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H IST O R Y O F T H E G R EA T W A R
A
B SE D O N O FFI CIA L D O C U ME N T S

BY D I RE CT I ON OE T HE H I S T O R I CAL SE CT I ON OE T HE
CO M M I TTEE OF I M P ERI A L DEF E N CE i u

T HE

M E R C H A N T NAVY
V Ol . I

BY

A R C H I BA L D H U R D

L O N DO N

J O HN M U R R AY , A L BE MA R L E ST R EET , W .

1 92 1
AL L R I GH T S R E S ERVE D
 P R E F A CE

W HEN the pea c e wa s broken on Au gu st 4th 1 9 1 4 , ,

nothing s ugge s ted that Briti s h merc hant s eamen wo u l d

fare wor s e than their prede c e s s or s of the Napoleoni c era ,

and the statement that they would be compelled to fa c e

peril s in inten s ity and variety unparalleled in human
experien c e would hav e been rej e cted as unbelievable in
fac e of all the e ffort s made at The H agu e to humani s e
warfare Event s fal s ified all anti cipation s
. .

After the c omparative failure of the atta ck on c ommerc e

by s urfa c e c raft c rui s er s and auxiliary c rui s ers —the
—
enemy be c ame c onvin c ed that in the s ubmarine he had
found the mean s of c utting the c ommuni cations of the
Briti s h Empire and of s hutting o ff from the European
,

battle fi e l d s the e s s ential s upplie s without whi c h the troop s

-

c ould not c ontinue to fight The u s e of the s ubmarine

.

for c ommer c e de s tru ction involved the infra ction of inter

national law as well a s the ignoring of the c ode of
humanity s in c e the s e s mall c raft pa cked with ma c hinery
, ,

and equipped for war were unable to a cc ommodate the

,

c rew s of s hip s s un k whether by torpedo gunfire or

, , ,

bom b s The Ge rman flag had already been bani shed from
.

the highway s of the worl d So in de speration it wa s

.
, ,

de cided whatever the lo s s of human life might be and

, ,
‘
without re spe c t for c on s ideration s of law however widely
,

re c ogni s ed to embark on a polic y whi c h rightly or

, ,

W rongly be c ame generally kn own as pira c y

,
.

Thi s de c i s ion c hanged the whole a spe ct of the War s o

far as merc hant s eamen were c on c erned As the c am .

p g
a i n made progre s s it be c ame apparent that the Brit i s h
f
merc hant s eamen were being or ed by ir um tan e
c c c s c s ,

over whi c h neither they nor the Briti h nava l s a u t h or l t l e s

had any c ontrol into t h e forefront of the s truggl e by

,

se a. They had entered the Mer c antile Marine W l t h no

t hought that they wo u l d be expo ed even to u h trial
s s c s
vi P RE F A C E
and s uffering s a s their prede c e s s or s s u stained during the
previou s Great War for there had been m u c h tal k at
,

variou s internationa l Conferen c e s of ameliorating the c o n

d i ti o ns of warfare ; they found them s elve s invo l ved in a
c onfli ct waged by a mer c i l e s s enemy wit h l arge and newly

de ve l o ped re s our c e s The s eam en were defen c el e s s for thi s

’ ‘ ‘
‘
. ,

emergen c y had not been fore s een eit her by the Admir alt y ,

by the s hipowners or by the s eamen them s elve s As the

,
.

c ampaign c on t inued the German s fo u nd that their be s t

,

hope of s u c ces s lay in di s c harging their to rpedoe s without

warning leaving the c rew s and in s ome cas e s pa s s enger s
, , ,

at t h e mer c y of the element s .

In th es e c o ndition s it was thought appro priat e that an

‘

o ffi c ia l hi s t ory S hould be pre pared p l a c ing on re c ord for ,

all time the manner in whi c h Briti s h s eamen ref u s ing t o ,

‘
be c o wed b y the enemy s threat s c onfr dnt e d a ru th l e s s
’ ’
,

foe regarding their own live s a s c heap if in s pite of t h e

, ,

peri l s they wi ll ingl y fac ed the s tream of o c ean traffi c , ,

ne c e s s ary alike for naval military and e c onomi c rea s on s

, , ,

were maintai ned Thi s hi s tory wa s c on s equently under

.

taken at the su gge s tion of the Board of T rade under the

, ,

au thori t y of t h e Hi s tori c al Se c t ion of t h e Committee of

I m peria l D efen c e to ward s the c lo s e of 1 9 1 7 the propo s al
‘

re c eiving the c ordia l s upport of the Admiral ty and the

Mini stry of Shipping .

The ordeal to whi c h the m e n of the Briti s h Mer c antile

Marine s ubmitted with gene rou s patrioti s m c an be a p
p r e c i a t e d on l y if it i s de s crib ed i n an appro pri ate s etting ,

ignoring neither the p l an s of the naval authoritie s for the

prote c tion of m e r c hant s hipping e l aborated in the years ,

before the outbr eak of war nor the mea s ure s afterward s ,

adopted to enable mer c ha nt s hipping to re s i s t with better

‘

hop e of s u c c e s s the enemy s p oli c y On the other hand ’ ‘

.
,

no attempt h as been made to deal with the naval operati on s

und ertaken by the Admiralty for the prot ection of thi s
c ountry s s e a c ommuni c at ion s ex c ept in SO far a s t hey
’
,

immediately c on c erned the Mer c anti l e Marine nor with ,

the e c onomi c e ffe ct s of the naval war on o c ean borne trade -

.

The former s ubj e c t h as been treated in the c ompanion work

by Sir Ju lian Corbett an d Mr C E rne s t Fay l e h as
, . .

be c ome re s pon s ible for the latter .

Wh ile Briti s h s eamen un c ovenanted to the State had

, ,

never had to c o nfront su c h an ordeal a s that of 1 9 1 5 1 8 -

,
 P RE FA C E
vii
it wou l d be to mi s under s tand the hi s tory of the Briti s h
Mer c ant i l e Marine of whi c h l ittle h as been written to
,
,

c on clude that never before had s ai l or s of t h e Mer c hant

Serv i c e taken part in our war s c reating tradition s handed ,

down from generation to generation with in c rea s ing pride .

On the c ontrary the Mer c hant N av y w a s the defen c e of

,
’
the nation s s e a intere s t s and i ts bul wark again st
inva s ion before t h e Roya l N avy had any exi s ten c e and ,

after the foundation of the Royal Navy it c ontinued to

bear no s mal l s hare in the s e a defen c e s of the c ountry .

It h a s been thought not inappropriat e t o the s tory whi c h

the s e volume s te l l to give in very brief s ummary a s ,

a preliminary c hapter s ome a c c ount of th e c ont ribution of

,

Briti s h mer c hant s eamen in the pa s t to thi s c ountry s ’

maritim e hi s t ory ; thi s s u m mary furni s he s a fitti ng ba ck

ground to the unexampled re c ord of high c ourage u m ,

c omplaining s u ff ering and in thou s and s of in stanc e s

,

martyrdom whi c h the la te s tru ggl e h as provided a s an

,

example and in s piration to future generation s The .

theme i s a great one and there i s a t enden c y t o forget

,

that th e Mer c hant Navy wa s the c reator of t h e Royal Navy .

As s oon a s the ta s k of preparing thi s Hi s tory was

und e rtaken it be c ame apparent t hat if the re c ord were
, ,

s tri c tly c onfined to the experien c e s of mer c han t s eamen

in pa s s enger and c argo c arrying s hip s i t woul d co n -

,

vey an inadequate impre s s ion of the dau nt l e s s c ourage ,

fine re s ourc e and dogged enduran c e of the men s erv ing

,

by s e a who were expo s ed to the full fury of the

,

enemy s c ampaign and of the wide range of the s erv i c e s

’
,

they rendered The German s determined to hold up or

. ,

de stroy merc hant s hipping and their f ai lure i s tra c eab l e

, ,

a l ike to the s pirit exhibited by the c rews of merc hant

ve s s el s and to the manner in whi c h merc hant s eamen ,

fi s herm en ya c ht s men and others re s ponded to the

, ,

Admiralty s invitation when i t wa s de c ided to bui ld

’

up a new N avy to deal with the new prob l ems c reated

by the s ubmarine and mine And thu s it happens that .

thi s Hi story embra c e s an a cc ount of the operation s of the

Auxiliary P atrol c on s tituting one of the mo s t remarkabl e
,

a s pe c t s of the war by s e a .

Ac knowledgment i s made of the a s si stan c e rendered

by Lieutenant Commander E K eble Chatterton
-
. ,

in the preparation of thi s portion of the Hi story He was .

vii i PREFACE
a ss o c iated with that pha s e o f the war by s e a for t h r ee
winter s and three s ummers and obtain ed fi r st hand
,
-

kn owledge of the s terling work done by the merc hant

s eamen a s be l ligerent s in c ir c um s tan c e s of mu c h danger

and diffi culty With h i s aid an attempt h as been made

.
,

to c onv ey an impre s s ion of the elaborate organi s ation

’

whi c h wa s gradually c reated by the Admiralty u l timately ,

c ompri s ing nearly ve s s el s and of the high s tandard

,

o f s eaman s hip of offi c er s and men .

L ittle h as hitherto been revealed of the a ctivitie s of

the Aux iliary Patrol N ow with the advantage of o ffi cial
.
,

re c ord s
,
the veil c an be lifted and parti culars given of
s ome of the mo s t s tirring in c ident s of the war by s e a It
—
.

mu s t be apparent that the s tory a typi c al Briti s h s tory

o f a fight again s t heavy odd s
—h a s been little more than
half told in the limited Spa c e available in thi s book .

The writing of thi s re c ord of the ordeal of Briti s h mer

c hant s eamen would have been impo s s ible had it not been

for the c ordial help re c eived from offi c ers of the R oyal
N avy who while s erving at the Admiralty or el s ewhere
, ,

were brou ght into intimate a s s o ciation with the Mer c hant
S ervi c e from the o ffi c ial s of the Marine Department of
,

the Board of T rade of t h e Mini s try of Shipping and of

, ,

the Admira l t y from the R egi s trar General of Shi pping

,
-

and Seamen and from many others to whom a cknow

, ,

ledgment i s mad e .

Fu ll u s e h as al so been made of the re c ord s of the variou s

department s .
 CO N T E N T S

I NT R ODUCT I ON
Mi s tak e n c o n ce p ti on o f th e M e rc h ant Navy —T adi ti ons an d o m ance
p o we r —G o wth o f th e w o ld s w fl e ts —In flu nc e
r r
Si gni fi c an c e of se a r r
’
ar e
n gi n e —R e s p o n s i b i li ti s o f m e r c h ant s h i p p i n g n th
e
of th e s t e am e e tb e k
-
o e ou r a
of war pp .

CHAPTE R I
T HE ME R C H AN T N AV Y OF T H E PA S T

I . T HE F I GH T I N G ME R C HAN T ME N
Th e Ci n qu e D e fe n ce —T h e L aws o f Ole r on —Me r c hant
P o rts an d H om e

m e n a t t h e B a ttle o f Slu y s —W a r an d p i r ac y—Is s u e o f le tte r s o f m ar qu e

App o i n tm e nt o f Adm i r als —T h e Me r c h an t Adv e n tu r e rs —Se b as ti an Cab o t

E n gli s h s e am e n i n t h e N a r o w Se a s —T h e H an s e a ti c L e a gu e —T h e f o u n d a
r

t i o n o f t h e R o y al N a v y — E li z a b e th an v o y a g e r s —D r ak e an d th e Sp an i s h
M ai n —T h e d e fe a t o f t h e Sp an i s h Ar m a d a—T h e Adv e n tu r e r s f or th e
D i s c o v e r y o f th e T r a de o f th e E as t In di e s —T h e r i v alr y o f th e D u tc h
p p 8—4 4 .

II . T HE MER CHAN T FL EET IN T HE E

R V O LUT I ONARY AN D NAP O L E ON I C
W AR S

En e m y s w ar o n s e a b orn e c o m m e r ce —H e av y loss e s o f m e r chan t

’
-

s h i p p i n g —Su c ce s s e s Fr e n c h c o r s ai r s —Un r e a di n e s s o f t h e Ch ann e l

'

of

Fle e t—Sp i r i te d de f e n c e by B ri ti s h m er c h an t s e am e n —T h e r i s ks o f c o m
m e r c e i n w ar ti m e — Un wi e ldy Br i ti s h c o n v o ys —Man p o we r o f th e Me r c h an t

N a v y—
-

T h e e fi e ct o f i m p re s sm e n t—T h e gu e r re de cou r s e a fte r T r af alga r

T h e figh t o f th e W i nd s o r Cas tl e —T h e e s cap e o f th e S h a w—T h e A n te l op e
an d th e —
A tl a n ta Co s n i d e r a t i o n f o r p r i s o n e r s —T h e v al u e o f D u n ki r k ,

Cal ai s B o u l o gn e an d D i e p p e —R a i ds o n s hi pp i n g i n th e E n gli s h Ch ann e l

—
, ,

Bri ti s h m e r ch antm e n c ap tu r e d 1 79 3 1 8 1 2 ,
-
pp 4 4 69 .

