Evening star., 1940-07-05
British Sea Tradition
Upheld by Attack
On French Fleet
Puts Faith in Worships;
Blocked Napoleon by
Seizing Danish Vessels
BY MAI. GEORGE FIELDING
ELIOT.

ELlOl.
The action of the British gov
ernment in ordering the destruction
or seizure of the French navy is a
clear indication of British realiza-
tion that the only hope of ultimate
victory over Germany lies in MAIN
tanning control of the sea. Hitler's
new continental system" is begin
ming to look very much like Ma
4 poleon's in principle, with the men,
ace of air power added. He is en-
deavoring to do what Napoleon so
often boasted of but never accom-
plished, to conquer the sea by the
land.
The British, on the other hand,
are trying to conquer the land by
the sea, resolved, no matter what
conquests Hitler may achieve on the
continent, to keep the seas reso-
lutely closed to him and SO in the
end wear him down. This is de-
pendent, of course, on preventing
Germany from becoming a great
sea power by acquiring other peo-
pies navieS. Napoleon had this
idea in 1907, when he made almost
simultaneous threats against Portu-
gal and Denmark with the object
OF acquiring their not inconsider-
able fleets. Great Britain was at
peace with Denmark, but neverthe-
less sent Immediately a naval and
military expedition to demand sur
render of the Danish fleet "in
pledge" until the close of the war.
The Danes offered resistance,
Copenhagen was bombarded into
surrender and Is line battle ships
and 20 smaller ships with all the
equipment of the Danish naval
arsenal were seized and taken to
England.
The French Rallied Then.
The expressions employed by
French writers of the time in de-
scribing this procedure sound oddly
like those now emanating from Ber-
lin with regard to the action at
Oran, such epithets as cowardly, |
odious, perf1dious, shameless, be-
trayal of friendship, and so on,
were freely applied to the British |
ministry. Nevertheless, Napoleon |
did not get the Danish fleet
In the present instance British |
apprehensions appear to have been |
of similar nature. Just as the |
additions of the Danish and Portu-
guese fleets to that of France in |
1907 would have given the French
at least a numerical superiority in
European waters, so that addition |
of the French navy intact to those
of Germany and Italy would have
glXen the axis numerical superb |
ority over Great Britain. The situa-
ton of the British Mediterranean |
fleet might have been particularly |
grave, cut of from home and faced |
by the Italian plus the French |
fleets, outnumbering it heavily
This is, of course, discounting the |
time factor and presuming either |
that the Germans could promptly |
have manned the French fleet
themselves, which is doubtful, or
that they could have forced the
French crews to handle the ships |
themselves.
Now Was the Time to Act.
At any rate, the time to prevent |
such contingency was obviously
now, while there was still oppor-
tunity to prevent the French ships
being handed over. The net result
appears to have been about as
follows:
OF the French fleet as it existed |
at the beginning of the war, 7
battleships, 10 cruisers, 66 destroy
ers, IS submarines and 90 escort |
vessels and torpedo boats, the Brit
lsh nave possession of three battle |
SHIPS, seven cruisers Gncluding the |
Jeanne dare at Halifax, certainly |
eight and probably more destroyers. |
an unstated number of submarines
ana most OF the escort vessels, in
Guiding a number of additional craft |
ntted for that purpose or for mine |
sweeping. Three battleships and |
Two destroyers were accounted for |
at Oran. One battleship. five de-
stroyers and some other small craft |
escaped to Toulon. This battleship
was damaged. Two cruisers and |
elght submarines are in the Far |
East. Unaccounted for are Frances
one aircraft carrier "a seaplane |
tender was destroyed at Oran and |
mas been mistakenly called r. car
rler In some dispatches), nine Gr,lis-
ers, about 40 destroyers, an unknown |
number of submarines and a few
escort vessels.
Inc ships unaccounted for would |
make a formidable but not de-
clslve addition to the axis fleets |
some OF the French destroyers are
very large and fast ships. power
!ully armed, which would be excel |
lent for raiding conveys against the
smaller British destroyers. How
ever, a number of French ships are
at sea or in distant ports, according
10 British statements, and there
may still be ships which will be
eathered In to reduce the number
OF Germany's possible acquisitions.
Ships Under Construction.
Ihere remain to be considered |
the ships under construction. It is |
quite possible, and this contingency
was no doubt taken into account |
by the British government, that in
dlgnatlon at the attack on the Oran |
squadron may cause French naval |
engineers and workmen to seek re-
venge on "perfidious Albion" by
completing the ships now in French |
dockyards for use either of the
Germans or for French co-opera-
tion with the Germans. OF four
battleships under construction two
(the practically completed Richie
lieu and her sister, Jean Bart, which
could not steam but could be towed) |
are reported at Casablanca, in Mo-
rocco, and the exposed situation of
this tport can leave little doubt that
they will fall into British hands. |