We hope that under a new chief the Navy may
be able to use its immense resources in a new and more vigorous manner. Many good reasons may doubtless be given for the defensive policy which the Navy has hitherto pursued. But the time has come for a reconsideration of that policy in the light of our experience of over three years of war. It would be affectation to pretend that the public is satisfied that the full strength of the Navy has been utilized as it might be. Defensive tactics against the U '-boats, for example, seem far less certain to yield a positive result than a bold offensive against the 'U '-boat bases. The best way of dealing with a pest of hornets is to smoke them out of their nests, and the destruction of the enemy submarine bases in Flanders would have abated the peril to an appreciable extent. To these and other problems Vice-Admiral Wemyas will bring a fresh and open mind, and we shall all wish him God-speed in the great task that lies before him.
