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max-width: 100%; width: 100%; margin: auto;} - #ad b.fright {float: right;} - - .covernote {display: block; visibility: visible;} -} - -@media handheld -{ - body {margin: 0;} - - hr { - margin-top: .1em; - margin-bottom: .1em; - visibility: hidden; - color: white; - width: .01em; - display: none; - } - - blockquote {margin: 1.5em 3% 1.5em 3%;} - - .poem-container {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%;} - .poem {display: block;} - .poem .attrib {max-width: 25em; margin-right: auto; text-align: left; margin-left: 8em;} - .poem .stanza {page-break-inside: avoid;} - - .transnote { - page-break-inside: avoid; - margin-left: 2%; - margin-right: 2%; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - padding: .5em; - } - -} - </style> - </head> - -<body> - - -<pre> - -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.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="transnote covernote"> -<p class="center">Transcriber’s Note: Cover created by Transcriber, using -materials from the original book, and placed into the Public Domain.</p></div> - - -<h1>THE ACHIEVEMENT<br /> -OF THE BRITISH<br /> -NAVY IN THE<br /> -WORLD<br /> -WAR</h1> - -<div id="if_i_001" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 28.0625em;"> - <img src="images/i_001.jpg" width="449" height="341" alt="" /></div> - -<p class="p2 center">By<br /> -<span class="smcap large">John Leyland</span></p> - -<p class="p2 center vspace wspace larger">HODDER AND STOUGHTON<br /> -<span class="small">LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO</span> -<span class="small">MCMXVII</span></p> - -<p class="right"><i>E SHILLING</i></p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="newpage center vspace larger"> -THE ACHIEVEMENT <i>of the</i> BRITISH NAVY<br /> -IN THE WORLD-WAR :: JOHN LEYLAND -</p> - -<hr /> -<div id="i_frontis" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 26.8125em;"> - <img src="images/i_002.jpg" width="429" height="605" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE KING CHATTING WITH ADMIRAL BEATTY</div></div> - -<hr /> - -<p class="newpage p4 center vspace xlarge"> -THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE<br /> -BRITISH NAVY IN THE<br /> -WORLD-WAR</p> - -<p class="p2 center vspace">BY<br /> -<span class="large">JOHN LEYLAND</span></p> - -<div id="if_i_003" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 5.1875em;"> - <img src="images/i_003.jpg" width="83" height="73" alt="" /></div> - -<p class="p2 center">ILLUSTRATED</p> - -<p class="p2 center vspace large">NEW YORK<br /> -GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">v</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table id="toc" summary="Contents"> - <tr class="small nobpad"> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2">CHAPTER</td> - <td class="tdr">PAGE</td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">I.</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Duties and Responsibilities of the Sea Service</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">1</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">II.</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Centre of Sea-Power</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">11</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">III.</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sweeping the Enemy from the Oceans</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">21</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">IV.</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Grasp of the Mediterranean: Sea- and Land-Power</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">29</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">V.</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Dealing with the Submarines</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">37</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">VI.</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Navy and the Mine</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">46</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">VII.</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Navy and Army Transport</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">55</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">VIII.</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Navy that Flies</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">64</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">IX.</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Officers and Men of the Navy</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">71</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">X.</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">What the British Navy is and What it Fights for</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">79</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">vii</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="ILLUSTRATIONS">ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> -</div> - -<table id="loi" summary="Illustrations"> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The King Chatting with Admiral Beatty</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#i_frontis"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> - <tr class="small nobpad"> - <td colspan="2"> </td> - <td class="tdr">PAGE</td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">A British Fleet Steaming in Line Ahead</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_6">6</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Drifters Working at Sea</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_6b">6</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">A Drifter at Sea: looking for Submarines and Mines</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_22">22</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">A Drifter Laying Anti-Submarine Nets</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_22b">22</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Fleets in Alliance: British and Italian Ships in the Adriatic</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_38">38</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">On Board the</span> <i>Queen Elizabeth</i> <span class="smcap">at Mudros</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_38b">38</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">A Fleet Manœuvring at Sea</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_65">64</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The Captured German Submarine Mine-layer</span> UC5</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_65b">64</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">A British Submarine</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_80">80</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Journalists on Board a Monitor</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_80b">80</a></td></tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdl p1 b1 larger" colspan="3"><i>MAPS:</i></td></tr> - - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">I.