Qassp 5 W ft* A Chapter of Accidents Cartagena Harbour, cast off, and disappeared. In response to signals of distress, a tug took the battered submersible in charge and berthed her alongside a Spanish cruiser. Commander Metzger, wearing the Iron Cross, was taken with his crew of forty men to Madrid and interned. Fog is usually accepted as one of the plagues of the sea, but on occasion it proved an excellent friend to the enemy when British patrol craft were hot on the scent. This was not the case, however, with a small German submarine which went ashore near Helle- voetsluis in perfectly clear weather. The officer seems to have lost his bearings completely. After spending several fruitless hours hoping that the incoming tide would refloat his ship, the crew of fifteen men were compelled to abandon her. Their action was certainly less desperate than the means adopted by the officers and men of a German mine-laying submarine which grounded on the French coast to the west of Calais. She ' touched bottom ' at high tide, the worst possible time to choose for such a i55 War in the Under seas performance, and remained as immovable as a rock. At daybreak the coastguards saw the boat lying like a stranded whale, and promptly secured her. The officers and men offered no resistance. They had made their plans when they realized that the ' game was up.' By flooding the submarine with inflammable oil and applying a match they effectively prevented the boat from passing into the service of the French Navy. Occasionally the hunter got more than he bargained for and was ' hoist with his own petard.' The pirate commander of a U-boat was congratulating himself on having disposed of a British steamer with the minimum of trouble, when the victim blew up. He had attacked a vessel loaded with ammunition without knowing what was in her hold, and at comparatively short range. The explosion was so violent that it upset the stability of the submersible, and did so much damage in other ways that for a time it was believed she would founder. She was a sorry spectacle when the cliffs and frowning guns of Heligoland were sighted through the periscope. !56 A Chapter of Accidents In the early days of submarines their con- stitution could only be described as delicate. At each stage of progress the craft has taken on strength, until it has now anything but a fragile frame. That was one of the reasons why the British Admiralty was chary of issuing definite statements as to U-boat losses. Oil rising to the surface might be a sign that a sub- marine had been wounded, but was no definite guarantee that the patient would bleed to death. U-boats had a little trick of letting out oil when attacked in the hope that it would deceive the enemy. Take the case of a certain British submarine which had the very undesirable misfortune to barge into a German mine. These submerged canisters were filled with a heavy charge of trotyl. You will better ap- preciate what this means when I add that T.N.T. has a bursting force when confined of 128,000 lb. per square inch. Yet this British- built ship is still afloat, and her crew alive to tell the tale. Vessel and men owed their escape from death to a mighty good bulk- head. She struck the mine bow on. Bulk- heads 1 and 2 were burst open ; her two fore 157 War in the Underseas torpedo-tubes, both loaded, were so twisted and jammed that they were rendered useless ; the glass of the dials of the various recording instruments was scattered in all directions ; every member of the crew was knocked flat, and the vessel sent to the bottom, nose fore- most. A landsman would have said it was the end of all things ; the men most concerned merely admitted that it was ' a nasty jar.' When they had regained their feet the crew went back to their allotted stations to await orders. There was no need for them to puzzle why their craft was in this predicament. Neither a sunken wreck nor a submerged rock goes off with a bang. Meanwhile, there were some nasty leaks to divert the mind. They would be attended to later, when orders had been given. Discipline, like explosive, is a mighty force. The commander picked himself up, carefully brushed his uniform with his hands, and went to his post. " Let all things be done decently and in order " is the acknowledged, if unwritten, motto of British submarines. The officer's action was the outward and visible sign that 158 A Chapter of Accidents he had not forgotten it. He gave instructions for the pumps to be set in motion — if they were capable of movement. Everything depended on the answer. There were moments of tense anxiety before it came. No one, even the bravest of the brave, likes to be drowned like a rat in a trap. The motors were going. They had not stopped. But the pumps ? They started ! With the beating of their pulse hope flowed in where before it had been on the ebb. The submarine came to the surface as game as ever, though terribly bruised. If " God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb," a kindly Providence most assuredly watched over this craft. In enemy waters, three hundred odd miles from home, with a broken nose and internal injuries, she had not too much strength for the journey. She accomplished it satisfactorily enough, and was back again in her old haunts within a few weeks. There is a particularly poignant note of tragedy in a strange mishap that befell another British submarine. The why and the where- fore of the accident have now been revealed. i59 War in the Underseas She was on her trials, and the ventilating shafts had been left open, flooding the rear compartments and drowning thirty-one men. She took an unexpected plunge of thirty- eight feet, stuck fast in the mud, and posi- tively refused to budge. She lay like a dead thing. Every conceivable means of resur- rection was tried ; each failed. One has read of wonderful life-saving devices that are sup- posed to be donned by submarine men when their boat is in difficulties. They look like smoke-helmets. All that is required is to don one of these affairs, enter the conning-tower, open the lid, and pop up like a cork. It sounds simple, even entertaining, and might be introduced as a side show at an exhibition as a change from the Flip-Flap . Whatever other submarines may have of this kind, this particular boat either did not possess or could not use. Officers and crew watched the hands of the clock complete the circle several times. There was little else to do. One does not talk much when waiting for eternity. Each felt that he was a doomed man, that ere long his wife 160 A Chapter of Accidents would be a widow and his children fatherless. There was ' a war on,' but was this war ? No enemy had done this, unless Destiny be an enemy. The forty-two men who still lived were within a comparatively short distance of the Scottish shore. A terrible way out suggested itself to Commander Francis Herbert Heaveningham Goodhart. It is a formidable name to re- member in its lengthy entirety, but one to make a note of. No future Book of Sea Heroes will omit it and be reasonably complete. The surname, although it is without an ' e,' fitted the man and the deed. He already had the D.S.O. to his credit ; his next award, the Albert Medal in gold, was posthumous. Now you know the tragedy of the story. The story of the tragedy remains to be told. Goodhart's " terrible way out " was this. The conning-tower of a submarine may be cut off from the boat by a trap-door. He proposed that a tin cylinder with a message giving full particulars of the position of the craft, the approximate length of time the men could hold out, and other details should be l 161 War in the Underseas given to him, and that he should be blown up with it through the conning-tower. To effect this it was necessary to partly fill the chamber with water, turn on the high-pressure air, and release the clips that secured the lid. Placing the little cylinder in his belt, Goodhart set out on his last desperate adventure. Together with the commanding officer, who was to open and close the hatch, he stepped into the conning-tower. " If I don't get .up, the tin cylinder will," he remarked quite casually to his colleague. Water was admitted, then air. The lid fell back, and Goodhart made his escape. At this point Destiny, the unknown and the unknow- able, intervened. It reversed the order of affairs that man had so carefully planned. Goodhart was flung back against the structure and killed outright. At the same moment the officer who was to retire into the submarine was shot upward and reached the surface. According to the official account in the Lon- don Gazette , " Commander Goodhart displayed extreme and heroic daring, and thoroughly realized the forlorn nature of his act." This 162 A Chapter of Accidents does not go quite far enough. Had it not been for the dead man's attempt the instructions which were of such vital consequence to the imprisoned men would never have reached the rescuers. In due course fresh air, food, and water were sent to those below by methods private to the printed page. That night the survivors slept on shore as a slight compensa- tion for their long and awful vigil. In October 19 16 the Danish submarine Dykkeren met with a somewhat similar mishap, although the cause of her sudden disappear- ance was a collision with a Norwegian steamer in the Sound. Divers entrusted with the salvage operations hammered messages of good cheer in the Morse code on the side of the sunken boat, to which the prisoners promptly responded. The commander alone lost his life. He was found dead in the conning-tower. The pirate chiefs of Germany did not have it all their own way even when the absence of Allied patrol vessels, mines, and anti-submarine nets rendered existence a little less worrying than was usually the case with these pariahs of the deep. Lieutenant-Commander Schneider, 163 War in the Under seas who had won renown in the Fatherland as an instrument of the ' Blockade,' was swept overboard from his conning-tower while his craft was travelling awash. When his body was recovered life was extinct. It was con- signed to the deep, whither the Commander had sent many another during his career as a pirate. Some men from a U-boat in the Baltic were investigating the papers of a schooner, when a German cruiser put in an appearance. Being uncertain whether the submarine was a foreigner or not, as no colours were displayed, the man-of-war ventured too close, and crashed into the bow of the stationary vessel. Both U-boat and cruiser were compelled to retire for repairs. Off Norway a German submarine mistook another of her own nationality for a British representative of the underseas and promptly torpedoed her. 164 CHAPTER IX Sea-hawk and Sword-fish " The present submarine difficulty is the result of our un- disputed supremacy upon the sea surface. The whole ingenuity, building power, and resource of Germany are devoted to sub- marine methods, because they cannot otherwise seriously damage us." — Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. THEY call them ' blimps ' in the Navy. The term conveys to the lands- man about as much information as ' Blighty ' to a Chinaman. Blimps are speedy little airships driven by a single propeller, with a gondola capable of holding two or three men and a supply of munitions of war. These miniature Zeppelins are handy little craft not given to high flying and acrobatic feats, therefore less interesting to the general public than aeroplanes, though not less useful to the commonwealth. They were the guardian angels of the Merchant Service in the war. As such they played an important part in combating the submarine evil. These tractor balloons, with envelopes conforming to the shape of a fish, can hover over a suspected spot for hours 165 War in the Underseas at a time, which a seaplane cannot do. On the other hand, they are useless for raiding purposes on account of their vulnerability. Blimps are submarine spotters, and frequently submarine sinkers. From the height at which it is accustomed to travel, the blimp, given fair weather con- ditions, is able to see the shadowy form of a 1 dip chick ' when not so much as her periscope is showing, and it can cover a fairly wide area of observation. If you stand on the bank of a broad and deep brook you will not be able to see so far into the water as if you were standing on a bridge that spans it and leaning over the parapet. That is why a gull looks for its food above the sea, and having glimpsed a toothsome, or rather beaksome, morsel, dives after it. This is also the secret of the spotter's sight. Many a German and Austrian U-boat disappeared in a welter of oil and bubbles by reason of the fact. It was during Lord Jellicoe's term of office as First Sea Lord that increasing attention was paid to aircraft as an ally of the Senior Service. At the same time it is only fair to 166 Sea-hawk and Sword-jish mention that when the British Expeditionary Force crossed to France in 19 14, aircraft patrolled the marches of the sea between the French, Belgian, and English coasts. The Navy and the Army have their own schemes of warfare, but in one particular plan of operations there is marked similarity. Just as the land is divided into sectors for fighting purposes, so the sea is divided into sections for the purpose of patrol. Destroyers and hydroplanes, auxiliaries and trawlers, air- ships and sraplanes have their beats mapped out for them like a City policeman. This does not mean that every square yard of salt water is covered — an obvious impossibility — but it does mean that as many square yards are watched as is humanly and practicably possible. In one month 90,000 miles were travelled by seaplanes on patrol, and 80,000 miles by airships. When the war was very young, a seaplane containing an officer and a petty officer was scouting. Without any preliminary warning the engine broke down, and they were com- pelled to descend and drift on the surface with 167 War in the Under seas a heavy sea running. Of rescue there seemed to be little hope. Fog completely enveloped them. A survey of the damage proved that patching up was altogether out of the question. Nothing short of a lathe would suffice. The airmen fell back on tobacco, " the lonely man's friend." Even this comfort speedily failed them. Cigarettes and sea-sickness do not go well together. The poor fellows held on and watched their machine gradually break up. They were horribly ill, and on the verge of despair, when the throb of machinery suddenly fell on their ears, and a destroyer peered in through the opaque surroundings of their little world. They were no longer face to face with death. Other men have not always been so fortunate. One does not necessarily have to be washed overboard to be " lost at sea." A couple of seaplanes on outpost duty were watching the waters below with great interest when one of them sighted a submarine travelling on the surface. They were up a good height, but the observers duly noted a couple of men on the conning-tower. Ap- parently the Germans were too intent on the 168 Sea-hawk and Sword-fish business in hand to observe the sky-pilots, who kept on a steady course. They suffered a rude awakening a few minutes later. A weighty bomb fell plumb on the starboard side of the sea pest, midway between the conning- tower and the stern. That bomb ' did its bit ' for King and Country. Slowly but surely the U-boat heeled over, ceased to make progress, and lay like a log on the water. Then the bow rose at an awkward angle, and the vessel began to settle rapidly. Another bomb, released by the second seaplane, burst close to the conning- tower, followed by a third bomb, " to make assurance doubly sure." This particular sub- marine was not handed over to Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt. America did much excellent work in help- ing the British Navy to rid the seas of underwater pests. An ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve attached to the Aviation Service was patrolling in a British seaplane with a British observer. Within thirty minutes of having started, " we sighted the periscope of a submarine directly in front of us," he reports. " Immediately I opened the engine full out 169 War in the Under seas and attacked, dropping a bomb which landed a few feet ahead of the periscope and directly in line with it. A moment later a great quantity of air bubbles came to the surface. The water all about began to boil. I turned and attacked again. This time I dropped a bomb of twice the size. It landed nearly in the centre of the first disturbance. A mass of oil now appeared on the surface in addition to the debris left by the bomb itself. The second disturbance continued for some time. Then I circled round for two hours before returning to warn merchant ships in the vicinity and inform a destroyer escorting a British sub- marine of what I had done and seen." From his point of vantage the look-out of a British airship noticed a steamer limping along in a manner which distinctly suggested that she was in difficulties. That had been a fairly familiar sight since the opening of Germany's illegal warfare. The cause of her crippled con- dition was evidently of enemy origin, though her assailant was invisible. Sea- wolves did not make a regular habit of gloating over their victims. That little hobby was only indulged 170 Sea-hawk and Sword-fish in when the ' coast ' was clear. The coxswain headed the airship in the direction of the stricken steamer, but before reaching her tugs had made their welcome appearance and lent the assistance of a stout steel hawser that worked wonders. As a precaution against surprise the airship accompanied the miniature squadron. They proceeded quietly enough jfor a time, making fair speed, when a U-boat broke surface about five miles off. Signalling by wireless the position of the pest to all and sundry, the airship accelerated her engine and lowered to a height from which she could make the best use of her weapons. The submarine was not taken entirely unawares ; she submerged before the sea-hawk was immediately above. Two bombs, released simultaneously, caused a terrible commotion and effected a kill. A destroyer which had picked up the wireless subsequently dragged the spot, and signalled the cheering news, " You've undoubtedly bagged her." Better luck attended this effort than befell the pilot of a seaplane who came across a 171 War in the Under seas large submersible travelling awash. Here early demise seemed a certainty . Unfortunately there is many a slip 'twixt the bomb and the U-boat. One packet of high explosive fell ahead and another astern of the grey monster. The third was a marvellous shot. It did the aviator's heart good to see it strike. It landed directly in the centre of the deck. He had scored a bull's-eye. I am afraid I cannot quote