Blockade Moves West

The war at sea, which for seven months eclipsed the war on land, was obscured but by no means suspended by last week's maelstrom in Belgium and France (see p. 23). Two major moves were made almost in lock step:

1) The German Navy set up northern headquarters in Oslo and Grand Admiral Erich Raeder there visited Admiral Hermann Boehm, commander of the Nazis Norse naval district.

2) Great Britain discontinued its contraband control bases at Weymouth in the south and The Downs on the southeast English coast, removed all but a skeleton staff from the control base at Kirkwall in the Orkneys.

Admiral Raeder was putting pressure on Germany's fitting up of Oslo Fjord, Bergen and Trondheim as submarine bases, and on the laying down of new tonnage--merchant as well as naval-- in Norse and Danish shipyards.

Great Britain withdrew her controls from Weymouth and The Downs partly because of Germany's new proximity in The Netherlands, but chiefly because, when the war reached the Low Countries, the Allies' northern blockade of Germany became practically 100%. The skeleton crew at Kirkwall will look over only the few ships bound for Sweden, Finland, Russia and her Baltic satellites.

All Dutch and Belgian ships not caught at home by the Germans were available for the Allies' merchant fleet. These additions, together with tonnage contributed gladly by Norway, less gladly by the fretful, fearful Danes, added about one-third to the Allies' merchant marine and put them so far ahead of present requirements that they could last week reduce charter rates by 20-25%.

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