</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Centre of Sea-Power: The North Sea</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_85"><i>At end of book</i></a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">II.</td> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Grasp of the Mediterranean: Sea- and Land-Power</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_85b"><i>At end of book</i></a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<h2 class="vspace"><span class="larger"> -THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE BRITISH<br /> -NAVY IN THE WORLD-WAR</span> -</h2> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">1</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_I" class="vspace">CHAPTER I<br /> - -<span class="subhead"><span class="smcap">Duties and Responsibilities of the Sea Service</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Had I the fabled herb<br /></span> -<span class="i1">That brought to life the dead,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whom would I dare disturb<br /></span> -<span class="i1">In his eternal bed?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Great Grenville would I wake,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And with glad tidings make<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The soul of mighty Drake<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Lift an exulting head.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="attrib"><i>William Watson.</i> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">When</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">2</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">3</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 <cite>Discourse -of the Navy</cite> in 1638, said of the wars of his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">4</span> -time, “the naval part is the thread that runs through -the whole wooft, the burden of the song, the scope of -the text.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span> -therefore, in proximity to its reserves of men, and the -men were ready to be re-embarked in the Third Fleet.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">6</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<div id="ip_6" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 37.9375em;"> - <img src="images/i_006a.jpg" width="607" height="406" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A BRITISH FLEET STEAMING IN LINE AHEAD</div></div> - -<div id="ip_6b" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 37.625em;"> - <img src="images/i_006b.jpg" width="602" height="425" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">DRIFTERS WORKING AT SEA</div></div> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">7</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>Goeben</i> and <i>Breslau</i> in the Mediterranean, -the sinking of the <i>Aboukir</i>, <i>Cressy</i>, <i>Hogue</i>, -<i>Formidable</i>, 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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>What we should have expected was that it would -make the sea again the protecting wall, as Shakespeare -says, of the British Isles,</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Or as a moat defensive to a house<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Against the envy of less happier lands.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_II" class="vspace">CHAPTER II<br /> - -<span class="subhead"><span class="smcap">The Centre of Sea-Power</span><a id="FNanchor_A" href="#Footnote_A" class="fnanchor">A</a></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Of speedy victory let no man doubt,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Our worst work’s past, now we have found them out.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Behold, their navy does at anchor lie,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And they are ours, for now they cannot fly.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="attrib"><i>Andrew Marvel</i>, 1653. -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">Of</span> 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 <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">mare clausum</i> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span> -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.</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_A" href="#FNanchor_A" class="fnanchor">A</a> See <a href="#ip_85">Map I.</a>, at end of book.</p></div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">animus pugnandi</i> -is wanting to their fleet. It was necessary that they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>Blücher</i> 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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span> -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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>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.</p></blockquote> - -<p>But the Navy has never left the Belgian coast -secure from attack. It has never lost its aggressive<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span> -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.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_III" class="vspace">CHAPTER III<br /> - -<span class="subhead"><span class="smcap">Sweeping the Enemy from the Oceans</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Far flung the Fleet then,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Freeing the seas,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Clearing the way for men,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Merchantmen these.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sinking or flying,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Broken their power,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The enemy dying<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Left England Her dower.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="attrib"><i>J. L.</i> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">In</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span> -of modern naval warfare, and who had studied them -in the light of history.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<div id="ip_22" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 38.5625em;"> - <img src="images/i_022a.jpg" width="617" height="427" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A DRIFTER AT SEA: LOOKING FOR SUBMARINES AND MINES</div></div> - -<div id="ip_22b" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 18.9375em;"> - <img src="images/i_022b.jpg" width="303" height="220" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><span class="smcap larger">A Drifter Laying Anti-Submarine Nets.</span></div></div> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span> -and sinking was at the rate of 500 ships a year, and -even in 1810, 619 English ships were lost.