In addition to
this the British oversea trade routes had to be kept open and the
German ones closed; fisheries protected on one side, attacked on the
other; and an immense sea service carried on for our Allies as well.
Some staggering facts and figures will be given in the chapter called
"Well done!" Here we shall only note that the Navy, with all its
Reserves and Auxiliaries, grew from two and a half million tons of
shipping to eight millions before the war was over. This means that
the Navy, in spite of all its losses, became bigger than any other
country's navy, mercantile marine, fishing fleet, river steamers, and
all other kinds of shipping, put together, since the world began. When
we add the British mercantile marine, British shipbuilding, the British
fishing fleets, and all the shipping interests of the Empire overseas,
we shall find that British sea-power of all kinds equalled all the
sea-power of all the rest of the world together. Destroy that
sea-power and we die.
Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands off the north of Scotland was a
perfect base for the Grand Fleet, because it was well placed to watch
the way out of the North Sea through the two-hundred-mile gap between
Norway and the Shetlands, and also because the tremendous tidal
currents sweeping through it prevented submarines from sneaking about
too close.
Pages:
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305