what he said when the missile failed to detonate. His anger was not appeased by the knowledge that his supply of ammunition was exhausted. The enemy submerged, descended to the lowest depths, and made off. Observation balloons, towed by destroyers, although they obviously lack the initiative of airship and seaplane, have their uses like their more energetic brethren of the sky. On one occasion an observer telephoned that there was a U-boat in the neighbourhood. Depth charges were thrown overboard, but achieved nothing more than causing the boat to shift her position. She passed from mortal ken so far as her hunters were concerned. Later on, however, the submarine came to the 172 Sea-hawk and Sword-fish surface and began shelling a poor little help- less sailing vessel that could neither escape nor offer effective resistance. The destroyer opened fire, and as a submersible is no match for this type of vessel, she promptly went below. Her rapidity of movement failed to evade Nemesis, though her smartness in this respect was highly commendable. Guided by the balloon, the parent ship took up the trail, and nine ' pills ' were sent overboard with the compliments of the captain. Then followed such a display of oil as is rarely seen. No fake oil squirt ever succeeded in covering a mile of sea with the colours of the rainbow. The U-boat had gone to her doom. The task undertaken by blimps and sea- planes in their daily warfare against the pirates was far from selfish. The Mistress of the Seas and her Allies kept guard over the welfare of neutral nations as well as of their own. While journeying homeward the Danish steamer dense was met by a German submersible. It signalled her to stop. The order was complied with without hesitation, but instead of making an examination of the ship's papers the U-boat 173 War in the Under seas opened fire, killing two of the crew. The enemy commander then ordered the survivors into the boat. This was really inviting them to commit suicide, for the weather was such as to render the likelihood of the men's being saved extremely remote. While this little tragedy of the sea was being acted, a British submarine put in an appearance, apparently from nowhere. She had been summoned by aircraft. The U-boat did not stay to fire further shells into the steamer. Not long afterward a British patrol ship on its ceaseless vigil came across the Danes in their cockle- shell, took them on board, gave them warm food and dry clothes, and amply demonstrated the fact that the British Navy was neither spite- ful nor cruel because it did not own the globe. A British coastal airship was scouting for a convoy bound westward. The voyage had been uneventful, when a look-out spied the track of a torpedo aimed with deadly certainty at one of the steamers. With marvellous agility the course of the airship was altered and traversed the trail still outlined on the water. It is said that she travelled at a rate 174 Sea-hawk and Sword-fish approaching ninety miles an hour. There was the gaunt form of the submarine right enough, though submerged. Well-placed bombs did the rest. Another airship, quietly sailing in the upper air, also came across a British convoy. The reply to the pilot's request for news was entirely unsatisfactory from his point of view. No U-boats had been seen or reported. Things were slow. They continued so for several hours after the two branches of the Service had parted, but brightened up a bit when a wireless message was received that a merchant- man was being attacked by a pirate. Details as to position proved correct. The sub- mersible was floating awash. Blimps being pre- eminently handy affairs which readily respond to helm and engine control, the airship was hovering over the U-boat before the latter was completely submerged. It boded ill for the intended victim, whose ballast tanks were slower in filling than the airship's mechanical appliances in accelerating. The first bomb was a good shot, but not a hit. It fell three feet short of the mark, and exploded astern of 175 War in the Under seas the propellers. That it did the enemy no good was evident. Streams of oil, too voluminous to be make-believe, spurted to the surface. The second bomb was a direct hit aft of the conning-tower, causing the stern to rise upward. It would have been waste of good ammunition to spend more on the wreck that lay below. She slowly turned turtle, and was no more seen. Another U-boat had paid the price of her perfidy. The blimp had scored a full triumph that admitted of no question. A seaplane was patrolling her section, keep- ing a sharp eye on possibilities in the nether regions that failed to eventuate. Presumed periscopes are sometimes in reality nothing more than mops or spars. After the novelty of flying has worn off it is apt to become a trifle boring without action. As the pilot was proceeding on his way, doubtless thinking that his luck was most decidedly out, he picked up a wireless message. Judging by its purport it was evidently sent by a U-boat no great distance off. He had not proceeded very far before he spotted his prey, comfortably squatting on the surface about a mile ahead. 176 Sea-hawk and Sword-fish The seaplane was ' all out ' in a trice. Sea- hawk and sword-fish exchanged greetings, the one with a bomb, the other with a shell. The latter burst quite harmlessly within fifty feet of the aircraft, then splashed over the sea like a shower of pebbles. The bomb went more than one better. It fell on the U-boat and tore a great rent in her deck. While this battle royal was proceeding, three German U-boats, three torpedo-boats, and a couple of seaplanes were speeding in the direction of the firing. The weather was somewhat misty, but they sighted the solitary seaplane and tried to wing her. The pilot treated them with contempt, and calmly proceeded with the business immediately in hand. The firing in his direction became so heavy that it formed a barrage through which the German aircraft were totally unable to penetrate. The officer gave his enemy another dose of bomb, photographed her as she was going down, took a picture of her friends, and having exhausted his ammunition, returned to report. A gunner on a British submarine cruising off Denmark proved himself a better shot M 177 War hi the Underseas than his German rivals in the afore-mentioned incident. Two enemy seaplanes saw the boat and dropped their highly explosive eggs. The bombs burst, made a great noise, but did no damage. A shell from the submarine sped straight and true and one of the seaplanes was brought down, whereupon her companion, realizing that the locality was unhealthy, beat a hasty and undignified retreat. German airmen naturally endeavoured to turn the tables on us. They hunted for British sub- marines in addition to doing scouting work for their own. Within a month of the outbreak of war an enemy airman and his mechanic got what was at once the greatest shock in their lives and the means of the aforesaid lives being preserved. Their machine had broken down, and they were using it as a raft, when one of His Britannic Majesty's submarines rose to the surface. Instead of making war on them as a ' biological necessity,' the commander rescued the two men and took them into Harwich, after their damaged craft had been satisfactorily disposed of. During the afternoon of the 6th July, 1918, 178 Sea-hawk and Sword-fish a British submarine was on guard off the East Coast when five hostile seaplanes swooped down on her and made a vigorous attack with bombs and machine-guns. According to the German official account, the action took place off the mouth of the Thames, and two sub- marines were severely damaged, one of which, when last observed, was in a sinking condition. The report rather reminds one of occasions when Teutonic imagination has robbed the Grand Fleet of battle-cruisers. As it happened, the British craft sustained only minor injuries, and was towed into harbour by another sub- marine — presumably the one which the enemy had seen. She had suffered no inconvenience whatever from the seaplanes' attentions. Un- happily an officer and five men were killed in this attack. Some time since the Berlin Press made much ado about a British submarine being sunk by a German airship. It was when Zeppelins were considered to be rather more substantial assets in the Wilhelmstrasse than they subsequently became. A little later the ' sunken ' submarine returned to her base 179 War in the Under seas without so much as a scratch on her bulgy sides, and reported that she had been in action with a hostile airship, which she had damaged and driven off. So much for the Truth as pro- pagated in Berlin. One of the most brilliant exploits of what I may term the aerial phase of war in the underseas took place in March 1918. The scene of the engagement, in which three British seaplanes and five German machines were involved, was just beyond the North Hinder. While the enemy were attacking from the rear, and our men were busily engaged in putting up a stiff fight, a U-boat made its appearance ahead with several officers and men on the conning-tower. The three Britishers dived down, and having nothing else available, fired their machine-guns at the spectators, who disappeared inside and slammed the hatch. They then took up positions to renew the aerial combat. The fight continued for half an hour, to be broken off by the enemy when five British trawlers were sighted. As for the submarine, she was nowhere to be seen. One of our seaplanes was then out of action owing 180 Sea-hawk and Sword-fish to a petrol pipe having burst. It returned home without overmuch difficulty. Meanwhile the remaining two seaplanes carried on with their patrol work, though some of the men were relieved. Almost three hours later they came across as pretty a sight as British airmen could wish to see. The five Germans were floating on the water. The British gave them a round or two from their guns, but before they had got well within range the enemy were up and had taken places in their usual V formation at a height of about 200 feet. This was speedily broken up as our airmen gained on them, the V rapidly assum- ing the appearance of an elongated I, or single line ahead. Having succeeded in scat- tering them, the British seaplanes attacked them individually. An enemy twin-seater was hurled down, followed by a second machine, whose observer and gunner were both shot, and a third seaplane was rendered unfit for immediate service. The other machines escaped because not a solitary cartridge was left available for pursuit ; in all 2500 rounds had been fired. A solitary casualty was sustained 181 War in the Under seas on our side. A wireless operator was wounded in the neck, whereupon his companions ad- ministered first aid and returned to their respective duties. Five British seaplanes were patrolling off the East Coast on the afternoon of the 4th June, 1918. After a particularly ' tame ' flight, a similar accident to that which had occurred in the engagement related above compelled one of the machines to descend to the water. A petrol pipe had broken, and as repairs of this nature cannot be effected to a heavier-than- air machine while it is on the wing, there was no alternative but to come down. While the others were on guard, a squadron of five enemy aircraft was seen approaching. The seaplanes at once gave battle, but the Germans were in no mood for fighting, and made off as fast as their propellers would take them. When it was obvious that they could not be brought to action, the British machines returned to their crippled comrade. Two more hostile seaplanes appeared a little later, and were similarly disposed of. Before the wounded sea-hawk was fit for 182 Sea-hazvk and Sword-fish further righting, no fewer than ten hostile sea- planes came in view. Probably they were the previous flock concentrated and augmented. There was no thought of " retiring according to plan." The Britons went to meet the enemy, as is their wont. By taking the offensive they would also best screen their comrades below, who were working with an energy seldom equalled. They, like the others, wanted to be up and at them. The aerial battle was sharp and furious. Two of the German craft were shot down ; one of our machines fought till she could fight no longer. The latter eventually landed in Vlieland, Holland. Finding that the task of putting their craft in order was impossible with the appliances at their command, the crew of the other maimed machine set it on fire when they reached Dutch territorial waters, and made their escape by swimming to land. During the course of the action a British seaplane was attacked by two of the enemy, and the assistant pilot was shot dead. Five other German 'planes then closed with the British machine. The pilot made a nose-dive, 183 War in the Underseas shook off his assailants, and put up such a hot fight with the gun in the stern that they broke off the contest. A little later the petrol pipe of this machine also broke, and the seaplane was forced to descend for the needful repairs. Petrol pipes are the betes noires of the airman's life. The engineer air-mechanic did his work with such dexterity that within ten minutes everything was in running order again and the machine was climbing up to rejoin its companions. When it reached them they set out in search of the enemy. They met with no luck, and returned to their base. In such ways as these aircraft fought fish with steel fins and winged creatures after their own kind. There remained yet another method of warfare known to them, namely, bombing submarine bases, of which Ostend, Zeebrugge, and Bruges were probably the most important. Time after time one read in the newspapers that these places had been attacked by air- craft, until one wondered how it was that so much as a stone or a stick of timber was left. The reason is that a bomb explosion is entirely local in its effects. It does not 184 Sea-hawk and Sword-fish spread like fire in a gale, though it may cause buildings to be gutted. It was only now and again that direct hits were scored on submarines, torpedo-boats, and other vessels in the docks. But there was another important factor to be taken into consideration. The soldiers, sailors, tinkers and tailors who inhabited these places could not possibly produce their best work under the strain of constant attacks from the air. They must have suffered from the ' jumps ' pretty frequently ; and Napoleon said truly that the moral is to the physical as three to one. Submarines, aircraft, and surface fighting forces were involved in the famous Christmas Day attack on the heavily fortified base of Cuxhaven in 1914. This was a sequel to the German naval raid on Scarborough, Whitby, and the Hartlepools ten days before. Seven seaplanes, three seaplane-carriers, escorted by the light cruisers Undaunted, and Arethusa, several destroyers and submarines, duly arrived in the neighbourhood of Heligoland. When they had left England the previous afternoon the coast was bathed in sunshine, but the mouth of the Elbe was fog-bound. However, the aircraft 185 War in the Under seas got away, their principal objective being the warships lying in Schillig Roads. The surface craft then toured about while awaiting their return, and were seen from Heligoland. Two Zeppelins, several seaplanes, and a number of U-boats came out to attack, but it is significant that although the British ships were off the German coast for three hours not a solitary surface vessel attempted to face them. They doubtless foresaw a second battle of Heligoland Bight and were anxious to avoid it. Bombs from the aircraft dropped fast and furious ; they merely ploughed the sea. Maxims, anti- aircraft weapons, rifles, and 6-in. guns took up the challenge and put the Zeppelins to flight ; torpedoes were fired at the Arethusa, and skil- fully avoided by swift manoeuvring. A Taube spotted one of our submarines, made half a dozen attempts to sink her, and failed. In this matter they were no more successful than the British seaplanes, which tried to hit an enemy torpedo-boat and a submersible. What actual damage was achieved by the airmen is unknown, but the Germans certainly scored at Langeoog. Under the impression that T.B.D.s 186 Sea-hawk and Sword-fish were hiding in the fog off the island they dropped a number of bombs, thereby killing several civilians. Of the six British airmen who returned, three were picked up by our surface ships, the others by submarines. In the case of the latter the machines were sunk. For a time it was feared that Flight-Commander Hewlett had been brought down or was drowned, but he eventually turned up none the worse for his exciting adventure, having been picked up by a Dutch trawler. Chief Mechanic Gilbert Budds, writing to his father, gives a little glimpse of his exciting experiences. " Just fancy," he says, " Christmas Day — first on a ship through mine-fields, on a seaplane over the enemy's fleet and force, and then back in a submarine. During the homeward trip we had the gramophone going with all the latest music, and had chicken, Christmas pudding, custard and jellies for dinner. How's that, Dad, for a submarine in the heart of the enemy's fleet in war-time ? " After all, perhaps life in an underwater craft during the war had its compensations. 187 War in the Under seas The French seaplane patrol service also did wonderful things, as was to be expected, for our Allies took aircraft seriously when we only regarded them as expensive toys for wealthy folk with suicidal tendencies. In a single month, and in various samples of weather, their seaplanes made as many as 3139 nights. During the thirty days under review, ten sub- marines were attacked, six mine-fields were located, and nine night bombardments carried out. French airships also made 141 trips. So much for statistics, which is the prac- tical in undress uniform. Now for the more picturesque aspect of the Service. A couple of French sea-hawks were watching the Channel, and came across a German submersible on the surface. Apparently the commander of the U-boat had not the slightest notion that there was an enemy " up above the world so high" until he was attacked. When the rude awaken- ing came he began to submerge. The boat was not quite so quick in her movements as the seaplanes. The airmen dived with extra- ordinary rapidity, and both scored a bull's-eye on the target. 