Submarine feats

German warships sunk

THE Kaiser and Sven have been unavoidably detained outside Warsaw, and the State entry has been postponed.

It is understood, however, that as soon as the Russians have gone away, and the military weather has cleared up, the ceremonial will take place.

No money is being returned, the tickets issued for August 1 remaining good for a date (at present unknown) which the Grand Duke, and not the Kaiser, has fixed.

In the meantime the disappointed Berlin public have been given something else to think about. British submarines have been busy, very busy, and the record, as presented in last night’s and this morning’s official telegraph contains the following:

1) Large German transport sunk in the Baltic.

2) German destroyer (G 196 class) and crew of 73 sent to the bottom of the German coast.

3) Large steamer of 3,000 tons torpedoed close to Karabogha Bay.

4) Small steamer (or gunboat) torpedoed close to Karabogha Bay.

5) Torpedoes fired at lighters alongside the Arsenal at Constantinople. Explosion heavy, but the result not known.

6) Zoitunlik Powder Mills fired at; result unknown

7) Railway cutting, a mile west of Kara Burnu, bombarded. Line blocked and troop train fired at as it was, perforce, returning with the result that three truck loads of ammunition were blow up.

Nos. 1 and 2 are excellent illustrations of the ubiquity of our underwater draft and further details as to the sinking of the German transport will be awaited with interest.

The operations before Constantinople come as a new chapter in a thrilling serial story, the shelling of a troop train and powder mills by a submarine’s gun being something quite new in naval warfare and showing that our new type of underwater boat is capable of doing great damage.

Some further details of the amazing daring of our submarine men in the Sea of Marmora, and what they have previously achieved, are given in our news columns, and it is unnecessary here to say how proud the nation is to possess such courageous and resourceful sons.

The Russian Fleet, too, as we have seen for some time past, has by no means been inactive, and the destructive work they are doing on the Bosphorus side of Constantinople is the complement to our submarine feats in the sea of Marmora.

The catalogue this morning includes:

1) Black Sea coal depot set on fire.

2) Ten sailing vessels loaded with coal destroyed.

3) On the Anatolian coasts, the destruction of more than 200 sailing vessels engaged in the transport of coal and munitions of war, as well as three yards for the building of these vessels.

With regard to the position before Warsaw it is still difficult to see precisely what is happening, for although it is fairly clear that the Austro-German forces are drawing nearer, their progress is slow.

From the extreme northern sector we learn (from German sources) that Mitan, South west of Riga, has been occupied, and that the menace to Riga is thus accentuated. This area may seem tempt remote from Warsaw but the Germans have, of course, other designs than the mere acquisitions of acres.