cumstances, both moral and material, which accompanied them. The attempt to debauch our crews took place at a time when France was confronted by a maximum of danger, the moment when the last peace propositions were about to be sent to our enemies. 'The men did not understand that they could become accomplices in a move which had for its aim the saving of Germany, the defrauding of France of the reparations without which she could not live, and leaving her with nothing but her sorrows and her ruins. 'Bolshevism is a poison which Germany introduced in Russia to destroy her. The poison did its work. She set about to destroy France by the same process, but she failed. The navy remained faithful to its duty. "We must not be weighed down by the disorder of a few hours. During the war French sailors have everywhere conducted themselves with heroism, never ceasing in their fight against the submarine, day and night. These brave ones, who have permitted France to live and to prepare for the victory, are the ones who have shown the true valor of the bluejackets. "Two bad days do not efface nor cause forgetfulness of the four years of heroism spent in the service of the country. "Part of the risks of war in all long conflicts are the moral and social crises which suddenly spring up. Although fatal to the conquered, the victorious peoples feel them no more than as a discomfort or as a warning. "Indiscipline and defeat, discipline and victory are similar terms. "Having won the war, it is necessary, in order to gain peace, to overthrow the conspiracy of evil forces loosed against France. "The Government counts on the aid of every Frenchman to accomplish the task in which it will not fail." At the root of all naval rebellions we always find one of these three complaints: insufficient food; also often the two others, too severe discipline and too long away from ashore. Such were the complaints of the squadron of Morard de Galles which revolted in 1794 in Quiberon Bay; such were those of the British fleet in February, 1797, when it had just barely averted the terrible menace resulting from the French attempt to concentrate the naval forces of Brest, Cartagena, and the Texel. It was then that the red flag appeared for the first time on board a man of war, and also, I well believe, what are now called "soviets." The British sailors named in each ship twelve members of the crew which had charge of the interior discipline of the ship, and two delegates per ship, who, meeting on board the Sandwich, under the chairmanship of the famous Richard Parker, a common sailor, ordered the movements of the fleet. Blood was shed, and yet England was at war with France! Finally, by measures of justice and benevolence toward these erring men, and also by rigorous measures against the leaders and the incapable among the officers, all returned to their duty. The sailors claimed an increase of pay, a bigger and better planned ration, a more equitable division of the proceeds of prizes, more advantages for the wounded, and leave to visit their families on returning from sea. All this was granted, but Parker was condemned to death and executed; several cruises, better chosen and properly conducted restored order and discipline in the crews. The rebellion had lasted three months.— La Vie Maritime et Fluviale, 6/25. GERMANY THE END OF THE GERMAN NAVY.-The dramatic end of the German Navy at Scapa Flow is an event in history which has much greater significance than the vanishing of the mushroom menace created in less than two decades by one of the most wrong-headed men the world has ever known. In the first place it stamps the nation which has just signed the peace as one which is neither honorable nor chivalrous, nor appreciating in the smallest degree the true spirit of sportsmanship. In the second place this incident brings out in greater prominence the gross miscalculations made by Germany when she attempted to wrest the trident from British hands. The Germans built their navy under conditions which gave them all that mechanical science could afford, they used it with absolute unscrupulousness, and were protected so far as their own territory was concerned by impregnability, and yet they did not produce a result which was commensurate with the cost involved or the personnel absorbed from the nation. They overlooked the fact that we were an island nation, and being dependent on the sea for our very existence, we had acquired by long experience a sea sense which could not be artificially produced by other people, particularly a purely military nation, under different conditions. When faced with the serious problem of defending the Empire, what did our mariners do? They patiently and earnestly laid down to their job and exercised their inherited faculties and sea spirit against overwhelming odds in the first instance, until their dogged perseverance and fruitful resource brought home to their enemies the rugged truth, that do what they could it was impossible to overcome the pluck and initiative of the British mariner, whether he belonged to the navy, the mercantile marine, or the fishing industry. The criticism which has been passed on the Admiralty as to the opportunities available for scuttling the German Fleet rests on very flimsy grounds, as we fail to see what could be done to exercise surveillance over ships that we could not guard with our own men, particularly as the preparation for the simultaneous sinking of a number of ships could be carried out without any evidence of such preparation being made. The only thing which we think might have been