188 A Seaplane of the R.N.A.S keeping a Watchful Eye on an Enemy Submarine 18S Sea-hawk and Sword-fish " The leading machine," says the semi- official note, " then returned to its base for a further supply of bombs, leaving the other machine to keep a look-out. The latter, a few seconds after the attack, saw the fore- part of the submarine emerge at an angle of 45 degrees. Then the submarine slowly rose to the surface, without, however, being able to regain a horizontal position, and again dis- appeared in a violent whirlpool. Three times at short intervals the submarine attempted to rise to the surface, taking at each attempt a stronger list to starboard. Then the observer saw the whole of the submarine's port side exposed, while the submarine rested on its beam ends. Finally the vessel disappeared without having succeeded in getting its conning- tower above water." One Sunday a British pilot and a French- man attached to the R.N.A.S. were on the spy for U-boats off the Belgian coast. They had scarcely been in the air half an hour, and had reached a height of about 9000 feet, when they saw two submarines lying side by side on the surface. The spot was some five 189 War in the Under seas miles west of Nieuport, where the water is shallow. To the aviators it looked very much as though the craft were just above a sand- bank. So much the better for the attackers. The boats would have furnished lovely targets had there been no look-out below, but it was first of all necessary to decrease the distance separating the airmen from the objects about to be attacked, and during the descent the Germans saw their enemy. One of the sub- marines managed to get away, leaving the other to fend for herself. At 600 feet Lieutenant de Sincay dropped a bomb right on the conning- tower. A second missile did such terrible execution that the boat sank like a stone. The great Austrian naval bases of Cattaro and Pola were visited several times by Italian airmen. On one occasion a raid was made on the former harbour at night and direct hits were scored on submarines and torpedo-boats, while an aerial attack on Pola was responsible for the destruction of three U-boats under- going repairs. It is only doing bare justice to remember that neutral aviators also played a part in 190 Sea-hawk and Sword-fish making a life under the rolling deep in a U-boat anything but pleasant. Time and again German pirates endeavoured to use the deep fiords of North-western Scandinavia for purposes best known to themselves, but in all probability as convenient rendezvous for stabbing Norwegian vessels in the back. Several tried to hide themselves in Bergen Bay. They were discovered by native airmen and promptly informed that if they did not quit the neutral zone without delay they would be interned. They left. 191 CHAPTER X U -Boats that Never Returned " Let us march farther, undaunted and confident, along the road of force. Then our future will be secure against British avarice and revenge. The German is too good to become England's vassal." — Admiral von Scheer. MANY U-boats were buried in the same grave as their last victim. This was not adequate retribution, but it left the Navy and the Mercantile Marine with one submarine the less to fight. Close to the wreck of the great White Star liner Justicia, a magnificent steamer of 32,000 tons, lie the remains of one of her attackers. There may be others, but I give the official figure. The submarine in question was sunk by the destroyer Marne on the 20th June, 1918, the day the Germans were being driven back across the historic river whose name she bore. The Justicia was dogged by submersibles for twenty-two hours, during which time no fewer than seven torpedoes were fired at her. It was the most determined 192 U -Boats that Never Returned onslaught ever made by U-boats. Moreover, the attack is remarkable by reason of the fact that not only were destroyers and other craft con- voying the vessel, but she herself was armed. The first torpedo struck and exploded in the engine-room, killing fifteen men and in- juring the third engineer so terribly that he died later. The second weapon was diverted from its course by the Justiciars gunners ; the third missed. Depth charges and other means were used to deal with the menace, and ap- parently with success. During the ensuing night nothing further was seen or heard of the enemy. Early the following morning, how- ever, two torpedoes were fired simultaneously, one taking effect in No. 3 hold, the other in No. 5 hold. When it was realized that there was not the remotest chance of bringing the Justicia to port, the crew of between six and seven hundred were quietly transferred to another vessel. The liner kept afloat for eight hours after that, a remarkable testi- mony to the efficient work of those who had built her in the Belfast yards of Messrs Harland and Wolff. n 193 War in the Under seas Several commanders of U-boats asserted that a number of attempts had previously been made to sink the Justicia, but had failed because she was provided with torpedo-nets. This does not seem altogether an adequate explanation, unless we are to presume that the devices alleged to be in use were not in position when the maritime snipers succeeded in sending her to Davy Jones's locker. The during-the-war policy of the British Admiralty as regards lost, stolen, and strayed U-boats was one of reserve, and rightly so. When you are on the watch for a gang of burglars you make as little fuss about it as possible. If full publicity had been given to the methods of capture the Central Powers would have speedily become conversant with them. We preferred to let the enemy find out things for himself — if he could. To use an expression common on the Western Front, it ' put the wind up ' German crews to find that an ever- increasing number of their friends on U-boats failed to report after a voyage. Except in rare instances no information as to their fate came to relieve their friends' anxiety. They just dis- 194 U -Boats that Never Returned appeared from mortal ken. It did not make for ease of mind ; it harrowed the nerves of the strongest. The effect on the moral of the enemy was distinctly marked. The plot rebounded. The sea-dogs of the British Merchant Service were to be frightened into submission ; their ships were to rust for want of use, moss was to grow on the quayside. It was the U-boat which surrendered to the White Ensign. The first enemy submersible to be lost was U 15, sunk in the North Sea by H.M.S. Birmingham on the 9th August, 19 14. This was admitted by Mr Winston Churchill in a telegram to the Lord Mayor of the cruiser's name-place, whose loyal citizens had made a presentation of plate to her officers' mess. U 15 was a small vessel of about 300 tons, carrying a crew of twelve officers and men, and appears to have had two or three con- sorts with her. An A.B. on the Birmingham, which was attached to the First Light Cruiser Squadron, sighted the periscope of a submarine, and fire was opened at once. The noise of the guns and the piercing notes of the bugle calling all to action stations brought those 195 War in the Underseas who were not on watch to their allotted positions in double quick time. Officers in pyjamas, men with one leg in their trousers and one out, scampered along the upper deck as though joining in a race, anxious only to get to grips with the enemy. It is said that the first shell struck the periscope and rendered the submarine sightless. If so, it was a marvellous shot at a range of a couple of miles or thereabouts. Probably the sailor who set the story going was indulging in a little game of ' leg-pulling,' a hobby not unknown in the Navy. There was a mighty swerve as the captain of the cruiser altered course so as to be out of the line of fire. In another instant the Birmingham was racing toward her assailant as though the engines would tear themselves from their pits in the excitement of the chase. Every gun was trained on the U-boat. Another shot rang out, wrecking the conning-tower. The sharp steel bow of the man-of-war did the rest. There were no survivors. In October 1914 it was announced that the T.B.D. Badger had rammed and probably 196 U -Boats that Never Returned sunk an enemy submarine. This was con- tradicted by the Germans, who asserted that the vessel in question had returned to her base in a damaged condition. There was less uncertainty about a U-boat casualty that happened in the following month. U 18 pene- trated a certain harbour in the north of Scotland much frequented by naval vessels. It happened that just as the submarine was going in, a trawler attached to the Patrol was coming out. Apparently the tough little craft passed over the U-boat, for the skipper im- mediately signalled, " Have struck submarine." Now a submarine chase was much appre- ciated by those who commanded destroyers. There was sport about it rather more exciting than merely "barging about the North Sea." The T.B.D. Garry was first in the field. She slipped along in wonderful style and attempted to ram the enemy as she was endeavouring to get away. According to a seaman, the peri- scope crumpled up, but the jar that was felt was scarcely enough to warrant his commander in believing that the U-boat had run her course. Accordingly he cruised about for a while, 197 War in the Under seas anticipating that eventually she would come to the surface if any life remained in her. This is exactly what happened, and once again the Garry worked up to full speed. She was on the verge of crashing into the enemy when the crew appeared on deck. One of them waved a white handkerchief in token of surrender. It was a narrow squeak, but the destroyer rescued three officers and twenty-three of her crew. One of the latter was drowned. He volun- teered to stay behind and open the Kingston valve so that the craft might not be captured. To give a chronological list of the U-boats known to have perished in the war, with par- ticulars of their death, would occupy all the pages in this volume. I can therefore only cite a few instances. The story of the sinking of an unknown marauder by the Thordis, a little coasting steamer of 500 tons, is too well known to require retelling. 1 Captain Bell was the first master in the Merchant Service to win official recognition as a submarine-sinker. 1 More detailed particulars will be found in my Daring Deeds of Merchant Seamen, p. 221, and Stirring Deeds of Britain's Sea-dogs, p. 275. 198 U -Boats that Never Returned U 8 had been operating in the Straits of Dover and the English Channel for several weeks before she was finally rounded up by a dozen destroyers under the command of Captain C. D. Johnson. This was in the after- noon of the 4th March, 1915. Here again there was an alarming discrepancy in the company the submersible ought to have carried and the number she actually had on board. Her normal complement was twelve officers and men ; when she was sunk twenty-nine sur- vivors were picked up. The sinking of U 8 and U 12 was made the basis of a threat of re- prisals upon British officer prisoners in Germany because the authorities at Whitehall did not " feel justified in extending honourable treat- ment " to the men of U 8. They held that there was " strong probability " of their having " been guilty of attacking and sinking un- armed merchantmen " and " wantonly killing non-combatants." Sir Edward Grey pointed out that up to the time of the incident more than a thousand officers and men of the German Navy had been rescued from the sea, " sometimes in spite of danger to the 199 War in the Under seas rescuers, and sometimes to the prejudice of British naval operations." Not a single British sailor had been picked up by the enemy. The widely circulated report that the officers of U 8 were guests of Royal Artillery officers at lunch at Dover Castle was a falsehood. The life of U 12 as a pirate was extremely short. She was caught by the destroyer Ariel on the 10th March, 1915, before she had been able to do anything approaching appreciable damage, her sole victim being a little steam collier of 60 tons, which she sank by means of a bomb. A certain amount of mystery is also associ- ated with this particular submarine. Her dis- placement, if she were the original U 12, was 300 tons submerged and 250 tons above water. Fourteen men would have been ample to work her, yet she had a complement of twenty-eight. It is possible, though the idea seems somewhat far-fetched on account of the limited accom- modation on board, that the men in excess were being trained. What appears to be far more probable is that an old number had been given to a new boat, just as the name Arethusa 200 U -Boats that Never Returned has been borne by a long line of fighting ships in the Royal Navy. Ten of the pirates were picked up and landed in Scotland ; eighteen were drowned. Although Captain Otto Weddigen achieved momentary fame in Germany as the hero of an exploit that sent the Aboukir, the Cressy, and the Hogue to the bottom of the North Sea, he did not live long to enjoy his popularity. When the U 9, the submarine which he com- manded on that occasion, was withdrawn from service, he was given the U 29, believed to have a displacement of some 800 tons, and to be armed with two quick-firing guns and four or more torpedo tubes. One of the U 9*s last adventures was to get entangled in the net of a Dutch steam trawler, necessitating the cutting away of the lines. U 29 first appeared as a commerce-destroyer about a fortnight before she was sent to the bottom. Her hunting-ground was the vicinity of the Scillies. Known as ' the Polite Pirate,' Weddigen sank five or six merchant ships, and on occasion regaled the crews with cigars and wine and towed their boats toward land. 201 War in the Under seas Not once did he behave with the stupid and blundering brutality of many of his associates in arms. When the crew of the Adenwen were taking to the boats, one of the men fell overboard. Weddigen happened to be on the conning-tower at the time. Noticing the sailor's plight and his rescue, the captain of the U-boat sent him a suit of dry clothes. The German commander's order Pour le Merite and the Iron Cross of the First Class went down with his ship. This misfortune reached the Kaiser's ears. That august per- sonage sent duplicates to Weddigen's widow, at the same time condoling with her in " the bitter loss of a man whom the entire Fatherland mourns, who achieved unforgettable fame for himself and the Fatherland, and who will live for all time as a shining example of daring, calm, and resolution." Weddigen's humanity came in very useful when the fate of U 29 had to be explained in the German Press. The Deutsche Tageszeitung suggested that " British ships surprised U 29 while she was busy saving the crew of the steamer. In the midst of this humane work 202 U -Boats that Never Returned the knightly English must have caught U 29 while she was helpless, and it would be easy for them to destroy her. The noble hypo- critical sentimentality of the English Press about the captain points to facts of this kind." Admiral Klaus, writing in the Vossische Zeitung, put forward the theory that the submarine was sunk by a British ship flying a neutral merchant flag, and added that as the British Admiralty had seen fit to withhold details there were apparently good reasons for not being proud of the success. The only information vouchsafed by the officials of the Wilhelmstrasse was couched in the baldest of bald language : " U 29 has not yet returned from her last cruise. According to the report of the British Admiralty issued on March 26 [1915], the ship sank with her entire crew. The submarine must therefore be regarded as lost." The burial of the U-boat in a shroud of mystery must have been horribly galling to the bigwigs of Berlin. The intimation that she was " sunk by one of His Majesty's ships " conveyed nothing to them except the obvious. On the 9th June, 1915, Mr Balfour announced 203 War in the Under seas in the House of Commons that a German sub- marine had been sunk and the entire crew taken prisoners. The German Admiralty subse- quently announced that U 14 was evidently the vessel in question, as it had " not returned from its last expedition." Whether the following letter is a typical revelation of the mind of the German under- water sailor or not is more than I can say, but it is particularly interesting as showing that the writer was thankful to a kindly Providence for sparing him when the game of piracy and murder had come to an end and he was safe in British hands. It could scarcely be supposed that every German who sailed in a submarine did it of his own free will or took a delight in the work. I can only suggest that all too often the Prussian Cult makes blackguards of men who are not by nature what they after- ward become. The communication runs as follows : My dear, good Parents, Go to church the first Sunday after you receive these lines from me, and thank the good God for having so mercifully watched over and preserved me. I have fallen into the hands of the English, unwounded and 204 U -Boats that Never Returned whole in body and mind, and have been well treated, quite particularly so by the English naval officers. It was an extremely sad day for me. First of all in the morning I saw dead on the deck two poor Norwegians who had unhappily fallen victims to our gunfire. The day will be engraved on my memory in letters of blood. But as for you, dear parents, do not be distressed, and do not weep for me. The good God Who has protected me hitherto will continue to be my aid, and if it should be His will that I should quit this world I shall know how to die. The submersible in which the writer of the above letter served was UC 39, commanded by Otto Ehrentraut, a personal friend of Prince Henry of Prussia. UC 39 was a mine- layer, but does not appear to have been so employed when she was destroyed. She was simply indulging in cold-blooded piracy with the aid of torpedoes and shell. Her first victim was the Norwegian s.s. Hans Kinck. Although the vessel stopped when summoned to do so, many rounds were fired at the helpless ship. Victim No. 2 was the British s.s. Hanna Larsen, which was sunk by bombs and the master and chief engineer made prisoners. Victim No. 3 was another Norwegian steamer, the Ida, when the old practice of firing after 205 War in the Under seas the vessel had stopped was again indulged. No fewer than twenty shells were hurled at her before Otto Ehrentraut gave the order to cease fire. It was only then that the men in one of the Idas boats ventured to come along- side and inform him that two of their comrades, both wounded, had been left on the sinking vessel. When a German officer clambered on board, the mate and the steward were lying dead on the deck. There they were allowed to remain while the Ida was finished off with bombs. A steamer and a trawler were next attacked. Both escaped in the mist. Another steamer was encountered a little later, but this time UC 39 caught a Tartar. A destroyer was close by and opened fire. Before the submarine could dive sufficiently low to make her where- abouts uncertain a depth charge exploded in her near vicinity. Water poured in, making it dangerous to remain submerged. So she came to the surface, to receive a tornado of fire from the man-of-war. Ehrentraut appeared on the conning-tower, and was struck by a shell. His place was taken by another 206 U -Boats that Never Returned officer. As UC 39 continued on her course, the commander of the destroyer yelled through a megaphone for her to stop. Before she answered the summons several of the crew had been killed or wounded, but seventeen survivors were rescued. All these events were crowded into two days. The French, Italian, and Japanese Navies all displayed splendid prowess in dispatch- ing submarines. The Austrian U 3, a small submarine of 300 tons displacement when submerged, was rounded up in the Lower Adriatic by the French T.B.D. Bisson after a search in which Italian men-of-war had joined. No sooner was the periscope sighted than the destroyer scored a hit at over 3000 yards. The second shot was not so successful, for it fell short, but the third struck her and exploded in the engine-room. Although U 3 went down in half a minute, twelve of her crew were rescued. The U-boat which wrecked the Chateaurenault in the Ionian Sea on the 14th December, 1917, took a lot of killing. After the enemy had sent her first torpedo, the spot where she 207 War in the Under seas submerged was riddled with shells. On her reappearance shortly afterward, the gunners of the cruiser opened fire, causing her once more to make a hasty withdrawal. A second torpedo followed, and the U-boat was again shelled, while two seaplanes dropped bombs. Unable to keep under water, she came up for the last time, and was literally blown to pieces. I have scarcely touched the fringe of a vast topic. In August 19 18 Mr Lloyd George stated that 150 enemy submarines had been destroyed by the British Navy alone since the beginning of the war. Before the end forty more had been added to the obituary list, while three were destroyed by the Germans at Zeebrugge, half a dozen foundered in British minefields, and one was lost in the North Sea while crossing to Harwich. Precise particulars of the When and Where of submarine-hunting cannot even now be given, but the How of the matter will be related in fuller detail in later chapters. 