III . T HE D EV E L O P ME NT OF T HE MERC HAN T —

N AV Y , 1 8 1 5 1 9 1 4

Th e a f te rm a th o f t h e
W ar — P r o s p e r i ty an d p o w
se a e r — T h e i n flu e n c e
o f th e N a vi g a ti o n L a w s
an d t h e m o v e m e n t f o r r e e a —
p l T h e c o m p e te n c y
o f m as te rs an d o ffi ce r s — Mr J o s e ph Hu m e s a gi
’
t a ti o n — L e gi s la ti o n t o
— —
.

p r o m o te s af e ty at s e w T h e F o r e i gn Off e q y c i n u i
i o f r 1 8 4 3 Mr Sam u e l .

ll
P li m s o an d h
c o ffi n s i s p —T h e wo
- r k o f r e f o r m — Gr o wt h o f th e Me chan t r

N a v y 1 8 1 8 7 4 — T h e i v a l r y O f r t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s — E f f e c t o f th e C i vi l
— —
,

W ar g
Pr o r e s s o f a m e l i o r a t i v e l e g i s l a t i o n R e s p o n s i b i li t i e s o f t h e B o a r d
of T d
ra e — S t re n g t h o f t h e B r i t i s h M e r c a n t i l e M ar i n e o n t h e o u t b e ak o f r

t h e W ar l 9 1 4 — L i n e r s a n d t r a m ps —E x p an s i o n o f t h e wo rld s s e a b o r n e
’

c o m m e r ce —
,

D i s tri bu ti o n o f th e M e c h an t Fle e t r pp 7 0 — .97

ix
x CONTENTS
IV . T HE ME N OF T H E MERCHANT N AVY

Ch an g e d r e l ati o n s o f t h yal N a vy a n d th e Me r c an til e Mari ne

e Ro
Un p o p u l ar i ty o f i m p r e s s m e nt — Th e Reg i s tr y o f s e a m e n — D e t e r i o r a ti o n

o f t h e p e s o nn e l
r — R e p o r ts fr o m B i t i s h Co s
n u l s — D i s cr e di t a ble c on di ti o n s
r

—In cr e as e i n th e n u m b e r o f appr e n ti ce s —A n e w s c he m e o f r e gi s tr ati on

an d i ts f ai lu r e —R e p e al o f th e M anni n g clau s e s o f th e N av i g a ti o n L aws

Es ta bli s hm e n t o f a Vo lu n t ar y N av al R e s v e r e — A c he qu e r e d hi s t o r y
Ne w s c he m e o f tr ai n i n g o f th e R o yal Nav a l R e s e r v e i n tr o du ce d i n 1 9 0 6
T h e c o u n tr y s r e s o u r ce s i n s e am e n
’
pp 9 1 1 6 7 — .

CHA PTE R II
ON T HE E VE OF T HE W AR

Th e p o s i ti o n o f th e m e c h a n t sre a m e n — D i s cu s s i o ns at T h e H a gu e
Ge rm an y s de ce p ti v e d e clar ati o n s —Pr o fe s s i on s o f r e s p e c t f or t h e c o de o f
’

hu m an i ty—R i ght o f c o n v e r s i o n o n th e hi gh s e as —T h e Adm i r alty s su s ’

p i c i o n s — A p o l i c y o f d e f e n s i v e a r m am e n t— G e r m an y s v a r i e d r e s o u r c e s
’

f o r a w ar o n c o m m e r c e —Bri ti s h m e rc h an t s hi p s d e t a i n e d i n G e rm an p o r t s
b e f o r e th e o u t b r e ak o f war —B r i ti s h p o te s ts —T h e e n e m y s N av al Pr i ze r
’

Co e d — T h e s t a tu s o f m e rc h an t s e a m e n — T h e G e rm an d e cla r a ti o n o f Ju l y
2 2 nd 1 9 1 4 — Me r c h an t s e am e n a s p r i s o n e r s o f w ar —T h e o p e n i n g o f
h os ti li ti e s —L o s s o f th e
,

S a n W i lfr i d o pp 1 1 7— 1 3 6 .

CHAPTE R III
CRUIS E R ATTA C K S ON S HI PP I N G

T h e K ON I GS BE R G S attac k o n m e c h an tm e n —A Br i ti s h m as t e r s e a r ly
’ ’
r

e x p e i e n c e s —T h e D RE S D E N as a c o m m e r c e d e s t o y e r —Ch a s e o f t h
r Pa c i fic r e

St e am N a v i g ati o n Co m p an y s S s Or t ga —A fi n e e x hi b i t i o n o f s e a
’
e

m an s hi p —
. .

E s ca p e o f t h e arm e d m e c h an t c ru i s e r K A I S E R W ILH E L M DE R
r

GRO SS E fr o m t h e N o rt h Se a —E x p e i n ce s o f t h e o ffi ce r s an d m e n o f t h e
r e

as Ga l i i a — Co n s i de r a ti o n f o r w o m e n a n d c hi ld e n
c Op e a t i o n s o f t h e r -
r

K A RLS R UH E o fi P n am b c o —An n f o c d c u i s e —A B i ti s h c p t a i n s
ar u e r e r r a
’

di a y —A l ck y s cap e —Mi s f o tu n s o f a de f n s i v e ly a m e d m e c h an tm n
r u e r e r r a

—T h f t o f t h e s i li n g s hi p W lfr d M —Ca pt e o f th arm e d m e c h an t

e

e a e a -
z e u r e r

cru i se K RO N PRI N Z W I LHE L M—Op e ati o n o f t h e P R IN z E I T E L FR IE D E I C H

r r s

T h e s i n ki n g o f t h e Am e i c an a s W ll i m P F r y e — Cap tu r e o f th
r e a e

E l s i n o e b y th e L E I P ZI G —M a o o n e d o n an i slan d p p 1 3 7—1 8 5
.

r r .

CHAPTER IV

T HE E X PL OI TS OF T HE E MD E N
p
Ca t a i n v on M u ll e r ’
s re sou rce gge r a te d—R e c o r d o f
an d c o u r te s y e xa

th e E MDE N S c ap tu r e s —R ai d i n t h e B a y o f B e n g al— A p a s s e n g e s e x
’ ’
r

r i e n c e s —A r i c h h a r v e s t— A B r i t i s h m a s t e r s d i ar y— T h e a tt ac k o n t h e
’
p e
 CONTENTS xi
o i l - t an k s at Ma d —C pt
r as a ai n v on Mii ll e r ’
s c han ge of s ce ne —T r e atm e n t

of B r i ti s h s e am e n —E s c ap e of th e Gl e n tu rre t— D e s tru cti o n of th e

E M D E N —T h e gu n b o a t GE I ER S o n ly
’
ca p tu r e —R e s cu e o f th e a s S ou th p or t
plo i t—T o tal b y e n e m y c ru i s e r s —No li v e s s ac r i fic e d
.

A n o ta ble ex ca p tu r e s
pp 1 86 — 2 0 9 .

CHAPTER V
T HE P R O T E C TI O N OF M E RC H A N T S H I PPI N G
I . ST RAT E GI C P O LI C Y

Th e re s p o n s i bi li ti e s of e Na vy —T h
l Co m m i ss i on o n th e Su pply
th e R oy a

o f F o o d an d R aw M ate r i al i n T i m e o f W a r —Ch an g e s i n n av al c o n di ti o n s

o wi n g t o t h e i n tr o du c ti o n o f s t e am —Co m m an d o f th e s e a e s s e n ti a l

Co n c e n t a ti o n o f f o r c e t h e k e y t o s e c u r i t y—L o s s e s o f m e c h an tm e n
r r

a n t i c i p a t e d— Shi p o wn e r s an d t h e r i s k s o f w ar — An e n e m
y s di ffi c u l ti e s
’

L i n ki n g u p th e Adm i r alt y a n d t h e M e r c h an t Se r v i c e —No f e ar o f s t ar v a

ti o n pp 2 1 0—2 1 6 .

II . P RE W -
AR ARR AN GE ME N T S

Ac ti o n o f th e Co m m i tte e o f Im p e r i al D e fe n c e —T h e b as i c p r in ci ple o f
B r i t i s h d e f e n s i v e p o l i c y — Ov e r s e a p o r t s a n d t h e i r p o t e c t i o n — T h e d a n g e r r

o f p an i c s —L i m i t at i o n o f l o c al d e f e n c e —An e n e m y s p r o b a ble p oli c

’

y
H ar b o u r s o f r e fu g e — T h e c o m p i la ti o n o f t h e W ar B o o k —Adm i r al o f th e
Fle e t Si r Ar thu r W i ls o n s de clar ati on —In flu e n ce o f a p oli cy o f c o n ce n tr a
’

ti o n o f n a v al f o r ce pp 2 1 6—2 2 3 .

I II . T H E CR AT I ON E OF THE T RAD E D IVISI ON OF T HE W AR ST AFF

A R o y al Co m m i s s i o n s r e co m m e n d a ti o n i gn o r e d—A e v e r s al o f p oli c y
’
r

Ca p t ai n H e n r y Cam pb e ll s M e m o r an du m o n an i n t e lli g e n c e s e r v i c e f o r t h e
’

m a i n t r a de r o t e s —T h e c e a ti o n o f a T r a de D i v i s i o n —It s gr ow th an d
u r

o r g ani s ati o n —R e la ti o n s b e tw e e n t h e Adm i r alty an d th e M e c h an t N a v y r

pp 2 2 4— 2 2 8 .

IV . T H E W AR I N S URAN CE S CH E ME

M Au s te n Ch am b e l a i n
r . r
’
s Co m m i t te e of 1 9 0 7— A fr e s h in qu i r y de r
u n

t ak e n i n 1 9 1 3 — F o rm a ti o n of M u t u al
As s o c i a ti o n s o r In s u r an c e , Cl bsu ,

c h an g e s th e s i tu a t i o n —G o v e rn m n t a c ti o n an d t h e a v o i d an c e o f p u bli c i ty
e

Co Op e r a ti o n b e tw e e n th e St a te a n d th e Clu b s s u gge s te d—E ti m a te o f

- s

pr o b a ble lo s s e s — B as i s o f th e v alu e o f s hi pp i n g to b e ac c e pte d—P o p o s ls r a

f o r th e i n s u r an c e o f c ar g o e s An a dm i n i s tr a ti ve ly p r ac ti ca ble s c h e m e
Pr o m p t ac t i o n o n b
th e o u t r e a o f w
k ar pp 2 2 8— 2 39 .

V . AD M IRAL T Y D IRE C T I ON S To SHI PP I N G

Co m m u n i c ati o n s o pe ne d d s hi p o wn e r s —Co Op e r ati on o f

w i th s h i p s an -

o th e r S t a t e d e p a r tm e n t s — Co u n s e ls o f w e a kn e s s r e j e c t e d— M e r c h an t

s hi pp i n g u r g e d t o c o n t i n u e It s o p e r a ti o n s — A p o li c y o f di s p e r s i o n o f s hi p

pi n g a d o p te d—W
h y th e c o n v o y sy s t e m w a s i m p r a c ti c a bl e — E ar l y i n
s tru c ti o n s t o m e r c h an t s hi pp i n g— T h e
x
se a is f e
r e t o a l l — R e e s ta bli s hi n g -
 xii CONTENTS
c o n fide n c e am g
on
s t s hi p o w n e r s — An o ffi ci al r e vi e w o f th e firs t two m on th s
of th e W ar — T h e Op e ni n g o f t h e N we Y e a r — Ac ti v i ti e s o f th e Op e r a ti o n s
D i vi si on o f th e W ar S t a ff — D ai ly v o ya ge n o ti ce s t o th e M e r can ti le
M ari ne p p 2 39 —2 5 2 .

CHA PTE R VI
T HE O R GA NIS ATI O N OF T HE A UX I L IA RY P AT RO L

Sc a r c i t y off t f o r pu r p os e s o f p atr o l—In flu e n c e o f th e s u b

sm a ll cr a

m ar i n e an d m i n e —Or g an i s ati o n o f th e N e w N av y —L o r d B e r e s f o r d s
’

f o r e s i ght—T r awle rs o g an i s e d fo r war pu r p o s e s —An Adm i r alt y Co m

r

m i tt e e a pp o i n te d—T h e p u r c h as e o f t r awle r s i n l Q l O—M ann i n g p oli c y

Pr o g re ss o f r e cru i t i n g —T h e m o b i l i s a t i o n s c h e m e —T h e t r a wle r s e c ti o n o n
th e o u tb re a k o f w ar —A n o t a ble a c h i e v e m e n t p p 2 53—2 6 7 .

CHAP TE R VII
T HE AP P E A R A N C E OF T HE S U B MA RIN E
De ve o l pm e n t p o li c y f o r a ttacki n g s e a b o rn e c o m m e rce —T h e
of a ne w -

s i n k i n g o f th e a s Gl i t a th e fi rs t m e r c h an t s hi p t o b e de s tr o ye d by a
r

s u bm a r i n e —T h e ac hi e v e m e n t o f U 2 I i n t h e E n gli s h Ch ann e l—G e r m an y s

.
,
’

de c i s i on t o i gn o r e i n te rn ati o n al l aw an d th e c o de o f hu m an i ty—Inte r vi e w
wi t h G r an d A dm i r al v o n T i r p i t z i n D e c e m b e r l 9 1 4—Ge rm an y s d e clar ati o n
’

o f th e W ar Z o n e o n F e b r u ar y 4 th 1 9 l 5—T h e r e ply o f t h e Br i ti s h G o v e rn
m e n t—T h e a tt ac k o n t h e a s L a e r te s —T h e Br i ti s h s e am e n s o r de al
,
’

E ne m y t hr e at s t re a te d wi t h c on te m p t—T h e r i si n g t o l l o f li v e s do s t
.

Me rc h an t s h i p s a tt a ck e d by ae r o plan e s —Ve s s e ls t or p e d o e d wi th ou t
w arn i n g —T h e e s c ap e o f th e a s Vos ges —T h e s s F a l a ba t o r p e d o e d a n d s u n k
—
. . .

