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diff --git a/old/56027-0.txt b/old/56027-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d4f866f..0000000 --- a/old/56027-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2829 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Achievement of the British Navy in the -World-War, by John Leyland - -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: The Achievement of the British Navy in the World-War - -Author: John Leyland - -Release Date: November 22, 2017 [EBook #56027] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ACHIEVEMENT--BRITISH NAVY--WORLD-WAR *** - - - - -Produced by Brian Coe, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. The -book cover image was created by the transcriber and is -placed in the public domain. (This book was produced from -images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.) - - - - - - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: Bold text is enclosed in =equals signs=; italic -text is enclosed in _underscores_. - - - - - THE ACHIEVEMENT - OF THE BRITISH - NAVY IN THE - WORLD - WAR - - [Illustration] - - By - JOHN LEYLAND - - - HODDER AND STOUGHTON - LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO - MCMXVII - - _E SHILLING_ - - - - - THE ACHIEVEMENT _of the_ BRITISH NAVY - IN THE WORLD-WAR :: JOHN LEYLAND - -[Illustration: THE KING CHATTING WITH ADMIRAL BEATTY] - - - - - THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE - BRITISH NAVY IN THE - WORLD-WAR - - BY - JOHN LEYLAND - - - [Illustration] - - - ILLUSTRATED - - - NEW YORK - GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SEA SERVICE 1 - - II. THE CENTRE OF SEA-POWER 11 - - III. SWEEPING THE ENEMY FROM THE OCEANS 21 - - IV. THE GRASP OF THE MEDITERRANEAN: SEA- AND LAND-POWER 29 - - V. DEALING WITH THE SUBMARINES 37 - - VI. THE NAVY AND THE MINE 46 - - VII. THE NAVY AND ARMY TRANSPORT 55 - - VIII. THE NAVY THAT FLIES 64 - - IX. OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE NAVY 71 - - X. WHAT THE BRITISH NAVY IS AND WHAT IT FIGHTS FOR 79 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - THE KING CHATTING WITH ADMIRAL BEATTY _Frontispiece_ - - PAGE - A BRITISH FLEET STEAMING IN LINE AHEAD 6 - - DRIFTERS WORKING AT SEA 6 - - A DRIFTER AT SEA: LOOKING FOR SUBMARINES AND MINES 22 - - A DRIFTER LAYING ANTI-SUBMARINE NETS 22 - - FLEETS IN ALLIANCE: BRITISH AND ITALIAN SHIPS IN THE ADRIATIC 38 - - ON BOARD THE _Queen Elizabeth_ AT MUDROS 38 - - A FLEET MANŒUVRING AT SEA 64 - - THE CAPTURED GERMAN SUBMARINE MINE-LAYER UC5 64 - - A BRITISH SUBMARINE 80 - - JOURNALISTS ON BOARD A MONITOR 80 - - -_MAPS:_ - - I. THE CENTRE OF SEA-POWER: THE NORTH SEA _At end of book_ - - II. THE GRASP OF THE MEDITERRANEAN: SEA- AND LAND-POWER - _At end of book_ - - - - - THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE BRITISH - NAVY IN THE WORLD-WAR - - - - -CHAPTER I - -DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SEA SERVICE - - Had I the fabled herb - That brought to life the dead, - Whom would I dare disturb - In his eternal bed? - Great Grenville would I wake, - And with glad tidings make - The soul of mighty Drake - Lift an exulting head. - - _William Watson._ - - -When King George returned from the visit he paid to the Grand Fleet -in June, 1917, he sent a message to Admiral Sir David Beatty, who had -succeeded Sir John Jellicoe in the command, in which he said that -“never had the British Navy stood higher in the estimation of friend -or foe.” His Majesty spoke of people who reason and understand. But -it is certainly true that the work of the Sea Service during this -unparalleled war has never been properly appreciated by many of -those who have benefited by it most. The silent Navy does its work -unobserved. The record of its heroism and the services it renders pass -unobserved by the multitude. Sometimes it emerges to strike a blow, -engage in a “scrap,” or, it may be, to fight a battle, and then it -retires into obscurity again. Its achievements are forgotten. Only the -bombardment of a coast town or the torpedoing of a big ship, which -the Navy did not frustrate, is remembered. Such has been the case in -all the naval campaigns of the past. Englishmen, who depend upon the -Navy for their security and the means of their life and livelihood, as -well as for their power of action against their enemies, are but half -conscious of what the Fleet is doing for them. On this matter, British -statesmen, when they speak about the war, almost invariably fail to -enlighten them. - -Who can wonder that people in the Allied countries are still less able -to realise that behind all the fighting of their own armies lies the -influence of sea-power, exercised by the British Fleet and the fleets -that came one after another into co-operation with it? Without this -power of the sea there could have been no hope of success in the war. -As the King said, the Navy defends British shores and commerce, and -secures for England and her Allies the ocean highways of the world. The -purpose of this book is to show how these things are done. - -On the first day of hostilities the British Navy laid hold upon the -road that would lead to victory. There is no hyperbole in saying that -the Grand Fleet, in its northern anchorages, from the very beginning, -influenced the military situation throughout the world, and made -possible many of the operations of the armies, which could neither have -been successfully initiated nor continued without it. But in the early -days of August, 1914, when, from the war cloud which had overshadowed -Europe, broke forth the lurid horrors of the conflict, the situation -was extremely critical. What was required to be done had to be done -quickly and unhesitatingly, lest the enemy should strike an unforeseen -blow. Happily, with faultless knowledge, the strategy of the emergency -was realised, and with unerring instinct and sagacity it was applied. -The foresight of great naval administrators, and chiefly of Lord -Fisher, who had brought about the regeneration of the British Navy, -shaping it for modern conditions, was justified a thousandfold. - -Never was the need of exerting sea command more urgent than at the -outbreak of war. Everything that Englishmen had won in all the -centuries of the storied past was involved in the quarrel. Only by -mastery of the sea could the country be made secure. Its soil had never -been trodden by an invader since Norman William came in 1066. The very -food that was eaten and the things by which the industries and commerce -of the country existed demanded control at sea. If the British Empire -was to be safe from aggression it must be safeguarded on every sea. If -England was to set armies in any foreign field of operations, and to -retain and maintain them there, with the gigantic supplies they would -require; if she was to render help to her Allies in men or munitions or -anything else, whether they came from England, or the United States, or -any other country, and were landed in France, Russia, Italy, or Greece, -or in Egypt, Mesopotamia, or East or West Africa, for the defeat of -the enemy, that must be done by virtue of power at sea. Therefore, in -this war, as John Hollond, writing his _Discourse of the Navy_ in 1638, -said of the wars of his time, “the naval part is the thread that runs -through the whole wooft, the burden of the song, the scope of the text.” - -The moment when the First Fleet, as it was then called, slipped away -from its anchorage at Portland on the morning of Wednesday, July -29th, 1914, will yet be regarded as one of the decisive moments of -history. The initiative had been seized, and all real initiative was -thenceforward denied to the enemy. The gauge of victory had been won. -“Time is everything; five minutes makes the difference between a -victory and a defeat,” said Nelson. “The advantage and gain of time and -place will be the only and chief means for our good,” Drake had said -before him. By a fortunate circumstance, which should have arrested -the imagination as with a presage of victory—a circumstance arranged -five months before, as the result of a series of most intricate -preparations—time and place were both on the British side. - -The First, Second, and Third Fleets, and the flotillas attached -to them, had been mobilised as a test operation, and inspected at -Spithead by King George, on July 20th. The First Fleet had returned to -Portland and the other fleets to their home ports, where the surplus or -“balance” crews of the Naval Reserves were to be sent on shore. Then -had come the now famous order to “stand fast,” issued on the night of -Sunday, July 26th, which had stopped the process of demobilisation. -Dark clouds had shadowed the international horizon. Austria-Hungary had -presented her ultimatum to Serbia. She declared war on the 28th. The -Second Fleet remained, therefore, in proximity to its reserves of men, -and the men were ready to be re-embarked in the Third Fleet. - -Few people realised at the time the immense significance of the -memorable eastward movement of the squadrons from Portland Roads, or -of the assembly of those powerful forces at their northern strategic -anchorages. Those forces became the Grand Fleet, that unexampled -organisation of fighting force, under command of that fine sea officer, -Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. War was declared by Great Britain on August -4th. Successive steps of supreme importance were taken, which, in very -truth, saved the cause of the Allies. Disaster and surprise attack were -forestalled. The Fleet, fully mobilised, and growing daily in strength, -was already exerting command of the sea, and the safe transport of the -Expeditionary Force to France was assured. Co-operation with the French -Fleet was immediately established—its cruiser squadron in the Channel -and its battle squadrons in the Mediterranean. - -Fighting episodes were not delayed, but for many months the operations -of the Grand Fleet remained shrouded as by a veil, lifted only on rare -occasions. Few people knew the tremendous anxieties and responsibility -of the British Commander-in-Chief. His vast command of vessels of all -classes and uses had to be organised into a mighty fleet, complete in -every element—battle squadrons, battle-cruiser squadrons, light-cruiser -squadrons, flotillas and auxiliaries, transports, hospital ships, -and every ship and thing that a fleet can require. A whole series of -intricate dispositions had to be made. Officers were to be inspired -with the ideas of the Commander-in-Chief and the whole Fleet was to be -so trained, under squadron and flotilla commanders, that each would -know on the instant how he should act. - -If Nelson, in 1789, spent many hours in explaining to his “band -of brothers” his plans for his attack at the Nile, with fourteen -sail-of-the-line, what must it have been for Sir John Jellicoe to -communicate to his officers, and discuss with them, all his plans for -every emergency or call for the service of every squadron and ship in -his vast command? All this must be realised now. And during the anxious -early months of the war, as the winter was drawing near, the great -anchorages were as yet unprotected, and safety from hostile submarines -could often only be found in rapid steaming at sea. The mining -campaign of the enemy had also to be overcome. The anxieties were -enormous, and it was only the power of command, the sea instinct, the -deep understanding, the readiness to act in moments of extraordinary -responsibility, and the resource and professional skill of the -Commander-in-Chief and his staff and officers in command, that enabled -the tremendous work to be accomplished. - -[Illustration: A BRITISH FLEET STEAMING IN LINE AHEAD] - -[Illustration: DRIFTERS WORKING AT SEA] - -While this was in progress other work of immense significance had been -going on. The Admiralty had undertaken a gigantic task of supreme -importance with complete success. Great defensive preparations were -made in British waters, where all traffic was regulated and controlled. -The vast maritime resources of the country were added to the naval -service. Two battleships building for Turkey, another for Chile, -and certain flotilla leaders and other craft building in the -country, were taken over. Officers and men in abundance were ready. -The magnificent seafaring populations of the merchant marine and the -fisheries were drawn into the naval service, and subsequently the whole -mercantile marine was brought under naval control, and for practical -purposes was embodied with the Navy. Officers and men of these services -showed splendid heroism in situations of terror and responsibility -never anticipated. - -A wide network of patrols was brought into being; the blockade was -organised and strengthened; the examination services were set on -foot and perfected; and the coast sectors of defence, with their -flotillas, were raised to a standard of high efficiency. Mine-sweepers -and net-drifters were at work. Every shipyard in the country and a -multitude of engineering and ammunition works began to buzz with work -for the Navy and the mercantile marine. Provision was made for dealing -with the raiding cruisers and armed merchantmen of the enemy. - -At the time, the public knew little or nothing of what was in progress. -Imagination fails even now to grasp the magnitude of what was achieved. -The naval share in the campaign was of baffling obscurity, while the -stage of the war on land became crowded with fighting men, locked in -a terrible conflict, which at that time seemed to bode no good to -the Allies. After the brush in the Heligoland Bight on August 28th, -1914, the Fleet was lost to view. Not at first, but slowly, did it -become realised that the prognostications of peace-time alarmists had -proved baseless. There had been no “bolt from the blue,” as had been -foretold; neither invasion, nor raid, nor foray was attempted upon -British shores, and there was no anxiety about food. There was always, -with economy, enough to eat. - -But popular confidence seemed for a time to be unreasonably -disturbed by a record of successive alarming and generally -unexplained incidents—the escape of the _Goeben_ and _Breslau_ in -the Mediterranean, the sinking of the _Aboukir_, _Cressy_, _Hogue_, -_Formidable_, and other vessels, the depredations of German raiding -cruisers on the distant lines of our trade, the bombardment of -Hartlepool, Whitby, and Scarborough, and other disquieting episodes. -Strange as it may seem, there were people who went about asking, “What -is the Fleet doing?” Was it not the ancient inspiration of the Navy to -seek out the enemy and to capture or sink or burn his ships wherever -they were to be found? Yet there was no battle. The German coast was -not attacked. Allied shipping to the value of millions of pounds was -being sunk. Why, then, was the Navy inactive? When, later on, the -submarine menace assumed formidable proportions, alarm began again -to seize upon the newspapers, when there was justification only for -precaution. - -The hidden truth was not comprehended. Victories were expected when, -owing to the coyness of the enemy’s strategy, none were possible. -The Seven Years’ War—the most successful in British annals, the -turning-point in British history, the war in which Horace Walpole asked -each morning what victory there was to record—began with the disaster -of Minorca, followed by the tragedy of Byng. The central facts of naval -history were but little known. Yet the Navy was, and is, in truth, all -in all to the country, the Empire, and the Allies. - -Before we enter into the main purpose of this book, in which we shall -discover in several theatres of war the real nature of sea-power, as -well as the character and momentous consequences of the antagonism -which grew up between England and Germany, we may inquire what services -could in reason have been expected from the Navy in the great cataclysm -which was about to sweep with destruction over the nations. It would -not have been expected to fight a battle every month or even every -year, for battles are rare events in naval history. It would not -have been expected to attack fortified coasts, though it might do so -on occasions, because ships are designed and built to fight at sea. -The Navy would not have been expected to forestall every untoward -incident. Fish often slip through the net, as raiders have slipped -through our guard in this and other wars. Nor, in these days of the -stealthy submarine and the blind death-dealing mine, could the Fleet -have been expected to remain immune from every misfortune. No one could -have expected the Navy to devise a single conclusive defence against -the attack of the submarine, any more than it was asked to find an -infallible remedy for the effects of gunfire. - -What we should have expected was that it would make the sea again the -protecting wall, as Shakespeare says, of the British Isles, - - Or as a moat defensive to a house - Against the envy of less happier lands. - -We should have expected it to safeguard the incoming of the supplies -without which neither the people nor their industries could exist—to -be the panoply of all trade and interests afloat, whether in the -nature of imports or exports. We should have expected it to deny all -external activity to the enemy at sea—we might not have anticipated the -advent of the submarine as a pirate commerce-destroyer—to shut off his -sea-borne supplies, and to exert that noiseless pressure on the vitals -of the adversary of which Admiral Mahan speaks—“that compulsion, whose -silence, when once noted, becomes to the observer the most striking -and awful mark of the working of sea-power.” We should have expected -the Navy to become the support, in thrust and holding, of the armies -in the field—the shaft to their spearhead; their flank and rearguard -also. Inasmuch as the war is world-wide, and we have powerful Allies, -we should have expected naval influence and pressure to be manifested -in the oceans, in the Mediterranean, and, indeed, wherever the enemy is -and the seas are. Finally, we should have expected the Navy to be to -the British Empire what it has always been to the Empire’s heart—its -safeguard from injury and disruption, and the bond that holds it -together. - -Each one of these functions has been executed by in Navy with -triumphant success in the war, and history would show that it is -executing them now as the Sea Service has accomplished them in all the -wars of the past. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE CENTRE OF SEA-POWER[A] - - Of speedy victory let no man doubt, - Our worst work’s past, now we have found them out. - Behold, their navy does at anchor lie, - And they are ours, for now they cannot fly. - - _Andrew Marvel_, 1653. - - -Of all the theatres of the war, on sea or land, the North Sea is the -most important. It is vital to all the operations of the Allies. -Command of its waters and its outlets is the thing that matters most. -In that sea is the centre of naval influence. It is the key of all -the hostilities. From either side of it the great protagonists in the -struggle look at one another. There the great constriction of the -blockade is exerted upon Germany. It is the _mare clausum_ against -which she protests. Geography is there in the scales against her. She -rebels against British sea supremacy. The “freedom of the seas” is, -therefore, her claim—though she is endeavouring to qualify to be the -tyrant of them. Her only outlook towards the outer seas is from the -Bight of Heligoland and the fringe of coast behind the East Frisian -Islands, or from the Baltic, if her ships pass the Sound or the Belt, -issuing into the North Sea through the Skager-Rak. But they cannot -reach the ocean, except through the North Passage, where the Grand -Fleet holds the guard. Only isolated raiders, bent upon predatory -enterprise, have stealthily gone that way after nightfall. At the -southern gate of the North Sea, through the Straits of Dover and in -the Channel, the way is barred. The guns of Dover, the Dover Patrol, -and certain other deterrents forbid the enemy to adventure in that -direction. - -[A] See Map I., at end of book. - -The new engines of naval warfare—the mine, submarine, airship, and -aeroplane—found their first and greatest use in the North Sea; and only -by employing craft which hide beneath the water, and, on rare occasion, -by destroyers which seek the cover of darkness for local forays, have -the Germans been able to exert their efforts in any waters outside the -North Sea. At the beginning of the war they had raiding cruisers in the -Pacific and Atlantic, and a detached squadron in the Far East; but the -British Fleet reached out to those regions, and, aided by the warships -of Japan and France, it drove every vestige of German naval power from -the oceans. - -In the North Sea, therefore, sea-power has exerted its greatest, most -vital, and most far-reaching effect. There the Germans, if they had -possessed the power, could have struck a blow which, if successful for -them, would have proved a mortal stroke at the British Empire and would -have rendered useless all the efforts of the Allies. Millions of men, -incalculable volumes of guns, munitions, and stores of every imaginable -kind for the use of the greatest armies ever set in the field, have -entered the French ports solely because the Grand Fleet holds the guard -in the North Sea. The whole face of the world would have been changed -by German naval victory. England would have been subjected by invasion -and famine. If the heart of the Empire had been struck, what would have -been the future of its members? If sea communication with the Allies -had been cut, what would have been their fate at the hands of the -victors? The attacks of sallying cruisers and destroyers upon the coast -towns of England, the “tip and run” raids, as they have been called, -and the visits of bomb-dropping airships and aeroplanes are the signs -of the naval impotence of Germany. - -The situation in the North Sea is, therefore, of absorbing interest. -It may be studied chiefly from the two points of view of the strategy -of the opposing fleets and the exercise of the blockade. There is a -peculiarity in naval warfare, which is not found in warfare upon land, -that a belligerent can withdraw his naval forces entirely from the -theatre of war by retaining them, as with a threat, or in a position of -weakness, behind the guns of his shore defences. Nothing of the kind -is possible with land armies. A general can always find his enemy, and -attack or invest him, and, if successful, drive him back, or cause him -to surrender, and occupy the territory he has held. The Germans have -chosen the reticent strategy of the sea. They have never come out to -make a fight to a finish, to put the matter to the touch, “to gain or -lose it all.” The _animus pugnandi_ is wanting to their fleet. It was -necessary that they should do something. They could not lie for ever -stagnant at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven. They could keep their officers and -men in training by making brief cruises in and outside the Bight of -Heligoland. They might, with luck, meet some portion of the Grand Fleet -detached and at a disadvantage. - -In any case, they were bold enough to take their chance on occasions, -always with their fortified ports and mined waters and their submarines -under their lee. They might succeed in reducing British superiority -by the “attrition” of some encounters. Such was the genesis of the -Dogger Bank battle of January 24th, 1915, when that gallant officer -Sir David Beatty inflicted a severe defeat upon Admiral Hipper, and -drove him back in flight, with the loss of the _Blücher_ and much -other injury. The same causes brought the German High Sea Fleet, under -Admiral Scheer, into the great conflict, first with Sir David Beatty, -and then with the main force of the Grand Fleet, under command of Sir -John Jellicoe, on May 31st, 1916. The events of the great engagement of -the Jutland Bank will not be related here. All that it is necessary to -note is that the Germans had so chosen their time that they were able -to avoid decisive battle with Sir John Jellicoe’s fleet by retreating -in the failing light of the day, and that their adventure availed them -nothing to break the blockade or otherwise to modify the impotent -position in which they are placed at sea. That action operated to the -disadvantage of England and her Allies in no degree whatever. The -superiority of the British Fleet as a fighting engine had been placed -beyond dispute. - -The mine and the submarine have put an end to the system of naval -blockade as practised by St. Vincent and Cornwallis. No fleet can now -lie off, or within striking range of, an enemy’s port. Battleships -cannot be risked against submarines, acting either as torpedo craft -or mine-layers, nor against swift destroyers at night. That is the -explanation of the situation which has arisen in the North Sea. The -blockade is necessarily of a distant kind. There are no places on -the British coasts where the Grand Fleet could be located, except -those in which it lies and from which it issues to sweep the North -Sea periodically. The first essential is to control the enemy’s -communications, which is done effectively at the North Passage—between -the Orkneys and Shetlands, and the Norwegian coast—and at the Straits -of Dover. If the enemy desired a final struggle for supremacy at sea, -with all its tremendous consequences, he could have it. But he can be -attacked only when he is accessible. “There shall be neither sickness -nor death which shall make us yield until this service be ended,” wrote -Howard in 1588. That is the spirit of the British Navy to-day. But, -then, the Spanish Armada was at sea. It was not hiding behind its shore -defences. Be it noted that the Germans, thus hiding themselves, enjoy -a certain opportunity of undertaking raiding operations in the North -Sea. It is not a difficult thing to rush a force of destroyers on a -dark night against some point in an extended line of patrols and effect -a little damage somewhere. What advantage the Germans hope to gain by -such proceedings is difficult to discover. - -The magnificence of the work of the British patrol flotillas and -the auxiliary patrols must be recognised. In the North Sea these -are subsidiary services of the Grand Fleet. Day and night, in every -weather—in summer heats and winter blasts and blizzards, when icy -seas wash the boats from stem to stern and the cold penetrates to the -bone—these patrols are at work. The records of heroism at sea in these -services have never been surpassed, and England owes a very great deal -to the men who came to her service. The mercantile marine has given its -vessels to the State, from the luxurious liner to the fishing trawler, -and officers and men have come in who have rendered priceless services. -The trawlers have carried on their perilous work of bringing up the -strange harvest of horned mines by the score. The patrol boats have -examined suspicious vessels, controlled sea traffic, and watched the -sea passages. The destroyer flotillas have been constantly at work and -ready at any time to bring raiding enemy forces to action. The Royal -Naval Air Service has never relaxed its activity and has engaged in -countless combats. - -It has sometimes been wondered why the Grand Fleet did not take some -aggressive action: Why did it not attack the North German sea coast, -or rout out the pestilent hornets’ nest of Zeebrugge, which the enemy, -by internal communications impregnable to sea-power, had provided with -the most powerful guns, besides defending it by great mine-fields? This -matter requires to be examined. Naval history abounds with evidence -that to attack coast defences is not the proper or even the permissible -work of warships. It is the business of military forces, though naval -forces may often assist, and even give the means of victory. Moreover, -what was once possible is not possible now. Would Nelson have attacked -the French Fleet at the Nile if it had lain under the powerful guns -of these days, and behind mine-fields, through the secret passages of -which submarines could have issued to destroy him? It would be absurd -to compare Nelson’s attack upon a line of block-ships and rafts at -Copenhagen, covered by a few forts armed with old smoothbores, to an -attack upon coast positions defended by modern guns. - -When old Sir Charles Napier was in the Baltic in 1854 he was denounced -at home because he did not destroy Kronstadt or Helsingfors. He rightly -refused to play his enemy’s game by endangering his ships. Captain -(afterwards Admiral Sir) B. J. Sulivan, who was with the fleet, put the -situation quite clearly in a letter written at the time. A military -operation was really required then, as it would be now, to accomplish -such a task. - - We know that two guns have beaten off two large ships with great - loss. Had Nelson been here with thirty English ships he would - have blockaded the gulf for years, without thinking of attacking - such fortresses to get at ships inside. Brest, Toulon, and Cadiz - were probably much weaker than these places.... I suppose there - will be an outcry at home about doing nothing here, but we might - as well try to reach the moon. - -But the Navy has never left the Belgian coast secure from attack. It -has never lost its aggressive spirit. It has attacked from the ship -and the air. The seaplanes of the Royal Naval Air Service spotted for -the guns when the monitors were bombarding. Bombs have repeatedly been -dropped on Ostend, Zeebrugge, and the places in the rear. When the guns -were silent there were reasons for it. A conjoint naval and military -expedition was required. The enemy began to feel his hold on the coast -precarious. Continued operations by sea and land might compel him to -relax his grasp. Ships may not attack places defended by big guns, -mine-fields, and submarines and destroyers issuing from secret passages -through them, but it is certain the British naval offensive will never -be paralysed. - -Such is the magnificent work of the British Navy in blockading the -German Fleet, molesting the enemy’s coast positions, and controlling -his communications with the oceans. - -The commercial blockade, by which the enemy’s supplies and commodities -are cut off and his exports paralysed, is too large a subject to be -dealt with here. The object is to bring the full measure of sea-power -to bear in crushing the national life of the enemy. It is vital but -“silent” work of the Navy, and does not lend itself to discussion -or description. Questions of contraband and the right and method of -search, which arise from the blockade, caused discussions with the -United States before the States came into the war. The only object -of the British Navy and the Foreign Office was to put an end to the -transit of the enemy’s commodities, and to do so with the utmost -consideration for the interests of neutrals, and complete protection -for the lives of the officers and crews in their ships and in the -examining ships. For these reasons neutral vessels were taken into port -for examination, safe from the attentions of the enemy’s submarines. -One great hope of the Germans was that the neutrals would become more -and more exasperated with England. They remembered that the war of -1812 arose from this very cause. But they were completely disappointed -in all such hopes, and they themselves, by interfering with the free -navigation of other countries, brought the United States into the war -against them. - -The blockade work of the examination service and of the armed boarding -steamers has been extremely hazardous. It has called for the greatest -qualities of seamanship, because conducted in every condition of -weather and when storm and fog have made it extremely perilous to -approach the neutral vessels—which, moreover, have sometimes proved to -be armed enemies in disguise. Hundreds of vessels have been brought -into port by the Navy in those northern waters. Sleepless vigilance -has been required and the highest skill of the sea in every possible -condition of the service, while the seaman has become a statesman in -his dealings with the neutral shipmaster. It has been for the Navy to -bring the ships into port, and for other authorities to inquire into -their status and to take them before the Prize Court if required. - -The German High Sea Fleet having failed, the submarine campaign was -instituted, and began chiefly in the North Sea. It has never answered -the expectations of its authors. It has not changed the strategic -situation in any degree whatever. Great damage has been inflicted upon -British interests, and valuable ships and cargoes have been sunk, and -officers and men cast adrift in situations of ruthless hardship. The -tale of the sea has never had a more terrible record, nor one lighted -by so much noble self-sacrifice and unfailing courage. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -SWEEPING THE ENEMY FROM THE OCEANS - - Far flung the Fleet then, - Freeing the seas, - Clearing the way for men, - Merchantmen these. - Sinking or flying, - Broken their power, - The enemy dying - Left England Her dower. - - _J. L._ - - -In the foregoing chapter some reference was made to the campaign of the -German raiding cruisers and armed liners against British and Allied -commerce in the distant waters of the Atlantic and Pacific during the -early months of hostilities, and before we go any further this aspect -of the war must be discussed. One object of the enemy was to lead to -a scattering of British naval strength, but in this he was wholly -disappointed. The distribution of the British Fleet remained unchanged, -and the great numbers of swift cruisers and armed liners, which had -been apprehended as presenting a formidable menace to commerce, made -but a feeble appearance. The commerce-raiding campaign gave rise, -however, to a good deal of alarm at the time, though it surprised no -one who understood the means made available by the scientific and -mechanical developments of modern naval warfare, and who had studied -them in the light of history. - -The interruption or destruction of the enemy’s commerce has always -been one of the objects in naval warfare. British floating commerce -offered a very large target, and the swift German cruisers, directed by -wireless telegraphy and supplied by friendly neutrals, were at work on -the lines followed by shipping, making it inevitable that there should -at first be considerable losses to the Allies. Admiral Mahan thought -that the British total losses in the long wars of the French Revolution -and Empire did not exceed 2½ per cent. of the commerce of the Empire. -The Royal Commission on the Supply of Food in Time of War expressed the -opinion that 4 per cent. would have been a more accurate estimate. - -[Illustration: A DRIFTER AT SEA: LOOKING FOR SUBMARINES AND MINES] - -[Illustration: A DRIFTER LAYING ANTI-SUBMARINE NETS.] - -German cruisers, destructive as a few of them were, did not inflict -losses amounting to anything like the figures of the old wars. -In those contests of power, notwithstanding the depredations of -commerce-destroying frigates, British oversea trade grew, while that -of the enemy withered away. If the enemy captured ten British ships -out of a thousand the loss might be considered serious, but if the -British frigates captured ten out of the enemy’s hundred the injury -inflicted was ten times more effective. Towards the end of the long war -with France very few French traders were captured because scarcely any -ventured to sea, while the French continued to capture English ships -up to the very end of the war, ten years after their fleet had been -destroyed at Trafalgar. The loss by capture and sinking was at the -rate of 500 ships a year, and even in 1810, 619 English ships were lost. - -In the present war the German commerce-destroying campaign, by means -of cruisers and armed liners, though very effective at the beginning, -collapsed with great rapidity. Hostile action against trade has never -before been so rapidly brought under control. Steam, the telegraph, -and wireless have enormously increased, as compared with the sailing -days, the thoroughness and efficiency of superior sea-power. Difficulty -of providing for coal and oil supply, the want of naval repairing and -docking bases, and, above all, the immense superiority brought quickly -to bear by the combined naval forces of England, France, and Japan, -aided by the Australian Navy (auxiliary to the British, to which it -belonged), within a comparatively short time caused the whole of -German commerce to disappear from the oceans. Soon not a single ship -remained—trader, cruiser, or armed liner—as a target, except that -such isolated raiders as the _Möwe_ might offer rare opportunities of -attack. This failure of the Germans seemed the more remarkable because -they had long recognised the floating commerce of England to be her -Achilles’ heel. Prince Bülow described it as such. They had expressly -reserved, at The Hague Conference, the right to convert merchantmen -into cruisers on the high seas to serve as commerce-destroyers. They -used this right in some instances, as in that of the _Cap Trafalgar_, -which was sunk in single-ship action by the British converted liner -_Carmania_. Yet this procedure proved of no effect in the war. - -It would be a great mistake to regard the German cruiser campaign -against commerce apart from the general distribution of German warships -and the means taken to supply them with their requirements. The writer -is inclined to the belief that the impotence of the Germans in distant -waters shows that their Navy was not ready nor effectively prepared -for the war. The great expenditure on the High Sea Fleet proved -unavailing. The submarine boats did not exist in any considerable -number. Only about twenty-seven or twenty-eight of them were completed -in August, 1914, of which about a dozen were of early experimental -type, fit only for local use, and the programme provided only for the -building of half a dozen in each year. The German Navy possessed not -more than a couple of big airships, and a few effective aeroplanes. -The cruisers on foreign service were scattered about the world without -plan. The battle-cruiser _Goeben_ and the light cruiser _Breslau_ -had been detached in the Mediterranean during the Balkan War, and, -according to the Greek White Book, Turkey having entered into alliance -with Germany on August 4th, the two cruisers fled to the Dardanelles -in conformity with orders received from Berlin. The Germans were -apprehensive as to their safety, and their naval authorities never -intended to leave them in their dangerous situation of isolation in an -Italian port. The business of controlling and directing the operations -of the commerce-destroying cruisers and armed liners, and providing -their supplies, was admittedly dexterously arranged by the agency -of wireless, mainly through the means placed at disposal by German -sympathisers in the United States, the States of Southern America, and -other neutral countries, though nothing they did could withstand the -steady pressure of sea-power. - -The most considerable German force in distant waters was the East Asian -Squadron, under command of Admiral Count von Spee. It was located -at Kiao-Chau, and its principal elements were the armoured cruisers -_Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_. Sooner or later this squadron was -bound to be defeated, as its commanding officer fully realised. The -Japanese declared war on August 23rd, and the fleets of Admiral Baron -Dewa and Admiral Kato were stretched out to blockade and intercept -him; but he extricated himself very dexterously, crossed the Pacific, -defeated Admiral Sir Christopher Craddock off Coronel on November 1st, -rounded Cape Horn, and was himself defeated with the loss of his whole -squadron in the battle of the Falkland Isles on December 8th. One of -his cruisers, the _Emden_, which had escaped the Japanese, made a great -noise in the world. Her captain was a very capable and also a very -gallant officer, who bombarded oil tanks at Madras, sank the Russian -cruiser _Jemtchug_ and the French destroyer _Mousquet_ at Penang, and -sent to the bottom seventeen British vessels, representing a value of -£2,211,000, besides three sent into port. The _Emden_ was destroyed -by H.M. Australian cruiser _Sydney_ at the Cocos-Keeling Islands on -November 8th. The _Karlsruhe_ sank vessels representing a value of -£1,662,000. - -It is not the purpose here to describe the depredations and ocean -wanderings of the other German cruisers or auxiliary cruisers. The -object is to show how, by the all-compassing pressure of naval power, -they were successively destroyed. It would be folly to deny that there -was something defective in the disposition of the British naval forces -at the beginning. Admiral von Spee was at large, with two powerful -armoured cruisers, but Sir Christopher Craddock was left in inferior -force off the coast of Chile. The obsolescent battleship _Canopus_, -which had inferior speed, was to join him, but did not reach him in -time. The Australian battle-cruiser _Australia_, which would have been -an extremely valuable aid to Craddock’s squadron, did not pursue the -German squadron across the Pacific. - -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher returned to the Admiralty as First -Sea Lord on October 29th, 1914, and at once set about to use the -naval instrument he had been so largely instrumental in creating. -In dead secrecy and with incredible speed a force was prepared -and dispatched. Admiral Sturdee had with him the magnificent -battle-cruisers _Invincible_ and _Inflexible_, the armoured cruisers -_Kent_, _Cornwall_, and _Carnarvon_, the light cruisers _Bristol_ and -_Glasgow_, and the armed liner _Macedonia_. The battleship _Canopus_ -was already at Port Stanley. Before anyone knew he had left England, he -arrived at the Falkland Islands on December 7th, after having steamed a -distance of 7,000 miles. The German Admiral was known to be approaching -with the object of utilising the islands as a base. He arrived on the -next day, but was taken by complete surprise, though he was conscious -of impending fate, and his squadron ceased to exist. - -This was one of the master-strokes of the war, made with lightning -rapidity. Strategy was seen in action, and thenceforward the control -of the ocean was secured. There remained the business of rounding -up the enemy cruisers which were still preying upon shipping on the -routes of commerce. Cruisers of sufficient force were dispatched, with -instructions to remain at certain rendezvous, each forming a base upon -which lighter cruisers could fall back, or to the support of which -they could proceed. The lighter vessels cruised on specified curves or -lines of search, and in this way a network was spread over the oceans -comparable to a spider’s web. Thus in due course every enemy cruiser -and auxiliary was intercepted, or, conscious of the toils which were -spread for her, abandoned her task and sought safety in the internment -of a neutral port. The Grand Fleet in the North Sea was the master of -the situation, and made possible the decisive blow which was struck at -enemy power in the oceans. - -Thenceforward the enemy was impotent in every sea. Not a man could -he send afloat to bring aid to his colonies and protectorates. His -distant possessions collapsed like a house built of cards. No means -had he to interrupt the transport of troops which have brought about -the darkening of every German “place in the sun.” “_Deutschland ist -Weltreich geworden_,” it was said. But distant possessions are the -ripe fruit which falls into the lap of the ultimate sea-power, and -the _Weltreich_ exists no more. By means of sea-power it has been -destroyed. The submarine is an effective weapon within its sphere, -but no victory has ever been won by evasion, and no sea-power can be -exercised by stealthy craft which hide beneath the surface of the sea. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE GRASP OF THE MEDITERRANEAN[B] - -SEA- AND LAND-POWER - - Others may use the ocean as their road, - Only the English make it their abode; - Our oaks secure, as if they there took root, - We tread on billows with a steady foot. - - _Edmund Waller_, 1656. - - -It is important next to consider the situation in the Mediterranean, -where sea-power is of momentous importance to the Allies. In those -historic waters the fate of many nations has been decided. They are a -vital link and the highway of the British Empire. Between Gibraltar -and Port Said two thousand miles of British welfare lie outrolled. To -France, with her great possessions in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunis, -the importance of this sea highway is supreme. She must, in this war -and at all times, traverse its waters or she will be undone. Italy -has won a great position In the Adriatic and the Mediterranean, and -she would wither away and perish if either fell under enemy control. -Trieste is her object, and she has proclaimed a protectorate over -Albania the better to establish her power in the Adriatic, and she has -her new possessions in the Libia Italiana of Northern Africa. From -the operations in the Mediterranean we shall learn something more of -the relation of sea-power to land operations, and of the limitations -of that power, and we shall see the allied navies of England, France, -Russia, Italy, and Japan in co-operation. We shall know why the enemy -made a great submarine stroke in the Mediterranean when everything else -at sea had failed. - -[B] See Map II., at end of book. - -The French battleship squadrons were concentrated in the Mediterranean -before the war. The cruiser squadron in the Channel, like David against -Goliath, was willing to encounter even the whole German High Sea Fleet; -but the French had been assured of British co-operation, and all danger -was forestalled. In the Mediterranean the _Goeben_ and _Breslau_ had -come west, and had bombarded Bona and Philippeville; but the French -Admiral, going south from Toulon, was on their heels, and they fled to -the east again, running the gauntlet of the British squadron on their -way to join the Turks. - -They had intended to raid the French transports at sea. At this -time the French were bringing their troops from Algeria and Tunis, -amounting in all to nearly 100,000 men, with guns, horses, mules, -stores, ammunition, hospitals, tent equipment, and all the requirements -for field service, to join the main army in France. It was a great -responsibility for the French Navy, increased many-fold when troops -began to come from their eastern possessions through the Suez Canal. - -Failure would have meant disaster. But the whole of the transport work -was managed without the loss of a man or a horse, and was a wonderful -success. It could hardly have taken place with so much security if the -British squadron had not been in the Mediterranean, and not at all if -the Grand Fleet had not held the German High Sea Fleet fast in its -ports by the blockade in the North Sea. From that time forward for many -months, until the Italians came into the war, on May 23rd, 1915, the -French squadron was employed in neutralising the Austro-Hungarian Fleet -in the Adriatic, which did not dare to move. The blockading squadron -was extended across the Strait of Otranto, with occasional sweeps to -the northward, to control hostile operations, if possible, at Cattaro -and along the Dalmatian coast up to the approaches to Pola, where -the submarine _Curie_ was entangled, and lost to the Austrians. The -French base for these operations was at Malta, but an advanced base -was established in the island of Lissa. The blockade was completely -successful in checking every effort of the Austrians to strike at the -stream of transport in the Mediterranean, though it could not avail -to save Montenegro or hold back the Austrians in their advance into -Albania. No fleet can operate beyond the range of its guns, unless its -flying officers carry their bombs into inland countries. - -The blockade maintained through the winter at the Strait of Otranto -was exceedingly arduous and filled with peril. Enemy destroyers and -submarines were at work, issuing from the wonderful island fringe of -the Dalmatian coast, and the French knew their peril. The armoured -cruiser _Léon