208 CHAPTER XI Depth Charges in Action " I believe the day is not distant when we shall overcome the submarines as we have overcome the Zeppelins and all the infernal machines started by the Germans in this war." — Lord Milner. ONE of the most effective antidotes for the submarine menace when the approximate whereabouts of the enemy is known is the depth charge, already mentioned more than once in these pages. Outwardly it resembles nothing more murderous than a cylindrical drum such as is used for storing paraffin oil. There the likeness ends. Inwardly it is filled with high explosive, and fitted with a fuse that can be set to detonate at any desired depth. Given a reasonable amount of luck, the surprise packet when thrown overboard blows up in the track of the enemy. Very often it strikes a death-blow, sometimes it does such extensive damage that it is only with extreme difficulty that the injured craft can crawl back to port, and o 209 War in the Under seas occasionally the enemy escapes with nothing worse than a nasty jar. The effect naturally depends on the distance separating the charge from the target. Some time since a young friend of mine who is an engineer officer on a certain armed auxiliary was asked if he would volunteer to take charge of the engine-room of a mine- sweeper. " Their man " was in sick bay, and as mine-laying U-boats had become in- creasingly active in the vicinity, it was highly desirable that operations should be resumed with the least possible delay. As his own ship was not due to sail for several days, he assured the skipper that he would be delighted to render any possible service. Incidentally he looked forward to what he termed " a bit of sport." It was abominably rough outside the sheltered seclusion of the harbour, and he was beginning to think that ' a willing horse ' is a synonym for a fool, when a terrific crash made the ship quake, flung him in anything but a gentle manner against the nearest handrail, and nearly burst his ear-drums. Our friend glued his eyes to the indicator, expecting it to 210 Depth Charges in Action swing round to ' Astern ' or ' Stop.' The hand remained motionless. He comforted himself with the reflection that if the bow was blown to bits or the vessel sent sky-high it was none of his business. It was not his duty to inter- fere with the navigation of the ship, which was certainly ploughing her way through the short and choppy seas as though nothing untoward had happened. Presently the skipper's burly form appeared at the casemate. " What on earth was that ? " asked the engineer. " Only a depth charge exploding a couple of miles away," was the answer. " There's lots of oil hereabouts." Unfortunately the Allies were not the sole possessors of the prescription for these quick-acting pills. Depth charges ' made in Germany ' were sometimes dropped in the tracks of British submarines. A certain com- mander, who also knows what it is to face the ugly muzzles of 6-in. guns spitting flame when a submarine is cruising awash, confesses to a preference for the latter weapon. This is the reason why : He came near the surface at an awkward 211 War in the Underseas moment. No sooner had he fixed his eyes to the periscope than he discovered that enemy torpedo-boats — not one but many — were in the immediate neighbourhood. Their move- ments showed them to be perfectly well aware of his presence. His orders were terse. Any hesitation in translating them into action would have meant disaster. The boat began to descend, nose foremost. She continued travelling in that direction even when it was a matter of urgent importance to maintain an even keel. Something had jammed, and jammed badly. Then there was a terrific report, followed by a concussion that did more than merely shake the submarine. Some of the crew were knocked down. No need to ask if there had been a seaquake. Everybody knew right enough what had happened, and fully realized that the shock was probably only the prelude to further episodes of a similar kind. Rivets, bolts, and plates held good — so did the beastly jam. The submarine just dived to the bottom. There the officer let her remain without any attempt to repair the trouble. Like Brer Rabbit, he believed there 212 Depth Charges in Action were occasions when it is supreme wisdom to ' lie low ' and do nothing. This was one of them. There was no immediate haste. He appeared to be waiting for something. The ' something ' came three minutes later, accompanied by a deafening bang that made rich, warm blood run cold. Another depth charge had been hurled overboard. It made the submarine rock, but a careful investigation of every nook and cranny made it evident that she had not so much as sprung a leak. British shipbuilders are the finest in the world when they like, and they had liked when putting together this underwater craft. With those on board the Norah Creina the commander could say, " God bless every man that swung a mallet on that tiny and strong hull ! It was not for wages only that they laboured, but to save men's lives." Evidently the enemy was not quite satisfied that he had killed his prey. There was nothing on which to base a report of death. Surmise is not certainty ; it withholds proof. The Germans got out their sweeps and began fishing. The imprisoned men could hear the 213 War in the Under seas cable scraping along their boat, and thanked God when it ceased. The wire rope got en- tangled in nothing. That was a big mercy. A third depth charge was heard and felt to explode, nearer this time, but still with- out doing serious injury. The torpedo-boats dropped no more ground-bait after that. The submarine was " missing, believed killed." The Germans were not fond of remaining in one spot for any considerable time. When the victim was dead or mortally wounded, there was no need to attend the funeral. There were always the grey police of the Patrol to be reckoned with. Down below the crew of the " missing, believed killed " were straightening things out and wondering if they were to receive further attention from above. Two, four, six, eight hours passed, daylight with them. Little likelihood of the hunters being about now. Then the submarine, according to the official report, " proceeded to her base." Before the war I tried to puzzle out why it was that human beings, of their own free will, became firemen on a battleship. One minute in a stokehold is sixty seconds too long 214 Depth Charges in Action for most people. To me the problem remains unsolved. Are they all possessed of the steel nerves of Hotham when he was told to fight his vessel till she sank and was comforted by Duncan's remark that he had taken the depth of the water and that when the Venerable went down his flag would still be flying ? Stoking is bad enough, but what of those who volunteer for service in a submarine ? They do not seem to be out of the ordinary ruck of humanity. Solve the riddle of the ' something ' they possess and you will be able to put down in black and white, after the manner of a sum, the secret of Britain's Sea-power. Seemingly unconscious of the unpleasant fact that a T.B.D. was a mere mile away, a submersible broke surface, presumably to recharge her storage batteries. No sooner had she come to the top than the commander dis- covered the British vessel racing toward him at full tilt. If the destroyer missed a fine chance of ramming by reason of the Hun's alertness, she certainly seized a rare oppor- tunity for dropping a couple of depth charges. They gave the enemy a terrible shaking. No 215 War in the Underseas other reason would- have brought the U-boat so perilously near the surface as to uncover the periscope, which appeared at an angle sufficiently rakish to show that the submarine was anything but comfortable. The T.B.D. gave her another dose. One or two other vessels appeared, anxious to render assistance with a further supply of concentrated de- struction. In addition to a lavish waste of oil, there came to the surface four significant things : a calcium float, a broken steel buoy, a wooden ladder, and a lifebelt. I do not think there is the least likelihood that that particular U-boat returned to Zeebrugge or any other lair. Sometimes even more conclusive evidence of decease was furnished by the victim. Motor launches which formerly lived a genteel ex- istence, lifting silver cups at smart regattas, became terribly efficient engines of war as submarine-chasers. One of them sighted the ' eye ' of a U-boat not more than 200 yards away. A couple of depth charges were dropped on the spot just after she had dis- appeared. Some hefty sheets of metal came 216 Depth Charges in Action hurtling up from Neptune's kingdom, flung wide of the attacking vessel by great good fortune. The usual tell-tale streaks of oil, ascending in ever-increasing volume, afforded further testimony to the efficacy of the explosions. Some U-boats took a lot of killing ; they seemed as hydra-skinned as the offspring of Typhon and Echidna was many-headed. They came to resemble the poor patient who has a complication of diseases and yet lives for years. Therefore we usually made assurance doubly sure. A destroyer on patrol gave a submersible a thundering good ramming. There was no doubt about it, because the skipper on the bridge saw a gaping hole in the hull just before the conning-tower, and seeing is believing. Now it was no part of British war methods to impose a lingering death on our enemies, however deep-dyed in sin they might be. We got the killing business over as speedily as possible. On this occasion two depth charges were flung out to polish off the job with the maximum of celerity. Then the destroyer circled round the spot on the off chance that 217 War in the Underseas the U-boat might still be near the surface. There was plenty of oil rising thereabouts, but the commander of the T.B.D. was not quite convinced of a ' kill,' and it was his business to deal with facts rather than probabilities. So he anchored a buoy near the spot, deter- mined to return at daylight. When he came back several hours later rainbow patches were still rising. He used another depth charge before proceeding on the uneven tenor of his way. In due course the position was swept and the wreck located. Lord Jellicoe has told us that at night a submarine travelling awash is not visible at a distance of more than 200 yards. Moon- light, of course, increases visibility, and on the particular night I have in mind the look-out on a British auxiliary sighted a U-boat in surface trim about half a mile distant. The patrol vessel gave chase, but the submarine managed to submerge before her enemy came up. Half a dozen depth charges were dropped overboard. Their explosion — ' some explosion,' as Uncle Sam would say — was followed by what the commander termed a 218 The Destroyer's Short ^Way with the U-Boat Sighted at a distance of several miles, a British destroyer found a U-boat in difficulties and ended them in the manner depicted. Drawn by a Naval Officer 218 Depth Charges in Action ' disturbance ' about 300 yards distant, which may or may not have been the U-boat breaking surface, likely enough inadvertently. At any rate, a shot whistled in that direction. Vast pools of oil settled on the water. Harsh, guttural voices made themselves audible above the tumult. One survivor was picked up. Sir Eric Geddes has said that when the full story of the British Navy in the Great War is told " it will surpass in heroism and daring and ingenuity and wonder the tales of Captain Marry at." The speed of a convoy is necessarily that of the slowest ship, but sometimes bad steaming plays ducks and drakes with the keeping of a correct formation, on which so much depends. Ships have an awkward way of falling behind, necessitating their being shepherded like a flock of sheep, and adding considerably to the risks. The commander of a convoy needs a sweet temper. A merchantman was forming an involuntary rearguard on her own account. She had fallen behind, and in her isolated position was an ideal target for any U-boat that might happen 219 War in the Under seas to be lying low by reason of the presence of lynx-eyed destroyers with the main body. One of the latter was detached to hasten up the sluggard. Scarcely had she reached her before one of the steamers in the van was neatly torpedoed. Heading for the track of the steel fish, the T.B.D. apparently cut across the submarine. She quivered from stem to stern with the force of the bump. The skipper of a sister ship distinctly saw a periscope sticking above the waves, and, coming up, dropped a depth charge, which was followed by an explosion and the appearance of the U-boat astern. Both destroyers put their helms right over, and opened fire. The fight was ended by one of them charging the sub- mersible and literally chopping her in half. Both sections kept afloat for a few seconds, then disappeared in two mammoth whirlpools. It was one of the cleanest cuts of the war, though a United States cruiser managed to perform a similar feat a few weeks later. While escorting a convoy a look-out on the U.S. destroyer Fanning noticed a periscope sticking out of the water. Heading for the 220 Depth Charges in Action spot, a single depth charge was unloaded. The U-boat came to the surface, and after a short chase meekly surrendered. According to the evidence of prisoners, the machinery of the submarine was wrecked beyond repair. The Germans referred to depth charges as ' water-bombs.' Frankly, they were not en- amoured of them. With that abnormal lack of humour which no Briton can understand, Commander Rose of the Kaiser's Underseas Navy explained that " their material effect is only small " — witness the above samples — " but the infernal din of their explosion " had a great moral effect, " especially on an inexperienced crew." 221 CHAPTER XII Singeing the Sultans Beard " There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory." — Sir Francis Drake. TO win the first Victoria Cross awarded to a naval officer in the Great War, to be the first submarine commander to gain it in any war — these are no mean distinctions. Primarily, of course, Lieutenant Norman Douglas Holbrook, R.N., owed his blue ribbon to " most conspicuous bravery," as the Gazette has it, but to this must be added a particularly daring and unique exploit that showed exceptional tactical and executive skill. The deed was not one of those lightning- stroke affairs that lack premeditation and are accomplished on the spur of the moment in the heat of battle. The elements of conflict were there, guns, ammunition, soldiers, and all the stage scenery necessary to give a picturesque and enthralling setting. The chief actor alone 222 Singeing the Sultans Beard failed to appear in the picture. I would not for the world attempt to minimize the superb heroism of any holder of a much-coveted de- coration. Yet there is a marked difference between this particular deed and all others that had gone before. It was accomplished in a place remote from other British battle forces. The young officer neither carried a wounded man on his back amid a storm of bullets, his comrades looking on, nor with a machine-gun held up a horde of Huns. Harking back, it is interesting to recall that the first person to win the V.C. was a bluejacket — an above-salt-water sailor. Hol- brook belonged to the same splendid Service, but to a section unborn when Charles Davis Lucas flung overboard a live shell from H.M.S. Hecla off Bomarsund in 1854. The commander of B 11 gained his fourpenny worth of bronze in a submarine below the sea. What Hol- brook's meritorious action lacks in intensity of swift drama is more than compensated by the cool and calculated daring of the whole proceeding. Standing quietly in a sealed chamber breathing 223 War in the Underseas * canned air ' for nine mortal hours, dodging mines, torpedo-boats, and gunfire from forts, requires a steady nerve and a concentration of mind and purpose beyond what is called for in open fighting. He accomplished what he had to do, brought back his ship, fourteen men and an officer, quite safely, and betrayed an eager anxiety as to what his next task might be. It was not as though Holbrook had been placed in command of a brand-new vessel of modern type, replete with the latest improve- ments, spacious, comfortable, and minus the stuffiness so inseparably associated with earlier craft. B ii was one of the smallest, slowest, and oldest submarines in the British Navy. She had been launched in 1906, when Holbrook was still a ' snotty,' which is the Service name for midshipman. There was no question as