Evening star., 1940-03-14

I'LL WI ~ S9tUuV0
Reich May Hove Six in
Service in 10 With
Completion Of Four
BY MAJ. GEORGE FIELDING
ELIOT.
The period Of jockeying for posi-
ton still continues, with the Finnish
war apparently ended (subject
always to Helsinki's ratification Of
Unexpectedly harsh terms)-a great
German victory. If present reports
prove true, closing the northern
flank to allied efforts, assuring the
Swedish iron supplies, releasing Rus
sia from an awkward position, REIN
forcing thereby the German Russian
situation In the Balkans and the
Black Sea.
But Just in the measure as allied
attention Is thereby diverted to the
Balkans theater, with its long sea-
borne line of communications, so is
increased In importance the naval
race which Is going on In Europe,
the nature Of which has been little
understood In America.
Considering the battleship as the
backbone Of naval power (and there
Is nothing so far in this war to cast
doubt on this generally accepted
view, we ind that at the outset Of
the war (September 3, 1880, the
number Of first-nne battleships in
service was as follows: Great Brit
ain. IS; France, 7; Germany, 2;
italy, 2; Russia, 0.
Ten Available for Service.
OF the British battleships, three
were in the Mediterranean, two were
in dockyard hands undergoing .
general refit, leaving 10 for service
in the Atlantic. Since then, however,
the situation has undergone material
alteration. The British have lost
one battleship, at least two more
have suffered serious injury. They
have been compelled to withdraw
most II not all of their strength from
the Mediterranean. leaving that
theRter to France. The Italians have
completed, or are about to complete,
four more battleships, giving them
an actual fighting superiority for the
moment to the French Ohe factor
Of efficiency aside.
But this Is not all. The Germans
are completing, perhaps have already
completed, two new IS ,00O-ton battle
ship+the Bismarck and the Tirpitz
with one more and possibly still
another approaching readiness. Sup
posing them to finish all four this
year, they also will have six modern
battleships. Leaving the British and
French fleets In status quo ante bel
lum, assuming the need for at least
observing the Italians with equal
forces, taking into account the very
great demands Of convoy escorts
which must be prepared to deal with
raids by heavy-armored cruisers
and we do not find a comfortable
situation for the allies.
The German ships average much
faster than the allied-indeed, only
flve Of the allied ships have the speed
to bring them to action. Raids by the
German squadron of six ships into
the Atlantic shipping lanes might
easily produce a most serious state q
affairs, especially If they had port.
OF refuge other than those Of Ger.
many herself, point to be remem.
bered in connection with the. rathe,
curious Arctic demands Of Russia
upon Finland, envisaging some Rus.
sian interest in an approach to thu
Norwegian frontier. '@se
But the allies are also building bat.
tleships. Mr. Churchill has an.
nounced recently that the hve battle.
ships OF the King George v class are
due for completion in the near fu.
ture, whatever that may mean
French battleships have suffered
greater relays In construction. But Il
Is likely that at least one new one
the Richelieu-will be added to thu
fleet during 1910. Thus, the immedi.
ate naval situation at any given mo.
ment is very largely concerned with
the actual dates of readiness Of thes<
new ships for sea service. If the Ger
mans can complete all four Of theil