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diff --git a/old/52425-0.txt b/old/52425-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 982cfba..0000000 --- a/old/52425-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8198 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Submarine and Anti-submarine, by Henry Newbolt - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Submarine and Anti-submarine - -Author: Henry Newbolt - -Illustrator: Norman Wilkinson - -Release Date: June 28, 2016 [EBook #52425] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUBMARINE AND ANTI-SUBMARINE *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: Italics is indicated by _underscores_; boldface is -indicated by =equals signs=. - - - - -[Illustration: “Whose crew abandoned ship and then all stood up and -cursed us.”] - - - - - SUBMARINE - AND - ANTI-SUBMARINE - - - BY - HENRY NEWBOLT - - AUTHOR OF ‘THE BOOK OF THE HAPPY WARRIOR,’ ‘TALES OF THE GREAT WAR,’ - ETC. - - - WITH A COLOURED FRONTISPIECE AND 20 FULL-PAGE - ILLUSTRATIONS - BY NORMAN WILKINSON, R.I. - - - NEW YORK: - LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO. - FOURTH AVENUE AND 30TH STREET - 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON - BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS - 1919 - - - - - TO - JOHN BUCHAN - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. THE SPIRIT OF SUBMARINE WAR 1 - - II. THE EVOLUTION OF THE SUBMARINE 10 - - III. THE SUBMARINE OF TO-DAY 36 - - IV. A BRITISH SUBMARINE BASE 52 - - V. SUBMARINES AND WAR POLICY 68 - - VI. SUBMARINE _v._ WAR-SHIP 78 - - VII. WAR-SHIP _v._ SUBMARINE 95 - - VIII. BRITISH SUBMARINES IN THE BALTIC 108 - - IX. BRITISH SUBMARINES IN THE DARDANELLES 125 - - X. THE U-BOAT BLOCKADE 161 - - XI. TRAWLERS, SMACKS, AND DRIFTERS 178 - - XII. THE DESTROYERS 201 - - XIII. P-BOATS AND AUXILIARY PATROL 216 - - XIV. Q-BOATS 231 - - XV. SUBMARINE _v._ SUBMARINE 256 - - XVI. THE HUNTED 272 - - XVII. ZEEBRUGGE AND OSTEND 295 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PAGE - - ‘Whose crew abandoned ship and then all stood up and cursed - us’ (_Coloured_) _Frontispiece_ - - ‘Does not look like any ship you have ever seen’ 47 - - ‘Towed back by an enemy trawler’ 59 - - ‘She was nearly submerged when the seaplane passed over her’ 63 - - ‘Turning passengers and crews adrift in open boats’ 75 - - ‘Were brought in by the 50-ton smack _Provident_ of Brixham’ 83 - - ‘She had gone full speed for the enemy, and rammed him’ 99 - - ‘The Russian ice-breakers freed them from the harbour ice’ 121 - - ‘The Fort gave them 200 rounds at short range’ 129 - - ‘Made her fast alongside his conning-tower’ 135 - - ‘She was mortally hit’ 149 - - ‘_I’ll Try’s_ shell struck the base of the conning-tower’ 185 - - ‘The U-boat started with an enormous advantage of gun power’ 199 - - ‘U.C.-boats stealing in across the black and silver water’ 211 - - ‘The diver who first went down found the submarine lying on her - side’ 229 - - ‘A fourth boat was partially lowered with a proper amount of - confusion’ 241 - - ‘The U-boat never recovered from the surprise’ 245 - - ‘Was steering about in figures of 8, with his gun still manned’ 265 - - ‘A huge column of water which fell plump on the Commander’ 287 - - ‘The submarine suddenly broke surface’ 291 - - ‘A tremendous explosion was seen at the shore end of the Mole’ 305 - - - - -SUBMARINE AND ANTI-SUBMARINE - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE SPIRIT OF SUBMARINE WAR - - -It is probable that a good deal of the information contained in this -book will be new to the public; for it has been collected under -favour of exceptional circumstances. But the reader will gain little -if he cannot contribute something on his side--if he cannot share -with the writer certain fundamental beliefs. The first of these is -that every nation has a spirit of its own--a spirit which is the -mainspring of national action. It is more than a mechanical spring; -for it not only supplies a motive force, but determines the moral -character of the action which results. When we read the history of -nations, and especially the history of their explorations, wars, and -revolutions, we soon recognise the spirit of each, and learn to expect -its appearance in every moment of crisis or endurance. If it duly -appears, our impression is confirmed; if it fails on any occasion, we -are disappointed. But the disappointments are few--nations may at times -surprise us; but, as a rule, they are like themselves. Even when they -develop and seem to change, they are apt, under the stress of action, -to return to their aboriginal character, and to exhibit it in their -old historic fashion. To attempt, then, to give an account of any -national struggle, without paying attention to the influence of the -characteristic spirit of the country or countries concerned, would be -a difficult undertaking, and a mistaken one. Even in a short crisis, a -great people will probably display its historic colours, and in a long -one it certainly will. To ignore this, to describe national actions -without giving a sense of the animating spirit, would be not only a -tame and inadequate method; it would lower the value of life itself by -making mere prose of what should, by right, partake of the nature of -poetry. History cannot often be entirely poetical, or poetry entirely -historical. When Homer told the tale of Troy, he did not make prose--or -even history--of it. He everywhere infused into it ‘an incomparable -ardour’--he made an epic. But Mr. Thomas Hardy wrote history in ‘The -Dynasts,’ and made it an epic too. An epic--the common definition tells -us--is ‘a theme of action treated in heroic proportions and style.’ -‘The Dynasts’ certainly is that--the struggle is great, the issues -are great, the men are great. Even more than their heroic fighting, -their speech and manners in the moment of action are such as to show -unfailingly by what a distinctive and ever-present spirit national life -may be sustained and magnified. - -When we come to nearer times, and more familiar events, the same -necessity is upon us. What writer of artistic sense, or scientific -honesty, would touch, for example, the history of modern Egypt without -attempting to understand the character of such men as Gordon and -Cromer, and the spirit which (however personal and diverse in its -manifestations) they both drew from the nation that sent them forth? -Such an understanding would enable the narrator to carry us all with -him. For every man of our national birth and breeding would feel, -when he was told the story of such heroes, not only their superiority -but their likeness to himself. ‘There,’ he would say, ‘but for lack -of fortune, or opportunity, or courage, or stature, there goes John -Smith.’ It is admiration which helps us to feel that, and a mean spirit -which conceals it from us. - -Further, it is my belief that the historian who would deal adequately -with our present War must have an even wider understanding and -sympathy. He must have a broad enough view to recognise all the various -motives which impelled us, section by section, to enter the struggle; -and a deep enough insight to perceive that, below all motives which can -be expressed or debated in words, there was an instinct--a spontaneous -emotion--which irresistibly stirred the majority of our people, and -made us a practically unanimous nation. He must be able to see that -this unanimity was no freak--no sudden outburst--but the natural -fulfilment of a strong and long-trained national character; and he must -trace, with grateful admiration, the national service contributed by -many diverse classes, and by a large number of distinguished men--the -leaders and patterns of the rest. However scientific the historian’s -judgments, and however restrained his style, it must be impossible for -any reader to miss the real point of the narrative--the greatness of -the free nations, and the nobility of their heroes. Belgians, Serbians, -French, Italians, Americans--all must hear their great men honoured, -and their corporate virtues generously recognised. We Britons, for our -own part, must feel, at every mention of the names of our champions, -the fine sting of the invisible fire with which true glory burns the -heart. It must never be possible to read, without an uplifting of the -spirit, the achievements of commanders like Smith-Dorrien, Haig, and -Birdwood--Plumer and Rawlinson, Allenby and Byng, and Horne; or the -fate of Cradock and Kitchener; or the sea-fights of Beatty and Sturdee, -of Keyes and Tyrwhitt. It must be clear, from the beginning to the end -of the vast record, that the British blood has equalled and surpassed -its ancient fame--that in every rank the old virtues of courage, -coolness, and endurance, of ordered energy and human kindliness, have -been, not the occasional distinction, but the common characteristics -of our men. Look where you will on the scene of war, you must be shown -‘a theme of action treated in heroic proportions and style’--fit, at -least, to indicate the greatness of the national spirit. - -In this book our concern is with the war at sea, and with a part only -of that gigantic effort. But of this part, every word that has been -said holds good. The submarine and anti-submarine campaign is not a -series of minor operations. Its history is not a mere episode among -chapters of greater significance. On the contrary, the fate of Britain, -and the fate of Germany, were speedily seen to be staked upon the issue -of this particular contest, as they have been staked upon no other -part of the world-wide struggle. The entrance of America into the -fellowship of nations was involved in it. The future of civilisation -depends upon it. Moreover, in its course the British seaman has shown -himself possessed, in the highest degree, of the qualities by which -his forefathers conquered and kept our naval predominance; and finally, -it is in the submarine war that we see most sharply the contrast of the -spirit of chivalry with the spirit of savagery; of the law of humanity -with the lawlessness of brute force; of the possible redemption of -social life with its irretrievable degradation. It is a subject worthy, -thrice over, of treatment in a national epic. - -The present book is not an epic--it is not a poetical work at all. -Half of it is mere technical detail; and the rest plain fact plainly -told. But it is far from my intention that the sense of admiration -for national heroes, or the recognition of national greatness, shall -be absent from it. I have used few epithets; for they seemed to me -needless and inadequate. The stories of the voyages and adventures -of our own submarines, and of the fighting of our men against the -pirates, need no heightening. They need only to be read and understood; -and it is chiefly with a view to their better understanding, that -the reader is offered a certain amount of comment and description in -the earlier chapters. But a suggestion or two may be made here, at -the very beginning, in the hope of starting a train of thought which -may accompany the narrative with a whisper of historic continuity--a -reminder that as with men, so with nations--none becomes utterly base -on a sudden, or utterly heroic. Their vices and their virtues are the -harvesting of their past. - -Let us take a single virtue, like courage, which is common to all -nations but shows under a different form or colour in each, and -so becomes a national characteristic, plainly visible in action. -A historical study of British courage would, I believe, show two -facts: first, that the peculiar quality of it has persisted for -centuries; and, secondly, that if our people have changed at all in -this respect, they have only changed in the direction of greater -uniformity. Once they had two kinds of courage in war; now they have -but one, and that by far the better one. In the old days, among the -cool and determined captains of our race, there were always a certain -number of hot heads--‘men of courage without discipline, of enthusiasm -without reason, of will without science.’ The best of them, like Sir -Richard Grenville, had the luck to die conspicuously, in their great -moments, and so to leave us an example of the spirit that defies odds, -and sets men above the fear of death. The rest led their men into -mad adventures, where they perished to the injury of their cause. -Most Englishmen can understand the pure joy of onset, the freedom of -the moment when everything has been given for the hope of winning -one objective; but it has been the more characteristic way of our -people--at any rate for the last five centuries--to double courage -with coolness, and fight not only their hardest but their best. From -Cressy to Waterloo, and from Mons to Arras, we have won many battles -by standing steadily and shooting the attack to pieces. Charges our -men have made, but under discipline and in the nick of opportunity. -The Black Prince charged fiercely at Poitiers; but it was only when he -had broken three attacks, and saw his chance to win. The charge of the -Worcesters at Gheluvelt, the charge of the Oxfords at Nonneboschen, and -a hundred more like them, were as desperate as any ‘ride of death’; but -they were neither reckless nor useless, they were simply the heroic -move to win the game. Still more is this the rule at sea. Beatty at -Jutland, like Nelson and Collingwood at Trafalgar, played an opening in -which he personally risked annihilation; but nothing was ever done with -greater coolness, or more admirable science. The perfect picture of all -courage is, perhaps, a great British war-ship in action; for there you -have, among a thousand men, one spirit of elation, of fearlessness, of -determination, backed by trained skill and a self-forgetful desire to -apply it in the critical moment. The submarine, and the anti-submarine -ship, trawler or patrol-boat are, on a smaller scale, equally perfect -examples; for there is no hour of their cruise when they are not within -call of the critical moment. In the trenches, in the air, in the fleet, -you will see the same steady skilful British courage almost universally -exemplified. But in the submarine war, the discipline needed is even -more absolute, the skill even more delicate, the ardour even more -continuous and self-forgetful; and all these demands are even more -completely fulfilled. - -This is fortunate, and doubly fortunate; for the submarine war has -proved to be the main battlefield of our spiritual crusade, as well -as a vital military campaign. The men engaged in it have been marked -out by fate, as our champions in the contest of ideals. They are the -patterns and defenders of human nature in war, against those who -preach and practise barbarism. Here--and nowhere else so clearly as -here--the world has seen the death struggle between the two spirits -now contending for the future of mankind. Between the old chivalry, -and the new savagery, there can be no more truce; one of the two must -go under, and the barbarians knew it when they cried _Weltmacht oder -Niedergang_. Of the spirit of the German nation it is not necessary -to say much. Everything that could be charged against them has been -already proved, by their own words and actions. They have sunk without -warning women and children, doctors and nurses, neutrals and wounded -men, not by tens or hundreds but by thousands. They have publicly -rejoiced over these murders with medals and flags, with songs and -school holidays. They have not only broken the rules of international -law; they have with unparalleled cruelty, after sinking even neutral -ships, shot and drowned the crews in open boats, that they might -leave no trace of their crimes. The men who have done--and are still -doing--these things have courage of a kind. They face danger and -hardship to a certain point, though, by their own account, in the last -extreme they fail to show the dignity and sanity with which our own -men meet death. But their peculiar defect is not one of nerve, but -of spirit. They lack that instinct which, with all civilised races, -intervenes, even in the most violent moment of conflict or desperation, -and reminds the combatant that there are blows which it is not lawful -to strike in any circumstances whatever. This instinct--the religion -of all chivalrous peoples--is connected by some with humanity, by some -with courtesy, by ourselves with sport. In this matter we are all in -the right. The savage in conflict thinks of nothing but his own violent -will; the civilised and the chivalrous are always conscious of the fact -that there are other rights in the world beside their own. The humane -man forbears his enemy; the courteous man respects him, as one with -rights like his own; the man with the instinct of sport knows that -he must not snatch success by destroying the very game itself. The -civilised nation will not hack its way to victory through the ruins -of human life. It will be restrained, if by no other consideration, -yet at least by the recollection that it is but one member of a human -fellowship, and that the greatness of a part can never be achieved by -the corruption of the whole. - -The German nature is not only devoid of this instinct, it is roused -to fury by the thought of it. Any act, however cruel and barbarous, -if only it tends to defeat the enemies of Germany, is a good deed, a -brave act, and to be commended. The German general who lays this down -is supported by the German professor who adds: ‘The spontaneous and -elementary hatred towards England is rooted in the deepest depths of -our own being--there, where considerations of reason do not count, -where the irrational, the instinct, alone dominates. We hate in the -English the hostile principle of our innermost and highest nature. And -it is well that we are fully aware of this, because we touch therein -the vital meaning of this War.’ Before the end comes, the barbarian -will find this hostile principle, and will hate it, in the French, the -Italians, the Americans--in the whole fellowship of nations against -which he is fighting with savage fury. But, to our satisfaction, he has -singled us out first; for, when we hear him, we too are conscious of a -spontaneous hatred in the depths of our being; and we see that in this -we do ‘touch the vital meaning of this War.’ - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE EVOLUTION OF THE SUBMARINE - - -Many are the fables which the Germans have done their best to pass off -for truth among the spectators of the present War; but not one is more -wilfully and demonstrably false, than their account of the origin of -the submarine. According to the story which they have endeavoured to -spread among the unthinking public in neutral countries, the under-sea -boat--the arm with which they claim to have revolutionised naval -warfare--is the product of German ingenuity and skill. The French, they -say, had merely played with the idea; their submarines were costly -toys, dangerous only to those who tried to navigate them. The Americans -had shown some promise half a century ago; but having since become a -pacifist race of dollar-hunters, they had lost interest in war, and -their boats would be found useless in practice. As for the British, the -day of their naval power was past; they had spent their time and money -upon the mania for big ships, and neglected the more scientific vessel, -the submarine, which had made the big ships obsolete in a single year’s -campaign. The ship of the future, the U-boat, was the national weapon -of Germany alone. - -The claim was unjustified; but, so far, it was not--to an uninstructed -neutral--obviously unjustified. The Americans were not yet at war; the -submarines of France and Britain were hardly ever heard of. Our boats -had few targets, and their operations were still further restricted by -the rules of international law, which we continued to keep, though our -enemies did not. Moreover, whatever our Service did achieve was done -secretly; and even our successes were announced so briefly and vaguely -as to make no impression. The result was that the Germans were able -to make out a plausible title to the ‘command of the sea beneath the -surface’; and they even gained a hearing for the other half of their -claim, which was unsupported by any evidence whatever. The submarine -is not, in its origin, of German invention; the idea of submarine war -was not a German idea, nor have Germans contributed anything of value -to the long process of experiment and development by which the idea has -been made to issue in practical under-water navigation. From beginning -to end, the Germans have played their characteristic part. They have -been behind their rivals in intelligence; they have relied on imitation -of the work of others; on discoveries methodically borrowed and -adapted; and when they have had to trust to their own abilities, they -have never passed beyond mediocrity. They have shown originality in one -direction only--their ruthless disregard of law and humanity. These -statements are not the outcome of partisanship, but of a frank study of -the facts. They are clearly proved by the history of submarine war. - -That history may be said to begin with the second half of the sixteenth -century, when the two main principles or aims of submarine war were -first set forth--both by English seamen. Happily the records remain. -Sir William Monson, one of Queen Elizabeth’s admirals, in his famous -‘Naval Tracts,’ suggests that a powerful ship may be sunk much more -easily by an under-water shot than by ordinary gunfire. His plan is -‘to place a cannon in the hold of a bark, with her mouth to the side -of the ship: the bark shall board, and then to give fire to the cannon -that is stowed under water, and they shall both instantly sink: the man -that shall execute this stratagem may escape in a small boat hauled the -other side of the bark.’ - -This is the germinal idea from which sprang the submarine mine or -torpedo; and the first design for a submarine boat was also produced -by the English Navy in the same generation. The author of this was -William Bourne, who had served as a gunner under Sir William Monson. -His invention is described in his book of ‘Inventions or Devices’ -published in 1578, and is remarkable for its proposed method of solving -the problem of submersion. This is to be achieved by means of two -side-tanks, into which water can be admitted through perforations, and -from which it can be blown out again by forcing the inner side of each -tank outwards. These false sides are made tight with leather suckers, -and moved by winding hand-screws--a crude and inefficient mechanism, -but a proof that the problem had been correctly grasped. For a really -practical solution of this, and the many other difficulties involved -in submarine navigation, the resources of applied science were then -hopelessly inadequate. It was not until after more than three hundred -years of experiment that inventors were in a position to command a -mechanism that would carry out their ideas effectively. - -The record of these three centuries of experiment is full of interest; -for it shows us a long succession of courageous men taking up, one -after another, the same group of scientific problems and bringing them, -in spite of all dangers and disasters, gradually nearer to a final -solution. Many nations contributed to the work, but especially the -British, the American, the Dutch, the French, the Spanish, the Swedish, -the Russian, and the Italian. The part played by each of them has been, -on the whole, characteristic. The British were the first, as practical -seamen, to put forward the original idea, gained from the experience of -their rivalry with Spain. They have also succeeded, at the end of the -experimental period, in making the best combined use of the results of -the long collaboration. A Dutchman built the first practical submarine, -and achieved the first successful dive. The Americans have made the -greatest number of inventions, and of daring experiments in earlier -wars. The French have shown, as a nation, the strongest interest in -the idea, and their navy was effectively armed with submarines ten -years before that of any other Power. To them, to the Dutch, and to -the Italians, the credit belongs of that indispensable invention, the -optic tube or periscope. The Swedes and Russians have the great names -of Nordenfelt and Drzewiecki to their credit. The Germans alone, among -the eight or nine nations interested in the science of naval war, have -from first to last contributed almost nothing to the evolution of the -submarine. The roll of submarine inventors includes about 175 names, -of which no less than 60 belong to the English-speaking peoples, but -only six to Germany. Among these six, the name of Bauer is remembered -as that of a courageous experimenter, persevering through a career of -repeated failures; but neither he, nor any of his fellow countrymen, -advanced the common cause by the suggestion of a single idea of value. -Finally, when the German Admiralty, after the failure of their own -Howaldt boat, decided to borrow the Holland type from America, it was -no German, but the Franco-Spanish engineer d’Equevilley, who designed -for them the first five U-boats, of which all the later ones are -modifications. The English Admiralty were in no such straits. They were -only one year before the Germans in adopting the Holland type; but -the native genius at their disposal has enabled them to keep ahead of -their rivals from that day to this, in the design, efficiency, size, -and number of their submarine vessels. And this result is exactly what -might have been expected from the history of submarine invention. - -The construction of a workable submarine depends upon the discovery and -solution of a number of problems, the first five of which may be said -to be the problems of-- - - 1. Submersion. - 2. Stability. - 3. Habitability. - 4. Propulsion and Speed. - 5. Offensive Action. - -If we take these in order, and trace the steps by which the final -solution was approached, we shall be able to confirm what has been said -about the work contributed by successive inventors. - -1. _Submersion._--We have seen that for submersion and return to the -surface, Bourne had at the very beginning devised the side-tank to -which water could be admitted, and from which it could be ‘blown out’ -at will. Bushnell, a remarkable inventor of British-American birth, -substituted a hand-pump in his boat of 1771, for the mechanism proposed -by Bourne. In 1795, Armand-Maizière, a Frenchman, designed a steam -submarine vessel to be worked by ‘a number of oars vibrating on the -principle of a bird’s wing.’ Of these ‘wings,’ one lot were intended -to make the boat submerge. Nothing came of this proposal, and for more -than a century tanks and pumps remained the sole means of submersion. -In 1893 Haydon, an American, invented a submarine for the peaceful -purpose of exploring the ocean bed. Its most important feature was the -method of submersion. This was accomplished by means of an interior -cylindrical tank, with direct access to the sea, and fitted with two -powerfully geared pistons. By simply drawing the pistons in, or pushing -them out, the amount of water ballast could be nicely regulated, and -the necessity for compressed air or other expellants was avoided. This -device would have given great satisfaction to William Bourne, the -Elizabethan gunner, whose original idea, after more than two centuries, -it carried out successfully. Finally, in 1900, the American inventor, -Simon Lake, in his _Argonaut II._, introduced a new method of diving. -For the reduction of the vessel’s floatability he employed the usual -tanks; but for ‘travelling’ between the surface and the bottom, he -made use of ‘four big hydroplanes, two on each side, that steer the -boat either down or up.’ Similar hydroplanes, or horizontal rudders, -appeared in the later Holland boats, and are now in common use in all -submarine types. - -Lake was of British descent, his family having emigrated from Wales to -New Jersey; but he owed his first interest in submarine construction, -and many of his inventive ideas, to the brilliant French writer, -Jules Verne, whose book ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea’ came -by chance into his hands when he was a boy ten years old, and made a -lasting impression upon him. - -2. _Stability._--Next to the power of submersion, the most necessary -quality in a submarine is that of stability under water. The most -obvious method of securing this is by water ballast, which was probably -the first means actually employed. Bushnell, in 1771, substituted a -heavy weight of lead, as being more economical of space and better -suited to the shape of his boat, which resembled a turtle in an upright -position. The leaden ballast, being detachable at will, also acted as -a safety weight, to be dropped at a moment of extreme urgency. In the -_Nautilus_, built in 1800 by the famous engineer, Robert Fulton, an -American of English birth and education, the leaden weight reappeared -as a keel, and was entirely effective. The inventor, in a trial at -Brest in 1801, dived to a depth of 25 feet, and performed successful -evolutions in different directions for over an hour. Bauer, fifty years -later, returned to the ballast principle, and used both a water-tank -and a safety weight in the same boat. The results were disastrous. -His first submarine sank at her first trial in Kiel harbour, and was -never refloated. His second was built in England; but this, too, sank, -with great loss of life. His third, _Le Diable Marin_, after several -favourable trials at Cronstadt, fouled her propeller in a bed of -seaweed, and the releasing of the safety weights only resulted in -bringing her bows to the surface. The crew escaped with difficulty, and -the vessel then sank. - -Three years later, in 1861, Olivier Riou designed two boats, in both of -which stability was to be preserved automatically by the device of a -double hull. The two cylinders which composed it, one within the other, -were not fixed immovably to one another, but were on rollers, so that -if the outer hull rolled to the right the inner rolled to the left. -By this counterbalancing effect, it was estimated that the stability -of the vessel would be absolutely secured; but nothing is recorded of -the trials of these boats. The celebrated French inventors, Bourgois -and Brun, reintroduced the principle of water-tanks combined with a -heavy iron ballast keel. But in 1881, the Rev. W. Garrett, the English -designer of the Nordenfelt boats, invented a new automatic mechanism -for ensuring stability. This consisted of two vertical rudders with -a heavy pendulum weight so attached to them that, if the boat dipped -out of the horizontal, the pendulum swung down and gave the rudders -an opposite slant which raised the vessel again to a horizontal -position. This arrangement, though perfect in theory, in practice -developed fatal defects, and subsequent types have all returned to the -use of water-tanks, made to compensate, by elaborate but trustworthy -mechanism, for every loss or addition of weight. - -3. _Habitability._--For the habitability of a submarine the prime -necessity is a supply of air capable of supporting life during the -period of submersion. The first actual constructor of a submarine, -Cornelius van Drebbel, of Alkmaar, in Holland, was fully aware of -this problem, and claimed to have solved it, not by mechanical but by -chemical means. His improved boat, built in England about 1622, carried -twelve rowers, besides passengers, among whom King James I. is said to -have been included on one occasion, and was successfully navigated for -several hours at a depth of ten to fifteen feet. ‘Drebbel conceived,’ -says Robert Boyle, in 1662, ‘that ’tis not the whole body of the air, -but a certain Quintessence (as Chymists speake) or spirituous part of -it that makes it fit for respiration, which being spent, the grosser -body or carcase (if I may so call it) of the Air, is unable to cherish -the vital flame residing in the heart: so that (for aught I could -gather) besides the Mechanical contrivance of his vessel he had a -Chymical liquor, which he accounted the chief secret of his Submarine -Navigation. For when from time to time, he perceived that the finer and -purer part of the Air was consumed or over-clogged by the respiration -and steames of those that went in his ship, he would, by unstopping a -vessel full of the liquor, speedily restore to the troubled air such a -proportion of vital parts as would make it again for a good while fit -for Respiration.’ - -Drebbel, who was a really scientific man, may possibly have discovered -this chemical secret. If so, he anticipated by more than 200 years -a very important device now in use in all submarines, and in any -case he was the originator of the idea. But his son-in-law, a German -named Kuffler, who attempted after Drebbel’s death to exploit his -submarine inventions, was a man of inferior ability, and either -ignorant of the secret or incapable of utilising it. For another -century and a half, submarine designers contented themselves with the -small supply of air which was carried down at the time of submersion. -Even the _Turtle_--Bushnell’s boat of 1776, which has been described -as ‘the first submarine craft which really navigated under serious -conditions’--was only built to hold one man with a sufficient supply -of air for half an hour’s submersion. This was a bare minimum of -habitability, and Fulton, twenty-five years later, found it necessary -to equip his _Nautilus_ with a compressed air apparatus. Even with -this, the crew of two could only be supplied for one hour. In 1827, -the very able French designer, Castera, took out a patent for a -submarine life-boat, to which air was to be supplied by a tube from -the surface, protected by a float, from which the whole vessel was -suspended. The danger here was from the possible entry of water through -the funnel, and the boat, though planned with great ingenuity, was -never actually tried. Bauer, in 1855, fitted his _Diable Marin_ with -large water-tubes, running for thirty feet along the top of the boat -and pierced with small holes from which, when desired, a continual -rain could be made to fall. This shower-bath had a purifying effect on -the vitiated air, but it had obvious disadvantages; and there is no -record of its having been put into actual use before the unfortunate -vessel sank, as before related. In the same year, a better principle -was introduced by Babbage, an English inventor, who designed a naval -diving-bell, fitted with three cylinders of compressed air. His method -was followed by Bourgois and Brun, whose boats of 1863-5 carried -steel reservoirs with compressed air, at a pressure of at least 15 -atmospheres. The principle was now established, and was adopted in -Holland and Lake boats, and in all subsequent types, with the addition -of chemical treatment of the vitiated air. - -4. _Propulsion._--The various solutions of this problem have naturally -followed the successive steps in the development of machinery. Drebbel -made use of oars. Bushnell, though he speaks of ‘an oar,’ goes on -to describe it as ‘formed upon the principle of the screw--its axis -entered the vessel, and being turned one way rowed the vessel forward, -but being turned the other way rowed it backward: it was made to be -turned by the hand or foot.’ Moreover, he had a similar ‘oar’ placed -at the top of the vessel, which helped it to ascend or descend in the -water. The conclusion seems unavoidable that to this designer belongs -the honour of having invented the screw propeller, and also of having -put it into successful operation. Fulton adopted the same method of -propeller and hand-winch in his _Nautilus_; but his huge vessel, -the _Mute_, built in 1814 to carry 100 men, was driven by a silent -steam-engine. He died during the trials of this boat, and further -experiment with it seems to have been abandoned, possibly owing to the -great interest excited by his first war steamer, which was building at -the same time. A regrettable set-back was thus caused. For forty years -no one experimented with any kind of propulsory engine. Bauer, in 1855, -could devise no better method of working his propeller than a system -of 7-foot wheels, turned by a pair of men running on a treadmill. At -the same moment, however, a more fruitful genius was at work. A French -professor, Marié-Davy, designed a submarine in which the propeller -was driven by an electro-magnetic engine placed in the stern of the -ship, with batteries forward. The idea was a valuable one, with a -great future before it, though for the moment it achieved no visible -success. A year later, in 1855, the famous British engineer, James -Nasmyth, designed a ‘submerged mortar,’ which was in reality a ram -of great weight and thickness, capable of being submerged level with -the surface, and driven at a speed of over 10 knots by a steam-engine -with a single high-pressure boiler. But in spite of the simplicity -and power of this boat, it was finally rejected as being neither -invisible nor invulnerable to an armed enemy; and in their desire -to obtain complete submersion, the French inventors of the next few -years--Hubault, Conseil, and Masson--all returned to the hand-winch -method of propulsion. Riou, however, in 1861, adopted steam for one of -his boats, and electric power for the other; and in 1883 the American -engineer, Alstitt, built the first submarine fitted with both steam -and electricity. Steam was also used in the _Plongeur_ of Bourgois and -Brun, which was completed in the same year. - -The American Civil War then gave a great opportunity for practical -experiments in torpedo attack; but the difficulty of wholly submerged -navigation not having been yet solved, the boats used were not true -submarines, but submersibles. Their propulsion was by steam, and their -dimensions small. A more ambitious invention was put forward in 1869 -by a German, Otto Vogel, whose design was accepted by the Prussian -Government. His submersible steamship was to be heavily armed, and -was ‘considered the equal of a first-class iron-clad in defensive and -offensive powers.’ These powers, however, never came into operation. - -Inventors now returned to the designing of true submarines; and after -the Frenchman, Constantin, the American, Halstead, and the Russian, -Drzewiecki, had all made the best use they could of the hand-winch or -the pedal for propulsion, three very interesting attempts were made in -1877-8 to secure a more satisfactory engine. Olivier’s boat, patented -in May 1877-8, was to be propelled by the gases generated from the -ignition of high explosives, the massed vapours escaping through a tube -at the stern. This ingenious method was, however, too dangerous for -practical use. Surman’s design of 1878 included a propeller, rotated -by compressed air. But the English boat of the same date, Garrett’s -_Resurgam_, was much the most noteworthy of the three, and introduced -a method which may in the future be brought to perfection with great -results. In this boat, the motive force was steam, and propulsion under -water, as well as on the surface, was aimed at and actually attained. -In her trials, the vessel showed herself capable of navigating under -water for a distance of 12 miles, by getting up a full head of steam -in a very powerful boiler, with the aid of a blower, before diving; -then by shutting the fire-door and chimney, and utilising the latent -heat as long as it would last. When the heat was exhausted, it was, -of course, necessary to return to the surface, slow up the fire -again and recharge the boiler with water. The vessel was remarkably -successful, and had the great merit of showing no track whatever when -moving under water. She was lost by an accident, but not until she had -impressed Nordenfelt, the Swedish inventor, so strongly that he secured -the services of her designer, Garrett, for the building of his own -submarine boats. The first of these appeared in 1881. - -In the same year were patented Woodhouse’s submarine, driven by -compressed air, and Génoud’s, with a gas-engine worked by hydrogen, -which is said to have attained a speed of between four and five -knots. Blakesley, in 1884, proposed to use steam raised in a fireless -boiler heated by a chemical composition. In 1884, too, Drzewiecki -produced the fourth of his ingenious little boats, driven this time -not by pedals but by an electric motor. His example was followed by -Tuck of San Francisco shortly afterwards, and by Campbell and Ash in -their _Nautilus_, which in 1886 underwent very successful trials in -the West Indian Docks at Tilbury, near London. In 1886 D’Allest, the -celebrated French engineer, designed a submarine fitted with a petrol -combustion engine. But the question of propulsion may be said to have -been finally settled, within a few months after this, in favour of the -electro-motor. For Gustave Zédé’s famous _Gymnote_, which was actually -put on the stocks in April 1887, attained in practice a surface speed -of 10 knots, and a maximum of 7 to 8 under water. This success saved -future designers the trouble of further experiments with ingenious -futilities. - -5. _Offensive Action._--We have so far been considering the development -of the submarine as a vessel navigable under water, without reference -to the purpose of offence in war. But this purpose was from the first -in view; and with almost all the inventors recorded, it formed the main -incentive of their efforts. The evolution of the submarine weapon has -been much simpler, and more regular, than that of the vessel which was -to use it; but it has been equally wonderful, and the history of it is -equally instructive. Briefly, the French, in this department as in the -other, have shown the most imaginative enthusiasm, the Americans the -greatest determination to achieve results--even with crude or dangerous -means--while the English have to their credit both the earliest -attempts in actual war, and the final achievement of the automobile -torpedo. Of the Germans, as before, we must record that they have -contributed nothing of any scientific value. - -Sir William Monson’s device of a bark, with an under-water cannon and -an accompanying boat was soon developed by the English navy into the -more practicable mine, self-contained and floating, to be towed by boat -or submarine. In January, 1626, the King gave a warrant to the Master -of the Ordnance, ‘for the making of divers water-mines, water-petards, -and boates to goe under water.’ In June of the same year, the Duke of -Buckingham, then commanding the naval expedition for the relief of La -Rochelle, issued a warrant ‘for the delivery of 50 water-mynes, 290 -water-petards, and 2 boates to conduct them under water.’ Pepys in -his ‘Diary’ for March 14, 1662, mentions a proposal by Kuffler of an -‘engine to blow up ships.’ He adds, ‘We doubted not the matter of fact, -it being tried in Cromwell’s time, but the safety of carrying them in -ships;’ and probably this distrust of Drebbel’s German subordinate -proved to be justified, for nothing more is heard of the design. The -attempt referred to as made ‘in Cromwell’s time’ may have been Prince -Rupert’s attack on Blake’s flagship, the _Leopard_, in 1650. The engine -then used was not a submarine one but an infernal machine, concealed -in an oil-barrel, brought alongside in a shore boat by men disguised as -Portuguese, and intended to be hoisted on board the ship and then fired -by a trigger and string. A more ingenious ‘ship-destroying engine’ -was devised by the Marquess of Worcester in 1655. This was evidently -a clock-machine, for it might be affixed to a ship either inside, by -stealth, or outside by a diver, ‘and at an appointed minute, though a -week after, either day or night, it shall infallibly sink that ship.’ - -The clock machine was actually first tried in action in 1776 by -Bushnell, or rather by Sergeant Lee, whom he employed to work his -_Turtle_ for him. The attack by this submarine upon the _Eagle_, -a British 64-gun ship lying in the Hudson River, was very nearly -successful. The _Turtle_ reached the enemy’s stern unobserved, -carrying a mine or magazine of 150 lbs. of powder, and provided with a -detachable wood-screw which was to be turned until it bit firmly on the -ship’s side. The mine was then to be attached to it, and the clockwork -set going. The wood-screw, however, bit upon some iron fittings instead -of wood, and failed to hold; the tide also was too strong for Lee, who -had to work the wood-screw and the propeller at the same time. He came -to the surface, was chased by a guard-boat, and dived again, abandoning -his torpedo, which drifted and blew up harmlessly when the clockwork -ran down. Lee escaped, but the _Turtle_ was soon afterwards caught and -sunk by the British. Bushnell himself, in the following year, attacked -the _Cerberus_ with a ‘machine’ consisting of a trigger-mine towed -by a whale-boat. He was detected, and his mine captured by a British -schooner, the crew of which, after hauling the machine on deck, -accidentally exploded it themselves, three out of the four of them -being killed. - -In 1802 Fulton’s _Nautilus_, in her trials at Brest, succeeded in -blowing up a large boat in the harbour. In 1814 his submersible, the -_Mute_, was armed with ‘columbiads,’ or immensely strong under-water -guns, which had previously been tried with success on an old hulk. -Similar guns were tried nearly fifty years later by the Spanish -submarine designer Monturiol. But the offensive weapon of the period -was the mine, and the ingenuity of inventors was chiefly directed -to methods of affixing it to the side or bottom of the ship to be -destroyed. One of these was the use of long gloves of leather or -rubber, protruding from the interior of the submarine, invented by -Castera in 1827, and adopted by Bauer, Drzewiecki, and Garrett in -succession. But the device was both unhandy and dangerous; there would -often be great difficulty in manœuvring the boat into a position in -which the gloves would be available, and they could not be made thick -enough to withstand the pressure of any depth of water. Practical -military instinct demanded a method of launching the mine or torpedo -against the target, and the first attempts were made by placing a -trigger-mine at the end of a spar carried by the nose of the attacking -boat. In October, 1863, during the American Civil War, the forts -of Charleston were in danger from the accurate fire of the Federal -battleship _Ironsides_, and Lieut. Glassell was ordered to attack her -in the submarine _David_. He had no difficulty in getting near his -enemy and exploding his torpedo, but he had misjudged his distance, and -only succeeded in deluging the _Ironsides_ with a column of water. The -submarine was herself severely injured by the explosion and had to be -abandoned. A second _David_, commanded by Lieut. Dixon, in February, -1864, attacked the _Housatonic_, off the same harbour, and in spite -of the greatest vigilance on the part of Admiral Dahlgren’s officers, -succeeded in reaching the side of the battleship, where she lay for -the space of a minute making sure of her contact. The mine was then -fired: the _Housatonic_ rose on a great wave, listed heavily, and sank -at once. The _David_, too, disappeared, and it was found three years -afterwards that she had been irresistibly sucked into the hole made in -her enemy’s side. After this, experiments were made with drifting and -towing mines, and with buoyant mines to be released at a depth below -the enemy’s keel; but by 1868 the invention of the automobile torpedo -by the English engineer, Whitehead, of Fiume, solved the problem of the -submarine offensive in the most sudden and conclusive manner. - -_The Torpedo._--Whitehead’s success arose out of the failure of an -enterprising Austrian officer, Captain Lupuis, who had been trying to -steer a small fireship along the surface of the water by means of ropes -from a fixed base either on shore or in a parent ship. The plan was a -crude one and was rejected by the Austrian naval authorities; it was -then entrusted to Whitehead, who found it incapable of any practical -realisation. He was, however, impressed with Lupuis’ belief in the -value of a weapon which could be operated from a distance, and though -he failed in designing a controllable vessel, he conceived the idea of -an automobile torpedo, and, after two years’ work, constructed it in a -practical form. It has been spoken of as ‘the only invention that was -perfect when devised,’ and it certainly came very near perfection at -the first attempt, but it was erratic and could not be made to keep -its depth. In 1868, however, Whitehead invented the ‘balance-chamber,’ -which remedied these defects, and brought two finished torpedoes to -England for trial. They were fired by compressed air from a submerged -tube, and at once proved capable of averaging 7½ to 8½ knots up to 600 -yards and of striking a ship under way up to 200 yards. The target, an -old corvette in the Medway, was sunk on to the mud by the first shot, -at 136 yards, and immediately after the trials the British Government -bought the secret, and other rights. Imitations were, of course, soon -attempted in other countries, and a type, called the Schwartzkopf, -was for some years manufactured in Berlin and used in the German and -Spanish navies; it was also tried by the Italians and Japanese, but it -failed in the end to hold its own against the Whitehead. - -The automobile torpedo was at first used only for the armament of -ordinary war-ships; it was not until 1879 that an American engineer -named Mortensen designed a submarine with a torpedo-tube in the bows. -His example was followed by Berkeley and Hotchkiss in 1880, by Garrett -in his first Nordenfelt boat of 1881, and by Woodhouse and by Lagane -in the same year. Even after this Drzewiecki, Tuck, and D’Allest -designed their submarines without torpedo-tubes, but they were, in -fact, indispensable, and the use of the Whitehead torpedo has been for -the last twenty years assumed as the main function of all submarines -designed for war. - -_The Submarine in War._--The difficulties of construction, propulsion, -and armament having now been solved, the submarine at last took its -place among the types of war-ships in the annual lists. From the first -England and France held a marked lead, and in Brassey’s Naval Annual -for 1914 the submarine forces of the chief naval Powers were given -as follows:--Great Britain, 76 vessels built and 20 ordered; France, -70 and 23; the U.S.A., 29 and 31; Germany, 27 and 12. The technical -progress of the four services was probably more equal than their merely -numerical strength; but it was not altogether equal, as may be seen -by a brief comparison of the development of the British and German -submarine types between 1904 and 1914. The eight British A-boats of -1904 had a displacement of 180 tons on surface/207 tons submerged; -the German U1 of 1904-6 was slightly larger (197/236) but in every -other respect inferior--its horse-power was only 250 on surface/100 -submerged, as against 550/150, its surface speed only 10 knots against -11·5, and it was fitted with only a single torpedo-tube instead of the -A-boat’s two. This last deficiency was remedied in 1906-8, but the -German displacement did not rise above 210/250 nor the horse-power -above 400/150, while the British advanced to 550/660 and 1200/550. -By 1913 the Germans were building boats of 650/750 displacement and -1400/500 horse-power, but the British were still ahead with 725/810 and -1750/600, and had also a superiority in speed of 16/10 knots to 14/8. -The last German boats of which any details have been published are -those of 1913-14, with a displacement of about 800 tons on the surface -and a maximum speed of 18/7 knots. The British F-boats of the same date -are in every way superior to these, with a displacement of 940/1200, a -speed of 20/12 knots, and an armament of six torpedo-tubes against the -German four. The comparison cannot be carried, in figures, beyond the -date of the outbreak of war, but it is well known among the allies of -Great Britain that the superiority has been amply maintained, and, in -certain important respects, materially increased. - -The four years of conflict have, however, afforded an opportunity -for a further, and even more important, comparison. The problems of -submarine war are not all material problems: moral qualities are needed -to secure the efficient working of machinery, the handling of the ship -under conditions of danger and difficulty hitherto unknown in war, and -the conduct of a campaign with new legal and moral aspects of its own. -In two of these departments, those of efficiency and seamanship, the -Germans have achieved a considerable show of success, though it could -be, and in time will be, easily shown that the British naval service -has been more successful still. But in the domain of policy and of -international morality, the comparison becomes no longer a comparison -but a contrast; the new problems have been dealt with by the British in -accordance with the old principles of law and humanity; by the Germans -they have not been solved at all, the knot has simply been cut by the -cruel steel of the pirate and the murderer. The methods of the U-boat -campaign have not only brought successive defeats upon Germany, they -will in the end cripple her commerce for many years; and, in addition -to her material losses, she will suffer the bitter consequences of -moral outlawry. - -Of the general efficiency of the German submarines it is too soon to -speak, but it may be readily admitted that they have done well. We -know, of course, many cases of failure--cases in which boats have -been lost by defects in their engines, by running aground through -mishandling in shoal waters, or by inability to free themselves from -British nets. On the other hand, the German patrol has been kept up -with a degree of continuity which, when we remember the dislocation -caused by their severe losses, is, at least, a proof of determination. -But the British submarine service has to its credit a record of work -which, so far as can be judged from the evidence available, is not -only better but has been performed under more difficult and dangerous -circumstances. In the North Sea patrolling has been carried out -regularly, in spite of minefields and of possible danger from the -British squadrons, which must, of course, be avoided as carefully as if -they were enemies. The German High Seas Fleet has been, for the most -part, in hiding, but on the rare and brief occasions when their ships -have ventured on one of their furtive raids British submarines have -done their part, and the only two German Dreadnoughts which have risked -themselves outside Kiel since their Jutland flight were both torpedoed -on the same day. Better opportunities, as we shall see later, were -found in the Baltic, where British submarines, in spite of German and -Swedish nets, ice-fields, and the great distance of bases, succeeded -in establishing a complete panic, by torpedoing a number of German war -vessels and the cargo ships which they were intended to safeguard. - -But it was in the Gallipoli campaign that the conditions were most -trying and most novel. The British submarines detailed for the attack -in Turkish waters had to begin by navigating the Dardanelles against a -very rapid current, setting strongly into a succession of bays. They -had to pass searchlights, mines, torpedo-tubes, nets and guard-boats; -and in the Sea of Marmora they were awaited by a swarm of cruisers, -destroyers, and patrol-boats of all kinds. Yet, from the very first, -they were successful in defeating all these. Boat after boat went up -without a failure, and maintained herself for weeks at a time without -a base, returning with an astonishing record of losses inflicted on -the enemy. These records will be given more fully in a later chapter; -but that of E. 14, Lieut.-Commander Courtney Boyle, may be quoted here -as an example, because it is no exceptional instance but merely the -earliest of a number, and set a standard which was well maintained by -those who followed. The passage of the narrows was made through the -Turkish mine-field, and its difficulty may be judged by the fact that -E. 14, during the first 64 hours of the voyage, was diving for 44 -hours and 50 minutes. After she began her patrol work, there was more -than one day on which she was under fire the whole day, except when -she dived from time to time. The difficulty of using her torpedoes was -extreme; but she succeeded in hitting and sinking two transports, one -of which was 1,500 yards distant and escorted by three destroyers. -Finally when, after twenty-two days’ patrolling, she began her return -voyage, she was shepherded by a Turkish gunboat, a torpedo-boat, and -a tug, one each side of her and one astern, and all hoping to catch -her in the net; but by deep and skilful diving she escaped them, and -cleared the net and the mine-field at a speed of 7 knots. - -Her second patrol extended over twenty-three days. This time the -tide was stronger, and the weather less favourable. The total number -of steamers, grain dhows and provision ships, sunk on this patrol, -amounted to no less than ten, and the return voyage was successfully -accomplished, the boat tearing clean through an obstruction off Bokali -Kalessi. - -The third patrol was again twenty-two days. An hour after starting, -E. 14 had her foremost hydroplane fouled by an obstruction which jammed -it for the moment, and threw the ship eight points off her course. -After a quick scrape she got clear, but found afterwards that her guard -wire was nearly cut through. On this trip the wireless apparatus was -for a time out of order, but was successfully repaired; eight good -ships were burnt or sunk, one of them being a supply ship of 5,000 -tons. The return voyage was the most eventful of all. E. 14 came full -against the net at Nagara, which had apparently been extended since -she went up. The boat was brought up from 80 feet to 45 feet in three -seconds, but broke away uninjured, with her bow and periscope standards -scraped and scored. - -The efficiency of the boat and her crew were beyond praise. Since -leaving England E. 14 had run over 12,000 miles and had spent nearly -seventy days at close quarters with the enemy in the Sea of Marmora; -she had never been in a dockyard or out of running order; she had -had no engine defects except such as were immediately put right by -her own engine-room staff. Yet she made no claim to be better than -her consorts. Nor did she make any boast of her humane treatment of -captured enemies; she merely followed the tradition of the British Navy -in this matter, and the principles of law as accepted by all civilised -nations. The commander of a submarine, whether British or German, has -to contend with certain difficulties which did not trouble the cruiser -captain of former wars. He cannot spare, from his small ship’s company, -a prize crew to take a captured vessel into port; he cannot, except -in very rare cases, hope to take her in himself; and, again, if he is -to sink her, he cannot find room in his narrow boat for more than one -or two prisoners. What he can do is to see that non-combatants and -neutrals, at least, shall be exposed as little as possible to danger or -suffering; he can give them boats and supplies and every opportunity -of reaching land in safety. No one needs to be told how the Germans, -either of their own native cruelty or by the orders of a brutal and -immoral Higher Command, have in such circumstances chosen to deal with -their helpless fellow-men, and even with women and children, and with -the wounded and those attending them. But it may be well to put in -evidence some of the brief notes in which a typical British submarine -commander has recorded as a matter of course his own method on similar -occasions. ‘May 8. Allowed two steamers full of refugees to proceed.’ -‘June 20. Boarded and sank 3 sailing dhows; towed crew inshore and gave -them some biscuit, beef, and rum and water, as they were rather wet.’ -‘June 22. Let go passenger ship. 23. Burnt two-master and started to -tow crew in their boat, but had to dive. Stopped 2 dhows: crews looked -so miserable that I only sank one and let the other go. 24. Blew up 2 -large dhows; saw 2 heads in the water near another ship; turned and -took them up exhausted, gave them food and drink and put them on board -their own ship.’ ‘July 30. Burnt sailing vessel with no boat and spent -remainder of afternoon trying to find a craft to get rid of her crew -into. Found small sailing boat and got rid of them.’ ‘August 3. Burnt -large dhow. Unfortunately, 9 on board, including 2 very old men, and -their boat was small, so I had to take them on board and proceed with -them close to the shore--got rid of them at 9.30 P.M.’ - -As for the hospital ships, there were numbers of them coming and going; -but, empty or full, it is inconceivable that the British Navy should -make war upon hospital ships. Victory it will desire, but not by -villainy; defeat it will avoid strenuously, but not by the destruction -of the first law of human life. The result is none the less certain: -in the history of submarine war, as in that of all naval war, it will -inevitably be seen that piracy and murder are not the methods of the -strong. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE SUBMARINE OF TO-DAY - - -The feelings of the average landsman, when he sets foot for the -first time in a submarine, are a strong mixture of curiosity and -apprehension. The curiosity is uppermost--the experience before you -is much more novel than, for example, that of a first trip in an -aeroplane. From a mountain or tower, a great wheel or a balloon, you -have seen the bird’s-eye view of the earth and felt the sensation of -hanging over the aerial abyss. But even the fascinating pages of Jules -Verne have not told you all that you will feel in a submarine, and -nothing but physical experience can do so. You are eager to see the -working of new mechanical devices in a wholly strange element, and to -learn the use of a new weapon in a wholly strange kind of war. But -with this eagerness, there is an underlying sense of uneasiness, a -feeling that you are putting yourself into a position where you are as -helpless as a mouse in a patent trap. The cause of this is not fear of -war risks, for it is equally strong in harbour, or in time of peace. It -is probably connected with the common dread of suffocation, which may -be an instinct inherited from ages of primitive life in the open. They -will tell you, in the submarine service, that it is a mere habit of -mind and very soon forgotten. There is even a story of an officer who, -on coming ashore from a year’s work in an E-boat, refused to travel -in the Tube railway, because it looked so dangerous. He preferred the -risks he was used to, and so do most of us. - -You stand, then, at the foot of the narrow iron ladder down which you -have come from the upper air, you gag your inherited instinct, and let -your curiosity loose. Before the boat dives, there is time for a good -deal to be taken in. The interior seems large beyond expectation. This -is partly an illusion, produced by the vista of the compartments, fore -and aft of the central control where you are standing. The bulkhead -doors being all open at this moment, you can see into the engine -and motor rooms towards the stern, and forward through the battery -compartment to the bow torpedo-tubes. The number of men seems large -too, and they are all busy; but you note that every part of them is -more active than their feet--there is very little coming and going. In -the control, close to you, are the captain, a lieutenant, a steersman, -and seven or eight other men for working the ballast tanks, air valves, -electrical apparatus, and hydroplanes. The last two of them have -just come down from the deck--the hatches are closed--engines have -already been running for some minutes, though the order escaped your -observation. - -You are invited ‘to see her dive.’ You go up to the forward -conning-tower scuttle and flatten your face against the thick glass. An -order is given. You hear the hissing of air, as the ballast tanks are -filled. You expect to see the forward part of the boat dip down into -the water in which she is heaving. Instead of that, it is apparently -the sea which lifts itself up, moves along the deck, and seems to be -coming in a huge slow wave over your scuttle. The light of day gives -place to a green twilight, full of small bubbles. Mentally you feel a -slight chill; but physically, a warm and sticky sensation. As there is -nothing more to be seen out of window, you return to your instructor. -He explains to you that the ship is now running on her motors, and that -her speed is therefore low--not nearly enough to overhaul a vessel or -convoy of any power. On the surface, with her other engines, she could -far more than double the pace; and even with the motors, she could do -a spurt for a short time--but spurts are very expensive; for they use -up the battery power with ruinous rapidity, and then a return to the -surface will be necessary, whether safe or not. - -At this point it may strike you suddenly that you are now under -water--you begin to wonder how deep you are, and why you have not -perceived any change in the boat’s position. The answer is that the -depth marked on the gauges is only twenty feet, and the angle of -descent was therefore very slight--much too slight to be perceptible -in the short length of a single compartment. The depth of twenty feet -is now being maintained with surprising steadiness; the explanation is -that two entirely separate forces are at work. First, there are the -horizontal rudders or hydroplanes, fitted outside the vessel both fore -and aft, by which she can be forced down, provided she has sufficient -way on, in much the same fashion as an ordinary vertical rudder forces -a ship to one side or the other. But this is only the diving apparatus; -to keep her down, there is her water ballast--the water which was taken -into her main ballast tanks, when the order to submerge was given. -These tanks contain a sufficient weight of water to counteract the -normal buoyancy of the boat, by which she would naturally float upon -the surface. When they are emptied, she will neither sink nor rise of -her own motion--she will lie or run at whatever depth she is placed, by -her hydroplanes or otherwise. - -These, you will have noticed, were called the ‘main’ ballast -tanks--there would seem then to be others. There are, and several -kinds of them. First, there is an auxiliary ballast tank, which has a -peculiar use of its own. A submarine must be able to float or submerge -in fresh water as well as at sea; for her base or harbour will often -be in the mouth of a river, or she may have to navigate a river, a -canal, or a lake. It is a point that would not probably have occurred -to you, but the difference between the density of fresh and salt water -is sufficiently great to make a real difficulty here. Everyone knows -that it is less easy to float in fresh water, and less easy to sink in -salt. For practical purposes, a submerged boat is less buoyant in fresh -water by 26 tons in 1000, and _vice versa_; so that when a submarine of -1000 tons leaves a river for the sea, she must take an extra 26 tons of -ballast to keep her down, and when she comes home again she must get -rid of 26 tons, or she will sink so much deeper in the fresh water. For -this purpose she has a special tank of the right size, proportioned to -her tonnage; and it is placed in the middle of the ship, in order that -it may not interfere with her trim when it is filled or emptied. - -That last remark will put you in mind that, in any kind of navigation, -the trim of the boat is a delicate and important matter. Even in very -large and heavy ships you may be able, by shifting guns or cargo, to -slip off a shoal, or right a leaking vessel after a collision. In a -tickle boat like a submarine, it is necessary to have some means of -trimming the vessel, fore or aft, at any moment, and especially when -about to dive, or when caught by some under-water obstruction. Tanks -are therefore fitted for this purpose at each end of the boat. They -are comparatively small, because the effect required is in ordinary -circumstances very limited, and in a desperate emergency they may need -to be supplemented by rushing the crew fore or aft, as living ballast. -An example of this will be found in a later chapter. - -You may now feel that you have heard enough of tanks; but your -instructor will insist on showing you a whole additional series. He -will make a point of your recognising that a submarine, when submerged, -is in reality hanging in the water as a balloon hangs in the air, and -for every loss of weight she must be instantaneously compensated, -or she will begin to rise. What loss of weight can she suffer while -actually under water? It is not perhaps very hard to guess. There is, -first of all, the consumption of oil by the engines; secondly, the -consumption of food and fresh water by the crew; and thirdly, the -departure from time to time of torpedoes. Also, when on the surface, -there may be gun ammunition fired away, or other things heaved -overboard, and allowance must be made for this when the boat goes down -again. The modern submarine is prepared to keep her balance under all -such circumstances. She has compensating tanks, and they are placed as -near as possible to the oil-tank, fresh-water tank, or torpedo-tube, -for whose diminished weight they are to compensate. - -You are probably more interested in the torpedo-tubes than in the -oil-tanks. It is time then to go forward. You pass through the battery -compartment, where the officers’ quarters are, and are shown (under the -floor) the accumulators, ranged like the honey sections in the frames -of a beehive, and very carefully covered over with flexible waterproof -covering as well as with close-jointed planking. What would happen if -water did find its way down to the batteries? An instant discharge of -chlorine gas, blinding and suffocating. What would you do then? Come -to the surface at all costs--and lucky if you are in time! The Germans -know all about that--and not long ago one of our own boats was only -saved by the good goal-keeping of a lieutenant, who caught up a lid of -some sort, and stood by the leak, neatly fending off the water spurt -from the door of the battery compartment. - -Now you are in the forward torpedo compartment, and there are the -tubes. I need not say anything about their size or number--you will -realise at a glance that when a couple are loosed off at once, a good -deal of weight goes out of the ship. The ordinary 18-inch fish is 17 -feet long, and takes some handling. The explosive alone in her war-head -weighs as much as a big man, say 12½ stone, and a 21-inch fish carries -twice as much as that, packed in some four feet of her length. Behind -that comes the air chamber--another ten feet--with the compressed air -to drive the engine, which is in her stern. The air is stored at a -pressure of over 2000 lbs. to the square inch; so the steel walls of -the chamber must be thick, and this makes another heavy item. Lastly, -there is the engine-box with its four-cylinder engine, two propellers, -gyroscope and steering gear. Altogether, an 18-inch fish will weigh -nearly three-quarters of a ton, and a 21-inch over 2000 lbs., so that -the amount of compensation needed when you fire, is considerable. - -To see how it is done, we will imagine ourselves firing this starboard -tube. The torpedo is got ready, and special care is taken to make -sure that the firing-pin in her nose is not forgotten. Cases have -been known in which a ship has been hit full by a torpedo which did -not explode--just as a good many Zeppelin bombs were found in London, -after the early raids, with the detonating pin not drawn. The fish is -now ready to come alive, and is slid into the tube. The door is shut -behind it, and the water-tight outer door, at the other end of the -tube, is now ready to be opened by powerful levers. But the immediate -result of this opening would be an inrush of sea-water which would -weigh the boat’s head down; for though the fish’s belly fits the tube -pretty closely, there is a good deal of empty space where it tapers -towards the nose and tail. Here comes in the tank system. When the tube -is loaded, this empty space is filled by water from within the ship, -so that no change of weight occurs when you open the outer door. But -when the firing-button has been pushed, and the torpedo has been shot -out by an air-charge behind it there is no possibility of preventing -the whole tube from filling with water, and this water must be got rid -of before the tube can be reloaded. To do this, you first close the -outer door again; then you have to deal with the tubeful of water. A -good part of it is what the ship herself supplied to fill the space -round the torpedo; and this must be pumped back into the special tank -it came from. The remainder is the sea-water which rushed in, to take -the place left empty by the departing torpedo: and this must be pumped -into another special tank to prevent the ship feeling the loss of the -torpedo’s weight. When you get a fresh supply of torpedoes, these -special compensating tanks (which are really a kind of dummy torpedoes) -will be emptied out, one for each new torpedo. Meantime, you have now -got the tube empty, and can open the inner door and reload. - -But what of the torpedo which has been fired? It is travelling towards -its mark at a speed of between thirty-five and forty knots, if we -suppose the range to be an ordinary one, under 1000 yards, and the -torpedo to have been ‘run hot,’ _i.e._ driven by hot air instead of -cold. The compressed air is heated mechanically inside the torpedo, -in the act of passing from the air chamber to the machinery, and this -increases both the speed and range. But it is not always convenient or -possible to start the heating apparatus, and even when ‘run cold’ the -fish will do thirty knots. This speed is amazing, but it is one of the -least wonderful of the torpedo’s qualities. The steering of the machine -is a double miracle. One device makes it take, after the first plunge, -exactly the depth you desire, and another--a gyroscope fitted inside -the rudder gear--keeps it straight on its course; or makes it, if you -wish, turn in a circle and strike its prey, boomerang fashion. The head -of the fish can also be fitted with cutters which will cut through any -torpedo-netting that a ship can afford to carry. The only thing that no -ingenuity can accomplish is to make a torpedo invisible during its run. -The compressed air, when it has passed through the engine, must escape, -and it comes to the surface in a continuous boiling line of bubbles. -This is visible at a considerable distance; and though, when the track -is sighted by the look-out, the torpedo itself is of course always -well ahead of the nearest spot where the bubbles are seen rising, it -is surprising how often ships do succeed in avoiding a direct shot. A -prompt cry from the look-out, a steersman ready to put his helm over -instantly, and the torpedo goes bubbling past, a few feet ahead or -astern, or comes in on a tangent and runs harmlessly along the ship’s -side without exploding. Then away it goes across the open sea, until -the compressed air is exhausted, the engine stops, and the mechanical -sinker sends it to the ocean bed, which must be fairly strewn with -dead torpedoes by this time; for as we know, to our advantage, the -proportion of misses to hits is very large in the U-boat’s record. - -Now that you have seen the weapon--and can at any rate imagine the -handling of it--you are naturally keen to sight the game, and realise -the conditions of a good shot. You go back to the central compartment, -where the Commander is ready to show you a ship through the periscope. -Not, of course, an enemy ship--in this war, if you want a shot at an -enemy ship, you must go into his own waters--into the Bight or the -Baltic--to find him; and even there he is probably tucked up very tight -in his berth, with chained barges and heavy nets all round him, and -mines all up the approach. But there are plenty of our own ships out -every day--sweeping, cruising, trading; and transporting men, food, -mails, and munitions. And what you see will help you to understand why -the Germans have spent so many torpedoes, and sunk so comparatively -small a proportion of our enormous tonnage. - -The boat is now less deep in the water; the gauges mark 15 feet, and -you are told that the top of the periscope is therefore some two feet -above the surface. The shaft of it is round, like a large vertical -piston; but at the bottom it ends in a flattened box, with a hand-grip -projecting on each side. You take hold of the grips and look into the -box. Nothing is visible but an expanse of water, with a coast-line -of low hills beyond it--all in miniature. The Commander presses the -back of your left hand on the grip, and you move round slowly as the -periscope revolves. The coast-line goes out of the picture, the sea -lies open to the horizon, and upon it appears a line of odd-looking -spots. They are moving; for the nearest one, which was narrow a moment -ago, is now three or four times as broad, and is in a different place -in the line. - -The line, you are told, is not a line at all, but a convoy, in fairly -regular formation. The nearest spot is a destroyer, zigzagging on the -flank; the others are ships which have been so effectively ‘dazzled’ -that their shapes are unrecognisable. You carry on, in hope of -something nearer, and suddenly a much larger object comes into the -field of vision. A ship, of course, though it does not look like any -ship you have ever seen; and you are asked to guess its distance and -direction. You are bewildered at first; for as you were moving the -lens rapidly to starboard, the vessel came in rapidly to port, and -as her dazzle-paint makes her stern indistinguishable from her bows, -you continue to think she is steaming in that direction. After a more -careful observation, this mistake is corrected. She is crossing us from -port to starboard. But at what angle? This is vitally important, for -the possibility of getting in a successful shot would depend entirely -upon the answer. We are ourselves heading about due north: she is -crossing to the east: if her course is south of east, she is coming -nearer to us, and our torpedo would strike her before the beam--the -most favourable chance. If, on the contrary, her course is north of -east she is going away, and the torpedo would have a poor chance of -hitting her abaft the beam. In fact, it would not be worth while to -risk losing so costly a shot. A torpedo at present prices is worth not -far short of £2000, and we only carry two for each tube. - -You look long and hard at this dazzle-ship. She doesn’t give you -any sensation of being dazzled; but she is, in some queer way, all -wrong--her proportions are wrong, she is somehow not herself, not -what she ought to be. If you fix your attention on one end of her, -she seems to point one way--if you look away at her other end, she is -doing something different. You can’t see the height of her funnels -clearly, or their relative position. But, with care, you decide that -she is coming about south-east and will be therefore your bird in two -minutes’ time. The Commander is interested. He takes a look himself, -laughs, and puts you back at the eye-piece. You hold on in hope that he -may, after all, be wrong; but the bird ends by getting well away to the -north-east. Your error covered just ninety degrees, and the camouflage -had beaten you completely. You begin to think that the ingenuity -at command of the nation has been underestimated. But this ship is -nothing of a dazzle, the Commander tells you--he can show you one whose -cut-water seems always to be moving at a right angle to her stern! - -[Illustration: ‘Does not look like any ship you have ever seen.’] - -He adds that he knew all about that cruiser, and she knew all about -him. Otherwise he would not have shown even his periscope; and if he -had, she would have had a shell into him by now, and a depth-charge to -follow. A depth-charge is perhaps the most formidable weapon against -which the submarine has to be on guard. It is a bomb, with a detonator -which can be set to explode when it reaches any given depth. A small -one would need to hit the mark full, or be very close to it, in order -to get a satisfactory result; but the newer and larger ones will -seriously damage a submarine within an area of forty yards. The charge -is either dropped over the stern of the pursuing vessel, when she is -thought to be just over or just ahead of the enemy; or it is fired out -of a small and handy short-range howitzer--a kind of lob-shot, a number -of which can be made by several patrol boats acting together, so as to -cover a larger area with much less risk of embarrassing each other. -Even if the submarine is not destroyed outright, the chances are in -such a case that she will be so damaged as to be forced to the surface -or to the bottom, and then the end is certain. A bad leak would bring -her up--an injury to her tanks or rudders might drive her down. - -You are uncomfortably reminded once more of that inherited dislike of -death by suffocation. If a submarine cannot rise to the surface, you -ask, is there no possible means of escape? The answer is that it may be -possible, with great difficulty, to get out of the boat; but there is -very little chance that you would survive. The lungs are not fitted to -bear so great and sudden a change of pressure as that felt in passing -from the boat to the water, and from the deep water to the surface. -You are perhaps surprised; but the pressure of sea-water at 160 feet -is equal to five atmospheres, or about 75 lbs. to the square inch. To -pass safely through this to the ordinary surface atmosphere would need -a long and gradual process, and not a sudden rise of a few seconds. A -very brave attempt was made on one occasion, when a British submarine -had gone to the bottom during her trials, and could not be got up by -any effort of her crew. The agony of the situation was intensified by -the fact that help was close at hand, if only the alarm could be given, -and the whereabouts of the submarine communicated to the rescuers. The -officers of the sunken boat were, of course, perfectly aware of the -danger from sudden change of pressure; but one of them volunteered to -go to the surface, alive or dead, and carry a message on the chance -of attracting some ship’s attention. To lessen the risk as far as -possible, it was arranged that he should go up into the conning-tower, -and that the hatch should then be closed beneath him and the water -gradually admitted. As it flowed slowly in, and mounted round him, -the air in the top of the conning-tower would diminish in extent but -increase in pressure. When it reached his neck, the internal pressure -would be nearly equal to the external. He would be able to open the -top, possibly to make his escape, and conceivably to reach the surface -without his lungs being fatally injured. If he failed, he would at any -rate have given his life for the chance of saving his comrades. - -The Commander accompanied him into the conning-tower, meaning, it is -said, to return into the ship himself when he had seen to all the -arrangements. But when the water was admitted, the two of them were -shot out together, and as it happened it was the volunteer who was -killed, by striking against the superstructure, while the Commander -came up alive. In no long time--though it must have seemed unendurably -long to those below, waiting in complete uncertainty--the rescuers were -informed, found the submarine, and got a hawser under her stern. They -raised her high enough out of the water, vertically, to open a hatch -and save the crew. Then the hawser gave, and the boat went down again. - -That story is not unlikely to haunt you all the way home, and for a -long time afterwards. It may even make a difference to your whole -feeling about the war under water, as waged by our own Service. The -submarine is not merely an incredibly clever box of mechanical toys, -nor is it only the fit weapon of a cruel and ruthless enemy; it is -also a true part of the Navy without fear and without reproach, whose -men play the great game for each other and for their country, and play -it more greatly than we know. The tune of their service is a kind of -undertone; but it is in the heroic key, and cannot fall below it. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -A BRITISH SUBMARINE BASE - - -Our submarine now returns to the surface. She is proceeding on patrol, -and her commander, as he bids us good-bye, recommends us to put into -the port from which he has just come, and see what a submarine base is -like. We take his advice, and return to our trawler. Her head is turned -westward and signals are made and answered. The skipper informs us that -we are about to pass through a mine-field where the mines are as thick -as herring-roe. It is some consolation to hear that ‘The Sweep’ has -already done its daily morning work, and that the channel is presumably -clear. - -The East Coast of England, from Tynemouth to Thames mouth, is pierced -with some ten or a dozen estuaries, all more or less suitable for -flotilla bases. It is unnecessary to say how many of these are used by -our submarines, or which of them it is that we are about to enter. But -a short description can do no harm, because one of these bases is very -like another, and all are absolutely impervious to enemy craft. Even -if they could navigate the mine-field, so thickly strewn with both our -mines and their own, and so constantly and thoughtfully rearranged, -they would not find it possible to slip, as we are doing, past the -elaborate boom at the harbour mouth, or to escape being sunk by the -guns which dominate it, and the seaplanes which are constantly passing -over it. - -And now that we are inside, it looks an even more dangerous place for -an intruder--a perfect hornets’ nest. Close to us on the left lies a -small pier, with buildings on a hill behind it--the Commodore’s house -and offices, seamen’s training-school, and gymnasium. At the pier-head -are two or three picket-boats; and a little further on, a light cruiser -with her observation balloon mounted. The vast sheds beyond are the -hangars of the Air Service. They are painted in a kind of Futurist -style, which gives them a queer look from below, but makes them, when -seen from a thousand feet up, either invisible or like a landscape of -high roads, cornfields, hay-stacks and groups of trees--objects quite -uninviting to any stray air-raider. But their best protection is the -efficiency of the machines and men inside them. - -Over on the opposite side of the river stretches a long quay. The -background of it is a naval railway station; the ships lying in front -of it are partly supply ships, partly merchant vessels brought in under -convoy, and two of them are depot ships, moored permanently there, and -used as headquarters for the Submarine, Destroyer, and other services. -Out in the centre of the harbour lies a still larger depot ship, the -floating headquarters of the Admiral who is Commodore of the port; and -behind her, in two long lines, stretching away upstream into the far -distance, lies an apparently inexhaustible force of light cruisers, -destroyers, and destroyer-leaders, with here and there a submarine--one -is slung aloft in a dry-dock for overhauling. A side creek to the -left is crowded with trawlers and drifters, whose men are now ashore -‘between sweeps.’ At this hour of the day the place is at its fullest, -for the daily ‘Beef Trip,’ or food convoy, has just come in, and the -dozen destroyers which escorted it are all lying at their moorings, on -both sides of the main stream line. There they will be till to-night, -when at 7 o’clock to the second they will all slip away again into the -twilight like thin grey ghostly dogs, shepherding another flock of very -substantial sheep. - -The trawler puts us aboard the depot ship; but the Admiral is not -there. A picket-boat takes us over to his pier, and we find him in -his chart-room, surrounded by maps marked with spots and figures in -different colours, quite unintelligible except to those who have the -key, and even to them no subject for conversation at large. But the -Admiral is a good talker, his mind is an encyclopædia of submarine -war and the working of a naval base, and he is amazingly quick in -separating the facts which interest you, and yet are fit for repetition -outside, from those which you must forget as soon as you have heard -them. He begins by explaining the daily routine of the port--the -mine-sweeping, which is done regularly twice a day, but at what times -the enemy can only guess, and the mine-laying, which is a game of brain -against brain, each side trying to see through the other’s devices -and catch him with their own. An elementary example would be the -obvious dodge of moving the enemy’s mine a short distance, instead of -removing it altogether--so that when next he comes that way, he shall -run into it unexpectedly, and perish by his own trap. But this, as I -have described it, is too simple a device to be successful, and the -ingenuity of our mine-layers has improved upon it by a dozen skilful -variations. Much can be done by studying carefully the habits of the -German mind. One officer, who is specially skilled in this matter, has -the credit of being able to make a U.C.-boat lay her eggs just where he -pleases, and of knowing exactly when it will be time to go and collect -them. - -Our own mine-laying and coastal patrol would be more exciting if the -possible successes were not limited to an occasional submarine. It is a -little dull to be always laying traps for a flotilla that never comes. -The work of our coastal submarines is therefore monotonous; but it is -none the less invaluable. Besides making sure, it trains a continual -succession of crews for oversea work, and gives experience to young -commanders. The number of boats increases every year, and the flow of -volunteer entries keeps pace with it. The standard demanded is very -high, and it is fully maintained. The prize of efficiency is immediate -entry into the hardships and dangers of the oversea patrol. - -There is no doubt that the hardships are more trying to our men than -the dangers. The oversea patrol is kept up through the winter. The -weather off the enemy’s coast is often very severe, and boats have to -be shut down for long periods. In summer, the work of diving patrols is -almost equally arduous, owing to the longer hours of daylight. Boats -must frequently be submerged for nineteen or twenty hours at a time; -and after the first twelve of these, the air, in spite of purifiers, -becomes oppressive to breathe--not even the head of a match will burn. -Then there are two special conditions tending towards depression. -First, the positive results are few, and form no measure of the work -or the risks. Results are obtained, but never in proportion to the -devotion and sanguine hopes of the Service. It is a baffling and trying -experience to live for days with your eye glued to a periscope--the -field of vision is contracted, and too close to the water. The -psychological effect of the strain would be bad in the case of any but -highly trained and selected officers--as one of them has said, the -sighting of a surface enemy is a relief seldom obtained. The Germans -are fortunate in the daily, almost hourly, sighting of targets. But -their officers, in consequence of continual heavy losses, are commonly -sent to sea undertrained, and their results are naturally poor in -proportion to the torpedoes expended. - -The second of the two causes which would discourage any but the finest -spirit, is the fact that an almost complete silence broods over the -Submarine Service. Not only is the work done mostly in the deep-sea -twilight; but, however arduous and creditable it may be, it is seldom -recognised publicly. Rewards are given, but not openly. A commander may -reappear for a day or two among his friends, wearing the ribbon of the -D.S.O. or the V.C., or both, but little or nothing will be published of -the actions by which he won them. It is not only that information must -be kept from reaching the enemy--and naturally the German Admiralty is -always anxious to know how their boats are lost--but there is also a -settled custom in our Navy, a custom older than the Submarine Service, -by which ‘mention in despatches’ is confined to incidents during which -one or both sides have been under fire, from gun or torpedo. Custom in -the Navy is generally a sound rule; but in this particular instance, -the custom did not grow up to fit the case, and does not fit it. The -Admiral does not say anything on this point; but he tells us that -the real danger a submarine commander has to face is not the gun or -the torpedo. He may come off his patrol without having been shot at -by either, and yet may be entitled to the credit of having been in -action for days and nights on end. In fact, every minute that he is in -enemy waters he is in danger from mines, and from a host of formidable -pursuers--aeroplanes and Zeppelins with bombs, and fast anti-submarine -craft with depth-charges and explosive sweeps. No doubt all ships are -to some extent in danger from mines, but no other class of vessel is -asked to run the gauntlet on the enemy’s coast to anything like the -same extent. If surface ships are sent, they are sent for a single -operation, the ground is prepared for them as far as possible, the -period of exposure is short, and when the work is done the force is -withdrawn. But our submarines are, for days and weeks at a time, close -to known mine-fields and in areas most likely to hold new or drifted -mines. They are harassed by hunters to whom they can make no reply, -and particularly by aircraft, which can detect them even at sixty feet -below the surface. The areas in which they work are comparatively -narrow, and so closely patrolled by small craft that it is seldom -possible to come to the surface in daylight; navigation, too, is very -difficult, and the rapidly changing densities of the water off the -enemy’s coast make the trimming of the boat and the depth control a -matter of constant anxiety. - -Yet not only are officers and men found in plenty to enter this -service of twilight and silence, but the keenness they show for it is -unfailing. The work itself is their one ambition, and their records -are astounding. Ask the Captain (S.) of this port. In two years he -has organised 370 cruises, lasting in all 1680 days, and extending -over a surface mileage of more than 200,000 miles. There was only -a single breakdown, and that ended in a triumph; for the Commander -got himself towed back by an enemy trawler, neatly captured for the -purpose. Another--Commander Talbot--made twenty-one cruises; Lieutenant -C. Turner, nineteen; Commanders Goodhart and Leir, seventeen each; -Commander Benning and Lieut. C. Moncreiffe, sixteen. More wonderful -still is the fact that the first two of these officers spent fifty-six -and sixty-five days respectively in enemy waters, and the other four -from thirty-six to forty-nine days each. The most interesting part -of their adventures cannot yet be told; but much may be guessed from -an outline or two. Commander Leir, for instance, was repeatedly in -action with Zeppelins, seaplanes, and anti-submarine craft, one of -which he sank. He was present at the action in the Heligoland Bight -in August 1914, and brought home some German prisoners. Commander -Benning was also repeatedly in action. Once, after torpedoing an armed -auxiliary cruiser, he was forced by enemy sweepers to dive into a -German mine-field. There he had to stay, with batteries exhausted, till -night gave him a chance of recharging. Another time he went down into a -mine-field of his own will, to lie in wait for an armed auxiliary. He -was there for three hours, but ambushed her successfully in the end, -close to the German coast. Lieut.-Commander Turner covered 20,000 miles -to his own score, and passed much of his time actually in the swept -channels, with enemy patrols in sight the whole day. Sometimes he came -up and fought them, sometimes they hunted him with depth-charges. -For those who sleep in beds and travel in buses, it is an almost -unimaginable life. ‘Yes,’ says the Admiral, ‘in this Service, officers -need a two-o’clock-in-the-morning courage every hour they are at sea: -and they have it.’ - -[Illustration: ‘Towed back by an enemy trawler.’] - -The charts are put away. We move out, first to the gymnasium, where -physical drill is going on, then towards the great air-sheds. As we -approach the first of these, an officer meets us and hands a block to -the Admiral with the morning report upon it. - -The Admiral’s face lights up as he reads. ‘A lucky chance--something -to interest you.’ The Beef Trip, it appears, which has just returned, -was escorted as usual by two seaplanes, flying ahead of the convoy. The -starboard one of these had sighted a submarine at 8.30 A.M. and swooped -towards her instantly. She was nearly submerged when the seaplane -passed over her, but the two big depth-charges which were dropped in a -flash, fell right into her wash and close to the conning-tower, which -disappeared in the explosion. - -An excellent bit of work! But the face of the officer standing by shows -a distinct cloud. ‘What is it?’ Well, the fact is that the pilot of the -other seaplane, a mile and a half away to port, had an impression that -the submarine was British. - -The pilot of the bomb-dropper is sent for and comes out at once--a -fair-haired and very young lieutenant, with an air of perfectly -undisturbed serenity. He is sure nothing is wrong--it is ‘only a -muddle.’ His companion pilot had certainly sighted and spoken a British -submarine some quarter of an hour earlier; but this was not the one. -Also another boat, E. 134, was out on patrol in that precise direction, -but she was not due in that spot till 11 o’clock, B.S.T., and it was -highly improbable she would be there so much before her time. Besides, -he knew the colour of a Hun conning-tower. Undoubtedly it was ‘only a -muddle.’ The explanation sounds a good one, but it is a speculation, -not a certainty; and on further inquiry, it appears that nothing has -since been heard of E. 134. The Admiral sends off the young pilot with -a word of good cheer; but when he has gone, he hands back the report -with a serious look. The incident has become too interesting. It is no -longer something to tell a visitor. We go into the sheds and spend the -remainder of our time in viewing the huge Americas and Handley-Pages. - -The rest of the story comes after lunch, when we go to visit the -Captain (S.) in his depot ship. He has heard all about our pilot, and -our submarine too. E. 134 lay all night in her billet, resting on the -bottom at 140 feet and listening with all her hydrophones. In the -morning her watch was rewarded; she heard, first, the monotonous low -ticking of a German submarine’s motors passing near her on the outward -patrol--then at 8.30 the heavy dull boom of two explosions close -together--then not a sound more! Finally, at her appointed time, noting -that the U-boat had never stirred again, she rose to the surface and -came home in rear of the sweep. The muddle is cleared up, and in the -best manner. - -[Illustration: ‘She was nearly submerged when the seaplane passed over -her.’] - -We discuss the dead submarine and ask whether she would be, or would -have been, more formidable when used against a convoy than against -a single ship. The Captain (S.) who has already been torpedoed once -himself, thinks there can be no doubt on this subject. ‘A single ship -is much more easily approached than a convoy--she has only one set -of eyes on the look-out, from one position, and the enemy can stalk her -without fear of being trodden on from other quarters. Convoys ought -to escape nearly every time, and they do. Look at the record of this -port--not one loss in two years.’ This opinion is based on experience, -but the matter looks different from the point of view of the convoy -escort, whose responsibility weighs upon him every day afresh. This we -discover when we pass on to visit a destroyer-leader, at a later hour -in the evening. She is being got ready for the night’s work and it -is now just six, but her captain assures us that what remains of his -time is entirely ours. He takes us down to his own room, an elegant -and almost spacious apartment, very unlike anything to be seen in a -destroyer of the ordinary type; and he, too, answers our question -positively. ‘Which is easiest--to hit a single ship or a convoy? The -question answers itself--a submarine ought to get at least one bird -out of a covey every time! She does not do it, perhaps; but look at -the trouble we take to prevent her. Think of all the work put in by -the auxiliary patrol to keep the sea fairly clear to start with--armed -yachts, trawlers, whalers, drifters, motor-launches, mine-sweepers, -net-drifters and motor-boats, out day and night all round the whole -coast of the U.K. That is their routine work; and besides that they -supply escorts to individual ships of special value and to ocean -convoys, when they have arrived at their port of initial entry, and -are to be taken on elsewhere. Then there are the various kinds of -protective devices for the ships themselves--the dazzle-painting, the -smoke-boxes on broads, and the smoke-boxes for floating behind you. -And since we _are_ talking of these things, there is the work of the -destroyers and trawlers on regular convoy.’ This is, of course, the -captain’s own job, and we naturally hint a desire that he should pursue -the subject. - -‘There is no difficulty about it--the Germans already know all that -they can ever know of our convoy system--how it is organised in the -form of group-sailings on definite routes, and worked, as far as -possible, at night, with extra protection given by daylight and during -moonlight hours--above all, how successful it is, and how, little by -little, they have given up the chase of mercantile convoys for the -attack of transports and single ships of great size and value. In one -month, for instance, of the present year, 690 vessels were convoyed -from England to France, of which only three were attacked, and only two -sunk, including one small sailing ship. More astonishing still, out -of 693 convoyed from France to England in the same month not one was -touched, or even attacked. Then there are the Dutch and Scandinavian -lines.’ - -We should like to know exactly how it is done, and especially what part -the destroyers play in the game. Briefly, but very sharply, the picture -is drawn for us. You see a fine August day, off the coast of Scotland, -with white summer clouds over a rippling sea; a compact convoy of eight -ships sailing in two columns, with a ninth lagging on the left, three -times her proper distance to the rear. Their speed is slow; they are -flanked on both sides, fore and aft, by armed trawlers, with one just -ahead of the two columns, and they are covered by two fast destroyers. -The first of these is ahead of the convoy, zigzagging continuously -from side to side across the whole front. The second is zigzagging in -another direction. Suddenly, from this second destroyer, a signal is -seen to fly. Her look-out has spotted the wake of a periscope 1000 -yards away on her starboard bow, moving to cut off the convoy, from the -right column of which it is already not more than 1500 yards distant. A -torpedo fired at this moment should cross the convoy formation exactly -in the middle, and would have an excellent chance of sinking either of -the centre ships in either column--it could hardly miss all four. But -the destroyer has in a moment altered course 8 points to starboard, -and is prolonging this zigzag directly towards the enemy at thirty-odd -knots, with her forward guns blazing. The U-boat captain, no doubt, -longs to take his shot into the brown; but he has less than one minute -in which to perform the more urgent duty of saving his own ship. Down -he goes, with a depth-charge after him, and is not seen or heard of -again in this story. The convoy calls up its lame duck and goes safely -to its destination. - -‘Yes,’ says the Captain, ‘we get them through, and it all looks very -simple; but it’s mostly a matter of ten seconds, and you can’t grow fat -on a daily margin of ten seconds.’ - -‘But the Admiral has something to say on your report?’ - -‘The Admiral writes outside, “Good look-out and prompt action of -_Swallow_ probably averted a casualty to the convoy.” He has to write -that most days--he must be tired of writing it.’ - -It is now two minutes to seven. As we drop into our picket-boat, the -destroyer slips silently from her moorings and fades away down stream -with eleven other thin grey phantoms. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -SUBMARINES AND WAR POLICY - - -‘Strategy,’ says the ‘Encyclopædia Britannica,’ ‘has been curtly -described as the art of concentrating an effective fighting force at a -given place at a given time, and tactics as the art of using it when -there.’ In less scientific language, you fight a battle by means of -tactics, and a campaign by means of strategy. But when nations live, as -we have all been living for many years past, in constant preparation -for war, there must be forethought as to the means and methods to be -employed. Each nation has broad general plans, ready for the moment -when fighting is decided upon, and ships, guns, and armies are provided -accordingly. This is what is meant by war policy; and examples will -come to mind at once. We live in a group of islands, with Dominions -and other possessions overseas, and we have no desire to attack our -continental neighbours. British war policy has therefore always been -chiefly directed to the provision of an invincible navy for defending -our shores and our commerce. The German Empire, on the other hand, -is practically self-contained; it lies on the Continent, with land -powers for neighbours whom it has long hoped and intended to dominate. -German war policy, therefore, concerned itself until quite recently -with plans for aggression by land, and only provided a powerful fleet -when it became desirable to have a weapon in hand against England--not -necessarily to fight us on equal terms, but, as they said themselves, -to make us hesitate to take sides against them. - -In this way it came about that both countries had a great naval war -policy, and watched each other carefully, building dreadnoughts -against dreadnoughts, and cruisers against cruisers. We made great and -successful efforts to keep the lead; for sea power is a matter of life -and death to us; and the Germans were spending every mark they could -spare, to get more and more nearly upon even terms. It is certain that -the war policy of both Powers took account of the possible uses of -submarine boats; but the lines of thought which they followed were in -some ways widely different, and they led, when war came, to unexpected -developments. Let us consider for a few moments what the British -admirals on the one hand, and the German on the other, intended to do -with their submarine forces, and what they actually did when the time -for action came. - -British war policy was essentially non-aggressive. The Navy had but one -possible antagonist of the first rank at sea, and that one we should -never have fought with, except in a war of defence. Our submarines, -therefore, had two obvious duties marked out for them. They would -help in coast defence by making it dangerous for ships of war or -transports to approach, and they might be used, if an opportunity -arose, to attack a fleet in harbour, or a cruiser at sea. There was -every probability that any fleet of a Power at war with us would -sooner or later have to spend a good deal of time in port, and it -would certainly be well to have the means to attack it there. But, -important as this function was, the idea of defence against invasion -probably came first, and there is no doubt that an efficient submarine -force is a very formidable addition to our flotilla for coast defence. -Perhaps we thought, in those years of perpetual preparation, too much -about the ‘Invasion of England’ and too little about the duty of -supporting our Allies on land; and we had this much justification, -that the Power from which we had every reason to expect an attack, -was one directed by men of great energy and determination, certain to -be relentless in pressing a war home upon us, even at the risk of a -heavy loss. On the other hand, those who spoke and wrote most about -invasion, nearly always failed to realise the immense difficulty of -the undertaking; and they failed especially to see that, in modern -times, the conditions had changed very considerably in favour of the -defence. The initial problem of an invader by sea must always be the -provision of transport sufficient for a large body of troops, with -arms, equipment, and supplies of food and munitions. Even if we allow -only two tons of shipping per man--the Japanese allowed six tons--the -transport of 100,000 men would take twenty vessels of 10,000 tons each, -and to collect these and load them would be a big operation; difficult -to conceal. In fact to conceal it, for a sufficiently long time, from -a defence force well supplied with wireless telegraphy, fast scouts, -and aerial observation, would now be a practical impossibility. But -even if we suppose such an expedition to be able (under cover of fog, -or by a complete surprise) to cross the North Sea unobserved, there -remains the further difficulty of the landing. A place must be found -where the invaders could obtain immediate control of supplies and -communications; there are but half a dozen such places at most upon our -eastern coast-line, and these are all prepared for a strenuous defence -by land. If we add to the land defence a mine-field and the presence of -an unknown number of submarines, the attempt becomes one involving the -certainty of immense losses, and the extreme probability of failure. -Even the German war-lords have not yet made up their minds to the risk -of seeing eight or ten divisions drowned in an hour. - -Besides coast defence and harbour attack, there might possibly be -a chance for our submarines in a fleet action. Of that, all that -can be said now is that our Submarine Service is believed to have -shown greater promptness and ingenuity in its preparations than the -German Admiralty, and awaits the next naval engagement with eager -anticipation. But already it has been found practicable to use our -submarines for two very important kinds of work, to an extent which was -certainly quite unforeseen. One of these is the chase and destruction -of enemy submarines--a kind of service which has been pronounced -impossible, even in books written during the later stages of the War, -but actual examples of which will be given in one of the chapters which -describe our hunting methods. The other kind of work is the blockade -of the enemy’s shipping trade and supply service, to be described when -we come to the account of our submarine campaigns in the Baltic and -Dardanelles. - -If we turn now to German naval policy, we shall come at once upon an -interesting point, which has not been generally understood. We have -been told that the German Admiralty, before the War, was completely -deceived as to the value of the submarine. And Mr. Marley Hay has -been often quoted as saying that, in several conversations in 1911, -Admiral von Tirpitz ‘expressed emphatically his opinion that he -considered submarines to be in an experimental stage, of doubtful -utility, and that the German Government was not at all convinced that -they would form an essential or a conspicuous part of their future -naval programme.’ Mr. Hay shows clearly that this was not said with -the object of misleading; for he was urging Tirpitz to build, and the -Admiral continued to refuse. When war broke out, the German Navy had -only twenty-seven submarines built against seventy-six British and -seventy French boats, and she was only building twelve more, against -the twenty and twenty-three on our side. This may have been partly -due to a miscalculation of their efficiency; but the main reason was -probably that the directors of German war policy were (at that time) -preparing for a war in which our Navy was to take no part. The account -with England was to be settled at a later date. The immediate intention -was to deal with France and Russia, and the assistance of the Austrian -and Italian submarines in the Mediterranean was of course reckoned upon. - -When war came these calculations were falsified. The German High Seas -Fleet found itself unable to stand up to ours, and German war policy -was forced to take a different direction. The U-boats’ first allotted -task was the legitimate one of reducing our margin of superiority in -battle-ships and cruisers. While our Fleet was certain to keep the sea, -and protect our long coast-line and huge merchant tonnage, the German -High Seas Fleet must lie in the Kiel Canal, risking only furtive and -futile rushes into the open. But if the U-boats could hit a sufficient -number of our more active war-ships, they might bring the forces nearer -to an equality, and perhaps establish a prestige for their own Service. -How they failed in this attempt we shall see presently. - -When their failure in the game of attrition became evident, the U-boats -were utilised in a different way. A submarine blockade of the British -Isles was plainly threatened by Admiral von Tirpitz towards the end -of 1914; and the official announcement of it was made on February 4, -1915. By this document it was declared that on and after February -18, every British or French merchant vessel found in the waters of -the ‘war region’ round these islands ‘will be destroyed, without its -always being possible to warn the crews or passengers of the dangers -threatening.’ Neutral ships, it was added, would not be attacked unless -by mistake; but they are warned not to take the risk. - -Those who know even a little of the history of our old wars will see -at a glance that this is a new move in naval war policy, and one made -by the Germans to get over certain difficulties which arise from the -very nature of submarine boats, and which are especially embarrassing -when the submarines belong to a navy decidedly inferior to its -enemies at sea. The old and well-established rules of naval war laid -down that you could only interfere with merchant shipping if it were -engaged in carrying contraband of war. To ascertain whether the ship -you had sighted was carrying contraband or not, you had to board and -search her. If innocent, you must let her proceed on her voyage. If -apparently guilty, you took over her men or otherwise placed them in -safety, put a prize crew on board and sent her home to a port of your -own, to be tried legally by a properly constituted tribunal called a -Prize Court. If this Court decided that she was, in fact, carrying -contraband, she was your prize. If you were forced by stress of -circumstances to destroy the prize, instead of sending her into port, -you took every care to remove everyone on board before doing so; and -when you had not room for so many people, you released the prize rather -than endanger or sacrifice the lives of non-combatants. - -All these humane rules could well be observed by any ordinary cruiser; -and they were, in fact, kept by the _Emden_ and other German cruisers -when harrying British commerce in the East. But it is obvious at the -first glance that a submarine would be continually in difficulties -over them. It would always be risky for so fragile and unhandy a -vessel to board and search a big ship, which might prove to be armed -with guns or bombs. No submarine could find room for merchant crews or -passengers in her own small compartments, and no submarine could afford -to spare a prize crew for even one prize, or the time and horse-power -to tow her into port. In short, it was plain, from the first, that the -legitimate cruiser game could not be played at all by submarine boats. -The Government of the United States put the truth unanswerably in these -words: ‘The employment of submarines for the destruction of enemy -trade is of necessity completely irreconcilable with the principles of -humanity, with the long existing undisputed rights of neutrals, and -with the sacred privileges of non-combatants.’ - -[Illustration: ‘Turning passengers and crews adrift in open boats.’ - - [_See page_ 77. -] - -The British Navy had an advantage here--the inestimable advantage -of a force that could keep the sea against all its enemies. It was, -therefore, possible for our submarines to stop an occasional ship with -impunity, or to call up a destroyer and send a prize into port; and in -the narrow waters of the Baltic and the Sea of Marmora, supply ships -and merchantmen were captured and destroyed by them with every regard -for the laws of humanity. But the German submarines had no fleet at sea -to back their attempted blockade, and German war policy therefore took -the downward course, hacking a way through the rules, and sacrificing, -for the hope of victory, the very foundations of civilised human life. -The U-boats began by turning passengers and crews adrift in open boats, -no matter in what weather or how far from land. They went on to sink -even great liners without search, and without warning; and they came -finally down to the destruction of helpless men and women in boats, -in order that the ships they had torpedoed might disappear without a -trace--_spürlos versenkt_. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -SUBMARINE _v._ WAR-SHIP - - -The use of the submarine for attacking war-ships is, of course, -perfectly legitimate, and the powers and possibilities of this weapon -were much discussed before the War. Some writers of note believed that -the day of the big battleship was practically over--that such vessels -could be ‘pulled down’ with certainty by any enterprising submarine -commander, without any corresponding risk to his own boat. Others, with -cooler or more scientific heads, maintained that there is an answer to -every weapon, and that the introduction of submarines would not change -the principles of war. The result has shown that the latter school of -opinion was right. The submarine has achieved some striking successes -here and there against the larger ships of war, but has not rendered -them obsolete or kept them from going about their true business, the -control of the sea; and as time goes on, it is rather the submarine -than the battle-ship which is found too vulnerable to challenge a -fight, when neither has the advantage of surprise. - -This legitimate use of the submarine formed part, as we have seen, of -both British and German war policy--though, in our own case, it was -originally considered rather as a means of defence against invasion; -than of offence on the high seas. It was, therefore, not unnatural that -the U-boat should score first. Besides, we were offering a hundred -targets to one. Our cruisers were all over the North Sea, while no -German ships could be met there except an occasional mine-layer -like the _Königin Luise_. This state of things has only become more -invariable as the War has developed; and the most remarkable result, so -far, of the contest between the two submarine services is the practical -equality of the score on the two sides. With infinitely fewer and more -difficult chances, the British submarine has actually surpassed the -U-boat’s record, in successes obtained against enemy ships of war, and -immensely surpassed it in the proportion of successes to opportunities. - -The first war-ship to fall to the torpedo of a submarine was the -_Pathfinder_, a light cruiser of about 5,000 tons, with a complement of -268 officers and men, of whom some half were saved. The boat which sank -her was the U. 21, commanded by Lieutenant Hersing, who raised high -hopes in Germany which he was not destined to fulfil. - -A greater captain is said to have been Captain Otto Weddigen, who -achieved the sensational feat of pulling down three of our cruisers in -one hour, and was supposed by some of his fellow-countrymen to have -solved the problem of reducing the British Fleet to an equality with -the German. But he owed more to luck and our inexperience than to any -peculiar skill of his own. In the early morning of September 22, 1914, -he stalked the armoured cruisers _Aboukir_, _Hogue_, and _Cressy_, old -ships of 12,000 tons and 18 knots’ speed, which were out on patrol -duty in the North Sea, and were about to take up their stations for -the day’s work. The danger of the submarine was hardly yet fully -recognised; and when the _Aboukir_ was struck by a violent explosion, -the general belief in the squadron was that she had run foul of a mine. -She listed heavily and sank slowly, her funnels almost level with the -water, and the smoke coming out as from the water’s edge. The other two -ships closed her at once, and had got within two cables of her when the -_Hogue_ was struck in turn by two torpedoes almost simultaneously. The -effect was extraordinary. ‘She seemed,’ says an eye-witness, ‘to give -one jump out of the water and then to go straight down.’ So quickly -did she go, that she was out of sight long before _Aboukir_, who took -twenty minutes to sink, so that her men (as one of them said) ‘got time -to do the best.’ - -The moment the _Hogue_ was struck, it was realised that submarines were -at work, and _Cressy_ opened fire from one of her 9·2-in. guns. She -was hit herself by two torpedoes immediately afterwards, and listed -heavily, so that everything began to roll down the deck. But she sank -slowly and her gunners kept up their fire most gallantly, giving -up their chance of being saved for the hope of killing their enemy -before they went down. They fired a dozen shots in all, and are said -by Lieutenant Harrison to have sunk one of the attacking U-boats. ‘I -reckon her gunners,’ said a survivor from the _Aboukir_, ‘were about -the bravest men that ever lived. They kept up the firing until she -had 40 degrees of list. They died gamely, did those fellows.’ Their -shipmates were worthy of them. ‘There was absolutely no panic on the -cruiser; the men were as calm as at drill.’ At last some trawlers came -up; and, after two hours, some destroyers. Only 777 of the three -ships’ crews were saved, out of a total of about 2,100; and 60 officers -were lost out of 120. ‘Some of our men must have been in the water -for three or four hours. The _Aboukir_ men were taken to the _Hogue_; -when the _Hogue_ was sunk, they were taken to the _Cressy_; when the -_Cressy_ was taken, they were thrown in the sea again. Yet here they -are, and there is only one thing they want--to go to sea again and have -another whack at the men who torpedoed them.’ - -Possibly they had their wish; for some of them may have been on board -the British ship which, a few months later, destroyed U. 29 (Weddigen’s -boat) by a brilliant and almost reckless feat of seamanship, which, in -later days, will form a favourite yarn of the Service. - -The only other war-ship lost by submarine action in 1914 was the -_Hawke_, an armoured cruiser twenty-five years old, which was torpedoed -while on patrol in the North Sea, and sank in ten minutes, only seventy -of those on board being saved. The year 1915 began badly for us, and -ended by being decidedly our worst year on one side the account, though -it was our best on the other. At 2 o’clock in the morning of January -1, a squadron of battle-ships, of the older types of 1901 and 1902, -was steaming down Channel in line ahead. There was a gale blowing, -and the sea was running high. The last two ships of the line were -the _London_ and the _Formidable_, the latter of which was suddenly -shaken by a violent explosion, and not long afterwards by a second -one. Even then, the ship did not sink till forty-five minutes after; -and if it had not been for the rough weather and icy water, boats and -rafts might have been got away with most of the crew. As it was, no -steam-pinnaces could be got out, and the oars of the 42-foot cutter -and other boats were nearly all smashed against the ship’s sides. The -whole company, from the officers, giving quiet orders on the bridge, -to the men smoking on the slant deck, behaved as if at manœuvres, and -Captain Loxley, who went down with his ship, distinguished himself -by signalling to the _London_ not to stand by him, as there was a -submarine about. One boat came ashore at Lyme Regis, with forty-six -live men and nine dead in her; seventy more men were brought in after -three hours’ hard and dangerous work by the 50-ton smack, _Provident_, -of Brixham--William Pillar, skipper. His crew consisted of three men -and a cook-boy. Out of a total complement of more than 700, only 201 -were saved in all. Among the lost were thirty-four officers, including -eight midshipmen and a sub-lieutenant. - -On March 11, the _Bayano_, an armed merchant-cruiser, was torpedoed off -the Firth of Clyde, and went down with 170 of her 200 men. On April 11, -the _Wayfarer_ transport was torpedoed, and ran ashore off Queenstown. -On May 1, the _Recruit_, a small torpedo-boat of 385 tons, was sunk in -the North Sea, with thirty-nine out of her sixty-four officers and men. - -[Illustration: ‘Were brought in by the 50-ton smack, _Provident_, of -Brixham.’] - -Then came two grave losses on two consecutive days. The British Fleet -off Gallipoli had already lost the _Irresistible_ and _Ocean_ by -floating mines; and now the U-boats succeeded in inflicting another -double loss on us, at a moment when the Army needed the strongest -support to ensure success. On May 26, a single torpedo sank the -_Triumph_, while she was co-operating with the Australian and New -Zealand troops before Ari Burnu. She was accompanied by an escort of -two destroyers, and was about to open fire when the submarine got a -shot into her. She listed till her deck touched the water, and in five -minutes capsized completely, but remained floating for twenty minutes, -keel upwards. Some 460 of the officers and men were saved. - -The _Triumph_ was not designed for our Navy, but taken over from the -builder’s yard, and the curious arch formed by her derricks made her -outline a conspicuously foreign feature in our Fleet. The _Majestic_, -on the other hand, which quickly followed her to destruction, was a -typically British vessel, and gave her name to the whole class, built -in 1895 and the following years, and then greatly admired. She also, on -May 27, was supporting the army in action on the Gallipoli peninsula, -when a German torpedo ended her twenty years’ career. She carried about -760 officers and men, but nearly all of them were saved. In June, two -torpedo-boats, the _Greenfly_ and _Mayfly_, of 215 tons, were sunk; -the _Roxburgh_, a 10,000-ton cruiser, was slightly damaged; and the -_Lightning_ torpedo-boat, of 275 tons, was disabled, but brought -into harbour. On August 8, a U-boat sank one of our large auxiliary -cruisers, the _India_, off the coast of Norway and in Norwegian -territorial waters. By this breach of the rules, she succeeded in -killing 10 officers and 150 men, out of a complement of over 300. - -The losses so far enumerated were all strictly naval losses. Up to this -time, although we had been transporting troops by the hundred thousand -from Canada and Australia to England, and from England to France, -India, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Gallipoli, our numbers had hardly -suffered the smallest diminution by submarine action. Again, during the -last three years (1916-18) we have had minor losses now and then; but -the one and only real disaster of this kind came upon us in 1915. On -August 14, the British transport, the _Royal Edward_, was in the Ægean, -carrying reinforcements for the 29th Division in Gallipoli, and details -of the Royal Army Medical Corps, when she was torpedoed by a German -submarine and sank rapidly. She had on board 32 military officers and -1,350 troops, in addition to her own crew of 220 officers and men. -Of all these, only 600 were saved; and for the first time in modern -war we suffered the cruel loss of soldiers to the strength of a whole -battalion killed--not in battle, but helpless and unresisting, without -the chance of firing a shot or delivering a last charge with the -bayonet. The ship herself was a less harrowing loss; but she was a fine -vessel that we could ill spare--a steel triple-screw steamer of 11,117 -tons and 545 feet in length. She, like her sister ship, the _Royal -George_, was originally built for the Egyptian Mail Steamship Company, -and ran between Marseilles and Alexandria. Her later service was -carrying the mails for the Canadian Northern Steamship Company between -Avonmouth and Montreal--and now she had returned to Eastern waters, -only to give an isolated and inconclusive triumph to a desperate enemy. - -The remainder of the year saw many attempts by the U-boat commanders -to repeat this success; but they mostly ended in failure. On September -2, the transport _Southland_ was hit by a torpedo, but got into Madras -under her own steam, with a loss of 30 men killed in the explosion. -On September 19, the _Ramazan_, with 385 Indian troops on board, was -shelled and sunk by a submarine, off Antikythera. In October, the -transport _Marquette_ was sunk in the Ægean. On November 3, the -transport _Mercian_ was heavily shelled, and had nearly 100 killed and -wounded. On November 5 the _Tara_, armed boarding-steamer, was sunk -in the Bay of Sollum, on the eastern border of Egypt; and immediately -afterwards two small Customs cruisers--the _Prince Abbas_ of 300 tons -and the _Abdul Moneim_ of 450--were sunk at the same place, and no -doubt by the same pair of U-boats. - -The year 1916 showed clearly that, as a weapon against armed ships, the -U-boat was not likely to succeed, after the first period of surprise -was past. During this year we lost three mine-sweepers--_Primula_, -_Clacton_, and _Genista_; two empty transports--the _Russian_ and -_Franconia_; the _Zaida_ and _Duke of Albany_, armed steamers of the -auxiliary patrol; and one destroyer, the _Lassoo_, which was sunk with -a loss of six men, either by mine or torpedo, off the coast of Holland. -To this insignificant list must be added one disaster of a more serious -kind. As we have already noted, our control of the North Sea was a -continuous and effective control, and every effort was made, especially -after the flight of the Germans from Jutland, to bring out the enemy -fleet from its hiding-place. These efforts, of course, involved -the exposure of our advanced forces to certain risks. On August -19, there was a report that the High Canal Fleet was at sea again. -Hope outstripped belief, and light cruisers were sent out in every -direction to find the enemy. Two of these, the _Nottingham_ and the -_Falmouth_--good ships of 5,400 and 5,250 tons--were torpedoed and sunk -while scouting. Here again it was the loss of the men which we felt -most. The ships were new and useful ones; but they could be replaced, -and they belonged to a class in which the enemy’s force, since the -battle of Jutland, had been deficient, almost to a disabling degree. -There was no ground for the German hope that our naval superiority -could be permanently whittled away by rare and fractional losses like -these. Our Battle Fleet continued to hold up theirs, and our blockade -of their coasts was in no degree weakened. - -The record of 1917, and the first half of 1918, is even more -significant. The German submarine effort was more and more completely -diverted from legitimate to illegitimate war--from the attack on -the enemy’s armed forces, to the destruction of non-combatants and -neutrals in mercantile shipping of any kind. British destroyers, going -everywhere, facing every kind of risk, and protecting everyone before -themselves, now and again furnished an item to the German submarine -bag; but the ‘regardless’ campaign against the world’s trade and the -world’s tonnage was now the U-boats’ chief occupation. One legitimate -objective they did still set before themselves--the destruction or -hindrance of transport for the United States army between the shores -of America and Europe. Again and again during 1917, and even in the -earlier days of 1918, assurances were given to the German people by -Admiral von Tirpitz, by Admiral von Capelle, by the Prussian Minister -of Finance in the Diet, and by the chief military writers in the Press, -that the promise of an American army was a boast and a deception, that -the American troops could not and would not cross the Atlantic, because -of the triumphant activity of the U-boats. Of the complete failure to -make good these assurances no better account need be given than that -supplied by the German Admiralty, in answer to the complaints of their -own people. Towards the end of July 1918, when there was no longer -any possibility of concealing the presence of a large and victorious -American force in France, Admiral von Holtzendorff, the Admiralty Chief -of Staff, gave the following explanation to the _Kölnische Zeitung_. -He admitted the success of the Allies in improving oversea transport, -especially the transport of troops from America. But in reply to the -statement that there was in Germany much disappointment that the -submarines had sunk so few of the American transports, he asked, with -truly Prussian effrontery, how _could_ submarines be specially employed -against American transports. ‘The Americans,’ he said, ‘have at their -disposition, for disembarkation, the coasts from the North of Scotland -to the French Mediterranean ports, with dozens of landing-places. -Ought we to let our submarines lie in wait before these ports, to see -whether they can possibly get a shot at a strongly protected American -transport, escorted by fast convoying vessels? The convoys do not -arrive with the regularity and frequency of railway trains at a great -station, but irregularly, at great intervals of time, and often at -night or in a fog. Taking all this into consideration, it is evident -how little prospect of success is offered for the special employment of -submarines against American transports.’ - -This is all sound enough, and in fact the U-boats have only succeeded -in killing 126 men out of the first million landed from America. But -the argument of Admiral von Holtzendorff does not explain the official -assurances by which the German public was deceived for more than a -year, and it only partially explains the ill success of the U-boats. -That could only be fully done by considering the offensive (or -offensive-defensive) action of war-ship against submarine--which will -be touched upon presently. - -The record of the ‘bag’ made during the War by our own submarines has -never yet been published in a complete form. Yet it is a most striking -one, and ought effectually to remove any impression that the German -Submarine Service is in any way superior--or even equal--to ours. In -three years of war our boats sank over 300 enemy vessels. We lost, of -course, many more; but when it is remembered that we were offering to -our enemies every week more than four times as many targets as they -offered us during the whole three years, it will be admitted that -the comparison is not one to give them much ground for satisfaction. -At present, however, this general comparison is not the one which we -wish to make--we are concerned now with attacks on war-ships, or armed -forces, and not on mercantile shipping. The greater part of our record -is made up of such attacks, and it is now possible to give a short -summary of them. - -There have been, during this War, practically only three -hunting-grounds where British submarines could hope to meet with enemy -war-ships, transports, or supply ships. These are the North Sea, the -Baltic, and the Dardanelles or Sea of Marmora. Of the work done by -our submarines in the Baltic and Dardanelles we shall have separate -accounts to give in later chapters. For the present, it is enough -to tabulate the results. In the Baltic the bag included, besides a -large number of steamers (some carrying iron ore for military use), -the following war-ships: three destroyers, three transports, one old -battleship or cruiser, one light cruiser, and one armed auxiliary. In -the Dardanelles or Sea of Marmora were sunk or destroyed the following, -besides a very large number of ships with stores or provisions for -the troops in Gallipoli: two battle-ships, four gun-boats, one armed -German auxiliary, seven transports, three ammunition ships and one -ammunition train, destroyed by gunfire. We may add, as a note to these -two parts of our record, that the work was done, not by a large number -of submarines issuing in relays from a home base close at hand, and -equipped with every kind of facility for repairing defects or relieving -tired crews, but by an almost incredibly small number of boats, working -far from their base, in closed waters, and under difficulties such as -no German boat has ever successfully attempted to face. - -There remains the North Sea patrol. The first success in this record -stands against a famous name--that of Commander Max Horton, who (in -his boat E. 9) afterwards established what has been called ‘The -Command of the Baltic.’ In September 13, 1914, he was in the North -Sea, near to enemy forces. He was submerged, and not in the happiest -of circumstances, for one of his officers was ill, and to afford him -some relief from the exhausted atmosphere below, it became imperatively -necessary to rise to the surface. No sooner was the periscope above -water, than the commander sighted a German light cruiser, the _Héla_, -in a position where she might be expected to see the periscope and -attack at any moment. Fortunately a torpedo-tube was loaded and -bearing. Commander Horton took a snap-shot and dived. The shot went -home, and the _Héla_ troubled the patrol of E. 9 no more. On October -6, a German destroyer (S. 116) fell to another shot from the same hand. - -After this, game was much scarcer. The German Admiralty tried to -establish a paper command of the North Sea, kept up (for the benefit -of the German public) by runaway raids on our East Coast towns; but -anything like a regular patrol was impossible to discover. In the -following eighteen months, however, our submarines did succeed in -two attacks on stray German destroyers, and four on armed auxiliary -vessels. Lieut.-Commander Benning (E. 5) hit an auxiliary in April -1915, but did not sink her. In June, Lieut.-Commander Moncrieffe -hit another, the _America_, so badly that she was run ashore. In -September, Commander Benning sank a third outright; and in December, -Lieut.-Commander Duff-Dunbar (E. 16) secured a larger one of 3,000 -tons. Of the destroyers, the first (V. 188) was got by Commander C. P. -Talbot, in E. 16, on July 26; and the second on February 4, 1916, by -Lieut.-Commander H. W. Shove, in E. 29. This was a boat of the ‘S. 138’ -class, but she could not be further identified, nor did any British eye -actually witness her final disappearance. - -The rest of the bag is, for the most part, a forbidden subject. The -items are many, the loss to the enemy was great; but as he is racking -his brains to get or guess the details, it is no part of our business -to help him. There are, however, two items of which we may speak with -open satisfaction. One is the capture of a German trawler--of this we -have already heard from the Admiral Commanding our Submarine Base, -in Chapter IV. The simple story is that Lieut.-Commander G. Kellett, -finding his boat (S. 1) so far disabled that she could not get home -on her own engines, took over a German trawler by force, without -attracting undue attention, and came safely into port, towed from enemy -waters by an enemy boat. The remaining item hardly falls within our -range; but though not submarine work, it is work actually done by a -submarine, and may be classed, perhaps, with the destruction of the -ammunition train by Lieut.-Commander Cochrane at Yarandji. On May 4, -1916, a Zeppelin (L. 7) fell to Lieut.-Commander F. E. B. Feilman, in -E. 31, and he brought home seven of her crew as prisoners. - -Even this is not all. In 1916, our submarines inflicted on the -German Fleet itself four blows, which, though they were none of them -actually fatal, must yet have been extremely damaging to the nerve -of the Service, and certainly cost heavily for repairs both in time -and labour. On August 19, the _Westfalen_--a battle-ship of 18,000 -tons, built in 1908--was torpedoed by Lieut.-Commander Turner, in -E. 23. On October 19, Lieut.-Commander Jessop severely damaged the -light cruiser _München_, of 3,200 tons; and on November 5, Commander -Lawrence (in J. 1) achieved the brilliant feat of torpedoing two German -Dreadnoughts--the _Grosser Kurfurst_, which was laid down in 1913 and -finished since the War began, and the _Kronprinz_, which was both laid -down and commissioned since August 1914. A success of this kind, though -not final, may well be set against the sinking of much older and more -vulnerable ships, like the _Formidable_, _Triumph_, and _Majestic_; -and it must be remembered that the disappearance of these three from -our Navy List, however regrettable, had absolutely no effect on the -relative strength of the British and German Battle Fleets; whereas the -loss, for some months at any rate, of two great Dreadnoughts like the -_Grosser Kurfurst_ and _Kronprinz_--coming as it did shortly after the -Jutland losses--carried the inferiority of Admiral von Scheer’s force -to the point of impotence. In the match of submarine against war-ship, -our boats had succeeded where the U-boats had signally failed. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -WAR-SHIP _v._ SUBMARINE - - -The story of the contest between our war-ships and their new enemy, the -submarine, is the story of a most remarkable and successful adaptation. -Of the six principal methods of defence used by our Navy at the end -of the fourth year of war, three are old and three new; and it is a -striking proof of the scientific ability of the Service, that the three -old methods have been carefully reconsidered, and that, instead of -abandoning them because, in their original use, they were apparently -obsolete, our officers have turned them to even better account than the -new inventions. - -The oldest device for the protection of war-ships against -torpedoes--whether fired by torpedo-boats or submarines--is the net. -Our older battle-ships, as everyone will remember, were fitted with -a complete set of steel nets on both sides, and with long booms for -hanging them out. These booms, when not in use, were lashed diagonally -along the ship’s sides, like great stitches, and gave the typical -vessels of the British Fleet a peculiar and decidedly smart appearance. -Very smart, too, was the quickness and precision with which the order -‘Out torpedo nets!’ was executed; but--long before 1914--everyone was -perfectly aware that the nets were practically as much out of date as -masts and sails. They were so heavy, and hung so low in the water, -that no ship could manœuvre in them, and even for a fleet at anchor -they had ceased to be a trustworthy defence; for the Whitehead torpedo -was now fitted with cutters which could shear a way through the steel -meshes. - -Nets of the old type, therefore, have played no part in the present -War--unless we are to believe the Turkish account of the sinking of the -_Ocean_ in the Dardanelles, according to which the nets were out, and -were not only useless as a protection, but dragged down some of our men -when they might otherwise have escaped by swimming. But, because one -type of net is obsolete, the British Navy has seen no reason to reject -all nets as impracticable. It is not beyond imagination to conceive a -net so light and large of mesh, that it will diminish by no more than -one knot the speed of the ship which carries it, and will yet catch -and deflect a torpedo in the act of passing through it. For it must be -remembered that the real problem is not how to stop a torpedo in its -full 30-knot career, but how to prevent it from striking the ship with -its head at an angle not too fine for the detonator to be fired. A turn -of the helm, or the mere wave from the cut-water of a fast ship, has -often sent a torpedo running harmlessly away along the quarter. The net -of the future may be found equally successful in catching the fish by -its whiskers and turning it forward along the bow, where the same wave -will drive it outwards from the ship’s course. - -The second familiar means of defence was the gun. Here again there was -a temptation to despair. The secondary armament of any battle-ship or -cruiser was fairly certain to make short work of a torpedo-boat, or of -a submarine visible upon the surface. But no living gunner had ever -fired at the periscope of a submarine--a mark only two feet, at most, -out of the water, and only four inches in diameter. To see such an -object at, say, 1,000 yards, was difficult; to hit it might well seem -impossible. Yet 1,000 yards was but one-tenth of the possible range at -which a modern submarine might fire its torpedo. - -Nevertheless the use of the gun was not discarded; and two important -discoveries were made in consequence. The first of these was that -gunfire may be distant, wild, or even unaimed, and yet have an -excellent effect. The existence of a submarine is so precarious--its -chance of surviving a single direct hit is so slight--that the mere -sound of a gun will almost always be enough to make it submerge -completely--unless it can engage the enemy, with superior gun-power, at -a range of its own choosing. When Captain Weddigen had already hit the -_Aboukir_, the _Hogue_, and the _Cressy_, and all three were sinking, -the sound of the _Cressy’s_ guns was enough to cause his disappearance, -though it is very improbable that the shooting was really dangerous; -for the listing of the ship was rapid, and according to eye-witnesses, -the gallant gunners were soon firing in the air. Since then, the same -thing has been repeatedly observed; and some brilliant successes by our -patrol-boats and trawlers have shown that the U-boat has every right to -be nervous when it hears even a 6-pounder talking English. - -The other discovery is a much more recent one. As soon as it was -once recognised that a torpedo is just as innocuous when deflected, -as when stopped or evaded, the idea was sure to strike the handiest -gunners in the world that they might use their weapons to disturb -the straightforwardness of the fish’s onset. Even thirty knots is -nothing to the velocity of a modern shell, and without hoping for a -direct hit on an object from six to twenty-two feet under water, it -was thought possible to give a twist to the torpedo’s nose sufficient -to make a potential hit into a miss or a glancing shot. This feat was -actually performed by the gunners of the _Justitia_, who, with splendid -coolness, shot at torpedoes as sportsmen used to shoot at oncoming -tigers, and succeeded in killing or diverting several, only to fall at -last before the rush of numbers. - -[Illustration: ‘She had gone full speed for the enemy, and rammed him.’] - -A third weapon of the war-ship was the ram; and the use of this, -being an offensive-defensive method, was the best of all, as we shall -see presently. It was, from the beginning, present to the mind of -every naval man, for A. 1 (our very first submarine) was lost, with -all hands, in May, 1904, by being accidentally rammed in the act of -submerging. It happened, too, that the first attack made by a submarine -against British war-ships in the present War was beaten by this -method. On August 9, 1914, a squadron of our light cruisers sighted -the periscope of a German U-boat, which had succeeded in approaching -to within short range of them. In the account of the affair published -at the time, we were informed that H.M.S. _Birmingham_ had sunk the -submarine by a direct hit on the periscope, and that this was the -only shot fired. Some time afterwards, the truth became known--the -_Birmingham_ had to her credit, not an impossible feat of gunnery, but -a brilliant piece of seamanship. She had gone full speed for the enemy, -and rammed him. Her captain was not led to do this by inspiration or -desperation, but by a scientific knowledge of the elements in the -problem. Without stopping to think afresh, he knew that a submarine -takes a certain time to dive to a safe depth, and that his own ship, -at 27 knots, would cover a good 900 yards of sea in one minute. When -his eye measured the distance of that periscope, he saw that--given -straight steering--the result was a mathematical certainty. - -The new methods introduced during the War are also three in number. -Of one--the use of dazzle-painting--we have already heard. It is, of -course, a purely defensive measure, intended to deceive the eye at the -periscope by misrepresenting the ship’s size, distance, and course. -Another deceptive device is the phantom ship or dummy. A vessel of -comparatively small size and value is covered more or less completely -with a superstructure of light wood-work, with sham funnels, turrets -and big guns, so that she has all the appearance of a battle-cruiser or -Dreadnought. The U-boat may run after her, or run from her, according -to his feeling at the moment; but, in either case, he will be wasting -his time and laying up disappointment for himself. In May, 1915, -during the Gallipoli campaign, the Germans spent a certain amount of -time and trouble in torpedoing a ship which they supposed to be H.M.S. -_Agamemnon_, and in their illustrated propaganda sheets they give a -picture of that ship as one of the victims of the irresistible U-boats. -For a short time the story was believed inside Constantinople, and Mr. -Lewis Einstein, of the American Embassy there, relates in his diary -that this success, coming (as it appeared to do) immediately after -the sinking of the _Triumph_ and _Majestic_, was almost more than he -could bear. Fortunately for his peace of mind, he soon discovered the -truth. The supposed _Agamemnon_ was a dummy, and lay for some time -near the entrance of the Dardanelles, with her false turrets and sham -guns, exposed to the view of friends and foes on the two shores. Very -possibly this dummy received a shot which might otherwise have been -successfully directed against a genuine battle-ship, and the deception -was thus really useful. The German cunning is expended in a very -different direction. Its object is often to deceive their own people -as to what has actually been lost, not to avert a possible loss at our -hands. Thus when the super-submarine _Bremen_ was sunk on her outward -voyage for America, one dummy _Bremen_ after another was ostentatiously -brought home to a German port, as if returning from a successful -Atlantic passage. A more flagrant instance still was the statement -that, among the German losses in the Battle of Jutland, was the -sinking of the _Pommern_, a small and obsolete battle-ship of 13,000 -tons, built in 1905. The British Admiralty, who knew that that older -_Pommern_ had been sunk in the Baltic by Commander Max Horton, nearly -a year before, had no difficulty in identifying the _Pommern_ lost at -Jutland with a new Dreadnought of the largest type, commissioned since -her predecessor’s destruction and christened by her name--either then -or at the moment when it became necessary to put a good face on their -disasters in the battle. It is to be hoped that this state of things -may continue on both sides. The Germans are welcome to our phantom -ships, if we thereby save our real ones; while, if we can sink their -real ones, we may well be content to hear them given imaginary names. -The two Services have different ideas of what is a useful dummy. - -The newest method of preserving ships from the torpedo is a purely -constructional device, and very little can be said of it here. But we -have been allowed to know this much--the _Marlborough_ was torpedoed -at Jutland, but returned to the line of battle within nine minutes, -fought for three hours, and eventually came home under her own steam, -defeating a submarine attack on the way. We are not told how this very -satisfactory result is attained in the construction of a Dreadnought -of 25,000 tons, capable of full battle-ship speed. It cannot be by the -mere addition of the bulging compartments known as ‘blisters,’ for in -the older cruisers in which these were tried they were found to cause -too great a sacrifice of speed. The result, however, is there; and -there can be no doubt that as the number of unsinkable ships increases, -the activity of the U-boat will be very greatly discouraged. - -But it would be contrary to the principles of war and the genius -of our Navy, to rely upon purely defensive measures to defeat the -submarine enemy. It is sometimes said that the U-boat campaign took -us by surprise. So far as this applies to the legitimate use of the -submarine against war-ships, the statement is quite untrue. The -campaign against merchant shipping and non-combatant passengers, waged -in defiance of all international law and common humanity, did certainly -take us by surprise; and it is only to our credit, and the discredit -of our enemies, that their barbarity was beyond our imagination. But -the efforts of the U-boats against our fleet were, as we have shown -in a previous chapter, actually less successful than our own attacks -upon theirs, and our tacticians were never for a moment at a loss -to deal with them. The principles had been thought out long ago. As -early as 1907, the distinguished admiral who writes over the name -‘Barfleur’ clearly stated his belief that ‘the untried submarine’ was -not likely to prove more effective than the torpedo-boat and destroyer -in depriving our Battle Fleet of the control of the sea. ‘Nothing is -more to be deprecated,’ he added, ‘than the attempt which has been -made to enhance unduly its importance, by playing on the credulity -of the public. The new instrument of war has no doubt a value, but -that it is anything more than an auxiliary, with limited and special -uses, is difficult to believe.’ And he turned back to old and tried -principles: ‘The traditional role of the British Navy is not to act on -the defensive, but to prepare to attack the force which threatens.’ -In September, 1914, when Weddigen’s _coup_ showed that the moment -had come, ‘Barfleur’ was among the first to attack the new problem -tactically--he saw at once that the war-ship’s best defence lies in the -offensive power given by her immense superiority in speed and weight. -And if the single ship is formidable to the submarine, a squadron -is still more so. By its formation, its manœuvres, its pace and its -ramming power, it reverses the whole situation--the hunter becomes the -hunted, and must fly like a wolf from a pack of wolf-hounds, every one -more powerful than itself. - -There remains, of course, the question of the best formation for the -squadron to adopt. Upon this point there are more opinions than one, -and a conversation may be reported in which the merits of line abreast -and line ahead were set against one another by two naval officers, -and both put out of court by a third. The first two were captains -commanding ships in two different squadrons. They argued the question -between them with great seriousness; but in so cool and abstract a -manner, that the spectator might be pardoned for suspecting--rightly or -wrongly--that they were supporting doctrines which were not personal -to themselves but derived from higher authority--perhaps from their -respective admirals, both men of great ability and experience. It was -noticeable, too, that the admiral at whose table the disputants were -sitting, and who himself commanded yet another squadron, maintained -an attitude of neutrality; though it is certain that he and his own -officers, several of whom were present, had often discussed the -problem, and were probably agreed upon the answer to it. - -‘Speed,’ said Captain A, ‘seems to be the key to the solution. It is -only in line ahead that speed helps you--in fact gives you something -like practical safety. If a torpedo, fired at a column in line ahead, -misses the ship it is aimed at, it is very unlikely to be so wide a -shot as to hit either the next ahead or next astern--it is a miss -directly it crosses the line.’ - -Captain B remained perfectly grave, but he looked very well content -with this argument. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘theoretically; but, in fact, the -contrary has happened. In a column of eight ships, in line ahead, the -_London_ and the _Formidable_ were the last two. You remember that the -torpedo which sank the _Formidable_ was believed to have been meant for -the _London_. And anyhow, speed and stormy weather failed to save the -rear ship.’ - -‘The speed was insufficient,’ replied Captain A, ‘not worth calling -speed. When your fleet is in line abreast, columns disposed astern, the -theoretical chances of hitting are much greater. Speed is no advantage -in such a formation--in fact it may be a positive disadvantage. It may -actually increase the virtual target. A shot which misses the near ship -of a line abreast may still hit one of the others.’ - -‘Laurence,’ said Captain B, ‘when he fired at the _Moltke_, considered -her, as wing ship of the squadron, to be his only chance.’ - -‘There was no second line disposed astern,’ replied Captain A; ‘but -even so, if his torpedo had just missed, ahead of the _Moltke_, the -next or next but one in the line might have come forward just in time -to receive the shot.’ - -‘That,’ said Captain B, ‘is a mere question of time and distance; and, -in anything like ordinary circumstances, you would not get your result. -Say the ships are three cables apart, and doing only fifteen knots. The -torpedo is going double the speed; but by the time it has run the three -cables along the line, the next ship will have gone one and a half -cables ahead and be past the danger point.’ - -‘Your ship may be zigzagging,’ replied Captain A, ‘and run right into -it. Line ahead has the advantage there--in fact, speaking generally, -I have the power, which you have not, of immediate deployment in -any direction. I can avoid mines, or turn away from the submarine -altogether.’ - -‘Certainly,’ said Captain B, looking again quite well content, ‘but -you would not turn away in any case--you would best defend yourself by -attacking the submarine.’ - -Captain A hesitated a moment. ‘Yes,’ he replied at last, ‘but in line -abreast your attack might be positively dangerous to yourself. Suppose -your columns in line abreast to be zigzagging, as they probably would -be, and imagine one of your ships to put her helm the wrong way--there -would inevitably be a collision.’ - -‘I cannot imagine such a thing,’ said Captain B. - -‘I appeal to the Admiral,’ said Captain A. - -It seemed an embarrassing thing, for a host and superior officer, to -be called upon to give judgment between his guests on so serious an -argument. But the Admiral was not in the least embarrassed. He did -not even express his own opinion, which was thought to favour Captain -B. ‘Let me remind you,’ he said, ‘that you have not examined the -most important witness in the case--the commander of the submarine. -What order is the most dangerous for the submarine to meet? I asked -Commander C, one of our best E-boat officers, this question lately, and -he replied “Quarter-line, undoubtedly.”’ - -He turned to the only landsman present, and reminded him that in a -quarter-line, or bow-and-quarter line, the ships are echeloned each -upon the quarter of the next ahead instead of directly astern. He -added, ‘A will say that this is in his favour, because ships in a -quarter-line are really in line ahead, only that each one in turn is a -little out of the straight. And B will claim that he wins, because a -quarter-line is merely a line abreast in which each ship lags a little -more behind the true front. And C will tell us that the only thing -which matters is that the quarter-line gives the unhappy submarine less -chance of hitting, and more chance of being sunk than either of the -other two formations. And thereupon the Court is adjourned.’ - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -BRITISH SUBMARINES IN THE BALTIC - - -The story of our submarine campaign in the Baltic is the first of two -romances of the sea--one Northern and one Southern--the like of which -is not to be found in the annals of the last 300 years. War must often -make us familiar with obscure or long-forgotten places, the scenes of -old voyages, and battles long ago; but to adventure with our submarines -into the Baltic, or the Sea of Marmora, is to slip through unimagined -dangers into a legendary world beyond all history--sailing the seas -of the past, with the captains of the future. The exploration under -water of those intricate and perilous channels was alone a discovery of -supreme skill and daring; and the brilliant acts of war achieved by the -adventurers form only a minor part of the glory of being there at all. - -The first of our submarine voyagers in the Baltic was Lieut.-Commander -Max Horton, in E. 9. Before the War was a year old his fame had spread -far and wide; but the details of his success are not even yet generally -known, and cannot be given here. By October 6, 1914, he had sunk a -German light cruiser and a destroyer, both in the ‘North Sea,’ and it -may perhaps be guessed that he had, at any rate, thought of penetrating -into the Baltic. By January, 1915, he was a full Commander, and had -received the D.S.O. On the 29th of that month, he was not only in -the Baltic, but was sinking a destroyer there; on May 11, he bagged -a transport; and on June 5, he put to the credit of E. 9 another -transport and another destroyer. Finally, on July 2, he torpedoed the -_Pommern_, a 13,000-ton battle-ship of an older type, but armed with -11-inch guns. - -On July 29, he slipped again, in company with E. 1 (Commander N. F. -Laurence), and after some independent hunting, the two boats both -arrived at Reval. E. 9 had attacked a cruiser and a submarine; and, on -August 18, had had a covetous look at a squadron of battle-cruisers, -detailed for the German attack on the Gulf of Riga. But as they were -moving constantly in regular formation, and at high speed over a large -area, it was not possible to deal satisfactorily with them. E. 1, -however, had had better luck. On August 19, Commander Laurence came -to observation depth at 8.0 A.M., and under cover of a fog succeeded -in stalking the same squadron. They were manœuvring in line abreast, -and within ten minutes came across E. 1’s bows, with destroyers on -both flanks. Commander Laurence had, of course, only a single ship -to aim at--the battle-cruiser on the wing nearest to him, which was -ascertained to have been the _Moltke_, a 22,600-ton ship. At 8.20, he -fired his starboard torpedo, and at the same moment dived to avoid a -destroyer which was coming straight for him. His luck was good, both -ways. The torpedo got home on the battle-cruiser, and the destroyer -missed E. 1 by a few feet. The next day he reported to the Russian -Admiral at Reval. - -These two boats were followed, on August 15, by E. 8 and E. 13. -The fate of E. 13 will not be forgotten while there is any rightful -indignation left in Europe. On August 19, she got ashore on a neutral -coast--the Danish island of Saltholm--and there, with her crew upon -her, was deliberately shot to pieces by a German war-ship, in defiance -of all humanity and international law. Her officers and men behaved -with perfect courage, but many of them were killed before they could -get away from the wreck of their boat. - -Lieut.-Commander Goodhart’s account of the voyage of E. 8 is a plain -and business-like document, but to read it, with a map beside it, -is to look far away into a world of historic names and ever-present -dangers. It is easy enough to imagine the passage up the Skager-Rak, -always remembering that we must keep well out of the central line of -traffic, and that in the afternoon we have to dive and pass under a -whole fleet of steam trawlers. At 7 P.M. it is possible to come to the -surface again. The Commander orders full speed, rounds the Skaw, and -enters the Kattegat. In the fading twilight, several merchant-steamers -are seen going north. The shore and island lights twinkle out one by -one--Hamnskar, Vinga, Skaw, Trindelen, and Anholt. The night is short. -By 3.0 A.M. we must dive again, and lie quietly on shoal ground, while -the traffic goes over us. At 5.25 A.M. we venture to the surface, but -are put down quickly by a steamer. At 7.0 we venture again, and do a -scurry of 1½ hours in a friendly mist. Then down again, and crawl at 3 -knots, till at 1.0 P.M. we are off the entrance to the Sound. - -Here Commander Goodhart has to make the choice between going forward -submerged, or waiting for darkness and then attempting the channel on -the surface. He is confident of being able to get to his position -under water, and decides accordingly to continue diving into the Sound -and wait for night inside. He proceeds at fifty feet, and, by 3.6 P.M., -has verified his position, coming up to twenty-one feet to do so. He -goes down again to fifty feet, and alters course to pass through the -northern narrows. At 4.10 P.M. he is east of Helsingör Light--‘By thy -wild and stormy steep, Elsinore!’ At 5.20, after another observation, -he goes to bottom in eleven fathoms, feeling comfortably certain that -he has not been detected--so far--on his passage. - -At 8.15 P.M. he rises to the surface. The Danish shore is bright with -many lights, the Swedish shore is dark--all is exactly as it may have -been a century and more ago, when Nelson was there on his way to his -great battle. E. 8 goes south-westward on the surface, altering course -to avoid being seen by two destroyers, who are going north, along the -Danish shore, at a great pace. One of them suddenly turns south, but -then stops, as if in doubt. E. 8 runs on into still more dangerous -waters; the lights of Copenhagen are blazing brightly, and in Middle -Ground Fort a searchlight is working. Now and again it strikes the -submarine. Then come several fishing-boats, then two red lights in a -small craft going south, close over to the Danish shore. She is on our -starboard beam for some time, but luckily not near enough to see us, -and we head boldly for Flint Channel. - -Off Malmo, the shore lights are dazzling, and it is extremely hard -to fix a position. There are many fishing-boats about, each carrying -two bright lights. The Commander orders the boat to be trimmed down, -with upper deck awash, and proceeds with one engine only, at seven -knots. He steadies his course through Flint Channel, passing at least -twenty vessels towards the western end of it, some carrying two and -some three white lights, and one making searchlight signals in the air. -The majority of the fishing-boats are no sooner avoided by a change of -course, than we run past a small tramp showing a green light, and then -three white ones. She seems to have anchored; but two other vessels -have to be dodged, and then the ship which has been signalling with -searchlight. Immediately afterwards, when just N.E. of the Lightship, -with her three vertical red lights, a small torpedo-boat or trawler -sights us as we creep by within 200 yards of her. Probably it is the -searchlight in Copenhagen which has shown us up. Anyhow it is tally-ho -at last! - -She lights red and green flares, and alters course in our direction. -We dive, and strike bottom--‘very strong bottom’--at nineteen feet on -gauge, which immediately decreases to fourteen feet. At fourteen feet, -then, we try to proceed on our course; but the ground is fearfully -uneven, and a succession of bumps brings us to a dead stop. It is 11.40 -P.M. After an anxious quarter of an hour, the Commander rises to the -surface. The Drogden Lightship is on our starboard quarter. A large -destroyer or small cruiser is ahead of us, showing lights--she is the -one who had made searchlight signals. She is only two hundred yards -away, but the Commander trims E. 8 deep, and steals past on motors. -Four minutes this takes, and we then find a destroyer right ahead, and -only one hundred yards from us. There is nothing for it but to dive. -Down we go to twenty-three feet on gauge; but at sixteen feet the boat -strikes bottom heavily on the starboard side, carrying away all blades -of the starboard propeller. We lie on the bottom and listen to our -pursuers overhead. - -Life is now a matter of minutes and feet. At 12.15, the boat goes down -to eighteen feet, but is still bumping badly. At 12.19, Commander -Goodhart stops her and comes silently to the surface. The destroyer -is there, close on our starboard beam. At 12.20, we dive again, as -slowly as we dare, and at seventeen feet we glide away on our course, -the depth of water mercifully increasing as we go. For a long time we -seem to be escaping. Then, at 2.10 A.M., we strike bottom again at -eighteen feet. An hour more, and we rise to the surface, only to see -the destroyer on our port beam. Happily she is now a mile off, and does -not see us. When we come up again, at 7.15, there is nothing in sight. -At 8.53 we dive for a steamer, and at 10.40 for a destroyer. E. 8 is -nearly out of breath now--her battery is running very low. - -Commander Goodhart decides to find a good depth, go to the bottom, and -lie there till darkness gives him a chance of recharging. From 10.40 -A.M. till 6.40 P.M. we lie like a stone in twenty-three fathoms. - -At 6.40 a Swedish steamer is still patrolling ahead. At 8.25 P.M. a -patrol of three vessels is close astern, and very slowly moving east. -The moon is too bright for us and we dive again. At 9.30 we try once -more, but are put down by a shadowy destroyer to the southward. At -last, ten minutes before midnight, we find a bit of sea where we and -the boat can breathe in peace. - -But only for two hours; daylight comes early in northern waters. It is -now August 20. At 2.0 A.M. we dive again, and lie in seventeen fathoms, -spending time and imagination upon the chart. We are well out of the -Sound now, and clear of the Swedish coast. On our starboard beam lies -the island of Rügen, where we shall never make holiday again; further -back, on our quarter, is the channel that leads to Lübeck and to Kiel, -which we hope to visit yet. Right ahead is the island of Bornholm, -which we must pass unperceived, and beyond it the whole expanse of the -Baltic lies open. - -Commander Goodhart rises to the surface at 9.0 A.M., but dives again at -noon. We are now not far west of Rönne; and as he wishes to make sure -of passing Bornholm unobserved, he decides to remain on the bottom till -dark, then slip by and recharge his batteries, for a long run north by -daylight. By 7.0 P.M. we are on our way, and eight hours later we are -passing the east coast of the great island of Gotland. At 9.2 P.M. we -dive for a light cruiser, which passes overhead forward; at 10.0 we -return to the surface and proceed north-east, running past the entrance -to the Gulf of Riga and the island of Oesel. By 1.0 A.M. on August 22, -we have to dive for daylight; but by 3.0 we are up again, and going on -our course full speed. At 8.30 A.M. we sight Dagerört ahead and join -E. 9 (Commander Max Horton). In company with her and with a Russian -destroyer, we pass into the entrance of the Gulf of Finland; and by -9.0 P.M., E. 8 is secured in Reval harbour. Within twenty-four hours, -Commander Goodhart has docked and overhauled her, replaced her broken -propeller, and reported her ready for sea. - -The career of E. 8 in the Baltic was long and successful. It began, so -far as sinkings are concerned, with the destruction of the steamer -_Margarette_ of Königsberg by gunfire, on October 5, 1915, and the most -exciting day in the record was October 23, when the _Prinz Adalbert_, a -cruiser of nearly 9,000 tons, fell to her first shot. E. 8 was cruising -off Libau when, at 8.50 A.M., Commander Goodhart observed smoke on the -horizon, and altered course to intercept the ship which was soon seen -to be an enemy. She had three funnels and two very high masts, and was -going west with two destroyers, zigzagging--one on each bow. - -Commander Goodhart ran on, at seven and a half knots, till he got -within 3,000 yards, when he eased to five knots in order to lessen his -wake. The wind was slight, from S.S.E., and there was bright sunlight. -The conditions were ideal for an attack from the southward. All tubes -were made ready; the enemy came on at an estimated speed of fifteen -knots. At 9.28 the port destroyer passed ahead; four minutes later, -Commander Goodhart fired his bow tube at the war-ship’s fore-bridge and -began to look out for results. - -They came. After one minute he observed a very vivid flash on the -water-line at the point of aim. This was immediately followed by a very -heavy concussion, and the entire ship was hidden instantly in a huge -column of thick grey smoke. Evidently the torpedo had exploded the fore -magazine. The sky was filled with debris, and the smaller bits began -falling in the water near the submarine. There was no use in spending -time on the surface, and in one minute more, E. 8 was sliding down -to fifty feet, where she stayed for eight minutes, to give the rest -of the ship ample time to come down. At 9.42 Commander Goodhart rose -to twenty feet, and took a survey through his periscope. There was -no sign of the _Prinz Adalbert_. The two destroyers had closed on to -the scene of the explosion, but it was not likely that they had been -able to find any survivors, for the destruction of the ship had been -instantaneous and complete. Commander Goodhart decided not to attack -them, because, for all he knew, they were ignorant of his presence; if -so, they might very probably imagine the damage to have been done by -a mine, and give him future opportunities. The shot had been a long -one, about 1,300 yards, and this was in the circumstances particularly -fortunate; for at a shorter distance, such as 500 or 600 yards, the -submarine herself would have felt a tremendous shock from the double -explosion. - -An hour later he saw four destroyers hovering about the place of the -wreck. He turned away, and they made no attempt to follow. At dawn next -day he reported by wireless, and then proceeded to his base. - -In the meantime E. 19, Lieut.-Commander F. N. Cromie, had arrived. -She set to work in earnest upon the German shipping engaged in the -service of the naval and military departments of the enemy, towards the -western end of the Baltic. Monday, October 11, was her best day, and -the beginning of a downright panic in the Hamburg trade. ‘8.0 A.M.,’ -says Lieut.-Commander Cromie, ‘started to chase merchant shipping.’ -He had good hunting. At 9.40 A.M. he stopped the _Walter Leonhardt_, -from Lulea to Hamburg, with iron ore. The crew abandoned ship, and -were picked up by a Swedish steamer, considerately stopped for the -purpose. A gun-cotton charge then sent the empty vessel to the bottom. -By noon, E. 19 was chasing the _Germania_ of Hamburg, signalling her to -stop immediately. In spite of the signals and a warning gun-shot, she -continued to bolt, and soon ran ashore. Lieut.-Commander Cromie went -alongside cautiously to save her crew, but found that they had already -abandoned ship. He tried to tow her off, but failed to move her--small -wonder, for her cargo consisted of nearly three million kgs. of the -finest concentrated iron ore, from Stockholm to Stettin. He left her -filling with water, and at 2.0 gave chase to the _Gutrune_. By 3.0 he -had towed her crew to the Swedish steamer, and started her for the -bottom with her 4,500,000 kgs. of iron ore, from Lulea to Hamburg. - -The game went forward merrily. At 4.25 he began to chase two more large -steamers going south. In twenty minutes he had stopped one--the Swedish -boat _Nyland_, with ore for Rotterdam and papers all correct--told her -to proceed, and ten minutes later caught the _Direktor Rippenhagen_, -with magnetic ore from Stockholm to Nadenheim. While she was sinking -he stopped another Swede bound for Newcastle, and gave her the -_Direktor’s_ crew to take care of. An hour later, he proceeded to chase -a large steamer, the _Nicomedia_, who tried to make off towards the -Swedish coast. A shot across her bows brought her to a more resigned -frame of mind. She proved to be a large and extremely well-fitted -vessel, carrying six to seven million kgs. of magnetic ore from Lulea -to Hamburg. The crew were sent ashore in boats, and E. 19 proceeded -up the west of Gotland. Her cruise was marked by one more incident--a -significant one. During the morning of October 12, Lieut.