Gambetta_ was sunk by submarine attack, with the loss -of Rear-Admiral Sénès, who was in command, and every officer on board, -as well as nearly 600 men. The armoured cruiser _Waldeck-Rousseau_ -suffered damage by torpedo, and the new Dreadnought _Jean Bart_, with -Admiral Boué de Lapéyrère, the French Admiralissimo of the combined -fleets, on board, was touched, though only slightly injured. There -were other submarine attacks and losses of small craft, and some -losses were inflicted upon the enemy. British cruisers were attached -to the French Flag during these operations, and they continued to -co-operate with the French and Italians in Adriatic waters and in the -Ægean, where the French and Allied naval forces were the guard of all -the operations at Salonika and in the Piræus. Fleets and armies have -co-operated in the Mediterranean from the very beginning of the war. In -May, 1917, the British monitors, which, with the converted cruisers, -had been operating with the military expedition against the Turks and -Bulgarians, appeared in the Adriatic, and rendered valuable aid to the -Italians in their advance towards Trieste. The naval coalition has been -a marvel of effective organisation. - -German professors have sometimes said that the land would sooner or -later beat the sea—that “Moltke” would become the victor over “Mahan.” -That is the convinced opinion of the Pan-Germans, who say that the -railway will yet prove the more rapid and the more secure means of -transport than the steamship. The lines from Antwerp by Cologne to -Vienna, and from Hamburg to Berlin, and thence through the very heart -of Europe to Vienna, and on by Belgrade and Sofia to Constantinople, -and from the opposite shore of the Bosphorus to Baghdad and down to the -Gulf, and by a branch through Persia to the confines of India, were to -give commercial and, perchance, military command of two continents. -Enterprise by the branch railway through Aleppo and Damascus against -Egypt, with a view to further developments in Africa, was related to -this conception of land-power. The measures adopted by the Allies for -the reconstitution of Serbia, the expeditions to the Dardanelles and -Salonika, the strong action taken in Greece, the naval movements on the -coast of Syria, the operations in the Sinai peninsula and Palestine, -and the expedition from the Persian Gulf to Baghdad were the answer to -these gigantesque projects of the enemy. - -Behind them all lay the working of the fleets. Every class of ship and -almost every kind of vessel employed in naval warfare has been used in -one or other of these operations—the battleship, cruiser, destroyer, -torpedo-boat, submarine, mother ship, aeroplane, aircraft-carrier, -mining vessel, river gunboat, motor launch, mine-trawler, armed -auxiliary, special service vessel, transport, store ship, collier, -oiler, tank, distilling ship, ordnance vessel, hospital ship, tug, -lighter, and a crowd of other craft. All these are required for the -work of the Navy in the Mediterranean, as elsewhere, and they have been -employed with a quality of seamanlike skill, enterprise, resource, -courage, and success such as the history of the sea has no previous -record of. The appearance at the Golden Horn of a British submarine, -which had traversed a Turkish mine-field, was the sign of new powers -in naval warfare. We are lost in admiration of the self-sacrifice -of officers and men, both of the regular naval service and of the -mercantile marine and the fisheries, the latter being the heroes of -the perilous work of mine-sweeping. The British and French navies, -and the vessel representing the Russian Navy, acted in the closest -co-operation, and all the naval forces worked in intimate association -with the armies. - -Where there was failure, the failure was due to the inevitable -limitations of sea-power, which has already been suggested with -reference to the North German coast, Zeebrugge, and the Montenegrin and -Albanian coasts. The history of the Dardanelles expedition will not be -written here. Beginning with a bombardment of the entrance forts on -November 3rd, 1914, which had little other effect than to stimulate -the defence, continued after an interval of months by the great naval -attacks in March, 1915, in which enormous damage was done to the forts -at the entrance and, to some extent, at the Narrows, but with the loss -of British and French battleships by the action of gunfire and drifting -mines, the enterprise concluded with the landing of the Allied armies -in the Gallipoli peninsula. The troops were compelled by outnumbering -forces and concentrated gunfire to withdraw. The combined attack should -have been made at the beginning. The unaided naval attack had merely -stimulated the defence. Here was the greatest demonstration of which -there is record of the limitation of sea-power. In the attack of such -a military position naval forces are essential, but military operations -are required if the desired success is to be attained. - -This is true of all the operations in the Mediterranean and elsewhere. -Sea-power gave the means by which the army drove back the Turks from -Egypt, and it was the support of the advance in Sinai and Palestine. -It gave protection to the transports which carried troops and Army -requirements to Salonika and the Piræus, patrolling the routes or -providing convoy for the ships. The enemy realised his opportunity, and -his submarines began to develop great activity in the Mediterranean. -Certain transports were sunk and an attempt was made to cut the -communications of the expeditionary forces with their base. Some -considerable losses were suffered thereby, but gradually systems were -developed which gave a reasonable sense of security. The British, -French, and Italian flotillas were employed, and that of Japan came to -their aid. Never had such naval co-operation been witnessed before. -We cannot separate the advance in Mesopotamia from the Mediterranean -operations because the same object inspired both—viz., that of -arresting the threatened development of German commercial and military -power, through Asiatic Turkey to the Persian Gulf, and through Persia -to the borders of India. The first advance to Kut-el-Amara and -Ctesiphon proved disastrous because undertaken with inadequate means; -but the Navy rendered brilliant service, and, in the second advance, a -sufficient river flotilla of gunboats and transports made possible the -advance to Baghdad and beyond. The naval flotilla co-operated with -most excellent effect in this advance, played havoc with enemy’s craft, -and recaptured H.M.S. _Firefly_, which had been lost in the retreat -from Ctesiphon. - -Thus we see the Navy operating in the great central theatre of war and -on its outlook to the East, exerting influence, transporting troops, -forming the base of armies, and everywhere proving an essential factor -in all that was done. It was confronted in the Mediterranean, as -elsewhere, with the new weapon of the submarine in very active form. -That menace, and the campaign against it, shall be the subject of the -next chapter. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -DEALING WITH THE SUBMARINES - - My name is Captain Kidd, - Captain Kidd. - My name is Captain Kidd, - Captain Kidd. - My name is Captain Kidd, - And wickedly I did; - God’s laws I did forbid, - As I sailed. - - _Old Nautical Ballad._ - - -Having seen the British Fleet and the fleets allied with it operating -in the North Sea, the Oceans, and the Mediterranean, we may suitably -turn to some special features of the duties and work of the Navy in the -war. The submarine came as a sign and a portent of new developments -in the means and the practice of warfare at sea. Regarded once as the -weapon of the weaker Power, it was adopted into the naval armoury of -the strongest. When, in 1901, under Lord Fisher’s administration as -First Sea Lord, a beginning was made in submarine construction by -the ordering of five Holland boats, many people were taken aback. -Confessedly the part to be played by the submarine lay at that time -in the realm of speculation, but the British Navy could not afford to -ignore it. Every advance must be watched and studied as it developed. -The development has been rapid, and there are British submarines -of astonishing powers, which have no equals in the world. They have -made their mark in many a theatre of war. The French had led the way. -The Germans followed in 1906. There is, indeed, the best reason to -believe that Grand Admiral von Tirpitz, chief of the Navy Department, -looked with no kindly eye upon submarine boats. He was a believer in -battleships and the creator of the High Sea Fleet, with its battle -squadrons and cruiser divisions. Concessions were made to the Admiralty -Staff, and a few submarines were put in hand; but it was not until the -beginning of the war that Tirpitz became inspired with the fervour of -the convert. - -Even now the relative position of the submarine in the category of -warships is obscure. Admiral Sir Percy Scott thought that the knell -of the battleship had been rung by its growing power; yet ships of -the battleship class, carrying incredible armaments, possessing speed -beyond the dreams of _ante-bellum_ naval constructors, and infinitely -superior for a dozen reasons to anything the Germans had thought of, -have recently been completed, and will probably play a decisive part in -any future naval engagement. - -[Illustration: FLEETS IN ALLIANCE: BRITISH AND ITALIAN SHIPS IN THE -ADRIATIC] - -[Illustration: ON BOARD THE “QUEEN ELIZABETH” AT MUDROS] - -But if the submarine has not dethroned the battleship, she has, in -the hands of the enemy, done other remarkable things. She has struck -a mortal blow at what many excellent people have hitherto regarded as -the settled and accepted code of International Law; she has appeared -as a pirate commerce-destroyer. Without warning and without pity -she has sunk fishing vessels, tramp steamers, stately liners, and -hospital ships. The code of honour is not observed by her. The -German submarine officer has orders to run no risks, although in the -old wars naval officers—who had no means of submerging either to attack -or to escape—gladly ran every risk incidental to the service in which -they were engaged. When the _Lusitania_ was sunk it was explained that -if the commander of the submarine had permitted the passengers to take -to the boats before firing his torpedo, “this would have meant the -certain destruction of his own vessel.” There was no evidence that such -would have been the case, but the risk, which implied a danger merely -incidental to naval service, was held to justify the sinking of the -great liner with 1,200 souls on board. The wildest imagination could -not have conceived that any human being could take such a distorted -view of right and wrong, and of the plain duty of the seaman. - -The submarine has accomplished other remarkable things in the war. -She has converted benevolent neutrals into resolute enemies. She has -brought the United States into the war in support of the Allies. She -has transformed the mercantile marines opposed to her into actual -fighting forces. A few merchant ships were armed before the war began, -but now, because of ruthless submarine attack, the British mercantile -marine is for practical purposes embodied with the Navy, in the sense -that it is under naval control, is provided with means of defence, -and acts directly under naval orders. Moreover, one-half or more of -its shipping has been taken over by the naval service. The same is -true of the merchant ships of the Allies. The German submarine has had -a further effect. She has created a whole array of means directed -to her destruction. Countless inventors have been set at work, and -extraordinarily ingenious methods have been employed with the purpose -of putting an end to submarine activities by sinking every boat as she -appeared. - -In the early days of the submarine it was believed that she might be -sunk by using spar torpedoes fixed in swift boats, which would bear -down upon the submarine as she submerged and explode the charge against -her hull. But it soon occurred to seamen that if a swift vessel, -destroyer or other, could run down a submarine she might more easily -sink her by the impact of her sharp stem or a special keel. This method -has been practised in the war, and by this means a number of enemy -submarines have been dispatched to Davy Jones’s locker. There was an -early case in which a certain destroyer, going at high speed, actually -impaled a German submarine on her stem, and carried her onward, so -injured that she sank. Another early case was that of the German -submarine rammed and sent to the bottom off Beachy Head on March 28th, -1915, by the _Thordis_, commanded by that plucky skipper, Captain Bell, -who set an example to many. - -Another plan was to use suitable vessels in pairs, each pair dragging -a cable connecting them, from which hung, on short lines, small mines -to be electrically exploded when a submerged obstruction, probably a -periscope or conning-tower, put a tension upon the connecting cable. -The disadvantage of this system was that the entrapping vessels could -not travel swiftly without bringing the cable near to the surface, -and the chance of a submarine fouling the cable was remote. Yet it may -be conjectured that the features of this system may have furnished -the germ of procedures now in use. Capture or sinking by the use of -nets was also an early idea, probably suggested by the nets used by -big ships at anchor for protection against torpedoes, and Admiral Sir -Arthur Wilson devised a large steel net for the purpose. Possibly this -method, too, has developed into the nets employed in dealing with -enemy submarines at the present time. But submarines were continually -increasing in strength of structure, speed, and handiness, so that new -systems were necessary and have developed with the requirements. - -What the actual methods employed by the Navy are cannot be explained. -When Mr. Frederick Palmer, the American writer, visited the Grand -Fleet he asked how the thing was done, and officers said: “Sometimes -by ramming; sometimes by gunfire; sometimes by explosives; and in many -other ways which we do not tell.” M. Joseph Reinach also visited the -Fleet, and said in the _Figaro_ that the submarine was pursued “by net, -gun, explosive bomb, and other means.” Squadron-Commander Bigsworth on -August 26th, 1915, destroyed a submarine off Ostend by dropping bombs -upon her from his aeroplane, and there have been several other episodes -of the same kind. When the first American transports were attacked in -the Atlantic, bombs fitted with a short-time fuse were employed which -burst at a determined depth below the surface of the sea. - -The Royal Naval Air Service plays a large part in the anti-submarine -campaign. Its seaplanes are always scouting over our waters and sight -enemy submarines from afar. Flying high, they can and do discover -submarines navigating below the surface, and by wireless or other -signals bring destroyers or other craft to the scene, where by special -means submarines are destroyed. - -Probably gunfire is the chief means by which submarines are sent to the -bottom. A German submarine may attain complete submergence from the -cruising trim within about three minutes; but the time may be longer, -if she has a gun mounted, wireless rigged, and other top hamper. From -the awash position, in which her speed is reduced, she may submerge in -about two minutes. A swift destroyer, knowing the position of such a -submarine, may advance toward her, covering a nautical mile within two -minutes, so that she has an excellent chance of coming within range -and putting in shots with effect. Gunnery is carried to a high pitch -of proficiency in the Navy, and one destroyer may be mentioned which -knocked out the periscope of a German submarine at a range of over -2,000 yards with her first round. There is nothing an enemy submarine -likes less than to see destroyers tearing down towards her at high -speed as she is getting in her gun, withdrawing her periscope, lowering -her masts—often a