-
A co u r t o f i n q u i r y T h e t r a g e dy o f th e F u l ge n t p p 2 6 8— 3 1 7 .

CH AP T E R VIII

T HE A UX ILIA RY P AT R O L AT W O RK
Mi n e layi n g
-
by —Op e r ati o n s o f Br i ti s h m i n e s w e e p e s
th e G e rm an s -
r

s w e p t c h ann e l—T h e n e e ds o f t h e G an d Fl e e t—T a wl r s

M ai n t a i n i n g a r r e

i n a n e w r Ol e — St e am y hts r e qu i s i ti on e d—T h e M o t o r B o a t R e se rv

—
-
ac -
e

Cl ari n g t h re
e Ge rm an m i n e fi e l ds —T h e m e n ac e o f th s u bm ari n e — An
e e

an t i su bm a i n e
-
t w le r fl o til l a
ra P r o t c ti n g m e c h an t s hi pp i n g— A n e w
r e r

n a v al c o m m an d a t D o v — H n t i n g f o s b m a i n e s — E x p a n s i o n o f th e
er u r u r

m i n s w e e pi n g s
e -
vi —E s c ap e o f th e N o d d ts ch e Llo y d li n e B li n
er ce r eu r r er

A m i n e fi ld l i d o ff T o y I l n d— F o n de i n g f H M S AUD A CIO U S
e a r s a u r o

s p t o ls —E x pl o
. . .

Im p r e s s m n t o f L i v e rp o o l t gs
e ti o n o f a n e w m i n e
u a a r ra

fi e l d —T h e G o le s t o n i d — A c ti v i t y i n t h
r ra E n gli s h Ch nn l— U 1 8 s n k e a e u

by a tr awle r—In cu r s i o n s i n t o Sc ap a Flo w—T h e ai d o n S a b o r o u gh r c r

pp 3 1 8— 3 6 6 .
 CO NT E NT S

CH AP TE R IX
T HE G R OW TH OF T HE S U B MA RIN E M E N A CE

Th e e nem y d e p’
e n
s d e n c e o n t h e m i n e a n d s u b m a i n e — An a tt ac k u p o n
r

t h e G r an d Fle e t—Addi ti o n al arm e d tr a wle r s fi t te d o u t—T h e d e v e lo pm e n t

o f th e i n di c a t o r n e t —An e x te n de d s c h e m e o f p atr o l i n tr o d c e d—T h e

—
u

n u cle u s o f th e dr i f te r fle e t—Su bm a r i n e att a c k o ff t h e Me rs e y —B e o r

g a n i s a ti o n o f t h e p a t o l ar e ar T h e w ar z o n e d e c l ar a t i o n an d i ts i n flu e n c e

o n th e p a t r o l — N e t t i n g t h e S t r a i ts o f D o v e r — D e s tru c ti o n o f a s u bm ar i n e
by th e s te am tr a wle r A l x H Gable — En c ou n te r s wi th s u b m a i n e s —T h e
e r

v al u e o f t h e m o d i fi e d s w e e p — T h e figh tin g s p i i t o f th e B i ti s h c r e ws
r r

T h e e n e m y s r e ply t o th e i n di c a t o r n e t—L o s s o f fi s h i ng v e s s e ls a n d c r e ws
’
-

P o e t ve
r t c i m e as u r e s d e v i s e d by t h e Ad m i r al t y — F the r c h an g e s i n th e
u r

A u x i li a r y P a t r o l— T h e d i s c o v e r y o f a n e n e m y m i n e fi e ld pp 3 6 7— 4 09 .

CHAP T E R X
T HE S I N K I N G OF T HE L U S ITANIA
Th e B bb o n o f th e Atlan ti c —En e m y w arn i n g o f an attac k on
lu e Ri
th e L u s i ta n m i gn o e d b y p a s s e n g e r s —Ah u n a r m e d s hi p w i th
r p e o ple ,

o n b o a r d— L o r d M e r s e y s j u dgm e n t s u pp o r te d b y an Am e i c an j u dg e
’
r

T h e c r o s s Atl an ti c v o ya g e — W ar n i n gs fr o m
- t h e Adm i r alty as t o t h e
p r e s e n c e o f s u bm ar i n e s o ff th e I i s h c o as t—Cap tai n Tu rn e r s de ci s i o n
r
’

T h e e n e m y s a t t a c k wi t h o u t w a r n i n g
’ — A p as s e n g e s e p
x e r i e n ce — Sc e n e r
’

o ffi c e r s e x e ti o n
’
t o s a v li f e
r — Cap t i n T rn e s e xpl
s e n aat i o n —Th u o ffi i l
r
’
a e c a

in q ui y an d j
r dg m nt — R e ce
u p t i o neo f t h e n e w s i n G e r m-
a n y pp 4 1 0 — 4 2 8 .

CH AP T E R XI
T HE AD V E N T OF T HE O C E AN -
GO I N G S U B MA RINE
T h e c o n c e n t r a ti o n o f y f t ff
e ne m
o t h e I
cr ar i s h c o as t t o a tt ac k t h e

L u s i ta n i a — Th e d p
i s o s i ti o n o f p at o
r l v e s s e l s — T h e S O S s i g n a l a n d t.h e . .

r e s p on s e — R e s cu e o f t h e s u r v i v o r s — F i n e s e r v i c e o f u n a r m e d fi s h n g i

ve sse s l — In c e as i n g c o n s tr i c t i o n o
r n t h e e n e m y s m o v e m e n t o w
’
i n g t o t h e

a c t i v i ty o f t h e p atr o l — A w e ll de v i s e d s h c -e m e — T h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f t h e

—
hy dr o ph o n e T h e fighti n g s pi i t o f th e n r e w N ya v — E n t r a pp g i n t h e

s b m ari n e
u — T h e h ar v e s t o f t h e s e a — T lr a w e r s e a fi g h t s — A s u b m
- a n e s ri
’

c o w a r dly a c ti o n — D e s tru c ti o n o f th e U b o at R — e s c u e o f a m e r c h a n t s
hp i
—
-

an d a v alu a ble c a r g o
.
pp 4 2 9 449 .

IN D E X
pp . 451 —4 73
 L IST OF ILL UST R AT IONS

A FT ER A MI NE E X PL O S I O N
T HE SI N K I N G OF A M ER C HAN T S H I P
T HE WH I T E S T A R L I NER O LY MP I C ( F R O M TH E AI R
) 2 02

S URVI V O R S F R OM A T O R P E D OE D S H I P
A D R I FT ER F LEE T AT SEA
F LA GS H I P OF A D RI FT ER F L EE T

A D R I FT E R ON PAT ROL
N E T MI NE S BE ING T H R OW N O VERB OA R D
T H R OW I NG A L AN C E -
B OM B

T HE C UN A R D L I NER L U S I TA N I A OFF B R OW H EAD

G RAV E OF VI C T I M S OF TH E L U S I TA N I A AT Q UEEN S T OW N 42 6

LAYIN G N E T S FR OM D RI FT ER S T O C AT C H S U B M A R I NE S

MA PS
T HE WO RLD . S H OW I N G TH E VO L U M E A N D DIS T R IB U
TI O N OF B RI T I S H T RA D E A N D TH E S C HEM E OF

C RU I S ER P R OT E CT I O N F OR TH E TRAD E RO UTE S At e nd f b ook

o .

E UR O P E A N WAT ER S . S H OW I N G T HE VOLU M E AN D

D I S TRI B UTI ON OF B RI T I S H T RA D E
B RITI S H IS LA N D S , N O RT H S E A AN D B A LT I C EN

T RA N CE
 M ER C HA N T N A V Y

I NT R ODUCT I ON

A H I S T O RY of the part whi c h mer c hant s eamen took in

the war by s e a from i t s dramati c opening on Augu s t 4th
, ,

1 9 1 4 to i t s C lo s e over four and a half year s later would

, ,

be in c omp l ete were no attempt made to fill in the ba ck

ground again s t whi c h the s tirring event s o f tho s e years
mu s t stand out in due per spe ctive Wi thou t s u c h an
.

hi s t ori c s etting it wou l d be di ffi cu l t to appre cia t e the

c hara c ter and extent of the s ervi c e s whi c h Briti s h s eamen ,

non c ombatant s and unpledged to the State rendered

-
,

with fine patrioti s m never fai l ing re s ourc e and a hardi

,
-
,

hood unparalleled even in Briti s h annal s .

During th e long period of peac e after the c on clu s ion

of the N apoleoni c War the Briti s h Mer c hant Navy was
—
,

r egarded a s a tr ading organi s ation that and nothing

more The authority whi c h t h e State had exer c i s ed in
.

—
the pa s t had been in general of two kind s prote c tive and
e c onomi c Throughout the latter half of the nineteenth
.

and the fir s t de c ade of the twentieth c entury it tended ,

to intere s t it s elf in crea s ingly in s hipping and e s pe ciall y

,

to regulate it more c lo s ely in the intere s t of the per s ons

( pa s s enger s and c rew s ) c arried in the s hip s with
, a V iew

to s afeguarding life The re s tri c ted powers formerly

.

ve s ted in the Admiralty were tran s ferred to the Board '

of Trade and exer c i s ed by that department overburde ned ,

with many and varied re spon s ibilitie s with s aga c ity and
,

re straint the aim being to di s c ourage as little a s po s si ble

,

the individuali s ti c enterpri s e of the s hipping indu stry .

It wa s forgotten by the Briti s h people that the Bri ti s h

M cer hant N avy had a war hi s tory dating ba c k to a per i od
a nterior t o the founding of the R oyal N avy No one
.
2 INTR OD UCT I O N [ m m

rec alled the part whi c h merc hant s eamen had borne in
former war s or remembered that in earlier period s of
,

Briti s h hi story the mer chant s ailor had s tood between

thi s c ountry and the invader when little or no progre s s
h ad been made in the organi s ation of a fighting N avy as
a State in stitution The Mer c hant N avy wa s thought to
.

be an organi s ation without tradition s and with little

remai ning roman c e owing to the advent of s team whi c h
, ,

had repla c ed s ail power That wa s a narrow and mi s taken

.

view a s event s were to S how J u s t a s in the great period

,
.

o f the nation s expanding s elf c on s c iou s ne ss the Mer c hant

’
-

N avy wa s the fine s t embodiment of the national s pirit ,

s o when the war c loud s bur s t in the s ummer of 1 9 1 4 the ,

real c hara cter of the Briti s h merc hant s eamen wa s r e

vealed a s the fla sh o f artillery lit up the battle fi e l d s on -

the Continent of Europe The s e s ailor s were re c ogni s ed a s

.

no or dinary men engaged mere l y in fa c ilitating the barter

and ex c hange of a c ommerc ial c ommunity but a s belong ,

ing to a great brotherhood in stin c t with patrioti s m and ,

proud of the tradition s dating ba ck in unbroken and ,

gloriou s s equen c e to the early year s of Briti s h hi s tory

, .

When the pre s ent s truggle began two great national ,

c ,
s —
for e the N avy and the Army the latter s upported by
—
Territoria l s were re c og ni s ed and s upported out of publi c ,

fund s Within a few month s of the opening of ho stilitie s

.
,

the King in a me s s age of appre c iation of the s ervi ce s

,
”
of the merc hant s eamen referred to h i s Mer c hant N avy
, ,

s ub s equently appointing Captain H J H addo ck C B . .

,
. .
,

one of the mo s t di s tingui s hed s enior offi c er s of the

Merc antile Marine a s an aide de c amp and the Prime
,
- -
,

Mini s ter in a s elf reveal ing phra s e de s c ribed t h e Mer c hant

,
-
,
”
N avy as the j ugular ve i n of the nation It s .

o ffi c ers and men in a s hort time s e t up a rec ord of

daring re s our c e and fine s eaman sh i p s o c on spi cuou s
, , , ,

even when s tudied again s t the ba ckground of pa st c e n

t u r i e s that it wa s ne c e s s ary to amend the s tatute s and
,

introdu c e new regulation s in order to enab l e suitable

re c ognition to be given to them The mer c hant s ailor . ,

una s s uming and mode st took h i s s tand with the ful l , ,

re c ogniti on of an arou s ed and grateful publi c opini on ,

be s ide t h e men of the anc ient fighting s ervi c e s .

During the years of fier c e naval c ompetition whi c h

pre c eded the War when the tal k was of Dreadnought s s e a
, ,
I NT R O ] . M O D ERN SEA POWER 3

power was thought to be a matter of men o f war—battle - -

s hip s, c rui s er s de s troyer s and s ubmarine s—organi s ed in

, ,

fleet s s quadron s or flo ti l l a s and manned by highly

, , ,

trained o ffi c er s and men So l ong a s the c ountry po s s e s s ed

.

a s upreme N avy any other defi cien c y was of minor i m

,

portan c e .The relation s hip between the R oyal Navy

and the Mer c antile Marine had undergone a radic al c hange
s in c e the c lo s e of the la s t Great War to be refle c ted in the ,

publi c attitude toward s the Mer c hant Fl eet The former .

had be c ome independent of the latter a s a s our c e of man

power owing to the introdu ction of a s ys tem of c ontinuou s
,

naval s ervi c e in t h e middle of the nineteenth c entury It .

wa s c on c luded that s in c e the ne c e s s ity of c ompul s ory

,

s ervi c e had di s appeared the va lue of the Mer c hant Fleet

,

a s an auxiliary for c e in time of war had been redu c ed

,

though i ts p l a c e a s a food c arrier from di s tant market s was -

reali s ed by open eyed s tate s men Mahan fre s h from the

-
.
,

s tudy of naval hi st ory had made it i s true a s ignifi c ant

, , ,
”
de c l aration . Sea power he remarked primarily , ,

depend s upon c ommer c e whi c h follows the mo st adv an

t ag e o u s road military c ontrol follows upon trade for i t s
furtheranc e and prote c tion Ex c ept a s a s ys tem of .

highways j oining c ountry to c ountry the s e a i s an u n ,

fruitful po s s e s s ion The s e a or water i s the gr eat medium

.
, ,

of c ircu l ation e s tabli s hed by N ature ju st as money h as ,

been evolved by man for the ex c hange of c ommerc e .

