CHAPTER II 



THE CALL TO ARMS 



When war broke out the British Navy put that 

 grim grip on Germany which was never relaxed, 

 but grew harder with the passing of the years. The 

 whole colossal force of the fleet was brought to bear 

 against the common enemy of man, and the German 

 Navy, " willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike," 

 was caged in Kiel, as impotent to fight as a toothless 

 tiger is to bite. That the German Navy was 

 powerless to give fair battle to the British was a 

 painful truth to be perforce admitted by even the 

 most rabid victim of Kultur. For all the good it 

 seemed to do, the German Navy might as well have 

 been on Lake Geneva or the Sunless Sea of Kubla 

 Khan in Zanadu. 



There was no hope of victory through fair fight- 

 ing. Powerful though the German Navy was, 

 skilful and courageous though some of the few 

 honest fighters amongst the Germans were, at the 

 beginning of the war, yet the overwhelming superio- 

 rity of the British Navy made maritime supremacy 

 for Germany hopeless, especially when added to 

 Britain's naval might there was the sea strength 



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