to the risks all on board knew they were about to run. It was an adventure in the truest sense of the word, without a single ' dead cert.' in it. Every man jack of them left letters behind, " in case of accidents," as one of the brave fellows modestly put it, and he added, 224 Singeing the Saltans Beard perhaps half wistfully, that the commander was " a very cool hand." The latter fact needs no qualification ; it is self-evident. For one thing the Lieutenant had promised his mother "to be careful " when he bade her good-bye at Portsmouth. He fulfilled his pledge, as is the habit of worthy sons of worthy parents. Later on, when he gave her an account of his deeds, Holbrook gently reminded her of his vow in a subtle way. He signed his letter, " Your affectionate and careful son." Which shows that a sense of humour is likewise one of his traits. Lieutenant Holbrook had been appointed to H.M.S. Egmont at Malta for the command of B ii in December 19 13. What he and his submarine did in the interim of a year does not concern us. The blue waters of the Medi- terranean hid them from the public gaze for exactly twelve months. Then they suddenly turned up in the iEgean Sea, hundreds of miles from their base. The Angel of Peace had retired sadly before the bustling entrance of Mars. A combined British and French squadron was gathered together in the neigh- p 225 War in the Underseas bourhood of the entrance to the Dardanelles. There was an idea that big ships and big guns could smash their way through the Straits and appear before Constantinople. Eminent naval men said that the project was perfectly feasible ; others that it was an impossible task. The ' Ayes ' had it ; the ' Noes ' came into their own a little later. The heavy fathers of the Fleet had tuned up for the overture at daybreak on the 3rd November, 1914. On the 13th of the following month Holbrook and his merry men started to pierce the Straits via the underseas. Wiseacres in the battleships, jealous of the reputation of the giants, and secretly itching to follow in the tracks of Admiral Sir J. Duck- worth, who had got through in 1807, before battleships were quite so bulky and the Turks so well prepared, called in superstition to justify their views. The 13th was, and always had been, unlucky. It was the height of foolishness to tempt Providence with that date staring at one from the calendar. Really, the lack of wisdom in their superiors was beyond words ! The commander of the expedition was too 226 Singeing the Sultans Beard eager to get on with the job to be deterred by superstition, and too much occupied with prac- tical affairs to be concerned with old women's tales once the Dardanelles had been entered. The Hellespont of ancient history is a bit of a teaser to a navigation officer. It has all manner of depths and shallows, widths and currents. Mists frequently hang between the rocky heights and the low hills of the landlocked waterway like steam and smoke in a railway tunnel. To these difficulties were added peril from mine, floating and fixed, peril from the guns of forts and land batteries, and peril from whatever naval forces might be in the vicinity. Holbrook's main object was to torpedo the Turkish battleship Messudiyeh. She was guarding the mine-field in the roadstead of Nagara, below the Narrows. Here the distance between the banks is only some 1400 yards, and the current often runs at the rapid rate of four and a half knots. The Messudiyeh was a rather curious specimen of naval architecture, the combined product of British and Italian labour. Launched at Blackwall forty years before, she had been rebuilt to a great extent 227 War in the Under seas at Genoa in 1902. From the point of view of armament she was by no means to be despised. Although her two 9.2-in. breech-loaders were being overhauled in England and had given place to wooden replicas, she mounted twelve 6-in. quick-firers, and over two dozen smaller weapons — a plentiful selection of guns for ser- vice should B n's periscope be sighted. As a matter of fact it was sighted, but not before Holbrook had taken his observations and dis- charged a torpedo, as we shall have occasion to notice a little later. The 10,000-ton battleship was perhaps the least of the difficulties that confronted the intrepid Lieutenant. When beset by so many dangers comparison between one and another is of little consequence. The ship was anchored, and therefore presented as fine a target as a submarine commander could wish. But before she could be reached there was a gauntlet of five rows of live mines to be run. It was no good trying to ' rush ' the Straits. For one thing, the motors of B 11 could not propel her more than 5| knots an hour when submerged, and only 11 knots on the surface, and for 228 Singeing the Sultans Beard another, speed would have been a disadvantage rather than a help. Barging into the nearest horned canister is not good for the health of a submarine, and Holbrook realized that he must feel his way in the painful manner of a blind man, with the difference that at intervals he could use his periscope. The fact that the Messudiyeh had been the flagship of a British admiral previous to the outbreak of war lent a sentimental interest to the commander's project. All submarine officers are not compounded of crude blood and iron, as popular belief has it. Holbrook is a particularly human specimen of the species, and has more than a strain of idealism in his make-up. Rear- Admiral Limpus had been engaged in reorganizing the Ottoman naval service previous to the winning-over of the Turks by the Germans. To be sure the service- able material at his disposal, so far as battle- ships were concerned, was poor enough. These numbered three in all, but three on the effec- tive list are better than none, and two Dread- noughts were under construction in England. The last-mentioned are now members of the 229 War in the Underseas great family that goes under the generic name of the Royal Navy. Holbrook threaded his way through the mines, as Nelson dodged the shoals at Copen- hagen, got within target-distance of his intended victim, took his bearings, and discharged an 18-in. torpedo, the first to be fired by a B boat since the commencement of the war. Do not run away with the idea that it was a one-sided affair — a game of naval cricket with the British commander as bowler and the batsman out of his wicket. The wash of the periscope had been spotted by a keen-eyed look-out on the Messudiyeh. Before Holbrook knew the result of his aim, shells were falling unpleasantly near, and not a few ! The enemy peppered the spot with a mighty weight of metal, but B n was down and under when the Turks got the correct range. Even then things were precious uncomfortable, for the submarine grounded on a shoal, with only about thirty feet of water above her thin skin. It took some little time, plus much bumping and scraping, to get clear, but Holbrook never turned a hair. Flurry is not in his dictionary. He gave an 230 Singeing the Sultans Beard order or two, then waited. On the whole B ii behaved herself very well. She got into deeper water, from which Holbrook took a look round to ascertain the extent of the damage done. After expressing his satisfaction, he again descended. During the whole voyage B n remained submerged for nine of the longest hours that the crew had ever experienced. The early British submarines are cramped and stuffy, with the minimum of accommodation and the maximum of discomfort. At least the crew could congratulate themselves on having accomplished something, for there had been a mighty reverberation a few seconds after the torpedo had started on its travels. It was horribly difficult to keep a straight course on account of the current, but coxswains and men proved themselves worthy of so gallant a skipper. What of the Messudiyeh ? It was given out by the Turkish authorities that she had sunk at her anchorage off the Asiatic shore " as the result of a leak," and that part of the ship was still above water. The communique 231 War in the Under seas has a refreshing touch of humour about it not altogether characteristic of the general run of similar announcements. If we may accept the word of ' a reliable source,' the veteran turned turtle in shallow water within five minutes of having received Holbrook's compliments. Of the battleship's crew, which may have numbered 600 or more, the same authority states that only twenty-three escaped. These were got out by the dexterous manipula- tion of axe and saw. If Englishmen take their pleasures sadly, they make war with a light heart. Shortly after his return, Lieutenant Holbrook was presented with a specially constructed Iron Cross — a huge metal affair almost as big as his head. Commander Bromley ' performed the mock ceremony on board H.M.S. Indefatigable, to the immense amusement of the assembled company. Holbrook was rightly acclaimed the Hero of the Service. Admiral Count Bettolo, voicing the opinion of the countrymen of Columbus, said that the achievement was a " magnificent 1 Now Captain. 232 Singeing the Sultans Beard feat which highly honours the British Navy and shows the firm determination to succeed on the part of the English sailors." " The British Navy," he added, " wishes the world to know it is capable of heroism and daring not inferior to that of any other Navy. The organizer of the raid has demonstrated that he possesses the qualities to triumph at any cost." In Russia the exploit was hailed as one of enor- mous military value, which the enthusiasm of the moment doubtless suggested but sub- sequent events did not justify. It certainly robbed Turkey of the Messudiyeh. Most im- portant of all, Lieutenant Norman Douglas Holbrook had blazed a trail. Lieutenant Sydney T. Winn, second in command of B n, was appointed to the Distinguished Service Order. No one was more delighted to hear of this honour than Lieutenant Holbrook. All the members of the crew were granted the Distinguished Service Medal. The ill-fated Dardanelles Campaign, so rich in deeds of daring and so poor in practical results, introduced to the world at large two 233 War in the Underseas other submarine commanders, each of whom won the V.C. in connexion with it. Lieutenant-Commander Edward Courtney Boyle, R.N., took E 14 beneath the enemy mine-fields and suddenly appeared in the Sea of Marmora on the 27th April, 1915. He was stalk- ing transports, the enemy's favourite method of conveying troops to Gallipoli because the land communications consisted of a solitary road. The submarine, a larger and more powerful boat than B n, with a displacement of 810 tons, did not return to her base until twenty-two days later. When she arrived it was much to the astonishment of many officers and men of the Allied Fleet, who had firmly believed that she and her brave crew had gone to Davy Jones's locker. During the interim E 14 had dodged mines, navigated treacherous currents, kept out of harm from hostile patrols, sunk a couple of gunboats, wrecked two transports — one crowded with 6000 troops — and poked her inquisitive nose into the Bosphorus. The first week spent in the Sea of Marmora was terribly exciting. E 14 was hunted by 234 Singeing the Sultans Beard all the light craft at the disposal of the Turks. Gunboats, destroyers, and torpedo-boats took part in the chase, without achieving the slightest success. Their failure, combined with shortage of coal, caused most of them to be withdrawn from the service. Thence- forth they assumed the more humble role of convoys. This phase lasted a short time only. After Boyle had sunk the large troopship already mentioned, the Turkish soldiers refused to go by sea, preferring to march for three days and three nights rather than run the risk of meeting the terrible submarine. E 14 went into the Marmora on two sub- sequent occasions. Altogether she spent no fewer than seventy days there. On her last visit she had to break through the net placed across the Dardanelles by Nagara Point. As this formidable obstacle was made of chain and 3|-in. wire, it " required some breaking," to quote the words of the commanding officer. Then Boyle's first lieutenant developed typhoid, and was ill for the remainder of the voyage, a matter of over a fortnight. About fifty vessels, including dhows laden with grain and other 235 War in the Underseas useful commodities, were sent to the bottom by E 14, but — mark this — no non-combatant ship was ever sunk before the crew had been taken close inshore in their boats and had been fed if they were hungry. Submarines can be good Samaritans, despite German assertions to the contrary. It should also be added that for two days E 14, in conjunction with En, shelled the reinforcing troops marching to repel the Suvla Bay landing. Boyle superbly earned and won the V.C., his colleagues, Lieutenant E. G. Stanley, R.N., and Acting-Lieutenant R. W. Lawrence, R.N.R., were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, and each member of the crew was given the Distinguished Service Medal. One can fully appreciate the statement of Admiral de Robeck, that "it is impossible to do full justice to this great achievement." On the occasion of E i4's first penetration of the Straits the King sent the gallant Commander and his crew a telegram of congratulation. Another E boat carried this process of any- thing but peaceful penetration still farther. Lieut. -Commander Martin Eric Nasmith, R.N., 236 Singeing the Sultans Beard not only took E n through the Dardanelles and crossed the Sea of Marmora, but actually succeeded in entering the Golden Horn, situ- ated no fewer than 170 miles from the entrance to the Straits. At the quay adjoining the arsenal he fired a torpedo, which " was heard to explode." Whether it hit a transport or a lighter laden with firebricks lying near by has not been ascertained with certainty. The Turks and their Teutonic friends are none too keen on telling the truth if it is to their dis- advantage. One informant had it that the barge was blown to smithereens, and that part of the debris was flung with such terrific force against the German Levant steamer Stambul that she was holed and had to be beached. Another report stated that the strong current deflected the torpedo, causing it to blow up part of the jetty. All inde- pendent observers were at least unanimous as to the effect of the raid on the nerves of the inhabitants of Constantinople. The people were panic-stricken, and when the Turkish guns opened fire on their invisible foe they merely contributed to the ferment. So far 237 War in the Under seas as Nasmith was concerned, it was almost a case of ' much ado about nothing.' E n escaped with no worse casualty than a jagged wound in her periscope ! Many of the Turks thought that the Russian Black Sea Fleet had broken through and was bombarding the capital as a preliminary to the landing of troops. Nasmith was merely singeing the Sultan's beard, as Drake had singed that of Philip of Spain three centuries before. Whether the torpedo in question struck troopship, lighter, or jetty at Constantinople does not much matter ; the Commander's remaining torpedoes found their billets right enough. Nasmith undoubtedly destroyed two heavily laden transports, a large gunboat, an ammunition ship, and three store ships, while another vessel containing supplies was driven ashore. As though this bag were not large enough, he returned to torpedo a fourth transport when his crew were congratulating themselves that the most dangerous part of the homeward voyage had been safely negotiated. The ammunition ship blew up with a terrific explosion. By her loss the 238 Singeing the Stdtans Beard enemy was deprived of thousands of charges, a quantity of gun mountings, and a 6-in. gun. Having sunk everything that could be sunk, Nasmith returned to report. The most unpleasant incident of a whole chapter of exciting passages occurred in the Sea of Marmora. The submarine ran foul of the cable that anchored a mine. As other canisters of death were in the vicinity, it was much too perilous to attempt to go astern in the hope that the steel rope would become disentangled. The mine was the submarine's unwelcome guest for eleven miles. Every officer and man knew it, and each realized only too well exactly what would occur if one of the horns of the beastly thing bumped against the boat or struck some floating object. What with submerged torpedo tubes skilfully rigged up by the Turks on shore, land batteries, forts, floating and anchored mines, there was sufficient food for reflection to say nothing of the sinister appendage, and it is perhaps not surprising that the company was serious. If conversation was not animated this was not entirely due to the somewhat sultry atmosphere 239 War in the Underseas of E ii. However, Nasmith got rid of the mine at last, and when he emerged among the battleships and cruisers at the other end of the Dardanelles no King or Kaiser ever received a warmer welcome. This young hero of thirty-two years, who had already attracted notice by his ready resource when A 4 inadvertently sank while exercising at Spithead in 1905, had certainly earned his V.C., and the same may be recorded of his brother-officers, Lieutenant Guy D'Oyle-Hughes, R.N., and Acting- Lieutenant Robert Brown, who were given similar distinctions to those awarded to the subordinate officers of E 14. Had Nelson been alive we may be quite sure he would have admitted the heroes of this chapter to his gallant ' band of brothers.' Their exploits are memorable, as Bacon says of another great naval episode, " even beyond credit, and to the Height of some Heroicall Fable." 