Change the flow of either in dire ction or amount and you ,

”
m odify the politi c al and indu s trial relatio ns of mankind .
1

Thi s writer wa s groping after a truth but even he was ,

blind to the e ss ential c hara cter of the fun ction s of a

mer c hant navy or rather, did not a s s o ciate c au s e with
, ,

effe c t H e and other writers in c ommon with Govern

.
,

ment s throughout the world fai l ed to t ra c e the wide ,

i nfluen c e exerted on the one hand by c on sc ription for

, ,

mi litary purpo s e s and on the other by the introdu c tion

, , ,

of s team a s the motive power for men o f war - -

.

When Napoleon de c ided to make a l ev y on t h e popu lation

of Fran c e in order to rai s e a va s t arm y whi c h wa s t o do m in
ate Europe he laid the foundation s of a s ys tem whi c h
,

render e d a l ong war in future year s i m po s s ib l e ex c ep t

with the aid of s e a c arriage Before t hat deve l op m ent . ,

armie s and navie s made relative l y s mal l demands upon

1 N a va l S tra te gy ( M ah an ) .
4. INT R O D U C TI O N [ m ma

the man power of the nati o n s engaged and tho s e nation s

-
,

were in large mea s ure s elf s upporting Europe had had i t s -

.

Hundred Year s War

’
Maritime c ommer c e wa s s till in .

i t s infan c y during t h e R evolutionary and Na poleoni c

Wars The Continent of Europe wa s engaged in ho s tilitie s
.

almo s t without interruption for a period of nearly a

quarter of a c entury without being brought to a c ondition
of famine s o great were i ts re s our c e s Between 1 8 1 5 and
,
.

1 9 1 4 however the s tandard of living in We s tern Europe

, ,

had been rai s ed indu s tria li s m had grown at the expen s e

of agri culture ; and in c rea s ing relian c e had been p l a c ed
upon the s hip Of c ommer c e a c ting a s the link between ,

the high l y developed nation s of the We s t and the State s

over s ea s whi c h s till c ontinue to produ c e a s urplu s of
,

food s tu ffs and raw material s

-
.

In war ti m e c on s c ription a s the late s truggle wa s to

-
,

reveal withdraw s from e s s ential indu s trie s a l l the able

,

bodied men of a State it blight s agric ulture and depre s s e s

trade ; it c onvert s produ c er s into c on s umer s Moltke .
,

after the F ran c o Pru s s ian War admitted that long drawn
-
,
-

out c onte s t s would in future be c he c ked by the e c onomi c

exhau stion whi c h war s on the s c ale of national man power -

would involve s in c e from the moment s u c h a s truggle

, ,

opened a State in developing fighting energy on a broad

, ,

national ba s i s wou l d begin s ubtra cting from i ts e c onomi c

,

s trength But in thi s re s pe c t a s German writer s were

.
,

among the fir s t to re c ogni s e a maritime P ower ne c e s s ari l y ,

enj oy s advantage s over a l and Power s o long a s it i s ab l e ,

to u s e the pathway s of the s e a to rep l eni s h i t s s upplie s of

food and raw material from neutral market s Co ns c ription .

c a s t s fre s h burden s on s e a power and in parti c ular , , ,

on that form of s e a power repre s ented by the s hip of

c ommer c e .

But that i s not the only c hange whi c h o c curred during

the nineteenth c entury The great development of .

mi l itary power on s hore wa s a c c ompanied by a va s t

growth of mi litary s trength by s e a Owing to the advent .

of s team t h e typi c a l man o f war of the Ne l s o n i an era

,
- -

di s appeared and wa s rep l a c ed by the c oal or oil c on suming

,

ve s s e l Mahan re m arked l ong before the Great War

.
1
,
“
opened that , The day s when fleet s l ay be c a lmed are
,

gone it i s true but gone are the day s when with four or
, ,

1 N a va l S tr a te gy ( M ah an ) .
6 INT R O D U C TI O N
[ I NT R o .

of the eighteenth and nineteenth c enturie s was ba s ed upon

an under appre c iation of the varied re s pon sibilitie s de
-

volving upon a mer chant navy a s s oon a s the maritime

State who s e flag it c arrie s be c ome s engaged i n warfare .

The book s of Briti s h writer s upon war poli c y may be

s tudied in vain for a ju s t appre c iation of the e s s ential part

whic h the Briti s h Merc anti l e Marine ne c e s s arily a ss umed

a s s oon a s thi s c ountry be c ome involved in varied war

a c tivitie s over s ea s .

Soon after the de c laration of war the Briti s h Mer c antile ,

N avy wa s c onfro nted with re s pon s ibilitie s whi c h in c hara c ter

and extent were without paralle l in maritime hi s tory .

1 .Owing to cir cum s tan c e s whi c h need not be examined

in thi s c onne c tion the Royal N avy wa s without defended
,

ba s e s of s upply on the ea s t c oa s t s i s a vt s to Ge rmany

'
- -
.

Con s equent l y a s s oon a s the Grand Fleet wa s mobili s ed

, ,

heavy demand s we re made upon the M er c antile Marine

for s hip s to c arry fuel ( c oal and oi l ) ammunition s tore s , , ,

food and everything required for the pro s e cution of the

,

war in home water s At the s ame time other s hip s were

.
,

—
requi s itioned for the s upport of naVal power in the outer
s ea s .

—
2 The re s our c e s of the R oyal N avy
. large a s they
were proved inadequate to maintain the patrol whi c h
it be c ame ne c e s s ary to organi s e in order to make the
b l o ckade of the enemy e ffe ctive S ome of the s wifte s t
.

liner s were therefore taken up and c ommi s s ioned under

, ,

t h e White En s ign and from the varied re s our c e s of the

,

Mer c hant N avy the Auxi l iary Patrol wa s organi s ed .

3 As the military c ommitment s of the c ountry i n

.

c rea s ed a large volume of mer c antile tonnage w a s required

,

for tran s port purp os e s Tran s port fa c ilitie s had to be pro

.
‘
“

v i d e d for the Ga ll ipoli Expedition the army at S alonika , ,

the fo r c e s ba s ed on Egypt the Operation s in Me s opotamia

,

and Pale s tine and the c ampaign in Ea s t Afri c a S hipping

, .

wa s al s o requi s itioned for the troop s engaged in routing

the German s out of their Pa cifi c po s s e s sion s and other ,

s hip s were employed in maintaining the military l ine s of

c ommuni c ation between the mother c ountry and India -

,

N ew Z ealand Au s tralia S o uth Afri c a Canada and

‘

, , , ,

N ewf oundland Ho s pital c arrier s had to be fitt e d out

. .

4 Store s hi p s had to be found for the growing armie s

.
I NT R O ] . AN HI S T O R I CAL B A C K G R O U ND 7

engaged in all the widely s eparated theatre s of war to

c arry the va s t a s s ortment of materia l ranging from heavy

gun s and hor s e s to bomb thrower s and medi c al c omfort s -

.

5 1 As the Briti s h Ar m y grew in s ize a va s t expan s ion ,

o c c urred in the munition movement in the Briti s h I s le s ,

in India and in Canada a s well as in the United State s

, ,
,

and a large number of s hip s were s oon engaged ex c lu s ively

in c onveying ore s and other raw material s over the s ea s .

6 At the s ame time the s e a dependent peop l e of the

. ,
-

B riti s h I s le s numbering over forty mil l ion per s on s had to

, ,

be fed and owing t o t h e i s olat ion of Ru s s ia with i ts s urp lu s

, ,

grain produ c tion the c utting o ff of beet s ugar from

,

Germany and the dangers whi c h threatened navigation

,

between the Briti s h I s le s and S c andinavia new s our c e s ,

o f s upply had to be O pened up involving l onger voyage s , ,

and therefore the emplo y ment of a larger amount of

tonnage .

It was a fortunate c ir cum stan c e that thi s c ountry

po s s e s s ed about half the mer c hant s hipping of the world ;
otherwi s e it would have been s eriou s ly hampered in the
pro s e cution of the War It i s al s o a fortunate c ircum stan ce
.

that i ts mer c hant s hip s po s s e ss ed offi c er s and c rews who

were not to be frightened b y the enemy threat s or a ct s
'

The Briti s h N avy h as never wanted hi s torian s ; i ts

hi s tory h a s been written from every s tandpoint but the
hi s torian to give ful l c redit to the Briti s h Mer c hant Navy ,

with i ts fine a c hievement s in pea c e and in war h as not yet ,

ari s en In approa c hing the s tudy of the part taken by

.

the Mer c hant Nav y in the Great War it h a s been thought ,

pardonable to s upply a ba ckground c on s i s ting of a s hort ,

s urvey of the p l a c e whi c h Briti s h me rc hant s eamen have

filled in the evolution of the Briti s h peop l e a brief re cord ,

of the he roi c s ervi c e s they have rendered in s u cc e s s ive

wars and parti cularl y in the R evo l utionary and Na
,

l n i War and ome detai l s of the gradual deve l o p

p o e o c s s ,

ment of the Mer c antile Marine during the nineteenth

c entury .A c ont ra s t may t hu s be provided between the
c ondition s exi s ting in former war s and tho s e with wh i c h
the Briti s h s eaman unarmed and undefended wa s c o n
, ,

fronted when in performan c e of h i s p e a ce fu l duty, he wa s

,
‘

s uddenly c alled upon to meet the mena c e of the ra i der t h e ,

mine and above al l the s ubmarine

, , ,
.
 CHAP T E R I
T HE ME R C H A N T N A V Y O F T HE PAS T

I . T HE F I G H T I N G ME R C H A N TM E N

OF all the le s s on s taught to the inhabitant s of the s e

i s land s by the Great War none c a n have been more c o m
,

l e te l y ma s tered than thi s — that they owe their very

p
exi s ten c e to the two bran c he s of the great Sea s ervi c e—the
Mer c anti l e Marine bringing them the bu l k of their s upplie s ,

and the R oyal N avy the , s ure S hie l d of that vital

traffi c a s we l l a s of the homeland i ts elf Viewed in the .

light of thi s immen s e debt of gratitude the two bran c he s ,

are s een to be e s s entially one the fighting arm but an,

exten s ion of the Mer c antile Marine ; and the modern

s eparation of fun c tion s take s i t s proper p l a c e a s a natural

evolution from th e day s when our s e a battle s were fought

by ve s s el s temporari l y c onverted from mer c hantmen to
men o f—
-
war That c ondition did not mark in any degree
.

the c enturie s whi c h immediately fol l owed the Roman

o ccupation Sunk in interne c ine s trife and the prey to
.
,

s u cc e s s ive pirati c al inva s ion s England had then no

,

e ff e ctive s hare in the s e a borne c ommer c e of whi c h the

-

Mediterranean wa s the s e cular ho me ; and in c on s tru cting

and maintaining the F leet whi c h h a s given him s u c h a
high pla c e in our naval hi s tory King Alfred wa s dealing,

with a S imple though formidable problem of inva s ion ,

and taking an a c c urate s trategi c al V iew of the s ituation he

, ,

p l a c ed h i s fir s t line of defen c e o ff h i s c oa s t s H i s poli c y .

w a s vigorou s l y c arried on by Athel s t an and though from ,

time to time mer c hant S hipping wa s drawn upon by the

Saxon king s for t heir war fl eet s it may be s aid genera lly ,

that the ba s i s of the navie s of the s e troub l ou s c enturie s

w a s e s s ential l y a mi l itary one The c hange c ame with
.

the return to greater nat i onal s e c uri t y and the c on s equent ,

growth of maritime enterpri s e and the in c orporation of

,

8
CH . 1 ] S E AM E N OF THE C IN Q UE PO RT S 9

the famou s Cinque Port s by the Conqueror— a s tep dire ct l y

due to the fear of a D ani s h inva s ion—may c onvenient l y
be taken a s inaugurating the unity of the two bran c he s
of the s e a s ervi c e .

U pon the s eamen of the Cinque Port s—D over Sandwi c h , ,

Romney Win c he l s ea and Rye ( the li s t was extended

,

—
later ) were c onferred c ert ain u nique c ommer cial and
maritim e privilege s on c ondition of their rai s ing a powerful
for c e of fi fty s even S hip s properly manned and equipped
-

for u s e in any s udden emergen c y The period of s ervi c e .

( fifteen day ) ou l d be extended at the King s plea s ure

’
s c
,

but in s u c h event the c o st was to be borne by the Royal

Trea s u ry The fleet thu s c reated was a c tively maintained
.

by Wi ll iam Rufu s and it c ontributed i t s ful l s hare to the

,

great expedition undertaken by Ri c hard I to re c over the

Holy L and from the Sara c en s In t hi s enterpri s e over .

2 00 mer c hant ve s s el s were enro l led for the ta s k of tran s

porting the Cru s ader s ; and di s a s trou s a s it proved in s ome
,

re s pe ct s the expedition had no t able c on s equen c e s for the

,

c ountry s maritime progre s s In the c riti c al days whi c h

’
.

followed the death of K i ng J o h n the Cinque Port s Fl eet .

