
would be secondary. He asserted such
sea supremacy. but added that the
sort Of maritime forces to be con
strucIed, in the light Of the expert
ences of the latest war, was a great
open question.
Admiral Won Tirpitz said. he had
little patience with the controversy
nov raging in England over the sub
marine and the surface warship, and
declared it was largely due TO a lack
of Information among many dlsput-
ants, a conflict of personal interests
and a desire on the part Of the Eng
lish cabinet to keep h world ignor-
ant of the real official views"
Much 10 BE Accomplished.
While submarine engines had be-
come somewhat stronger and the
boats somewhat more enduring" said
the admiral. the Germans. in the
main. carried on their submarine cam
paign for years with virtually. the
same craft they perfected in 1918
Further development of the subma-
rine will be much hampered until an
efficient and uniform motor can be
developed for travelling above and be.
low the surface. After this is solved
there will be a question whether a
vessel fitted for underwater travelling
can. in the long run. compete in gen.
eral performance with the surface
vessel. believe the ship constructor
will think the surface warship will,
always show a better general per.
formance.
Battleships Not Out of Date.
1.-The construction and numerical
proportion of the submarine arm OF
the service" he continued, viii
change with technical progress. but a
present there is no reason whatever
to consider the battleship out of date
as a concentration of power on the
water. The submarine has merely
been added TO the older naval force:
and will be found in all navies in grea,
numbers. In the same way counter
devices invented during the war will
be perfected but changes will be more
gradual thar the fanatical protagon'
lists of the submarine expect.
There are fools in my country wht
reproach me with not having bull
hundreds Of submarines at the out
break Of the war at the expense O
hattleship construction. These people
forget that. although Robert Fulton
built a submarine more than 10t
years ago. and set great hopes upoI
it as a weapon for fighting England
technical progress had not gone So
far as to provide an effective lont
range boat at the opening Of the cor
fict. OF long range boats. which
alone mattered and which will mattel
even more in the future. German.
owned. as regards quantity and quail
ity. more than the other navies Of tn
world combined"