-Commander -Cromie stopped the _Nike_, and went alongside to examine her. He found -her to be in iron ore from Stockholm to Stettin, under command of -Captain Anderson, whose passport, from the Liverpool Police, proved -him to be a Swede. To a Hun, this would have made no difference; but -Lieut.-Commander Cromie had British ideas on international law. He -sent Lieutenant Mee on board with a prize crew of two men, in the good -old style of our ancestors, and ordered them to take the prize into -Reval for further investigation. After what we have already said about -submarines and war policy, the point needs no pressing. War against -trading vessels and non-combatants is possible within the rules, but -only in certain circumstances. Even where those circumstances exist, -there is no excuse for breaking the rules; and where they do not exist, -only a barbarian would hack his way through the net of international -law and common humanity. Our Navy has in all circumstances kept both -these laws: the German submarines have deliberately and cruelly broken -both. - -Lieut.-Commander Cromie continued to have the good fortune he deserved. -He ended the 1915 campaign with another war-ship in his bag. Cruising -in the Western Baltic on the morning of November 7, he sighted a light -cruiser and two destroyers, but was disappointed in his attempt to -attack. Three hours later, at 1.20, in a favourable mist, he had a -second chance. A light cruiser--perhaps the same--with one destroyer in -attendance, came on at fifteen knots, steaming south and east. He dived -at once, and at 1.45 fired his starboard torpedo. The range was about -1,100 yards, and the shot went home on the cruiser’s starboard side -forward. She immediately swung round in a large circle and then stopped -dead. She appeared to be on fire and sinking. But Lieut.-Commander -Cromie was unwilling to leave her in uncertainty. He avoided the -destroyer, passed under her stern, and manœuvred for a second shot. -This was fired at 1,200 yards, and was aimed at the cruiser’s -main-mast, just abaft of which it actually struck. A double explosion -followed. Evidently the after magazine had blown up, and several large -smoking masses were shot out some 200 yards in the direction of the -submarine. The destroyer then opened a heavy fire on the periscope with -H.E. shell. Down went E. 19 for her life; but three minutes later, -she was up again to see what was happening. The cruiser--she was the -_Undine_ of 2,650 tons--was gone. The destroyer was picking up a few -survivors, and after a restless half-hour made off to the southward, -leaving on the scene only a ferry-boat flying the German mercantile -flag. Lieut.-Commander Cromie left also, and arrived next day at Reval, -where he reported the attack and added that, under existing weather -conditions, it was only rendered possible by the sound judgment and -prompt action of Lieutenant G. Sharp, who was officer of the watch at -the time. - -E. 19 was not alone in her successful campaign against the German -iron-ore trade. A week after her fine break recorded above, E. 9 -arrived on the scene; and Commander Max Horton, in two successive -days, sank the _Soderham_, _Pernambuco_, _Johannes-Russ_, and -_Dall-Asfen_--four serious losses to the German gun factories, and even -more serious blows to the courage of their carrying trade. The captain -of the _Nike_ told Lieutenant Mee on his voyage to Reval, that after -E. 19’s first raid no less than fifteen ships were held up at Lulea, -awaiting convoys; and after E. 9’s success, the command of the Baltic -seemed to have passed for the time out of German hands. - -Such a state of things could not, of course, be continuously -maintained--the Baltic weather alone made that impossible. E. 1, E. 8, -and E. 18 followed their leaders, and all did good service during the -autumn; but their reports show how severe were the conditions when -the winter really set in. E. 9 had already noted very bad weather in -November, and on the 25th ‘boat became covered with a large quantity -of ice.’ On January 10, 1916, E. 18, commanded by Lieut.-Commander -R. C. Halahan, reports ‘temperature very low: sea very rough; great -difficulty in keeping conning-tower hatch clear of ice, as sea came -over constantly and froze at once.’ Two days later she proceeded to -Reval in company with a Russian ice-breaker. ‘The ice was very thick -in places, but no difficulty was experienced in getting through.’ -These hindrances continued for months. As late as April 28, we find -E. 18 accompanied through Moon Sound by an ice-breaker ‘as there were -occasional thick ice-fields.’ The next day some of these ice-fields -came drifting down upon the anchorage, and E. 18 had to slip and anchor -off until night. Even so, she could not be sure of escaping all danger; -for the ice brought down large masses of stone, and deposited them in -the channels. - -[Illustration: ‘The Russian ice-breakers freed them from the harbour -ice.’ - - [_See page_ 123. -] - -In spite of all difficulties and hardships, our submarines continued -their campaign indomitably, and would no doubt at this hour still hold -the mastery of the Baltic trade, if the collapse of our Russian friends -had not deprived them of their bases and rendered their operations -useless. Early in April, 1917, it became evident that Finland must -fall into German hands, and steps were taken to withdraw our naval -force from the Baltic. But, for the boats themselves, there could be -no return from the scene of their voyages and victories. They lay -ice-bound in the harbour of Helsingfors, and there they must end their -unparalleled story, for surrender to an enemy so unworthy was not to be -thought of. - -As soon, then, as official news came of the landing of German troops at -Hango, these famous adventurers were led to their last rendezvous. The -Russian ice-breakers freed them from the harbour ice. All the Russian -officers who had been attached to the British flotilla, and who were -then in Helsingfors, offered their assistance for the funeral rites, -and soon after midday Lieut. Basil Downie, the officer in command -of the submarine depot, put to sea in E. 1, followed by E. 9, E. 8, -and E. 19. Each boat carried her death potion in the form of torpedo -warheads with a 20-lb. dry cotton charge as primers. Three of these -charges were allotted to each--one forward, one aft, and one amidships; -and when the alarm-bell of the clock in each should ring, contact -would be made and the end would come. The point decided on was reached -at last. The bells rang, and E. 19, E. 1, and E. 9 sank to their own -thunder. E. 8, by some failure of her clock, remained unhurt, and since -the ice-breaker could not stay out at sea longer, she was left to die -another day, with other comrades. At 7.0 next morning, Lieut. Downie -put to sea again with C. 26 and C. 35 and the torpedo-barge, with the -few remaining stores. When the clocks rang this time, E. 8 sank, and -C. 26 with her. The barge and C. 35 were left to wait for C. 27, the -last of that victorious company. On the following morning the barge was -blown up, and the two submarines were simply sunk in fifteen fathoms. -They went down uninjured, but within three minutes two great explosions -followed, and twelve-foot columns of water shot up. ‘This, presumably,’ -says the report, ‘was the exploding of their batteries.’ Our Viking -ancestors would have said, perhaps, that it was the bursting of their -dragon hearts. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -BRITISH SUBMARINES IN THE DARDANELLES - - -Our submarine campaign in the Sea of Marmora must also have a separate -chapter to itself, not only because it is now a closed episode in the -history of the War, but because it was conducted under quite unique -conditions. The scene of operations was not merely distant from the -submarine base, it was divided from it by an approach of unusual danger -and difficulty. The channel of the Dardanelles is narrow and winding, -with a strong tide perpetually racing down it, and setting strongly -into the several bays. It was moreover protected, as will appear in the -course of the narrative, by forts with powerful guns and searchlights -and torpedo tubes, and by barrages of thick wire and netting it was -also patrolled constantly by armed ships. Yet from the very first all -these defences were evaded or broken through with marvellous courage -and ingenuity; for nearly a year a succession of brilliant commanders -took their boats regularly up and down the passage, and made the -transport of Turkish troops and munitions across the Marmora first -hazardous, and finally impracticable. Their losses were small; but -they passed the weeks of their incredibly long patrols in continual -danger, and snatched their successes from the midst of a swarm of -vigilant enemies. Two battle-ships, a destroyer, and five gunboats -fell to them, besides over thirty steamers, many of which were armed, -nine transports, seven ammunition and store ships, and no less than 188 -sailing-ships and dhows with supplies. The pages which follow contain -notes on the cruise of every British boat which attempted the passage -of the Straits; but they are far from giving an account of all their -amazing feats and adventures. - -Lieutenant Norman Holbrook had the honour of being the first officer -to take a British submarine up the Dardanelles. He carefully prepared -his boat--B. 11--for the business of jumping over and under obstacles, -by devices which have since been perfected but were then experimental. -The preliminary trials turned out very satisfactorily, and on -Sunday, December 13, 1914, as soon as the mainland searchlights were -extinguished at dawn, he trimmed and dived for Seddul Bahr. - -His main idea was to put certain Rickmers steamers out of action, and -perhaps the actual object of his pursuit was the _Lily Rickmers_. He -did not get her, but he got something quite as attractive. It was 9.40 -A.M., or rather more than four hours from the start, when at last he -put his periscope above water, and saw immediately on his starboard -beam a large two-funnelled vessel, painted grey and flying the Turkish -ensign. At 600 yards he fired his starboard torpedo, put his helm hard -a-starboard, and dipped to avoid remonstrances. The explosion was duly -audible a few seconds later, and as B. 11 came quietly up of her own -motion her commander took a glimpse through the periscope. The grey -ship (she was the battle-ship _Messudiyeh_) was still on his starboard -beam, and firing a number of guns. B. 11 seemed bent on dipping again, -but Lieutenant Holbrook was still more bent on seeing what he had done. -He got her up once more and sighted his enemy, on the port bow this -time. She was settling down by the stern and her guns were no longer -firing. - -At this moment the man at the helm of B. 11 reported that the lenses -of the compass had become fogged, and the instrument was for the -time unreadable. Lieutenant Holbrook took a careful survey of his -surroundings, calculated that he was in Sari Siglar Bay, and dived for -the channel. The boat touched bottom and for ten minutes went hop, skip -and jump along it, at full speed, until she shot off into deeper water. -Her commander then brought her up again, took a sight of the European -shore, steadied her by it, and ran for home. By 2 P.M. he had cleared -the entrance. His feat was not only brilliant in itself; it was an -act of leadership, an invaluable reconnaissance. In ten hours he had -proved all the possibilities of the situation--he had forced a strongly -guarded channel, surprised and sunk a battle-ship in broad daylight, -and returned safely, though he had gone up without information and come -down without a compass. The V.C. was his manifest destiny. - -In the following spring, after the guns of the Allied fleets had failed -to reduce the Turkish forts, the submarine campaign was developed. -It began with a defeat--one of those defeats which turn to honour, -and maintain the invincibility of our Service. On April 17, while -attempting a difficult reconnaissance of the Kephez minefield, E. 15 -ran ashore in the Dardanelles within a few hundred yards of Fort -No. 8. Her crew were captured while trying to get her off, and there -was a danger of her falling into the enemy’s hands in a serviceable -condition. The only remedy was to blow her up. She was no sort of a -mark for the battle-ships at long range; so during the night of the -18th an attack was made by two picket boats, manned by volunteer crews. -The boat of H.M.S. _Triumph_ was commanded by Lieut.-Commander Eric -Robinson, who led the expedition, with Lieut. Arthur Brooke Webb, -R.N.R., and Midshipman John Woolley, and that of H.M.S. _Majestic_ -by Lieut. Claud Godwin. The fort gave them over two hundred rounds -at short range, mortally wounded one man and sank the _Majestic’s_ -boat; but Lieut.-Commander Robinson succeeded in torpedoing E. 15 and -rendering her useless. He brought both crews off, and left even the -Germans in Constantinople admiring the pluck of his little enterprise. -One officer is reported by Mr. Lewis Einstein, of the American Embassy -there,[1] to have said, ‘I take off my hat to the British Navy.’ He was -right--this midnight attack by a handful of boys in boats has all the -heroic romance of the old cutting-out expeditions, and on Admiral de -Robeck’s report the leader of it was promoted to commander. - - [1] _Inside Constantinople_, p. 3. This interesting book throws - much light on our submarine campaign, and gives valuable - confirmation of our records. - -[Illustration: ‘The Fort gave them 200 rounds at short range.’] - -On April 25, A.E. 2 went successfully up and entered the Sea of -Marmora; on the 29th, Lieut.-Commander Edward Courtney Boyle followed -in E. 14. He started at 1.40 A.M., and the searchlight at Suan Dere was -still working when he arrived there at 4 o’clock. The fort fired, and -he dived, passing clean under the minefield. He then passed Chanak -on the surface with all the forts firing at him. Further on there were -a lot of small ships patrolling, and a torpedo gunboat at which he -promptly took a shot. The torpedo got her on the quarter and threw up a -column of water as high as her mast. But Lieut.-Commander Boyle could -not stop to see more--he became aware that the men in a small steamboat -were leaning over and trying to catch hold of the top of his periscope. -He dipped and left them; then rounded Nagara Point and dived deep. -Again and again he came up and was driven down; destroyers and gunboats -were chasing and firing in all directions. It was all he could do to -charge his batteries at night. After running continuously for over -fifty hours, the motors were so hot that he was obliged to stop. The -steadiness of all on board may be judged from the record of the diving -necessary to avoid destruction. Out of the first sixty-four hours of -the voyage, the boat was kept under for forty-four hours and fifty -minutes. - -On the afternoon of the 29th, he sighted three destroyers convoying -two troopships; fired and dipped--for the destroyers were blazing at -his periscope, and he had only that one left--the other had stopped a -shot the day before. But even down below a thud was audible, and the -depth gauges flicked ten feet; half an hour afterwards he saw through -the periscope his own particular transport making for the shore with -dense columns of yellow smoke pouring from her. And that was her last -appearance. A few hours later he sighted A.E. 2 and spoke her. She had -sunk one gunboat, but had had bad luck with her other torpedoes and had -only one left. Lieut.-Commander Boyle arranged to meet her again next -day; but next day the gallant A.E. 2 fell to a Turkish gunboat. - -During these days the Sea of Marmora was glassy calm, and the patrol -ships were so troublesome that Lieut.-Commander Boyle decided to sink -one as a deterrent. He picked off a small mine-laying boat, and fired -at a larger one twice without success, as the wake of the torpedoes was -too easily seen in the clear water. - -The first four days of May he spent mainly in being hunted. On the 5th, -he got a shot at a destroyer convoying a transport, and made a fine -right-angle hit at 600 yards, but the torpedo failed to explode. This -only whetted his appetite, and for three days he chased ship after -ship. One he followed inshore, but troops on board opened fire on him -and hit the boat several times. At last, on the evening of May 10, -after being driven down by one destroyer, he sighted another with two -transports, and attacked at once. His first torpedo missed the leading -transport; his second shot hit the second transport and a terrific -explosion followed. Debris and men were seen falling into the water; -then night came on rapidly, and he could not mark the exact moment at -which she sank. - -Inside Constantinople they were already telling each other yarns about -E. 14, and for her incredible activity they even promoted her to the -plural number. ‘One of the English submarines in the Marmora,’ Mr. -Einstein wrote on May 11, ‘is said to have called at Rodosto, flying -the Turkish flag. The Kaimakam, believing the officers to be German, -gave them all the petrol and provisions they required, and it was only -after leaving that they hoisted their true colours.’ The story will not -bear examination from our side; but no doubt it very usefully covered -a deficiency in the Kaimakam’s store account, whether caused by Germans -or by the Faithful themselves. - -On May 13, Lieut.-Commander Boyle records a rifle duel with a small -steamer which he had chased ashore near Panidos. On the 14th he remarks -the enemy’s growing shyness. ‘I think the Turkish torpedo-boats must -have been frightened of ramming us, as several times, when I tried to -remain on the surface at night, they were so close when sighted that -it must have been possible to get us if they had so desired.’ The air -was so clear that in the daytime he was almost always in sight from the -shore, and signal fires and smoke columns passed the alarm continually. -He had no torpedoes left and was not mounted with a gun, so that he -was now at the end of his tether. On the 17th he was recalled by -wireless, and after diving all night ran for Gallipoli at full speed, -pursued by a two-funnelled gunboat, a torpedo-boat and a tug, who -shepherded him one on each side and one astern, ‘evidently expecting,’ -he thought, ‘to get me caught in the nets.’ But he adds,’did not notice -any nets,’ and after passing another two-funnelled gunboat, a large -yacht, a battle-ship and a number of tramps, the fire of the Chanak -forts and the minefield as before, he reached the entrance and rose -to the surface abeam of a French battle-ship of the St. Louis class, -who gave her fellow crusader a rousing cheer. Commander Boyle reported -that the success of this fine and sustained effort was mainly due to -his officers, Lieutenant Edward Stanley and Acting-Lieutenant Lawrence, -R.N.R., both of whom received the D.S.C. His own promotion to Commander -was underlined by the award of the V.C. - -Within twelve hours of E. 14’s return, her successor, E. 11, was -proceeding towards the Straits. The commanding officer of this boat -was Lieut.-Commander M. E. Nasmith, who had already been mentioned in -despatches for rescuing five airmen while being attacked by a Zeppelin -in the Heligoland Bight during the action on Christmas Day, 1914. He -had been waiting his turn at the Dardanelles with some impatience, -and as E. 11’s port engine had been put completely out of action by -an accident on the voyage from Malta, he had begged to be allowed -to attempt the passage into the Marmora under one engine. This was -refused, but his repairs were finished in time for him to take the -place of E. 14. - -He made the passage of the Straits successfully, reconnoitred the -Marmora and made a neat arrangement, probably suggested by the -adventures of E. 14, for saving the enemy the trouble of so much -hunting. He stopped a small coastal sailing vessel, sent Lieut. D’Oyly -Hughes to search her for contraband, and then trimmed well down and -made her fast alongside his conning-tower. Being now quite invisible -from the eastward, he was able to proceed in that direction all day -without interruption. At night he released his stalking-horse and -returned westward. - -[Illustration: ‘Made her fast alongside his conning-tower.’] - -Early on the 23rd, he observed a Turkish torpedo-boat at anchor off -Constantinople and sank her with a torpedo; but as she sank she fired a -6-pounder gun, the first shot of which damaged his foremost periscope. -He came up for repairs, and all hands took the chance of a bathe. -Five hours later he stopped a small steamer, whose crew did a ‘panic -abandon ship,’ capsizing all boats but one. ‘An American gentleman -then appeared on the upper deck, who informed us that his name was -Silas Q. Swing of the _Chicago Sun_ and that he was pleased to make our -acquaintance.... He wasn’t sure if there were any stores on board.’ -Lieut. D’Oyly Hughes looked into the matter and discovered a 6-inch gun -lashed across the top of the fore hatch, and other gun-mountings in the -hold, which was also crammed with 6-inch and other ammunition marked -Krupp. A demolition charge sent ship and cargo to the bottom. - -Lieut.-Commander Nasmith then chased and torpedoed a heavily laden -store-ship, and drove another ashore, exchanging rifle fire with a -party of horsemen on the cliff above. Altogether the day was a lively -one, and the news, brought by Mr. Silas Q. Swing and his friends, -shook Constantinople up severely. Mr. Einstein records that ‘the -submarine came up at 20 minutes to 2 o’clock, about three hundred -yards from where the American guardship _Scorpion_ lay moored, and was -immediately fired at by the shore batteries. It shot off two torpedoes; -the first missed a transport by about fifty yards, the second struck -the _Stamboul_ fair, passing under a barge moored alongside, which -blew up. The _Stamboul_ had a gap of twenty feet on her water-line -but did not sink. She was promptly towed toward Beshiktash to lie on -the bottom in shallow water. The submarine meanwhile, under a perfect -hail of fire, which passed uncomfortably close to the _Scorpion_, -dived and got away, steering up the Bosphorus. At Galata there was a -panic, everyone closing their shops; the troops, who were already on -two transports, were promptly disembarked, but later re-embarked, and -still later landed once more. The total damage was inconsiderable, but -the moral effect was very real.’ On the following day he adds, ‘S.’ -(Swing, no doubt--Silas Q. Swing of the _Chicago Sun_) ‘came in with an -exciting tale. On his way to the Dardanelles the steamer, which carried -munitions and a 6-inch gun, had been torpedoed by an English submarine, -the E. 11. They allowed the crew to leave, and then sank the ship. The -English officer told him there were eleven submarines in the Marmora, -and these are holding up all the ships going to the Dardanelles. They -had sunk three transports full of troops, out of four which had been -sunk, and various other vessels, but do not touch those carrying -wounded.’ - -So, between Lieut. D’Oyly Hughes and Mr. Silas Q. Swing, the E. 11 -became eleven submarines, and may go down the ages like the eleven -thousand virgins of Cologne. Her commander evidently hoped to create -a panic, and Mr. Einstein leaves us no doubt that the plan succeeded -to the full. On May 27 he writes again: ‘The Marmora is practically -closed by English submarines. Everyone asks where their depot is, and -how they are refurnished.’ May 28: ‘The submarines in the Marmora have -frightened the Turks, and all the remaining transports, save one, lie -tranquilly in the Golden Horn. Otherwise I have never seen the port so -empty. One wonders where the submarines have their base, and when and -how it was prepared.’ He adds, with some shrewdness: ‘Probably, if at -all, in some island of the Marmora, though the newer boats can stay out -a long time.’ E. 11 was far from new, as we have seen, but she was in -hands that could make her stand for quality as well as quantity. - -Lieut.-Commander Nasmith brought his boat safely back to Mudros on June -7. The last hour of his trip was perhaps the most breathless, for -while rushing down by Kilid Bahr he found his trim quite abnormal, and -‘observed a large mine preceding the periscope at a distance of about -twenty feet; which was apparently hung up by its moorings to the port -hydroplane.’ He could not come to the surface, as the shore batteries -were waiting for him; but when outside Kum Kale, he emptied his -after-tanks, got his nose down, and went full speed astern, dropping -the mine neatly to the bottom. This was good work, but not better than -the skill shown in navigating shoal water, or ‘the resource displayed -in the delicate operation of recovering two torpedoes’ without the -usual derrick to hoist them in--an operation which may as well remain -for the present undescribed. Admiral de Robeck, in recommending -Lieut.-Commander Nasmith for the V.C., speaks of his cruise as one -‘which will surely find a place in the annals of the British Navy.’ It -will--there can be no forgetting it. The very log of E. 11 deserves to -be a classic. ‘Having dived unobserved into Constantinople ...,’ says -her Commander soberly, and so, without a thought of it, adds one to the -historic despatches of the Service. - -It was now E. 14’s turn again. Commander Courtney Boyle took her up -on June 10, against a very strong tide. At 9 o’clock next morning he -stopped a brigantine, whose crew abandoned ship ‘and then all stood up -and cursed us. It was too rough to go alongside her, so Acting-Lieut. -R. W. Lawrence, R.N.R., swam off to her, climbed aboard, and ... set -fire to her with the aid of her own matches and paraffin oil.’ On the -12th one of the Rickmers steamers was torpedoed. Shortly afterwards -there was a big explosion close to the submarine. ‘And I think,’ says -her commander, ‘I must have caught the moorings of a mine with my tail -as I was turning, and exploded it.... The whole boat was very badly -shaken.’ But _Lily Rickmers_ and her sister were now both removed from -the Turkish service, for E. 11 had evidently accounted for one of them -already. Mr. Einstein writes on June 13: ‘The German Embassy approached -us to cable Washington to protest about the torpedoing without warning -of the two Rickmers steamers in the Marmora. One of these was said to -be filled with wounded, but their note neglected to say that these -had been discharged from hospital and were on their way back to the -Dardanelles.’ Only a German diplomatist could speak of a ship carrying -troops to the front as ‘filled with wounded’; and Mr. Einstein adds, -‘One cannot but be struck by the German inability to understand our -position over the _Lusitania_.’ The point is plain, and goes deep. To -the modern German mind all such considerations are only a matter of -words, useful for argumentative purposes--that there should be any -truth of reality or feeling behind them is not imaginable. - -The rest of this log is a record of destruction, but destruction on -thoroughly un-German methods. ‘June 20.--Boarded and sank 3 sailing -dhows ... towed the crew inshore and gave them some biscuit, beef, rum, -and water, as they were rather wet.’ ‘June 22.--Let go passenger ship.’ -23.--‘Burnt two-master, and started to tow crew in their boat, but had -to dive. Stopped two dhows: they were both empty and the crews looked -so miserable that I only sunk one and let the other go.’ 24.--‘Blew up -2 large dhows: there was another one about a mile off with no boat ... -and thought I saw two heads in the water. Turned round and found that -there were 2 men in the water at least half a mile from their dhow. -Picked them up: they were quite exhausted: gave them food and drink, -and put them on board their ship. They had evidently seen the other two -dhows blown up and were frightened out of their wits.’ There is nothing -here to boast about--to us, nothing surprising. But it brings to mind -inevitably the evidence upon which our enemies stand convicted. We -remember the long roll of men and women not only set adrift in stormy -seas, but shot and drowned in their open boats without pity and without -cause. We admit the courage of the Hun, but we cannot admire it. It is -too near to animal ferocity, and stained with a cruelty and callousness -which are not even beast-like. - -On June 21, Commander Boyle had rendezvoused with E. 12, -Lieut.-Commander K. M. Bruce. ‘I got her alongside, and we remained -tied up for 3 hours.’ From this time onward the reliefs were arranged -to overlap, so that there were nearly always two boats operating at -the same time in the Marmora. Lieut.-Commander Bruce came up on June -19, and found, like others, that the chief difficulty of forcing the -passage was the heating of the main motors on so long and strenuous a -run. - -The one great day of his nine days’ patrol was June 25, when he brought -off a hand-to-hand fight on the surface with three enemy ships. At -10.45 in the morning he sighted, in the Gulf of Mudania, a small -two-decked passenger steamer. ‘She looked,’ he says, ‘rather like a -tram-car, and was towing two sailing-vessels. In the distance was a -sister of hers, towing three more.’ He chased, and soon stopped the -nearer steamer. He could see, as he steamed round her, that she was -carrying a lot of stores. She had no boat, and all the crew appeared to -be on deck in lifebelts. He could see no sign of guns, so he ran his -bow up alongside and sent his first-lieutenant, Tristram Fox, to board -her. But guns are not the only risk a submarine has to take on such -occasions. As the boarding party stepped on board the steamer, a Turk -heaved a bomb over the side. It hit E. 12 forward, but did not explode, -and no second one followed. The Turks, however, meant fighting, and -they opened fire with rifles and a small gun, concealed somewhere aft. -The situation was a very anxious one, especially for Lieutenant Fox -and his boarding party; for they knew their own ship must open fire in -return, and it was difficult to take cover on an enemy ship in action. -Lieut.-Commander Bruce was in a very tight corner, but he kept his head -and played his game without a mistake. He did not hesitate to open fire -with his 6-pounder, but he began upon the enemy’s stern, where the gun -was concealed, and having dealt with that he turned to her other end -and put ten shots into her from fore to aft. His men shot steadily, -though under gun and rifle fire at a range of only ten yards, and his -coxswain, Charles Case, who was with him in the conning-tower, passed -up the ammunition. Spare men, with rifles, kept the Turks’ heads down, -and all seemed to be going well, when the two sailing-ships in tow -began a new and very plucky move of their own. They came in to foul the -submarine’s propellers, and at the same time opened fire with rifles, -taking E. 12 in flank. But by this time the steamer was beaten, and the -British rifles soon silenced those in the sailing-ships. Then, as soon -as Lieut.-Commander Bruce had cleared the steamer, he sank the three -of them. The steamer had probably been carrying ammunition as well as -stores, for one of the shots from the 6-pounder touched off something -explosive in her forward part. In fifteen minutes she was at the bottom. - -Lieut.-Commander Bruce was already thinking of the other steamer with -the three sailing-ships in tow. She was diligently making for the -shore, and he had to open fire at her at 2000 yards. As he closed, the -fire was returned, not only from the ship but from a gun on shore; but -by this time he had hit the enemy aft, and set her on fire forward. She -beached herself, and as the three sailing-ships had been slipped and -were also close under the shore, he had no choice but to leave them. -E. 12’s injuries were miraculously slight--her commander’s account of -them is slighter still. ‘I was very much hampered,’ he says, ‘in my -movements and took some minutes to get clear of the first steamer. But -only one man was hurt, by a splinter from the steamer.’ This was quite -in accordance with the old English rule of the gun-decks: to hit and -be missed there’s nothing like closing. The story of this fine little -scrimmage ends with the special recommendation by Lieut.-Commander -Bruce of his first-lieutenant, Tristram Fox, ‘who behaved exceedingly -well under very trying circumstances,’ and of his coxswain, Charles -Case, and three seamen--they all received the Distinguished Service -Medal. Of the commander himself we shall hear again presently. - -E. 12 was recalled on June 28, leaving E. 14 still at work; and on -the 30th her place was taken by E. 7, Lieut.-Commander Cochrane. On -the way up, a torpedo from a tube on shore passed over him, and a -destroyer made two attempts to ram him, but he got safely through and -rendezvoused with E. 14 on the following evening. His misfortunes -began next day, when Lieut. Hallifax and an A.B. were badly burned -by an explosion in the hold of a captured steamer. Then dysentery -attacked the two remaining officers and the telegraphist. Work became -very arduous, but work was done notwithstanding. Ship after ship was -sunk--five steamers and sixteen sailing-ships in all. One of the -steamers was ‘a Mahsousie ship, the _Biga_,’ of about 3,000 tons. She -was lying alongside Mudania Pier, with sailing-vessels moored outside -the pier to protect her. But Lieut.-Commander Cochrane saw daylight -between this barrage and his prey; he dived under the sailing-ships, -and up went the _Biga_ with a very heavy explosion. - -On July 17, he tried a new method of harassing the Turkish army. He -came up opposite Kara Burnu and opened fire on the railway cutting -west of it, blocking the line--then dived, and went on to Derinjie -Burnu. The shipyard there was closed, but he observed a heavy troop -train steaming west, towards the block he had so carefully established -just before. He followed up at full speed, and after twenty minutes of -anxious hope saw the train returning baffled. It eventually stopped -in a belt of trees at Yarandji Station; this made spotting difficult, -but E. 7’s gunnery was good enough. After twenty rounds the three -ammunition cars of the train were definitely blown up, and E. 7 could -move back to Kara Burnu, where she shelled another train and hit it -several times. - -All this was very disturbing to the Turks, and they tried every means -to stop it at the source. They had already a net in the channel, but it -was quite ineffectual. ‘Now,’ says Mr. Einstein on July 15, ‘it turns -out that they have constructed a barrage of network to keep out the -submarines from the Dardanelles, and this explains the removal of the -buoys all along the Bosphorus. They need these, and especially their -chains, to keep it in place.’ A week later, Lieut.-Commander Cochrane -saw these buoys on his way down. They were in a long line, painted -alternately red and black, and stretching from a position a mile north -of Maitos village to a steamer moored in Nagara Liman. He dived under -them and went on his way; but later on, below Kilid Bahr, the boat -fouled a moorings forward and was completely hung up, swinging round, -head to tide. By admirable management she was got clear in half an -hour, and then the same thing happened again. ‘This time,’ says her -commander coolly, ‘I think the boat carried the obstruction with her -for some distance. I was expecting to see something foul when we came -to the surface, but everything was clear then.’ What he and his men -saw, during those two half-hours, might also be described as ‘something -foul.’ - -The cruise of E. 7 lasted for over three weeks, from June 30 to July -24. On July 21, Commander Courtney Boyle brought up E. 14 once more. -He, too, saw the new net near Nagara, ‘a line of what looked like -lighters half-way across, and one small steamship in the vicinity.’ -But he passed through the gate in it without touching anything. This -was lucky, as he had already scraped against an obstruction off Kilid -Bahr and cut his guard wire nearly through. Once up, he got to work at -once, and in a busy and adventurous three weeks he sank one steamer, -one supply ship, seven dhows and thirteen sailing-vessels. In short, he -made himself master of the Marmora. The complete interruption of the -Turkish sea communications was proved by the statements of prisoners. -The captain of one ship stated that Constantinople was full of wounded -and short of food, and that the troops now all went to Rodosto by rail -and then marched to Gallipoli--six hours in the train and three days -and nights marching, instead of a short and simple voyage. All the -Turkish war-ships were above the second bridge in the Golden Horn, -and they never ventured out. There were no steamers going to sea--all -supplies to Gallipoli went in sailing craft, towed by destroyers under -cover of darkness. It is clear that, to the Turkish imagination, E. 14 -was like E. 11--very much in the plural number. On August 5, E. 11 -herself came on duty again, and the two boats met at rendezvous at 2 -P.M. next day. Half an hour afterwards, Commanders Boyle and Nasmith -started on their first hunt in couples. Their quarry was a gunboat of -the Berki-Satvet class. The chase was a lively one, and it was E. 11, -in the end, who made the kill with a torpedo amidships. Then the two -boats came alongside again and their commanders concerted a plan for -shelling troops next day. - -They took up their positions in the early morning hours, and waited -for the game to come past. Commander Nasmith had been given the better -stand of the two; at 11.30 A.M. he observed troops going towards -Gallipoli, rose to the surface and fired. Several of his shots dropped -well among them and they scattered. In less than an hour another column -approached along the same road. E. 11 had retired, so to speak, into -her butt; she now stepped up again, raised her gun, and made good -shooting as before. ‘The column took cover in open order.’ - -In the meantime Commander Boyle had been diving up and down all the -morning between Fort Victoria and a point four miles up the coast to -the east, about a mile from shore. Three times he came to the surface, -but each time the troops turned out to be bullocks. At 1.30 P.M. (when -he came up for the fourth time) more dust was coming down the road, and -this time it was the right kind of dust. As he opened fire he heard -E. 11 banging away. She had left the place where he had stationed her, -to the N.E. of Dohan Aslan Bank, and had come down to join him in his -billet. The two boats then conducted a joint action for the best part -of an hour. Commander Boyle got off forty rounds, of which about six -burst on the road among the troops, and one in a large building. But -the distance was almost beyond his 6-pounder’s reach. He had to put -the full range on the sights, and then aim at the top of the hill, so -that his fire was less accurate than that of Commander Nasmith with his -12-pounder. E. 11 had strewed the road with a large number of dead and -wounded, when guns on shore came into action and forced her to dive. -She came up again an hour and a half later and dispersed the troops -afresh, but once more had to dive for her life. - -Next day, Commander Boyle ordered E. 11 to change billets with him, -and both boats had luck, Commander Boyle destroying a 5,000-ton supply -steamer with torpedo and gunfire, and Commander Nasmith bagging a -battle-ship. This last was the _Haireddin Barbarossa_. She was passing -about five miles N.E. of Gallipoli, escorted by a destroyer. E. 11 -was skilfully brought into position on her starboard beam, and the -torpedo got home amidships. The _Barbarossa_ immediately took a list -to starboard, altered course towards the shore, and opened a heavy -fire on the submarine’s periscope. But she was mortally hit. Within -twenty minutes a large flash burst from her fore part, and she rolled -over and sank. To lose their last battleship, and so near home, was a -severe blow for the Turks, and they made every effort to conceal the -depressing details. Mr. Einstein, however, heard them and makes an -interesting entry. ‘The _Barbarossa_ was sunk in the Marmora and not in -the Dardanelles, as officially announced. She was convoying barges full -of munitions and also two transports, when she found herself surrounded -by six submarines.’ It is creditable to Commander Nasmith that he did -so well with only six of his E. 11 flotilla. Einstein continues: ‘The -transports were supposed to protect her, but the second torpedo proved -effective and she sank in seven minutes. One of the transports and a -gunboat were also sunk, the other ran aground. Of crews of 700, only -one-third were saved.’ And on August 15 he records further successes by -Commander Nasmith--a large collier, the _Ispahan_, sunk while unloading -in the port of Haidar Pasha, the submarine creeping up under the lee -of another boat; and two transports with supplies, the _Chios_ and the -_Samsoun_, sunk in the Marmora. - -[Illustration: ‘She was mortally hit.’] - -Commander Boyle returned to his base on August 12, with no further -difficulty than a brush against a mine and a rough-and-tumble encounter -with an electric wire obstruction, portions of which he carried away -tangled round his periscope and propellers. His boat had now done over -12,000 miles since leaving England and had never been out of running -order--a magnificent performance, reported by her commander to be -primarily due to the excellence of his chief engine-room artificer, -James Hollier Hague, who was accordingly promoted to warrant rank, as -from the date of the recommendation. - -E. 14 was succeeded on August 13 by E. 2, Commander David Stocks, who -met Commander Nasmith at 2 P.M. next day, and handed over a fresh -supply of ammunition for E. 11. He also, no doubt, told him the story -of his voyage up. Off Nagara his boat had fouled an obstruction, and -through the conning-tower scuttles he could see that a 3½-inch wire -was wound with a half turn round his gun, a smaller wire round the -conning-tower itself, and another round the wireless standard aft. It -took him ten minutes’ plunging and backing to clear this and regain -control; and during those ten minutes, small explosions were heard -continuously. These were apparently from bombs thrown by guard boats; -but a series of loud explosions, a little later, were probably from -shells fired by a destroyer which was following up, and was still -overhead an hour afterwards. - -The two boats parted again, taking separate beats, and spent a week -in sinking steamers, boarding hospital ships, and bombarding railway -stations. When they met again on the evening of August 21, Commander -Nasmith had a new kind of yarn to tell. His lieutenant, D’Oyly Hughes, -had volunteered to make an attack on the Ismid Railway, and a whole day -had been spent behind Kalolimno Island in constructing a raft capable -of carrying one man and a demolition charge of gun-cotton. Then the -raft had been tested by a bathing party, and the details of the plan -most carefully laid out. - -The object was to destroy the viaduct if possible; but, in any case, -to blow up part of the line. The risk involved not only the devoted -adventurer himself, but the boat as well, for she could not, so long -as he had still a chance of returning, quit the neighbourhood or even -conceal herself by submerging. The approach was in itself an operation -of the greatest delicacy. Commander Nasmith took his boat slowly -towards the shore until her nose just grounded, only three yards from -the rocks. The cliffs on each side were high enough to prevent the -conning-tower being seen while in this position. At 2.10 A.M. Lieut. -D’Oyly Hughes dropped into the water and swam off, pushing the raft -with his bale of gun-cotton, and his clothes and accoutrements, towards -a spot some sixty yards on the port bow of the boat. His weapons were -an automatic service revolver and a sharpened bayonet. He also had an -electric torch and a whistle. At the point where he landed he found the -cliffs unscalable. So he relaunched his raft and swam along to a better -place. He reached the top after a stiff climb, approached the railway -line by a careful prowl of half an hour, and went along it for five or -six hundred yards, hugging his heavy and cumbersome charge. Voices then -brought him up short. He peered about and saw three men sitting by the -side of the line. After watching them for some time he decided that -they were not likely to move, and that he must make a wide detour in -order to inspect the viaduct. He laid down his gun-cotton, and crept -inland, making good progress except for falling into a small farmyard, -where the fowls, but luckily not the household, awoke and protested. At -last he got within three hundred yards of the viaduct. It was easy to -see, for there was a fire burning at the near end of it; but there was -also a stationary engine working, and a number of workmen moving about. -Evidently it would be impossible to bring up and lay his charge there. - -He crept back therefore to his gun-cotton and looked about for a -convenient spot to blow up the line. The best place seemed to be a low -brick-work support over a small hollow. It was only 150 yards from the -three men sitting by the line; but there was no other spot where so -much damage could be done, and Lieut. D’Oyly Hughes was a volunteer, -prepared to take risks. He muffled the pistol for firing the fuse as -tightly as possible, with a piece of rag, and pulled off. On so still -a night it made a very loud noise. The three Turks heard it and he saw -them instantly stand up. The next moment they were running down the -line, with Lieutenant D’Oyly Hughes going his best in front of them. -But a chase of this kind was not what he wanted. His present object -was to find a quiet spot on the shore where he could take to the water -undisturbed, and he had no time to lose. He turned on his pursuers and -fired a couple of shots; the Turks were not hit, but they remembered -their own weapons and began firing too, which was just the relief -Lieut. Hughes needed. - -He had already decided against trying to climb down by the way he had -come up; but after a considerable run eastward, he struck the shore -more conveniently about three-quarters of a mile from the small bay in -which E. 11 was lying. As he plunged into the water, he had the joy of -hearing the sound of a heavy explosion. His charge had hung fire for a -long time, but when it went it went well; fragments were hurled between -a quarter and half a mile, and fell into the sea near the boat. There -could be no doubt that the line was effectively cut; and he could now -give his whole attention to saving an officer to the Service. - -This was the most desperate part of the affair. After swimming some -four hundred or five hundred yards out to sea, he blew a long blast -on his whistle; but the boat was behind the cliffs in her little bay -and failed to hear him. Day was breaking rapidly; the time of waiting -for him must, he knew, be limited. With a decision and coolness beyond -comment he swam ashore again and rested for a short time on the -rocks--then swam off once more, directly towards the boat. Before he -reached the bay, he had to discard in turn his pistol, his bayonet, and -his electric torch. At last he rounded the point and his whistle was -heard; but, at the same moment, shouts came from the cliffs overhead, -and rifle fire opened on the boat. - -She immediately backed, and came slowly astern out of the bay, intent -only upon picking up Lieut. D’Oyly Hughes. But now came the most -extraordinary part of the whole adventure. In the early morning mist -the bow, the gun, and the conning-tower of the submarine appeared to -her distressed officer to be three small rowing-boats advancing towards -him, and rowing-boats could only mean enemies. He turned, swam ashore, -and tried to hide himself under the cliffs. But he did not lose his -head, and after climbing a few feet he looked back and realised his -mistake. He shouted and plunged in again. Forty yards from the rocks he -was at last picked up, nearly done, for he had run hard for his life -and swum a mile in his clothes. But he had done his work and E. 11 was -proud of him, as appears from the concluding sentence in her log: ‘5.5 -A.M. Dived out of rifle fire, and proceeded out of the Gulf of Ismid.’ - -Commander Nasmith ended his cruise with a brilliant week’s work. On -August 22 he fought an action with three armed tugs, a dhow, and a -destroyer; succeeded most adroitly in evading the destroyer, sinking -the dhow and one of the tugs by gunfire, and capturing a number of -prisoners, among whom was a German bank manager with a quantity of -money for Chanak Bank. The prisoners willingly helped to discharge the -cargo of another captured ship--they were apparently much surprised -at being granted their lives. On the 25th, two large transports were -sunk with torpedoes; on the 28th, E. 11 and E. 2, in company, bombarded -the magazine and railway station at Mudania. On September 1, Commander -Nasmith had an hour’s deliberate shooting at the railway viaduct, -scoring a large number of hits; and on the 3rd he returned without -misadventure to his base. - -Left to herself, E. 2 now found that she also possessed a heroic -lieutenant. Under the date September 7 there stands the brief record: -‘Lieutenant Lyon swam to and destroyed two dhows.’ The story, so -well begun, ends next day. At 2.15 A.M. this adventurer, like the -other, swam off with a raft and bag of gun-cotton. His object, like -the other’s, was to destroy a railway bridge. His friends watched -him until, at seventy yards’ distance, he faded into the dusk. From -that moment onwards no sound was ever heard from him. The night was -absolutely still, and noises on shore were distinctly audible; but -nothing like a signal ever came. It had been agreed that if any trouble -arose he should fire his Webley pistol, and the submarine should then -show a red light and open fire on the station, which was 300 yards -distant. For five hours she remained there waiting. An explosion was -heard, but nothing followed, and broad daylight found Commander Stocks -still waiting with desperate loyalty. At 7.15 he dived out to sea. An -hour later he came to the surface and cruised about the place, hoping -that Lyon had managed somehow to get into a boat or dhow. There were -several near the village, and he might be lying off in one. But no boat -drifted out, then or afterwards. Commander Stocks came again at dawn -next day--perhaps, as he said, to bombard the railway station, perhaps -for another reason. Six days later he dived for home, breaking right -through the Nagara net, by a new and daring method of his own. - -It was now Lieut.-Commander Bruce’s turn again, and he passed all -records by patrolling the Marmora successfully in E. 12 for forty days. -He had two other boats in company during part of this time--E. 20 -and H. 1--and with the latter’s help he carried out a very pretty -‘spread attack’ on a gunboat off Kalolimno, on October 17. The -intended manœuvre was for E. 12 to rise suddenly and drive the enemy -by gunfire over H. 1, who dived at the first gun. The first drive -failed, the second was beautifully managed; but, in the bad light of an -approaching squall, H. 1’s torpedo missed. In a third attempt the bird -was reported hit by several shells, but she escaped in the darkness. -Lieut.-Commander Bruce also did good shooting at a powder factory -near Constantinople; sank some shipping, and made some remarkable -experiments with a new method of signalling. But his greatest -experience was his return journey. - -He had passed through the net, he thought, but suddenly observed that -he was towing a portion of it with him. The boat began to sink quickly, -bows down; the foremost hydroplane jammed. He immediately forced her -nose up, by blowing ballast tanks and driving her at full speed. But, -even in that position, she continued to sink till she reached 245 feet. -At that depth the pressure was tremendous. The conning-tower scuttles -burst in, and the conning-tower filled with water. The boat leaked -badly, and the fore compartment had to be closed off to prevent the -water getting into the battery, where it would have produced the fatal -fumes of chlorine gas. - -For ten mortal minutes the commander wrestled with his boat. At last, -by putting three men on to the hydroplane with hand-gear, he forced -the planes to work and the boat rose. He just managed to check her -at twelve feet and got her down to fifty, but even at that depth six -patrol vessels could be heard firing at her--probably she was still -towing something which made a wake on the surface. - -Blind, and almost unmanageable, E. 12 continued to plunge up and down, -making very little way beyond Nagara. The conning-tower and its compass -were out of action, but the commander conned his boat from the main -gyro compass, and when both diving gauges failed he used the gauge -by the periscope. The climax was reached when at eighty feet, just -to the south of Kilid Bahr, another obstruction was met and carried -away. But this was a stroke of luck, for when the commander, by a real -inspiration, put on full speed ahead and worked his helm, the new -entanglement slid along the side of the boat and carried away with it -the old one from Nagara. The boat rose steeply by the bow and broke -surface. Shore batteries and patrols opened fire, and a small shell -cracked the conning-tower; others hit the bridge, and two torpedoes -narrowly missed her astern. But she came safely through to Helles, and -reached her base after a cruise of over 2,000 miles. - -H. 1 also put nearly 2,000 miles to her credit, though her cruise -lasted only thirty days, as against E. 12’s forty. Lieutenant Wilfred -Pirie, her commander, took a hand in Lieut.-Commander Bruce’s -signalling experiments and co-operated in several of his military -enterprises, as we have already seen. He also worked with E. 20 and was -the last to meet her. This was on October 31, the day before he dived -for home. After that, nothing more was heard of her till December 5, -when Commander Nasmith, who was once more in the Marmora with E. 11, -captured a Shirket steamer and obtained much information from the -captain, a French-speaking Turk. According to his statement, E. 20 had -been ambushed, and her officers and crew taken prisoners. He also gave -details of the German submarines based at Constantinople--he thought -there were ten of them, including three large ones. Before accepting -this, we shall do well to refer again to Mr. Einstein, who reports -four small boats coming from Pola, of which only three arrived; and -one larger one, U. 51, of which he tells an amusing story. U. 51 had -been at Constantinople, but during August she went out and did not -return; it was rumoured that she had gone home, or been sunk. Then -the Turks were electrified by news of the arrival of a new German -super-submarine, over two hundred feet long. All Constantinople crowded -to see her go out on August 30. ‘Departure from Golden Horn of a new -giant German submarine, the U. 54, over 200 feet long and with complete -wireless apparatus.’ Next day: ‘The U. 54 turns out to be our old -friend U. 51, with another number painted.’ On September 2 Mr. Einstein -adds sarcastically: ‘Report that U. 54 was badly damaged by a Turkish -battery at Silivri.... To mask this, they are spreading the rumour -that an English submarine ran aground, and will doubtless bring in the -German boat under a false number as though she were a captured prey.’ -And two days later he was justified--‘U. 54 lies damaged in the Golden -Horn from the fire of a Turkish battery. The reported sinking of an -English boat is a downright lie.’ - -Commander Nasmith went down the Straits on December 23, after a record -cruise of forty-eight days. In that time he sank no less than forty-six -enemy ships, including a destroyer, the _Var Hissar_, and ten steamers. -A fortnight before he left, E. 2, Commander Stocks, came up, and did -good work in very bad weather, until she was recalled on January 2, -1916. The season was over, and she found, in passing down the Straits, -that the Turkish net had apparently been removed, either by the enemy -themselves, or perhaps by the wear and tear of British submarines -repeatedly charging it and carrying it away piecemeal. - -So ended our Eastern submarine campaign--a campaign in which our boats -successfully achieved their military objects--in which, too, the skill -of our officers and men was only surpassed by their courage, and by -their chivalrous regard for the enemies whom they defeated. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE U-BOAT BLOCKADE - - -Nothing in the history of the past four years has more clearly brought -out the difference between the civilised and the savage view of war, -than the record of the German U-boat campaign. All civilised men -are agreed, and have for centuries been agreed, about war. In their -view war may be unavoidable, in so far as all order and security are -ultimately dependent on force; but it is a lamentable necessity, and -when unnecessary--that is, when undertaken for any object whatever -except defence against aggression or tyranny--it is an abominable -thing, a violation of human nature. This view is not inconsistent -with the plain truth that the act of fighting is often pleasurable -in itself, and that, when fighting in a right spirit, men often -reach heights of nobility which they would never attain in peaceful -occupations. - -The savage is in accord with this view on one point only. He has the -primitive joy of battle in him; but he cares nothing for right or -wrong, and his military power is exerted either wantonly, or with the -object of plunder and domination. So long as he gratifies his selfish -instincts, he does not care what happens to the rest of the human -race, or to human nature. Civilised men have for centuries laid down -rules of war, that human industry and human society might suffer only -such damage as could not be avoided in the exercise of armed force; -and above all, that human nature might not be corrupted by acts done -or suffered in brutal violation of it. These rules of chivalry were -not always kept, but by civilised nations they have never been broken -without shame and repentance. Savage races sometimes have a rudimentary -tradition of the kind--the less savage they. But, in general, they have -a brute courage and a brute ferocity, without mercy or law; and the -worst of all are those who, living in community with races of merciful -and law-abiding ideals, have themselves never been touched by the -spirit of chivalry, and have ended by making the repudiation of it into -a national religion of their own. - -It has long been a recognised characteristic of the British stock, all -over the world, to regard a stout opponent with generous admiration, -even with a feeling of fellowship; and to deal kindly with him when -defeated. But this chivalry of feeling and conduct, now so widespread -among us, is a spiritual inheritance and derived, not from our Teutonic -ancestors, but from our conquest by French civilisation. It has never -been shared by the Germans, or shown in any of their wars. Froissart -remarked, five and a half centuries ago, on the difference between -the French and English knights, who played their limited game of war -with honour and courtesy, and the Germans, who had neither of those -qualities. A century later, it is recorded of Bayard--‘Le chevalier -sans peur et sans reproche’--that whenever he was serving in an army -with a German contingent, he was careful to stay in billets till -they had marched out, because of their habit of burning, when they -left, the houses where they had found hospitality. In the sixteenth -and seventeenth centuries their barbarity was unbounded; the Thirty -Years’ War was the lasting shame of Europe, and the Sack of Magdeburg -a final example of the triumph of the wild swine in man. In the -eighteenth century, Prussia produced a grotesque anticipation of Zulu -ideals, and called its chief Frederick the Great. In the Napoleonic -wars, the cruelty of his German allies disgusted the Iron Duke, who -had commanded many ruffians and seen some appalling days of horror. -In our own time, we have witnessed the brutal attacks on Denmark and -Austria, the treachery of the Ems telegram, and the development of -Bismarck’s blood-and-iron policy into the complete Machiavellism of -Wilhelm II and his confederates. It is not a new character, the German; -it is an old one, long inherited. _Nemo repente fit Tirpissimas._ -If anyone doubts this, or wishes to doubt it, let him look through -the criminal statistics of the German Government for the ten years -preceding the War, and read the book of Professor Aschaffenburg, the -chief criminologist of Germany, published in 1913. He will there find -it stated and proved, that the most violent and abominable forms of -crime were then prevalent in Germany, to a degree beyond all our -experience--beyond all imagination of what was possible in a human -community--and that the honest and patriotic writer himself regarded -this ever-rising tide of savagery, among the younger generation, as ‘a -serious menace to the moral stability of Europe.’ It is against this -younger generation, with these old vices, that we have had to defend -ourselves; and now that we have beaten them, now that the time has come -when, if they had been clean fighters and fellow-men, every British -hand would have been ready for their grip, we can but hold back with -grave and temperate anger, and the recollection that we have first to -safeguard the new world from those who have desolated and defiled the -old. - -Anger it must still be, however grave and temperate. Look at the -conduct of the War, and especially at the conduct of the submarine war, -as coolly and scientifically as you can, you will not find it possible -to separate the purely military from the moral aspect. Technically, the -Germans were making trial of a new weapon which it was difficult to -use effectively under the old rules. They quickly determined, not to -improve or adapt the weapon, but to abandon the rules. For this they -were rightly condemned by the only powerful neutral opinion remaining -in the world. But they not only broke the law, they broke it in German -fashion. Their lawlessness, if skilfully carried out with the natural -desire to avoid unnecessary suffering, might have been reduced to an -almost technical breach, involving little or no loss of life. But -they chose instead to exhibit to the world, present and to come, the -spectacle of a whole Service practising murder under deliberate orders; -and adding strokes of personal cruelty hitherto known only among -madmen or merciless barbarians. Finally--and this concerns our future -intercourse even more nearly--the German people at home, a nation -haughtily claiming pre-eminence in all virtue, moral and intellectual, -accepted every order of their ruling caste, and applauded every act of -their hordes in the battle, however abhorrent to sane human feeling. In -all this, we need make no accusations of our own; we have only to set -out the facts, and the words with which the German people and their -teachers received them and rejoiced in them. - -It was towards the end of 1914 that the German Admiralty conceived the -idea of blockading the British Isles by means of a submarine fleet. -There were, as we have already seen, great difficulties in the way. -For the pursuit and capture of commerce, a submarine is not nearly so -well fitted as an ordinary cruiser; is not, in fact, well fitted at -all. To hold up and examine a ship on the surface is too dangerous a -venture for a frail boat with a very small crew; to put a prize crew on -board, and send the captured vessel into port, is generally impossible. -As an exception, and in case of extreme necessity, it has always been -recognised that a prize may be sunk, if the crew and passengers are -safely provided for; but this proviso, too, is almost impossible for a -submarine to fulfil. Besides these technical difficulties, there was -also the danger of offending neutral powers, especially if their ships -were to be sunk without evidence that they were carrying contraband. - -Under the advice of Grand Admiral von Tirpitz, it was decided to defy -all these risks and difficulties. The question was asked by him, just -before Christmas 1914, ‘What would America say, if Germany should -declare a submarine war against all enemy trading vessels?’ and on -February 4, 1915, a formal proclamation followed from Berlin. This -announced that the waters round Great Britain and Ireland were held to -be a war-region, and that from February 18 ‘every enemy merchant-vessel -found in this region will be destroyed, without its always being -possible to warn the crews or passengers of the dangers threatening.’ - -No civilised Power had ever before threatened to murder non-combatants -in this fashion; but there was even worse to come--the seamen of -nations not at war at all were to take their chance of death with -the rest. ‘Neutral ships will also incur danger in the war-region, -where, in view of the misuse of neutral flags ordered by the British -Government, and incidents inevitable in sea warfare, attacks intended -for hostile ships may affect neutral ships also.’ No ‘misuse of neutral -flags’ has ever been ordered by our Government. The destruction of a -merchant-vessel or liner without warning or search, is not an incident -‘inevitable in sea warfare’; it is an incident always avoided in any -sea warfare except that waged by barbarians. - -A fortnight later the sinkings began; and on March 9 three ships -were torpedoed, without warning, in one day. In the case of one of -these, the _Tangistan_, 37 men were killed or drowned out of the 38 on -board. On March 15 the stewardess and five men of the _Fingal_ were -drowned. And on the 27th the crew of the _Aguila_ were fired upon while -launching their boats; three were killed and several more wounded. On -the 28th, the Elder-Dempster liner, the _Falaba_, from Liverpool to -South Africa, was stopped and torpedoed in cold blood. As the crew and -passengers sank, the Germans looked on from the deck of the U-boat, -laughing and jeering at their struggling victims, of whom 111 perished. -‘The sinking of the _Falaba_,’ said the _New York Times_, ‘is perhaps -the most shocking crime of the War.’ - -It did not long remain unsurpassed. In April, the German Embassy at -Washington publicly advertised that vessels flying the flag of Great -Britain or her allies were liable to destruction, and that travellers -sailing in them would do so at their own risk. Intending travellers -smiled at this outrageous threat and went on booking their passages to -Europe. Even when those about to sail in the huge liner _Lusitania_ -received anonymous telegrams, warning them that the ship would be sunk, -no one believed that the Government of a great Power could seriously -intend such a crime. Not a single berth was countermanded, and, on May -1, the _Lusitania_ sailed from New York, carrying, besides her crew of -651, no less than 1,255 passengers. - -On the morning of Friday, May 7, she made her landfall on the Irish -coast. The sea was dangerously calm; but Captain Turner, wishing ‘to -reach the bar at Liverpool at a time when he could proceed up the -river without stopping to pick up a pilot,’ reduced speed to 18 knots, -holding on the ordinary course. At 2 P.M. the _Lusitania_ passed the -Old Head of Kinsale; at 2.15 she was torpedoed without warning, and -without a submarine having been sighted by anyone on board. Her main -steam-pipe was cut, and her engines could not be stopped; she listed -heavily to starboard, and while she was under way it was very difficult -to launch the boats. At 2.36 she went down, and of the 1,906 souls on -board, 1,134 went down with her, only 772 being saved in the boats -which got clear. - -This was, for the German Government and the German Navy, an -unparalleled disgrace. The German nation had still the chance of -repudiating such a crime. But they knew no reason for repudiating it; -it was congenial to their long-established character, and differed only -in concentrated villainy from the countless murders and brutalities -which had troubled the criminologists before the War. The German -people adopted the crime as their own act, and celebrated it with -universal joy. ‘The news,’ said the well-known _Kölnische Zeitung_, -‘will be received by the German people with unanimous satisfaction, -since it proves to England and the whole world, that Germany is -quite in earnest in regard to her submarine warfare.’ The _Kölnische -Volkszeitung_, a prominent Roman Catholic and patriotic paper, was -even more delighted. ‘With joyful pride we contemplate this latest -deed of our Navy, and it will not be the last.’ The two words ‘joyful’ -and ‘pride’ are here the mark of true savagery. Only savages could -be joyful over the horrible death of a thousand women, children, and -non-combatants; only savages could feel pride in the act, for it was in -no way a difficult or dangerous feat. But this half-witted wickedness -is clearly recognised in Germany as the national ideal. In the midst -of the general exultation, when medals were being struck, holidays -given to school children, and subscriptions got up for the ‘heroic’ -crew of the U-boat, Pastor Baumgarten preached on the ‘Sermon on the -Mount,’ and gave his estimate of the German character in these words: -‘Whoever cannot prevail upon himself to approve, from the bottom of his -heart, the sinking of the _Lusitania_--whoever cannot conquer his sense -of the gigantic cruelty to countless perfectly innocent victims, and -give himself up to honest delight at this victorious exploit of German -defensive power--him we judge to be no true German.’ - -‘It will not be the last.’ The threat was soon made good. On August -9, of the same year, the White Star liner _Arabic_, one day out from -Liverpool, was 60 miles from the Irish coast when she sighted the ss. -_Dunsley_ in a sinking condition. She naturally steered towards her; -but as she approached, a submarine suddenly appeared from behind the -_Dunsley_ and torpedoed the _Arabic_ without a moment’s warning. Boats -were got out, but the ship sank in eight minutes and 30 lives were lost -out of 424. - -In both these cases the Germans, feeling that their joy and pride were -not exciting the sympathy of neutral nations, afterwards tried to -justify themselves by asserting that our liners carried munitions of -war. This was obviously impossible in the case of the _Arabic_, which -was bound from England to America. With regard to the _Lusitania_, an -inquiry was held by Judge Julius Meyer of the Federal District Court -of New York, who found that the _Lusitania_ did not carry explosives, -and added: ‘The evidence presented has disposed, without question and -for all time, of any false claims brought forward to justify this -inexpressibly cowardly attack on an unarmed passenger steamer.’ - -The year closed with the torpedoing, again without warning, on December -30, of the P. and O. liner _Persia_, from London to Bombay. She sank in -five minutes, and out of a total of 501 on board, 335 were lost with -her. Four of her boats were picked up after having been thirty hours at -sea. - -The year 1916 was a not less proud one for Germany; but it was -distinctly less joyful. The American people took a fundamentally -different view of war, especially of war at sea, and they began to -express the difference forcibly. The German Government, after months -of argument, was driven to make a show of withdrawing from the most -extreme position. They admitted, on February 9, 1916, that their method -was wrong where it involved danger to neutrals, and they offered to -pay a money compensation for their American victims. They also repeated -the pledge they had already given, and broken, that unarmed merchantmen -should not be sunk without warning, and unless the safety of the -passengers and crew could be assured; provided that the vessels did not -try to escape or resist. This again is a purely savage line of thought; -no civilised man could seriously claim that he was justified in killing -unarmed non-combatants or neutrals by the mere fact of their running -away from him. As for the ‘safety of passengers and crew,’ we shall see -presently how that was ‘assured.’ - -But it matters little how the pledge was worded; it was never intended -to be kept. Only six weeks after it was given, it was cruelly -broken once more. On March 24, 1916, the French passenger steamer -_Sussex_, carrying 270 women and children, and 110 other passengers, -from Folkestone to Dieppe, was torpedoed without warning as she was -approaching the French coast. Many were killed or severely injured by -the explosion, others were drowned in getting out the boats. There were -twenty-five Americans on board, and their indignation was intense; for -the ship was unarmed, and carried no munitions or war stores of any -kind. Nor, as President Wilson pointed out, did she follow the route of -the transports or munition ships. She was simply a well-known passenger -steamer, and eighty of her company on board were murdered in cold blood -by pirates. - -The President went on to say that the German Government ‘has failed -to appreciate the seriousness of the situation which has arisen, not -only out of the attack on the _Sussex_ but out of the whole method -and character of submarine warfare as they appear in consequence -of the practice of indiscriminate destruction of merchantmen, by -commanders of German submarines. The United States Government,’ he -continued, ‘has adopted a very patient attitude, and at every stage -of this painful experience of tragedy upon tragedy, has striven to be -guided by well-considered regard for the extraordinary circumstances -of an unexampled war.... To its pain, it has become clear to it that -the standpoint which it adopted from the beginning is inevitably -right--namely, that the employment of submarines for the destruction -of enemy trade is of necessity completely irreconcilable with the -principles of humanity, with the long existing, undisputed rights of -neutrals, and with the sacred privileges of non-combatants.’ - -This note touches the real point, and settles it; until the submarine -is as powerfully armed and armoured, and manned with as large a crew -as a cruiser of the ordinary kind, it is not a ship which can be used -for the general purposes of blockade by any civilised nation. And it -may be added that, even if the Germans had possessed submarines of a -suitable kind, they could not have brought their prizes into port, -because our Fleet and not theirs had the control of the seas. As it -was, they pretended once more to submit, and gave nominal orders -that merchant-vessels ‘shall not be sunk without warning and without -saving human lives, unless these vessels attempt to escape or offer -resistance.’ - -It was not intended that this third promise should be kept; there were -other ways of evading the issue. The _Rappahannock_, a ship which -sailed with a crew of 37, from Halifax, on October 17, 1916, was never -heard of again, except in the wireless message by which the German -Admiralty reported her destruction. The plan of sinking without a -trace was first officially recommended by Count Luxburg, the German -diplomatic agent in the Argentine; but the German Professor Flamm, of -Charlottenburg, has also the honour of having proposed it in the paper -_Die Woche_. ‘The best would be if destroyed neutral ships disappeared -without leaving a trace, and with everything on board, because terror -would very quickly keep seamen and travellers away from the danger -zones, and thus save a number of lives.’ No doubt the _Rappahannock_ -was ‘spurlos versenkt’; so was the _North Wales_, and so were many -others meant to be. The German method, in 1916, was to torpedo the -ship, and then shell the survivors in their open boats. This was done -in the cases of the _Kildare_ and the _Westminster_, both sunk in the -Mediterranean; but on neither occasion were the pirates successful in -killing the whole of the crew, and their crime was therefore known and -doubly execrated by the whole civilised world. None the less, they -continued the hideous practice, and in the following eight months fired -upon the helpless survivors of at least twelve ships, enumerated with -authentic details in a list published by the _Times_ on August 20, 1917. - -On the whole, the year 1916 was a difficult one for the German people. -The objections of America to the practice of piracy were becoming -uncomfortably urgent; promises had to be made under compulsion, and the -‘joyful pride’ of the nation would have been much diminished if it had -not been reinforced by two successes of a new kind. On March 17, 1916, -the Russian hospital ship _Portugal_ was torpedoed off the Turkish -coast in the Black Sea. She carried no wounded, but had on board a -large crew and a staff of Red Cross nurses and orderlies. It was a -clear morning, the ship was flying the Red Cross flag, and had a Red -Cross conspicuously painted on every funnel; but she was deliberately -destroyed, with 85 of those on board, including 21 nurses and 24 other -members of the Red Cross staff. On November 21, a British hospital -ship, the _Britannic_, was sunk in the same way. She was a huge vessel, -and had on board 1,125 people, of whom 25 were doctors, 76 nurses, and -399 medical staff. The outrage was said by the Germans to be justified -by ‘the suspicion of the misuse of the hospital ship for purposes of -transport.’ This suspicion was wholly unfounded, and the submarine -commander had taken no steps to enquire into the truth. - -In 1917 and 1918, the ‘proudest’ and most ‘joyful’ period in the short -history of the German Navy, there was no longer any need for the -humiliation of excuses. On January 31, 1917, Germany proclaimed her -intention of sinking at sight every ship found in the waters around -the British Isles and the coast of France, or in the Mediterranean -Sea. It was at the same time announced--quite falsely--that the German -Government had conclusive proof of the misuse of hospital ships for -the transport of munitions and troops, and that therefore the traffic -of hospital ships within certain areas ‘would no longer be tolerated.’ -President Wilson dealt promptly with this infamous proclamation. On -February 3, he told Congress that he had severed diplomatic relations -between America and Germany; on April 6, he formally declared war. - -The savages were now entirely free to take their own way, and they -took it. On the night of March 20, 1917, the hospital ship _Asturias_, -steaming with all navigating lights, and with all the proper Red -Cross signs brilliantly illuminated, was torpedoed and sunk without -warning. Of the medical staff on board, 14 were lost, including one -nurse, and of the ship’s company 29, including one stewardess. On March -30, the _Gloucester Castle_ was torpedoed without warning, but her -wounded were all got off in safety. On April 17, the _Donegal_ and the -_Lanfranc_ were both sunk while bringing wounded to British ports. In -the _Donegal_, 29 wounded were lost, and 12 of the crew. The _Lanfranc_ -carried, besides 234 British wounded and a medical staff of 52, a batch -of wounded German prisoners to the number of 167, including officers. -‘The moment the torpedo struck the _Lanfranc_,’ wrote a British officer -on board, ‘the Prussians made a mad rush for the life-boats. One of -their officers came up to a boat close to which I was standing. I -shouted to him to go back, whereupon he stood and scowled, “You must -save _us_.” I told him to wait his turn. Other Prussians showed their -cowardice by dropping on their knees and imploring pity. Some cried -“Kamarad,” as they do on the battle-field. I allowed none of them to -pass me.... In these moments, while wounded Tommies lay in their cots -unaided, the Prussian moral dropped to zero. Our cowardly prisoners -made another crazy effort to get into a life-boat. They managed to -crowd into one--it toppled over. The Prussians were thrown into the -water, and they fought with each other in order to reach another -boat containing a number of gravely wounded British soldiers.... The -behaviour of our own lads I shall never forget!’--but there is no -need to tell that part of the story; it is old, centuries old, and is -repeated unfailingly whenever a British ship goes down. - -In July 1917, a new type of ‘heroic deed’ was added to the ‘proud and -joyful’ list. At 8 P.M., on July 31, the _Belgian Prince_ was torpedoed -without warning; the crew escaped in three boats. The submarine then -ordered the boats to come alongside, took the master on board and sent -him below. ‘Then,’ says Mr. Thomas Bowman, chief engineer, ‘all the -crew and officers were ordered aboard, searched, and the life-belts -taken off most of the crew and thrown overboard. I may add, during this -time the Germans were very abusive towards the crew. After this the -German sailors got into the two life-boats, threw the oars, bailers, -and gratings overboard, took out the provisions and compasses, and then -damaged the life-boats with an axe. The small boat was left intact, -and five German sailors got into her and went towards the (sinking) -ship. When they boarded her, they signalled to the submarine with a -flash-lamp, and then the submarine cast the damaged life-boats adrift -and steamed away from the ship for about two miles, after which he -stopped. About 9 P.M. the submarine dived, and threw everybody in the -water without any means of saving themselves.’ - -Mr. Bowman swam till daylight, and was picked up by a chance -patrol-boat. The only other survivors were a man named Silessi, and an -American named Snell, who had succeeded in hiding a life-belt under his -overcoat. - -The intention here was, of course, that the _Belgian Prince_ should be -‘spurlos versenkt’; and in other cases the same result was aimed at by -ramming and sinking the boats with the shipwrecked men in them. The -crews of the French steamers _Lyndiane_ and _Zumaya_ were destroyed -in this way in the summer of 1918; and on June 27 the case of the -_Llandovery Castle_ marked, perhaps, the highest pitch of German -‘pride.’ This hospital ship was torpedoed and sunk without warning, -though she was showing all her distinguishing lights. After she had -gone down, the pirate commander took his U-boat on a smashing-up cruise -among the survivors; and by hurling it hither and thither, he succeeded -in ramming and sinking all the boats and rafts except one, which -escaped. The survivors in this boat heard the sound of gunfire behind -them for some time; it can only be conjectured that the murderers were -finishing their work with shrapnel. The number of those cruelly done to -death in this massacre was 244. - -The deeds here enumerated form a small but characteristic part of the -German submarine record. The total number of women, children, and -non-combatants, murdered in the course of the U-boat blockade, is -more than seventeen thousand. It has been a failure as a blockade; -nine million tons of British, and six million of allied and neutral -shipping have been sunk; but the U-boats have never, for a day, held -the control of the sea. The policy was a device of savages, and of a -nation of savages. There is no escape from this charge; for the policy -was approved and deliberately adopted, by the representatives of the -whole German people, with the exception only of the few despised and -detested Minority Socialists. In October 1918, Herr Haase testified in -the Reichstag: ‘Most of the Parties are now trying to get away from -the accentuated submarine war ... in reality all the Parties, except -the Socialist Minority, share the guilt. The first resolution in -favour of submarine war was drafted by all the leaders, including Herr -Scheidemann and Herr Ebert. The accentuation of submarine warfare was -a natural consequence. You Socialists are also guilty because, to the -very last, you gave the old _regime_ the credits for carrying on the -War.’ - -The Germans do not yet realise the crime they confess; they have -corrupted one of the oldest and noblest bonds in human life--the -brotherhood of ‘them that go down to the sea in ships, and have their -business in great waters.’ And this they have done because they are, by -nature, not seamen but savages. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -TRAWLERS, SMACKS, AND DRIFTERS - - -Our Destroyer Service is perhaps as efficient, and as dashing, as -anything ever seen in the way of organised human activity. It is long -established, and its very perfection seems almost to stand in the way -of our wonder at its achievement. The performance of our trawlers and -drifters, on the other hand, is the more astonishing because it was -an afterthought, the work of a service called into being--suddenly -created, as it were, out of nothing--to meet the need of a grave -moment which no imagination could well have provided against. When -the moment came, everyone knew what might be expected from our Navy. -It had not occurred to anyone that our fishermen might help to keep -the sea against an outbreak of piracy, not only with courage but with -marked success. Yet this they did; and of all the disappointments which -the War has brought our enemies this must have been one of the most -unexpected and unpleasant. - -In reading the accounts which follow, it will be remarked that the -work to which our trawlers and drifters set themselves, with such -admirable readiness and courage, was not only new to them, but was -continually taking new and unforeseen forms, so that they have been -called upon to show quickness and adaptability, as well as the capacity -for training and discipline. The armament and methods of the submarine -of 1915 were different from those of the later and more dangerous -boats of 1917. The trawlers, too, were much less adequately armed and -equipped. Our men had at first to play a game in which there were no -certain rules, and no standard weapons. We can hardly over-praise the -officers of the R.N.R. who, in those critical days, took command of the -special-service trawlers and fought them with the native skill of the -Elizabethan sea-dogs. Nor can we admire too heartily the ready pluck -and patriotism with which the skippers, mates, deck-hands and boys of -our fishing-fleets turned their hands at a moment’s notice from nets to -depth-charges and twelve-pounders, and undertook the daily sweeping of -mines, in seas now doubly treacherous, and a hundred times more deadly. -There is a strange and almost pathetic sound, even in the names of the -little ships themselves--names bearing none of the splendour of history -or the prestige of war, but the humble and intimate memories of wives -and children, or the jesting pride of the homely seaport where they -lived in the time of peace. - -The _Ina Williams_ (now His Majesty’s Trawler, _Ina Williams_) was -steaming towards the Irish coast at seven o’clock, one evening in early -summer, when she sighted a large submarine on her port beam, some -two-and-a-half miles away. The enemy had just come to the surface; for -there was no sign of him in that direction a few moments before, and -he had not yet got his masts or ventilators up. The _Ina Williams_ -was armed, fortunately, with a 12-pounder gun, and commanded by -Sub-Lieutenant C. Nettleingham, R.N.R., who had already been commended -for good conduct, and after nine months’ hard work was not likely to -lose a fighting chance. - -He headed straight for the U-boat. She might, of course, submerge -at any moment, leaving the pursuer helpless. But Mr. Nettleingham -calculated that she would disdain so small an enemy, and remain -upon the surface, relying upon her trained gunners and keeping her -superiority of speed, with her torpedoes in case of extreme necessity. -He was right in the main. The U-boat accepted battle by gunfire; but -a torpedo which missed the starboard quarter of the _Ina Williams_ -by only 10 feet must have been fired at least as soon as the trawler -sighted her, and showed that the enemy was not disposed to underrate -even a British fishing-boat. Mr. Nettleingham had saved his ship by -the promptness with which he turned towards the submarine, and he now -opened fire, keeping helm to avoid any further torpedoes. - -The fight was a triumph for English gunnery. The _Ina Williams_ had the -good fortune to have fallen in with a wildshot. All his five shells -were misses--some short, some on the trawler’s starboard side. The -gunner of the _Ina Williams_ had probably had no experience of firing -at a moving target, almost level with the water. The U-boat was going -10-12 knots, too, and that was faster than he expected. The result was -that his first three shots failed to get her; they fell astern, but -each one distinctly nearer than the last. The pirate commander did not -like the look of things; he called in his guns’ crews and prepared -to submerge. Too late. The British gunner’s fourth shot caught the -U-boat on the water-line, half-way between conning-tower and stern. -A fifth followed instantly, close abaft the conning-tower itself. -The wounded submarine was probably by this time out of hand, for she -continued to submerge. Just before she disappeared, the sixth shell -struck the conning-tower full at the water-line, and the fight was -over. It had lasted fifteen minutes, and the _Ina Williams_ was still -3,400 yards away when the enemy sank. She steamed straight on to the -position of the U-boat, and found that even after the ten minutes -which it took her to reach the spot, large bubbles of air were still -rising, and the sea was being more and more thickly covered with a -large lake of oil. The depth was fifty fathoms, and out of that depth, -while the _Ina Williams_ steamed round and round her buoy, she had the -satisfaction of seeing the dead brute’s life-blood welling up with -bursts of air-bubbles for nearly an hour, until the sea was thick for -five hundred yards, and tainted for a much further distance. The smell -of the stuff was peculiar, and new to the trawler’s crew; they could -not find the right word to describe it. But they were eager to scent it -again, and as often as possible, for it meant good work, good pay and a -good report. - -This was a thoroughly professional bit of service, a single fight at -long range; but it was no smarter than the sharp double action fought -by His Majesty’s Armed Smacks _Boy Alfred_ and _I’ll Try_ against two -German submarines. The British boats were commanded by Skipper Walter -S. Wharton, R.N.R., and Skipper Thomas Crisp, R.N.R., and were out -in the North Sea when they sighted a pair of U-boats coming straight -towards them on the surface. The first of these came within 300 yards -of _Boy Alfred_ and stopped. Then followed an extraordinary piece of -work, only possible to a German pirate. The U-boat signalled with a -flag to _Boy Alfred_ to come nearer, and at the same time opened fire -upon her with a machine-gun or rifles, hitting her in many places, -though by mere chance not a single casualty resulted. - -Skipper Wharton’s time had not yet come; he was not for a duel at long -range. He threw out his small boat, and by this submissive behaviour -encouraged the U-boat to come nearer, which she did by submerging and -popping up again within a hundred yards. A man then came out of the -conning-tower and hailed _Boy Alfred_, giving the order to abandon -ship as he intended to torpedo. But 100 yards was a very different -affair from 300. It was, in fact, a range Skipper Wharton thought quite -suitable. He gave the order ‘Open fire’ instead of ‘Abandon ship,’ and -his gunner did not fail him. The first round from the 12-pounder was -just short, and the second just over; but having straddled his target, -the good man put his third shot into the submarine’s hull, just before -the conning-tower, where it burst on contact. The fourth shot was -better still; it pierced the conning-tower and burst inside. The U-boat -sank like a stone, and the usual wide-spreading patch of oil marked her -grave. - -In the meantime the second enemy submarine had gone to the east of -_I’ll Try_, who was herself east of _Boy Alfred_. He was a still more -cautious pirate than his companion, and remained submerged for some -time, cruising around _I’ll Try_ with only a periscope showing. Skipper -Crisp, having a motor fitted to his smack, was too handy for the -German, and kept altering course so as to bring the periscope ahead of -him, whenever it was visible. The enemy disappeared entirely no less -than six times, but at last summoned up courage to break surface. The -hesitation was fatal to him--he had given the smack time to make every -preparation. He appeared suddenly at last, only 200 yards off, on _I’ll -Try’s_ starboard bow; but his upper deck and big conning-tower were -no sooner clearly exposed than Skipper Crisp put his helm hard over, -brought the enemy on to his broadside and let fly with his 13-pounder -gun. At this moment a torpedo passed under the smack’s stern, missing -only by ten feet, then coming to the surface, and running along on the -top past _Boy Alfred_. It was the U-boat’s first and last effort. In -the same instant, _I’ll Try’s_ shell--the only one fired--struck the -base of the conning-tower and exploded, blowing pieces of the submarine -into the water on all sides. - -The U-boat immediately took a list to starboard and plunged bows -first--she disappeared so rapidly that the gunner had not even time -for a second shot. _I’ll Try_ immediately hurried to the spot, and -there saw large bubbles of air coming up and a large and increasing -patch of oil. She marked the position with a Dan buoy, and stood by for -three-quarters of an hour with _Boy Alfred_. Finally, as the enemy gave -no sign of life, the two smacks returned together to harbour. - -For this excellent piece of work the two skippers were suitably -rewarded. Skipper Wharton, who had already killed two U-boats and -had received the D.S.C. and the D.S.M. with a bar, was now given a -second bar to his D.S.C. Skipper Crisp already had the D.S.M., and -now received the D.S.C. But with regard to the gratuity given to the -whole crew of each boat for the destruction of an enemy submarine, a -distinction was made, _Boy Alfred_ being rewarded for a ‘certainty’ -and _I’ll Try_ for a ‘probable’ only. This is interesting as showing -the scrupulous caution with which our anti-submarine returns have been -made up. The Germans have tried to persuade their public, at home and -abroad, that many of the U-boats claimed to have been destroyed by us -have, in fact, escaped, with more or less injury, and made their way -home to refit. The exact contrary is the case. No one, with any power -of judging the evidence, could examine our official reports without -coming to the conclusion that the number of our successes has been -greatly underestimated in the published records. The Admiralty have -no doubt felt that, where so much is at stake, it is better to run no -risk at all of misrepresenting the situation and its possibilities. If -certainties only are counted, and the campaign judged and conducted -accordingly, there will be no disillusionment for us, and the long -list of ‘probables’ will give us a margin, uncertain in quantity, but -absolutely sure to be on the right side of the account. This policy has -entirely justified itself. In the long record of the anti-submarine -work of these four years, only one complete disappointment has -occurred, only one dead U-boat has come to life again. On the other -hand, the first list of certainties published by the Admiralty--the -list of 150 pirate commanders put out of action--could not be disputed, -even by the authors of the German _communiqués_. It is not an estimate, -it is a statement, beyond suspicion or dispute; but to ensure this -result restraint was necessary, and the restraint was often regretted -by the authorities as much as by the British crews who felt themselves -stinted of their full reward. There was probably no member of the Board -who did not wish that more could be done for the gallant men of _I’ll -Try_; but her report, as here paraphrased, just fell short of the full -evidence required by the rules. She killed her bird; but she could not -_prove_ that he was not a runner. - -[Illustration: ‘_I’ll Try’s_ shell struck the base of the -conning-tower.’] - -The same year, in the second week of August, two other smacks -distinguished themselves in action. The first of these was the _G. and -E._, commanded by Lieutenant C. E. Hammond, R.N. She was sailing at -mid-day in company with the smack _Leader_, and about a mile to north -of her, when she saw a submarine break surface about three cables -beyond to the south-east. Lieutenant Hammond must have found it hard -to play a waiting game, but to go at once to the help of his consort -would have revealed that he was no unarmed fishing-boat. The pirate, -therefore, was able to board and blow up _Leader_ with a bomb, after -ordering her crew into their small boat. He then came on fearlessly, -closing, as he thought, another helpless victim. When within 200 yards -he fired a rifle, and _G. and E._’s crew encouraged him by getting out -a boat; but when he came to forty yards and slewed round, parallel -to the smack, Lieutenant Hammond hoisted the White Ensign and opened -fire. The U-boat appeared to be paralysed with astonishment. For a -whole minute she lay motionless, and that minute was just long enough -for _G. and E._’s gunner. He got off five shots in a tremendous hurry. -One was a miss, and two hit the rail of the smack; but one of these -went on, and penetrated the enemy very usefully in the lower part of -the conning-tower. The other two were clean hits in much the same -spot. Down went the enemy--not in the way a submarine would dive by -choice, but nose first, and with stern up at a very high angle. The -five men who had been on her deck and conning-tower, for the purpose -of enjoying a little shooting at British fishermen, got an entirely new -view of sport in these sixty seconds. One was killed with a rifle-shot -by a petty officer on the _G. and E._, three disappeared in the shell -bursts, and the fifth was seen still clinging to the conning-tower, as -the U-boat carried him down to death. The tide made all hope of rescue -vain--it was too strong even for a buoy to be put down to mark the spot. - -Four days later, on the same ground, the smack _Inverlyon_, commanded -by Skipper Phillips, with an R. N. gunner, Ernest M. Jehan, sighted a -submarine at 8.20 P.M., steering right towards her in the twilight. -When the two boats were within less than thirty yards of each other, -the submarine was seen to be a U-boat flying the German ensign, with an -officer on deck hailing ‘Boat!’ Evidently he expected to be obeyed, for -he stopped dead and gave no sign of action. He had no gun mounted, and -appeared to be out of torpedoes. - -Mr. Jehan might well have been taken by surprise by this sudden meeting -at close quarters in the dusk; but he was not. In an instant the White -Ensign was hoisted, and he himself was firing his revolver at the -officer steering the enemy boat. This was his pre-arranged signal for -his mates to open fire, and it was obeyed with deadly quickness and -precision. The gun was a mere pop-gun, a 3-pounder, but at the range it -was good enough. Of the first three rounds fired, the first and third -pierced the centre of the enemy’s conning-tower and burst inside, while -the second struck the after part of the same structure and carried it -away, ensign and all. The officer fell overboard on the starboard side. - -The submarine was now out of hand. The tide brought her close round -_Inverlyon’s_ stern, within ten yards, and the gun was instantly slewed -on to her again. This time, six rounds of extra-rapid fire were got -off. The first hit the conning-tower, the second and fourth went over, -the third, fifth and sixth hulled the U-boat dead. She sank, with the -same ominous nose-dive, her stern standing up at an angle of 80°. The -swirl was violent, and in it three bodies were flung to the surface. A -shout was heard from one of them--a pirate, but a man in agony. Skipper -Phillips stripped, took a lifebuoy in his arms and leaped overboard. -He swam strongly, but vainly, in that rush of wild water and oil, and -at last had to be dragged home on his own buoy. The smack meantime was -drifting over the dead submarine, and brought up when her trawl got -fast upon it. - -The trawl was even more useful in another action, where it actually -brought on the fight at close quarters and made victory possible. One -day in February, H.M. Trawler _Rosetta_, Skipper G. A. Novo, R.N.R., -had gone out to fish, but she had on deck a 6-pounder gun concealed in -an ingenious manner which need not be described. She joined a small -fleet of four smacks and two steam trawlers some forty-five miles -out, and fished with them all night. Before dawn next morning a voice -was heard shouting out of the twilight. It came from one of the steam -trawlers: ‘Cut your gear away! there’s a submarine three-quarters of a -mile away; he’s sunk a smack and I have the crew on board.’ - -‘All right, thank you!’ said Skipper Novo--to get away from the pirate -was precisely what he did not wish to do. For some fifteen minutes he -went on towing his trawl, in hope of being attacked; but as nothing -happened, he thought he was too far away from the smacks, and began -to haul up his trawl. He was bringing his boat round before the wind, -and had all but the last twenty fathoms of the trawl in, when the -winch suddenly refused to heave any more, and the warp ran out again -about ten fathoms--a thing beyond all experience. ‘Hullo!’ said the -skipper, ‘there’s something funny.’ He jumped off the bridge and asked -the mate what was the reason of the winch running back. ‘I don’t know, -skipper--the stop-valve is opened out full.’ The skipper tried it -himself; then went to the engine-man and asked him if full steam was -on. ‘The steam’s all right.’ ‘Then reverse winch!’ said the skipper, -and went to give a hand himself, as was his custom in a difficulty. The -hauling went on this time, all but to the end. - -Suddenly the mate gripped him by the arm--‘Skipper, a submarine on -board us!’--and there the enemy was, a bare hundred yards off on the -starboard quarter. ‘Hard a-starboard, and a tick ahead!’ shouted the -skipper, and rushed for the gun, with the crew following. The gun was -properly in charge of the mate, and he got to it first; but the brief -dialogue which followed robbed him of his glory. ‘Right, skipper!’ he -said, meaning thereby ‘This is my job.’ But in the same breath the -skipper said: ‘All right, Jack. I got him! You run on bridge and keep -him astern.’ The _Rosetta’s_ discipline was good--the mate went like a -man, and the skipper laid the gun. - -He was justified by his success. The enemy was very quickly put out -of action, being apparently unable to cope with the whirlwind energy -of Skipper Novo. From the moment of breaking surface less than sixty -seconds had gone by, when the gun of the _Rosetta_ began speaking, and -spoke nothing but hard words directly to the point. The target was 250 -feet long, and only 300 feet away. Every shot was a hit. The fourth -caused an explosion, and flames shot up four or five feet above the -submarine. Evidently she could no longer submerge, and she attempted to -make off upon the surface. But Skipper Novo was right in his estimate -of his own chance--he had ‘got him.’ His fifth, sixth, seventh and -eighth shots were all direct hits on the receding target, and at the -eighth the enemy sank outright. - -_Rosetta_ then spoke the smack _Noel_, which had been close to her -during the action, and now confirmed all her observations. Skipper -Novo had no doubt that the U-boat had been the obstruction which was -tangled in his net. She had carried it all away, and to get clear had -been obliged to come to the surface without knowing where she might -find herself. As to her fate, there was no reasonable doubt. But -since neither debris nor survivors were seen, the case, with rigid -scrupulosity, was refused a place among the certainties. The enemy are -no better off for that. - -The story of two trawlers, _Lark II_ and _Lysander III_, will show how -much difference luck may make in giving or withholding the evidence -necessary to prove a complete success. These two boats were included -in a small division patrolling off the Cornish coast, and hunted two -submarines with apparent success, one in March and one in April, but -obtained the maximum award on the first occasion only. The third ship -of the division was then the drifter _Speculation_, and the division -commander was Chief Skipper Donald McMillan, R.N.R. He was in a certain -position close inshore on March 10, listening with hydrophones for a -U-boat which was known to be on the prowl, when he sighted a steamer -about four miles away in the act of being blown up. He made for her -with all speed, but she sank in four minutes; twenty-one of her crew -of twenty-five were found still floating in one small boat and a raft. -The Chief Skipper ‘interrogated’ the poor men, and found that the ship -was a Spanish steamer, the _Christina_. Then he put them on board -_Speculation_, and ordered her to take them at once into St. Ives, -while _Lark_ and _Lysander_ carried out their hydrophone work as before. - -When _Speculation_ had gone about 2½ miles on her way, the Chief -Skipper suddenly heard her fire a shot; and the same moment she changed -course and blew her siren. _Lark_ and _Lysander_ raced to join the -hunt with their utmost speed. They found _Speculation_ cruising round, -with depth-charges ready to drop. She had already dropped two, besides -firing her 3-pounder into the wake of the enemy’s periscope, and had -seen not only oil, but some wreckage, and a large object which rolled -over and disappeared again. The Chief Skipper ordered her to proceed -on her course to St. Ives, and then instructed _Lysander III_ to stand -by and drop her depth-charges on the chance of stirring up the wounded -U-boat. Within five minutes he sighted the wake of a submarine on his -own port bow, only 100 yards distant but going fast. He made a bee line -for the wake, thinking it possible he might ram her, and when just over -the disturbance on the water he dropped his first depth-charge. Then, -as the submarine was still making headway, he closed again and dropped -his second charge right over the wake. The enemy thereupon showed -oil and ceased to make headway; so _Lark_ and _Lysander_ alternately -bombed his supposed resting-place with no less than eight charges. -After nearly an hour of this, they stood by, listening on hydrophones -and watching the oil still rising. Then a destroyer arrived, asked -questions, heard the whole story and steamed away without comment. Two -hours later a motor-launch came by, and was good enough to examine -the spot and contribute one more depth-charge. Two hours more, and -_Speculation_ returned to spend the night with her division--all -listening keenly, but without result. Finally, next morning, two -sweepers, _John Kidd_ and _Castor II_, arrived and swept round about -the buoy which had been put down. The three boats of the division stood -by and watched anxiously; they felt sure that the sweep fouled some -object between 9 and 10 A.M., but at 11.15 they received the order to -resume their patrol and went reluctantly away, foreboding a verdict of -‘probably damaged.’ - -Twelve days later they had a joyful surprise. It had been decided -that as the depth of water, the season, and other circumstances -were all favourable, it was worth while to send a diver to explore -the spot. Accordingly, on March 25, an officer diver went down and -succeeded in finding and examining the submarine. She was lying on -her port beam-ends in twenty-four fathoms. Her conning-tower had been -practically blown off--evidently by a depth-charge which had made a -direct hit or something very near it. She had also a large fracture in -the hull, on the port side amidships. This was, of course, conclusive, -and the division received the maximum award. They were the more -jubilant, because they had been quite certain of their kill, and had -picked up what they considered first-rate evidence--not debris indeed, -nor survivors, but a lot of onions, which must have been brought there -by somebody. Also they had been told that their ‘obstruction’ was -the wreck of an Italian ship, torpedoed just about there only a few -days before. It was a consolation to have so annoying a suggestion -conclusively disproved. - -The next action of _Lark II_ and _Lysander III_ fell short of this -final felicity. In April the division passed under the command of Chief -Skipper G. Birch, R.N.R., and the third place in it was filled by the -drifter _Livelihood_. They were patrolling one evening off Tintagel -Head, when a periscope was sighted by _Lark II_, about 500 yards away -on the starboard quarter, and going N.N.W. at the very slow speed of -two knots. It was noted as being very high, quite three feet out of -the water. The Chief Skipper came round immediately in order to bring -his guns to bear; but the periscope had disappeared before he could -accomplish this. He then hoisted the necessary signals for warning -the rest of the division, steamed towards the last position of the -submarine, lay to, and listened with the hydrophone. But at this moment -the periscope reappeared; it was now only one foot above the surface -and not more than twenty yards away, on the starboard beam. This was, -of course, too near for a torpedo, and _Lark II_ accordingly got her -chance. - -The first shot from her 12-pounder was an extraordinarily happy one--it -hit the periscope and scattered it in splinters. The Chief Skipper lost -not a moment--he rang the telegraph for full speed, turned towards the -enemy, and as soon as he got way on the ship dropped a depth-charge -set for fifty feet. His miniature fleet was perfectly in hand, and -seconded him brilliantly. Drifter _Livelihood_ closed on his port -quarter, and dropped her depth-charge almost on the same spot; trawler -_Lysander III_ followed with another. The three boats continued to -play the game in combination; the leader dropping five depth-charges -in all and the others three each. All these exploded satisfactorily, -and one of the Chief Skipper’s produced a second heavy under-water -explosion, after which large quantities of dark oil and air bubbles -rose to the surface. The position was then buoyed, and the division -patrolled the area all night, using hydrophones at intervals. Next -morning a wireless message was sent to Penzance, and another trawler -took the watch as relief. Sweeping operations followed, but the bottom -was reported rocky and foul, and no satisfactory result was obtained. -Diving was not possible in such a place, and in the end the official -verdict was one of ‘Probably seriously damaged.’ For this the reward -was only half of what would have been given for a certainty; and, to -the gallant trawlers and drifters, that was probably the smallest part -of the disappointment. It is trying to end so exciting a chase with a -cry of ‘gone away,’ and especially so when you are positive that the -cry is a mistaken one. The evidence for a kill was very strong--the -enemy’s speed was slow, his periscope was blinded, he was liberally -depth-charged at close quarters--there was a violent double explosion -to be accounted for, and a good uprush of oil and bubbles. But the -line is strictly drawn, and this time the conclusive evidence was -unprocurable. - -Among the many cases of fine team-work by these gallant little -fishing-boats two more must be given here--one as an example of the -deadly thoroughness and precision with which our trawler and drifter -divisions can do their hunting, and the other to show how keenly they -will fight against an enemy armed with vastly superior guns. - -A division of four drifters--_Young Fred_, _Pilot Me_, _Light_, and -_Look Sharp_--under Lieutenant Thomas Kippins, R.N.R., was patrolling -one afternoon in April, when at 5.25 P.M. Skipper Andrew Walker, -R.N.R., sighted a periscope about 150 feet away on the starboard -quarter of his ship, _Pilot Me_. He immediately altered course to -starboard, and the submarine thereupon submerged entirely. Skipper -Walker passed over the spot where she was last seen and dropped a -depth-charge, altered course rapidly and dropped another, fired a red -rocket to warn the division, dropped a third and fourth depth-charge, -and hoisted the signal asking his commander to come north at full -speed. He then stopped his engines and listened on his hydrophone. -Hearing no sound, he made for _Young Fred_, who had altered course and -was now closing him. When the two boats were only 300 yards apart, -the submarine came to the surface right between them. She rose at an -angle of 45°, bows up, and hung so for about two minutes, during which -_Pilot Me_, _Light_, and _Look Sharp_ all opened fire, and the two -last claim to have hit her. At any rate she went down again, stern -first; but Lieutenant Kippins, who was steaming straight for her in -hope of ramming, was not disposed to take any chances. He took _Young -Fred_ exactly over her, dropped two depth-charges and passed on. The -explosion which followed was a very heavy one; the fountain of water -which rose was mast high and completely hid the drifter flagship from -her companions, who thought for a moment that she ‘had gone.’ - -The Chief Skipper was far from gone. The spray was hardly off his deck, -and the _Young Fred_ was still rocking, when he turned again and then -again, dropping two more depth-charges, and ordered _Pilot Me_ to put -down a Dan buoy to mark the position. This was done, but it was but -marking a grave. H.M.S. _Express_, who had received a wireless signal -and hurried to the spot, reports that she found the sea covered with -oil, which had extended in a long stream to the northward on the ebb -tide. Thick oil was still rising to the surface, and there were streaks -of dark brown colour, very noticeable, and distinct from oil. Even when -four miles to leeward, whilst approaching, the new comers had been -struck by a very strong smell of petrol, which naturally gave them -hopeful expectations. - -The expectations were fulfilled; in fact the evidence brought on board -the _Express_ went almost beyond what was acceptable to a British -ship’s company who had not just been fighting for their lives. The -articles of wreckage which it is possible to mention included a -quantity of brand-new woodwork, with bright brass fittings, a large -portion of a white wooden bunk, bits of furniture and living-spaces, a -shot-hole plug, two black-painted gratings, a mattress and bedcover, -two seamen’s caps, with cap ribbons of the IV and V Untersee Boot -Flotille, and their owners’ names, a vest and two pairs of drawers; -also a red flag, a fit ensign for these lawless savages. For their -destruction, it is hardly necessary to say, the full reward was given. -Lieutenant Thomas Kippins and Skipper Andrew Walker also received the -D.S.C. and two of their men the D.S.M. - -This was an execution rather than a fight; but our fishermen can -show their battles too, battles worthy of the sea-dogs who kept the -narrow seas against more worthy enemies. In the Downs, and in the -first twilight of a November morning, three of His Majesty’s armed -drifters--_Present Help_, _Paramount_ and _Majesty_--were beginning -their daily sweep, when Skipper Thomas Lane, R.N.R., of the _Present -Help_, which was spare ship at the moment, sighted an object one mile -distant to the eastward. As day was breaking, she was quickly marked -for a pirate submarine--a huge one, with two big guns mounted on deck, -one a four-inch and one a 22-pounder. Nevertheless _Present Help_, -_Paramount_ and _Majesty_ opened fire at once with their 6-pounders, -not standing off, but closing their enemy, and continuing to close her -under heavy fire until they were hitting her with their own light guns. -Even our history can hardly show a grander line of battle than those -three tiny ships bearing down upon their great antagonist; and if U. 48 -did not fall to their fire, it is none the less true that her surrender -was due in the first place to their determined onset. - -It was _Paramount_ who took and gave the first knocks. Her -searchlight was shot away, and she in reply succeeded in putting one -of the pirate’s guns out of action. In the meantime--and none too -soon--_Present Help_ had sent up the red rocket; it was seen by two -other armed drifters, _Acceptable_ and _Feasible_, who were less than -two miles off, and by H.M.S. _Gipsy_, who was four miles away. Skipper -Lee, of the _Acceptable_, immediately sang out ‘Action,’ and both boats -blazed away at 3,000 yards’ range, getting in at least one hit on -the enemy’s conning-tower. At the same moment came the sound of the -_Gipsy’s_ 12-pounder as she rushed in at full speed. - -The U-boat started with an enormous, and apparently overwhelming, -advantage of gun power. She ought to have been a match, twice over, -for all six of our little ships. But she was on dangerous ground, and -the astounding resolution of the attack drove her off her course. In -ten minutes the drifters had actually pushed her ashore on the Goodwin -Sands--_Paramount_ had closed to thirty yards! Drake himself was -hardly nearer to the galleons. Then came _Gipsy_, equally resolute. -Her first two shots fell short; the third was doubtful, but after that -she got on, and the pirate’s bigger remaining gun was no match for her -12-pounder. After two hits with common pointed shell, she put in eight -out of nine lyddite, smashed the enemy’s last gun and set him on fire -forward. Thereupon the pirate crew surrendered and jumped overboard. - -[Illustration: ‘The U-boat started with an enormous advantage of -gun-power.’] - -It was now 7.20 and broad daylight. Lieutenant-Commander Frederick -Robinson, of the _Gipsy_, gave the signal to cease fire, and the five -drifters set to work to save their drowning enemies. _Paramount_, who -was nearest, got thirteen, _Feasible_ one, and _Acceptable_ two, of -whom one was badly wounded. The _Gipsy’s_ whaler was got away, and her -crew, under Lieutenant Gilbertson, R.N.R., tried for an hour to make -headway against the sea, but could not go further than half-a-mile, -the tide and weather being heavily against them. They brought back one -dead body, and one prisoner in a very exhausted condition; afterwards -they went off again and collected the prisoners from the other ships. -Then came the procession back to port--a quiet and unobtrusive return, -but as glorious as any that the Goodwins have ever seen. Full rewards -followed, and the due decorations for Skippers Thomas Lane, Edward Kemp -and Richard William Barker. But their greatest honour was already their -own--they had commanded, in victorious action, His Majesty’s Armed -Drifters, _Present Help_, _Paramount_ and _Majesty_. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -THE DESTROYERS - - -The war record of our destroyers is unsurpassed. We know that to the -Grand Fleet we owe, as to a vast and solid foundation, the unshaken -fabric of our sea power, and that in the day of battle it has always -proved itself incomparable. But we hardly, perhaps, realised that in -our destroyer force we have a second Grand Fleet, equal to the other -in spirit and seamanship, greater in numbers, and counting its days -of battle not by twos or by twenties, but by the thousand. The work -of the destroyers has been unceasing. Setting apart such service as -their whirlwind attacks at Jutland, they have done perhaps nine-tenths -of the hard work of the War, cruising and reconnoitring, convoying or -rescuing our ships, and hunting the pirate submarine. The strain has -been great, for they have been called upon incessantly to do the work -of twice their number; they have answered the call, not with a dogged -or defensive courage, but with unfailing readiness and dash. They have -shown themselves the true successors of the frigates and ships that -were the pride of our proudest days in the old time; their commanders -are the right heirs of the Brookes and Blackwoods, Parkers and Pellews. - -In considering the Anti-Submarine work of the destroyers, it must be -remembered that hunting is not, generally speaking, their first object. -They are out, not for sport, but for ‘business as usual.’ They have a -large number of U-boats to their credit, but in most of these cases -the kill was incidental; it resulted from the perfection of skill and -smartness with which some professional duty was being performed, at the -moment when the opportunity occurred. A few typical examples will make -this clear. - -In August 1917, an upward sweep of the Norwegian coast was being -carried out by a light squadron, consisting of three cruisers and six -destroyers, the whole under the orders of H.M.S. _Yarmouth_, Captain -Thomas D. Pratt, R.N., with Commander Geoffrey Corbett, R.N., as -Senior Officer of Destroyers. The light cruisers were in line abreast, -visibility distance apart--anything from five to ten miles--and each -was screened by two destroyers. The cruiser on the port wing was -_Birkenhead_, and the destroyer on her port bow was the _Oracle_, which -was therefore outside ship of the whole squadron. - -Just before dark, Lieutenant-Commander A. Grendon Tippet, R.N., -commanding _Oracle_, was informed that very strong German wireless from -two different sources was being intercepted; and as one of the sources -was evidently near by, he decided to keep all hands closed up to their -quarters throughout the night. Nothing, however, happened until broad -daylight, when, at about 6 A.M., Lieutenant Claude Butlin, officer of -the watch, sighted a vessel on the horizon. No one else on the bridge -could see it, but Mr. Butlin reported it, and his captain, who knew his -exceptional alertness and powers of vision, ordered him to continue the -look-out and report again. Shortly afterwards the vessel was sighted -by the midshipman and the signalman of the watch, and was pronounced to -be a trawler. - -But a few minutes after this Mr. Butlin saw a bow and stern lift out -of the water, well to left and right of the vessel’s sail, and decided -that she was a submarine. He at once informed his commander, who -ordered full speed, course to be altered, and the proper signals to -be made. The sail then disappeared, and the submarine’s conning-tower -became clearly visible, at a distance of something under seven miles. - -At 6.7 the U-boat dived. The alarm had evidently been given, and it -was not likely that she would be seen again on the surface; so at 6.10 -Lieutenant-Commander Tippet slowed down. But at 6.13 the submarine -unexpectedly broke surface less than three miles away on the port bow; -her conning-tower, or part of it, could be seen moving fast through -the water in a cloud of spray. She submerged again in 10 seconds, and -_Oracle’s_ course was at once altered to cut her off. At 6.15 the -enemy reappeared once more. Her bows shot up out of the water at a -steep angle, about half a mile ahead. _Oracle’s_ course was instantly -altered one point to port, telegraphs were put to full speed, and the -forecastle gun was ordered to fire common shell at the conning-tower, -which was then the only object visible. The U-boat just then lifted her -stern out of water, showing a large vertical rudder on top of it, and -the gunner’s point of aim was shifted accordingly. Four rounds were -fired, but the target was a very difficult one and was not hit. - -At 6.15 events happened and orders were given in very rapid succession. -The U-boat was apparently not inclined to dive and risk paravanes -or depth-charges. Lieutenant-Commander Tippet no sooner grasped this -than he changed his tactics, and determined to ram. It was, of course, -desirable to strike the enemy at right angles, and he endeavoured to -con his ship so as to secure this position. He gave the orders ‘Prepare -to ram’ and ‘Secure the depth-charge,’ and steadied the ship on a point -midway between the submarine’s conning-tower (the top of which was just -showing) and the stern, which was about four feet out of water. Then, -at 27 knots, he drove _Oracle_ straight at her. - -The crash came with lightning speed. At 6.17 _Oracle_ cut into -the submarine’s back, exactly in the desired spot. It was, at the -moment, inclined downwards at an angle of 15°, with the top of the -conning-tower showing on the port side of the destroyer, and on the -starboard side about three feet of the freeboard at the stern. The -impact was heavy, and two officers on _Oracle’s_ deck, who had not -‘prepared to ram’ by taking a completely prone position, were flung -forward several feet. At the same moment an explosion was heard -astern. It leaped into the Commander’s mind that this was either a -paravane detonating, or his own depth-charge, which he had ordered to -be secured, with the object of avoiding any chance of a disaster from -the shock. It was, in fact, the depth-charge that exploded; but in the -right way, and not by shock. The order had been misreported to the -sub-lieutenant in charge of the after-quarters--as it reached him, it -was ‘Let go the depth-charge.’ This he did personally and with great -accuracy, a few seconds before ramming, so that when the explosion -came, _Oracle’s_ stern was well clear and no one was injured, except -possibly the enemy. - -_Oracle_, having cut through the U-boat, drifted on for about 150 -yards. The bows of the dying submarine appeared momentarily above -water, projecting some 3 feet at an angle of 45°. Then she sank, -stern first, in 137 fathoms. For half a minute the surface showed -a big bubbling brown disturbance, and in the oil patch appeared a -quantity of debris, mainly large pieces of unpainted cork, whose curved -shape suggested that they formed part of the lining of the hull. -_Oracle_ herself was not undamaged, as may be imagined; her bows were -smashed from the water-line downwards, and a considerable quantity -of naval stores were floating around her. She reported accordingly -by searchlight to the _Birkenhead_, who could just be discerned at a -distance of ten miles, and then returned to her base to refit. - -For this fine piece of work Lieutenant-Commander Tippet received the -D.S.O., and Acting-Lieutenant Butlin the D.S.C. Nine of the crew were -also decorated or mentioned. - -Here the destroyers were screening a line of war-ships, who formed in -themselves a fast and powerful force. The convoying of slow and unarmed -or lightly armed ships is a very different business, but it is done -every day by our destroyers with amazing efficiency and success. A good -example is the case of the _Racoon_, who destroyed an enemy submarine -in the Mediterranean while on escort duty. - -In March 1917, the ss. _Osmanieh_, 4,440 tons gross, owned by the -Khedivial Mail Company, but chartered by the Admiralty, was on passage -from Malta to Madras when, at about 5.40 P.M., a hostile submarine -was sighted. The ship was commanded by Lieutenant Mason, R.N.R., and -was flying the White Ensign; she was zigzagging, and was escorted -by a single destroyer, the _Racoon_, Lieutenant-Commander Kenneth -F. Sworder, R.N. The weather was fine, the sea calm, and visibility -good--about eight or nine miles. - -The submarine when sighted was about 1,500 yards distant, and two or -three points on the _Osmanieh’s_ starboard bow. Only six feet of her -length was visible, and she appeared to be drifting; puffs of blue-grey -vapour were coming from her, which seemed to hang in the air and float -away without disappearing. When nearer--at 800 to 1,000 yards--she was -seen to be moving, for a ‘feather’ was visible as well as the vapour. - -The _Osmanieh’s_ head was put two points to starboard to steer for -the submarine; but as it changed position rapidly, helm was put hard -a-port, the whistle was blown to draw the escort’s attention, and the -alarm gong was sounded. The ship then opened fire with her two guns. -The second round from the after gun appeared to score a hit; but the -U-boat was at that time almost astern and shining brightly in the sun, -so that it was not possible to observe with certainty. _Racoon_, when -_Osmanieh_ opened fire, was ahead of her, on the port bow and going -16½ knots; but the moment the guns were heard, Lieutenant-Commander -Sworder increased speed to 23 knots, put his helm hard a-port, and -sighted the U-boat. It had at first ‘the appearance of a calcium light -giving off intermittent puffs of smoke’; but when the ship’s head was -turned towards it, a periscope and distinct feather were seen, as the -submarine came out of the trough of the swell. - -The manœuvre which followed was a very skilful and effective one. -_Racoon_ came to meet _Osmanieh_, who had now turned sixteen points to -starboard and was on the other side of the submarine and overhauling -her. _Osmanieh_ continued firing till she saw her escort only 400 yards -from the target. She had intended to try a depth-charge herself, and -as soon as she passed the U-boat she had stopped her port propeller -for this purpose, hoping to get the ship’s stern back into or near -the enemy’s course; but she now gave this up and turned sharply away -to port. As she did so, _Racoon_ crossed her stern at full speed, and -immediately saw the submarine on her own starboard side, the periscope -just showing about five yards off and moving almost directly to meet -her. Those on the destroyer’s deck had a glimpse of about ten feet of a -grey hull with green and rust-coloured marks showing; then, as the ship -passed over this, she dropped her starboard depth-charge, set to eighty -feet, turned swiftly to port and dropped her port depth-charge, four -seconds after the first. - -Eight or nine seconds passed while _Racoon_ swung round on her circle; -then came the two explosions in quick succession, throwing up columns -of water with bits of black debris in them. The ship continued to turn -to port, and completed nearly two circles round the spot, ready to -attack again. But nothing more was needed, and she may even be said to -have witnessed the dying breath of her enemy. Some twenty or thirty -seconds after the explosions, the men stationed in the after part of -the destroyer, looking over the stern, saw a fresh upheaval twenty-five -yards or more to the right of where the first columns of water had -risen. This ‘seemed to come from below as if being pumped up,’ and -it rose to about a foot above the level of the water, making a ripple -where the surface had been very calm. On examination, it proved to be -a fountain of dark and very thick brown oil. _Racoon_ and _Osmanieh_ -proceeded accordingly, leaving that dark and evil-smelling blot of oil -upon the bright sea to give the ‘all clear’ to every passing ship. - -Lieutenant-Commander Sworder received the D.S.O. on this occasion, -Lieutenant Berthon the D.S.C., and three men the D.S.M. - -It may be noted that in neither of these two cases did the submarine -attempt to escape by submerging entirely. We can only guess at the -reasons. Possibly the U-boat which attacked _Osmanieh_ thought she -could win in a single fight against a lightly armed ship, and was too -much preoccupied to see _Racoon’s_ deadly onset until it was too late -to avoid it. But _Oracle’s_ enemy had certainty sufficient time to make -her choice between the ram and the depth-charge; and the fact that she -decided to keep near the surface is very suggestive. The combination -of the hydrophone and the depth-charge is a terrible one to contend -against. The submarine which dives is under the double disability -of being both blind and audible. The depths of the sea are no safe -hiding-place for the assassin flying from justice; given a sufficient -patrol, his undersea refuge is gone. - -On the other hand, the surface is hardly better, when it is covered -by an adequate number of destroyers, manned by British seamen. -The vigilance and decision with which they mark and seize their -opportunities are well shown in the following case of the destruction -of a submarine in the dead of night. - -Early in May 1917, three destroyers--_Miranda_, _Lance_ and -_Milne_--were patrolling a well-known area, where the enemy has once or -twice attempted runaway raids under cover of night. This was a likely -enough evening for him; for there was a moon only two days past the -full, and from time to time a drift of rainy cloud across it. To-night, -however, it was not with a flurry of destroyers that he came, but with -a creep of mine-layers--U.C.-boats stealing in across the black and -silver water to lay their deadly eggs close to our barrage. - -[Illustration: ‘U.C.-boats stealing in across the black and silver -water.’] - -One of these was sighted by _Lance_, and killed by her, in the belief -of the look-out who were watching from _Miranda_; but with that one we -have nothing to do. Another, U.C. 26, is our concern, and about her -we know all that there is to know. She was travelling on the surface -about an hour after midnight--she had finished laying her mines, and -was heading about east--when she suddenly sighted the dark form of an -English destroyer within a dangerously short distance of her. At the -same moment _Milne_--or rather the perfectly trained team of men who -were the eyes, the brain and the heart of her--sighted their enemy. -Lieutenant Leonard Pearson and leading signalman William Smith were -the first, and their Commanding Officer, Commander V. L. A. Campbell, -reports that it was only by reason of their exceptional vigilance that -the attack could be so timed as to achieve success. The submarine, -without losing a moment, dived--or rather attempted to dive. But -Commander Campbell was as quick as his look-out, and his helmsman -and engine-room watch were as quick as their Commander. A trace of -hesitation--an order not caught, or misheard, or obeyed with less than -absolute precision--and U.C. 26 would have been in hiding. But she was -hardly sighted and reported before the fatal orders were sharply and -clearly given. Commander Campbell’s voice had hardly reached his chief -petty officer, Frederick Robinson, before the helm had brought the ship -upon her altered course; and even as she turned Ernest Pike and John -Reason down below were repeating the call for full speed to the chief -engineer. - -No greater tension can be imagined than that on board the two boats -during the few interminable seconds of the onset. This submarine, at -any rate, was not unconscious of her danger. She was wide awake, with -a possible margin of one second between safety and destruction. Her -deck was already awash; only her conning-tower was still clear above -the surface when the destroyer struck her just before it, and cut -clean through her hull. She took in water in an overwhelming rush, -and went straight to the bottom. Scarcely had she reached it when the -pressure of air, increasing as the water rose inside her, seemed to -give her unhappy crew a last forlorn chance of escape. The Captain was -in the engine-room, so that the exit by the conning-tower hatch, which -would have been his prerogative, was left to the second officer, who -succeeded in reaching the surface. Of the remaining 26 members of the -crew, 7 got the engine-room hatch open, and 5 at least escaped by it; -but only one of the whole number was picked up alive. He was a Dane -from Schleswig-Holstein, and had been pressed for submarine service. - -For this smart piece of work, in every way characteristic of our -Destroyer Service, Commander V. L. A. Campbell received a bar to his -D.S.O. Lieutenant L. Pearson was awarded the D.S.C., and the other four -men already mentioned received the D.S.M. - -The next case is also typical, being a patrol action; but it differs -from the last in that the success was due to combined work by three -destroyers, and not only by a single crew. There are also one or two -exceptional circumstances which distinguish it from other actions -of a similar kind--the presence of the Rear-Admiral commanding the -local force, and the additional evidence which eventually settled the -classification of the result. - -It was on the morning of a day in March 1918 that a light-cruiser -squadron was cruising in the North Sea; and at 9.25 A.M. three -destroyers--_Thruster_, Commander A. D. Gibbs; _Retriever_, Commander -E. W. Taylor; and _Sturgeon_, Lieutenant-Commander Henry Coombs--were -ordered to take up a screening position ahead of the force. As they -were in the act of moving to their stations an object was sighted, two -points on _Sturgeon’s_ port bow, and about one mile distant. A moment -afterwards it was recognised as the conning-tower of a submarine. -In order to understand what followed, it is necessary to have the -positions clearly before the mind’s eye. _Thruster_ and _Retriever_ -were immediately ahead of the squadron, to starboard and port -respectively, and _Sturgeon_ was ahead of the flotilla, in the act of -crossing from starboard to port. She had just passed _Thruster_ and was -on her port bow, going towards a point ahead of _Retriever_, when she -sighted the submarine on her own port bow and therefore almost enclosed -in the triangle formed by the three destroyers. The U-boat dived -immediately, and _Sturgeon_ fired as she did so, but without effect--a -late shot at a disappearing target. Lieutenant-Commander Coombs at once -increased to full speed, and altered course to pass over the position. -He arrived accurately, and in time to sight the track of the submarine -as she tried to bolt through the only opening left to her, between -her pursuer and the advancing _Retriever_. Her under-water speed was -quite unequal to this effort, and in a moment _Sturgeon_ was passing -along her track and overhauling her. Another moment and the destroyer’s -depth-charges, set to forty feet only, were dropped--one on either side -of the track and a little ahead of it. - -_Sturgeon_ put her helm over in the usual way to avoid the explosion -area, but turned again on hearing the detonations and had the -satisfaction of seeing the U-boat shortly afterwards break surface -with her bows up at an ominously high angle. She was by this time near -closing _Retriever_, but Lieutenant-Commander Coombs considered her as -still his hare. He turned again and raced for her like a greyhound. -She tried to submerge, but could not get down quickly enough. Every -one of the three destroyers could have rammed her, for as they came up -to her in succession they could all see some thirty feet of her bows, -with hydrophones and net-cutters, lying almost under them. But there -was no need to take the risks of a concussion--this was a plain case -for more depth-charges. _Sturgeon_, as she passed over a second time, -dropped the remainder of hers. Then came _Retriever_ an instant later, -with two more; and she also dropped a Dan buoy, to mark the exact spot -for _Thruster_, who was coming across from a greater distance. By the -time _Thruster_ arrived, she found the U-boat entirely submerged, but -she methodically added her two depth-charges and both of them exploded -within five yards of _Retriever’s_ buoy, and probably not more from the -submarine, which they followed down to eighty feet. - -So far, no one had thought of doubting the success of this very well -executed triple attack; and indeed the evidence was both strong and -plentiful. The U-boat was clearly seen to have been damaged by the -_Sturgeon’s_ first two charges, for she reappeared almost at once -and at an unmistakable angle. The six other charges dropped over her -were none of them blind shots--_Sturgeon_ and _Retriever_ both saw -their target plainly, and _Thruster_ had the Dan buoy to guide her. -The Rear-Admiral, in reporting the case, added that he was himself -a witness of the attack and was of opinion that the submarine was -destroyed. As corroborative evidence, he named the following articles, -which were picked up near the spot: 1 wooden ladder, 1 red _kisbie_ -lifebuoy, 1 calcium float, and 1 steel buoy with fractured wire pendant -attached. The lifebuoy and calcium float were not of British make, and -the former was marked with letters and numbers not used in our Service. -Finally, the area round the Dan buoy was thick with oil, which came -gradually up during the two hours succeeding the chase. - -Notwithstanding this evidence, and the opinion of so many competent -witnesses, the Admiralty rule held good. There were no survivors or -dead bodies, no debris which might not have come from the submarine’s -deck, no certainty that she could not have righted herself and crawled -home to the repairing yard. The report was marked ‘Probably sunk,’ -and a letter of appreciation was directed to be forwarded to each -of the three commanders, with an intimation that if any subsequent -information should be received which would cause any revision of the -classification, the case should be resubmitted. Less than seven weeks -afterwards the ‘subsequent information’ was forthcoming and thereupon -Lieutenant-Commander Coombs was awarded the D.S.O., and ‘Mentions’ were -given to Commanders Taylor and Gibbs, as well as to two ratings from -_Sturgeon_, and one rating each from _Retriever_ and _Thruster_. So -ends the plain story of what is, to the Destroyer Service, a day’s work -in the ordinary routine. But any other Service in the world will tell -you that there is nothing ordinary about it. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -P-BOATS AND AUXILIARY PATROL - - -The trawler is a fishing-boat by birth, and a mine-sweeper by -necessity; the destroyer is first of all a fighting ship, and a -protector of the weak. They will both kill a submarine when it comes -their way; but we have ships--classes of ships--whose whole profession -and occupation it is to hunt the pirate. Their methods differ as the -methods of two kinds of hound. The Q-boat hunts slowly and craftily, -the P-boat and the Yacht Patrol by speed, the ram, and the dreaded -depth-charge. It is unnecessary to give the technical description of -either class. A yacht is a yacht, and for a P-boat you may imagine -a long slim boat, with fine lines and a rather low freeboard, three -officers, a surgeon, and some fifty-five men--depth-charges round the -stern and a gun or two, but no torpedoes. - -In September 1917, H.M.S. P. 61 received orders to pick up in a certain -roadstead the oiler _San Zeferino_ and escort her to her destination. -It was no easy job; the _San Zeferino’s_ steering gear was defective, -she could not zigzag; and in the misty showers and very dark weather -prevailing, her course was embarrassingly original. But she was a -valuable ship, and P. 61 meant to get her in if it could be done. - -The sea was moderate, but visibility was no more than three-quarters -of a mile. P. 61 kept on the convoy’s starboard bow and only about -two cables ahead, zigzagging at seventeen knots. At three minutes to -six in the morning, the oiler was suddenly observed to be settling -by the stern. Lieut.-Commander Frank Arthur Worsley, R.N.R., on the -bridge of P. 61, had heard no sound of explosion, and no one in the -ship had sighted a submarine. The Commander knew, however, that in the -thick mist and with a head wind and wash against him, this was natural -enough. He immediately circled twice round the convoy, signalling to -her: ‘Have you been torpedoed?’ With some difficulty she replied ‘Yes,’ -and also that she had sighted the submarine. - -Lieut.-Commander Worsley ascertained that the _San Zeferino_ had her -boats swung out and was in no immediate danger. He then reduced speed, -in order not to betray his presence to the enemy, and started off -north-west on the chase. Inevitably he soon lost sight of the oiler in -the fog, and was obliged to turn in order to regain touch. He found the -convoy still heading on her course, though her engines were wrecked; -crossed her bows, and passed down her port side and under her stern. -Directly P. 61 was clear, Lieutenant J. R. Stenhouse, R.N.R., on her -bridge, sighted the enemy about half a mile away on the starboard beam, -heading westward at nine knots. - -Action stations had already been sounded, and fire was now opened from -the port 12-pounder gun. One round of common shell was sent into the -submarine, striking her just before the conning-tower. But a gun action -was not the final object of P. 61. Lieut.-Commander Worsley had got his -engines up to full speed as he came on, and saw that the enemy could -not escape his ram. So sure was he that, after three minutes’ run, he -deliberately stopped both engines, so as to let the ship’s bows drop -deeper in the water and make a better hit. - -The engines stopped, the bows sank two feet, the order ‘Stand by to -ram’ was heard, and P. 61 struck the enemy stem on, on the port side, -just abaft the conning-tower. Her speed at the moment was fully 20 -knots, and the impact was severe; the submarine rolled over as the -stem cut into her; and when P. 61’s stern was just above her, a very -violent explosion took place, giving Lieut.-Commander Worsley, for an -instant, the nightmare that he had been torpedoed by another U-boat in -the moment of victory. He was quickly reassured. P. 61 had suffered no -damage. But round the place of collision the sea was boiling with foam; -immense air-bubbles were coming to the surface in rushes, and continued -for some minutes after the explosion. There was oil upon the surface, -and in it two men struggling. Lifebelts were thrown to them, and boats -put out. One of the two was rescued and proved to be Ober-Leutnant -Alfred Arnold, the commanding officer of the U-boat--the fifth upon -the list of 150 published by the British Admiralty. The submarine -was U.C. 49 and lies at the bottom in forty-seven fathoms. The _San -Zeferino_ was taken in tow by P.61 and came safely in after an arduous -twelve hours--an admirable piece of work. Lieutenant-Commander Worsley -received the D.S.O., Lieutenant Stenhouse the D.S.C., and two petty -officers the D.S.M. for excellent steering and gun-laying. - -On this occasion the P-boat had left her patrol duty for the moment, -to act as escort. This was not the case with P. 57, who had a similar -success in November of the same year. In the dark of early morning, -about 6 o’clock, she had just challenged and examined by searchlight -a vessel which turned out to be a friend, when the forward look-out -reported ‘Buoy on the port bow!’ Course was altered to examine this -buoy, and on approaching it both Lieut.-Commander H. C. Birnie, R.N.R., -in command of P. 57, and Lieutenant Isdale, R.N.R., his officer of the -watch, simultaneously perceived it to be a large U-boat heading due -west and only 200 yards distant. - -There was less than no time to be lost. Orders were given and obeyed -instantaneously. The engines leaped to full speed as the ship came -round sharply to port and steered straight for the enemy. In less than -fifteen seconds the crash came--a heavy impact, at seventeen knots, on -a point just before the U-boat’s conning-tower, very nearly at right -angles. P. 57 cut her way right through, and as she did so the order -for the depth-charges reached the officer of the watch. The first -charge was released with great promptitude and precision as the damaged -submarine passed under the ship’s stern. P. 57 turned sixteen points -and came back over the spot, when a second charge was immediately -dropped and a buoy put down. - -An hour and a half afterwards Lieut.-Commander Birnie returned, after -verifying his position, and found very large quantities of oil rising -about fifty yards from his buoy. He dropped a third depth-charge and -another buoy, and patrolled the neighbourhood all night. Sweepers -arrived next day, located the U-boat with a bottom sweep in thirty -fathoms, lowered a depth-charge on the sweep wire and blew the wreck -up. For this ‘speedy and faultless attack’ Lieut.-Commander Birnie -received the D.S.O., Lieutenant Isdale the D.S.C., and two A.B.’s the -D.S.M. - -This feat was a remarkable one, for it was performed in almost total -darkness; but success was achieved in even more difficult circumstances -by P. 51 towards the end of March 1918. It was 8.30 in the evening; the -sea was calm under the moonlight, but great spaces of it were darkened -by cloud shadows. The commander, Lieutenant William Murray, R.N.R., was -in the chart-house, and Mr. Whittel, the gunner, on watch, when the -signalman on the bridge reported a submarine on the surface, about one -point before the port beam and less than 300 yards away. Orders were at -once given to increase to full speed, and starboard the helm to ram. -As the ship swung, the commander reached the bridge and took charge. -He could see the enemy’s wash and bow wave. Then she appeared more -distinctly as a large U-boat, 350 feet long, with a huge conning-tower -and about two feet of freeboard showing. P. 51 continued to swing into -the desired position and the moment for a successful ram seemed to have -arrived. Then occurred one of those sudden and unforeseen accidents -which try a commander’s presence of mind and decision to the utmost. -To strike the U-boat fair it was, of course, necessary to put the helm -over as soon as P. 51’s head had swung far enough to be pointing for -her, and so steady the ship on her course. But this order could not be -obeyed--the helm had jammed. Lieutenant Murray knew that to struggle -with it could only at best result in a bungling collision which would -injure his own ship rather than the enemy. He made a lightning act of -renunciation, kept his helm a-starboard and swung completely round, -passing close along the submarine’s side and then turning altogether -away from her. The helm was soon afterwards found to be acting again; -but in the meantime P. 51 had lost sight of the enemy. - -She dashed westwards, and in two minutes sighted the U-boat again, a -mile away on the port quarter. A new ramming attack was immediately -planned, and the guns were ordered to open fire; but the submarine -dived completely before they could pick her up in the uncertain light. -In ten seconds Lieutenant Murray had brought P. 51 over a patch of -oil which betrayed the spot where the U-boat was submerging. Three -depth-charges followed her down. The first two produced the usual -upheaval of water, but the third blew a quantity of wreckage into the -air, of many shapes and sizes. P. 51 continued to circle around, and -ten minutes later three shocks were felt below in rapid succession. -Nothing more was seen, nor could any movement be heard on the -hydrophone. - -The official verdict was one of ‘Probably sunk,’ the evidence being -considered good but inconclusive. It was, however, afterwards -supplemented by final proof, and the case was re-marked ‘Known.’ -Lieutenant Murray accordingly received the D.S.C. and two of his men -the D.S.M. - -Very little information has been given to the public about the Yacht -Patrol; but it is certain that, when all is known, the history of this -service will be eagerly read. There is a fine Elizabethan air about -the gift of a ship to the Navy by a private owner, and we can imagine -how keenly the giver would follow the career of his own boat, longing -to command her himself, and glorying to catch her name now and then -through the gales and rumours and gunfire of the seas, where she is at -last flying the white ensign. Such a gift was the _Prize_, who with the -heroic Sanders, her Commander, lies fathoms deep, and still unknown to -many; but in time to come she will be remembered with _Farnborough_, -_Pargust_ and _Dunraven_, and her owner’s name will stand in a unique -and honourable list. - -Among the victories of the Yacht Patrol, one of the most timely -and decisive was that of May 26, 1918. H.M. Yacht 024, _Lorna_, -Lieutenant C. L. Tottenham, R.N.R., was on patrol that day in Lyme Bay, -intercepting east-bound traffic, and keeping an eye at the same time -on the activities of a U-boat off Portland Bill, whom she intended to -deal with when opportunity should offer. Soon after 8.0 in the evening, -she spoke two ships in succession, the _Jabiru_ and _War Cross_, and -ordered them both into Weymouth Bay, warning them at the same time -of the enemy submarine. At 8.50 P.M. a lamentable signal came back -by wireless--‘S.O.S., S.S.S.S., 2 miles S.W. of Portland Bill, ss. -_Jabiru_, torpedoed.’ - -_Lorna_ immediately proceeded at full speed, to look for the sinking -ship and give what assistance might be possible. But, at 9.14 P.M., she -intercepted the reassuring message--‘Proceeding to port, torpedo missed -fire.’ Lieutenant Tottenham at the same moment saw that _War Cross_, -which had parted only twenty-five minutes before, had now turned and -was steering westward, having evidently also received the S.O.S. signal -from _Jabiru_. He altered course and spoke her accordingly, advising -her captain to lay the land, and endeavour to round the Bill inside the -U-boat’s operating radius. He also offered to go with him as escort, -but _War Cross_ pluckily declined, thinking he could do better by -waiting for darkness and running in by himself. - -Lieutenant Tottenham left him and searched the horizon for another -smoke streamer. His game was to meet every ship which came that way and -by closing them one after another, in the falling dusk, to ensure being -within striking distance when the U-boat should make the next attempt -at assassination. The only success which could satisfy him would be -the destruction of the enemy before he had had time to strike the -‘live bait’--an ambition which showed great nerve, and a grasp of the -principle of the offensive in war. It would have been easy to make all -merchantmen give the Bill a wide berth, and perhaps save the next ten -of them thereby; but the pest would be active again to-morrow, in the -same place or another--destruction, at all risks, is the only cure for -U-boats. - -Before long another ship was seen approaching from the south, and -_Lorna_ at once headed towards her. But after steaming for about three -and a half miles on this errand, Lieutenant Tottenham perceived that -the new-comer was already in good hands, or would soon be so--the -armed drifter _Evening Primrose_ was closing her, evidently with -the intention of acting as escort. At this moment a fresh ship came -in sight, approaching the Bill from the west. Lieutenant Tottenham -instantly altered course and made straight for her. - -At 9.55 P.M., when he had hardly steadied _Lorna_ on her new course, he -sighted the periscope of a submarine. It was steering due west, almost -directly towards the approaching steamer, and seeing the position of -the two ships, and their converging courses, he assumed rightly that -the enemy was manœuvring for an attack of the usual kind, without -warning. Of _Lorna’s_ presence the U-boat was apparently quite unaware, -though she was now only 150 feet distant and rapidly coming up on the -starboard side of the periscope. - -But aware or unaware, the pirates were doomed--caught in the act, and -helpless as they had thought to find their victim. _Lorna’s_ helm flew -over to starboard. The ship swung, in one swift curve, through the -intervening fifty yards, and in two minutes from sighting her enemy -she was right over the periscope. The U-boat dipped, but far too late; -as _Lorna_ passed over the spot a shuddering jar was felt throughout -her--her keel had struck the conning-tower, but so lightly that the -pirates below probably thought they had escaped destruction for this -time. A moment later they knew their error. Down came _Lorna’s_ first -depth-charge, set to fifty feet. The helm went over still further to -starboard, and the second charge dropped about fifty feet from the -first, and at the same depth. - -Both charges detonated, and it was impossible to believe that they -could have failed to destroy or seriously cripple the U-boat. They must -have exploded in the most dangerous way possible, just alongside and -underneath the target, where the resistance would be the maximum. The -proof came a few moments afterwards. While continuing his circle, in -order to pass again over the spot and make sure, Lieutenant Tottenham -suddenly sighted four objects in the water among the disturbance caused -by the two explosions. He turned and steered direct for the place, -expecting to find wreckage of some kind; but on arriving, at full -speed, he saw an astonishing tumult of water, caused by an upward rush -of air, gas, and oil, which showed beyond doubt that the U-boat was -immediately below. - -The next moment was a terrible one. As _Lorna’s_ third depth-charge -dropped into this seething cauldron, cries of ‘Kamerad!’ were heard, -and those on the yacht’s deck, looking back as she raced over, saw -the new explosion hurl into the air the bodies of four men, who for a -brief instant had been survivors from the sunken U-boat. Lieutenant -Tottenham eased down and returned to pick them up. One was found still -crying ‘Help!’ and ‘Kamerad!’ but the other three were already dead, -from the effect of the explosion, or of the thick mass of oil in which -they were submerged. About the unhappy prisoner there was no doubt. He -was seriously injured internally, and was gone in three hours’ time. -He lived and died in a cruel and cowardly business, but if care and -kindness could have saved him, _Lorna_ would have brought him into port -and been glad to do it. - -This submarine was U.B. 74. She was a week out, and had already sunk -three ships when she was caught. Her commander was Ober-Leutnant -Schtiendorf, and his name will be found in the list of the 150, for his -case was among those marked as ‘Known.’ - -One more patrol story must be added--a story in some ways unique, -with mysterious details which haunt the imagination, but can never be -finally explained. The vessels of the patrol on this occasion were -not yachts, or P-boats in the strict sense of the classification. One -was the _Sarba_, an armed trawler like those we have already met, -and commanded by Lieutenant George G. Astbury, R.N.R.; the other was -a small boat, with no name but T.B. 055, commanded by Gunner T. H. -Britton. - -On the morning of October 31, 1917, T.B. 055 was accompanying the -trawlers who were engaged in sweeping an important channel outside a -British harbour. At 3.0 P.M. when the sweep was practically over, Mr. -Britton noticed an oil track on the surface of the channel. This was in -itself an astonishing sight, and not to be accounted for in a moment. -How could a submarine have ventured into a channel only thirteen -fathoms deep, and daily swept by a highly efficient force of trawlers? -And for what possible reason could she be lying there on the bottom at -3 o’clock in the afternoon, in a position where she could use none of -her weapons, and was certain to be found and attacked? - -Mr. Britton went into the oil track to investigate; stopped his boat -and listened on the hydrophone. His astonishment was redoubled--the -submarine was there, and not only there, but busy and audible. The case -was so extraordinary that he and his trained hydrophone listener took -counsel together and classified the sounds they heard. First there were -the usual ‘water noises’; these were continuous and perfectly familiar. -Secondly, there was an almost continuous high-pitched sound, somewhat -similar to that of a turbine engine running. Thirdly, at intervals of -a few seconds, came a noise as of knocking or hammering upon metal; -the speed of the tapping varied from slow to fairly rapid blows. -Lastly--and this was the most unexpected and mysterious of all--on two -occasions there was audible, over all the other noises, a sound as of -wireless letters on a high musical note. - -For three minutes these sounds were heard, noted, and compared. -T.B. 055 was then taken forward about 200 yards, to the end of the oil -track, and the hydrophone was used again. Precisely the same sounds -were heard, except that this time the musical note, as of a wireless -message, was not repeated. Mr. Britton had no desire to lose time; but -he was not troubled with nerves, and he was determined to make sure of -his evidence. He took precautions to stop all ship’s noises. The fact -only became clearer that the sounds below came from a live submarine. -What her crew were doing no one could know; but she was there for an -evil purpose, and she must pay the penalty. - -The oil was still coming up in a visible thin stream from below the -surface. T.B. 055 dropped a Reindeer buoy with moorings, to mark the -spot exactly, got under way and came back over the position. As she -passed, a depth-charge was dropped. The tide was fairly slack at -the time, and there was every reason to believe that it found the -target. Mr. Britton returned to the spot once more. The volume of oil -rising had now increased, and a strong smell of oil fuel was noticed, -which had not been there before. The blobs of oil which now came to -the surface had brownish air-bubbles and froth among them; in the -hydrophone, nothing was to be heard but the ordinary water noises. - -It was now 3.35 P.M., and the armed trawler _Sarba_ was seen -approaching. Mr. Britton reported what he had been doing to Lieutenant -Astbury, who at once stopped his own engines and used his hydrophone. -Then, as he too could hear no sign of life, he took a sounding, found -sixteen fathoms and a sandy bottom, and decided that the enemy must -be still there, alive or dead. Accordingly he steamed clear of the -position, turned and came back over it at full speed. He determined to -set his depth-charge for eighty feet, in spite of the shallowness of -the water, because, with the boat on the bottom at ninety-six feet, -he would be absolutely certain of getting a very close explosion. The -charge detonated, and he returned at once to the spot. Large bubbles of -air and quantities of oil were coming up, and within a short time the -oil was covering a very wide area. Sarba stood by all night, using her -hydrophone frequently. - -It was now evident that the enemy was dead; but the more the -circumstances were reflected upon, the more difficult it was to explain -them. Next morning, when T.B. 055 had ‘proceeded to sea in accordance -with programme,’ Lieutenant Astbury, in _Sarba_, was left alone, with -nothing but two buoys and an oil patch to give so incredible a story -any kind of reality. He got out a sweep wire with a sinker of 1¾ -cwt. and took a sweep along the position. The sweep brought up on an -immovable obstruction, and the incredible seemed once more possible. -At 2.0 P.M. arrived the armed drifter _Sunshine_ and T.B. 058. They -found _Sarba_ lying as near as possible in the position where she had -exploded her depth-charge, and where her sweep had brought her up. -They took a ground sweep under her, and their sweep wire also fouled -the same obstruction. _Sarba_, like a faithful dog, remained on guard -during the following night. At last, at 2.30 P.M. on November 2, the -divers arrived. - -[Illustration: ‘The diver who first went down found the submarine lying -on her side.’] - -Before the day was out, all uncertainty was removed. The diver who -first went down found the submarine lying on her side. When visited -a second time, she had been righted by the tide or some shifting of -weight; but she and all her crew were dead. The main fact was thus -proved; but the mystery remained and still remains inexplicable -and haunting. Possibly the answer, to the first of the two questions -involved, may be a simple one. The U-boat may have got into the channel -in a fog, and finding herself there when the weather cleared, she may -have dived for safety and decided to remain on the bottom till it was -dark enough to steal away. But the sounds cannot be explained to the -satisfaction of those who know most about submarine war. The U-boat -commander must have realised the enormous risk he was incurring, when -he allowed those noises to be made at such an hour of day. He must -have known that the British Patrol is well equipped with hydrophones, -with depth-charges, and with sweeps. Either he had some serious injury -to repair, and no time to wait; or else his boat was completely -disabled at the bottom, and the hammering and other noises were the -desperate attempts of the crew to draw attention in the hope of being -rescued. ‘There is also,’ said the Admiral of the station, ‘the third -possibility, that the boat carries inside her a tragedy that will never -be known.’ - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -Q-BOATS - - -Everyone who has ever thought about war must know that secrecy is one -of the first conditions of military success, whether on land or sea. -Yet the secrecy practised by our Government and our Higher Command has -often been the subject of complaint. The complaint is not the cry of -mere sensationalism or curiosity, deprived of its ration of news. Often -it is the most patriotic and intelligent who are the most distressed -at being kept in the dark. They understand the dangers of a great war, -and they desire, above all things, not to live in a fool’s paradise. -They know that they can bear to hear the worst, and they feel that they -deserve to hear the best. The anti-submarine campaign has especially -tried their patience. There has been great anxiety to know the exact -figures of our mercantile losses; and on the other hand, when naval -honours have been given without the usual account of the actions by -which they were earned, there has been a tendency to grumble that we -are not being helped to bear the strain of war, even when events are in -our favour. - -These complaints are not justified. Those who make them have failed -to realise the deadly earnestness of the struggle we are carrying on. -It is hard on the patriotic student of war that we should go short -of facts, and hard on the anxious that they should lack encouraging -information; but how much harder would it be for our seamen and -submarine crews, if the secret of their tactics were given away to -an enemy only too quick to take advantage of what he can succeed in -overhearing? When one interesting paragraph in a newspaper may possibly -mean the sacrifice of many lives, what statesman or staff officer would -take the responsibility of passing it for publication? But the secrets -of the Admiralty in this war have not been timidly or unintelligently -kept. In spite of the tradition of ‘the Silent Service’--which only -means that ‘the Navy doesn’t advertise’--there is no general feeling -against telling the truth and the whole truth, when it can be done to -the advantage of the country. Those in power have been for the most -part in favour of ‘taking the lid off’ when the right time has come; -and in this very matter of the mysterious honours, it was the First -Lord himself who at last told the public what could no longer be -valuable information for the enemy. So long as the use of disguised -Special Service ships, or Q-boats, was a new method, indispensable to -us and unsuspected by the Germans, or at least unfamiliar to them, so -long was it highly undesirable that we should speak or write publicly -of their successes. But now that after many losses, and some escapes, -from Q-boats, the enemy’s submarine service has found out all their -secrets, our own Navy has naturally ceased to rely on this kind of -surprise, and has invented new devices, even more deadly and more -difficult to evade. Of these we are, very reasonably, forbidden to -write; but of the old and well-known hunting methods--of the work -of destroyers, patrol-boats, trawlers, submarines, aircraft and -Q-boats--we may now give illustrations; for we shall be telling nothing -that the enemy does not know to his cost already. The very name, -Q-boat, is as familiar in Germany as in this country. The submarine -which escaped from the _Dunraven_ carried away a very complete -understanding of the work of these Special Service ships, and the -_Illustrierte Zeitung_ of July 12, 1917, contained a full description -of a fight between a U-boat and a ‘submarine trap,’ which took place on -February 22 of that year. - -It is evident from this, and other articles of a similar kind, that, -in German opinion, it is the U-boats, and not their victims, who have -the right to complain of barbarous treatment. This view is amazing; -but it is in complete accordance with the principle laid down by -Major-General von Disfurth, in the _Hamburger Nachrichten_, at the -beginning of the War: ‘We owe no explanations to anyone: there is -nothing for us to justify, and nothing for us to explain away. Every -act, of whatever nature, committed by our troops for the purpose of -discouraging, defeating and destroying our enemies, is a brave act, a -good deed, and fully justified. Germany stands supreme, the arbiter of -her own methods, which must in time of war be dictated to the world.’ -That is the insolence of unmitigated brutality, and the British Navy -took up the challenge with a spirit that will set the standard of the -world so long as war remains a possibility in human life. If our men -had retaliated on barbarians by methods of barbarism, neither the -German Government, as Sir Edward Grey pointed out, nor the German -people, would have had any just ground for complaint. ‘It is not in -consideration for their deserts that the Admiralty reject such a -policy. They reject it because it is inconsistent with the traditions -of the Service for which they are responsible; nor do they now propose -to alter their methods of warfare merely because they find themselves -in conflict with opponents whose views of honour and humanity are -different from their own.’ But within the old rules, the rules of law -and chivalry, they are right to use every device that native ingenuity -and centuries of experience can suggest. There is no German cunning -that cannot be matched by British science and discipline, and no German -brutality that cannot be overmatched by British daring and endurance. -This has been proved a hundred times in the course of the submarine -war, and never more brilliantly than by the captains of the Q-boats, of -whom the pattern for all time is Gordon Campbell, till yesterday known -only as ‘The Mystery Star Captain’ of the British Navy. - -In 1915, Gordon Campbell was just one of the many Lieutenant-Commanders -who had never had an opportunity for distinguished service. His hopes -rose when he was appointed to command the _Farnborough_, a Special -Service ship, formerly a collier, with crew mainly drawn from the -mercantile marine and R.N.R. Into these men he infused his own ideas of -discipline and training, as well as his own cool and selfless courage. -During the whole winter the _Farnborough_ faced the gales without a -single fight to cheer her; but never for a moment did her commander -waver in his faith that her chance would come, and never did his men -cease to give him their whole trust and devotion. In the end, he was -able to say of them that they understood every move in the game as well -as he himself did, and played it with the same keenness. Even if he -had met with no other success, this alone was an achievement, and a -proof of invaluable power. But other successes were to be added--the -power was to be felt beyond his own ship, as an example and an -inspiration. - -The _Farnborough’s_ first chance came in the spring of 1916, when she -was tramping quietly along at eight knots. Her look-out sighted the -enemy at last--a submarine awash, and about five miles distant on the -port bow. It remained in view only for a few minutes and then dived, -no doubt for the attack. It was the _Farnborough’s_ part to be blind, -stupid, and generally mercantile. She maintained her course and speed -as if she had observed nothing. Twenty minutes later a torpedo was -seen coming up on the starboard quarter. The bubbles rose right under -the forecastle, the torpedo having evidently passed just ahead of the -ship. The _Farnborough_ maintained her course, as blind and trampish as -before. - -A few minutes more, and the U-boat, convinced that she had a fool to -deal with, broke surface only a thousand yards astern of the ship, -passing across her wake from starboard to port. But she was not exactly -in a mood of reckless courage--she fired a shot from her gun across -_Farnborough’s_ bows, and at the same time partially submerged. Now -came the moment for which Lieutenant-Commander Campbell had trained -his men. He stopped, blew off steam ostentatiously, and ordered a -‘panic abandon ship’ by his stokers and spare men, under Engineer -Sub-Lieutenant John Smith, R.N.R. The U-boat was encouraged by this, -closed to 800 yards, and a few seconds later reopened fire with a shell -which fell about fifty yards short. Then, in the traditional style of -the old Navy, the captain gave the order to hoist the white ensign and -open fire. - -The surprise was complete and overwhelming; the pirate made no fight -of it at all. _Farnborough_ fired twenty-one rounds from her three -12-pounders, one of the guns getting off 13 rounds to her own share; -and the Maxims and rifles also expended some 200 cartridges. The -range was long, considering the bad light, but several hits were -observed before the submarine disappeared. She went down slowly. -Lieutenant-Commander Campbell steamed full speed over the spot and -dropped a depth-charge. Immediately the U-boat reappeared. She was only -ten yards off the ship, and rose in a nearly perpendicular position, -being out of the water from the bow to abaft the conning-tower. She had -had one periscope hit, and there was a large rent in her bow, through -which no doubt the water had penetrated and run down into her stern -compartment, giving her her unnatural position. All this was remembered -and told afterwards. Her reappearance was instantly greeted with five -more rounds from the _Farnborough’s_ after-gun. They all went into the -base of the conning-tower at point-blank range, and she sank at once. -Oil, not in driblets but in very large quantities, came rapidly to -the surface, mixed with pieces of wood, and covered the sea for some -distance round. _Farnborough_ collected her boats and stokers, and -reported her success--a success insured, as was noted on her report, by -‘good nerve and thorough organisation.’ - -Three weeks afterwards, she heard of a U-boat operating on a definite -pitch of her own, and set out to put temptation in her way. In the -evening, as she was going warily along at five knots, on a calm and -misty sea, she observed a ship on her starboard quarter, about two -miles distant. Then suddenly, between the two vessels, a submarine -broke surface. The blind old _Farnborough_ plodded on, taking no notice -till the U-boat hoisted a signal, which Commander Campbell could not -read. He stopped, however, and blew off steam, with his answering -pendant at the dip. He also hoisted the signal ‘Cannot understand your -signal,’ but kept jogging ahead, so as to edge in, and to avoid falling -into the trough of the heavy swell. The U-boat was lying full length on -the surface. She was a large boat and had two guns on deck, but no men -visible. - -Presently she began to close, and manned her foremost gun. In the -meantime Commander Campbell had turned out the bridge boat and given -his ‘papers’ to Engineer Sub-Lieutenant John Smith, R.N.R., to take -over to the submarine. At this moment the enemy fired a shot, which -passed over the ship, and one of the _Farnborough’s_ gunners, thinking -that his own ship had opened the engagement, began to fire himself. -This forced Commander Campbell’s hand; he ran up the white ensign, gave -the general order to open fire, and went full speed ahead to bring his -after-gun to bear. The range was a long one for a misty evening--900 to -1,000 yards--but the shooting was good enough. The second shot was seen -by the neutral sailors on the other ship to strike the U-boat directly; -her bow submerged and her stern came up out of the water so that her -propellers were visible, and one of them could be seen to be higher -than the other. She lay in this position for a good five minutes, -and altogether 20 rounds were fired at her from the _Farnborough’s_ -12-pounders, the last two of which hit either on the conning-tower or -just forward of it. Then there appeared to be an explosion on board -the U-boat, and she sank suddenly. There was a great commotion on -the water, and a cloud of dense steam or vapour covered the surface -for some minutes. _Farnborough_ passed over the spot and dropped two -depth-charges; but the submarine had gone to the bottom in 81 fathoms -and nothing more was seen of her. The neutral ship afterwards observed -a large patch of oil upon the surface. She had behaved with strict -neutrality, and was good enough to remain some time on the spot, -‘looking for drowneds,’ but she looked in vain. - -By the destruction of these two U-boats, Commander Campbell and his -ship’s company had done valuable service, and had given remarkable -proof of what can be accomplished by discipline and nerve. But the very -efficiency and success of their work gave a deceptive appearance to it. -The fighting was so smartly done, and so conclusive, that it looked an -easier thing than it really was, to trap and sink a brace of pirates -in three weeks. The enemy was not long in perceiving that the trade -of murder was being rapidly made more difficult and more dangerous -for him. Every time a U-boat came home, the need for caution was more -strongly impressed upon the directors of the campaign. - -The German Press was instructed to complain that the unscrupulous -British Navy was using disguised ships and depth-charges against the -Power which ‘stands supreme, the arbiter of her own methods,’ and has -alone the right to dress her _Greifs_ and _Moewes_ as unarmed neutral -trading vessels. At the same time the pirate captains were ordered to -be less rash in approaching ships they had torpedoed but had not sunk -outright. The result was to make Commander Campbell’s next encounter -a much more anxious affair, and it was only by his incredible patience -and judgment, and the wonderful discipline of his crew, that their -third victory was achieved. As to the courage of every one concerned, -it would be waste of time to speak of it. Courage of the finest quality -was the very breath which these men breathed--all day, and every day. - -One morning, then, early in 1917, the Special Service ship Q. 5 was -going due east at 7 knots, when a torpedo was seen approaching her -starboard beam. This was what Commander Campbell was out for--in the -present timid state of the pirates’ nerves, there was no hope of -drawing any of them into a fight, except by getting torpedoed outright, -to start with. They might approach a sinking ship--they would no longer -venture to come near a live one. But, at the same time, one need not -make the handicap unnecessarily heavy. Commander Campbell valued his -men’s lives at least as much as his own, and he did his best to save -his heroic engine-room staff, who faced the worst of the danger with -perfect understanding and perfect self-sacrifice. He put his helm hard -aport, and was so far successful that he received the torpedo in No. -3 hold; but, to his regret, it burst the bulk-head between that hold -and the engine-room and slightly wounded Engineer Sub-Lieutenant John -Smith, R.N.R. Help, he knew, was not far off; but no signal was sent -out, for fear some zealous ship might arrive before Q. 5 had done her -work. ‘Action’ was sounded, and all hands went quietly to stations -previously arranged for such an emergency. Every man, except those -required on board for the fight, then abandoned ship--two lifeboats -and one dinghey full were sent away, and a fourth boat was partially -lowered with a proper amount of confusion. The chief engineer reported -the engine-room filling with water. He was ordered to hang on as long -as possible, and then hide. - -[Illustration: ‘A fourth boat was partially lowered with a proper -amount of confusion.’] - -While all this was going on--and a most masterly piece of acting it -was, the whole company playing perfectly together--the U-boat was -observed on the starboard quarter watching the proceedings through his -periscope. His carcass he was loth to expose, but he came past the -ship on the starboard side, only five yards from the lifeboats, and -ten from the ship; so close, in fact, that though still submerged, the -whole hull of the submarine could be seen distinctly through the water. -The temptation to fire was almost unbearable. But the effect upon the -U-boat at that depth was very doubtful, and there would be no time for -a second shot before he slid down out of reach. Commander Campbell made -no sign, and his gunners lay as steady as if his hand were upon them. - -Their patience was repaid. Twenty minutes after firing his torpedo, -the enemy passed across the ship’s bow and ventured to the surface to -finish her off. He was 300 yards away on the port bow when Q. 5 made -the signal ‘Torpedoed.’ He then came down past the port side on the -surface, captain on conning-tower, ready to give sentence of death on -his victim. But as he came onto the precise bearing on which all Q. 5’s -guns could bear, Commander Campbell gave the order to open fire at -point-blank range. - -The 6-pounder got in first, with a shell which hit the conning-tower -and removed the pirate captain’s head. The U-boat never recovered -from the surprise but lay on the surface while the British gunners -shattered his hull. The conning-tower was naturally the chief mark. -It was repeatedly hit, some of the shells going apparently clean -through it. When the boat sank, the conning-tower was shattered and -lay completely open, with the crew trying to escape by it to the deck. -Commander Campbell ordered ‘Cease fire,’ and sent one of his lifeboats -to their assistance. But the swirl of the sinking vessel, and the -density of the oil which poured out of her, proved immediately fatal to -those who had succeeded in reaching the water. One officer was picked -up alive, and one man. - -[Illustration: ‘The U-boat never recovered from the surprise.’ - - [_See page_ 240. -] - -Commander Campbell then recalled his boats and inspected his ship, with -what feelings only a seaman can imagine. He found that Q. 5 was sinking -by the stern. The engine- and boiler-rooms were rapidly filling, and -the water was also pouring into three holds. After making the signal -for assistance, he placed all hands in the boats, except a chosen few -whom he kept on board with him; and as the case was desperate, he gave -orders for the destruction of all confidential books and charts. - -An hour and a half later the _Narwhal_ arrived, and took all the crew -on board. Commander Campbell himself--dead set on saving his ship if -it could be done--inspected her once more, and then went over to the -_Narwhal_ to discuss the possibility of towage. Shortly afterwards -the _Buttercup_ came up, and as Q. 5 seemed by now to have assumed a -more stable position and the water was gaining more slowly, Commander -Campbell ordered _Buttercup_ to take her in tow, which was done in the -most seamanlike manner. It was a long and difficult business, almost -desperate at times. First the tow parted, owing to Q. 5’s helm being -jammed hard over and immovable--the result of explosion. But her -commander was not defeated. He was hard at work raising steam in her -donkey-boiler, so as to be able to steer and veer cable. After four -hours he got her in tow again, and she towed fairly well. But water was -still gaining; the swell was breaking over the decks, and the after -gun-house was at times under water. - -Another ship, _Laburnum_, was now standing by, and at dusk suggested -that Commander Campbell and his men should come on board for the -night; but they refused to give up their ship as long as they could -steer her. About two hours after midnight the end seemed to have come; -Q. 5 suddenly started to list, the water gained rapidly, the donkey -boiler-room was flooded, and the helm could no longer be used. At 3.30 -Commander Campbell put the helm amidships, and ordered his men aboard -_Laburnum_. He then followed himself, but returned to his own ship -at daybreak and resumed towing; then, finding her in a very critical -condition, he was compelled to go back to _Laburnum_ for the time. - -In the evening, when they were at last nearing port, the trawler -_Luneta_ came out to help. Q. 5 had by now nearly twenty degrees of -list, and her stern was nearly eight feet under water; but she was -brought in after all, and we may take her commander’s word for it -that her safe arrival in harbour was due to the splendid seamanship -of Lieutenant-Commander W. W. Hallwright of the _Laburnum_. In -an achievement like this, there is a romantic touch of the old -tradition--it was by just such seamanship that our frigate captains -saved the Fleet after Trafalgar. - -We may hear, too, what the commander of Q. 5 said about his officers -and crew. ‘They may almost be said to have passed through the supreme -test of discipline. The chief-engineer and the engine-room watch -remained at their posts and kept the dynamos going until driven out by -water. They then had to hide on top of the engine-room. The guns’ crews -had to remain concealed in their gun-houses for nearly half an hour, -while we could feel the ship going down by the stern. At that time it -appeared touch-and-go whether the ship would sink before we sank the -enemy. The officers and men who remained on board during the towing -also did splendidly, the conditions at times being most dangerous ... -it is difficult to select individuals where all did so well.’ But -without selecting, we may name two by their names: Engineer-Lieutenant -L. S. Loveless, R.N.R., and Lieutenant Ronald Stuart, R.N.R., First -and Gunnery Lieutenant, both now members of the Distinguished Service -Order. It is hardly necessary to add that their commander received the -Victoria Cross. He was born for it. - -It is not often that any man, or any ship’s company, can repeat their -best performance and better it; yet Commander Campbell’s third victory -was followed by a fourth, of which, as the Admiral on his station said -truly, it is difficult to speak in sober terms. Four months after Q. 5 -had struggled back to port, her men were out again in the _Pargust_, -a merchant vessel on the same Special Service. The ship was going 8 -knots in heavy rain and mist, with a fresh southerly breeze and a -choppy sea. Like Q. 5, she got what she was looking for--what others -run fast and far to avoid. A torpedo was seen coming towards her on the -starboard beam. It was apparently fired at very close range, for it -had not yet settled down to its depth, but jumped out of the water -when only a hundred yards from the ship. This time there was no choice, -and no manœuvring; _Pargust_ received the shot in the engine-room and -near the water-line. It made a large rent, filled the boiler-room, -the engine-room and No. 5 hold with water, killed a stoker, wounded -Engineer Sub-Lieutenant John Smith, R.N.R., and blew the starboard -lifeboat into the air, landing pieces of it on the aerial. - -The alarm had already been sounded and ‘Abandon ship’ ordered. The -three remaining boats--one lifeboat and two dinghies--were lowered, -full of men, the ship’s helm being put hard a-starboard to get a lee -for them. Lieutenant F. R. Hereford, R.N.R., as before, went in charge -of them and greatly distinguished himself by the coolness and propriety -with which he acted the part of Master of the supposed merchantman. - -As the last boat was pushing off, the enemy’s periscope was seen for -the first time, just before the port beam, and about 400 yards from -the ship. He turned and came straight on; but ten minutes later, when -only 50 yards from the ship and close to the stern of the lifeboat, he -submerged completely and disappeared. His periscope was sighted again -a few minutes later, directly astern; he then steamed to the starboard -quarter, turned round and went across to the port beam, turned again -towards the ship and lifeboat, and finally, after all this nosing -about, broke surface within 50 yards or less. But even now he was -extremely cautious, showing only his conning-tower and ends; and when -the lifeboat pulled away round the ship’s stern, he followed close -behind, with only one man visible on top of the conning-tower, shouting -directions to those below. - -For the next three minutes of this long game of patience, the -strain was intense. Commander Campbell was watching the man on the -conning-tower carefully, for as long as he saw him perched up there he -knew that he could reserve his fire. Lieutenant Hereford was waiting -till he was certain that his captain was in a winning position. As soon -as that was attained, he pulled deliberately towards the ship. This -annoyed the submarine, whose object was evidently, in case of a fight, -to keep the boats as much as possible in the line of fire. He came -right up to the surface and began to semaphore to the boats, at the -same time training a Maxim on them. - -But by this time the U-boat was only one point before the ship’s beam, -with all guns bearing on him at 50 yards’ range--Commander Campbell’s -chance had come. He opened fire with a shot from the 4-inch gun, -which struck the base of the conning-tower and also removed the two -periscopes. Hit after hit followed, nearly all in the conning-tower, -which could no longer be closed. The submarine took a list to port, and -several men rushed up, out of the hatch abaft the conning-tower. Then, -as the stern began to sink and oil squirted from the boat’s sides, -the rest of the crew came out, held up their hands and waved in token -of surrender. Commander Campbell, of course, ordered ‘Cease fire’; -but no sooner had the order been obeyed, than the pirate started to -move off on the surface, hoping, though listing to port and down by -the stern, and in honour bound a prisoner, to get away in the mist. -The _Pargust_ could not follow, so that she was obliged to open fire -again. The U-boat’s breach of faith did not save her. In her quick -rush, she got to about 300 yards from her captor, whose guns continued -to speak straight to her. Then a shot apparently touched off one of -her torpedoes--there was an explosion forward, and she fell over on -her side. For a moment her bow was seen jutting up sharply out of the -water, and the next she was gone. - -In her reckless rush to escape she had washed overboard her men abaft -the conning-tower; one man went down clinging to her bow, and some -who came up the fore-hatch were left struggling in the thick oil. The -boats of the _Pargust_ were sent to the rescue. They had a hard pull to -windward in a choppy sea; but they managed to save the only two whom -they found alive. The _Pargust_ lay tossing helplessly for nearly four -hours. Then H.M.S. _Crocus_ arrived and towed her into port, escorted -by another of H.M.’s ships and the U.S.S. _Cushing_. - -‘It is difficult,’ says Commander Campbell, ‘where all did well, to -mention individual officers and men, as any one officer or man could -easily have spoiled the show. It was a great strain for those on board -to have to remain entirely concealed for thirty-five minutes after the -ship was torpedoed--especially, for instance, the foremost gun’s crew, -who had to remain flat on the deck without moving a muscle.’ And the -actual combatants were not the only heroes; for he adds: ‘The men in -the boats, especially the lifeboat, ran a great risk of being fired on -by me if the submarine closed them.’ - -It is difficult for a grateful country, difficult even for the most -generously sympathetic of sovereigns, to deal adequately with a ship’s -company like this. Every man on board had already been mentioned or -decorated, most of them more than once, and by the very names of their -successive ships they were already marked out for lasting honour. -Still, for our sake rather than for theirs, we may be glad to know -that what tokens could be given them, were given. First, Commander -Campbell became a Captain, and others were promoted in their various -ranks. Then the memorable thirteenth clause of the Statutes of the -Victoria Cross was put into operation. By this it is ordained that in -the event of a gallant and daring act having been performed by a ship’s -company, or other body of men, in which the Admiral, General, or other -officer commanding such forces may deem that all are equally brave and -distinguished, then the officer commanding may direct that one officer -shall be selected, by the officers engaged, for the decoration; and -in like manner, one man shall be selected by the seamen or private -soldiers, for the decoration. Knowing as we do what Captain Campbell -felt about his officers and men, we can imagine something of his -satisfaction at being able to recommend that the V.C. should be worn on -behalf of the whole ship’s company by Lieutenant R. N. Stuart, D.S.O., -R.N.R., and by seaman William Williams, D.S.M., R.N.R. The latter, when -one of the gun ports was damaged by the shock of the torpedo, saved it -from falling down and exposing the whole secret of the ship, by bearing -at great personal risk and with great presence of mind the whole weight -of the port until assistance could be given him. The former was the -Captain’s first-lieutenant and second self. These two crosses, and his -high rank, were the Captain’s own reward; but to mark the occasion, a -bar was also added to his D.S.O. - -To these men there was now but one thing wanting--to show their -greatness in adversity: and Fortune, that could deny nothing to Gordon -Campbell, gave him this too. Less than two months after the _Pargust’s_ -action he was at sea in the Special Service ship _Dunraven_, disguised -as an armed British merchant vessel, and zigzagging at eight knots in -rough water. A submarine was sighted on the horizon two points before -the starboard beam; but the zigzag course was maintained, and the -enemy steered towards the ship, submerging about twenty minutes after -she was first seen. Twenty-six minutes later she broke surface on the -starboard quarter at 5,000 yards, and opened fire. Captain Campbell at -once ran up the white ensign, returned the fire with his after-gun, -a 2½-pounder, and ordered the remainder of the crew to take ‘shell -cover.’ He also gave directions for much smoke to be made, but at the -same time reduced speed to seven knots, with an occasional zigzag, to -give the U-boat a chance of closing. If he had been the merchantman he -seemed, he could in all probability have escaped. He was steaming head -to sea, and the submarine’s firing was very poor, the shots nearly all -passing over. - -After about half an hour the enemy ceased firing and came on at -full speed. A quarter of an hour later he turned broadside on, and -reopened fire. The _Dunraven’s_ gun kept firing short, intentionally, -and signals were made _en clair_ for the U-boat’s benefit, such as -‘Submarine chasing and shelling me’--‘Submarine overtaking me. Help. -Come quickly!’--and finally, ‘Am abandoning ship.’ The shells soon -began to fall closer. Captain Campbell made a cloud of steam to -indicate boiler trouble, and ordered ‘Abandon ship,’ at the same time -stopping, blowing off steam, and turning his broadside so that all -he did should be visible. To add to the appearance of panic, a boat -was let go by the foremost fall on its side. The pirate (thoroughly -confident now) closed, and continued his shelling. One shell went -through _Dunraven’s_ poop, exploding a depth-charge and blowing -Lieutenant Charles Bonner, D.S.C., R.N.R., out of his control station. -After two more shells into the poop, the U-boat ceased fire again and -closed. He was ‘coming along very nicely’ from port to starboard, so -as to pass four or five hundred yards away. But in the meantime, the -poop was on fire. Clouds of dense black smoke were issuing from it and -partially hiding the submarine. It was obvious to Captain Campbell that -since the magazine and depth-charges were in the poop, an explosion -must soon take place. He was faced with the choice of opening fire -through the smoke, with a poor chance of success, or waiting till the -enemy should have got on to the weather side. He decided to wait, -trusting his men as faithfully as they were trusting him. - -The U-boat came on, but all too slowly. She was only just passing -across _Dunraven’s_ stern when the dreaded explosion took place in -the poop. The 4-inch gun and gun’s crew complete were blown into the -air. The gun landed forward on the well deck, and the crew in various -places--one man in the water. This was a misfortune that might well -have broken their captain’s heart--the submarine had only to steam -another 200 yards, and he would have had a clear sight and three guns -bearing on her at 400 yards range. Moreover the explosion had started -the ‘Open fire’ buzzers at the guns; and the gun on the bridge, which -was the only one then bearing, had duly opened fire. The U-boat -had already started to submerge, alarmed by the explosion; but it -was thought that one hit was obtained on the conning-tower as he -disappeared. - -Captain Campbell’s heart was not broken, nor was his natural force -abated. Realising that a torpedo would probably come next, he ordered -the doctor, Surgeon-probationer Alexander Fowler, D.S.C., R.N.V.R., to -remove all the wounded and lock them up in cabins or elsewhere, so as -not to risk detection in ‘the next part.’ He then turned hoses on to -the flaming poop, where, though the deck was red hot, the magazine was -apparently still intact and dangerous. At the same time he remembered -that a man-of-war had answered his signal for assistance when the -explosion took place; and being determined on trying for a second -fight, he now signalled to this ship to keep away, as the action was -not yet ended. She not only kept away, but kept the ring, by deflecting -traffic while these invincibles fought the pirate to a finish. - -The torpedo came at last, from a point about 1,000 yards on the -starboard side, and it struck abaft the engine-room. Captain Campbell -at once ordered a second ‘Abandon ship’ or ‘Q abandon ship,’ as he -called it; for by it he was professing to completely abandon a ship -whose disguise had been detected. He left his guns visible, and sent -a second party of men away on a raft and a damaged boat. The poop -continued to burn fiercely, and 4-inch shells exploded every few -minutes. The submarine put up her periscope and circled round at -various ranges, viewing the position cautiously. After forty minutes -she broke surface directly astern, where no gun would bear upon her, -and shelled the _Dunraven_ at a range of a few hundred yards. Nearly -every shot was a hit, but some fell near the boats. Two burst on the -bridge and did much damage. - -In another twenty minutes the enemy ceased firing and again submerged. -Captain Campbell had now no resource left but his torpedoes, of -which he carried two--one on each side. He fired the first as the -U-boat steamed past the port side at 150 yards--too short a range for -certainty of depth. The bubbles passed just ahead of the periscope, and -the enemy failed to notice it. He turned very sharply round the ship’s -bow and came slowly down the starboard side at three knots. The second -torpedo was then fired, but the bubbles passed a couple of feet abaft -the periscope. This was cruelly hard luck, for the maximum depth was -on; but there is no doubt that this torpedo, like the other, must have -leaped over, from being fired at so close a range. - -This time the enemy saw his danger, and instantly submerged. Captain -Campbell had now lost his last chance of a kill, and was bound to -signal urgently for assistance. He did so; but in case the U-boat -reappeared to torpedo or shell again, he arranged for some of his -remaining men to be ready to jump overboard in a final panic, leaving -still himself and one gun’s crew to fight a forlorn hope. This -last extremity was not reached. The U.S.S. _Noma_ arrived almost -immediately and fired at a periscope a few hundred yards astern -until it disappeared. Then came two King’s ships, the _Attack_ and -_Christopher_. Boats were recalled, the fire extinguished, and -everything on board having now exploded, arrangements were made for -towing. For twenty-four hours the _Christopher_ bore her burden like -a saint. Then the weather began to tell upon the half-dead ship, and -sixty of her crew and her wounded were transferred to the trawler -_Foss_. The next night the sea claimed the _Dunraven_ in unmistakable -tones. The _Christopher_ came alongside and brought off her captain and -the rest of her crew; and when she rolled end up, gave her a gunshot -and a depth-charge, to take her to her last berth. - -In reporting the action, Captain Campbell brought specially to notice -the extreme bravery of Lieutenant Bonner and the 4-inch gun’s crew. -‘Lieutenant Bonner having been blown out of his control by the first -explosion, crawled into the gun-hatch with the crew. They there -remained at their posts with a fire raging in the poop below, and the -deck getting red hot. One man tore up his shirt to give pieces to the -gun’s crew, to stop the fumes getting into their throats; others lifted -the boxes of cordite off the deck to keep it from exploding, and all -the time they knew that they must be blown up, as the secondary supply -and magazine were immediately below. They told me afterwards that -communication with the main control was cut off, and although they knew -they would be blown up, they also knew that they would spoil the show -if they moved; so they remained until actually blown up with their gun. -Then when, as wounded men, they were ordered to remain quiet in various -places during the second action, they had to lie there unattended and -bleeding, with explosions continually going on aboard, and splinters -from the enemy’s shell-fire penetrating their quarters. Lieutenant -Bonner, himself wounded, did what he could for two who were with him -in the ward-room. When I visited them after the action, they thought -little of their wounds, but only expressed their disgust that the enemy -had not been sunk. Surely such bravery is hard to equal.’ - -Hard to equal--harder far to speak about! The King said all that can be -said: ‘Greater bravery than was shown by all officers and men on this -occasion can hardly be conceived.’ And again he testified the same by -symbols--among them a second bar for Captain Campbell, V.C., D.S.O., -R.N.; the Victoria Cross for Lieutenant C. G. Bonner, D.S.C., R.N.R.; -and another, under Article 13, for the 4-inch gun’s crew, who named -Ernest Pitcher, P.O., to wear it to the honour of them all. The whole -ship’s company is now starred like a constellation; but the memory of -their service will long outshine their stars. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -SUBMARINE _v._ SUBMARINE - - -Since submarines must be hunted, there is something specially -attractive in the idea of setting other submarines to hunt them; it -seems peculiarly just that while the pirate is lying in wait under -water for his victim, he should himself be ambushed by an avenger -hiding under the same waters and possessed of the same deadly weapons -of offence. - -But this method, satisfactory as it is to the imagination, is involved -in several practical difficulties. If we put ourselves in the position -of a submarine commander with orders to go out and kill U-boats, we -shall quickly come up against some of the more obvious of these. -The sea is a large place; the submarine moves about it slowly, and -therefore takes a long time to patrol a given area. Also the very -worst point of view from which to survey that area is the eye-piece of -a periscope raised only some two feet above the surface. The strain -upon the eye is very severe, when hour after hour is spent in looking -for ships of ordinary size, with freeboard, funnels and streamers of -smoke. How much more severe, when the object to be looked for is a -conning-tower at most, with waves tumbling about it, or possibly only a -periscope 4 inches in diameter! - -Let us suppose, however, that all the preliminary conditions are as -good as they can be; that the commander is in the best of health, -with sound nerves and good instruments, and that he is lucky enough -to sight a chance near the beginning of his cruise, while his eye is -unwearied and his judgment alert. He will still be hampered by two -considerations--he must make sure that the boat he is about to attack -is an enemy and not a friend, and he must take the not very remote risk -of being rammed, bombed, or depth-charged by a British destroyer or a -German seaplane, while his attention is fixed entirely on the chase. - -Finally, there are the purely technical difficulties of the attack. -Manœuvring for position is not easy, even when the enemy is a large -and visible ship of war; it is ten times harder when he is a submerged -or nearly submerged vessel, and not steaming straight ahead, but -cruising about with sudden and erratic changes of course, as he -searches for or sights his intended victims. And here the nature and -habits of the torpedo have also to be considered. A periscope, or even -a conning-tower, is not a very good object for a distant shot. On the -other hand if the range is too short, say less than 250 yards, the -torpedo is very likely to miss. This is due to the fact that a torpedo -requires a certain length of run before it can settle to its course -evenly at the depth for which it is set. It begins by plunging, then -rises, sometimes even breaks surface, and finally takes its proper -depth, which may be set for anything from 6 to 22 feet. A torpedo fired -at a periscope must be set deep, for the submerged part of the boat -will be 15 feet or more below the surface. If it were fired at so short -a distance as 100 or 120 yards it would reach the target while still -on its upward bound, and might easily leap clean over the U-boat’s -rounded back. At a still less range, it would probably dive under the -enemy altogether. Moreover, up to a distance of 200 yards--or even -more--the explosion of a torpedo is dangerous to the attacker as well -as to the attacked. Water, being much less elastic than air, conveys -the shock of a blow far more completely; and of course, in such a case, -a submarine vessel, being entirely surrounded by water, would suffer -much more from the concussion than a ship with only part of its hull -below the surface. - -If we take account of these obvious difficulties, and remember that -there are others of which we know nothing, we shall realise that the -destruction of a U-boat by one of our own submarines can only be -accomplished by a combination of skill, courage, and good fortune. The -examples which follow will make this clear. - -Let us take first the case of E. 54, Lieutenant-Commander Robert -H. T. Raikes, which shows a record of two successes within less than -four months--one obtained with comparative ease, the other with great -difficulty. The first of the two needs no detailed account or comment. -E. 54, on passage to her patrol ground, had the good fortune to sight -three U-boats in succession before she had gone far from her base. At -two of these she fired without getting a hit; but the third she blew -all to pieces, and picked up out of the oil and debris no less than -seven prisoners. Her next adventure was a much more arduous one. She -started in mid-August on a seven-day cruise, and in the first four days -saw nothing more exciting than a neutral cruiser carrying out target -practice. On the morning of the fifth day, a U-boat was sighted at -last; and after twenty-five minutes’ manœuvring, two torpedoes were -fired at her, at a distance of 600 yards, with deflection for 11 knots. -Her actual speed turned out to be more nearly 6 or 7 knots, and both -shots must have missed ahead of her. She dived immediately, and a third -torpedo failed to catch her as she went down. - -An hour and twenty minutes afterwards she reappeared on the surface, -and Lieut.-Commander Raikes tried to cut her off, by steering close -in to the bank by which she was evidently intending to pass. E. 54 -grounded on the bank, and her commander got her off with feelings that -can be easily imagined. Less than an hour after, a U-boat--the same or -another--was sighted coming down the same deep. Again Lieut.-Commander -Raikes tried to cut her off, and again he grounded in the attempt. He -was forced to come to the surface when the enemy was still 2,000 yards -away. To complete his ill-fortune, another U-boat was sighted within an -hour and a quarter, but got away without a shot being possible. - -Twenty-four hours later the luck turned, and all these disappointments -were forgotten. At 2.6 P.M., Lieut.-Commander Raikes sighted yet -another U-boat in open water, on the old practice ground of the -neutral cruiser of three days before. He put E. 54 to her full speed, -and succeeded in overtaking the enemy. By 2.35 he had placed her -in a winning position on the U-boat’s bow, and at right angles to -her course. At 400 yards’ range he fired two torpedoes, and had the -satisfaction to see one of them detonate in a fine cloud of smoke -and spray. When the smoke cleared away, the U-boat had entirely -disappeared; there were no survivors. Next day, after dark, E. 54’s -time being up, she returned to her base, having had a full taste of -despair and triumph. - -Earlier in the year, Lieutenant Bradshaw, in G. 13, had had a somewhat -similar experience. He went out to a distant patrol in cold March -weather and had not been on the ground five hours when his adventures -began. At 11.50 A.M. he was blinded by a snow squall; and when he -emerged from it, he immediately sighted a large hostile submarine -within shot. Unfortunately the U-boat sighted G. 13 at the same moment, -and the two dived simultaneously. This, as may easily be imagined, is -one of the most trying of all positions in the submarine game, and so -difficult as to be almost insoluble. The first of the two adversaries -to move will very probably be the one to fall in the duel; yet a move -must be made sooner or later, and the boldest will be the first to -move. Lieutenant Bradshaw seems to have done the right thing both -ways. For an hour and a half he lay quiet, listening for any sign of -the U-boat’s intentions; then, at 1.30 P.M., he came to the surface, -prepared for a lightning shot or an instantaneous manœuvre. No more -complete disappointment could be imagined. He could see no trace of -the enemy--he had not even the excitement of being shot at. On the -following day he was up early, and spent nearly eleven fruitless hours -knocking about in a sea which grew heavier and heavier from the S.S.E. -Then came another hour which made ample amends. At 3.55 P.M. a large -U-boat came in sight, steering due west. Lieutenant Bradshaw carried -out a rapid dive and brought his tubes to the ready; courses and speeds -as requisite for attack. (These reports often omit superfluous details, -while they bristle with intention.) The manœuvring which followed -took over half an hour, and must have seemed interminably long to -everyone in G. 13. At 4.30 the enemy made the tension still greater -by altering course some 35°. It was not until 4.49 that Lieutenant -Bradshaw found himself exactly where all commanders would wish to be, -8 points on the enemy’s bow. He estimated the U-boat’s speed at eight -knots, allowed 18° deflection accordingly, and fired twice. It was a -long shot in rough water, and he had nearly a minute to wait for the -result. Then came the longed-for sound of a heavy explosion. A column -of water leaped up, directly under the U-boat’s conning-tower, and -she disappeared instantly. Ten minutes afterwards, G. 13 was on the -surface, and making her way through a vast lake of oil, which lay -thickly upon the sea over an area of a mile. In such an oil lake a -swimmer has no margin of buoyancy, and it was not surprising that there -were no survivors to pick up. The only relics of the U-boat were some -pieces of board from her interior fittings. G. 13 completed her patrol -of twenty-eight days, and returned to her base without sighting another -enemy--she had cleared that area for a month. - -A successful hunt by Lieutenant North, in command of H. 4, resembles -G. 13’s exploit in many respects, but has this picturesque difference, -that it took place in southern waters and in a bright May midnight. It -was more than forty-eight hours since H. 4 had cast off from the pens -before she sighted the quarry she was looking for, 3 points on her port -bow. The hour was 11.10 P.M. and the moon was nearly full. Lieutenant -North at once turned towards the enemy and went to night action -stations. The distance between the two boats was about 1,000 yards, -and it was desirable to reduce this to a minimum--say to 250 yards--in -order to make sure of a hit in the circumstances. The enemy was a large -U-boat and was going about 8 knots, in a course which would bring her -across H. 4 almost too directly. But she had not advanced more than -300 yards when she altered course 8 points to starboard. Lieutenant -North instantly saw his opportunity, turned first to port to cut her -off; and then, when his superior speed had made this a certainty, 8 -points to starboard to close her. Within four minutes after sighting -her, he had placed himself on her port beam at the desired range -of 250 yards. He fired two torpedoes. Both hit and detonated, one -under the conning-tower, and one in the engine-room. The enemy sank -immediately--in fifteen seconds she had gone completely. Then came the -usual search for survivors, and two were eventually rescued; they were -the captain of the boat and his quartermaster. H. 4 combed out the -surrounding area thoroughly; but no more could be found; and in view -of the presence of prisoners, Lieutenant North at once returned to his -base. - -It is not to our purpose to enumerate successful shots of the simple -and easy kind; one or two examples will stand for a number of these. -C. 15, for instance, sighted an enemy submarine at 2.43 on a November -afternoon, dived and flooded tubes; sighted the U-boat again in the -periscope at 3.12; at 3.15 fired at 400 yards. The noise of the -explosion was slight, but the enemy--U.C. 65--sank immediately, and -C. 15 picked up five survivors. D. 7, Commander C. G. Brodie, sank -U. 45 only twenty-two minutes after sighting her, at a range of 1,200 -yards. Lieutenant A. W. Forbes, in C. 7, sighted a large U-boat on -his port quarter, at 3.32 A.M. of a dark and misty April night. He -immediately attacked on the surface, and sank her with a single shot -at 400 yards. These prompt and successful shots deserve full credit; -but every now and then some exceptional circumstance will add a special -reason for satisfaction. For example, it is always good to catch a -pirate red-handed. Lieut.-Commander G. R. S. Watkins, in E. 45, was -beginning his day’s patrol at 6.15, on a dim October morning, when -he observed flashes on his starboard bow. He altered course in that -direction, and after five minutes sighted an unhappy merchantman -under fire from a U-boat. He dived at once and approached. At 6.37, -he was near enough to see through his periscope that the vessel was -a steamer with Dutch colours painted on her side. She was a neutral, -and of course unarmed, but such considerations meant nothing to the -U-boat pirate, who had ceased fire and was coolly waiting for his -victim to sink. He was a large submarine, partially submerged, and by -way of further caution he was steering about in figures of 8, with -his gun still manned. But, for all his caution, just retribution was -upon him. Lieut.-Commander Watkins fired his first shot at 400 yards, -and missed--altered course instantly, and in little more than three -minutes fired again, from a new angle, two shots in rapid succession. -Thirty seconds afterwards, justice was done in full; a loud explosion -was heard and there was a tremendous convulsion in the water. For -the moment, E. 45 was blinded--her periscope was submerged. With a -rebound she came to the surface, saw in one quick glance that her -enemy was destroyed, and sank again to 60 feet. When she had reloaded, -and returned finally to the surface, both pirate and Dutchman had -disappeared into the depths. - -[Illustration: ‘Was steering about in figures of 8, with his gun still -manned.’] - -Lieut.-Commander Vincent M. Cooper, in E. 43, also had the satisfaction -of surprising an enemy at work. This was a U.C. boat, engaged not -in actually firing on merchantmen, but in the still more deadly and -murderous business of laying mines for them. When sighted by E. 43, she -had evidently just come to the surface, as men were observed on the -bridge engaged in spreading the bridge screen. Lieut.-Commander Cooper -went straight for her at full speed. But as it was 9.30 A.M., and broad -daylight, he was forced to remain submerged, and being in shallow water -he soon had to slow down. Again and again he bumped heavily on shoals, -but fortunately was never quite forced to the surface. After an hour -of this he got into deeper water, and was able to go faster. At 11.0 -he rose to 24 feet, and took a sight through the periscope. There was -the enemy, about 400 yards away on his port beam. He dived, and five -minutes later came up for another sight. This time the U-boat was on -his port quarter. He turned towards her, but at the moment of attack, -when the sights were just coming on, E. 43 dipped under a big wave and -the chance was spoiled. - -Her commander was not to be thrown off; he immediately increased -to full speed, altered course, and planned a fresh attack. By -11.17--nearly two hours after beginning the chase--he was in position, -2 points abaft the enemy’s beam at 550 yards’ distance. This time -he took every precaution to ensure a kill. On firing he dipped his -periscope, so that in case the boat rose suddenly nothing should be -visible; and at the same time he yawed to starboard, so as to be -ready with another tube if the first shot was a miss. Then came a -trying period of suspense and disappointment; he listened in vain for -the sound of an explosion, and after forty-five seconds raised his -periscope to see what had happened. It was only later, on communicating -with his officers and men in the forward and after compartments, that -he found, as others have found, how differently sound may affect the -different parts of a submarine when submerged. The central compartment -may be completely deafened, either by reason of its position, when a -detonation occurs directly ahead or astern, or by the much slighter -continuous noises of the various electrical machines which are situated -there. In this case, the dull report of the under-water explosion, -which was not audible to Lieut.-Commander Cooper, was heard in both the -other compartments about twenty seconds after he had fired the torpedo. - -At the moment when the periscope was raised, the U-boat had -disappeared, and there was a great commotion in the water where she had -been. E. 43 hurried to the spot and found the surface covered with a -black oily substance which stuck to the glass of the periscope and put -it out of action. Lieut.-Commander Cooper rose to 20 feet and put up -his second periscope, but the U-boat was gone and had left no survivors. - -E. 35 has a chase to her credit, in some respects very similar to this -one; but the story is worth adding, because of the masterly precision -with which the Commander, Lieutenant D’Oyly Hughes, conducted the -manœuvre and reported it afterwards. At 4 o’clock, on a May afternoon, -he sighted in the periscope a low-lying object two to three miles -distant on the port beam. His own boat was at 26 feet, and the -object was only visible intermittently, when on top of a wave--it -was impossible to be certain about it. He turned at once and went -straight for it, speeding up as he did so. But this led to immediate -difficulties. There was a long breaking swell across his course and -a strong wind. Depth keeping was almost impossible, and there was a -constant risk of E. 35 breaking surface and throwing away her chance. -It was necessary to go down to quieter levels, and for some time she -travelled at 40 feet with full speed on. - -At 4.18, Lieutenant D’Oyly Hughes reduced speed and brought her up -again to 26 feet. His first observation, on looking into the periscope, -was that the bearing had changed; and secondly, that the floating -object was without doubt a large enemy submarine. He headed at once to -cut her off--she was making slowly off northwards--and dived to 40 feet -in order to increase to full speed himself. - -After a twenty-four minutes’ run he slowed down again for periscope -observation, ordering the boat to be brought to 23 feet. This was a -very anxious moment, for the sea once more all but gave him away. The -swell rolled E. 35 up till she was actually for an instant breaking -surface, within 1,800 yards of the enemy. She was got down again to 26 -feet without having been seen, and her commander then very skilfully -placed her in the trough of the sea, where he could pursue the chase -on a slightly converging course instead of following right astern. -On this course, which soon became absolutely parallel to that of the -enemy, he remained at periscope depth for another half hour; then at -5.20, observing that he was not gaining fast enough, he dived again to -40 feet and speeded up, at the same time bringing a torpedo-tube to -the ‘ready.’ At 5.35 he slowed once more for observation, and found -the range had decreased to 1,100 yards. Down he went again for another -spurt. At 5.53, he was within 900 yards; but as the parallel courses -of the two boats were only a little more than 100 yards apart, he -was ‘still very fine on enemy’s port quarter’--the shot was almost -a bow-chaser shot and practically hopeless. He dived again, and for -twenty-four more minutes patiently continued to observe and spurt -alternately. - -At 6.17, a dramatic change occurred in the situation. On rising to -observe, he found that the enemy, for some irrelevant reason of her -own, had turned 16 points to starboard, and was now actually coming -back on a course which would bring her down the starboard side of -E. 35 at a distance of scarcely more than 200 yards. This was much -too close for a desirable shot--setting aside the dangers of the -explosion, it was not certain that the torpedo would have picked up its -depth correctly in so short a run, and a miss might put the U-boat on -guard. Still, to manœuvre for a fresh position would take time and the -chance was quite a possible one; the torpedo, at the end of 200 yards, -would be at any rate near picking up its depth, and might well make a -detonating hit on its upward track--it could not miss for deflection -at that range; the enemy’s length was taking up almost the whole width -of the periscope. Even if it were a miss underneath, it would probably -escape notice, especially in so heavy a sea. - -Lieutenant D’Oyly Hughes took exactly one minute to perceive the change -of course and the wholly altered situation, to weigh all the above -considerations, and to make his decision. At 6.18 he fired, lowered -his periscope, put his helm hard a-starboard, and increased his speed. -The hydrophone operator heard the torpedo running on her track, but the -sound grew fainter and fainter and died away without a detonation. The -shot was a miss beneath the target; after more than two long hours, the -chase had failed. - -The failure was brilliantly redeemed, and with astonishing swiftness. -To realise the swiftness and the brilliancy of the manœuvre which -followed, it is necessary to bring it vividly before the mind’s eye. -The two boats must be seen at the moment of the first shot, passing -one another at 200 yards on opposite courses, E. 35 going N.E., and -the U-boat S.W. on her starboard beam. At 6.19 the enemy turned a -little more towards E. 35, and began to steer due west under her stern, -happily still without sighting her periscope. E. 35 was on her old -course, running farther and farther away to the N.E., and there was -already some 500 yards between them. But when the U-boat took up her -westerly course, Lieutenant D’Oyly Hughes in an instant sent his boat -on a swift curve to port, turning in quick succession N., N.W., W., -and S.W., till in less than seven minutes after missing his first shot -he was bearing down S.S.W. on the enemy, and therefore only 30 degrees -abaft her starboard beam and hardly more than 500 yards distant. By -pure luck, the unconscious U-boat had at the first critical moment -done precisely the right thing to save herself; by sheer skill, the -E-boat had been brought back to a winning position. At 6.25 Lieutenant -D’Oyly Hughes--coolly estimating speed, distance, and deflection--fired -one torpedo at his huge enemy’s fore-turret and another at her -after-turret. - -Both hit where they were aimed to hit. The first made very little -noise, but threw up a large column of water and debris. The second did -not appear to the eye to produce quite so good a burst; but the noise -was louder, and the concussion felt in E. 35 was very powerful indeed, -the whole boat shaking and a few lights going out momentarily. When -the smoke and water column had cleared away, there was nothing to be -seen but a quickly expanding calm area, like a wide lake of oil with -wreckage floating in it, and three or four survivors clinging to some -woodwork. E. 35, with her sub-lieutenant, her coxswain, and one able -seaman on deck, and life-lines ready, went at once to their rescue; -but a second U-boat made her appearance at that moment, and Lieutenant -D’Oyly Hughes was obliged to dive at once. Three minutes afterwards, -a torpedo passed him on the starboard side; but the new enemy was -over two miles away, and though he reloaded his tubes and patrolled -submerged on various courses, he never succeeded in picking her up in -the periscope. She, also, had no doubt dived, and the two boats had -scarcely more chance of coming to action than two men miles apart upon -the Downs at midnight. - -In such a case, only a lucky chance could bring the duellists together; -and even then successful shooting would be difficult. But a bold -submarine commander, having once closed, would improvise a new form -of attack rather than let a pirate go his way. E. 50 was commanded -by an officer of this temper when she sighted an enemy submarine, -during a patrol off the east coast. Both boats were submerged at the -time; but they recognised each other’s nationality by the different -appearance of their periscopes. The German had two--thin ones of a -light-grey colour, and with an arched window at the top, peculiar to -their Service. The British commander drove straight at the enemy at -full speed, and reached her before she had time to get down to a depth -of complete invisibility. E. 50 struck fair between the periscopes; her -stem cut through the plates of the U-boat’s shell and remained embedded -in her back. Then came a terrific fight, like the death grapple of two -primeval monsters. The German’s only chance, in his wounded condition, -was to come to the surface before he was drowned by leakage; he blew -his ballast tanks and struggled almost to the surface, bringing E. 50 -up with him. The English boat countered by flooding her main ballast -tanks, and weighing her enemy down into the deep. This put the U-boat -to the desperate necessity of freeing herself, leak or no leak. For -a minute and a half she drew slowly aft, bumping E. 50’s sides as -she did so; then her effort seemed to cease, and her periscopes and -conning-towers showed on E. 50’s quarter. She was evidently filling -fast; she had a list to starboard and was heavily down by the bows. As -she sank, E. 50 took breath and looked to her own condition. She was -apparently uninjured, but she had negative buoyancy and her forward -hydroplanes were jammed, so that it was a matter of great difficulty to -get her to rise. After four strenuous minutes she was brought to the -surface, and traversed the position, searching for any further sign -of the U-boat or her crew. But nothing was seen beyond the inevitable -lake of oil, pouring up like the thick rank life-blood of the dead -sea-monster. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -THE HUNTED - - -The hunter knows little, and cares little, about the feelings of the -hunted; and if he is hunting for food, or to exterminate vermin, his -indifference is not unreasonable. The submarine may be classed with -savage beasts, and is even less deserving of pity; but it is not -actually an animal, and the difference is important. It is controlled -by beings with human intelligence, speech, nerves and faculties; and -since they are our enemies, seeking our destruction while we seek -theirs, it must be of interest to us, and may be of advantage, to know -what are their feelings during the chase. - -Information of this kind is not easy to obtain; but the enemy have -thought fit to publish, for their own people, a certain number of -accounts by submarine officers, and they have not been able to prevent -all of them from finding their way to this country. Here, for instance, -is an extract from the ‘War Diary of U. 202,’ by Lieut.-Commander -Freiherr Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim. - - ‘At 4 o’clock I again came up to have a look through the - periscope.... On our starboard bow was a large French torpedo-boat - with 4 funnels, on the watch. There was no land in sight. - - ‘I should much have liked to sink the smart-looking Frenchman. But - the considerable probability, that in such a position I should then - have the whole pack hunting me, induced me to refrain. I must admit - that I found it very hard not to utilise this opportunity for a - shot, and very reluctantly I lowered the periscope and gave orders - to dive. This was our salvation. If we had continued a few minutes - longer at the level at which here one uses the periscope, I should - not be sitting to-day smoking cigarettes and writing my experiences. - - ‘We were still diving, and the depth-gauge showed 17 metres (56 - feet). Suddenly we all had the sensation of having been struck on - the head with a hammer. For a second we lost consciousness; then we - picked ourselves up from the deck, or from the corners into which - we had been thrown, feeling pains in our heads, shoulders, and - other parts of our bodies. The whole boat throbbed and trembled. - Were we still alive? What had happened? Why was it so dark, black - as night? Ah! the light was out! - - ‘“Examine the fuse!” - - ‘“Fuse gone!” - - ‘“Put in spare fuse!” - - ‘Suddenly we had light again. This was all a matter of seconds, - happening in far less time than it takes to describe it. - - ‘What had happened? Was it really not the end of us? Was not the - water rushing into the boat somewhere, and carrying us down to the - bottom? It must have been a mine--a tremendous mine detonation - close to the boat. Reports were made automatically from all - compartments. “Bow compartment not making water; stern compartment - all right; engine-room no water.” No water anywhere! - - ‘Then the boat inclined itself at a peculiar angle--the bow went - down and the stern rose up. The boat was unaccountably trimmed by - the bow, although the hydroplanes were hard over in the opposite - direction. - - ‘“There is something wrong, sir,” reported the man at the - diving-wheel. “The boat won’t answer to her helm. We must be hung - up somewhere, by a rope, or perhaps a net!” - - ‘The devil! We are in a net, of course, and above us there are - mines secured to the net. It is enough to drive one out of one’s - mind. - - ‘“Pay attention!” I shouted from the conning-tower. “We have got to - get through! Hydroplanes hard up and hard down, utmost speed ahead - with both engines! Don’t let her rise! Whatever happens, keep down! - There are mines above us!” - - ‘The engines started, revolving at their highest revolutions. The - boat shot forward, caught in the net, strained against it, bored - itself a way downwards, tugged, tore, and finally left the wire net - all ripped apart. - - ‘“Hurrah! We are free! The boat answers to her helm!” cried the - helmsman from below. - - ‘“Go deeper, dive to 50 metres (164 feet),” I ordered. “This is an - evil spot hereabouts--it is hell itself.” - - ‘I sat down on the life-saving apparatus and buried my head in - my hands. Everything was going round with me like a mill-wheel. - Above my eyes I had a pain as though needles were sticking into my - forehead, and I had such a humming in my ears that I stopped them - up with my fingers. - - ‘“This is certainly an evil spot,” I repeated to myself, “but what - luck we had, most extraordinary luck, which has saved us!” - - ‘Some time elapsed before the pains in my head allowed me to fit - things together and understand what had happened. Yes, it was - pure luck that we had dived just in time. We were at a depth of - 17 metres when the explosion occurred, our bows touching the net. - Things grew clearer and clearer to me as I thought them over. - - ‘When we hit against the net we stretched it taut and thus actuated - the mine detonators, the mines being attached to the net at the - depth at which a submarine usually proceeds. If we had attempted - to attack the torpedo-boat, or for any other reasons had remained - a little longer at the depth at which the periscope can be used, - we should have run into the net in just the way that the enemy - would have wished--viz., so that the mines would have exploded - alongside or underneath us. What actually happened was that the - mine exploded above us, and the main force was expended in the line - of least resistance (viz., upwards), and we suffered nothing more - than a fearful fright, and perhaps a few disfigurements to the thin - plating of the superstructure.’ - -U. 202 was certainly lucky this time. And though she was saved by -sheer luck and nothing else, it is not unnatural, considering the -ever-growing roll of those which fail to escape, that Lieut.-Commander -Freiherr Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim should enlarge upon his -terror at the moment and his self-congratulation afterwards. But he -is mistaken if he thinks that he has come through the worst that can -happen to a submarine commander. His struggle in the net was short and -easy, when compared with the feats of a Bruce or a Cochrane in passing -and repassing the barrage off Kilid Bahr; and the jar he got from -his mine seems to have affected his head more than his boat. In older -navies, and among less excitable nations, these things are reported -more quietly--more from a professional than a sensational point of -view. ‘I think,’ writes Commander Courtney Boyle of a very similar -accident, ‘I must have caught the moorings of a mine with my tail as I -was turning, and exploded it ... the whole boat was very badly shaken.’ -Not a word more about it, though his cruise continued for more than ten -days afterwards. Without disparaging the German officer (who no doubt -shares the national temperament, and knows how to move his audience), -we may take pleasure in noting that the steadiness of nerve and the -scientific view are in our favour. Given anything like a fair fight, -and a reasonable time for play, it will not be the Peckelsheims who -will win against our men. - -An experience of another kind is described in a number of the -_Illustrierte Zeitung_ of July 12, 1917. The date of the engagement was -February 22, in the same year. - - ‘Just at dinner time the watch reports a tank steamer in an E.N.E. - direction, steering a course approximately towards the boat. Masts, - bridge and funnel are visible above the horizon. Tank steamers are - very hard to sink, as they have stray bulkheads fitted to keep - their volatile cargo in check. The torpedo must hit the aftermost - engine to stop the tank steamer. The periscope must only be shown - occasionally for a very short time, so as not to alarm her. The - torpedo is fired at 700 metres (765 yards) away, the submarine - comes to the surface and fires a shot from her forward gun, as a - signal to stop. The steamer understands, lowers two boats, and the - crew abandon ship. Steam is blown off in a high white column. The - master appears to be a sensible man, who does not intend to expose - himself to shell fire for no purpose. The submarine approaches - submerged and takes stock of the vessel--a black tank steamer, - grey superstructure, no guns--the naval patent log hanging over - the stern. The submarine then makes for the boats. As soon as they - see her periscope, they hastily pull away. At length the submarine - finds a favourable position to come to the surface, outside the - boats, so that the latter are in the line of fire. She rises to - the surface, with compressed air in her midship diving-tanks, the - conning-tower hatch is opened and the process of blowing out the - tanks begins. The boats have pulled away a little further, and just - as they are being hailed there is a flash from the steamer. - - ‘A submarine trap! Alarm. Flood tanks, dive rapidly! The seconds - seem interminable. The superstructure abaft the conning-tower is - penetrated, and hardly has the hatch been closed when there is a - sharp report in the conning-tower, a yellow flash, and explosive - gases fill the air. A shell has penetrated the side of the - conning-tower and exploded inside. All the fittings are shattered - by splinters; there is a sound of breaking glass. Another shell - will fall directly and that will be the end of the war for us. - Water is splashing in through the shot hole; the boat is sinking - into the shelter of the deep. The conning-tower is cleared, the - inner hatch and voice-pipe cock are closed, and the leads laid into - the control room. - - ‘“Anyone injured in the conning-tower?” Only one, very slightly; - but their faces are black and their clothes look as though they had - seen service. - - ‘At 20 metres (65 feet) there are two sharp explosions, and the - boat trembles. The “poor shipwrecked men” have thrown depth-charges - after us. A few of the lights go out, and further damage to the - main switchboard is averted by timely action. The conning-tower is - filling. In theory the boat can still remain afloat, but no one has - yet survived to tell us how. The increasing weight causes the boat - to sink to 40 metres (131 feet) in spite of her being down by the - stern and with the engines at utmost speed. Water spurts through - the leaky places, and, owing to short circuits, half the lights - and important machinery break down successively--gyro compass, - main rudder, forward hydroplane (which, to make matters worse, - jams at ‘hard down’), trimming pumps, and all control apparatus. - The tricolour captured from the full-rigged ship _La Bayonne_ is - pressed into service to plug the leak. The boat must be lightened - by compressed air in the after and amidship diving tanks, and - brought on to an even keel. She rises, certainly, but is more down - by the stern than ever. The after compressed air service breaks - down. We must avoid coming to the surface, whatever happens, for up - above the enemy is lying in wait to fire at us. At 20 metres (65 - feet) the diving-tank valves are opened, and all available men sent - forward, in order that their weight may cause the bow to sink. The - boat sinks by the bow, and the manœuvre is repeated. In another - twenty minutes it becomes impossible to proceed submerged. There - is now only one, not very promising, alternative--to come to the - surface suddenly and run away, firing as we go. - - ‘“Compressed air in all the tanks, open galley ventilator, man the - guns, Diesel engines ready, and put to utmost speed as soon as - possible.” - - ‘The boat comes to the surface, the galley hatch is opened. A - torrent of water rushes down; never mind, we shall have to swim - for it directly, anyhow. Now the way is clear to the surface. - The steamer is about 25 hms. (2734 yards) away, and firing as - fast as she can. “You haven’t got us yet--not by a long way!” - The guns quickly reply. Any result? The telescopic sights are - still in the flooded conning-tower. The M.A.N. motors are quickly - started--much more quickly than is permissible, but when all - is staked on one card there is no help for it. All the men who - are not occupied below are bringing up supply ammunition. The - sub-lieutenant suddenly feels his feet blown away from under him, - and staggers through a cloud of smoke against the gun. Poor fellow, - he has probably had both legs shot away. But no, only a few small - splinters--nothing more! The shell passed between the legs of - the foremost gunlayer, the drum of his ear was perforated by the - report, and there are some lumps and holes in the ready ammunition. - The shells pass through, close to the men; they look like black - specks in the air just before they fall. One of the railing - supports is shattered. A Leipzig man is standing in the stern at - the hand-wheel, steering calmly by the verbal directions of the - navigating warrant-officer--the compasses can no longer be used. - - ‘The telescopic sights can now be recovered from the conning-tower. - There is a report, “Destroyer to starboard.” Quite right. She is - proceeding on a parallel course at 80 hms. (8750 yards) and the - fire of her four guns mingles with that of the tank steamer. A - destroyer like that has a speed of over 30 knots, and carries - 4-inch guns. - - ‘“On lifebelts!” Below the horizon, in a S.S.E. direction, there - must be a sailing-vessel; we sighted one this morning. Perhaps - the boat may be able to reach her, so as to save the crew from a - _Baralong_ fate. - - ‘The guns’ crews have become so deaf from the noise of their own - guns that it is only possible to direct one gun by verbal orders. - The decoy ship is now so far away that there is no further need - to fire at her. Open fire on the new foe then! This is not a - destroyer, however, but a “submarine-destroyer” of the _Foxglove_ - class, about twice the size of the submarine, but no faster. At - the same moment the second-engineer reports that he can repair the - damaged conning-tower, and our hopes soar as far as neutral Spain. - - ‘“Open fire at 70 hms. (7655 yards)!” Soon the columns of water - from the shells, as high as the funnels, mark the fall of the - shots, and the enemy begins to zigzag to avoid the troublesome - shells, thereby interfering with the aim of her own guns. Suddenly - the superstructure is enveloped in black smoke. A hit! Another! - Several shells do not throw up a column of water; they must have - buried themselves in her hull. Now she turns away, escapes from the - zone of fire, and then follows in our wake. - - ‘The damage caused by the short circuit is repaired, ammunition - put ready beside the guns, and, like Wellington at Waterloo, we - await the coming of night. Our pursuer must have reported the - engagement by wireless, with position and course. Soon destroyers - will appear and compel the submarine to submerge. The leaking oil - supply will leave a track of oil on the surface, and indicate where - depth-charges should be dropped. - - ‘The wireless aerial, which has been shot away, is repaired in - order to keep an eye on the enemy’s signals. Nothing to be heard. - A lucky shot must have destroyed our pursuer’s wireless, and - she cannot report. All the men who are not occupied below are - on deck smoking, discussing their impressions, experiences, and - premonitions; dreams, uncomfortable forebodings, fortune-telling - from cards, and all the means--such as green frogs--by which old - fortune-tellers and ancient augurs used to foretell the future. - - ‘The sun is sinking below the horizon; the chase has already lasted - more than three hours. The decoy ship has long passed out of sight, - and no new enemies have appeared. Suddenly shells begin falling - close by. The _Foxglove_ means to have another try as long as the - light holds, and we feel that this is an impertinence. “Man the - guns!” - - ‘Again the after gun carries off the honours of the engagement. - The rounds follow close on one another: sometimes three shells are - in the air at once. They will soon reach their target; the enemy - again tries to zigzag. Range and deflection are quickly adjusted, - and the shells leave her no peace. Once again that beautiful cloud - of black smoke envelopes her superstructure and several others fail - to raise the expected column of water. The enemy has ceased firing; - she turns sharply away at 92 hms. (10,000 yards), and follows us - only at a respectful distance. An hour later she disappears in the - darkness.’ - -The deliberately false German _communiqués_, and even the more -craftily composed stories in their press, are, as a rule, distinguished -only for their clumsiness and bad psychology. But this is a vivid and -quite possible account, and, if the details are accurate, the commander -of the submarine had a most trying experience and brought his boat -home by great luck. It is hard to imagine a moment more desperate than -that in which, after struggling to the surface and escaping from the -Q-boat’s guns, he heard the report of ‘Destroyer to starboard,’ and -knew that he could neither dive nor run from such an enemy. A good -deal might have been made of this by a more inventive writer; the -simple comment ‘Quite right!’ is much more convincing than any highly -coloured phrase, and is almost enough by itself to prove the narrative -genuine. Another intense moment lightly touched is that in which the -deadly ‘destroyer’ turns out to be only the little 10-knot patrol boat -_Alyssum_, with her small guns, and a flight for bare life becomes -suddenly a successful repulse of the enemy. It is noticeable, too, that -the commander is not once mentioned, and all his orders are given as -uttered rather than as heard; the narrator, moreover, is familiar with -the story of Wellington at Waterloo, and makes a country gentleman’s -joke about missing a hare. On the whole, I think it is plain that we -have here a true account. - -Stories such as this are hard to come by, for the hunted seldom escape -so narrowly and with so good a tale to tell. But our own records show -at least one case of the kind, and it is one in which the crew of the -submarine passed through an even severer trial, for they were hunted by -their own side and had not the joy of a good fighting chance to sustain -them. - -In August, 1917, Lieut.-Commander V. M. Cooper, in command of one of -H.M. submarines, was ordered to patrol a neighbouring coast, close in, -between certain parallels. He was warned not to arrive on his billet -before 10 A.M., for the very good reason that some of our own light -forces were conducting operations in that direction during the night, -and might be met returning at any time in the early morning. It must be -remembered that when such a meeting does occur, no system of signalling -is to be relied on for safety. A submarine will always be attacked on -sight by any ship, friend or enemy, for she is a danger too deadly to -be given a moment’s chance. Her colours, if she show any, may be false, -and only a seaplane can afford her the time necessary for answering a -private signal. Commander Cooper knew all about this. He decided to -arrive on his billet about noon, when the risk would presumably be over. - -At 8 o’clock, then, on the finest summer morning of the year, Commander -Cooper was making his passage at normal surface speed, when the horizon -on his starboard bow began to be delicately shaded by faint pencilled -lines. Ten minutes more and a number of ships were visible, two points -on the bow, and five to six miles away. They were immediately in the -sun, and blurred by the haze, so that it was impossible to detect their -nationality. They might be our own squadron, coming back unexpectedly -early, or more likely a hostile force running from them. The only -thing certain was that they had sighted the submarine and were bent on -her destruction, for they were all bows on, bearing down upon her at -high speed--destroyers and cruisers--throwing up clouds of dense black -smoke. - -Commander Cooper was in no indecent hurry, but he knew what he had to -do. He must get down, or be put down. Moreover, he must get well down; -for the water was very clear, and the sea flat calm, without a ripple. -After a last look at the charging squadron he dived to ninety feet, -changing his course to 185°. - -His troubles began at once: the helm was reported jammed--it was -amidships. He sent the first-lieutenant to inspect, the report was -that the gear was all correct--the jamming seemed to be due to the -tightening of the rudder-post gland, either from external pressure, -or from some distortion of the after compartment of the ship. In any -case, nothing could be done for the moment, and there were plenty of -distractions coming. At 8.37 the sound of propellers was recorded on -the hydrophone--the destroyers were passing from port to starboard -overhead, like hounds abreast trying to pick up a scent. - -One of them, must have thought she had hit it off, for a tremendous -explosion shook the submarine--a depth-charge had been dropped not far -behind her, shaking her stern violently. In her steering flat, the -first-lieutenant and his men were lifted bodily off their feet. The -commander continued his dive, and to his great comfort took bottom at -125 feet on the gauge. - -Within three minutes of the first explosion, a second one followed. -It was equally violent, and to Commander Cooper appeared even louder; -but he told himself that this effect was probably due to the relative -position of the bomb, which had apparently detonated in a line with the -conning-tower. As he was himself in the control-room, in the centre of -the ship, the explosion would naturally sound louder, being on the -starboard beam instead of aft. - -The boat was well built, and the commander had perfect confidence in -her. This was not his first experience of the kind. Exactly a year -before, he had been out in the Cattegat in an E-boat and had met ‘a -wrong un’--a _Greif_ or _Möwe_, which had opened fire on him with four -6-inch guns at 2000 yards and straddled him at once. The boat had to -dive as she was, in complete surface trim. Shot after shot fell close -to her; she was shaken by explosives and struck by splinters. Finally a -6-inch shell came alongside and threw up a huge column of water which -fell plump on the commander as he descended through the hatch. Part of -it accompanied him down the ladder, but he had the presence of mind to -draw the lid down behind him, and he and his boat lived to tell the -tale. So he knew that a British submarine can stand a shock or two. But -what made him really anxious was the question--which he hoped would -occur to no one else on board--why did those two depth-charges fall so -near one another: why did the enemy drop the second so close to the -first? The horrible suspicion came into his mind that his position was -being given away by something that he could only guess at--some noise -or some escape of air bubbles or oil which was reaching the surface. - -[Illustration: ‘A huge column of water which fell plump on the -commander.’] - -What was to be done? Nothing, but to lie closer than ever, and enjoy -the calm of the man who has done all that is possible. The order was -given to stop all motors, even the Sperry motor for running the gyro -compass. All vent valves, and other possible leaking places, were -inspected and reported tight. - -Then came the third explosion, the most violent of all. Lights went -out suddenly, and the crew--groping in darkness--thought that the end -had come. - -For a moment the ship seemed to be stunned; then the lights reappeared. -They had not been injured, but the shock had thrown all the -chopper-switches on the auxiliary switchboard to the ‘Off’ position. -Not a trace of a leak could be discovered--the ship was alive still, -and without a mortal wound. In her commander’s judgment it would take a -direct hit, or something very near it, to kill her. - -Perhaps the most trying time of all was that which now followed. What -happened? Nothing happened. It was that which was so trying. From -9.5 A.M., when the third depth-charge exploded, till 4.7 P.M., the -submarine lay motionless on the sea-bed; no one on board knew when -it would be safe to move, or even whether it would be possible at -all--for both helm and hydroplanes were jammed and other defects might -be discovered. This was a test of moral stability as severe as any yet -recorded, even in the submarine service, and it is not surprising that -Commander Cooper was eventually ordered to add to his report a special -statement on the moral effects of the strain upon his ship’s company. -He reported accordingly, not in the picturesque style of the German -officer, exhilarated by his successful fight, but with the brevity -of a man of science and the simplicity of a narrator who has nothing -to prove. The behaviour of the officers he assumes without a word; -that of the men, he says, was admirable. Naturally it varied with the -individual; the older and more experienced men observed the demeanour -of their officers, and were content to abide by it; the younger ones -showed more difference, each in accordance with his temperament; but -they, too, did excellently, and having been assured that all was well, -the whole company settled down to read or to occupy themselves in other -ways. In the majority of cases the events of the day had no permanent -effect, though for a short time afterwards some of the men would start -on being wakened or touched suddenly by others. As to himself, the -commander declares that he thought the chances of being destroyed by -depth-charges small. To retain this opinion in the circumstances was -a proof of remarkable constancy; the constancy of the ‘man convinced -against his will’ in the proverb. And he felt at the time, as he -frankly says, that he would much rather remain on the surface and -engage an enemy, however large, and at all costs, than endure the -strain of a further experience of the kind. It would be likely, he -thought, to affect the judgment for some days, causing a tendency to -act over-cautiously or over-rashly. - -None the less he carried on. At 4.7 the submarine left the bottom and -rose to a depth of 28 feet; at 8.35 in the evening she came to the -surface and proceeded to her billet. There she carried out the duties -of her patrol, and six days later, ‘at 1 P.M., British Summer Time,’ -she returned to her base. - -Of the hunted who do not return to their base we cannot hope to hear -much. But there was a smart engagement towards the end of 1917 between -an American convoy-escort and a German submarine, of which accounts -have been given by both sides, those above water and those below. The -convoy was approaching our shores towards dusk of a November afternoon -when the attack was made. The U-boat’s periscope--a ‘finger’ one, -of only two inches diameter--was sighted by the U.S.S. (destroyer) -_Fanning_, which was at the moment turning to port at a speed of about -fifteen knots. The submarine was 3 points on the _Fanning’s_ port bow, -distant about 400 yards, and going some two knots. The other destroyers -had just passed the spot where she was seen; the second of these, -U.S.S. _Nicholson_, was now on the _Fanning’s_ starboard bow, and very -handy for what was to follow. The commander of the _Fanning_, in order -to continue his swing to port, put his helm hard over and at the same -time increased speed to full. The periscope, of course, disappeared -instantly. But every eye on the _Fanning_ had marked her position. -The commander, when he had turned about 30°, ported his helm so as to -bring his ship right over the desired place, slightly ahead of the -periscope’s last position, and there he dropped a depth-charge, within -three minutes of the first alarm. It was a fine piece of work, and, as -it turned out, a decisive stroke. - -Nothing was seen for the moment, beyond the upheaval of water caused by -the detonation. The _Fanning_ continued to turn under starboard helm; -the _Nicholson_ altered course to starboard, turned, and headed for the -spot where the charge had been dropped, intending, no doubt, to drop a -shot of her own in the same place. She could not have made a luckier -move. The conning-tower of the submarine suddenly broke surface between -her and the convoy, about 500 yards from where it had disappeared. The -boat was one of the new large-type U-boats, and was evidently hit, for -she could neither submerge properly nor keep an even keel, but went -rolling up and down like a gigantic porpoise in the direction of the -convoy. The two destroyers headed for her at full speed; _Nicholson_, -who was, of course, leading, passed over her, dropped her depth-charge, -and turned to port, firing three rounds from her stern gun into the -wash. Once more the enemy’s bow came up with a bound. This time he made -a desperate effort to keep on the surface, and struggled along at two -knots, being about 30° down by the stern. Finally he righted himself, -no doubt by filling tanks and crowding men forward, and his speed -seemed to increase. But by this time _Fanning’s_ guns were speaking to -him in unmistakable language; after the third shot the hatch opened, a -white shirt was waved, and the whole crew came on deck holding up their -hands. - -[Illustration: ‘The submarine suddenly broke surface.’] - -It was now 4.28; the fight had taken no more than eighteen minutes from -first to last, and ten minutes later the U-boat sank. Her crew had -opened the sea valves and nearly paid the penalty, for they were all in -the water before they could be got off to the destroyer, and one who -could not swim was rescued by two chivalrous Americans. They jumped -into the dark, cold sea for him, forgetting all about the German rules -of war, and were disappointed when he died on deck. - -The account given by the survivors was full of interest. They -were forty-one in number, including a captain-lieutenant, a -first-lieutenant, a lieutenant and a chief-engineer. The boat had -come straight from her base for the express purpose of attacking this -particular convoy, and had been lying in wait for two days, paying -no attention to any other ships. She carried twelve torpedoes, and -she carries them still, for not one had been fired when she went -down. The first depth-charge from _Fanning_ had been practically a -direct hit; it had wrecked her motors, diving gear, and oil leads, and -sent her diving entirely out of control to a depth of 200 feet. The -commanding officer thought at first that he would never be able to -stop her, and that she would go on until the deep-sea pressure burst -her sides in. He had only one possible course--he blew out all his -four water-ballast tanks at once. This stopped the dive but brought -the boat back to the surface with a rush and made her unmanageable. -One witness in the destroyers says that she ‘leaped clear of the water -like a breaching whale.’ It was then that _Nicholson_ overtook her and -dropped the second depth-charge; but even without this the end was -inevitable, for in her porpoise-like gambols she could have been shot -or rammed with certainty. Given a sufficient supply of patrol boats and -depth-charges in the submarine chase there will be but few and evil -days for the hunted. The American naval authorities have grasped this -truth at once and founded a building policy upon it. The boats will -be provided in any number, and if they are handled as the _Fanning_ -and _Nicholson_ were handled, the U-boat will spend her short life in -dodging a perpetual bombardment. - -That the end of the pirate, when it does come, is terrible, may easily -be conjectured, but probably no imagination could give any idea of -the actual experience. There is, however, in existence a narrative, -compiled by a neutral from the evidence of two Germans who survived, -by an extraordinary chance, the destruction of their ship. These men -were among the crew of a U-boat of the largest and newest type, one of -the last to come out of Zeebrugge before the harbour was bottled up by -the _Intrepid_ and _Iphigenia_. She had not gone far from port when she -hit a mine and exploded it. The shock was severe, but did not at once -appear to be fatal. The electric switches were thrown out of position, -the lights in some compartments went out, and the vessel began to sink -rapidly by the stern; but the lighting did not take long to restore, -and the crew were immediately ordered to trim the boat by making a -combined rush forward. This manœuvre was successful in bringing her -to an even keel, but by no effort could she be induced to rise to the -surface. - -Now began the terror; the plating of the ship had been shaken and -forced apart by the explosion; water was pouring in; the leaks were -rapidly enlarging, and all attempts to stop them failed. In very few -minutes the boat would be filled either with water or with chlorine -gas from the batteries. It was hardly possible to escape from the -death-trap; but there was one desperate chance, if the conning-tower -and forward hatches could be forced open against the pressure of the -sea. - -The commanding officer and the chief engineer entered the conning-tower -and ordered their men to open one of the forward hatches. If this could -be done, though the crew would have little hope of pushing their way up -through the incoming torrent, the air-pressure inside the boat would -be so greatly increased that the officers would be probably enabled -to open the conning-tower and escape. But the outside pressure was -too great for the hatch to be moved. The most violent efforts were -made, the men working in relays and using their strength desperately, -while their companions urged them on with terrible cries. Meantime it -was becoming more and more difficult to breathe; the salt water was -penetrating the batteries and giving off chlorine gas. The stern of the -vessel was now fully flooded and the internal air pressure was rapidly -increasing as the free space grew less. The moment of suffocation was -near. But the hatch could not be raised. - -At this point, some of the crew lost control and behaved like madmen. -They crammed cotton waste into their ears and nostrils, and plunged -beneath the water, which was now knee-deep. One man turned his revolver -upon himself; it missed fire; he hurled it from him and plunged after -his comrades. One, who still kept his head, with a final effort forced -open one of the torpedo tubes and let in the water to end the struggle -one way or another. Hope returned for a moment. The internal air -pressure increased to such a pitch that the conning-tower and forward -hatch could both be opened. Officers and men sprang and fought their -way upwards through the inrush. - -Perhaps twenty in all made their way out of the ship; but it was only -passing from one death to another. Human lungs are not adapted for -the sudden change from a deep-sea pressure to surface conditions. The -shrieks of these unfortunate men were heard by a trawler which happened -to be passing near; but before she could reach them all were dead but -two, and those two were broken men, bleeding from the lungs and crushed -in spirit. They had digged a cruel pit and fallen into the midst of it -themselves. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -ZEEBRUGGE AND OSTEND - - -We have long been regretting that the work and the fame of our -Submarine Service are for the most part hushed to a kind of undertone. -We cannot speak of them as we wish, lest the enemy should overhear -and profit by information which he is unable to get for himself. But -there are victories that cannot be concealed--blows which must and -will reverberate, now and for ages to come. The work of the Navy at -Ostend and Zeebrugge may openly be spoken of as it deserves. And this -is fortunate; for nations, like men, ‘live by admiration, hope and -love,’ and admiration is not the least powerful of the three elements. -The double attack of St. George’s Day achieved not only a diminution of -the enemy’s strength, but an increase of our own. All over the world we -heard it hailed as a great feat of arms, and a proof of mastery; even -our own hearts were stronger for being so vividly reminded that our -seamen are what they have always been--the greatest fighting men alive. - -The very conception of this attack was in itself conclusive evidence of -a high heroic spirit. The enterprise was not a wild-cat scheme, it was -both possible and useful, but it was one from which no man or officer -could expect to return. It was planned in November 1917, a month in -which the long and splendid work of our anti-submarine division was -rapidly advancing to success. The imagination of the Service rose with -the rising tide, and it was determined that the pirates should be not -only hunted down at sea, but harried and blocked in their principal -submarine sally-ports. - -These ports had, during the past two years, become more and more -important to the U-boat campaign, and had therefore been more and more -strongly guarded and fortified against attack. The section of coast -upon which they lie had a system of defensive batteries, which included -no less than 120 heavy guns, some of them of 15-inch calibre. A battery -of these was upon the Mole at Zeebrugge--a solid stone breakwater -more than a mile long, which contained also a railway terminus, a -seaplane station, huge sheds for personnel and material, and, at the -extreme seaward end, a lighthouse with searchlight and range-finder. -An attacking force must reckon with a large number of defenders upon -the Mole alone, besides the batteries and reinforcements on shore, -and the destroyers and other ships in the harbour. But the attack on -the Mole was an indispensable part of the enterprise; for the enemy’s -attention must be diverted from the block-ships, which were to arrive -during the fight and sink themselves in the mouth of the canal. And in -order to deal satisfactorily with the Mole, it must be cut off from the -reinforcements on shore by the destruction of the railway viaduct which -formed the landward end of it. - -That was not all. The main difficulty of the plan was the management -of the approach and return of the expedition. The conditions were -extremely severe. First, the attacking force must effect a complete -surprise and reach the Mole before the guns of the defence could -be brought to bear upon them. The enemy searchlights must therefore -be put out of action, as far as possible, by an artificial fog or -smoke-screen; but again, this must not be dense enough to obscure -the approach entirely. Secondly, the work must be done in very short -time, and to the minute; for though the attack might be a surprise, -the return voyage must be made under fire. The shore batteries were -known to have a destructive range of sixteen miles; to clear out of -the danger zone would take the flotilla two hours, and daylight would -begin by 3.30 A.M. It was, therefore, necessary to leave the Mole by -1.30; and as, for similar reasons, it was impossible to arrive before -midnight, an hour and a half was all that the time-table could allow -for fighting, blocking, and getting away again. To do things as exactly -as this, a night must be chosen when wind, weather and tide would all -be favourable. We need not be surprised at hearing that the expedition -had twice before started and been compelled to return without reaching -its objective--once it was actually within fifteen miles of the -Mole--but fortunately the Germans, having no efficient patrol at -sea, got no hint of what was being planned; and in the end were so -completely taken by surprise, that some of their guns when captured had -not even had the covers removed from them! - -The attack was to be conducted by Vice-Admiral Roger Keyes, commanding -at Dover. The force employed was a large and composite one which -required masterly handling. The Ostend expedition was a comparatively -simple affair; but for Zeebrugge there were needed, besides the -principal ships, a fleet of smoke-boats for making fog, motor launches -for showing flares and bringing off men in difficulties, monitors -for bombarding the batteries, and destroyers for looking after the -enemy ships lying in harbour, besides a submarine of which we shall -hear more presently. The landing on the Mole was to be made from -_Vindictive_, an old light cruiser of 5720 tons, and she was to be -accompanied by two old Mersey ferry-boats, _Daffodil_ and _Iris_, with -storming and demolition parties. The three destroyers were _North -Star_ (Lieut.-Commander K. C. Helyar), _Phœbe_ (Lieut.-Commander H. E. -Gore-Langton), and _Warwick_, in which the Admiral himself was flying -his flag for the occasion. - -It need not be said, except for the pleasure of saying it, that the -name of every officer present is worth remembering. Those who died, -gave their lives to secure a victory as effective and gallant as any -recorded, even in our naval history. Those who returned are marked men, -to whom their country will never look in vain for sound and brilliant -service. It is an inspiring thought that while their action was unique, -they themselves were not. The British Navy is full of such men, and -we may jostle them in the corridors of the Admiralty every day in the -year. Anyone who happened to be near Room 24 on the morning of Monday, -April 22, might have seen two officers come out who bore no sign of -a destiny more heroic than the rest. Yet they were, in fact, Captain -Alfred Carpenter, who had been selected to command _Vindictive_, and -Wing-Commander Brock, who was to create the magic fog, and whose -mysterious fate is one of the most heroic and moving episodes of the -fight. - -To Captain Carpenter we owe the best account yet given of the -expedition. If we read the main portion of it, and supplement it with a -few notes, we shall get as near to realising the achievement as anyone -without experience or expert knowledge can do. ‘At last,’ he says, ‘the -opportunity we had waited for so long arose, and everybody started off -in the highest spirits, and with no other thought than to make the very -greatest success of the operation. Fate was very kind to us on the -whole, and everything went well--almost as per schedule. The various -phases depended on accurate timing of the work of the various units. -The smoke-screen craft and the fast motor-boats, at given intervals, -rushed on ahead at full speed, laid their smoke-screens, attacked -enemy vessels with torpedoes, and generally cleared the way for the -main force, in addition to hiding the approach of the latter from the -shore batteries. Meanwhile a heavy bombardment was being carried out -by our monitors, and the sound of their firing, as we approached, was -one of the most heartening things that I can remember. On arriving -at a certain point some considerable distance from shore, the forces -parted, some going to Zeebrugge and some to Ostend, the idea being -that the forces should arrive at the two places simultaneously, so -that communication from one place to the other could not be used as a -warning in either case. Precisely at midnight (the scheduled time) the -main force arrived at Zeebrugge and two of the block-ships arrived at -Ostend. The Admiral’s signal before going into action was “St George -for England!” and the reply from _Vindictive_ was “May we give the -Dragon’s tail a damned good twist!” - - ‘At midnight we steamed through a very thick smoke-screen. German - star shells were lighting up the whole place almost like daylight, - and one had an extraordinary naked feeling when one saw how exposed - we were, although it was in the middle of the night. On emerging - from the smoke-screen the end of the Mole, where the lighthouse - is, was seen close ahead, distant about 400 yards. The ship was - turned immediately to go alongside, and increased to full speed so - as to get there as fast as possible. We had decided not to open - fire from the ship until they opened fire on us, so that we might - remain unobserved till the last possible moment. A battery of five - or six guns on the Mole began firing at us almost immediately, from - a range of about 300 yards, and every gun on the _Vindictive_ that - would bear fired at them as hard as it could. (Ours were 6-inch - guns and 12-pounders.) - - ‘In less than five minutes the ship was alongside the Mole, and - efforts were made to grapple the Mole, so as to keep the ship in - place. The _Iris_ was ahead. The _Daffodil_, which was following - close astern, came up and in the most gallant manner placed her - bow against the _Vindictive_ and pushed the _Vindictive_ sideways, - until she was close alongside the Mole. There was a very heavy - swell against the Mole; the ships were rolling about, and this made - the work of securing to the Mole exceedingly difficult.’ - -_Vindictive_ was specially fitted along the port side with a high false -deck, from which ran eighteen brows or gangways, by which the storming -parties were to land. The men were standing ready, but before the word -was given a shell killed Colonel Bertram Elliot of the Marines, and -Captain Henry Halahan (who was commanding the blue-jackets) fell to -machine-gun fire. But no losses could stop the stormers. - - ‘When the brows were run out from the _Vindictive_, the men at once - climbed out along them. It was an extremely perilous task, in view - of the fact that the ends of the brows at one moment were from - eight to ten feet above the wall, and the next moment were crashing - on the wall as the ship rolled. The way in which the men got over - those brows was almost super-human. I expected every moment to see - them falling off between the Mole and the ship--at least a 30-feet - drop--and being crushed by the ship against the wall. But not a - man fell--their agility was wonderful. It was not a case of seamen - running barefoot along the deck of a rolling ship; the men were - carrying heavy accoutrements, bombs, Lewis guns and other articles, - and their path lay along a narrow and extremely unsteady plank. - (Of these plank brows only two were uninjured by the enemy’s fire; - the rest were riddled.) They never hesitated; they went along the - brows, and onto the Mole with the utmost possible speed. Within a - few minutes three to four hundred had been landed, and under cover - of a barrage put down on the Mole by Stokes guns and howitzer fire - from the ships, they fought their way along. - - ‘Comparatively few of the German guns were able to hit the hull of - the ship, as it was behind the protection of the wall. Safety, in - fact, depended on how near you could get to the enemy guns, instead - of how far away. While the hull was guarded, the upper works of - the ship--the funnels, masts, ventilators and bridge--were showing - above the wall, and upon these a large number of German guns - appeared to be concentrated. Many of our casualties were caused by - splinters coming down from the upper works. (One shell burst in the - Stokes battery, another destroyed the flame-throwing house, and a - third killed every man in the fighting top except one--Sergeant - Finch, who was badly wounded, but kept his machine-gun going - and won the V.C. for it.) If it had not been for the _Daffodil_ - continuing to push the ship in towards the wall throughout the - operation, none of the men who went on the Mole would ever have got - back again.’ - -But _Daffodil’s_ men jumped across to _Vindictive_, and so joined the -storming party. _Iris_, in the meantime, was trying to grapple the Mole -ahead of _Vindictive_; but her grapnels were not large enough to span -the parapet, and two most gallant officers--Lieut.-Commander Bradford -and Lieut. Hawkins--who climbed up and sat astride the parapet trying -to make them fast, were both shot and fell between the ship and the -wall. Commander Valentine Gibbs had both legs shot away. He came out of -action with his ship, but died next morning. His place on the bridge -was taken by Lieutenant Spencer, R.N.R., who was already wounded, but -refused to be relieved. Finally a single big shell came down through -the upper deck and burst among some marines who were waiting their turn -for the gangways. Out of 56 only 7 survived, and they were all wounded. -Altogether _Iris_ lost 8 officers and 69 men killed, and 3 officers and -102 men wounded. But the parapet was stormed all right, and the Germans -under it put up no resistance except intense and unremitting gunfire. -Some of them took refuge in a destroyer, and were sent to the bottom -with her by a successful bombing attack from the parapet. - -After some fifteen minutes of this work the batteries on the Mole were -silenced, the dugouts cleaned out, and the whole range of hangars and -store sheds set blazing, or blown to ruins with dynamite. Then came -the first great moment of triumph. ‘A quarter of an hour after the -_Vindictive_ took her position, a tremendous explosion was seen at -the shore end of the Mole. We then knew that our submarine (the old -C. 3, who had certainly reached the age for retiring) had managed to -get herself in between the piles of the (railway) viaduct connecting -the Mole with the shore, and had blown herself up. She carried several -tons of high explosive (the equivalent of over 40 good mines) and the -effect of her action was effectually to cut off the Mole from the -land. Before the explosion the crew of the submarine, which comprised -some half-dozen officers and men (under command of Lieutenant R. D. -Sandford, R.N.), got away in a very small motor skiff, which lost its -propeller and had to be pulled with (a single pair of) paddles against -a heavy tide and under machine-gun fire from a range which could be -reckoned only in feet. Most of the crew were wounded, but the tiny -boat was picked up by a steam pinnace (commanded by Lieut.-Commander -Sandford, who rescued his brother and the other five salamanders when -they had struggled only 200 yards away from the point of explosion). -It is possible that the Germans who saw the submarine coming in under -the play of their searchlights, thought that her object was to attack -the vessels within the Mole, and that she thought it feasible to get -through the viaduct to do this. Their neglect to stop the submarine -as she approached could only be put down to the fact that they knew -she could not get through owing to the large amount of interlacing -between the piles, and that they really believed they were catching -her! A large number of Germans were actually on the viaduct, a few -feet above the submarine, and were firing at her with machine-guns. I -think it can safely be said that everyone of those Germans went up -with the viaduct. The cheer raised by my men in the _Vindictive_ when -they saw the terrific explosion, was one of the finest things I ever -heard. Many of the men were severely wounded--some had three and even -four wounds--but they had no thought except for the success of the -operation. (They cheered their captain as he went round the decks and -kept asking, “Have we won?”--just as if it had been a football match.) - -‘About twenty-five minutes after the _Vindictive_ got alongside (and -ten minutes after the explosion of C. 3), the block-ships were seen -rounding the lighthouse and heading for the canal entrance. It was then -realised on board the _Iris_, _Daffodil_ and _Vindictive_ that their -work had been accomplished. The block-ships came under very heavy fire -immediately they rounded the end of the Mole. Most of the fire, it -appears, was concentrated on the leading ship, the _Thetis_ (Commander -R. S. Sneyd). She ran aground off the entrance to the canal, on the -edge of the channel, and was sunk, as approximately as possible, across -the channel itself, thus forming an obstruction to the passage of the -German vessels.’ She was coming in in grand style, but had the bad luck -to catch her propeller in the defence nets and became a target; but she -did fine work even then, signalling to her sister ships and enabling -them to avoid the nets. And she may give quite as much trouble to the -enemy yet as the other two, for she lies right in the channel, which -must always be kept free from silt if even the outer harbour is to be -used. - -[Illustration: ‘A tremendous explosion was seen at the shore end of the -Mole.’] - -‘This co-operation between the three block-ships, carried out under -extremely heavy fire, was one of the finest things in the operation. - -‘The second and third ships, the _Intrepid_ (Lieutenant Stuart -Bonham-Carter) and _Iphigenia_ (Lieutenant E. W. Billyard-Leake), both -went straight through the canal entrance until they actually reached -a point some two or three hundred yards inside the shore lines, and -behind some of the German batteries. It really seems very wonderful. -How the crews of the two ships ever got away is almost beyond -imagination.’ Lieutenant Bonham-Carter, after running _Intrepid_ into -the canal bank, ordered his crew away in the boats, and blew her up -himself. He then escaped on a Carley float, a kind of patent buoy which -lights a flare when it takes the water. Very fortunately, _Intrepid_ -was still smoking and the smoke partially hid both him and his flare. -He was picked up by a motor launch (Lieutenant Deane, R.N.V.R.) which -had actually gone inshore to take off another officer who had swum -to the bank, and brought away both together. _Iphigenia_, too, after -ramming a dredger and carrying away a barge with her up the canal, was -even more successfully placed across the channel and blown up with her -engines still going, to ensure her sticking her nose fast in the mud. -Her crew escaped, some in the motor launches and some in their own -boats, rowing for miles out to sea before they were picked up by the -destroyers. - -‘The situation, rather more than an hour after the _Vindictive_ got -alongside, was this: The block-ships had passed in, had come to the end -of their run, and had done their work. The viaduct was blown up and -the Mole had been stormed.’ Even the lighthouse had been sacked, for -Wing-Commander Brock had announced before starting that after seeing to -the smoke-screen work, his first objective would be the range-finding -apparatus which he knew was up in the lighthouse top. He carried out -his intentions. He was seen going into the lighthouse, and coming out -again laden with an armful of stuff; then charging a gun single-handed; -and, last of all, lying desperately wounded under the parapet wall of -the Mole. This was only reported afterwards, and his fate is unknown -to this day. If he died, he died as he would have wished, for he was -a big man with a big heart, and did his fighting gladly. ‘Nothing -but a useless sacrifice of life could have followed if the three -boarding vessels had remained by the Mole any longer. The signal to -withdraw was therefore given, and the ships got away under cover of the -smoke-screens as quickly as they could. The signal was given by siren, -but the noise of the guns was so loud that it had to be repeated many -times. Twenty minutes passed before it was definitely reported that -there was nobody left on the Mole who could possibly get on board the -withdrawing ships. - -‘All three ships got away from the wall; they went at full speed and -were followed all the way along their course by salvos from the German -guns. Shells seemed to fall all round the ships without actually -hitting them. The gunners apparently had our speed but not our range, -and with remarkable regularity the salvos plopped into the sea behind -us. In a short time the ships were clear of imminent danger, owing to -the large amount of smoke which they had left behind them.’ Two of the -three destroyers also got away safely; the third, _North Star_, was -sunk by gunfire near the block-ships but her crew were brought off by -_Phœbe_. Her loss was balanced by that of the German destroyer, sunk by -bombs under the inner wall of the Mole. Of our motor-launches (under -command of Captain R. Collins), many of which performed feats of -incredible audacity at point-blank range, all returned but two. - -‘There is no doubt about the complete success of the enterprise. -Photographs taken by our flying-men show that two of the block-ships -are in the mouth of the Bruges Canal, well inside the shore line, and -lying diagonally across the channel. The third is outside the canal -mouth, blocking the greater part of the channel across the harbour. An -officer assured me that the bottoms having been blown out of the ships, -they are now simply great solid masses of concrete. Blasting, even if -it could be attempted without risk to the surroundings (_e.g._, the -walls of the canal and docks) would only divide one solid mass into -several masses, just as obstructive as the whole. Moreover, owing to -the shallowness of most of the harbour area, every tide will cause sand -to silt up about the obstacles and make their removal more difficult. -The photographs reveal a clean break in the viaduct at the landward end -of the Mole. They also show that the Germans have tried to bridge the -gap by planking.’ But planking will hardly carry the railway; and as -for the block-ships, they were still in position three months later, -with dredging parties at work who only offered an excellent target to -the bombs of our seaplanes. - -During the attack at Zeebrugge the wind changed and blew the smoke off -shore. This helped us in the end by enabling the ships to cover their -retirement with a thick screen of miscellaneous smoke; but at Ostend -it caused a partial failure of the blocking operations. Commodore -Hubert Lynes, who commanded this little expedition, successfully laid -his smoke-screen, and sent in his motor-boats behind it to light up -the ends of the two wooden piers with flares, visible to our ships -but not to the enemy. He then sent in two old cruisers, _Sirius_ and -_Brilliant_, which were to be sunk between the piers. But the moment -the wind changed, the enemy, seeing the flares, at once extinguished -them, sinking the motor-boats by gunfire, and the block-ships were no -longer able to find the entrance. They ran aground about 2000 yards to -the east of the piers and were there blown up. Their crews were taken -off under heavy fire in motor-launches commanded by Lieutenant K. R. -Hoare, R.N.V.R., and Lieutenant R. Bourke, R.N.V.R. - -One object had been accomplished--the Ostend garrison had been -thoroughly distracted from giving any warning or assistance to -Zeebrugge; but the block-ships had only made the harbour entrance -dangerous--they had not closed it. There was no doubt on either side -that the attempt would be renewed. Our men were all ready and eager for -a fight to a finish; the Germans were quick to take every precaution -possible. They removed the Stroom Bank buoy, which marked the entrance -to the harbour, cut the wooden piers through, to prevent landing -parties from advancing along them, and tried to keep up a patrol of the -coast with some nine destroyers. But, in spite of all, they were once -more taken by surprise, and this time they lost the game at Ostend as -they had lost it at Zeebrugge. - -The new expedition sailed on May 9 under command, as before, of -Commodore Hubert Lynes. Vice-Admiral Sir Roger Keyes was also present -himself, in the destroyer _Warwick_. The flotilla was this time on a -larger scale, and the block-ship (which was entrusted to Commander -Godsal, late of the _Brilliant_) was none other than the _Vindictive_ -herself, and was to double her glory by a triumphant death. - -The night was a perfect one, calm with light airs from the north, a -few faint stars and no moon. The ships came on in silence; for though -the monitors were already anchored in their firing positions, and -the heavy land batteries towards Nieuport were trained ready for the -bombardment, not a shot was to be fired until the signal was given for -every arm to attack at the same moment. The whole German front was -shrouded in a delicate haze, like a genuine sea fog, but even more -impenetrable to sight or searchlight. Under cover of this, Commodore -Lynes first took his destroyer in and laid a burning light-buoy as a -mark for the block-ship. _Vindictive_ followed, and from this point -bore up for another flare, lighted by Lieutenant William Slayter on -the former position of the Stroom Bank buoy. Four minutes before she -arrived there, and fifteen minutes before she was timed to reach the -harbour mouth, the signal was given for a general engagement. Instantly -the whole force got to work. Two motor-boats, under Lieutenant Albert -Poland and Lieutenant Darrel Reid, R.N.R., dashed in and fired -their torpedoes at the two wooden pier ends. The western pier had a -machine-gun mounted, and that too went up in the explosion. Then the -seaplanes began to bomb the town and the monitors were heard thundering -from far out to sea. The German star shells were useless in the mist, -but every gun in the batteries and land-turrets opened at once, and the -Royal Marine guns on our front replied to them with flanking fire. - -At this moment a real sea fog drifted in and mixed with the -smoke-screen; our destroyers had to keep touch by siren signals, -and _Vindictive_ found herself in danger of missing her mark, like -_Sirius_ and _Brilliant_. She had a motor-boat escorting her on each -side with huge Dover flares, but the darkness was too dense even for -them. Twice she passed the entrance, and came back at last to her first -position. Then, by a happy chance, a breeze cleared the fog for a -moment and she saw the piers close to her with the opening dead ahead. -Acting-Lieutenant Guy Cockburn, in his motor-boat, saw them too; he -dashed in under heavy fire and laid his flare right in the channel; -_Vindictive_ went straight over it and into goal. - -The enemy were now blazing at her with everything they had. A shell hit -the after-control and killed Sub-Lieutenant Angus MacLachlan with all -his men. Machine-gun bullets made the chart-room and bridges untenable, -and Commander Godsal took his officers into the conning-tower. There, -after steaming about 200 yards along between the piers, he left them, -and went outside, calling back to them to order the ship to be laid bow -on to the eastern pier and so swing across the channel. The order was -no sooner given than a shell struck the conning-tower full. It killed -the Commander outside and stunned Lieutenant Sir John Alleyne, who -was inside with Lieutenant V. A. C. Crutchley. Lieutenant Crutchley -shouted through the observation slit to the Commander, but, getting -no reply, he coolly went on with the swinging of the ship by ringing -full speed astern with the port engine. But he soon found that she had -ceased to move, so he gave the order to abandon ship and sink her. -The main charges were accordingly blown by Engineer-Lieut.-Commander -William Bury and the auxiliary charges by Lieutenant Crutchley himself. -_Vindictive_ heaved, sank about six feet, and settled on the bottom at -an angle of forty-five degrees across the channel. ‘Her work was done,’ -says the official narrative. - -The losses were two officers and six men killed, two officers and ten -men missing, believed killed, and four officers and eight men wounded. -The greater number of these were hit while leaving the _Vindictive_. -They were taken off under very heavy machine-gun fire by motor-launches -under Lieutenant Bourke, R.N.V.R., and Lieutenant Geoffry Drummond, -R.N.V.R. When the latter reached the _Warwick_ his launch was shot to -pieces and unseaworthy, he himself was severely wounded, his second -in command, Lieutenant Gordon Ross, R.N.V.R., and one seaman, were -killed, and a number of others wounded. Day was breaking and they were -still within easy range of the forts, so the good ship motor-launch -254 was sunk by a charge in her engine-room. The triumphant return -was made without even the most distant attempt at interference by the -nine German destroyers. It was a fine chance for a counterstroke with -superior force, but the nine did not see it. Ostend remained, like -Zeebrugge, a complete British victory. - - - AT THE BALLANTYNE PRESS - PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE, BALLANTYNE AND CO. LTD. - COLCHESTER, LONDON AND ETON, ENGLAND - - - - -_By Sir Henry Newbolt_ - - - =Submarine and Anti-Submarine.= - By Sir HENRY NEWBOLT, Author of “Tales of the Great War,” “The - Book of the Thin Red Line,” “The Book of the Blue Sea,” etc. - With Coloured Frontispiece and 20 other illustrations by Norman - Wilkinson, R.I. Crown 8vo. $2.25 _net_. - -This book contains a collection of tales of the submarine campaign, -based on authentic narratives hitherto unpublished. It also traces the -evolution of the undersea boat from its earliest days, demolishing the -German claim that it is the product of German ingenuity and skill. -Among other introductory chapters is one on the submarine war as an -illustration of the contrast between the national spirit of England and -that of Germany. - - - =The Book of the Happy Warrior.= With 8 Coloured Plates and 25 - Pictures in black-and-white by Henry J. Ford. Crown 8vo. $2.25 - _net_. - -“A compilation of tales of chivalry; of Roland, Cœur de Lion, St. -Louis, Robin Hood, Bayard, Du Gueselin and the Black Prince, the French -and English wars, and other famous wars and warriors. The whole tone -of it is vibrant with true heroism, which means gentleness and loyalty -as well as prowess in arms; and its closeness to the text of the -‘Chanson de Roland’ and other classic tales is a quality worthy of high -praise.”--_N. Y. Tribune._ - -“Ought to be in the library of every Boy Scout.”--_Philadelphia Ledger._ - - - =Tales of the Great War.= With 7 Coloured Plates and 32 - Illustrations in black-and-white by Norman Wilkinson and - Christopher Clark. Crown 8vo. $2.25 _net_. - -“... Vivifies, as official reports cannot, the fighting in Flanders -and France, the sea battles off South America, the air war and the -great naval battle of Jutland.... To an unusual degree the book is -alive....”--_Boston Post._ - - - =The Book of the Thin Red Line.= With 8 Coloured Plates and 38 - Illustrations in black-and-white by Stanley L. Wood. Crown 8vo. - $2.25 _net_. - -“... Stories of real military adventures by real men who won -distinction and high command by their heroism and gallantry in action -... admirably illustrated....”--_The Independent._ (N. Y.) - - - =The Book of the Blue Sea.= With 8 Coloured Plates and 32 - Illustrations in black-and-white by Norman Wilkinson. Crown - 8vo. $2.25 _net_. - - -LONGMANS, GREEN & CO. NEW YORK - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a -predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not -changed. - -Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced -quotation marks retained. - -Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. - -Some illustrations were moved closer to the relevant text. - -Page 125: Text appears to be missing after “netting” in “wire and -netting it was”. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Submarine and Anti-submarine, by Henry Newbolt - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUBMARINE AND ANTI-SUBMARINE *** - -***** This file should be named 52425-0.txt or 52425-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/4/2/52425/ - -Produced by Chris Curnow, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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