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Show WOULD NEED 294 SUBMARINES Germans Would Require That Number Num-ber to Effectually Blockade All British Ports. Assuming (hat the German submarines subma-rines are based at Zeebrugge, the time required for the passage to and from blockading stations off the ports of Great Britain would be about four days. Tlie average time necessary for overhauling at the base between trips may be estimated at six days, and the time, which may be spent at sea between be-tween visits to the base cannot well exceed twenty days. Consequently it would be impracticable to maintain more than about half of the total force of submarines on blockading stations. There are forty-nine ports on the coasts of England, Scotland, and Wales which it would be necessary for the German submarines to blockade if all supplies are to be cut off. An effective blockade of any port could scarcely be maintained in the face of defensive operations, which must be expected, with less than three submarines, and double that number would be none too many. If the minimum min-imum number of three boats be allowed al-lowed for each port, the Germans would require at least 147 constantly on station to close all the ports of Great Britain; that is, allowing for the uecessary passage time to and from the base and the essential overhauling overhaul-ing period, the total force should be 1!'J4 submarines. World's Work. |