12 JANUARY 1918, Page 2

Last week our losses of merchantmen by mine or submarine

were once more very serious. We lost sixteen large ships over 1,600 tons and two smaller ships, with four fishing-boats, as com- pared with seventeen large and four small vessels in the previous week. Nine ships were attacked unsuccessfully. It is obvious that since his comparative failure in the autumn the enemy must have reinforced his submarine flotillas for a new campaign against our merchantmen. It will fail, we are sure, if the efforts of the Navy at sea are assisted by greater activity in the ship- yards and by a stricter economy on the part of every civilian. But the position is very grave indeed.