“Your reference to the splendid spirit of co-operation between the navies of our countries, and your warm praise of the officers and men of our navy, have been most grateful to me and to all Americans. The brightest spot in the tragedy of this war is this mutual appreciation of the men in the naval service. Our officers who have returned confirm the statements of Admiral Sims of the courtesies and kindness shown in every way by the admiralty and the officers of the British fleet. I had hoped to have the pleasure of visiting Great Britain and of personally expressing this feeling of mutual working together, but the task here of making ready more and more units for the fleet is a very serious one, and my duty chains me here. The order in all the navy is ‘Full speed ahead’ in the construction of destroyers and other craft, and the whole service is keyed up to press this program forward. Therefore I shall not have the pleasure, until this program shall materialize, of a personal acquaintance and a conference which would be of such interest and value.”
Sir Eric Geddes replied: “I am exceedingly grateful for your letter. As you know we, all of us here, have great admiration for your officers and men, and for the splendid help they are giving in European waters. Further, we find Admiral Sims invaluable in council and in co-operation. I fully appreciate how onerous your office must be and much though I regret that you do not see your way to visiting this country in the near future, I hope we may some day have the pleasure of welcoming you here.”
Sir Eric afterward himself visited the United States and his visit was made the occasion of a general expression of the high regard which the United States felt for the splendid assistance which the great British navy had rendered in convoying its armies across the seas.
From August, 1914, to September, 1918, German submarines sank 7,157,088 deadweight tons of shipping in excess of the tonnage turned out in that period by the allied and neutral nations. That total does not represent the depletion of the fleets at the command of the allied and neutral nations, however, as 3,795,000 deadweight tons of enemy ships were seized in the meantime. Actually, the allied and neutral nations on September 1, 1918, had only 3,362,088 less tons of shipping in operation than in August, 1914.
These details of the shipping situation were issued by the United States Shipping Board along with figures to show that, with American and allied yards under full headway, Europe’s danger of being starved by the German submarine was apparently at an end. The United States took the lead of all nations in shipbuilding.
In all, the allied and neutral nations lost 21,404,913 deadweight tons of shipping since the beginning of the war, showing that Germany maintained an average destruction of about 445,000 deadweight tons monthly. During the latter months, however, the sinkings fell considerably below the average, and allied construction passed destruction for the first time in May, 1918.
The losses of the allied and neutral shipping in August, 1918, amounted to 327,676 gross tonnage, of which 176,401 was British and 151,275 allied and neutral, as compared with the adjusted figures for July of 323,772, and 182,524 and 141,248, respectively. British losses from all causes during August were 10,887 tons higher than in June, which was the lowest month since the introduction of unrestricted submarine warfare.
An official statement of the United States Shipping Board, issued September 21, 1918, set forth the following facts:
STATUS OF WORLD TONNAGE, SEPTEMBER 1, 1918
(Germany and Austria excluded)