LAND AND AVATER 
September 5, 1914 
impossible not to rpspecfc, When ttg cousicicr tlio God en 
fiasco, I am by no means sure th.it, despite the losses sus- 
tained, tio Heligoland affair may not be a Germaa moiMl 
gucccss. 
The more we appreciate matters from tliis point of view, 
tLe better fo-r our ultiiBatc success. 
ON THE HIGH SEAS GENERALLY. 
The most important event during the past -week has been 
the sinking by H.M.S. High flyer, off tho West Coast of Africa, 
w the armed German liner Kahcr Wilhel-n tier Grossr. As 
tho lUijhfli/cr sustained some casualties, the liner evidently 
put up a fight of some sort. That she was brought to book is 
a matter for sincei^e congratulation. She was capable of a 
speed of 23 knots. It is doubtful whether the Hlijlifli/er at 
the present time is good for more than about 20. and the other 
British ships on tho station are slower still. At any rate, the 
liner was far the swifter, and the fact that she was brought to 
book comeg ia the chapter of luck. 
The career of the KaUer WUlidm der Grosse was some^ 
v.hat mysterious. ^Yhen war broke out she was at New York, 
v.liere rightly or wrongly the Germans have long been sus- 
pc<:ted of having a secret store of gvms and aminunitiou 
icpresented as "spare parts." 
The liner left New York, and for eleven days nothing 
whatever was heard of her. Then off the African coast sho 
flopped the Castle liner Gallcian, asked for news of H.M.S. 
Carnarvon, arrested two passengers, but did no more. A little 
'later she stopped another Castle liner, but r.gain made no 
attempt at capture. On the other hand, she ordered the 
wireless to bo thrown overboard. Her next meeting was witli 
the Ilighflijer. 
One explanation of the mystery is that this commeirce- 
destroyer which destroyed no commerce had been ordered to 
reserve herself for some special purpose Another pMsible 
solution is that she was so flurried with the possibilities of 
meeting British cruisers that siie did not dare risk standing by 
to capture a prize. Yet another, that having found herself on 
t he scene of operations, she realised the impossibility of doing 
jiiiything with a prize, and so trusted to damaging trade by 
terrorising. This last seems to mo the most probable explana- 
tion. 
Elsewhere on the high seas the process of clc-aring them of 
hostile merchant shipping continues. It is an example of what 
?ilahan has called '' the silent pressure of Sea Power." It is 
far less drama^tic than the fighting side of naval operations, 
but it was none tho less useful on that account. Also, whereas 
fighting entails expenditure, elimination of the enemy's trade 
represents a substantial profit both for the immediate present 
and for the future also. 
In this connection, however, I would once more draw 
attention to what I mentioned last week: tho danger that 
German diplomacy may drag the United States into tlie 
quarrel and on to the German side. An official note from tho 
British Government to the U.S. Government on tho subject c.f 
German liners interned in U.S. ports brings the matter ono 
step forward. The American Press and the American people 
are splendid in the m.atter of realising what we are fighting for. 
But " business is business." 
Mr. Churchill spoke nothing but the bald truth when he 
told tho United States, " If we go under it will be your turn 
next." On that particular point I have ali-eady elaborated. 
It is waste of space to reiterate. But here lies a very real 
danger jKiinfc. 
Wednesday brought us an official Brazilian announcement 
to the eiffcct that the German cruiser Dresden had sunk a 
British merchant ship off the Brazilian coasts. The Dresden- 
noi-mally belongs to the ci-uiser division of t!io High Sea Fleet 
(i.e., German " Home Fleet "). It would look as though sho 
harLwme secret base in or nea.r Brazilian watei*9. Her coal 
supply is nominally sufficient for 5,500 miles at slow speed ; 
it actually suffices for hardly a thousand miles at full speed 
or standing by for full speed, as a commerce destroyer ni.u.'jt 
do — that is to saj-, three, or at the outside, four days' steaming. 
Even making all allowances for her having lain by a good deal, 
slie must have had to co;il at least twice since v>'ar was declared. 
THE FAR EAST. 
Japanese operations against Kiao-Chau liave comriicnccd. 
The whole of the Gcnnan squadron, v.hich consists of the 
armoured ci-uiscrs Scharnhnrst and Gneineneii/, the sm.'.U 
cruisers Emden, Leiysi:, and yiirnberff, four gunbata, and two 
destroyers, together with the old Austrian cruiser Eei'serin. 