</p> - -<p>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 <i>Möwe</i> 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 <i>Cap Trafalgar</i>, which was sunk in single-ship -action by the British converted liner <i>Carmania</i>. Yet -this procedure proved of no effect in the war.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span> -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 <i>Goeben</i> -and the light cruiser <i>Breslau</i> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>Scharnhorst</i> and <i>Gneisenau</i>. 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 <i>Emden</i>, -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 <i>Jemtchug</i> and -the French destroyer <i>Mousquet</i> at Penang, and sent -to the bottom seventeen British vessels, representing -a value of £2,211,000, besides three sent into port. -The <i>Emden</i> was destroyed by H.M. Australian -cruiser <i>Sydney</i> at the Cocos-Keeling Islands on -November 8th. The <i>Karlsruhe</i> sank vessels representing -a value of £1,662,000.</p> - -<p>It is not the purpose here to describe the depredations<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span> -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 <i>Canopus</i>, which -had inferior speed, was to join him, but did not -reach him in time. The Australian battle-cruiser -<i>Australia</i>, which would have been an extremely valuable -aid to Craddock’s squadron, did not pursue the -German squadron across the Pacific.</p> - -<p>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 <i>Invincible</i> and -<i>Inflexible</i>, the armoured cruisers <i>Kent</i>, <i>Cornwall</i>, and -<i>Carnarvon</i>, the light cruisers <i>Bristol</i> and <i>Glasgow</i>, and -the armed liner <i>Macedonia</i>. The battleship <i>Canopus</i> -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span> -conscious of impending fate, and his squadron ceased -to exist.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.” “<i xml:lang="de" lang="de">Deutschland ist Weltreich -geworden</i>,” it was said. But distant possessions are -the ripe fruit which falls into the lap of the ultimate -sea-power, and the <i>Weltreich</i> exists no more. By<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span> -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.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_IV" class="vspace">CHAPTER IV<br /> - -<span class="subhead"><span class="smcap">The Grasp of the Mediterranean</span><a id="FNanchor_B" href="#Footnote_B" class="fnanchor">B</a></span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="p2 b1 center">SEA- AND LAND-POWER</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Others may use the ocean as their road,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Only the English make it their abode;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Our oaks secure, as if they there took root,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We tread on billows with a steady foot.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="attrib"><i>Edmund Waller</i>, 1656. -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">It</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span> -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.</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_B" href="#FNanchor_B" class="fnanchor">B</a> See <a href="#ip_85b">Map II.</a>, at end of book.</p></div> - -<p>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 <i>Goeben</i> and -<i>Breslau</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Failure would have meant disaster. But the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span> -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 -<i>Curie</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>Léon Gambetta</i> was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span> -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 <i>Waldeck-Rousseau</i> suffered damage -by torpedo, and the new Dreadnought <i>Jean Bart</i>, 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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span> -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. <i>Firefly</i>, which -had been lost in the retreat from Ctesiphon.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V<br /> - -<span class="subhead"><span class="smcap">Dealing with the Submarines</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">My name is Captain Kidd,<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Captain Kidd.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My name is Captain Kidd,<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Captain Kidd.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My name is Captain Kidd,<br /></span> -<span class="i1">And wickedly I did;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">God’s laws I did forbid,<br /></span> -<span class="i1">As I sailed.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="attrib"><i>Old Nautical Ballad.</i> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">Having</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">ante-bellum</i> -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.</p> - -<div id="ip_38" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 38.1875em;"> - <img src="images/i_038a.jpg" width="611" height="423" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">FLEETS IN ALLIANCE: BRITISH AND ITALIAN SHIPS IN THE ADRIATIC</div></div> - -<div id="ip_38b" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 37.75em;"> - <img src="images/i_038b.jpg" width="604" height="422" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">ON BOARD THE “QUEEN ELIZABETH” AT MUDROS</div></div> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span> -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 <i>Lusitania</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>Thordis</i>, commanded by -that plucky skipper, Captain Bell, who set an example -to many.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>Figaro</i> 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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>German submarines have also learned to fear<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span> -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 -<i>Dunrobin</i> 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 <i>Bellorado</i> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span> -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.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI<br /> - -<span class="subhead"><span class="smcap">The Navy and the Mine</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">They sink, they slink, they seek the boat,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Grisly horns stuck through their skin,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ready to sink all things that float,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">These villain boxes shaped of tin.