e sea passage of millions of troops, and insure the occupation of
the German colonies by British expeditionary forces. Except as it
was raised over a submarine or commerce raider, the German flag was
swept from the sea within the first six months of the war.

There has been no naval battle at all commensurate with the strength
of the two fleets. Each time that a British and German ship have met
in action, the overwhelming importance of speed and of gun range
have been demonstrated. Speed and range enabled Von Spee to destroy
Cradock's squadron at Coronel off Chile, with almost no loss to
himself. Later at the Falkland Islands he suffered the same fate at
the hands of Sturdee, who, with his second-class battle cruisers,
had the speed and range of the German third-class.

Again, in the battle off Dogger Bank, the _Bluecher_, the
second-class battle cruiser which had only 26 knots, was left behind
by her sisters, the German first-class battle cruisers, while she
was pounded into the sea by the _Lion_, the _Tiger_, and the
_Princess Mary_, which were driving ahead at 30 knots. The honors of
the war, so far as the offensive goes, therefore, have been with the
last battle cruiser.

German naval policy, no less wise for its own ends than for the
British, has depended upon the submarine, whose importance may be
easily exaggerated and easily underestimated. No submarine can
approach the major fighting ships of a great fleet when that fleet
is properly protected by torpedo-defense guns and fast destroyers
and light cruisers. The deciding test of a submarine's power in this
respect was the fruitless attempts of the best German submarines to
reach the _Lion_ with a deathblow, when crippled, after the battle
off Dogger Bank, she was being towed home at 5 knots an hour, under
the protection of the destroyers.

However, any isolated vessel, whether a merchantman or a man-of-war,
is at the mercy of a submarine, which hunts the seas for this kind
of target. It has only to lie in wait on the trade routes until its
prey appears, submerging in case of danger. Then a torpedo sent home
and a valuable piece of property goes to the bottom of the sea. What
resourceful brigandage is to traffic on the highways, the German
submarine became to British traffic on the seas. It is the sniper of
naval warfare, but cannot give battle. It must find its protection
under the sea, while all freight and all passengers, all the world's
business is done o