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We may take it for granted, too, that, after
being penned in for nearly three years the
Imperial High Seas Fleet can hardly escape
the vigilant British Navy, in any dash for the
Atlantic.
The one danger—and a very possible one—•
is that a few fast battle cruisers might individually
creep out, escape to the north around
Scotland, and then make a "bee line" for our
shores. With the aid of Zeppelins, they could
undoubtedly do serious damage to our coasts
and even threaten New York City, before our
fleet had located them. Even then unless they
were taken by surprise it is improbable we
could capture them. The fast German cruisers
Goeben and Breslau, taking refuge in Constantinople
in the summer of 1914, and later entering
the Black Sea, have so far evaded the
slower vessels of the Russian fleet. Our
armored cruisers could not stand up against
a battle cruiser in fair fight. She could
quickly show a clean pair of heels to our
speediest dreadnaught, and we have no battle
cruisers to meet the situation.
A couple of such ships could convoy a small
squadron of Zeppelins which had joined them
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