12 MAY 1917, Page 1
The Admiralty return published in the papers of Thursday shows
an improvement in the losses of merchant vessels. The lows among vessels of over 1,600 tons have fallen to nineteen, as com- pared with thirty-eight and forty-one in the two previous weeks. The loss of vessels under 1,600 tons is higher than ever—viz., twenty-two, as compared with twelve and fifteen in the two previous weeks. The change from high losses among large ships to high losses among small ships is striking, but is of course satisfactory. The number of attacks successfully resisted is better than ever before. Altogether the return is encouraging, and though the evidence is scanty, it indicates that means are 'being found better to combat the pirates.