240 CHAPTER XIII On Certain Happenings in the Baltic " British submarines may take to themselves the credit of having damaged our trade and shipping in the Baltic." — Captain Persius. BEFORE our Russian allies abandoned the sword and the ploughshare for revolution and famine the Baltic was alive with naval doings. Occasionally it even became the scene of intense activity. When the former subjects of the Little Father ob- tained their liberty, and thereby shackled themselves with a greater tyranny, the inland sea of Northern Europe passed to the enemy. The unweaned democracy of Russia sought peace with paper and not with a sword, hugging the delusion that a new heaven and a new earth could be created with the aid of the devil and the whirlwind. The Baltic became a vast German lake. With the acumen of a committee of Frankfort Jews, and in pur- suance of the much-vaunted Mittel-Europa policy that was both commercial and political, Q 241 War in the Under seas the Fatherland at once projected a canal be- tween the Baltic and the Black Sea. This, of course, would have rendered the Empire entirely independent of the sea-water and long-distance route from Odessa, the granary of the South. Great Britain was Russia's only ally in the Baltic before she surrendered. Two or three battle-cruisers from the neighbourhood of the Orkneys would doubtless have been a desirable addition to her naval strength, but there were good and sufficient reasons why they were withheld. What would have happened had there been no revolution can only be surmised. Certainly there was a time when the appear- ance of large British vessels was not regarded as altogether visionary. Sir John Jellicoe, when Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, stated that it would be difficult to go to the Baltic, but not impossible, and he hoped the day might come when the two Navies would fight a common foe. That day never arrived. Submarines alone represented the might and majesty of the British Navy; and excellent representatives they made. These underseas craft, which threaded their way through the 242 Certain Happenings in the Baltic tortuous channels of the Cattegat and the Sound, or were conveyed in sections from Archangel by inland water transport, rendered yeoman service. Some of the boats put in three long years of hard and hazardous work before the signature of the fatuous Brest- Litovsk Treaty negatived further effort and the ice-bound condition of the frozen waters made escape impossible. Their tasks accom- plished, they were blown up by their own crews. The battered plates of seven worthy successors of the gallant little Revenge lie buried deep in the Gulf of Finland. Not every British victory is perpetuated to an apathetic posterity by such visible tokens as a sail-of-the-line or a gun at the United Service Museum. There are other and grimmer relics which will never meet the public eye. Scouting for months in conditions bordering on life in the Arctic, eternally on the prowl for the High Sea Fleet, sinking men-of-war and German cargoes, holding the enemy at bay while the Russian Fleet secured safety in the Gulf of Finland and the Huns sought to corner it at Reval — these and other things 243 War in the Underseas must be put to the credit of British submarines in the 160,000 odd square miles of waterway which constitute the changeful northern sea. Flat and sandy coast, rocky and precipitous cliff, treacherous shallows, weather as fitful as the temper of a fractious child, added to the anxieties of the watchers. If ever there existed a legitimate excuse for jumpy nerves, surely it was here. Yet throughout their long vigil officers and men upheld the worthy tradition of the British sea game. Not one enemy merchant ship was sunk without warn- ing, or before ample time had been afforded every member of the crew to secure safety in the boats. No shot was fired until they had pulled away from the danger zone. If the distance from land was great, the submarine stood by until a neutral took charge of the refugees. " That bloody wild beast that slumbers in man " of whom Robert Louis Stevenson makes mention was never allowed to awake, though often enough there was sufficient of insolence and bitter hate on the part of the enemy to arouse it. The case of the s.s. Nicomedia, of Hamburg, 344 Certain Happenings in the Baltic is typical of British methods inJthe^Baltic. This big steamer was laden with 6700 tons of valuable ore for the hungry melting-pots of Essen. E 19 hauled her up, gave her complement ' fain'its ' to gather their belong- ings and stow them into the boats, patiently waited for them to clear out, and then sent the ship to the bottom with the assistance of a dynamite cartridge. No cold-blooded-murder tricks sullied the fair fame of the English- speaking seafarers, who thus gave the lie direct to the Teutonic assertion that submarine warfare could only be carried on if it set at nought the common decencies of humanity. The sportsmanlike behaviour of the British was entirely unappreciated by the enemy. They deliberately falsified the accounts which they sent broadcast throughout the world as part of their propaganda work. For instance, neutrals were informed that the commander of a British submarine had blown up the s.s. Germania in Swedish territorial waters by placing a bomb in her hold. When sighted off the Swedish coast the vessel was bound for Stettin with a cargo of 2750 tons of concen- 245 War in the Underseas trated iron ore. Shots were fired as a signal to her captain to stop, and also to warn him that he was making straight for a dangerous sandbank. They were disregarded, with the inevitable result that the Germania ran ashore. Then, and not till then, the British boat entered Swedish waters, intent only on saving the crew and helping to salve the vessel. Not a soul was found on board. After spending an hour in a useless endeavour to move the steamer, the ship's papers and some fresh meat were removed to the submarine. When the British officers and men left the Germania the engine-room was already partly submerged. On the water reaching the boilers they quite naturally blew up. No attempt was made to destroy the vessel. After the high seas had been swept of much Teutonic baggage, the Baltic alone remained to the German merchant service as a field for possible operations with surface vessels. West- ward of the Skager-Rack the way was barred by the British Grand Fleet ; eastward, the German High Sea Fleet felt more or less confident of supremacy, though not positively 246 Certain Happenings in the Baltic sure. The Russian Baltic Fleet, consisting of four pre-Dreadnought battleships, six armoured cruisers, four protected cruisers, over a hun- dred destro}^ers, twenty or more submarines, and four Dreadnoughts in the making, 1 was obviously numerically weaker than that of the second naval Power in the world. It was not in a position to undertake a vigorous offensive. The strategy adopted, to quote Admiral Kanin, was that of regarding the Baltic Fleet as "a continuation of the extreme flank of the Army." Its task was " as far as possible to support the movements of the army, protect- ing it against envelopment by the German Fleet." The element of uncertainty, from the enemy's point of view, was introduced by England as usual. Had the latter not declared war, Germany could have swamped the Russian Fleet and landed troops for the invasion of Russia without fear of molestation from the sea. As it was she had to keep -both eyes open, for on each flank she had maritime enemies. It was scarcely likely that any of Britain's battleships would venture to render 1 These were duly put in commission. 247 IVar in the Underseas assistance, but what of her submarines ? The machines in which Germany placed so much faith were not her secret. They represented no new departure. Britain might attempt to get a squadron or two through the narrow passageway. When the devil gets among tailors, complications are more than likely. Evidence that the Germans anticipated in- roads from hostile underwater craft is afforded by the vigilance of their guard at the doors affording entry and exit. Three E boats once tried to make the passage in company. Two of them got through unscathed, though trawlers were busily hunting for poachers at the time. No. 3 got into difficulties with a sweep slung between two of the afore-mentioned watch-dogs. She ran smack into the hawser, seeing nothing, got entangled, and gave her commander furiously to think on ways and means of possible extrication. By the ' feel ' of it the officer knew approximately where the cable had caught, so he went astern, cocked the boat's nose up a little, and attempted to ' step ' over it. The manoeuvre was executed with celerity. Rapidity of movement is the 248 Certain Happenings in the Baltic soul of underwater warfare. Once let the watchers above become aware that they had a ' bite/ and an explosive charge would come rattling down the line with the ease of a load of bricks on an aerial railway. Then good-bye to the Baltic and all deeps. They must have felt the tug, but it was so momentary that it is more than likely it was put down to jetsam, and one does not waste good material on lumps of sunken wreckage. The string of death rasped along the keel of the submarine, slipped over the bow, and freed itself. If the commander of E — failed to mutter an audible exclamation of thankfulness, he at least breathed a little more freely as a sign of relieved tension. He had lived an hour in less than sixty seconds, and for aught I know added a grey hair or two to his head as outward and visible indications of inward perturbation. On another occasion a squadron of the High Sea Fleet left the sheltering shores of Kiel Bay for a trip in the Baltic. Three additional British submarines were detailed to pass through the Sound. No patrol work this ; their orders were to attack. They left their 249 War in the Under seas base in company, intending to make the passage of fifty miles together on the first favourable night. During the voyage one of the craft developed a minor malady, to which submarines are subject. As she could not keep up with the others, and instructions were not to be disregarded, the lame duck had perforce to limp her way alone. Her consorts aroused no suspicion until they had actually entered the Baltic. Then the enemy became aware of their presence. While trawlers and torpedo- boats hunted for them, four merchantmen in line abreast, supported by warships, swept the entrance to prevent others from following suit. The third submarine, restored to health, arrived twenty-four hours late. The com- mander fully appreciated what was happening. He sought salvation in bluff. As the sweepers were showing navigation lights he quite reasonably argued that if he made a similar display he might possibly get through. He came to the surface, lamps were placed in position, the operation began. For a time it looked as if the artful little ruse would be 250 Certain Happenings in the Baltic successful. Then from out the surrounding darkness a torpedo-boat was felt rather than seen coming full tilt at the submarine. It took the latter three minutes to submerge, according to the log-book ; the surface craft occupied a little longer in reaching the spot. Even then it was a mighty close shave. There were not many feet of blue water between the enemy's keel and the submarine's conning- tower. After an interval the British commander thought he would try his luck again, minus lights. He waited his opportunity, riding quietly on the waves in the meantime, and keeping a pair of keen eyes to his night-glasses. Presently a ship came along, seemingly intent on navigating the difficult passage through the Sound. The low-lying craft awakened into life, and followed at a respectful distance. There was just a chance that she would not be detected. The blackness of the night pre- vented the officer from being certain of the nature of his pilot, otherwise he would scarcely have used her as a screen. A mouse does not creep behind a cat. Meantime she was making 251 War in the Underseas no great speed, and looked like some old tub loaded to the Plimsoll mark with merchandise. Then for no apparent reason the vessel suddenly developed marked eccentricity, went dead slow, then put on full speed, altered course, and made in the direction of her follower. The submarine again sought refuge in the chilly and inhospitable waters, and her company listened to the threshing of propellers racing above. She returned home, " prior to making a further attempt." Thus the com- mander in his official communication to My Lords of the Admiralty. In October 19 14 it was announced that the cruiser Prinz Adalbert had been sunk by two shots from a submarine off Libau, with the loss of most of her crew. According to a Petrograd report, her demise " was effected after much skilful manoeuvring " by a British submarine. The cruiser was not actually the Prinz Adalbert, but a vessel of the same class. The warship bearing that name fell a victim to a British torpedo in the autumn of the following year. 1 1 Sec post, p. 264. 252 Certain Happenings in the Baltic A light cruiser — name unknown — and a torpedo-boat were taking an airing when a certain British submarine of the celebrated ' E ' class met them. The larger vessel was torpedoed forward, apparently set on fire, and showed signs of sinking by the head. As the torpedo-boat sought to pounce on the enemy the submarine passed under her stern and struck the cruiser in or near the after-magazine. There was a double explosion. The torpedo- boat and her tornado of shell were dodged a second time. Three minutes later the periscope showed no cruiser. On the ioth October, 1914, an attempt was made by enemy submarines to sink the Russian Admiral Makaroff, at the moment busily engaged in searching a suspicious fishing-boat flying the Dutch commercial flag. Several torpedoes were fired, but missed, and the armoured cruiser beat off the enemy. On the next day, however, the German craft atoned for previous bad marksmanship by sinking the Pallada, a sister ship of the Admiral Makaroff, while she was scouting in company with the Bayan. This success was achieved through the ' neutral 253 War in the Under seas flag ' trick. The submarine lay in waiting behind a vessel displaying Dutch colours. The ruse was discovered too late. Although subjected to a heavy fire, the submarine got a shot home which apparently exploded the magazines. This vessel, armed with two 8-in., eight 6-in., and many smaller guns, had a normal complement of 568 men. Not a soul was saved. An interesting sequel to this disaster was furnished by the announcement of the Russian Naval Headquarters Staff that during the course of their predatory operations on the 10th and nth a German submersible had been sunk by the fire of the Bayan, a second foundered through striking a mine, and a third was put to flight by a torpedo- boat. Admiral von Essen, Commander-in- Chief of the Russian Baltic Fleet, told the Tsar that twenty unsuccessful submarine attacks had been made within two months previous to the sinking of the Pallada. Early in 1915 the German cruiser Gazelle was attacked off the Danish coast by a sub- marine whose nationality was not disclosed, although rumour had it that she was Russian, 254 Certain Happenings in the Baltic but commanded by a British officer. Despite a big hole in her side made by the explosion, the cruiser was able to keep afloat and reach Sassnitz with the assistance of a ferry steamer. As a withering fire was kept up by the enemy, and floating mines were flung out indiscrimin- ately as a further means of protection, a second shot was impracticable. A lonely Russian submarine boldly attacked an enemy squadron of ten battleships and a swarm of torpedo-boats in the following summer. One evening, when far out in the Baltic, the commander picked up dense black clouds of smoke on the horizon. Then the funnels of warships and their massive hulls rose out of the sea. They were proceeding in two columns, the smaller vessels on the flanks of the larger ones. An hour or more passed before the squadron was sufficiently near for action. As the vessels approached, the commander concluded that his best position would be on the port side of the oncoming ships, between the enemy and the light. He raised his periscope, and believ- ing he had ample time to change his position 255 War in the Under seas before the torpedo-boat in the van of the right column came abreast of him, proceeded to carry out the manoeuvre. The submarine rose a matter of fifteen feet to bring her periscope again into use. The ' eye ' revealed the dis- tance between her and the first of the on- coming battleships as certainly not more than sixty yards. The officer fired a torpedo, dived immediately, and struck the ram of the object at which he had aimed. As no German battleship draws less than twenty- six feet of water, the boat had evidently not submerged sufficiently rapidly. Everybody on board firmly believed that their craft would founder. Only those who have been in a similar occurrence or a railway collision can appreciate the appalling sudden- ness of such a crash. The electric light bulbs burst, the boat assumed a list to starboard, something in the superstructure snapped, water came in. Apparently the engines had sustained no damage from the shock, for they continued to work without any appreciable loss of speed. The boat descended seventy-five feet. Then the sound of a great tumult penetrated her steel 256 Certain Happenings in the Baltic plates. The commander afterward declared that when he heard the explosion he was perfectly convinced that the boat in her damaged state could not withstand the pres- sure of the water. He tried to reach the surface several times, but on each occasion was compelled to descend because the thud of screws above told only too plainly that the enemy vessels were still in the same area, some doubtless assisting the wounded battle- ship, others zigzagging about in the hope that the assailant might be made to pay the full penalty. When the officer tried to use the periscope he found it to be irretrievably damaged, and about as useless as a broken cowl on a chimney-stack. It revealed a blank. At 11.30 the commander, hearing nothing to suggest the presence of the enemy, rose to the surface after having been below four hours. The submarine reached port without further incident, and was docked for repairs. To this day the commander does not know whether the vessel he aimed at was put hors de combat. Late in June 1915 a number of enemy war- ships bombarded Windau with 9.4-in. guns, R 257 War in the Under seas and also tried to effect a descent on the coast with a view to co-operating with the German army in Courland. The invasion project was entirely unsuccessful, and the naval forces were compelled to retire. The defence seems mainly to have been the work of torpedo- boats ; no mention was made on either side of the presence of submarines. A similar attempt made three weeks before had robbed the Russians of the Yenissei, which fell a victim to a U-boat. According to reports furnished by commanders of Russian submarines, three of the enemy vessels were sunk or damaged by mines previously dropped by the wrecked vessel. Early in the following month Russian naval forces came across two enemy light cruisers and destroyers on outpost duty between Goth- land and Windau. On this occasion the tables were turned, and the Germans lost a mine- layer. The Albatross, the ship in question, was so severely handled that she ran aground near Oestergarn, and became a total wreck, her consort, the Augsburg, managing to escape in the fog. While the Russian squadron con- 258 Certain Happenings in the Baltic tinued its course northward, two cruisers, four destroyers, and a flotilla of U-boats joined battle, but speedily retreated after the armoured cruiser Roon had been badly damaged. On being reinforced by a battle squadron, another attempt was made against the Russian vessels, including a spirited sub- marine attack on the Rurik. The latter was saved by a destroyer, which was reported to have sunk one of the hostile underwater craft. The 2nd July was a disastrous day for Germany in the Baltic. In addition to the Albatross she lost a battleship of the Pommern type at the hands of Commander Max K. Horton. 