LAND AND WATER 
September 5, 1914 
Venice V^iTj^s:^"^"^ 
^•5'^^, 
^CATTARO ( Torpedo base ) 
General line of 
Franco-British 
blockade 
Psychologically — and deducting fifty per cent, from all 
etories for " literary licence " on the part of journalistic tran- 
scribers, we axrive at the pleasing conviction that our men took 
the matter very much as they took similar operations in peace 
manoeuvres. This is a valuable psychological asset. 
The officdal report — entirely on the material side — is wisely 
none too explicit. It, however, gives us all that we really need 
to know. 
It is an old a^age of naval warfare that the only effective 
defence against torpedo attack ia what is known as " stopping 
the earths." To look for the enemy at night on the sea ia 
equivalent to seeking for the proverbial needle in a bundle of 
hny. The only effective way of catching the enemy is to be 
■' outside the door " to catch him either starting out or return- 
ing. To catch him starting is difficult; ho is likely to be far 
too wary to be caught coming out. The scientific method is to 
let him go out, see to it that his chances of doing mischief 
when out are small, and intarcept him on his return ! And 
this is exactly what Admiral Beatty did. 
Led by the Arethusa, our destroyers got in and lay in 
\^ait somewhere off the north-west of Heligoland. Here in 
due course they were found by — or rather tJici/ found — the 
Germans coming back. In the action which ensued it would 
appear that two German cruisers (probably Mainz and 
Aj-;adne) engaged the Arethvsa with a certain amount of 
success, at a range of " about 3,000 yards," which suggests an 
early morning action. 
Neither of the Germans carried anything heavier than the 
41, whereas the Arcthusa had a couple of 6 inch available. 
All the same, however, the Germans had ten 4 13 bearing 
s.gainst the two 6 inch and three 4 inch of the Arethusa. 
According to our official report one of the Germans was badly 
damaged by a lucky shell (6 inch we can safely presume). 
This v;as to be expected ; but the off chances were all German. 
The damaged Germaji then withdrew, but her place was 
presently taken by another cruiser, and the Arethusa (as was 
to be expected) was somewhat badly knocked about. It is 
probable that at and about this early part of Act Two the 
Germans expected to sink or capture her. 
Meanwhile all the destroyers on either side were in action. 
The result of any such action was a foregone conclusion. 
German destroyers are " torpedo boat^ " first, and " gun ships " 
afterwards. British destroyers approximately average half 
the German torpedo armament and double the German gun 
power. 
The German destroyers put up a fight against heavy odds, 
and then scattered and escaped. One (or two) were sunk. 
The rest are officially assumed to have been "well punished." 
This assumption is pi-obably correct; but the outstanding 
result is that they got away. How much stomach they may 
have loft for further fighting remains to be seen. Personally, 
I incline to the opinion that it will not be long before they are 
heard of again. 
Prom here onward it is very difficult, if not quite im- 
possible, to reconcile the two official accounts. The British 
account, so far as it reveals anything, suggests that the German 
cruisers persistently attacked the Arethusa, and that she was 
in a verj- tight place when the British battle cruisers arrived 
on the scene and saved her. 
The German official account, however, reads as quite a 
different story. It implies that, so far from seeking to com- 
plete the destruction of the Arethusa, the German cruisers 
were driven off by her and the destroyers. " Went in a 
westerly direction " can only have one possible meaning. 
AVest is directly away from Heligolalid j it spells running out 
to sea in h&pes of getting back later on. It is curious that in 
doscribing the Second Act each side shciild (between the lines) 
suggest that it had rather the worst of the encounter! Of 
course, this is the general impression always left by confused 
fighting. From which we may take it that the fighting was 
very confused indeed, and that the fall of the curtain on 
Act Two was that each side imagined the other to be t-op- 
woight. 
This is not a popular interpretation by any manner of 
means; but so far as I can piece things together from the data 
available it is the bed-rock truth of the matter. 
Act Three is far simpler. Whether, as they believe, the 
Germaas were in flight; whether, as we imagine, the Germans 
M* 