,

c overed it s e l f with immortal g l ory by the prominent part

it took in the defe at of the Fren ch Armada dis pat ched

from Calai s under Eu s ta c e the Monk Re s ponding to the .

patrioti c appeal of Hubert de Burgh the s tout s ai l ors and ,

fi s hermen of D over manned a ll the ve s s el s large and ,

s ma l l lying in the harbour and having taken the knight s

, , ,

and men at arm s on board s ai l ed out t o meet th e enemy

- -
,
.

The batt l e a s re c orded by Matthew Pari s took p l a c e off

, ,

Sandwi c h The Engl i s h s ai l or s proved their better s e a

.

man s hip by getting t h e weather gauge and when the ,

c ro s s bowmen and ar c her s had di s c harged their arrow s

-

under the s e favourable c ondition s and qui ck l ime had -

been thrown at c l o s e quarter s the Fren c hmen were rammed ,

and boarded Su c h a pi c ture pre s ent s the mariner s of

.

the s outhern port s in the mo s t favourable c olour s Thei r .

brilliant S hare in t h e exp l oit won them a generou s ex

ten s ion o f their already exi s ting right s but it h a s to be ,

admitted that the po s ition of t h e s eamen of t h e C i nque

Port s a s a privi l eged c l a s s wa produ tive of many e l
s c v i s

whi c h mu s t be s e t O ff again s t t heir great s ervi c e s to t h e

nation The privi l ege now c onferred upon them In Its e l f
.
— .

a fores h a dowing of the cu s tom of i s s uing L etter s of Marque

10 THE MER C HAN T NAVY OF THE PA S T [ OH I .

—O f annoying t h e s ubj e ct s of Fran c e and al l they met

”
of whatever nation S imp l y meant the right to plunder
,

any and every foreign mer c hant s hip The example found .

s o many imitator s that before long the Ch a n n e l wa s s warm

'

ing with pirate s the s trong preying on the weak

, until ,

the evil had grown to s u c h an enormou s extent that the

mo s t s tringent mea s ure s were found ne c e s s ary to s weep the
”
s ea s of the marauder s Moreover the Cinque Port s were
1
.
,

not free from the j ealou s y c hara cteri s ti c of a privileged cla s s ,

and feud s with other port s and notably with Yarmouth , ,

broke out again and again often marked by s avage energy , .

We get a pi c ture s que hint of the beginning s of m aritime

enterpri s e under the S axon king s in Athe l s tan s grant of ’

the rank and privilege s of Thane to any mer c hant or

mariner who s hould s u c c e s s fully a cc ompli s h three voyage s
on the h i gh s e a s ; but for long after the Conque s t th e limit s
of Briti s h over s ea s trade appear to have been the entran c e
to the Balti c in the north and the port s of the Bay of
Bi s c ay to the s outh nor did our wool trade with F lander s
,

rea c h i t s high pro s perity ti l l a later date Ri c hard s la s t .

’

c ru s ade therefore h a s a s pe c ial s ignifi c an c e a s the fir s t

, ,

extended voyage of Engli s h s hip s and it furni s hed re s ult s ,

far removed from i t s ideali s ti c purpo s e s F or the firs t .

time s in c e the R oman o c c upation the Engli s h now entered

into trade relation s with the L evant ( though Engli s h s hip s
did not penetrate there ti ll mu c h later ) ; and not only was
a new s timulu s applied to the growth of Engli s h s hipping ,

but the attempt w a s made to c odify by regu l ar ena ctment

the ru l e s of the s e a .

The famou s L aws of Ole ron generally attributed to ,

Ri c hard him s elf but a l mo s t c ertainly derived from a

,
2

F ren c h s our c e are of great intere s t for the light they

,

throw on life on board the s e a going mer c hant S hip of t h e

period T h e arti cle s c overed all matter s relating to
.

mer cantile S hipping— que s tion s of total lo s s damage , ,

demurrage harbour regu l ation fi s hing and the like and

,
— , ,

in parti c ular defined for the fir s t time t h e dutie s and

qualifi c ation s of the Ma s ter of the s hip The Ma s ter wa s .

put in c harge of and he l d an s werable for everything on

, ,

board and he wa s required to under s tand thorough l y the

,

T h e B r i ti s h M e r ch a n t S e r vi ce ( Co rn e wall Jo n e s )
1
.

2
F or a u l f l d
i s cu s s i o n o f t i s h q
u e s ti o n , s e e T h e B la ck B o ok o f th e

A dm i r a l ty , i n th e e di ti o n o f Si r r a v e r s T wi s s T .
CH . 1 ] ME DIZEVAL RE GULAT I O N S 11

art of navigating h i s ve s s el for the s pe cifi c reas on that he

,

might thereby c ontrol the pilot who wa s the Se c ond O ffi c er ,

on board a mer c hantman N or c oul d any s ailor leave the

.

S hip without h i s c on s ent N avigation in the days before

.

the c ompa ss wa s largely a matter of pra cti cal experien c e ,

and of thi s fa ct the s e c ond arti cle of the Code afford s a

s triking illu s tration for it wa s there laid down that if a
ve s s el wa s delayed in port by unfavourable weather or ,

by the failure of the wind the Ma ster had to c all the s hip s
,
’

c ompany together and take their Opinion on the S ituation

, ,

and in the event of a divi s ion of opinion he was to abide

by the voi c e of the maj ority Thi s rule in fa ct applied .
, ,

to every emergen c y by whi c h the Ma s ter might be c o n

fronted It i s intere s ting to note that s u ch a regul ation
.

in a modified form remained in a ctive for c e for c enturie s

indeed one of the c harge s brought by h i s detra ctor s again st
,

Sir F ran c i s Drake in the period of h i s great voyage s was

that by h i s attitude toward s h i s o ffi cer s he had on o cc a sion
, ,

treated thi s obligation with c ontempt But Drake a giant .

,

among s e a c aptain s and s elf reliant to h i s fi nge r tip s wa s

- -
,

a law unto him s elf in s u c h matter s Here s urely in thi s .

, ,

thirteenth c entury c ode we per c eive the beginning s of t hat

-

s pirit of freedom under di s c ip l ine whi c h h as be come

traditional in the Mer c antile Marine a s pirit whi ch found ,

s u c h ri c h expre s s ion in Elizabethan time s and helped to ,

make the Briti s h the fir s t s eamen of the world .

The s ame prin ciple born a s it were of t h e breath of the

,

se a,
i s tra c eable in the arti cle defining with amu s ing
parti cularity the relation s of the Ma ster with the c rew .

It wa s the Ma s ter s duty to keep pea c e among h i s men

’
.

If one c alled another a liar at table he wa s to be fined ,

fou rpen c e but if the Ma s ter him s elf s o o ffended he was

,

mul cted in twi c e the amount F or impudently c ontradi ct .

ing the Ma ster a s eaman wa s fined eightpen c e A s ingle

,
.

blow from the Ma s ter wa s to be a cc epted by a s ailor

—
without retaliation but a s e c ond blow gave him the right
,

to defend him s elf On the other hand if a s ailor s tru ck

. ,

the firs t blow he w a s either to pay a heavy fine or lo s e h i s

,

hand F inally if a s ailor re c eived abu s e from the Ma s ter

.
,
,

he was advi s ed to hide him s elf in the fore ca stl e ; but if the
Master followed him into that retreat the Engl i s hman 8
—
hou s e at s e a in the proverbial s en s e of h i s c a s tle then the
vi c tim wa s entitled to s tand on h i s defen c e .
 THE M ER C HAN T NAVY OF THE PA S T [ CH . I

Thi s s ignifi c ant re c ognition of the right s of the c ommon

s ailor went hand i n hand wi t h s tri c t di s c ip l ine and order
- -
,

and good c ondu c t were maintained wi t h medi ae val s everit y .

’
Damage to the s hip due to a s ai l or s ab s en c e without leave
’
wa s puni s hable with a year s impri s onment ; a fatal
a c c ident due to the s am e c au s e involved a flo ggi ng—a
—
flogging of the period and a c tua l de s ertion meant branding
in the fa c e with a red hot iron Other offen c e s in c luding
-
.
,

s u c h human weakne s s e s a s s wearing and gamb l ing Often ,

in c urred brutal penaltie s in the Midd l e Age s and the puni s h ,

ment of keel hauling whi c h s eem s to have been fir s t pra c ti s ed

-
,

by the Engli s h in the twelfth c entury s urvived into modern ,

ti m e s a s we know from the page s of Captain Mar r y att

, .

—
By the Oleron Code a defau l ting pilot the navigating
o ffi c er of the time—wa s al l otted treatment in ful l pro
,

portion to the re s pon s ibility of h i s ta sk If through h i s .

ignoran c e h i s ve s s el mi s c arried in entering a port and if ,

he were unable to render full s ati s fa c tion for the damage

or lo s s then he paid for the mi s hap with h i s head ; and if
,

the Ma s ter or the mer c hant s on board c h o s e to exa c t the

penal ty there and then they were not to be c al led on to
,

an s wer it in law F urthermore any pi l ot who in c o n

.
, ,
”
n i v an c e with the lord s of the c oa s t ran h i s s hip on
,

S hore w a s to be hanged on a high gibbet at the pla c e of

,

de s tru ction a s a c aution to other ve s s el s t hat might pa s s

,
“
thereby Again s t any lord of the c oa s t involved in
.

s u c h a c rime dra s ti c mea s ure s were laid down H i s good s .

were to be c onfi s c ated by way of re stitution whi l e he ,

him s elf wa s to be fa s tened to a s take in the mid s t of h i s

man s ion and the whole bui l ding c ommitted to the flame s .

In the Middle Ages wre c ker s infe s ted the s hore s and the ,

s en s e of thi s ever pre s ent mena c e to s hipping i s fully

-

expre s s ed in the s evere treatment re s erved for tho s e who

plundered a S hip or murdered c a staway mariner s They .

were to be plunged into the s e a ti l l they were half dead ,

”
and then drawn out from the s e a and s toned to death .

A notable example of t h e c ommon pra c ti c e of the impre s s

ment of s ailor s o c c urred in t h e fo ll owing reign at a time
when King John wa s preparing an expedition t o Ireland .

F or the tran s port of the s oldier s the s eamen of Wale s were

,

ordered to repair to Ilfra c ombe on pain of hanging and

forfeiture of good s Thi s power of t h e Crown w as c o n
.

t i nu o u sl y exer c i s ed up to the beginning of the nineteenth

14 THE M ER C HANT NAVY OF THE PA S T [ OH . I

ravaging of s eaport s by the enemy tho s e on the s outh —

1— ’
c oa s t being s pe c ial s u fferer s the c ountry s s hipping wa s '

c ontinua l ly being diverted from i t s normal purpo s e s by

the military requirement s of the Sovereign In h i s .

great inva s ion of F ran c e in 1 4 1 5 Henry V s ailed from ,

S outhampton with a va s t fleet of ve s s el s having ,

previou s l y impre s s ed a l l the c raft in the c ountry of 2 0 ton s

and upward s and obtained h i s c rew s large l y by Simi l ar
,

method s Bri ll iant a s the adventure wa s in i ts temporary

.

a c hievement s one i s apt to overlook the enormou s s train

,

it pla c ed on the e c onomi c re s our c e s of the kingdom and ,

to forget s u c h c ontemporary prote s t s a s the humb l e

petition of Parl iament repre s enting that the c onque s t of
F ran c e would be the ruin of England .

F urthermore the almo s t c ontinuou s s tate of war, foreign

,

and c ivi l inten s ified the lawle ss ne s s whi c h had s o long

,

prevailed at se a . The c omplex problem pre s ented by

medi aeval pira c y baffled the effort s of even the mo s t
s tate s manlike ruler s . S ea trading in tho s e day s wa s
-

anything but a pea c eful o c cupation Profe s s ional pirate s .

,

whether individual S hip s or organi s ed gang s like the Rovers

of the S ea who s e a c tivitie s at S c arborough anti cipated
,

the modern revival of unre s trained pira c y infe s ted the ,

Channel and the North S ea adding their depredation s to ,

tho s e of enemy c raft ; and the s e marauder s c arried their

daring to the extent of harr y ing the c oa s t and burning
s ea s ide town s . At one time t h e I s l e of Wi ght wa s virtual l y
,

in the po s s e s s ion of a c ertain John of N ewport who s e ,

mi s deed s and riot kept u pp o n the s e e were the theme

of a p l aintive p etition to Parliament .

But apart from s heer plundering though not alw ay s ,

di s tingui s hable from it wa s the s y s t em of legali s ed priv a

,

te ering ari s ing out of the i s s ue of L etter s of M arque By .

the l i c enc e thu s obtained from the Crown a trader who ,

had been the vi c tim of foreign aggre s s ion or who s ought ,

the mean s of c o l le c ting a diffi c ult debt w a s given the right ,

of repri s al s on the good s of the c ommunity or c ountry to

whi c h the o ffender be l onged The fir s t re c orded in stan c e .

of s u c h a grant o c cur s in t h e rei gn of Edward I though it ,

c annot s afe l y b e a s s umed that none w a s i s s ued earlier It .