done would have been to move the vessels into shallower water if any idea existed as to an intention to scuttle them. We have always thought from the first that the most satisfactory course was the one originally suggested to sink them in a formal way in the Atlantic. The value and utility of the ships were very small to any country to whom they might have been allotted for the reason that a war vessel is always built around the armament, and therefore these vessels, if used in the manner suggested, must have been re-equipped with new armament and navigating instruments of entirely different types to those originally employed, and consequently the cost involved was not commensurate with the end achieved. Further that when so refitted they would have been quite obsolete. The sinking of the ships by Admiral von Reuter compares very unfavorably as a naval incident with the conduct of Admiral Count von Spee in the Falklands Islands battle, which stood out as a fine example of courage and chivalry.-The Marine Engineer, July, 1919. THE KRUPP GUN FACTORIES.-The Kolnische Volkszeitung states that the firm of Friedrich Krupp has fitted out its former gun carriage workshops for the construction of locomotives and railway cars. This firm has guaranteed the Prussian State a yearly delivery of over one thousand locomotives and over two thousand freight cars. GERMAN LONG Range Guns USED IN BOMBARDING PARIS.—The Military Technical Review, completing an article which appeared in a former issue gives some interesting particulars regarding the so-called long distance guns which bombarded Paris. The article is part of an interview with Professor Rausenberger who invented those renowned guns. Although Professor Rausenberger was not willing to say much, the writer of the article is in a position to state that about eight heavy guns bombarded Paris. They were 21 and 23 cm. guns. The 23 cm. guns were old 21 cm. guns which had been bored out. They always fired with a constant elevation of 50 degrees. The 21 cm. gun attained a range of 130 kilometers. Their range could be changed in modifying the charge; moreover, this was also done to spare the guns as much as possible. The French claim that three such guns were destroyed by their artillery and flying machines. That is not true for none of them have ever been hit by the enemy. One of them could no longer be used, as a shell exploded in the bore of the gun. Generally speaking, it may be said that the French artillery which fired at the long distance guns, was very well directed from the beginning, for many German gunners were killed when the French fired for the third time. Although the French fired several hundred times with heavy guns, the German long distance guns were never hit. When the Germans withdrew, all of their long distance guns were removed to safety. There were three groups of long distance guns, one being located near Crepey, about 119 kilometers from the central point of Paris, one south of Gugny and one west of Frere-en-Tardenois. The Germans advanced their long distance guns as soon as the strategic situation permitted them to do so. They also advanced their long distance guns in order to use them much longer, by reducing the charges. Professor Rausenberger claims that on the ground of his experiences with the 21 and 22 cm. guns he will undoubtedly be able to construct guns of a larger caliber (30 cm.) having a range of 150 kilometers. Everything had already been prepared to construct such guns, with which it would have been possible to bombard both the mouth of the Thames and London from Cap-gris-Nez, near Calais, without being hindered from sea.-The Military Technical Review, June, 1919. HOW GERMANY'S PRE-WAR TONNAGE IS BEING APPORTIONED.-In one of the May issues of the Hamburger Nachrichten, Rear-Admiral Hollweg, of the German Navy, discusses the future status of Germany's merchant fleet, which at the beginning of the war amounted to about 5.5 million registered tons. In the spring of 1914, the German Empire possessed no less than 1121 steamers and 136 sailing ships of more than 1000 gross tons. On January 1, 1914, 80,000 sailors were employed in the German merchant fleet. Through capture and seizure in enemy ports at the beginning of the war, about one million gross tons of German shipping was lost immediately. Another 325,000 tons were captured on the open sea, including 125,000 tons which were forced to leave the asylum of the Suez-Canal only to become an easy prey of the English cruisers. About 2.5 million tons took refuge in neutral ports. Whenever neutral countries joined the Entente the ships lying in their harbors became liable to seizure. In this way 620,000 tons were taken over by the United States; Portugal and her colonies seized 230,000 tons; Italy acquired 170,000 tons, Brazil 239,000 tons, China 21,000 tons, Peru 43,000 tons, Uruguay 42,000 tons, Siam 18,000 tons, Cuba 16,000 tons. With the collapse of Germany's allies, another portion of her merchant fleet fell into enemy hands, viz., 80,000 tons which had sought refuge in ports of the Black Sea and in Austrian harbors. As a compensation for losses suffered through submarine warfare, 22,000 tons of merchant shipping were turned over to Spain and 38,000 tons to Holland. Chile and Argentina took over 60,000 tons during the war for their own use and without prejudice to the property rights of German shipowners. Tonnage Surrendered to Allies.