Show I i Taking the Kiel Canal I Would Sea Bea Big Bg Job lust fust how difficult an attack on the Kiel Iel canal might prove to be is indicated indi- indi indi 1 I by the impressions of a neutral I I f naval officer but recently come from j I j I I Germany Germani This officer was attached to an an embassy in Berlin for several years years and had an unusual opportunity II I 1 i to study the Germans' Germans sea defenses Here then is the problem The North sea shore line of German Germany is flat and I sandy throughout practically its whole ler length lenth th with correspondingly shallow water offshore This of course makes j jIt I it difficult or impossible for large craft to get within close range The harbors I Ion on this shoreline are approached by byj I j I three narrow channels which cannot be navigated without experienced pi pi- pi lots Needless to say that these channels channels channels chan chan- nels have been skillfully mined from end to end The Thc officer in question says that every harbor fort l station and large gun on Germanys Germany's coast is if connected connected con con- with all aU other points points' of defense by a railway making it Iother I I easy to shift forces ammunition or other supplies in the shortest possible I I time A system of canals supplements I i ithe j the railway Kiel Is the center of the I whole scheme j I It It i is the general impression that Germanys Germany's war craft crait have clung fast harbors except for a an ap occasional occasional occasional occa occa- t I raid But this offic officer r asserts I that German patrol ships are on constant constant con con- stant duty in the North Korth sea o often ton leaving their coast miles behind con I them He states as l a fact known to him that the usual patrol radius is bout about sixty miles from the I great grea t island stronghold that guards the thet I mouth of the River Elbe It is this I I River Biver Elbe that leads to the Kiel canal I Ind and and nd the canal in turn affords access to the tho Baltic BaIlie giving German warships an I easy easy m means ans of reaching either that b body dy of water or the North sea j j I I On this sixty mile line sa says say's s the observer ob- ob server server torpedo boats do duty ni night ob I ht last at and I da day Behind them is a line Une of last fast cruisers cruiser always on guard Back of I I I f j I j I I 1 i II I I I 1 tho ho cruisers is a third line of hea heavy armored cruisers then and andI finally the Kiel Kial canal where the great high se sets seas s fleet lays snugly at anchor It would be this formidable arra array that any attacking attaching force must confront A bit south of the Elbe the River Weser Vesel pours into the North sea Itis It Itis is guarded by the two strongholds of Bremerhaven and Cuxhaven both practically impregnable All of these points and many of lesser importance are linked ed up by a system of defEnses defenses defenses de de- de- de that is known to be one of the most highly developed in exist exist- ence once Below the mouth of the Weser is the fourth great German base of Wilhelmshaven from which submarines submarines rines l most frequently start on their piratical expeditions because Of its ltd nearness to England In discussing the Germans' Germans preparedness preparedness preparedness pre pre- for an assault from the sea the officer a truly amazing array of figures regarding I the number and kind of guns that t I could be brought to bear by the land fortifications The main defenses at Wilhelmshaven are given as thirteen or fourteen great fortresses mountIng mounting mount- mount ing lag guns up to seventeen-inch seventeen caliber These fortresses are located in a flat marshy country dotted with ponds and wd an any r assaulting force would have to cross an expanse of mud before delivering an attack Not satisfied with the practical perfection perfection perfection per per- of her fortress s system stem Germany Germany Germany Ger Ger- many has at command a considerable number of heavy guns mounted upon specially constructed cars which could b be moved to any point by I means of the railway already men men- There are said to be scores of these movable guns ranging from small email to heavy caliber Defensively and anti offensively the German coast and navy are such that an any plan to take tale them in hand may maywell maywell maywell well give th the allies pause |