1
T h e ac ti v i ty o f th e N o rm an c o r s ai r s i n th e e a rly ye ar s o f E dwa r d III s
’

r e i gn w a s s o e ff e cti v e t h a t an o r d e r w a s i s s u e d di r e c ti n g d w e ll e r s o n t h e

s o u t h c o as t t o t a k e r e fu g e i n f o r t e ss e s an d w i thdr a w t h e i r g o o d s a di s t an c e
r

o f f o u r l e ag u e s f r o m t h e s e a .
( P ol H %S t of E ngl a nd v o l i i i p
. .
, .
, .
an . x] L E TT ERS OF MA R Q UE 15

wa s made in favour of the Engl i s h owner of a s hip whi ch ,

whi l e bringing fruit from Mal aga wa s pirat i c all y s eized ,

o ff t h e c oa s t of Portuga l and c arried a s a prize in t o Li s bon .

In t hi s c a s e t h e li c en c e to s eize the good s of the Portugue s e

,

to t h e extent of th e l o s s s u s tained wa s l imi t ed t o five years .

The di s advantage s of s u c h a rough and ready method of - -

adj u st ing di fferen c e s need no great empha s i s In the fir s t .

p l a c e experien c e S howed that li c en c e for repri s al s t ended

,

t o degenerate into li c en c e of a more general k ind ; and ,

s e c ondly thi s me t hod of making inno c ent Peter pay for

,

gui l ty Pau l often a c ted a s a s eriou s deterrent upon t rading .

In the Brit i s h Mu s eum may be s een a gold nob l e c oined

by Edward III aft er t h e taking of Cal ai s had gi v en him
the c ommand of the Channe l O n the rever s e it depi ct s .

a s hip and a s word and it po s s e s s e s a pe c uliar intere s t as

,

t h e s ymbo l of t h e fir s t c l aim by an Engl i s h King to t h e

s o v ereignty of the s e a In formal ly adopting t h e tit l e of
.

Do m inu s Mari s Angl i c ani Cir c umquaque thi s c l ear s ight ed ,

-

ru l er wa s l aying c l aim to no emp t y form ul a but t o a real ,

s overeign t y invo l ving a number of s ub s t antial right s

S u c h a s tho s e of fi s hing the l evying of tol l s for the u s e of

,

the s e a free pa s s age for Ship s o f war and l a s t l y juri s

,
- -
, , ,

di ction for c rime s c ommitt ed at s e a It wa s t herefore by .

the a c tive a s s ert ion of thi s c laim that Edward s ought to

deal with the growing pra cti c e of pira c y a nd give pro t e ction
at s e a H i s pra c t i c al mea s ure s in cluded t h e grant ing t o
.

mer c hant ve s s e l s of l etter s of s afe c ondu ct and the o r -

g a n i s i n g of fl eet s in c onvoy V e s s el s bound for Ga s c ony.

,

for in st an c e were dire cted to a s s emble on the day of t h e

,

Nativity of the Virgin out s ide Southampton Water ,

l

s ai l ing t hen c e under t h e c harge O f Roya l offi c ia l s The .

main e ffe ct however of t h e fi r s t mentioned remedy s eem s

, ,
-
,

in l at er time s t o have aggravat ed t h e evil for under t h e

, ,

L an c a s trian King s we ge t many c omp l aint s of t h e forging

of s u c h do c ument s and moreover i t w a s found by t h e , ,

men o n t h e Engl i s h c oa s ts that th e i s s ue of l ett ers of

s afe c ondu c t preven t ed t hem fro m
-
getting redre s s for
pi ll age by t aking t h e matt er int o t heir own hand s In .

s hor t the e ff or t s of Edward III had l itt l e or no effe c t in

,

gi v ing pro t e ction on t h e s ea s S o it wa s with h i s s u cc e s s or s .

.

In th e next reign l ett er s of marque were granted more

,

1
Ch al c h e f o r d i n th e o r i gi n al ,
wh i c h , ac c o r d n g to
i D r Cu nn i n gh
. m
ar

was p r o b ably Ca ls h o t Ca s t le .

3
16 THE M ER CHAN T NA VY OF THE PA S T [ OH . I

freely than ever and it i s re c orded of one of the mer c hant s

,

of Dartmouth a port whi c h held a general privateering

,

c ommi s s ion from t h e Crown that with a fleet of h i s own ,

he c aptured no fewer than thirty three v e s s e l s wi th - ’

tun s of Ro c hel l e wine .

Apart from i t s more dire c t re s ult s the long period of ,

war s by i t s c on s umption of the national energie s offered

, ,

an opportunity to foreign rival s whi c h they were qui c k

to s eize The H an s eati c L eague had be c ome the mo s t
.

important c ommer cial a s s o c iation of the world at the

beginning Of the fourteenth c entury ; Bruge s and Antwerp
had e s tab l i s hed them s elve s a s the great e nt r e pOt s of
N orthern E u r Op e and the merc hant ve s s el s of the Italian
,

R epubli cs were frequenting the market s of the N ether

land s To the s e s everal rival s fel l during the war the
.
, ,

bulk of the Engli s h c arrying trad e Another c au s e .

operating again s t t h e intere s t s of the Engli s h s hipper wa s

the c ommer c ial po l i c y c arried out by Edward III Hi s
‘

broad aim s may be s ummed up a s a c ombination of c heap

import s for the benefit of the c on s umer with high pri c e s ,

for export s a s a mean s of providing revenue through the

Cu s tom s and tho s e aim s were apparent in the regu l ation s
affe cting wool and wine and the liberal provi s ion s for ,

en c ouraging the foreign trader A few year s after E d .

ward s death s aw the s tart of a rever s a l of thi s po l i c y

’
.

The in crea s ed re s entment of Engl i s h mer c hant s again s t

the foreign trader and the depre s s ed c ondition of Engli s h
,

s hipping found expre s s ion in the fir s t of many Navigation

,

A cts whi c h provided that to in c rea s e the N avy

of Engl and whi c h i s now great l y dimini s hed i t i s a s s ented
,
1
,
’
and a cc orded that none of the King s liege people do from
hen c eforth s hip any mer c handi s e in going or c oming
within the realm of England in any port but only in s hip s ,
”
of the King s li e gan c e ’
S o dimini s hed indeed w a s th e
.
, ,

N a v y that in the following year the new ordinan c e had

to be modified owing to an in s u ffi c ien c y of s hipping
,
.

Taken in c onj un cti on with the new regulation s for keeping

b ullion in the c ountry and the prote c tive en c ouragement

—
,

of t i ll age not merely a s a mean s of s afeguarding the food

,
’
s upply but for the fo s tering of the c ountry s military
,

s trengt h the N avigation Ac t mark s the beginning of a

,

d ra s ti c c hange of mer c antile poli c y a c hange in a happy ,

1
That i s to s ay th e ge ne r al s h i pp i n g o f th e ki ng dom
, .
on .
]
I C OA S T P R O T E C TI ON 17 BY C ONT RA CT
phra s e Ba c on applie s to the po l i c y of t h e fir s t Tudor King
f rom c on s iderat ion of p l enty to c on s ideration of power
“
.

In s pi t e however of t h e growth of national c on s ciou s

, ,

ne s s an effe c tive mean s of pro v iding for t h e due p r o t e ction

,
’
of t h e c ountry s c oa s t s and s hipping s eemed for a time no
nearer It wa s the p l undering of Engl i s h ve s s e l s by a daring
.

S c otti s h pirat e ear l y in t h e reign of Ri c hard II and the ,

rav aging of Rye and other s ou t h c oa s t t own s by a F ren c h

fleet whi c h indu c ed Par l iament al armed for the s afety of
, ,

the real m to pa s s t h e fir s t l aw levying due s on all mer c hant

,

ve s s el s (W ith a few ex c eption s ) frequenting Engli s h port s ,

for th e s pe c ifi c purpo s e of maint aining an effi c ient Royal

N avy But th e fleet no s ooner c reated wa s led by John
.
, ,

of Gaunt on the wi l d en t erpri s e of the Siege of St Malo .

,

in s tead of being emp l oyed in i t s proper s ervi c e And it .

was a S quadron of s turdy mer c hant S hip s whi c h in the ,

ab s en c e of the Royal fl ee t and of i t s own initiative , ,

repel l ed a F ren c h marauding expedition The u surper of .

the fo ll owing reign narrowly e s c aped c ap ture by pirate s

when c o m ing up t h e Tham e s t o L ondon and he wa s s o ,

litt l e ab l e to a c hieve h i s aim of e s tab l i s hing a Royal Navy

t hat for a period of over a year t h e en tire guardian s hip of
the c oa s t s wa s ent ru s t ed t o t h e c ount ry s mer c hantmen ’
.

By thi s plan whi c h i ll u s tra t e s th e genera l s ys tem of pro

,

t e c ti o n by c on t ra c t t h e s hipowner s were required to main

,
”
tain c ert ain S hip s on t h e s e a and to t wo fit per s on s ,
“

c ho s en from t heir body the King granted c ommi s s ion s to

a ct a s h i s Admiral s one for t h e nor t h and one for the s outh

, .

In re c ompen s e for the s e s ervi c e s they were empowered to

take t hree s hi ll ing s on every c a s k of imported wine a s ,

well a s c ert ain due s on export s It wa s t h e Crown s .

’

c omplaint s ub s equen t ly
,
t hat t h e mer c hantmen had
,

fai l ed t o fu l fil t heir part of t h e c ontra c t and t h e s c heme ,

c ame to nothing A S i m i l ar p l an w a s t ried wit h no bett er

. ,

re s u l t under Henry VI ; in t hat c a s e t h e Commi s s ioners

,

were t h e E arl s of S al i s bury Shrew s bury Wor c e s t er and , , ,

Wi lt s hire and L ord S turt on who were a s s igned the grant

, ,

of tonnage and poundage on c ondition of keeping the

s ea s for t hree year s T he s ignifi c an c e of th e mari ti m e
.

e ffort s Of Henry V s reign l ie s main l y in t h e improvement s

’

in s hipbui l ding Three S hip s turned o u t a t Southam p ton

.

by the vi c t or of Agin c ourt on t h e m ode l s of three big ,

Ge no e s e m e r c h a ntm e n whi c h traded with that port ex c it e d

f
,
18 THE M ER C HANT NAV Y OF THE P A S T [ OH . I

’
the c ountry s admiration ; and example s of private enterpri s e
a re found in the great c ara c k bui l t by John Taverner of Hu ll , ,
’
and the fleet main t ained by Bri s to l s mer c hant prin c e ,

Wil l iam Cany n g e s among whi c h was a ve s s el of 9 0 0 ton s

,

burden It wa s owing to thi s advan c e in s hipbuilding that

.
,

later in the c entury Engli s hmen found them s e l ve s with

,

ve s s el s fit to take part in di s tant voyage s of di s c overy .

It wa s in s u c h c ondition s of turmoil a s have been

de s c ribed that our mer c hantmen in the Middle Age s not
o n l y maintained and even extended their trade but al s o , ,

a s we have s een provided the only mean s for t h e defen c e

,

and s e c urity of t heir c ountry In the light of their varied .

re c ord we c l early per c eive that the mariners who won

wide renown in the day s of Q ueen E l izabeth were but
c arrying a s t ep forward in the dawn of a new age the

tradition s of their prede c e s s or s good fe l awe s of the

’
t ype S O vivid l y pre s ented by Chau c er s s hipman The .

m ariner of medi aeva l England w a s an examp l e of the

hardihood of h i s day O f ny c e c on s c ien c e took he no
.

keep , the Pro l ogue te ll s u s If that he fought and .

b adde the hyer hond By water he s ente hem hoom to

e very lond . But he wa s hardy and w y s to under
”
take and again and again in t h e re c ord s of the s e c enturie s
,

we get proofs of that enduran c e and tena c ity that native ,

s e a s en s e,
that ready re s our c e whi c h we have c ome to ,

regard a s the birthright of the Engli s h s eaman When in .

’
1 3 7 8 a s already mentioned the King s s hip s were bu s y
, ,

be s ieging St Malo a s quadron of F ren c h and Spani s h

.
,

gal l ey s s eized the O pportunity of s ailing up the Kenti s h

c oa s t and en t ering t h e mouth of the Thame s burning the ,

town s and vi ll age s on i t s bank s a s far a s Grave s end O n .

returning by the Channel however intent on further , ,

de s tru ction the marauder s were met by a fleet of We s t

,

Count ry mer c hantmen and valiant l y repul s ed The .

Engl i s h S hip s wer e of l e s s tonnage than tho s e of the enemy ,

but bo l dne s s of atta c k and better s eaman s hip prevailed ,

a s they ha v e on s o many hi s tori c o cc a si on s s in c e And .

in the fifteenth c entu ry in s pite of c ondition s whi c h often

,

appro a c hed to s o c ial anar c hy we get eviden c e of the s l ow ,

b u t real progre s s of maritime c ommer c e fo s t ered by the

n e w mer c an t i l e poli c y whi c h w as s ti l l further deve l oped
,

u nder the Tudor king s The reign of Henry IV s aw the

.

e s tabli s hment of the Mer c hant Adventurer s and s imilar

 on . 1 ] T HE AGE OF D I SCOV ERY 19

organi s ation s of Engl i s h mer c han ts trading to the Balti c ,

and to Pru s s ia ; c omm er c ial treatie s were c ommon from

the reign of Edward IV onward s ; in 1 4 80 the year of ,

the birt h of the great Magell an Bri s tol— then the mo s t ,

enterpri s ing s eaport of Engl and i t s fi s hermen making ,

—
regular voyage s to I c eland di s pat c hed an exploring
expedition in s ear c h of the I s land of Brazil a s c ore
o f year s later John Cabot s ailing from the s ame port had , ,

made two memorab l e voyage s t o the c oa st of L abrador ,

and though he found no pre c iou s metal s reported what

‘

, ,

w a s far more S ignifi c ant an abundan c e of c o d fi s h , in -

1 4 8 5 there appeared at Pi s a the fir s t Engl i s h Con s ul t o be

appointed in t h e Mediterranean and the de cl ine in power
of the Han s eati c L eague in thi s c ountry de s tined t o be ,

extingui s hed fi nall y under Q ueen E l izabeth wa s rapid l y ,

ha s tened By the new c on s i s ten c y in her mer c anti l e

.

po l i c y ba s ed on national c on s c iou s ne s s Engl and w a s

, ,

s teadi l y preparing to gather by mean s of her mer c hantmen ,

of a later day the fruit s of the Age of D i s c overy

, .