J'/iiubeth, is understood to be blockaded inside the harbour. It 
v.-ill probably lie their inactive till such time as the Japanese 
have established hov;itzer batteries for its destruction. AVe 
may depend upon it that they will attack it as they attacked 
the Port Arthur Fleet in the Russo-Japanese War. 
Kiao-Chau is believed to be very strongly fortified. The 
garrison, 5,000 strong, has made every preparation for a siege 
and bombardmenti — all buildings likely to be useful as maxka 
for Japanese gunnei'S having been dc-stroyed. So ailso have 
tho Chinese villages inside the territory. The place is said 
to be provisioned for eight luonlhs, but this is probably a very 
generous estimate. 
Tlie financial conditions of Japan are likely to influence 
largely the plan of campaign, that is to say, it is probable that 
the naval part of the operations will be entrusted to the 
ordinary " active fleet," which is ample to deal with aal con- 
tingencies. The place is, of course, certain to be taken ; con- 
sequently Japan can well afford to proceed economically. 
Tho operations of British warships ia Far Eastern waters 
will necessarily bo of an undramatic, but none the less useful 
nature. German trade with China has been very considerable, 
i'.ud a. great deal of useful spadework will be done by " shov.ing 
the flag " in all Chinese harbours. The Chinese are an 
unimaginative people, and the mere cessation of German 
imports will not of itself give us the markets as schemed for 
by the Government. The Chinese will have to be impres.sed 
v/ith object lessons in the shape of continually seeing British 
warships and having the disappearance of Gennan ones pointed 
out to them. 
THE MEDITERRANEAN. 
The situation here, up to the time of writing, continues 
normal. The Austrian Fleet remains effectually shut in while 
the French are bombarding Cattaro, which is one of the several 
Austrian naval stations in the Adriatic. The indications are 
that the majority of these stations will eventually be reduced. 
The Austrian battle fleet is hopeilessly inferior to the Anglo- 
French blockading force. It is probably cruising near Lissa, 
but common prudence wUl prevent it from engaging in a fleet 
action unless compelled. 
Such action could in no way affect the present general 
situation in the Adriatic. Torpedo attaclcs will come along 
(later, but at present the Anglo-French forces are at least 200 
miles from the main Austrian base at Pola, and so too far 
away for a concerted effort to promise much if any success. 
The probability of immediate hostilities between Turkey 
and Greece may profoundly affect the Mediterranean situation. 
At the present moment tlie Goehen and Breslau are Turkish, 
but once war is declared German crews for them axe likely 
enough to materialise from somewhere. 
The possibility of this will necessitate a certain weakening 
of the Adriatic blockade, and this may tempt tho Austrian 
fleet to come out to try conclusions with the Anglo-French 
force. 
THE BALTIC. 
Baltic operations are somewhat obscure. As mentioned 
last week, it is probable that the Eussians ai-e moi-e or less 
waiting and that the Germans are more or less blockading. 
The " Russian battleship driven ashore " of earlier reports is 
now almost certainly to be identified with the German light 
cruiser Magdeburg, which is officially admitted to have gone 
ashore and subsequently to have been blown up. 
Of the various official and non-oiTicial tales of this inci- 
dent, I am most inclined to believe the story that sho got 
aground by pm-o accident, and was subsequently found and 
blown up by the Russian cruisers. There is nothing to indi- 
cate tliat any actual battle on a considerable scale ever took 
place. We have to remember that Russian trade interests 
are comparatively trivial, and that nautically Russia has eveiy- 
thing to gain by delaying major operations till some of the 
Gangoots ai'e ready for sea. 
It is an open secret now that Russia knew that this war 
was coming, but that she did not expect the Kaiser to strike 
for another two years. Consequently sho did not accelerate 
her new ship constniction, w-isely considering that her first 
task was to train tha necessary crews, without which mere 
ships ai'o useless. 
When the Russiaji fleet does go into action the men who 
man it will be something very different from those who perished 
at Tsushima. So long as Germany has a numerical superiority 
she can keep the Russian Navy at bay in the Baltic; but I 
question whether the Germans would have much chance 
against an equal Russian force. The Russian Navy is now 
trained along Franco-British lines — that is to say, officers and 
men have cultivated the eeimeradcrie of the French Navy while 
they have imitated tho British in playing football together. 
It is things of this sox-t that count altogether beyond " paper 
calculations." 
On the water, the Germans appear to have regarded the 
Russians as a negligible factor or thereabouts. We may yet 
see them very seriously undeceived on this point. There is 
a very wide gulf between the Grigorovitch Navy of to-day 
and the Rodjcstvensky Navy of ton years ago. 
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