1 On the 30th, E 1 sank a large transport, despite a determined effort on the part of the latter to run down the attacking party. The next happening of importance from the point of view of the submarine war was a dramatic series of actions at the entrance of the Gulf of Riga in the succeeding August. These were carried out with the object of assisting Hindenburg's land offensive in the direction of the great seaport of Riga, whose 1 See ante, p. 128. 259 War in the Underseas fall would open the road to Petrograd. The weather, mostly calm and foggy, was entirely favourable to the enemy, who slipped past the patrols and were able to sweep up many mines that barred further progress. In this dangerous operation it would have been nothing short of miraculous had the enemy escaped scot-free, and one or two vessels were destroyed. The Russian warships put up an excellent defence, with the result that the attempt to capture the old city of the Merchant- Venturers completely failed and the Gulf was evacuated. Again British submarines were to the fore. Commander Noel F. Laurence in E i torpedoed the Dreadnought cruiser Moltke in thick weather on the 19th. This great vessel of 23,000 tons, a sister-ship of the more romantic Goeben, mounting ten 11-in. guns, was believed to have taken part in the infamous raid on Scarborough. Although the Moltke did not sink, she was sufficiently damaged to be placed temporarily out of commission, thereby easing the situation for a time by denuding Germany of a very formidable fighting machine. 260 Certain Happenings in the Baltic Laurence, whose boat had been the first British submarine to penetrate the Baltic, narrowly escaped having E i rammed on this occasion. A torpedo-boat missed her by a few feet only. The Tsar acknowledged the officer's services by decorating him with the St George's Cross of the Fourth Class. In this month of August 1915, so big with events in the Baltic, the enemy committed a flagrant breach of international law by firing on the British submarine E 13 while she was ashore in Danish territorial waters. The out- rage was intensified by the attacking torpedo- boat firing shrapnel and bringing machine-guns to bear on the members of the crew struggling in the water. E 13, in charge of Lieutenant-Commander Layton, grounded on the island of Saltholm, and was given the usual twenty-four hours' grace to get off. Long before the time-limit had expired a German torpedo-boat let off a torpedo at a range of about 300 yards, and opened fire with all her other available weapons. The torpedo exploded on hitting the bottom, close to E 13. Within a few seconds the sub- 261 War in the Underseas marine was a mass of flame. Unable to offer any defence, the officer ordered the crew to abandon the ship. Had it not been for the intervention of a Danish man-of-war, which lowered her boats and steamed between the attacker and the attacked, probably not a soul would have been saved. Fishermen who witnessed the tragedy avowed they had never seen any bravery to equal that of the helpless crew. When E 13 was refloated by the Danish authorities the hull was found to be riddled with shells, but her colours were still on the charred staff. Fifteen bluejackets lost their lives in an attack which Sweden's leading newspaper characterized as " wilful murder." Acting under the orders of the Russian Commander-in-Chief, the British boats in the Baltic carried on as before. They rendered valuable support to the Allies by cutting off supplies of timber, ore, and coal consigned to the Fatherland, and sinking transports and merchantmen whenever bigger prey was un- discoverable. " The capture of an enemy's merchant ships," as Mr David Hannay has so 262 Certain Happenings in the Baltic well said, " is the maritime equivalent for the occupation of territory." This active warfare was carried out despite vigorous search on the part of Zeppelins and seaplanes. E — was treated with three bombs from an enemy aircraft. Then the latter, apparently not satisfied with the result, dropped seven more. Sixty minutes later the submarine came up to have a look round, and was obliged to retreat hurriedly on account of a biplane coming toward her at great speed. Five bombs followed her passage below. After a lapse of forty-five minutes E — again rose to the surface. Subsequent events are best related by reference to the commander's log : Decided to rise and get the gun into action. Got under way on a north course at 10 knots with the upper deck awash. The biplane was sighted on the starboard bow at 6.20 p.m., and we opened fire at 3000 yards. The biplane immediately sheered off, and got out of range after the eighth round, and then kept three miles astern of us. I decided to run north till dark or till the aeroplane retired, and then to return under water to position. At 7.30 we lost sight of the aeroplane, and at 8.30 decided to turn and dive south. Just then the aeroplane was sighted. Dived. Heard nine distant explosions. Decided to remain down till dark. 263 War in the Under seas For a month business was bad in the ' big event ' line, but things brightened in October, although E 19, sighting a German cruiser and two escorts outside Danish territorial waters off Klintholm Moen, had rather an unpleasant ten minutes in trying to hit one of them. The large warship opened fire with great prompti- tude, while the smaller fry cruised about trailing high-explosive charges. E 19 dodged, got in a neat shot at one of the torpedo-boats, and was rewarded by the knowledge that she sank. On the 23rd October the cruiser Prinz Adal- bert, although escorted by a couple of destroyers, one on each bow, was sent to the bottom by a British submarine near Libau. Regarding the manner of her death, the commander of the boat which wrought her destruction has this to say : Fired bow tube at enemy's fore-bridge. Observed very vivid flash of explosion along water-line at point of aim. This was immediately followed by very large concussion, and entire ship was immediately hidden in huge columns of thick grey smoke, fore magazine having evidently been exploded by torpedo. For some unknown reason a newspaper 264 Certain Happenings in the Baltic correspondent's account of the loss of this ship was allowed to be sent by the German official wireless to New York. The writer asserted that the affair took place in hazy weather — " ideal conditions for an attack," according to the British commander — and that the vessel was struck by two torpedoes almost simul- taneously. According to him the Prinz Adal- bert went down " immediately, like a piece of iron." How the following paragraph came to be passed by the censor is a greater mystery : " The enemy submarines in the Baltic offer a difficult problem. The Admiralty is confronted with the practically impossible task of keep- ing them out. The Admiralty can mine or set barrier nets in the Sound between Denmark and Sweden only up to the three-mile limit, where the neutral waters of the two countries begin. The problem is causing the Admiralty serious thought." The range was some 1300 yards, and the " very large concussion " so great that it upset the working of the torpedo mechanism of the submarine and necessitated the craft's burying herself in deep water to avoid injury from the 265 War in the Underseas great masses of debris that were falling over a wide area. The Prinz A dalbert was not wrecked, but annihilated. The light cruiser Undine was dispatched by two torpedoes in three minutes, while convoy- ing the steam ferry Preussen from Trelleborg to Sassnitz on the 7th November, 1915. The first missile missed, and merely put a couple of attendant torpedo-boats on the qui vive. In attempting to ram the assailant, one of them uncovered her charge, with the result that the second weapon struck the Undine full amidships. The underwater craft, un- injured by the withering fire of the discon- certed cruiser, ducked and was seen no more. As a neutral captain remarked, " the sub- marines pop up everywhere, and disappear again with an alertness which only an intimate knowledge of the waters would allow. Several times they have been seen in close proximity to the minefield, but they seem to be as much at home as in the North Sea." A little later the Preussen played into the enemy's hands by ramming and sinking her escorting torpedo-boat, of whose company only five were picked up. 266 Certain Happenings in the Baltic The Flying Dutchman of the Great War was surely the German light cruiser Bremen, com- pleted in 1904 at the port whose name she bore. This little 3200-ton warship, mounting ten 4. 1 -in. guns and fourteen smaller weapons, was reported from time to time as having been seen in the Atlantic, the North Sea, and the Pacific. Then she appeared — and disappeared ■ — in the Baltic. On the 18th December, 1915, Berlin admitted her loss, together with a torpedo-boat escorting her. This double event of the previous day was due to a British submarine. In May 1916, when the eastern and southern parts of the Baltic were once more free from ice, British submarines lost no time in renew- ing their activity, to the utter discomfiture of traders who did not mind running big risks for big money. A German convoy was also intercepted off the coast of Sweden by Russian torpedo-boats, destroyers, and submarines. The squadron sank the auxiliary cruiser Konig von Sachsen, and set fire to another auxiliary ship, the Hermann. The latter was afterward blown up by her crew. 267 War in the Under seas The raid in the Gulf of Finland in November 1916, again under cover of a fog, showed the efficiency of the Russian Baltic Fleet to be still unimpaired, but the Revolution achieved what the enemy failed to do. " Confusion and mistrust prevailed " : in these words Admiral Koltchak summed up the whole unhappy situation. In October 1917 the German High Sea Fleet held the mastery of the Gulf of Riga. The most belligerent representative of the London Press went frantic because the enemy's object had been carried out " without any interference from the British Fleet, which, as we are accustomed to say, commands the sea." Presumably it would have had battle- ships and vessels of Sir David Beatty's cele- brated ' Cat Class ' forging ahead through the entrance, disregarding the imminent likelihood of their being sent to the bottom by U-boats and mine-fields. The difficulties surmounted by underwater craft in penetrating the Baltic, to which I have already drawn attention, is surely sufficient answer to the most amateur of amateur strategists, who, indeed, were some- what roughly handled by Sir Eric Geddes in 268 Certain Happenings in the Baltic the House of Commons. What it was possible for the British Navy to do it achieved. On the 23rd it was announced that a British submarine had fired two torpedoes at an enemy Dreadnought of the Markgraf class mounting ten 12-in. guns, with what result was unknown. The Germans made it somewhat too hot with shells from ships and bombs from seaplanes for her commanding officer to wait and see. She certainly succeeded in blowing up a big transport. Opportunity is four-fifths of the battle where underwater craft are concerned. As the war progressed and Britain learned how to tackle those of the enemy, so the Germans gained experience in dodging our boats. Three Dread- noughts, a light cruiser, and several torpedo- craft hailing from Kiel were chased for four hours by one of our submarines. Every ounce of energy was got out of the motors, but never once did she succeed in getting closer than eight miles. A decent-sized gun would have reached readily enough, but no torpedo has ever achieved so distant a range. The squadron covered a wide area of sea, frequently 269 War in the Underseas changed course, and manoeuvred in such a way that the British skipper candidly con- fessed that his German rival " made use of very confusing and successful anti-submarine tactics." This chapter cannot be other than a faint and incomplete outline of happenings in the Baltic between 1914 and 1917. The British campaign ended in April 1918. When the German naval forces and transports approached Hango, South-west Finland, four ' E ' and three ' C ' boats were taken outside the harbour of Helsingfors and blown up. The crews made their way, not without difficulty and danger, to Petrograd. " Whether it be wise in men to do such actions or no," said Sir William Temple over two centuries ago, " I am sure it is so in States to honour them." Russia had gone into ' Committee.' The Baltic had ceased to be a battle area. A chapter in which the names of Horton, Laurence, Goodhart, and Crombie afforded something more than a tinge of romance had been added to the history books. To quote Admiral Kanin, successor to the hard-working 270 Certain Happenings in the Baltic and reforming von Essen, Russia had been " helped extraordinarily by the English sub- marines." The boats were " magnificent," the officers " fine young fellows." Their bearing was " wonderful — and their coolness ! " 271 CHAPTER XIV Blockading the Blockade " This blockade is a complete avowal oj Germany's weak- ness." — Lord Robert Cecil. SHELLING an enemy is merely a scientific way of throwing stones. When a school- boy in God's open air is not quite sure of the nature of an object, his primitive ancestors prompt him to fling something at it ; middle age, having the full advantage of civilization, pokes it with a stick. In naval warfare ' throwing things ' is per- fectly legitimate cricket, but mining, which is invisible poking, is scarcely recognized as a worthy substitute for football. Two or three years passed before the last mine was swept from the waters that formed the theatre of the maritime drama of the Russo-Japanese War ; it may take thrice that time to clear up the aftermath of the World Conflict. The prospect is not pleasant to contemplate. The belligerents sowed these murderous canisters in many latitudes. Germany, to her lasting 272 Blockading the Blockade shame, did not always provide the necessary apparatus to render them innocuous when they broke loose, or for those of the unanchored variety to become worthless " one hour at most after the person who laid them shall have lost control over them," according to Article I of the Eighth Convention of The Hague Con- ference of 1907. Her favourite trick after a naval engagement was to fling floating mines overboard in the hope that the pursuing fleet would blunder into them. Many thousands were scattered along the trade routes. Let me hasten to add that in the use of mines Germany was well in advance of every other belligerent in 1 914. It was weeks before the British Navy took advantage of what most salt-water sailors regard as a device associated with the dirty, low-down trick of hitting below the belt. Mines, like their cousin the depth charge, played a very important part in combating the submarine menace. As Germany showed a partiality for them, we did our best to oblige her. The most extensive mine-field ever planted was sown by Great Britain. It stretched from the Orkney Islands to the fringe of the terri- s 273 War in the Under seas torial waters of Norway, and covered an area of not less than 22,000 square miles. Access to the Atlantic, rigidly guarded by the naval police of the Patrol, was provided on the Scottish side. Other British mine-fields existed at the farther end of the North Sea, guarded by a hundred or more surface craft, and in the neighbourhood of Flanders, Heligoland, and Denmark. The object of these vast pro- hibited areas was to prevent U-boats from gaining easy access to the great ocean routes. Germany early laid a mine-field inside the Skager-Rack to prevent British submarines from entering the Baltic — which it did not do — and afterward violated international law by taking similar steps in the Cattegat. While the latter operation was proceeding, certain of our naval forces came across a batch of enemy mine- layers at their nefarious task, sank ten of them, and rescued their crews. The men ought to have been ordered to walk the plank, pour encourager les autres, as Voltaire said of Admiral Byng's execution. Britain's bold bid to foil the U-boats was undertaken, in the words of the official explana- 274 Blockading the Blockade tion, " in view of the unrestricted warfare carried on by Germany at sea by means of mines and submarines, not only against the Allied Powers, but also against neutral ship- ping," and because merchant ships were " constantly sunk without regard to the ulti- mate safety of their crews." The big northern mine-field proved very useful. That was why the enemy immediately started a loud-mouthed campaign in neutral countries in the hope of inciting their Governments to protest against an effective method of warfare decidedly pre- judicial to the German cause. A word or two about the surface barrage maintained across the Channel. Every day and night, ceaselessly and relentlessly, in fair weather and foul, over a hundred armed patrolling craft of various sorts and sizes kept sentinel at the great southern gateway, and enabled troops and munitions to cross the drawbridge from England to France. It was not so diffi- cult a task during the day as at night. When darkness fell the guard burned flares that made the passage of a submarine travelling on the surface an exceedingly dangerous undertaking. 