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Show uu CONTROLLING THE U-BOATS. December was a favorable month for tho nllles In the warfare on submarines, sub-marines, according to information given giv-en out by our navy department.- During Dur-ing thnt period moro U-boats wore sunk than Germany was ablo to build. In a statement mado in Washington Inst night, which evidently came from Secretary Daniels' office, tho following follow-ing encouraging promises wore convoyed: con-voyed: "American naval officials appear to bo satisfied that tho weapons with which thoy expect to crush finally the submarine menace . are forthcoming. Increased numbers of patrol vcssols of various types, appliances and devices to make them moro effective against underwater craft and tho increased skill of navy personnel are among tho things upon which they count. It has 'taken time to devise and build tho weapons, but thoy aro beginning to become available now. "When tho United States entered the war, the navy contributed promptly prompt-ly all that it had available to join In tho submarino hunt. Sir Eric Geddes paid high tribute in his remarks to the spirit and efficiency of American naval units, crediting them with a fair share of what had boon accomplished. Vice Admiral Sims' destroyer forces have constituted only the advance guard of what the American navy planned plan-ned to furnish for the fight. Evon with that limited aid the allied navies havo held the enemy and are now destroying de-stroying one out of every four or five German U-boats that put to sea. "Now America's real contribution to the naval warfaro is about to be felt With every passing week tho strength of the force will grow, for it is embodied embod-ied In the most extensive construction, program ever undertaken for the navy of any power. "The new destroyers and other craft must bo added to tho patrol fleets gradually as they are completed. Therefore no" sudden falling off of tonnage ton-nage losses Is to bo expected. It has been stated publicly by high British naval authorities, however, that next August will show beyond question that the U-boats have been overcome. There are officials here who are hopeful hope-ful that decided results will be apparent appar-ent before that, perhaps as early as May or June." One out of every five U-boats that put to sea Is a good record, and that should take the nerve out of the German Ger-man crews. An American naval officer says tho improvement in the U-boat situation is in great part due to the nerve-strain which has been placed on the Germans by the silence of the deep, a policy adopted by the British at the beginning begin-ning of the war on submarines. When no word comes back from the U-boat the uncprlainty as to the fate of the crew is kept alive by mystery, and, after a- time, this constant interrogation, interroga-tion, with no reply has a demoralizing effect on the men who go down Into the darkness of old ocean, and eventually event-ually they lose their morale. nn |