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Offensive. In the Russo-Japanese war Russian torpedo craft made many attempts to destroy Admiral Togo’s battleships, but none of these attempts came to anything. The battleship* were screened by torpedo craft, which, if attacked by something larger, always had thebattleships to fall back upon. Precisely thesame thing will happen with submarines in the future. There is no such thing as “the weapon of the weaker Power.** A force that ia vigorously attacked has never been able to assume an effective offensive. The chance is denied it.Already most Powers are building oceangoing submarines and small submarines. The former are merely the forerunners of monstrous vessels of the future—Dreadnoughts under another form. There is one universal eternal law of the sea, equally applicable for under the sea or over it, viz., “to keep in all weathers.** It can only be attained by bulk. It can never be done by small battalions.NEED FOR MEN.POSITION OF THE SUBMARINE IN WAR.* * •Mr. Arnold White regards Sir Percy Scott*s statement as having a very important bearing upon our present naval supremacy. He points out, however, that Sir Percy treated the new situation as if the vital necessity of themoment were to build those latest machines ofwar, submarines. But he apparently overlooksthat most important requisite for offensive andtciency the personnel in charge of such fighting units, said Mr. White. “ Until we have trained or are in a position to train the men we cannot regard the building of submarines and aeroplanes as the whole solution of the difficulty. If we cannot keep ahead of Germany and other countries in this matter we are in serious danger of being undone. But then how are we going to get the men? **“ The immediate consideration affecting Sir Percy Scott*s views,** declared Mr. P. J. Hannon, secretary of the Navy League, “is that the naval construction programmes of all the Great Powers have been determined upon for a series of years ahead, and all embodyas the main and essential part of their programmes the construction of fast-sailing, large-armoured cruisers and destroyers as auxiliaries. Nobody has yet suggested that the submarine, under modem conditions, canbe so handled as to make it a determining
Newspaper Details
London Standard
London, Middlesex, GB
Sat, Jun 06, 1914
Page 11
Full Page
Clipped by
Rosenberg L.
TX, USA 19 May 2020
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