§ 26. Mr. Glenvil Hallasked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether, since the enemy is aware of its own submarine losses, he will state the number, respec- 1224 tively, of German and Italian submarines known to have been captured or sunk, or so seriously damaged as not likely to have returned to their bases, together with the number of submarines each was thought to have at the outbreak of war?
Mr. AlexanderI regret that I cannot agree to give this information. While the enemy obviously knows the total of his submarine losses, our silence about our successes prevents him discovering how they were obtained. This knowledge would obviously be invaluable as it would help him to gauge the relative efficiency of our various methods of countering his submarine and the approximate dispositions of our patrols. There are, of course, occasions when considerations of this nature are outweighed. Instances are the Admiralty communiqués issued between 16th June and 10th Jury announcing the destruction of 14 Italian U-boats. As regards the last part of the Question, I would refer my hon. Friend to the standard books of reference.
Mr. DavidsonIs it true that British seamen when out on the water call out "Waiter," and Italian submarines come to the top?