When men were bidden by l aw to eat fi s h twi c e a week ,

and throughout the whole of L ent t hey were obeying an ,

obligation whi c h it wa s believed the politi c al need s of t h e

c ountry impo s ed F i s h wa s of c our s e an arti cle of diet
.
, ,

of national importan c e apart from the re l igiou s c on sidera

,

tion s w h i c h entered into the matter Bu t the rea l s i g .

n i fi c an c e of the a c t w a s po l i ti c al The b uying of fi s h .

s timulated the fi s hing indu s try the fi s hing indu s try wa s ,

the be s t s c hool fo r s eamen and s eamen and Shipping ,

’
were ne c e s s ary for s trengthening the c ountry s power
again s t i ts rival s Another e s s ential of the national
.

ambition w a s wealth and one avenue t o wealth wa s a l ready

,

being indi c ated by the great exp l oration s of the l a s t

de c ade s of the c entury The e ff e ct s of the di s c overy of
.

Ameri c a of the r o u n di n g o f the Cape by Va s c o da Gama

,
'

and later the a cc ident of s torm whi c h gave Brazil to

Portugal were a s s wift a s re v o lut ionary The L evantine
,
.

trade with the E a s t w a s ruined F or a time the Portugue s e .

be c ame the fir s t maritime Power L i s bon e s tab l i s hed .

it s e l f a s the great c ommer c ial depot for We s tern Europe .

In their de s ire for weal th a s a mean s of national power , ,

Tudor Engli s hmen turned t heir eye s t o the New Worl d

and to the l ooked for promi s e of a north we s t route to Far
- -

Cathay Thi s s entiment found expre s s ion in 1 5 1 1 in the

. ,
20 THE M ER C HAN T NAV Y OF THE PA S T [ OH . I

prote s t made by c ertain member s of King Henry VIII S .

’

Coun c il again s t Continent al c onque s t If we would .

1

en l arge our s elve s the s e s t ate s men argued

, let it be that ,
2 “

way we c an and to whi c h it s eem s the eternal Providen c e

,

hath de s tined u s whi c h i s the s e a The Indie s are di s

, .

c overed and va s t trea s ure brought from t hen c e every day

, .

L e t u s therefore bend our Endeav our s thitherward and

, , ,

if the Spaniard s or Portugue s e s u ff er u s not to j oin wi t h

”
them there wi ll be yet region enough for al l to enj oy
, .

Henry VIII him s elf gav e effe c t to the pre v alent idea s
of the time by endowing the c ountry wi t h i t s fir s t R oyal
N avy on an organi s ed ba s i s Bu t h i s e s tab l i s hment of t h e .
'

R oyal N avy a s a regular depar t men t of the S t ate w a s al s o

in a cc ordan c e with t h e Tudor dyna s t y s prin c iple of ’

per s onal power and in idea it may be c ompared with the

,

tenden c y toward s s tanding armie s on the Con t inent The .

importan c e of Henry VIII S poli c y mu s t be empha s i s ed for ’

,

here we have t h e beginning s of t h e differentia tion between

the naval and mer c anti l e s ervi c e s A Ski ll ed amateur in .

many art s and c raft s t h e King c on c erned him s el f per s onall y

,

with improvement in c on s tru c tion and h i s famou s s hip the , ,

GR E A T H A R RY of at lea s t ,
t on s w a s the large s t ve s s el ,

then known The fir s t fleet whi c h he s e c ret ly fitted out

.

at Port s mouth s mall but admirab l y equipped w a s s pe c ial l y

, ,

de s igned to deal with the F ren c h bu c c aneer s who infe s ted

the Channe l and it s u c c e s s fu ll y di s po s ed of a s quadron
,

of marauder s whi c h had been plundering mer c hant c raft

in Mount s B ay The great fleet a s s embled at Spithead
.
,

in h i s la s t war with F ran c e w a s formed a s in the old day s , , ,

on a nu cleu s of the s hip s flying the Royal Standard but ,

that nu c l eu s organi s ed a s indi c ated above on defini t e

, ,

line s Privateers j oined the Admiral c hiefly from the W e s t

.

Country port s At h i s death Henry left a fleet of over

.

s eventy ve s s el s ; but more important than that he had ,

appl ied a new prin c iple to national defen c e N or did h i s .

s c heme of organi s ation end with the pro v i s ion of a R oyal

fleet and i ts c rew s As a mean s of prote cting L ondon.

from pirate s he e s tabli s hed two port s on the ri v er at and

, ,

oppo s ite to Grave s end s o that L ondoners enj oyed an

, ,

1 Thi s ,
it m b e n o te , w a s e i
ay d
t y e ar s a te r thgh f e g
P o r tu u e s e h a d t a pe p d
d b gh h
,

t h e s o u r c e s o f t h e Ve n e ti a n s ’
E as t e r n t r a e an d h ad r ou t t eir
fi g
r s t c ar o o f e p pp
e r t o En an gl d .

1 R e c o r de d i n L o r d H e r b e r t of Ch e r b u ry
’
s H i s to ry .
 22 THE M ER C HANT NAV Y OF THE P A S T [ OH . I

part s of t h e keel s of the s hip were c o v ered with t hin

s heet s of lead whi c h s eem s to be the fi r s t re c orded in s tan c e
,
-

of s u c h S heat hing in thi s c ountry The litt l e floti ll a bore .

Roya l L etter s of Safe Condu c t and the elabor ate in s tru o -

—
,

tion s drawn up for i t s government an admirab l e do cument

c hara c teri s ti c of the period
— s ugge s t the s aga c i t y and ripe

experien c e of S eba s tian Cabot The c ontemporary fame of .

t h e voyage may be j udged from the large c on c our s e whi c h ,

’
amid the s hooting o ff of the s hip s ordnan c e bade the
-
,

expedition farewe l l on the river S hore s of Greenwi c h -

.

”
The au s pi c iou s s tart a very triumph s ay s the
—
,

c hroni c ler w a s be l ied by s peedy di s a s ter Vio l ent .

s torm s s eparated the s hip s and Willoughby with two , ,

ve s s el s beaten out of h i s c our s e and unable t o make t h e

,

appointed rendezvou s remained to winter in L ap l and ,

there from c old famine and di s ea s e he and al l h i s men

, , , ,

mi s erab l y peri s hed Chan c el l or wa s more s u cc e s s fu l

. .

After waiting a few day s at the rendezvou s he at length ,

pa s s ed through the un c harted s ea s to the B ay of St .

Ni c hola s and landed at t h e s pot near where t h e town of

,

Ar c hangel now s tand s H e entered into friendl y relation s .

with the nati v e s who were indeed amazed at the s trange

,
”
t n s s e of t h e s h i p p e and then af t er gaining a s matter
g r e a e , ,

ing of th e language thi s a s toni s hing s eaman s tart ed on a

,

t our of t h e interior whi c h brought him finally to Mo s c ow

, ,

where Ivan the Terrible gave him a kindly re c eption A .

c ouple of year s later after v ainly attempting to re s cue

,

h i s mi s s ing c ompanion s Chan c ellor returned to Mo s c ow , ,

and s u c c eeded s o we l l in h i s negotiation s that a Ru s s ian

Amba s s ador a c c ompanied him on the return voyage to ,

negotiate a treaty on liberal term s with the A s s o c iation

of Mer c hant Venturer s H i s S hip wa s wre cked in a ga l e .

o ff the north of S c ot l and and Chan c ellor lo s t h i s life in

,

an e ffort to s ave the Ru s s ian Amba s s ador That fun c .

t i o n a r y at any rate e s c aped and re c eived an enthu s ia s ti c

, , ,

wel c ome in L ondon Though a north ea s t pa s s age to F ar

.
-

Cat hay remained a s mu c h a dream a s ever Chan c el l or s

1
,
’

enterpri s e laid the foundation s of Briti s h c ommer c e in

Ru s s ia and the Ea s t The new opening for over s ea s trade
.

wa s s peedily fo ll owed u p Another mer c hant ( Captain .

1
Th e n ort h -
p as s a g e f r o m E u r o p e t o th e In di e s w a s n o t
e a s te rn

a c h i e v e d t i ll th e ni n e te e n th c e n tu r y In 1 8 78— 80 th e VE GA d o u ble d t h e
.

m o s t n o r th e rn p r o m o n t o ry o f As i a an d m a d e h e r c e le b r a t e d c i r c u m n avi
,

a t i o n o f th e t wo c on t i n e n ts o f t h e Ol d W o r ld
g .
on . 1 ] T HE NE W WO R LD 23

Anthony J e nk i n s o n ) pu s hed into A s ia by way of th e Vol ga

and t h e Ca s pian S ea in 1 5 5 8 and tw o year s l ater wa s ,

di s pat c hed on a c om m er c ia l mi s s ion t o the Sophi of Per s ia .

The s e beginning s l ed to c on s iderab l e deve l opment s of

Engl and s Ba l ti c t rade during t h e next de c ade
’
.

But it wa s we s tward not ea s tward that Engl i s h s e a , ,

men s eye s were c hie fl y turned th e t rea s ure of the Spani s h

’

Main n o t t h e mer c handi s e of T i fli s and Samar c and c all ed

, ,

a l oud t o the adv enturou s S pirit of th e nation of i s l anders .

Wi t h the a c c e s s ion o f E l izabe t h we ent er upon a new pha s e

of nat iona l de v e l opment The bonfire s whi c h b l azed up .

on the de at h of Mary s ymbo l i s ed the new expan s i v e s pirit

of a nat ion whi c h though by no mean s c omp l et e l y unit ed
, ,

w a s moved t o the pur s uit of aggre s s i v e aim s ; and t h e

c ha ll enge t o t h e dominat ion by Spain a nd Portugal of t h e

New Hemi s phere rang out c l earer and Cl e a r e r wi t h Eng

’
l and s growing c on s c iou s ne s s of power upon t h e s ea s .

’
The Pope s de c ree by whi c h the New Worl d had been
,

di v ided between t h e tw o Catho l i c S overeign s was not at ,

on c e a c ti v e l y defied eit her by Engl and or Fran c e Nei ther .

c ountry in fa c t w a s in a s t ate t o do S O at t h e end of t h e

, ,

fifteenth c entury nor had the new rel igion s prung int o
,

v igorou s bir t h But hal f a dozen de c ade s had brought

.

s weeping c han e s
g Catho l i c Eng l and
. had be c ome a
Prote s t ant Stat e and a l ong period of pea c e had fo s tered
,

the growth of national s e l f c on s c iou s ne s s The al mo s t -

.

s ubmi s s ive tone of Henry VIII S Coun c i l if th e Spani ’

ard s or Portugue s e s uffer u s not to j oin hem t — i s rep l a c ed

’
with a very different note In the t hird year of E lizabeth s .

reign even the c aut iou s Ce c i l b lunt l y tell s the Spani s h

Am ba s s ador that the Pope had no right t o partition the
wor l d It w a s however Engl and s s eamen rough mer — ’

—
.
, ,

c hant s ailor s rather t han her s tat e s men who were ,

c hal l enging t h e pre t en s ion s and the c o l onia l regu l ation s

of the Cat ho l i c Power s The Engl i s h freed fro m the l a st

—
.
,

tra c e of Continenta l entangl ement s even Cal ai s had ju s t

been l o s t to them—were embra c ing more and more
effe c tuall y their birthright on t h e s e a In o ther way s .

they were favourably pla c ed for extra ct ing full adv antage
from the new c ondition s Geographi c all y th e kingdom . ,

lay be tween the King of Spain s s out hern dominion s a n d ’

h i s ri c h an d pro s perou s provin e of Fl ander

c s — a s trateg i c

1
Vi d e a n te ,
p 2 0
. .
24 THE M ER C HANT NAVY OF THE P A S T [ OH . I

po s ition the val u e of whi c h wa s i llu s trated by the frequent

s u c c e s s of the repri s al s a t s e a t hat marked Elizabeth s
’

foreign poli c y The s t aun c h mer c antile c l a s s with whi c h

.
,

s o mu c h real power re s ted were deve l oping o ver s ea s trade

,

at a rapid rat e ; and the experien c e s gained from many

a s tormy voyage in the northern latitude s were applied
to good purpo s e in the s hipbuilding yard s whi c h were ,

beginning to turn o u t s wift er and more weatherly s hip s

than tho s e of any o t her nation The day of the oared .

gal ley wa s a l ready pa s s ing ; i t s la s t great s e a fi gh t w a s -

to c ome in 1 5 7 1 in the Bay of L epanto a s hort lived ,

-

triumph for the de c aying Spani s h s e a power Hitherto .

,

s e a power had been in a modern hi s torian s happy phra s e

1 ’
, ,

pe l agi c not o c eani c now oar s the mean s of propul s ion

,

by whi c h the ma s tery of the Mediterr anean had been

maintained for c enturie s had yielded pre c eden c e to s ail s
, ,

the in s trument of s uprema c y on the o c ean It w a s Engli s h .

mer c hant ve s s el s and Engli s h s eamen who were to prove

t h e ful l S ignifi c an c e of t hat revolution in t h e type of
o c ean going s hip s whi c h the a ge of di s c overy had
-

inaugurated .