disguise—and filling her tanks. Moreover, complete -submergence may not be a sure protection for her if she is watched, for -she may be destroyed by an explosive bomb. - -German submarines have also learned to fear armed merchantmen, which -have not seldom used their guns with effect, sometimes compelling their -assailants to submerge, and so evading their attack, and sometimes by -obtaining direct hits. The _Dunrobin_ in September, 1916, carried on a -lively action for some minutes, hitting her assailant in the vicinity -of her conning-tower with a T.N.T. shell—thereby causing an internal -explosion, from which dense smoke arose—followed by three common shell, -each of them making a direct hit, after which the enemy suddenly -plunged at a sharp angle, evidently going to the bottom. In March, -1917, the _Bellorado_ was attacked by gunfire from a submarine, whereby -her master, chief officer, and a seaman were killed, while her gunners -put such shot into the assailant that she was silenced and manifestly -disabled. - -Further it is not permissible to go on describing how submarines are -accounted for. The catalogue of methods is a long one. There could -certainly be no single and decisive weapon for the destruction of this -new engine of warfare. There is no remedy for the effects of gunfire, -and if submarines discover targets possible to be attacked they will -certainly attack them. Some surprise was expressed that the British -Admiralty did not at once suppress the submarine menace. When the -submarine campaign began in February, 1915, it resulted in the sinking -of a number of British merchantmen; but, having risen to its height, it -declined, with fluctuations, until it was described as being “well in -hand.” The methods employed had been successful. Then, after several -months, the submarines began their depredations again, carrying them -into the Atlantic and the Mediterranean with great violence. They also -penetrated the Channel, though they never checked the great stream of -transport for the armies between English and French ports, which the -Navy was guarding with complete success. - -The reason for this recrudescence of submarine piracy was the intense -energy which the Germans devoted to the production of standardised -and powerful classes of submarines, whose parts were produced in -many districts of the German Empire. The new boats were practically -submarine cruisers, capable of high surface speed, which enabled them -to overhaul slow merchantmen, and they were armed with powerful guns. -The early enemy submarine carried a 1.4-inch gun, but a 2.9-inch -12-pounder was provided. There is now reason to believe that the -calibre has risen to 4.1 inches and, in the case of some of the -more powerful boats, to 5.1 inches, these larger guns being shorter -and lighter than the same guns mounted in cruisers. But obviously -submarines of these classes, carrying on their work over wider areas -and in distant places, will not be so easy to destroy as the smaller -boats of the early submarine campaign, and this may account for -the difficulty in providing a complete protection from the attack. -Submarine sections have been sent overland and assembled at Trieste for -the Adriatic and Mediterranean, and at Varna for use in the Black Sea, -and also doubtless at the Golden Horn or in the Gulf of Ismid. - -There is much uncertainty about the future of the submarine. She -exercises no command at sea, and she makes many fruitless attacks upon -armed merchantmen; but she is dangerous, nevertheless. The British -Navy has devoted exhaustless energy in applying every possible agency -for dealing with hostile submarines, and its great success encourages -the hope and belief that the scourge will yet be exterminated. -Destroyers, motor launches, patrolling ships of many classes, -seaplanes, observation balloons, and other craft are at work every day -and many of them every night. But whatever element of uncertainty there -may be as to the complete success of these agencies, there is none in -the conclusion that the submarine will never bring England, still less -her Allies, to the verge of famine or anywhere near it. Scarcity of -food is not due so much to the submarine as to the great demand on the -world’s supplies, and the enormous volume of shipping absorbed by the -naval and military requirements of England and her Allies. The Navy, -which has done such wonderful work in the war, is not and will not be -ineffective against the submarine. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE NAVY AND THE MINE - - They sink, they slink, they seek the boat, - Grisly horns stuck through their skin, - Ready to sink all things that float, - These villain boxes shaped of tin. - The fisher sees the death therein, - But reaches down with his long fling, - And grasps the chain that holds them in, - And draws the fangs they hoped would sting. - - _Anon._ - - -The British Navy fights for the great ideals of the people, acting upon -the lines of old and loyal traditions; but, while doing so, it has -encountered the desperate devices of the enemy, who has used the latest -achievements of scientific and mechanical invention in such a manner -as to overthrow many preconceived methods and accepted conventions of -naval warfare. We have already spoken of the submarine. Now we shall -see what the mine is, and how it is dealt with by the Navy and the -services the Navy controls. It has been said, with much truth, that -the essence of war is violence and that moderation in war is futility. -It is also true, as we see, in the cruel operations of Zeppelins and -bomb-dropping aeroplanes, and not less in the attacks of submarines, -as directed by the Germans and their allies, that the non-military -populations suffer the horrors of war in much greater degree than was -the case in the wars even of recent times. - -But the Germans, at the very beginning of the war, outraged neutral -sentiment by employing ostensible merchant and passenger vessels, -flying neutral flags, and without giving warning to the neutrals, in -the deadly work of scattering mines indiscriminately in the open sea -on the main lines of trade. They acted in direct contravention of the -rules of war as previously accepted. These disguised mining vessels -had traversed the trade routes as if pursuing peaceful purposes, thus -enjoying the immunities which had always been accorded to innocent -neutral vessels, and yet they had wantonly endangered the lives of all -who traversed the sea, whether neutral or enemy. The Admiralty were -soon able to declare publicly that this mine-laying under a neutral -flag, as well as reconnaissance conducted by trawlers and even by -hospital ships and neutral vessels, had become the ordinary methods -of German naval warfare. The later history of the war shows how far -the Germans were prepared to go in casting off any restraint in their -efforts to do injury to their enemies. They compelled the British -Admiralty to adopt counter-measures. - -For years past the Germans had devoted unremitting attention to the -study and practice of mining and the production of very powerful types -of mines. In that respect they were undoubtedly ready. The state of -war between England and Germany began at 11 p.m. on August 4th, 1914, -and on the morning of the next day German mines were being laid on the -east coast of England. The _Königin Luise_, a former Hamburg-Amerika -liner of 2,163 tons, was caught in the act, off the Suffolk coast, -and was sunk by the light cruiser _Amphion_ and the Third Torpedo -Flotilla. On the next day the _Amphion_ herself, the first British -warship destroyed in the war, fell a victim to the mines she had laid. -This disguised mine-layer had initiated a practice, which has since -been many times followed in the war, of throwing mines overboard in the -track of pursuing vessels. It was resorted to by the retreating Germans -in the battle of the Dogger Bank. Here it may be remarked that the -Germans have always claimed the right to subject every consideration to -their necessity to win, though at The Hague Conference of 1907, Baron -Marschall von Bieberstein, the German delegate, said that conscience, -good sense, and the duty imposed by the principles of humanity -would constitute the most effective guarantee against abuse, and he -proclaimed—“_je le dis à haute voix_”—that German naval officers would -always fulfil “in the strictest fashion the duties which emanate from -the unwritten law of humanity and civilisation.” - -Any technical description of German mines would be out of place here; -but it may be said that generally they approximate to a spherical -shape, and are provided with projecting “horns,” almost in the shape of -drumsticks, concussion with which is calculated to break a small phial -within, whose contents cause the detonation of the enormous charge of -T.N.T. explosive. Each mine is provided with a sinker, which drops to -the bottom, and is attached to the mine by a cable or sounding-line -paid out by special mechanism to any desired length, whereby the mine -may be kept at the intended depth below the surface. There are other -types of mines, and in particular one of cylindrical form, containing a -prodigious quantity of explosive and capable of the widest destruction. -This has probably been used only in special situations. The ordinary -mines can be laid with great rapidity by a specially fitted mine-layer, -provided with rotary gear, bringing mine after mine along a special -track to the dropping position. The drifting mines which the Germans -at the very beginning of the war set afloat in the main trade route -from America to Liverpool, _viâ_ the North of Ireland, can be laid with -still greater rapidity. - -When mine-laying in British waters by surface boats was made extremely -risky, or almost impossible, the Germans resorted to the employment -of submarine mine-layers, one of which was exhibited in the Thames. -Vessels of this class, so far as they are known, probably carry a -maximum of twelve big mines in six shoots or air-locks, the lower mine -in each shoot being released by means of a lever, after which the -other drops into its place, ready to be let go in the same way. The -boat exhibited in London and elsewhere was of a rough, rudimentary -character, indifferently built, and her speed was probably not more -than six or eight knots. Undoubtedly many of the submarine mine-layers -are of better type. They are constantly at work especially on the east -coast of England, and some losses have resulted; but the effect of -their operations is nearly always overcome by the means adopted by the -Navy. - -The first measure set on foot by the Admiralty was to organise a -system of search for suspicious craft, and to declare the North Sea -a war area, within which it was dangerous for any vessel to navigate -except through channels indicated by the naval authorities. The Germans -replied with their now famous and futile blockade order of February, -1915. New regulations were issued from time to time regulating -navigation through the British mine-fields, and the result has been, in -association with the patrols, to exercise a very close supervision over -the navigation in home waters. As to distant mining operations of the -enemy, the First Lord of the Admiralty stated, on March 8th, 1917, that -they had been carried very far, and the P. & O. liner _Mongolia_, sunk -off Bombay on June 23rd, 1917, was not the only vessel mined in the -Arabian Sea. From time to time it has been announced that mails for and -from the East and Australia have been lost at sea. - -It is an inspiring thing to turn from this picture of mines and the -scattering of them by the enemy to another picture—that of the gallant -and successful manner in which the Navy, and the mine-trawlers and -other vessels embodied in its service and employed in the ceaseless -patrols, have grappled with the deadly menace of the mine. Ever -patrolling the British coasts, ever facing death, often speeding -to the help of vessels mined, torpedoed, or otherwise in distress, -the glorious men who man these craft have inscribed their names in -letters of gold on the roll of British honour and fame at sea. It was -a marvellous thing, this embodiment of the vast mine-sweeping and -patrolling service in the work of the Navy in the war. From all the -coasts fishermen have come, with their trawlers converted from the -craft of winning fish at sea, to the sterner work of bringing up and -destroying the strange harvest of deadly mines which endanger all -life at sea. Many a trawler has been sunk by contact with her fatal -captures; others have been sunk by hostile fire and bombing by enemy -aeroplanes, but never have the brave seamen quailed in the service of -the country and the Allies, and in every port men are to be met whose -craft have been sunk under them, and who have hastened to sea again. - -Hundreds of ships, drawn from the mercantile marine and the fisheries, -steam yachts, motor boats, armed launches, and vessels of other -classes, are employed in such dangerous work. They share the trials -of war, wind, and weather with the regular naval patrols. Sir Edward -Carson, when First Lord of the Admiralty, directed attention to the -magnificent work of the mine-trawlers of these patrols. The force -employed at the beginning of the war numbered about 150 small vessels, -but increased to 3,000 or more. The whole nation should understand -what mine-sweepers were doing. “The thousands of men engaged in this -operation are the men who are feeding the whole population of this -country, from morning till night, battling with the elements as well -as the enemy, facing dangers under the sea. A mine-sweeper carries -his life in his hands at every moment, and he does it willingly.” -Later again he expressed his thanks and the thanks of the nation for -the splendid work they had accomplished. Of all the seamen who had -so deservedly earned the gratitude of the country none had had more -arduous and dangerous duties to perform than the gallant fellows in the -patrols. - -They have worked in reliefs day and night at sea, though sometimes -driven to port by the fury of the elements, and they brave every kind -of weather. As Admiral Bacon, commanding the Dover Patrol, has said, -with reference to the security with which thousands of merchantmen had -passed through the waters in his control, “no figures could emphasise -more thoroughly the sacrifice made by the personnel of the patrols and -the relative immunity ensured to the commerce of their country.” They -have trawled for mines not only in British but in distant waters. Their -magnificent work under fire, and attacked by bomb-dropping aeroplanes, -at the Dardanelles will never be forgotten. - -An American correspondent, Mr. Gordon Brace, who sailed in a -mine-trawler to learn its work, concluded an article in the _New York -Tribune_ in these words:— - - I looked at those men who go out day after day; who wear their - lifebelts continuously; who take their tea on the decks while - they peer over the rims of their cups for the death that lurks - in those sombre waters. I thought how fine was their devotion - to their duty; how great a part they are playing in the war—out - there alone, where their deeds are attended with no sounding - of trumpets, where they give to their work the same quality of - bravery as is required of the man in the trenches. And as I - glanced at the inscription over the cabin, which read “England - expects every man to do his duty,” I knew that England would not - be disappointed. - -The practical methods by which the Navy and its brave mine-trawlers -conduct their operations are of great interest, but description -cannot go too far. The enemy is certainly well acquainted with all -British methods previous to the war; but mine-sweeping systems do not -stand still, but develop with the progress of armaments generally. -Mine-trawling is developed from the system of trawling for fish, which -before the war had reached a high degree of technical efficiency, and -in the application of that system to their work in the war the men -have attained great proficiency and become extraordinarily successful. -The trawl-net varies in size with the dimensions of the vessel using -it. An average size would be about 100 feet in length, with a spread -of from 80 to 90 feet. The principal features in fishing trawlers are -fore and after frameworks, with fairleaders, a towing-block, a powerful -steam-winch, and towing-warps. A trawler would pay out hundreds of -fathoms of heavy wire warp, the handling of which called for great -skill and dexterity. It was not a very difficult thing to adapt this -method of trawling to the sweeping for mines. The fishing trawler goes -unaided, but in mine-sweeping the trawlers work in pairs, and the -towing-warp is replaced by the sweeping-wire. Two trawlers, steaming -abreast at a certain interval, drag a weighted steel hawser which, upon -striking the mooring of a mine, brings the deadly catch to the surface, -where it is exploded by gunfire from a destroyer or by rifle fire from -an armed trawler or motor boat. The mine-sweepers have encountered -perils and hardships which have never been recorded, and fishing -trawlers pursuing their peaceful occupations have often incurred the -same risks. - -Next after the destruction of the enemy’s fighting vessels comes -the destruction of his death-dealing mines, and the mine-trawlers, -confronted with an unparalleled task, attended with extreme peril, have -rendered magnificent service to England and her Allies. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE NAVY AND ARMY TRANSPORT - - What of the mark? - Ah! seek it not in England; - A bold mark, an old mark - Is waiting over-sea; - Where the string harps in chorus, - And the lion flag is o’er us, - It is there our work shall be. - - _Sir A. Conan Doyle._ - - -The stupendous and scarcely calculable operation of transporting -by sea the enormous armies which are employed in many theatres of -the hostilities is the index and measure of the greatest of all the -triumphs of naval power in the war, namely, that of establishing and -maintaining essential command of the sea. Against this bulwark the -enemy’s naval forces have battled in vain. The submarine may, in some -degree and in some circumstances, affect command of the sea, but it -cannot exercise it. - -It is difficult to realise all that the transport of millions of men, -organised as armies and provided with all that armies require, has -meant to the Allies, or to bring home to ourselves a full sense of -what the responsibilities of the Navy have been in safeguarding them. -The armies of Frederick and Napoleon were pygmies compared with the -vast hosts which are set in the field to-day. When Frederick invaded -Silesia he had with him not more than 30,000 men. The motley army with -which Napoleon invaded Russia—the greatest that had ever been brought -under a single command—did not greatly exceed 600,000 on a liberal -computation. Wellington in the Peninsula never commanded 50,000 men. -But in March, 1916, Mr. Balfour, then First Lord of the Admiralty, -said that 4,000,000 combatants had already been transported under the -guardianship of the British Fleet, with 1,000,000 horses and other -animals, 2,500,000 tons of stores, and 22,000,000 gallons of oil, for -British use and the use of the Allies. In January, 1917, Admiral Sir -John Jellicoe, First Sea Lord, said that over 7,000,000 men had been -transported, together with all the guns, munitions, and stores they -required. Six months later, when the United States troops began to -arrive, the figure may be estimated to have reached 10,000,000. - -The victory of Germany would have been swift and decisive if the great -armies represented by these figures had not come to the support of -France. French troops from Northern Africa and the East also joined -her brave army, because transport in the Mediterranean was secure. The -great army of Russia could have made no offensive movement if she had -not received the immense supplies of guns, munitions, motors, and other -material which came to her from abroad. Because of British supremacy -at sea and the shipping that consequently came there, Archangel, from -being a sleepy harbour, developed into one of the busiest ports on -the continent of Europe. Italy could have made no headway if many of -the things she required had not come to her by sea. Greece would have -remained permanently on the side of the enemy if sea-power and the -troops transported there had not rallied her to the Allies. The German -colonies would not have been occupied if fleets had not carried to them -the troops for their subjection. England, by virtue of sea command -guaranteed by her Fleet, has gathered her armies from India, Canada, -Australia, New Zealand, and from every colony and possession, and -has sent them to serve in France, Belgium, Greece, Gallipoli, Egypt, -Palestine, Macedonia, Mesopotamia, and Africa. Not a soldier has gone -afloat but a seaman has carried him on his back. - -Before we can appreciate this aspect of the work of the Navy in the -war, we must gain some idea of what is implied by the military service -of these armies in the field. It is not enough to dispatch armies. -They must be maintained and supplied. The communications of an army -are vital to its operations, and the communications of all the armies -that England is employing are by sea, and are guarded by the Navy. -It would not be an easy thing to estimate the vast requirements of -fighting forces; but that is unnecessary. They are on an infinitely -greater scale, in proportion to the strength of the troops employed, -than in any previous war. Guns are far more numerous and much heavier -than they were. The expenditure of ammunition has gone beyond all -anticipation, and a real fleet is required for its transport. Horses, -mules, many descriptions of heavy and light ordnance and ammunition for -them, warlike and general stores of innumerable kinds, aeroplanes, -balloons, the gigantic “tanks,” hospitals and hospital requisites, -clothing, food, forage, camp equipment, transport vehicles, traction -engines, pontooning, railway, telegraph, building, and mining material, -locomotives of many kinds, petrol, and a hundred other stores and -things are necessary, and they must day and night be in transit, -without rest or pause. It will illustrate the gigantic nature of the -operation if we record that between November, 1916, and June, 1917, -2,000 miles of complete railway track were shipped, with nearly 1,000 -locomotives, and other supplies by railway companies. Labour and work -for a hundred different services have to be provided also. The United -States and other countries have contributed enormous supplies, and, -with the coming of the American Army, the volume of the ceaseless -torrent—the veritable Niagara—will increase still more. History has no -parallel for such operations. - -This vast business being the charge of the British Navy and of the -navies allied with it, we see how great an object it must be of the -enemy to strike at the lines of supply. That they have completely -failed would appear almost miraculous, if we did not know that the -reasons for the failure are altogether of a practical character. It -was inevitable that there should be some losses when submarines and -mine-layers were at work, but the destruction effected has been a -mere fraction of the whole, and the influence upon the campaigns is -entirely negligible. The Ministry of Munitions imports 1,500,000 tons -of material every month. The most considerable loss due to attack -has been in the matter of shell components, but it did not amount to -more than 5.9 per cent. of the whole supply from the beginning of the -submarine campaign up to June, 1917. The most serious disasters were -in the Mediterranean, where submarines sank the French transports -_Provence II._ and _Gallia_, engaged in the Salonika expedition, with -the loss of about 1,600 lives. The enemy will certainly continue his -efforts. - -Never was a more seriously planned attempt made than that of June 22nd, -1917, when General Pershing’s American Expeditionary Force was crossing -the Atlantic. German submarines, in considerable force, made two -attacks upon the transports, and on both occasions were beaten off with -every appearance of loss. One submarine was certainly sunk, and there -was reason to believe that the accurate fire of the American gunners -sent others to the bottom. For purposes of convenience the expedition -had been divided into contingents, each composed of troop-ships and a -naval escort designed to keep off such raiders as might be met with. -An ocean rendezvous was arranged with the American destroyers then -operating in European waters, in order that the passage through the -danger zone might be attended by every possible protection. There -was reason to believe that the Germans had secret intelligence of -the course taken by the transports to the rendezvous and of the time -appointed for their arrival there. - -The first attack occurred at 10.30 p.m. at a point well on the American -side of the rendezvous, in a part of the Atlantic which might have -been presumed free from submarines. The heavy gunfire of the American -destroyers scattered the enemy boats, and five torpedoes were seen. -The second attack was launched a few days later, against the other -contingent, on the European side of the rendezvous. Not only did -destroyers hold the boats at a safe distance, but their speed resulted -in sinking at least one submarine. Bombs were dropped firing a charge -of explosive timed to go off at a certain distance under water. In -one instance the wreckage covered the surface of the sea after a shot -at a periscope. “Protected by our high seas convoy destroyers and by -French war vessels,” said the Secretary of the United States Navy, “the -contingent proceeded, and joined the others at a French port. The whole -nation will rejoice that so great a peril has passed for the vanguard -of the men who will fight our battles in France.” - -This incident illustrates the method of protection chiefly employed by -the British Navy. When the original Expeditionary Force was sent to -France, the Grand Fleet was in readiness if the High Sea Fleet should -venture to issue to sea. Cruisers, destroyers, naval aircraft, and -submarines were on watch and guard in the North Sea and the Channel, -and the patrol was maintained, day and night, without intermission -until the army had been effectively transported. The patrol was then -organised upon a greater scale as the transport grew in volume. The -Dover Patrol undertook a work of the highest importance, and was -instrumental in holding off all destroyer attacks from the eastward. -Cruisers, destroyers, armed motor launches, mine-trawlers and drifters, -and other vessels have been constantly at work, and observation -balloons and seaplanes have never ceased their vigil. The triumph has -been complete, the enemy submarines have never penetrated the guard, -and the Channel communications of all the armies in France have been -made secure. There are certain features of this organisation which -cannot be dealt with here. The same system has been carried into the -Mediterranean and elsewhere, and the French, Italian, and Japanese -navies have shared in the work. - -In this matter of transport protection the British Navy has rendered -magnificent service to all the Allies. General Sir Charles Munro, after -the evacuation of Gallipoli, said it was a stroke of good fortune -for the Army to be associated with a service “whose work remained -throughout this anxious period beyond the power of criticism or -cavil,” and General Sir Ian Hamilton reported that “one tiny flaw in -the mutual trust and confidence animating the two services would have -wrecked the whole enterprise.” This is true not only of Gallipoli but -of every place in which the Navy has been serving as the guard of the -communications, and the base and support of the military forces. - -It will be understood that the Transport Department of the British -Admiralty undertook a colossal work at the beginning of the war. It -possessed the unrivalled experience gained during the South African -War, 1899–1901, when about 275,000 men were dispatched and supplied -with all army requirements over a distance of 7,000 miles of sea and -land. Then there was no enemy afloat, but the operation was greater -than any previously undertaken, and evoked the admiration of the world -as a revelation of resource, energy, organisation, national spirit, -good management, and business-like capacity. What will be said when -the now incalculable work of the Transport Department in this war can -be estimated and described? The inspection and selection of ships and -the conversion of them for the accommodation of troops and horses was a -great business. In 1899 it was estimated that a satisfactory transport -should be capable of carrying a number of men equal to 25 per cent. of -her tonnage. What is the rule now one cannot say. There are important -considerations of ballasting, speed, coal consumption, and other -matters in such business, and the removal or adaptation of existing -fittings and the allotting of space for various purposes have occupied -the Admiralty officers and officials. - -It was a business both of embarkation and disembarkation, on both sides -of the Channel, and special provision was required for the wounded -and sick. The Naval Transport and Embarkation Officers have had a -very exhausting and anxious time in taking up, fitting, coaling, and -otherwise preparing vessels for sea, and in giving orders for the -movements of ships at the ports on arrival and departure, as well as -in providing for the safety and expedition of all embarkations of men, -horses, and stores, and arranging for docking and like matters. They -merit the gratitude of the country and the Allies. It may be said -that in all the naval and commercial ports of the United Kingdom, -and in the French ports as well, work of this or like kind has been -in progress uninterruptedly since the beginning of the war. It is -strictly naval work, and was set on an excellent and satisfactory -footing by the Admiralty; but, as the war progressed, and the pressure -grew greater, imposing additional duties on the Transport Department, -some matters dealt with by certain of its branches, and concerned with -ship construction, modification, and repair, were placed in charge of -competent civilians. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE NAVY THAT FLIES - - Heard the Heavens fill with shouting, and there rain’d a - ghastly dew - From the nations’ airy navies grappling in the central blue. - - _Tennyson._ - - -From an account of the work of the British Navy in the war there must -not be omitted some exposition of the gallant doings of the men of -the Royal Naval Air Service. They have made their mark in the war, -in every theatre of it, and no one can tell what part they will play -before the struggle is at an end. Of some of their work very little is -known. They render “silent” service, like that of the Navy to which -they belong. They do not always carry on their duty alone. On occasions -they participate in that of the Royal Flying Corps of the Army. They -have been associated with the gallant French airmen, and the Americans -come with a new burst of energy. The Germans know British naval airmen -at Zeebrugge and Ostend, and in all the country behind those places; -at sea also, when the German raiders return from their exploits; and -on the West front of the Army, too, where they go at times far behind -the line, spying out the land, taking number and note of the enemy, -dropping bombs on his store and ammunition dumps, disturbing all -his rearward services, and stirring up his aerodromes and the nursing -places, where his fledglings, whom they call “quirks,” are taking to -themselves wings and learning to fly. - -[Illustration: A FLEET MANŒUVERING AT SEA] - -[Illustration: THE CAPTURED GERMAN SUBMARINE MINE-LAYER UC5] - -The Royal Naval Air Service has lent its aid to the Italians, has -provided unpleasant experiences for the Bulgarians, has dropped bombs -on the Turks at Gaza and thereabout, has rendered good service in -the Mesopotamian business, and was invaluable in “spotting” for the -guns which destroyed the fugitive German cruiser _Königsberg_ in the -jungle-clad reaches of the Rufiji River. From dawn to dusk these -knights of the air have been flying in many parts of the world, and -night-flying is their particular pleasure when there is great work -to be done. Their “game book” is very full of astounding episodes -of fighting which, in exciting experiences, put into the shade the -thrilling narratives which for generations have delighted the hearts -of boys. Few people know the sleepless vigil which the naval airmen -keep all round the British coasts, constantly flying to keep watch upon -the enemy, to spot his submarines, to discover his mine-fields, and -to defeat any efforts he may make when transports are moving at sea. -Such is an outline of the occupations and duties of the Royal Naval Air -Service. - -There was an “Air Department” at the Admiralty before the war, and a -Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps with its “Central Air Office,” -its Flying School at Eastchurch, and seaplane and aeroplane stations -at six places on the coasts, as well as airships at Farnborough and -Kingsnorth. At the Royal inspection at Spithead of the great mobilised -Fleet, just before the war, naval aeroplanes, seaplanes, and airships -gave a fine display. Development was rapid, the Royal Naval Air Service -came into independent existence, and there is now the Fifth Sea Lord -at the Admiralty charged with the supervision of the Royal Naval Air -Service, and representing it on the Air Board. - -Some of the most useful work of the Royal Naval Air Service is in -“spotting” for the guns of the warships. Its officers made a methodical -photographic survey of the coast from Nieuport to the Dutch frontier -early in the war to assist the monitors which were then bombarding -the coast, and to observe and correct their fire. They worked from a -height of about 12,000 feet, constantly observing the development of -the enemy’s gun emplacements, all in despite of hostile aeroplanes and -shells. That survey has been continued, and the result is the finest -thing in aerial cartography which has ever been achieved. - -It will illustrate this part of the special work of the seaplanes if we -describe how they began, which we are enabled to do by a lively-witted -official scribe, who examined the records of their operations, and has -given his impressions:— - - “I can’t see where they’re pitching,” said the Navy-that-Floats, - referring to the shells of the monitors bursting twelve miles - away. “What about spotting for us, old son?” “That will I do,” - replied the Navy-that-Flies. “And more also. But I shall have to - wear khaki, because it’s done out here; by everybody, apparently.” - - “Wear anything you like,” replied the Navy-that-Floats, “as long - as you help us to hit those shore-batteries. Only—because you - wear khaki (the Royal Naval Air Service does not usually wear - khaki) and see life, don’t forget you’re still the same old Navy, - as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.” - - The Navy-that-Flies added “Amen,” and said that it wouldn’t - forget. Wherever its squadrons were based they rigged a flagstaff - and flew the White Ensign at the peak. They erected wooden huts - and painted them Service grey, labelling them “Mess-deck,” - “Ward-room,” “Gun-room,” etc., as the case might be. They divided - the flights into port and starboard watches, and solemnly asked - leave to “go ashore” for recreation. They filled in shell-holes - and levelled the ground for aerodromes; they ran up hangars and - excavated dug-outs—whither they retired in a strong silent rush - (the expression is theirs) when the apprehensive Boche attempted - to curtail their activity with bombs. - -Not all the good work of the Royal Naval Air Service in its -co-operation with the Fleet comes into public notice. It rendered -excellent service at the Dardanelles, the seaplane carrier _Arc Royal_ -being present. There were many fine achievements, including the bombing -of a transport in the Straits by Flight-Commander C. H. K. Edmonds, -R.N. Seaplanes may take the place of scouting cruisers, as the eyes of -the Fleet, and relieve destroyers of some of their scouting duties. -What would Nelson not have given for the help of seaplanes when he -was crying out for frigates, and was groping for the French in the -Mediterranean in 1798, and came unknowingly within a short distance -of them; or, again, when, in 1805, they eluded him off Toulon? -Intelligence of the movements of our enemy is of the utmost importance -to officers commanding at sea, and this is the service which the naval -airmen have been rendering. - -At the beginning of the war the Germans enjoyed an advantage in the -possession of some dirigible airships, which sailed in calm airs, -unimpeded, over the North Sea, surveyed its full extent, and reported -what they saw to the German naval authorities. Their number rapidly -increased. Thus the British Fleet was to a certain extent hampered in -its operations. Now the situation is changed. The enemy’s airships -know the peril of coming within range of anti-aircraft guns, and they -dread the “hornets” which carry special means of setting them on fire. -There are British airships, too, and observation captive balloons, -fixed and towed, as well as seaplanes, maintained in adequate numbers. -The seaplane played a useful part in the battle of the Jutland Bank, -and craft of the class will astonish the enemy in any subsequent naval -engagement. - -The dropping of bombs by the seaplanes or aeroplanes of the Royal -Naval Air Service has become the most prominent of its activities. -The machines are of great power, and, acting in numbers, they have -been able to drop an enormous weight of bombs on the enemy positions, -particularly in the districts behind the coast of West Flanders. Within -the space of four or five months 70 tons of explosives were dropped -on the German aerodromes in Northern Belgium. Brave naval airmen in -July, 1917, from a height of 800 feet, dropped bombs on the _Goeben_ -and other enemy warships at the Golden Horn, and hit the Turkish War -Office also. In this work the young officers—for the service demands -youth—have given proof of exceeding keenness. It would be difficult to -catalogue the expeditions of the naval airmen on the Belgian coast. -They have assisted in most important operations. - -How far such work may be continued, to what range carried, or what will -be the full effect, we do not know. The Navy-that-Flies will leave -nothing undone that is capable of accomplishment. It has operated in -association with the work of French flying men on many occasions, at -the bombardment of Zeebrugge and elsewhere. It will find a powerful -co-worker in the new and gallant allies who are bringing all their -force to bear from beyond the Atlantic. The United States air service -will develop with extraordinary rapidity, and its co-operation will be -warmly welcomed by British naval airmen. So abundant is the confidence -of Americans, so strong and virile their faith in themselves, that some -of them look to the aeroplane to end the war. Rear-Admiral Bradley A. -Fiske has demanded an immediate naval attack on the German fleet and -submarine bases in the Baltic by a monster fleet of aeroplanes and -seaplanes. He believes that the importance of naval aerial operations -is not sufficiently realised by the Allies and that Essen may be -destroyed by bombardment from the air. - -The field of speculation does not fall within the scope of this little -book, the object of which is to illustrate the work of the Fleet and -its associated services in all the theatres of war. The Royal Naval -Air Service is still young, and has undoubtedly a great future. -Already it has proved a valuable auxiliary. It has assisted in the -important business of providing complete strategical observations. It -has aided the work of the commercial blockade, in making more easy on -many occasions the operations of the much-tried examination service. -Undoubtedly the transport of the armies and their stores across the -Channel and in many seas, which was the subject of the last chapter, -would have been conducted with less certainty, and perhaps with less -confidence, if it had not been for the active co-operation, as the -eyes of the Fleet, of the naval flying men. The long-range gunnery of -warships against permanent fortifications, both at the Dardanelles and -on the Belgian coast, has gained in accuracy from the observation by -the aircraft of the Navy. - -This subject might have been pursued further, but enough has been said -to show that, among the agencies employed by the British Fleet in the -accomplishment of the supreme duties which it exercises for the safety -of the country and the support of the Allies, the Royal Naval Air -Service holds an important place. It has evoked enthusiasm among its -officers, who have maintained in a high degree, in many a battle in the -air, the fearlessness, resource, and daring of the Naval Service to -which they belong. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE NAVY - - Sailor, what of the debt we owe you? - Day or night is the peril more? - Who so dull that he fails to know you, - Sleepless guard of our island shore? - Safe the corn to the farmyard taken; - Grain ships safe upon all the seas; - Homes in peace and a faith unshaken— - Sailor, what do we owe for these? - - _The late Viscount Stuart._ - - -No picture of the war work of the British Navy could be complete -without some account of its officers and men. From what has already -been said, the nature of the qualities demanded of them will have -been realised. In the general direction of the Navy by the Admiralty -there have been required calm reflection, profound insight, strategic -imagination, sound and swift judgment as to the full use and the -yet ill-understood limitations of sea-power, an abundant spring of -action, and the unflinching resolution to give effect to the utmost -to the striking and controlling force of the naval arm. In the -Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet there was needed the high ability -to administer and exercise the command, to inspire officers and men of -every rank and rating in the Fleet with zeal, efficiency, and devotion, -as well as sleepless vigilance in the long waiting for the enemy, and -instant readiness for action at all times. The Commander-in-Chief does -not work alone. He has a staff who collaborate in these duties and give -effect to his plans; and admirals secondary in command, who have no -light task in directing the work and operations of the larger elements -of the Fleet. Sir John Jellicoe, who was appointed to the Grand Fleet -at the beginning of the war, was a master of the high attainments -required for his office, and it was he who created the base of his -operations, organised all the agencies of his command, and exercised -that command with consummate ability. The instrument he had shaped -and handled so capably fell to the charge of Sir David Beatty, a most -gallant officer, eminently fitted to use it, whose temperament is the -very spirit of action, and yet who forms his plans in the mould of cool -reflection. Happily for the British Navy, the fire of action is mingled -in its officers with the ice of thought. They know when to strike, and -when they strike they strike hard. - -Great responsibilities have rested on the captains of His Majesty’s -ships. They showed in the Jutland battle, in which they were tried by -the searching test of decisive action, that they possessed the ability -to inspire and discipline their men, and to put forth the maximum of -the fighting power of the ships. Officers in detached command away -from the Fleet have rendered very great services. The junior officers -are beyond praise. By universal testimony, their devotion, courage, -and ever-ready professional skill, in every test of emergency and -endurance, have never been excelled. The officers of the destroyers are -men above price. The commanders of submarines, who have even carried -their enterprise into the Baltic, and risked the perils of mine and gun -in the narrow waters of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, are officers -who have won new laurels for the Fleet. - -The men of the lower deck, wherever they serve, give daily proof of the -bravery, hardihood, cheerfulness, and long endurance which have always -been the qualities of British seamen. Let Sir John Jellicoe speak of -them as he knew them:— - - Nothing can ever have been finer than the coolness and courage - shown in every case where ships have been sunk by mines or - torpedoes; discipline has been perfect, and men have gone to - their deaths not only most gallantly, but most unselfishly. One - heard on all sides of numerous instances of men giving up on - these occasions the plank which had supported them to some more - feeble comrade, and I feel prouder every day that passes that I - command such men. During the period of waiting and watching they - are cheerful and contented, in spite of the grey dullness of - their lives. - -It would not be difficult to single out instances from the records of -the war of constructive power in thought, and sound and swift judgment -in action, as well as of splendid courage, enterprise, dash, and -resolution—call it what you will—in the crisis of battle and in moments -of stress, exhibited in a manner rarely exampled in naval warfare. The -British Fleet has been rich in the mental endowments of its officers, -showing them to possess grasp and insight, and moral force, to dominate -hesitation and sustain action in the tremendous emergencies of battle -and when confronted with the most formidable responsibilities. -Excitement has never carried them away. Judgment has worked through all -their endeavours as, in the long watches and waiting, it has sustained -them. - -Eulogy is not required. Nothing that has been said exceeds the -merits of officers and men. It is right that these things should be -understood. The man is more than the machine, and the finest fleet and -most compete material equipment are dead and inert without the living -power of the officers who command, and the men who man the ships and -vessels of every class. It is they who have done and are doing the work -of the Navy in the war. They, and not their ships, have given security -to the British Isles, have kept the seas and oceans open for the -Allies, have safeguarded every interest afloat, and have worked and are -working, day and night, to defeat the purposes of the enemy. - -We now turn to a consideration which is of paramount importance for -a right understanding of the Navy’s work in the war. England is the -support of all her Continental Allies. If she should suffer or lose -her power of supplying them with armies and arms, or should weaken in -her offensive, the Allies would collapse. This is a fact of primary -importance. The Germans realise it fully. They hesitate at nothing in -their efforts to strike at England. They publicly declared that they -would reduce her by famine. They struck at her mercantile marine, not -merely at ships which were armed and engaged in the naval service -in such large numbers, but at the ordinary cargo vessels, including -neutral vessels carrying British supplies, and at fishermen pursuing -their regular avocations, who, under The Hague Conventions, were, -with their boats, tackle, rigging, gear, and cargoes, to be exempt -from capture, and still more from destruction. Of the officers and -men of these services we must speak also. It became necessary, in the -conditions which had arisen, to bring the whole mercantile marine under -naval direction and orders, and practically it is embodied with the -Navy, and provided for the most part with armaments for defence, and -closely in touch with a great protective organisation. - -When Mr. Balfour was First Lord of the Admiralty, speaking in the -House of Commons on March 7th, 1916, he directed special attention to -this aspect of naval work, not merely to the service of ships flying -the White Ensign, but to that of transports and of merchant and cargo -vessels, and their officers and men, conveying imports and exports, -and the supplies required by the Allied