Evening star., 1939-12-17

the invisible f1laments of radio. T
plans or the ships which execute
them. until suddenly the headlines
flare with such news as has come In
from Montevideo,
The sort Of warfare, as I suggested
in my last article, the British un-
derstand. 1t is interesting to recall
how Is years ago the efforts OF
many British ships in the South
Atlantic were directed toward the
interception Of the squadron of Ad-
miral Graf Spec (for whom the Ger
man raider of today is named
Spec had appeared briefly on the
world stage in his attack on the
French island of Tahiti. Then he
had vanished, suddenly to reappear
IN terrific guise as the news came in
Of the sinking of the British cruisers
Monmouth and Good Hope of the
coast OF Chile. Then he vanished
again. One British squadron was
searching for him near the Cape of
Good Hope. One lay of the mouth
Of the River Plate, guarding the beef
and grain trade between Britain
and the Argentine. Out from
Devonport energetic "Jacky" Fisher
rushed two battle cruisers COM
manded by Vice Admiral Sir Dove
ton Sturdee, and it was these ships,
joining with other British warcraft
at the Falkland Islands, which in
tercepted and destroyed Specs
squadron.
1t is not by chance that such a
concentration of strength as last
week fell upon Count Specs name
ship off the Uruguayan coast ap-
pears at the decisive place and mo-
ment. One has only to read the
immense file of admiralty orders
and correspondence at the time of
the Coronel-Falklands campaign 10
get some idea of what must have
been going on during the past three
months. And now the Cumber-
land is there, the Renown and Ark
Royal reported on the way, as well
as the French battleship Dunker-
que-which may. perhaps, be COM
ing from the nearest French naval
base, Barham, in French West
Africa. There is even a report that
the battleship Barham is in the
vicinity. The Spec appears to be
trapped; her one chance, to refuel
and break for the open sea while
she has still only Cumberland,
Ajax and Achilles to face, If, indeed,
none of the armored ships have yet
arrived.
Expended Much Ammunition.
But that chance is a poor one.
Already she has sustained severe in
juries, and expended a great deal
Of her irreplaceable ammunition,
which cannot be supplied to her, as
fuel can, from Uruguayan sources.
She has, of course, a right to fill
her oil tanks-international law al
lows her the privilege of taking on
enough fuel to reach the nearest
German port, which is Emden. Her
losses of personnel are not Grip
pling; she carried an excess compile
ment. over 1000 officers and men
far more than enough to work her
properly. But, save with the most
astonishing luck, she can hardly hope
to get away without sustaining
further injuries; even If she sinks
one or two Of the lightly armored
British cruisers, the others are clos
ing in, her location is known, the
Ark Royals planes may soon be
sweeping the sea in search of her.
If she wins clear by her own un-
aided efforts it will be a miracle of
skill and luck.
1t is just possible, however, that
she may not have to depend on her
own efforts. A few days ago, when
her sistership, Deutschland. sank
the British auxiliary Rawalpindi of
the coast of Iceland, the German Of
flcial account stated that forces"
under Vice Admiral Marschall were
out in the North Atlantic, and in
dicated that the Deutschland was
under his command. A report from
the Deutschland speaks of the Ad-
miral" giving an order, though the
Deutschland herself wears no ad-
mirals flag. Now Vice Admiral
Marschall is the commander of the
German battle squadron. His COM
mand, at the outbreak Of the war,
included the Deutschland, Graf
Spec, and their sistership, Admiral
Scheer (now reported at sea-, as
we'll as the two new 26,0O0-ton bat
tleships, Scharnhorst and Gneise-
nau.
1t is not beyond the realm of pos
sibility that Marschall may seek to
the feat of Sturdee, DASH
ing to the South Atlantic to res
cue the Spec, to avenge the com.
mander for which she was named.
Indeed, he may already be on the
way. The distance is great. He
may not arrive in time to help the
Spec. But certainly the Scharn-
horst and Gneisenau would have an
excellent chance of destroying the