<br /></span> -<span class="i2">The fisher sees the death therein,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But reaches down with his long fling,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">And grasps the chain that holds them in,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And draws the fangs they hoped would sting.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="attrib"><i>Anon.</i> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span> -suffer the horrors of war in much greater degree -than was the case in the wars even of recent times.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>Königin Luise</i>, a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span> -former Hamburg-Amerika liner of 2,163 tons, was -caught in the act, off the Suffolk coast, and was sunk -by the light cruiser <i>Amphion</i> and the Third Torpedo -Flotilla. On the next day the <i>Amphion</i> 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—“<i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">je -le dis à haute voix</i>”—that German naval -officers would always fulfil “in the strictest fashion -the duties which emanate from the unwritten law of -humanity and civilisation.”</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span> -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, -<i>viâ</i> the North of Ireland, can be laid with still greater -rapidity.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span> -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 <i>Mongolia</i>, -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>An American correspondent, Mr. Gordon Brace, -who sailed in a mine-trawler to learn its work, concluded -an article in the <cite>New York Tribune</cite> in these -<span class="locked">words:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span> -“England expects every man to do his duty,” I knew -that England would not be disappointed.</p></blockquote> - -<p>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-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span>sweepers -have encountered perils and hardships which -have never been recorded, and fishing trawlers pursuing -their peaceful occupations have often incurred -the same risks.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII<br /> - -<span class="subhead"><span class="smcap">The Navy and Army Transport</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">What of the mark?<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Ah! seek it not in England;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A bold mark, an old mark<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Is waiting over-sea;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where the string harps in chorus,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the lion flag is o’er us,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">It is there our work shall be.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="attrib"><i>Sir A. Conan Doyle.</i> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> 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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span> -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 <i>Provence II.</i> and <i>Gallia</i>, -engaged in the Salonika expedition, with the loss of -about 1,600 lives. The enemy will certainly continue -his efforts.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span> -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.”</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span> -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.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII<br /> - -<span class="subhead"><span class="smcap">The Navy that Flies</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Heard the Heavens fill with shouting, and there rain’d a ghastly dew<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From the nations’ airy navies grappling in the central blue.<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="attrib"><i>Tennyson.</i> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">From</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span> -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.</p> - -<div id="ip_65" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 37.8125em;"> - <img src="images/i_064a.jpg" width="605" height="445" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A FLEET MANŒUVERING AT SEA</div></div> - -<div id="ip_65b" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 27em;"> - <img src="images/i_064b.jpg" width="432" height="619" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE CAPTURED GERMAN SUBMARINE MINE-LAYER UC5</div></div> - -<p>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 <i>Königsberg</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 <span class="locked">impressions:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“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.”</p> - -<p>“Wear anything you like,” replied the Navy-that-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span>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.”</p> - -<p>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.</p></blockquote> - -<p>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 <i>Arc Royal</i> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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 <i>Goeben</i> and other -enemy warships at the Golden Horn, and hit the Turkish<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</h2> -</div> - -<p class="center larger"><span class="smcap">Officers and Men of the Navy</span></p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Sailor, what of the debt we owe you?<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Day or night is the peril more?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who so dull that he fails to know you,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Sleepless guard of our island shore?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Safe the corn to the farmyard taken;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Grain ships safe upon all the seas;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Homes in peace and a faith unshaken—<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Sailor, what do we owe for these?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="attrib"><i>The late Viscount Stuart.</i> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">No</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 <span class="locked">them:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>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.</p></blockquote> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i2">When Hawke did bang<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Monsieur Conflans,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">You sent us beef and beer;<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Now Monsieur’s beat,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">We’ve naught to eat,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Since you have naught to fear.