armies. “On them,” he said, -“we depend, not less than on our armed forces, for maintaining the -necessary economic basis upon which all war must ultimately be waged.” -There were, as he said, thousands of officers and men whose ships had -been sunk under them by mine and submarine, and yet who had cheerfully -signed on again, and were not to be driven from their ancient heritage -of the sea. England depends upon her mercantile marine for her national -existence. To a great extent, her food and raw materials are in its -charge; and it also brings without ceasing hundreds of thousands -of tons of munitions of many kinds required by the Allies. When, -therefore, we estimate the work of the Navy in the war, we must give -to the merchant branch of the Sea Service the position it deserves, as -an absolute and primary necessity to England and her Allies. - -The nobility of the work carried on by the officers and men of -the merchant service and the fishermen, whether in armed ships, -mine-trawlers, or cargo vessels, is a dominant note of the war. Their -heroism has been conspicuous, and, as was stated by Admiral Sir Henry -Jackson, when he was First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, the facility -with which they learned to carry out their duties as part of a trained -fighting force was extraordinary. “The Allied nations,” he said, “owe -them a deep debt of gratitude for their response, as well as for their -indomitable pluck and endurance.” “There is no room in the Navy for -anything but the most sincere admiration and respect for the officers -and men of the mercantile marine,” said Sir John Jellicoe. They had -practically become a part of the fighting force, sharing in the work -of the Navy in the war, and their courageous conduct and unflinching -devotion to duty have gained the testimony of naval officers -everywhere, not only in the British service, but in the Allied navies -which have come into contact with them. Of the magnificent service of -the mine-trawlers we have spoken in a previous chapter. - -Let this chapter conclude with an appeal to England and her Allies to -remember the great and enduring services of British seamen. They do -not often speak of one another. Sometimes, as by a flash, as when Sir -John Jellicoe wrote of his men, the truth is revealed. It was that -taciturn old officer, Sir John Jervis, who said of Troubridge that he -had “honour and courage as bright as his sword.” The torch is handed on -from one officer to another. There are many qualities among them. The -fire of Drake meets the resolute gravity of Blake; the long reflection -of Kempenfelt is the foil to the fierce glow of Nelson. The tradition -is continuous. Sir John Jellicoe could find no words to do justice -to his officers and men in the day and night actions of the Jutland -Battle. The glorious traditions of the past were worthily upheld. Sir -David Beatty showed his fine qualities of gallant leadership, high -determination, and correct strategic insight. Great qualities were -manifested by every rank and rating. Down in the engine-rooms, seeing -nothing of the battle, men were working like Titans, and some ships -reached speeds which they had never before attained. This was great -service for England and her Allies. - -There is sometimes a tendency to forget—to lose proportion, also—in -censuring seamen for not doing what the power of the sea alone can -never achieve. Howe was burned in effigy in London almost at the very -time when he was fighting his glorious battle of Quiberon Bay, braving -the perils of rocks which were charted and known, and not, be it -noted, of submarines and mines which are invisible and unknown. As the -sarcastic songster wrote at the time: - - When Hawke did bang - Monsieur Conflans, - You sent us beef and beer; - Now Monsieur’s beat, - We’ve naught to eat, - Since you have naught to fear. - -And so Nelson spoke. “I will only apply,” he said, “some very old lines -wrote at the end of some former war: - - “Our God and sailor we adore - In times of danger—not before! - The danger past, both are alike requited: - God is forgotten, and the sailor slighted!” - -Now, the object of this book is to show what are the services of the -British Navy to England and to the Allies. Its influence has been -visible throughout the world, working everywhere with unexampled -success. It operates solely because of the qualities and sacrifices of -its officers and men. To them a high tribute must be paid. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -WHAT THE BRITISH NAVY IS AND WHAT IT FIGHTS FOR - - Where shall the watchful sun, - England, my England, - Match the master-work you’ve done, - England, my own? - When shall he rejoice agen - Such a breed of mighty men - As come forward, one to ten, - To the song on your bugles blown, - England— - Down the years on your bugles blown? - - _W. E. Henley._ - - -Antagonism between England and Germany became the central fact in the -international situation many years before the war. There seemed to be -a fundamental antithesis between the ideals of the two peoples. The -freedom of the Englishman, guaranteed to him by sea-power, appeared -effeminate and undisciplined weakness to the German; the freedom of -the German, guaranteed to him only by the military strength of his -autocratic State, was regarded as feudal dependence by the Englishman. -Not to bring about a conflict, but to avert one—or, if the worst -came to the worst, to engage in one with success—was the motive of -British policy. There was no visible ground for German aggression, but -deep-seated antagonism was the element of danger which successive -Premiers and Foreign Ministers had had to take account of in appraising -their country’s future, and, with the guidance of their colleague at -the Admiralty, who based his judgment on that of his naval advisers, -they had obtained the means to build up the Fleet, which was to be the -country’s and Empire’s defence. - -[Illustration: A BRITISH SUBMARINE] - -[Illustration: JOURNALISTS ON BOARD A MONITOR] - -Armageddon was foreseen, though there was hope against hope that, in -the great crisis, the dire struggle might be averted. It was known -that Belgium and France would have need of England if the dogs of war -were let slip. Many soldiers and writers had pointed out that Belgium -would become the inevitable pathway of aggression. German writers had -declared it an injury that the Congress of Vienna had not established -Germany on the North Sea, and Arndt had expressed the ardent desire -of the German heart to reconquer the great western rivers, implying -the domination of the seas. There were dangers in these lesser -countries. They were full of possibilities. _Qui trop embrasse mal -étreint._ Belgium would cry aloud for English help. As to Italy, it -was difficult to believe that she could hold to her compact with the -Central Powers. Russia, it was known, would be against them. Thus in -all her naval efforts, long before the war, England, while guarding -her own interests, was working and building up her naval strength, in -conscious knowledge of the duty she might one day have to her friends -who have now become her Allies. This is a very important point, and it -leads to a brief survey of great sacrifices and unstinted efforts which -Englishmen have made in the past. - -The Fleet that went into the war was the most powerful, best organised, -and best equipped in every essential particular in the world. Yet, -for a very long anterior period, Englishmen had remained unconscious -of what they owed to the Fleet. They had fought brilliant campaigns -in China, Afghanistan, India, Burma, the Crimea, Abyssinia, and -elsewhere, in which the Navy was a most essential factor, though it -had scarcely appeared in the public eye. It was therefore from a low -ebb that the British Navy rose to the high-water mark of the war. It -was not until about the year 1882 that the tide began to turn, driven -forward by the lively breeze of a very useful agitation, in which the -late Mr. W. T. Stead took a prominent part, and which is believed to -have been inspired by the present Lord Fisher and the late Mr. Arnold -Forster. A great shipbuilding scheme was put in hand in 1889. Ever -since that time, under far-seeing First Lords and First Sea Lords of -the Admiralty, the task of asserting British naval supremacy has gone -forward. Expenditure on the Navy mounted from £31,000,000 in 1901 to -£51,500,000 in 1914, which latter was thought a monstrous figure; but -it was not a penny too much for the great interests which had to be -safeguarded. - -Battleships of increasing power, cruisers of many classes, destroyers, -submarines, and auxiliaries were built. Lord Fisher came to the -Admiralty as First Sea Lord in 1904, and during the subsequent six -years an enormous work was carried on. The battleships culminated -in the Dreadnoughts—that class of ships with a main armament of all -big guns—the cruisers in the battle-cruisers, destroyers grew more -numerous and of much greater power, submarines were developed in range -and sea-keeping qualities. None of these types have stood still. The -Dreadnought developed into the Super-Dreadnought, and the latter has -developed into the ships of powers before undreamed of, which no one -has yet described. The submarine has been changed out of recognition, -and no one suspects what these British vessels can and will do when -“The Day” really comes. - -All these mechanical developments of the Fleet, which are so essential -at the present time, grew out of the impetus given in and after the -year 1904. But that was not the only thing which placed the country -in such a position of advantage at the beginning of the war. The -battle-fleet and cruiser squadrons had been reorganised to coincide -with the needs of the Empire, owing to the shifting of the stress of -naval power from the Atlantic and the Channel to the North Sea. Some -squadrons in distant waters were reduced in strength to correspond -with the requirements, and non-fighting ships—vessels too weak to -fight and too slow to run away—were brought home from distant seas, -and their officers and men were made available for modern ships. A -system of nucleus crews was adopted for the reserve ships to facilitate -mobilisation and to make sure that the ships would be really fit -for sea. Before that time the whole Fleet had been pivoted on the -Mediterranean, and a British warship was rarely seen in the North Sea. -By progressive steps the naval front was changed from the South to the -East. On the east coast of the United Kingdom destroyer and submarine -flotillas were based on ports prepared for them. A great dockyard was -erected at Rosyth, and all along the coast naval bases were developed, -and every preparation was made for the possibility of war. These -were developments of great significance, and the immense and growing -strength of the British Fleet justified the French in concentrating -their battle squadrons in the Mediterranean, and leaving at Brest and -in the Channel only a division of cruisers, supported by flotillas. - -Fleets of warships are meant to fight when the need for fighting -comes; but there was no affront to Germany, no cause for resentment or -agitation, in the concentration of the main strength of the British -Fleet in such places, and with such bases, that they could carry their -power into the North Sea. Force attracts force in strategy as in -physics, and the growth of the German High Sea Fleet at Wilhelmshaven, -with the great sea canal thence to Kiel on the Baltic, inevitably -brought about the British concentration. How magnificently advantageous -was the position secured has already been shown. In an earlier chapter -it has also been explained that by the strategic position occupied by -the Grand Fleet, and the grip held on the entrance to the Channel at -Dover, the North Sea became strategically a closed sea—a _mare clausum_. - -This fact, which is a fact of geography as well as of strategic -concentration, has made the enemy restive and resentful. We are -described as the “tyrants of the seas,” and the “freedom of the seas” -became a catchword of the Germans. Every ruler who has felt the hard -pressure of British sea-power, whether his name was Louis, or Napoleon, -or Wilhelm, has, perhaps inevitably, taken this line in denouncing -us to neutrals and endeavouring to array neutrals against us. In an -earlier stage of the present war this was the consistent plea of -German statesmen. But when they instructed their sea officers to sink -the _Lusitania_ and many other ships, and when they threatened with -disaster neutral ships which approached the British Isles, they became -themselves the tyrants of the sea in a very real sense, and they thus -arrayed the United States and other States against themselves, and -brought a new Armada to strengthen the already superior British Fleet. - -The war is a fight for freedom. The British Navy is fighting, and glad -to have the Allied navies fighting in co-ordination with it, for the -liberation of oppressed nations and countries from military domination. -Command of the sea implies no restriction of navigation. It exists only -in war time. In time of peace the British Navy guaranteed the freedom -of the seas, and will guarantee it again when the war is at an end. We -cannot do better than quote on this question what that distinguished -American writer Admiral Mahan said:— - - Why do English innate political conceptions of popular - representative Government, of the balance of law and liberty, - prevail in North America from the Arctic Circle to the Gulf of - Mexico, from the Atlantic to the Pacific? Because the command of - the sea at the decisive era belonged to Great Britain. In India - and Egypt administrative efficiency has taken the place of a - welter of tyranny, feudal struggle, and bloodshed, achieving - thereby the comparative welfare of the once harried populations. - What underlies this administrative efficiency? The British Navy, - assuring in the first place British control and thereafter - communication with the home country, whence comes the local - power without which administration everywhere is futile. What, - at the moment when the Monroe doctrine was proclaimed, insured - beyond peradventure the immunity from foreign oppression of the - Spanish-American colonies in their struggle for independence? The - command of the sea by Great Britain, backed by the feeble Navy - but imposing strategic position of the United States, with her - swarm of potential commerce-destroyers, which, a decade before, - had harassed the trade even of the Mistress of the Seas. - -In concluding, therefore, we see how the British Navy, having served -Great Britain and the British Empire so efficiently and so well in -every interest and possession, fighting constantly against every -stealthy device of the enemy, has served the Allies not less well and -worthily. And we discover, too, that the Navy is ever friendly to -neutral Powers, and that the command of the sea which it exercises in -the war is the panoply of freedom and liberty throughout the world. - -[Illustration: I. 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DORAN COMPANY _Publishers_ New York - Publishers in America for HODDER & STOUGHTON - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -Punctuation 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; occurrences of -inconsistent hyphenation have not been changed. - -Page 6: “If Nelson, in 1789,” should be 1798. - -Page 10: “by in Navy” was printed that way; probably should be “by the -Navy”. - -Pages 11 and 29: Footnotes were unmarked in original, but have been -marked as footnotes here. - -Page 66: “Nieuport” was printed that way; should be “Nieuwpoort”. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Achievement of the British Navy in -the World-War, by John Leyland - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ACHIEVEMENT--BRITISH NAVY--WORLD-WAR *** - -***** This file should be named 56027-0.txt or 56027-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/6/0/2/56027/ - -Produced by Brian Coe, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. 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