-Originally the Allies by an agreement signed at Brussels obtained the surrender of all German merchant steamers in excess of 4000 tons. Of such steamers there were 177 of 1,414,000 tons in home ports. Forty-three of these were passenger steamers with an aggregate tonnage of 424,000 tons. The number of German steamers of 4000 tons and upwards interned in neutral ports is shown in the following table: Forty-two of these of 151,200 tons were passenger steamers. The vessels lying in Chilean and Argentine ports have had their machinery damaged and are not immediately available for service. Later on the Allies insisted upon the surrender of all ships of more than 1600 tons and less than 4000 gross tons, whose aggregate tonnage amounted to 504,700 tons. This brought up the total of German shipping demanded by the victorious powers to three million tons. Upon the earnest pleas of the German shipping delegates, however, they were allowed to retain temporarily vessels of 158,975 tons subdivided as follows: As a result of this concession, ships of a total tonnage of 2,842,000 have only to be surrendered to the Allies. Recapitulation of Losses.-The losses incurred by the German merchant marine can therefore be recapitulated as follows: Tons Lost at the outbreak of the war through capture and seizure......1,000,000 Lost during the war through further seizures by new belligerents. . 1,417,000 Lost through the collapse of Germany's allies.. 80,000 Surrendered as compensation for losses through submarine war fare (Spain and Holland). 60,000 Taken over for temporary use (by Chile and Argentina). 60,000 .2,842,000 5,459,000 Total This figure corresponds almost exactly to the total tonnage of Germany's merchant fleet at the outbreak of the war. What tonnage is left in German hands is equivalent to the tonnage of the vessel construction in German yards during the war period. The amount of this is uncertain, but will probably not exceed 600,000 tons. Whether Germany will be able to recover any of her vessels captured in enemy ports is extremely doubtful. According to the terms of the armis tice, Germany had to surrender the vessels captured by her during the war and condemned as prizes in her courts. In complying with this provision, Germany reserved the right to make a similar claim regarding captured German vessels. Under the terms of the Declaration of London and of the Hague treaty, German ships which were lying in enemy harbors at the outbreak of the war or which entered such harbors after the declaration of war ignorant of the existence of hostilities were to remain German. Not all the nations, however, participating in the war had ratified these declarations of international law. As there was a clause in these treaties requiring all those participating to assent to them before they could become effective, the stipulations in question are not legally binding. The chances of Germany recovering any part of her surrendered tonnage are therefore not good.— The Nautical Gazette, 7/19. GERMAN SHIPPING.-German shipowners have become most despondent since the signing of the Peace Treaty. The freeing of the large European rivers and opening of the German ports to the ships of the Allies without discriminatory charges blocks the way for the resumption of previous German commercial practices. All nations can now trade on the Rhine and other rivers, besides there will now be freedom in trans-shipment at German ports. The stapelrecht, Schifferzunfte, umschlagrecht and similar ordinances will not serve to enable German shipowners to control the commerce of Central Europe as they formerly did. They cannot again be used for purposes of discrimination and preferential rating. Germans who realize what Germany has lost through the neutralization of the international waterways and the freeing of German ports declare that the Peace Treaty has sounded the death knell of Germany's mercantile marine. All her foreign transportation agencies and shipping businesses have gone to other nations.—Shipping, 7/19. GREAT BRITAIN NAVAL RIVALRY DEPRECATED.-In its leading editorial a recent issue of the Naval and Military Record speaking of the future development of the British Navy said: "The German fleet has disappeared. . . . and the only foreign power which has augmented its navy upon a large scale is the United States. In these circumstances it will not be easy to hit upon a working formula to represent our minimum needs. . . . . We might, of course, base our future building programmes on the corresponding efforts made by the United States, but the objection to such a course is that it would imply a rivalry in armament between the very Powers on whom the world relies to prevent fresh wars. Few people in this country would approve of a naval policy which could in any sense be interpreted as a threat to our friends across the Atlantic."-Scientific American, 8/2. ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY.-The court-martial has been held into the conduct of the seamen and stokers of the Australia, who were charged with mutiny without violence at Fremantle early this month. It was stated in evidence that when the ship was preparing to leave Fremantle 100 men gathered on the quarter-deck in "liberty" clothes, and requested that the ship should remain another day in order that they might entertain friends. The request was refused, but when the order was given to let go, the engine-room telegraphed that the stoke-room watch had left the boiler room. Evidence was given that the accused men were of impressionable temperaments and were not bad characters. They were given sentences varying from two years' hard labor followed by dismissal from the service to 12 months' imprisonment.-Army and Navy Gazette, 6/28. |