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span> -And so Nelson spoke. “I will only apply,” he said, -“some very old lines wrote at the end of some former -war:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="iq">“Our God and sailor we adore<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In times of danger—not before!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The danger past, both are alike requited:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">God is forgotten, and the sailor slighted!”<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>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.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X<br /> - -<span class="subhead"><span class="smcap">What the British Navy Is and What It Fights For</span> -</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Where shall the watchful sun,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">England, my England,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Match the master-work you’ve done,<br /></span> -<span class="i4">England, my own?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When shall he rejoice agen<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Such a breed of mighty men<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As come forward, one to ten,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">To the song on your bugles blown,<br /></span> -<span class="i6">England—<br /></span> -<span class="i2">Down the years on your bugles blown?<br /></span> -</div> - -<div class="attrib"><i>W. E. Henley.</i> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap al"><span class="smcap1">Antagonism</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span> -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.</p> - -<div id="ip_80" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 38.875em;"> - <img src="images/i_080a.jpg" width="622" height="433" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">A BRITISH SUBMARINE</div></div> - -<div id="ip_80b" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 38.75em;"> - <img src="images/i_080b.jpg" width="620" height="439" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">JOURNALISTS ON BOARD A MONITOR</div></div> - -<p>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. <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">Qui trop -embrasse mal étreint.</i> 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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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 <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">mare clausum</i>.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span> -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 <i>Lusitania</i> 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.</p> - -<p>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 -<span class="locked">said:—</span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span> 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.</p></blockquote> - -<p>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.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div id="ip_85" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 40em;"> - <img src="images/i_085a.jpg" width="640" height="733" alt="" /> - <div class="caption in1">I. THE CENTRE OF SEA POWER: THE NORTH SEA</div></div> - -<div id="ip_85b" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 50em;"> - <img src="images/i_085b.jpg" width="800" height="371" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">II. THE GRASP OF THE MEDITERRANEAN—LAND AND SEA POWER</div></div> - -<div id="ip_85c" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 50em;"> - <img src="images/i_085b_left.jpg" width="800" height="742" alt="" /> - <div class="caption in1">(II left)</div></div> - -<div id="ip_85d" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 50em;"> - <img src="images/i_085b_right.jpg" width="800" height="742" alt="" /> - <div class="caption in1">(II right)</div></div> - -<hr /> - -<div id="ad" class="chapter"><div class="center"> -<h2 id="BOOKS_TO_BE_READ_NOW" class="bb">BOOKS TO BE READ NOW</h2> - -<p class="p1"><b>THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME</b> <b class="fright"><i>By John Buchan</i></b> -</p> - -<p>“A clear and brilliant presentation of the whole vast maneuver and its tactical -and strategic development.”—<cite>Springfield Republican.</cite></p> - -<p class="right"> -Illus. 12mo. <b>Net $1.50</b> -</p> - -<p class="p1"><b>THE GERMAN FURY IN BELGIUM</b> <b class="fright"><i>By L. 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By -a neutral.</p> - -<p class="right"> -12mo. <b>Net $1.00</b> -</p> - -<p class="p1"><b>COLLECTED DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTS</b> -</p> - -<p>The original diplomatic papers of the various European nations at the outbreak -of the war.</p> - -<p class="right"> -Quarto. <b>Net $1.00</b> -</p> - -<p class="p1"><b>THE ROAD TO LIEGE</b> <b class="fright"><i>By M. Gustave Somville</i></b> -</p> - -<p>The work of the German “destruction squads.” (From German evidence.)</p> - -<p class="right"> -12mo. <b>Net $1.00</b> -</p> - -<p class="p1"><b>MY HOME IN THE FIELD OF HONOUR</b> <b class="fright"><i>By Frances Wilson Huard</i></b> -</p> - -<p>The simple, intimate, classic narrative which has taken rank as one of the few -distinguished books produced since the outbreak of the war.</p> - -<p class="right b1"> -Illustrated. 12mo. <b>Net $1.30</b> -</p> - -<p class="in0 bt center larger"> -GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY <i>Publishers</i> New York<br /> -Publishers in America for HODDER & STOUGHTON -</p> -</div></div> - -<div class="chapter"><div class="transnote"> -<h2 id="Transcribers_Notes" class="nobreak p1">Transcriber’s Notes</h2> - -<p>Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant -preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.</p> - -<p>Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced -quotation marks retained.</p> - -<p>Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained; occurrences -of inconsistent hyphenation have not been changed.</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_6">6</a>: “If Nelson, in 1789,” should be 1798.</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_10">10</a>: “by in Navy” was printed that way; probably -should be “by the Navy”.</p> - -<p>Pages <a href="#Page_11">11</a> and <a href="#Page_29">29</a>: Footnotes were unmarked in original, -but have been marked as footnotes here.</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_66">66</a>: “Nieuport” was printed that way; should be -“Nieuwpoort”.</p> - -<p><a href="#ip_85c">Map II</a>: For improved readability, Transcriber added -larger copies of the left-and right-hand sides of the second map.</p> -</div></div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -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-h.htm or 56027-h.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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