Evening star., 1939-12-18

had little hope of getting away;
hence. she is destroyed, the lives of
her crew saved. But a different
point of view might have sent her
out to do what damage she could
and event. is not impossible-to
an escape, which would have been
a tremendous victory for German
arms and German prestige Genius
in war is, after all, founded on a
willingness to assume the respon-
sibility for taking risks. The for
lorn hope has, time and again, pro-
duced magnificent results. But for
lorn hopes are not in the German
tradition.
No Assurance of Neutrality.
AS to fnternment, the Germans
can hardly have forgotten that in
the last World War. a number of
South American nations eventually
became belligerents on the side of
the allies. There is no such guar
antee that Uruguay would not have
done so in this war. In such a case,
the Graf Spec would have fallen
intact into allied hands, and per-
haps have been used against Ger
many; certainly there would have
been every opportunity for her to be
closely studied by allied naval off,
GERS.
1t is difficult to assess the effect
OF the Specs destruction on Ger
man naval prestige This prestige
was, up to the moment of the fight
OIL Uruguay, very high. The Ger
man Navy's offensive spirit and
efficient operations, compared with
the customary initial "muddling" of
the British, was having considerable
effect, not only in neutral countries,
but in Germany and Britain. In
Germany, no doubt, the act of the
captain of the Spec in destroying
his ship will be portrayed as an
heroic gesture in the finest tradition
of the German Navy; in Britain,
her destruction as an indirect re-
suit. at all events, of the skillful
and determined action of British
squadron of inferior ships, will be
much needed lift for British morale
and for British confidence in their
navy.
Sea Lanes Remain Open.
In a small way, the results of this
action may be compared to those of
the battle of Jutland. When all is
said and done. the objective of all
naval operations is the control of
sea communications. involving the
ability to conserve them for ones
own use-whether military or COM
mercial-and to deny them to an
enemy. The toll of ships lost at
Jutland showed a heavy advantage
for the Germans; but the conditions
that prevailed before the battle, of
complete allied domination of the
sea lanes of the world, endured after
the battle; the German navy had
not broken the grip of the British
blockade, had not interfered with
British control of the worlds sea
communications. 1t had no other
reason for fighting, or for existence
Today, the Germans will doubtless
point out the damage they did to
the Exeter, which probably will be
in dockyard hands for many a long
month; they will count the list of
dead and wounded; they will say
they gave as good as they got. But
the purpose of the British navy is
to maintain British dominance of
far-flung lines of communications;
that Of the German navy to inter-
rupt British use of such communica-
tions. So considered, the loss of
the Exeter for some months during
repairs matters little against the
destruction of the Spec. The Spec
will raid no more; the Exeter will
be replaced by some other British
cruiser, and from the estuary OF
the Rio de la Plata Argentine beef
and wheat will continue to flow
across the Atlantic to the hungry
ports of Britain.
OF such prosaic stuff is made the
naval victories of today-the VIC
tories that really matter.
(Copyright. New York Tribune, Incl