275 War in the Under seas If a U-boat tried the underwater route, there were other means of obstruction quite as deadly as the methods of the fire-breathing trawlers. There is no truth in the yarn that a steel net stretched across the Straits of Dover, thereby guaranteeing with more or less certainty the immunity of transports from attack by under- water vessels. The fisherman's device for catching mem- bers of the finny tribe was, of course, applied to submarines. Long nets with meshes ten or fifteen feet square proved of great service when the war was young. Dropped in the course of an approaching U-boat, the prob- ability was that she would poke her nose into it and find extreme difficulty in getting out. Subsequently cutters were fitted to the enemy's craft, but nothing could eliminate the move- ment of the net, which was supported on the surface by small buoys or planks. Moored nets with mines attached boded no good to the submarine that was unfortunate enough to encounter the obstacle. An enemy commander found that his boat was towing a red buoy, and shortly afterward 276 Blockading the Blockade that she was entangled in wire-netting. " For an hour and a half," he relates, " the netting carried us with it, and although I made every effort to get clear of it, rising and then sinking with the object of getting to the bottom of the netting, it was all in vain, for we were always dragged back, sometimes to the right and sometimes to the left." By increasing the weight of water in the tanks the U-boat managed to tear the netting. She remained under water for eighteen hours, came up and found patrol craft in the vicinity, and was compelled to descend for another six hours. After a further look round, the officer adds, " I remained submerged for two hours, then slowly turned outward, and at a distance of some fifty yards from the leading enemy craft passed toward the open sea. At nine o'clock in the evening we were able to rise to the surface in safety." The arming of traders gave the Central Powers furiously to think, especially as the policy was a perfectly natural sequel to their own misdoings. Details of the calibre of guns mounted by ships of the British Mercantile Marine were withheld from Parliament as " not 277 War in the Under seas in the public interest." The French Minister of Marine was more communicative. At the end of 1 917 every French merchantman was armed with two 3.7-in. guns. International law held that trading vessels during war-time must be stopped and searched before further action could be taken. Exceptional circum- stances alone justified the sinking even of an enemy vessel, the usual practice being to conduct the captive to port, the final disposal being settled in the Prize Court. Neutral ships could in no circumstances be destroyed. Germany's difficulty was that it was next to impossible for a submarine to follow this programme, which she herself had recognized previous to the advent of the U-boat. While the process of search was going on, a neces- sarily slow and tedious task, ten to one a patrol boat would appear on the scene and show an untoward amount of inquisitiveness. The natural development of blockade by sub- marine was via the line of least resistance. Rules and rights, obligations and understand- ings must go by the board. The word illegiti- mate was wiped out. From naval virtue to 278 Blockading the Blockade piracy is but a step ; the enemy took it. She would sink at sight. As a direct consequence of the arming of merchantmen there was an increase in the number of submerged attacks and a decrease in the use of the gun on the part of the sub- marine. This was entirely to the good, because it necessitated more frequent visits to the base to replenish depleted magazines. Elsewhere I have dealt at length with the wonderful way in which the men of the Merchant Service settled down to the altered condition of affairs. 1 The crews showed as much faith in their solitary weapon mounted in the stern as a gun-layer of the Queen Eliza- beth believed in the giant organs of destruction housed in the fore turret. They achieved wonders with the little spitfires, though some- times their confidence was misplaced. Un- certainty is the only certainty in war. Lest I should be accused of being a devotee of mere drum and trumpet history, let me relate the story of a failure. At a few minutes to 1 Daring Deeds of Merchant Seamen in the Great War (Harrap, 191 8). 279 War in the Under seas 3 a.m., in squally and heavy weather, the captain of a merchantman made out the form of a U-boat right ahead. His attempt to ram missed by a few feet. Putting the helm hard over to bring the submarine astern, he ordered the gun to be brought into action. The first shot looked as though it had struck the evil thing. But the bursting shell failed to check the enemy, despite what the master called " a big, bright flare-up." A little later he observed what he presumed to be the wake of a torpedo, followed by the appearance of the U-boat travelling parallel to the steamer. Again the gun was fired, and again achieved nothing. As the darkness made range-finding exceedingly difficult, and the flash of the cordite betrayed the position of the steamer, the captain gave orders to cease fire, and sent every available man to the stokehold. What the trusted gun had failed to do the engines might achieve. He then told the steward to get coffee. What a delightful human touch ! It reminds one of Nelson writing a prayer when within sight of the Combined Fleet, and of Sturdee shaving before giving battle to von Spee. 280 Blockading the Blockade At 6.20 a.m. a torpedo struck the port side of the steamer, the boilers burst, and ship and gun disappeared in a welter of steam, smoke, and flame. The survivors were picked up a few hours later. But don't think for one moment that they blamed their armament. They attributed their failure to unfortunate weather conditions. Now for a more pleasing picture. A U-boat tried to torpedo the Nyanza, an American steamer with an Imperial name, at a range of approximately iooo yards. By quick manipu- lation of the helm the tin fish was skilfully dodged, and the ship's gun opened fire. The submarine thereupon brought two guns to bear on the vessel. The running fight con- tinued for two and a half hours, and was ended by four shots from the Nyanza. The enemy visibly staggered, slowly heeled over, and is now gathering rust and barnacles on the ocean floor. The first of all anti-submarine appliances is the human eye. " It is seven to three on the ship if the submarine is sighted, and four to one against it if it is not," says Sir Eric Geddes. 281 War in the Underseas In every British merchant vessel of 2500 gross tonnage and upward, four men possessing the special Board of Trade certificate as to eye- sight were required to act as look-outs at the masthead or elsewhere in areas in which U-boats were likely to be encountered. They kept watch in turn for not more than two hours, and although not necessarily additional mem- bers of the crew, were specially engaged and received extra pay. The necessity for keeping a keen look-out was early recognized. The Admiralty offered a reward not exceeding £1000 for information leading to the capture or destruction of an enemy vessel, including a mine-layer or sub- marine, and a sum up to £200 for infor- mation leading to the craft being sighted and chased. Prominent shipowners and other patri- otic citizens aided and abetted these rewards by offering various sums to the captain and crew of the first British merchantman who sank a U-boat. In due course the idea of ' camouflage ' was borrowed from the Army. In military cam- paigns the ingenious daubing of guns with 282 Blockading the Blockade paint that harmonized with the colours of the surrounding scenery became, if not high art, a most skilful artistic device. It was found impossible to make ships invisible at sea, but much was done to render them considerably less conspicuous . The constantly changing light defeated every plan that had invisibility for its aim. While it is a wise thing to consume one's own smoke, steamers are unable to do so. Smoke is an excellent tell-tale. On the other hand it was not always a friend of the enemy. Destroyers in battle often put up a smoke- screen sufficiently dense to cover battleships and cruisers — it was a marked device of the German fleet at Jutland — and many a 'black gang ' in the stokehold have saved their ship by its means. Boxes filled with smoke-making powder that burnt slowly and gave off black clouds when flung in the sea have enabled many a vessel to escape behind a dense pall. They played their part in the daring raids on Ostend and Zeebrugge. Special smoke- funnels for use on board were also introduced with success. The Compagnie Transatlantique 283 War in the Under seas liner L " w The Great Collapse had " gone mad " because it " dared not fight " and because it " had not got a good cause." That is the psychological explana- tion, true to fact and experience. Its moral broke down, which is another way of saying that it lost its nerve. When ordered to put to sea on the 28th October, 1918, ostensibly for manoeuvres, but in reality as a gambler's last hazardous throw of the dice, the German Fleet mutinied in a far more thorough manner than had obtained a few months previously. At Wilhelmshaven about one thousand sailors were imprisoned for taking part in the mutiny ; Kiel, on the other hand, went wholly ' red,' as did also the commercial ports of Hamburg, Bremen, and Liibeck. Soviets came into being, a Workers' and Soldiers' Council was formed, Bolshevism was openly preached, fireworks were let off at Wilhelmshaven in honour of the German Republic. Apart from the moral issue, three main causes led to the defection of the German Navy. It did not fight because the Battle of Jutland had proved the vast superiority of the Grand Fleet ; it did not want to fight ■ 3" War in the Under seas because the complements of the vessels were mainly landsmen by upbringing and inclina- tion ; it had no heart to fight because the U-boat campaign had failed to win the war according to promise, or even to shake Britain's resolution by one iota. Probably the ultimate and determining factor was the frightful mortality among the submersibles. When the High Sea Fleet failed at Jutland the U-boat campaign was undertaken in real earnest ; when that failed the. mutiny took place. The death-rate toward the end was frightful. Of 360 submarines launched during 1914-18, 200 were sunk or captured. That Germany made a bold bid for triumph cannot be gainsaid. There were times when the Allied Admiralties regarded the situation as critical. The statistics of the matter are instructive, though not pleasing. From first to last Great Britain lost 9,000,000 tons of ship- ping, while Allies and neutrals suffered to the extent of a further 6,000,000 tons. In addition there were eighty British vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 172,554, held up in German ports during hostilities, an amount by 312 The Great Collapse no means to be despised, although it is small compared with the enemy tonnage captured and brought into Allied service. The latter reached the respectable figure of 2,392,675. British naval casualties totalled 39,766 in killed, wounded, interned, and captured. In the Merchant Service 14,661 lost their lives, and 3,295 were taken prisoners. War in the Underseas was waged at frightful cost to all belligerents, both vanquished and victors. Taking British losses by enemy action and marine risks during the war, the worst quarters were in this order : second quarter of 1917, third, first, and last quarters of the same year, and first quarter of 191 8 and last quarter of 1916. In April 1917, 555,000 tons of British shipping were sent to the bottom. Had things gone on at that rate, " we were in deadly danger ; had it gone on for nine months we were ruined." x In September 1918 the de- pletion had been reduced to 151,000 tons. Captain Persius asserts that, following the action off the Danish coast, twenty-three battle- 1 Sir L. Chiozza Money in the House of Commons, 14th November, 1918. 313 War in the Under seas ships were disarmed for the purpose of obtain- ing metal for constructing U-boats — excellent proof of the grip of the blockade and of the British victory at Jutland. His figures regarding underseas craft are a little difficult to follow, because he only deals with what he calls ' front submarines,' presumably those definitely on active service and not merely patrolling in home waters. In April 1917, he says, Ger- many had 126 U-boats, in the following October 146 ; in February 1918 she possessed 136 ; in June of the same year, 113. In January 1917 only 12 per cent, were at sea, 30 per cent, in harbour, 38 per cent, under repair, and 20 per cent, incapacitated. His most important ad- mission is that the ill-trained crews had no confidence in their craft, and that toward the end of the campaign it was difficult to get men to work them. He flatly contradicts the assertion that losses were made up by new construction. Apart from the offensive operations of the Navy proper, the defensive equipment of traders and the introduction of the convoy system in the summer of 19 17 were of enor- mous importance in thwarting the submarine. 314 The Great Collapse In addition to merchant shipping and munitions 16,000,000 fighting men were escorted, and of these less than 5000 met with disaster. Sea-power worked miracles in other direc- tions. " The blockade," says Sir Eric Geddes, 1 " is what crushed the life out of the Central Empires." That was the work of the 10th Cruiser Squadron. From 1914 to 19 17 the ships of that squadron " held the 800 miles stretch of grey sea from the Orkneys to Iceland. In those waters they intercepted 15,000 ships taking succour to our enemies, and they did that under almost Arctic conditions, and mainly in the teeth of storm and blizzard ; out of that 15,000 they missed just 4 per cent., a most remarkable achievement under impos- sible conditions. Behind the blockade was the Grand Fleet, the fulcrum of the whole of the sea-power of the Allies. If ever testi- mony were needed of the value of sea-power, I can give it. In every individual case when an armistice was signed by our enemies, and in one, if not two, cases before, the one cry that went up was, ' Release the blockade.' " 1 Speech at the Grosvenor Galleries, 4th December, 19 18. 315 War in the Under seas Admiral Sir Percy Scott holds that four years of U-boat warfare have " tragically demonstrated the truth " of his neglected warning, but he also acknowledges that the Navy did not fail us. " From the first," to quote the apostle of the submarines, " Great Britain kept command of the seas." His prophecy of 1914 that the day of the big surface ship was over has not been fulfilled, though the submarine may become the capital ship of the future. He contends that if Ger- many could have placed 200 U-boats on the ocean trade routes at the outbreak of war she would have defeated the Allies. She might have done so, but the important fact is that she did not possess the requisite number. At that time we were lamentably short of light craft, German cruisers and raiders were running amok in various parts of the world, and the Grand Fleet was fully occupied ' containing ' the main German squadrons. Given the hypo- thetical conditions mentioned by the Admiral, it is not improbable that the enemy would " have defeated the Allies and practically conquered the world," but it is not " certain," 316 The Great Collapse as Sir Percy asserts. Germany regarded the intensified U-boat campaign as a sure thing ; we know the result. In his now famous letter to the Times, one of the eminent correspondent's contentions was that " the introduction of vessels that swim under water has already done away with the utility of ships that swim on the top of the water," that " as the motor vehicle has driven the horse from the road, so has the submarine driven the battleship from the sea." The Great War of 1914-18 disproved this very definite statement, and witnessed the introduction of mighty ' hush ' ships which lived and moved and had their being on the surface of great waters. On the other hand we should be crass fools if we neglected the lessons of the war as regards the latest naval arm. The records of British submarines are eloquent of their effectiveness. Summed up they amount to this : Two battle- ships sunk and three badly damaged ; two armoured cruisers destroyed ; two light cruisers sunk and one badly damaged. The long obitu- ary list also included seven torpedo-boats, five gunboats, twenty submarines, five armed 317 War in the Underseas auxiliaries, fourteen transports, two store ships, half a dozen ammunition and supply ships, fifty-three steamships, 197 sailing vessels, and one Zeppelin, making a grand total of 315 vessels dead and buried. As to the sea-going qualities of the craft, one British commander made twenty-four cruises, covering 22,000 miles, in a year, while in a single month British sub- marines navigated 105,768 sea miles, one mile in every ten being in the submerged position. We have seen in previous chapters that the Allied naval losses, while they made no appreci- able difference to the situation, were not negli- gible. Approximately 230 fighting ships were lost from all causes by Great Britain during the war. Without going so far as Mr Arthur Pollen, whose opinion regarding the submarine is that, " viewed strictly as a form of sea force, it is the feeblest and least effective that has ever been seen," all available facts show that warships travelling at a good speed are comparatively immune from attack. There is also little danger when they are going slowly, provided they have a covering screen of destroyers. The majority of battleships and cruisers that 318 The Great Collapse fell victims to U-boats were taking life easy, as for instance the Aboukir, the Cressy, and the Rogue in the North Sea, and the Formidable in the Channel. The Great Collapse revealed no new wonders, though the cargo-carrying Deutschland, con- verted into a ' front submarine ' and mounting 5.9-in. guns, was a sight for the gods as she lay floating on the bosom of old Father Thames. Another former commercial cruiser, U 139, had just returned to the Fatherland after a voyage of sixty-four days with a company of ninety- one, fifteen of whom were specially detailed for manning prizes. One ugly brute, believed to have been responsible for the sinking of 47,000 tons of shipping, carried forty -two mines and twenty-two torpedoes. Perhaps the most interesting discovery was a cat-o'-nine-tails stained with blood, extracted from under the bunk of a certain U-boat commander. Two sailors were so enamoured of their own country that they had to be persuaded to go on board the transport at the point of a revolver. One commander, in handing over his signed declara- tion, was good enough to remark, " We shall 319 War in the Under seas be coming over again for them soon." Another officer explained that his periscope was miss- ing and his compass gave an incorrect reading because a steamer had ' sat ' on his boat, while a British Lieutenant-Commander had the satisfaction of piloting a submarine he had once attacked in German waters. Another boat was brand-new from the shipbuilding yard. Nearly all were camouflaged. The majority of the submarines surrendered were certainly not of the cruiser type, about which one heard so much during the war, although in the first batch to reach Harwich was a monster 340 ft. long, with a displacement of 2300 tons and accommodation for a crew of seventy. The remainder were mostly of 800 tons dis- placement, 225 ft. long, and 22 ft. beam. It has taken ten centuries to make the British Navy ; it took four and a quarter years for the Senior Service to secure the surrender of its most formidable rival in the greatest Sea Conquest of all time.