discussion, in which
a determination has not yet been reached, of the feasibility of a
similar assault upon Heligoland, Kiel, or Cuxhaven, the three great
naval bases in which the German fleet has lurked in avoidance of
battle with the British fleet. Many able naval strategists declared
that it was time for the British to abandon the policy of a mere
blockade and carry out the somewhat rash promise made by Winston
Churchill when First Lord of the Admiralty, to "dig the rats out of
their holes." Such an attack it was urged should be made mainly from
the air, as the land batteries and sunken mines made the waters
adjacent to these harbours almost impassable to attacking ships.
Rear-Admiral Fiske, of the United States Navy, strongly urging such
an attack, wrote in an open letter:

The German Naval General Staff realizes the value of
concentration of power and mobility in as large units as
possible. The torpedo plane embodies a greater concentration of
power and mobility than does any other mechanism. For its cost,
the torpedo plane is the most powerful and mobile weapon which
exists at the present day.

An attack by allied torpedo planes, armed with guns to defend
themselves from fighting airplanes, would be a powerful menace to
the German fleet and, if made in sufficient numbers, would give
the Allies such unrestricted command of the North Sea, even of
the shallow parts near the German coast, that German submarines
would be prevented from coming from a German port, the submarine
menace abolished, and all chance of German success wiped out.

I beg also to point out that an inspection of the map of Europe
shows that in the air raids over land the strategical advantage
lies with Germany, because her most important towns, like Berlin,
are farther inland than the most important towns of the Allies,
like London, so that aeroplanes of the Allies, in order to reach
Berlin, would have to fly over greater distances, while exposed
to the fire of other aeroplanes, than do aeroplanes of the
Germans in going to London for raids on naval vessels.

However, the strategical advantage over water lies with the
British, because their control of the deep parts of the North Sea
enables them to establish a temporary aeronautical base of mother
ships sufficiently close to the German fleet to enable the
British to