After h i s marriage with Mary Tudor Philip of Spain ,

s ought for h i s own purpo s e s to en c ourage the in c rea s e of

the Engli s h Navy But the unpopularity of the marriage

.

w a s deepened by the per s e c u t ing zeal of the fanati c al

Q ueen and before the end of t h e S hort reign the new
,

—
re l igion had given many re c ruit s parti c ular l y from among
the We s t Country fami l ie s of good b l ood and with s e a
a s s o ciation s—to the rank s of the privateer s Without .

entering into the re l igiou s a s pe c t of the matter it m ay ,

be noted how truly the ri s ing Prote s tant State s drew

their s trength from th e s e a Per s e c ution in F ran c e turned
.

many Huguenot s into s e a adventurer s preying on the ,

traffi c of the Catholi c nation s and even attempting s ettle ,

ment s in Spani s h Ameri c a ; t h e dreaded S ea Beggar s

were a later c reat ion of the burning s and s laughtering s
of A l va in t h e Nether l and s .

England s national s pirit then found i t s fulle s t and

’
, ,

fitte s t expre s s ion in the deed s of the s e a adventurer s and ,

Elizabeth of whom the Spani s h Amba s s ador F eria told

,

h i s ma s ter that s h e i s very mu c h wedded to her people

”
and think s a s they do adapted thi s formidable weapo n
,

1
A F P oll ar d ( P o l H i s t of E ngla nd v o l v i p
. . . .
,
.
, .
 ] E LI Z A B E TH S NAVY
’
en . 1 25

to the main purpo s e of her pol i c y—namely th e unity of ,

t h e nation and the pre s ervation of t h e real m from foreign

intervention It wa s a poli c y that c ombined bo l d s trat e gy
.

with c ir cum s pe c t ta cti c s The privat eer s with their .

,

often dubiou s l etter s of marque found in their Sovereign ,

a ta c it a l ly The Q ueen might and as the reign advan c ed

.
,

often did take a privat e s hare in the expedition s to the

,

We s t or even lend a R oyal s hip to s tiffen a s quadron

,

of mer c hantmen bound for t h e Indie s But it wa s clearl y .

under s tood that o ffi c iall y s h e had no re s pon s ibi lity for

any deed s that might be c alled in que stion or for any ,

unlu c ky mi s c arriage s and if any freeboote rs were c aught

red handed they knew they mu s t abide their fate without
-
,

appeal to their Q ueen In fine it w a s E l izabet h s pri v i

.
,
’

lege to reap the fruit s of publi c pea c e whi l e her s ubj e ct s ,

”
gleaned the s poil s of private war .

Thi s line of po l i c y wa s indeed almo s t di ctated by the

, ,

c ondition s with whi c h t h e reign opened The Ex chequer .

w a s impoveri s hed and the l et t er s of Sir Thoma s Gre s ham

, ,

the City magnate and E l izabeth s fir s t Amba s s ador at ’

Antwerp p l ain l y indi c ate two fa c t s—th e diffi c ulty of

,
’
maintaining the Engl i s h Q ueen s c re d it and the c ountry s ’
,

dependen c e for gunpowder on s upp lie s from abroad As .

to the Royal Navy proper t h e impo s ing fl eet whi c h ,

Henry VIII had a s s emb l ed wa s repre s ented at the

a c c e s s ion of h i s daughter by a total of on l y twent y two -

”
great S hip s The s e and other s ign s of weakne s s due
.

to rel igiou s and po l i ti c al c au s e s de c ei v ed s ome Spani s h

’
ob s erver s F eria bred up in the t radition of Spain s
.
,

mi l itary s trength on l and went s o far a s to de sc ribe ,

Engl and in a phra s e whi c h h a s be c ome fami l iar in our own

”
day a s the Si c k man of Europe and re c ommended ,

Phi lip to land an army promptl y and turn the i sland int o
a Spani s h pro v in c e Phi l ip probab l y had a better idea
.
, ,

of t h e l atent s trength beneat h the apparent weakne s s .

E l izabeth s di ffi c u l tie s and prob l em s were in truth real

’
, ,

enough but a dozen year s of her s tat e s manl ike hand ling
of affair s and of Engl i s h enterpri s e on th e s ea s were enough
to give to F eria s word s an e c ho of mo cking irony AS t o
’
.

c ertain elemen ts of our nava l s t rength s ome Span i ard s

,

remained de c eived even aft er th e defeat of t h e Armada ,

but there wa s litt l e s el f i llu s ion in th e l etter writ ten by

-

F eria s s u cc e s s or Gu e rau in 1 5 70
’
,
The whole channe l
,
. ,
26 '
TH E M ER C HANT NAV Y OF THE PA S T [ OH . I

he s aid from F a l mouth to t h e Down s i s infe s ted

,
'
.

They a s s ail every S hip that pa s s e s of whate v er nation , ,

and aft er c apturing the m equip them for their own pur ,

po s e s by thi s mean s c ontinuall y in c rea s ing t heir fl eet

, ,

with the intention on the part of the queen thu s to make

war on h i s Maj e s t y t hrough t he s e pirate s wit hout i t s c o s ting
her anything and under the s pe c iou s pre t en c e that s h e i s
,

not re s pon s ib l e s in c e t h e pirate s c arry authori t y from

,
”
Chatillon Ve nd Om e and Orange
, , .

That i s a vivid gl imp s e of t h e unoffi c ial war c arried on

in the N arrow S ea s by th e Engl i s h s eamen Nor c an it .

be regarded a s too highly c o l oured a pi c ture of a time

when the Mayor and prin c ipal inhabitant s of a port like
Dover were among the mo s t a c tive of the Rover s and ,

when even Engl i s h ve s s e l s engaged in the Antwerp trade

and the very fi s hermen on the c oa s t often fe l l vi ct im s to
the more re c kle s s type of pirate But already greater .

deed s were being a c c omp l i s hed in th e waters of the N ew

—
World deed s in whi c h it i s s ometime s hard to di s tingui s h
the different element s of t rading— legitimate enough
a c c ording to the idea s of the time— exp l oring and s heer ,

pira c y ; yet whi c h by their d aring ski l l and hardihood

, , , ,

have j u s t l y won a c la s s i c p l a c e in mari time hi s tory The .

early s l ave trading voyage s of John Hawkin s are of s pe cial

-

intere s t a s a definite att empt to break down the Spani s h

c ommer c ial mo nopo l y in the New World Modern idea s .

of Slavery have c a s t an unj u s t opprobrium on the name of

one of the greate s t E l izabethan s eamen Hawkin s w a s .

no better or wor s e than h i s time and no gui l t at ta c hed ,

to s l av e owning or s l ave dealing in the s ixt eenth c entury

- -
.

It w a s not in any c a s e the nature of the c argo that gave

s pe c ial s ignifi c an c e to thi s expedition of a s eafaring mer

c hant i t s importan c e lay in i t s overt c hall enge to Spain .

Hawkin s doub tle s s s poke for a s e c tion of Engli s h mer c anti l e

, ,

opinion when he c l aimed t h e right under t reat ie s dating ,

ba c k to the fir s t Tudor reign t o trade wi t h the Spani s h ,

Co l onie s Yet the c ha ll enge w a s a bo l d and new departure

. .

F ren c h pirate s mo s tly Huguenot s had for thirty year s

, ,

been harrying Spain s trade route s in t h e We s t and on l y

’
,
'

ten year s before a bo l d F ren c h c or s air with a s ingle s hip , ,

had with the help of e s c aped s l ave s l aid wa s te s ome of

, ,

the c hief s ett l ement s of the Spani s h Main and even s a c ked ,

H avana it s elf But no Engli s h s quadron had yet navigated

.
CH .
] 1 HAWK IN S S 27
’
F I RS T VO YA GE
the water s of the Spani s h Indie s And though Hawkin s and .

other trader s had flo u t e d Portugue s e pret en s ion s ba s ed on ,

the papal de c ree a l ready referred t o and had free l y ,

traded with the Guinea c oa s t s and even wit h Brazi l , ,

no s imilar inva s ion of Spani s h c l aim s had hi therto been

at t empted .

It wa s whi l e trading to the Canary I s l and s that Hawkin s

learnt that 1
negroe s were very good mer c handi s e to
H i s paniola and that s tore of them might ea si l y be had
,

upon t h e c oa s t of Guinea and in 1 5 6 2 with three s mal l ,

ve s s el s who s e tonnage would make a So l ent ya c ht s man

,

s mile he s ai l ed from Plymouth for Sierra L eone Th e re

, .

he c olle cted two hundred negroe s part l y by the s word ,

i t i s a rough s tory of rough time s whi c h are not to be j udged ,

by the ordinary s tandard s of the twentieth c entury

c ro s s ed the Atlanti c di s po s ed of h i s human good s with
,

mu c h profit and l it tl e di ffi c u l ty to t h e plant er s of Hi s pani

o l a where the s hortage of l abour w a s s everely fe lt and
, ,

re turned home with pro s perou s s u c c e s s and mu c h gain

”
to him s elf and the afore s aid Adventurer s In what s eem s .

to have been an hone s t be l ief in the legitima c y of h i s

pro c eedings Hawkin s on the return voyage had d i s
, , ,

pat c hed two ve s s e l s c hartered i n t h e We s t Indie s with a

portion of h i s good s t o a Sp ani s h port Phi l ip left no .

doubt as to h i s view of the voyage He s eized the c argoe s .

on their arriva l and di s pat c hed peremptory orders to the

,

Colonie s forbidding all trading in t er c ours e with Engl i s h

ve s s el s The Adventurer s who had p l anned and finan c ed
.

the voyage t h e L ord Mayor of L ondon being of t heir

,

number s ought in vain t o ob t ain redre s s for what they

,

regarded a s an i ll egal s eizure While in Ameri c an wat er s .

Hawkin s had a cted wi t h th e c ir c um s pe ction of an a stut e

and experien c ed trader He obtained th e requi s it e l i c en c e .

to t rade from the Governor at t h e port s of Hi s panio l a at

whi c h he had c al led ; he paid the l o c al c u s t om s due s or ,

left s e c urity for any s u m s in di s pute ; he even obtained

from the authoritie s written eviden c e of h i s good c ondu ct
during h i s s oj ourn The s e point s were urged wi t hout.

’
avail nor i ndeed did they t ou c h the main i s sue Phi l ip s
, ,
.

1
H a klu y t is o u r au ho ri ty
t f o r t hi s , as f o r th e ot h er g r e at Eli z a b e th an
vo y ag e s .
28 THE ME RCHAN T NAVY [ OF THE PA ST CH . 1

m i dab l e than that of the F ren c h pirate s and h i s deter ,

mination to re s i s t it to the uttermo s t If one were t o .

c ompile a li s t of S ingle voyage s whi c h have marked the

O pening of great c ommer c ial or politi c al epo c h s the little ,

s quadron with whi c h J o hn Hawkin s made h i s firs t

expedition might well c laim i t s p l a c e therein .

Hawkin s s s e c ond voyage 1 5 6 5 w a s a repetition of the

’
, ,

firs t on a rather larger s c a l e and not only brought him ,

and h i s fellow adventurer s a hand s ome profit of 6 0 per c ent

-

but e s tabli s hed h i s renown a mong h i s c ountrymen par ,

t i c u l ar l y a s a s eaman In thi s in stan c e he had c arried

.

h i s negroe s to the Spani s h Main it s e l f and c onfronted , ,

by the Vi c eroy s order forbidding any dealing s with him

’
,

had to ba c k h i s negotiation s with a s how of for c e before

the ne c e s s ary l i c en c e to trade w a s forth c oming from the
authoritie s He w a s c areful to follow h i s u s ual c u s tom
.

of obtaining c ertifi c ate s for good c ondu c t The s u c c e s s .

of the voyage while it ex c ited feveri s h anti cipation s and

,

hope s and s t rengthened the growing c on s ciou s ne s s of the

,

s uperiority of Engl i s h s e a power awoke the livelie s t alarm ,

in Spain and fear s for t h e two great trea s ure fleet s whi c h
,

annua ll y made the voyage between the We s t Indie s and

Spain now found expre s s ion in the Spani s h Amba s s ador s ’

c orre s ponden c e with Phi l ip .

Hawkin s lo s t no time preparing for another expedition ,

and at the s ame t ime Thoma s F enner one of the Chi c he s ter ,
‘

F enner s w a s bu s y fit t ing out a trading expedition to the

,

Guinea c oa s t Politi c al rea s on s were at the moment

.
, ,

giving a c on c iliatory turn to the Q ueen s foreign poli c y ’

,
’
and D e Silva s remon s tran c e s re s ulted in both s ea m en
being required to find heavy s e curity that they would not
go to the Indie s Hawkin s therefore temporari l y aban
.
, ,

do u ed h i s s c heme but F enner ha v ing no intention

, , ,

apparent l y of going farther than t h e Guinea c oa s t s ai l ed

, ,

in the Cas tle o f Comf o r t with one o ther s mall ve s s el

,
.

The voyage wa s to prove a memorable one and to open ,

many eye s to the fighting qua l ity of t h e Engl i s h mer c hant

man o f t h e day At the Cape Verde I s l and s Fenner found
.

a ll h i s at t empt s at pea c eable trade prevent ed by the open

ho s tility of the Portugue s e authoritie s and at the Azore s , ,

when s eparated from h i s c on s ort he w a s c aught by a ,

Portugue s e s quadron c on s i s ting of a 4 0 0 ton gal l eon and

,
-

two Caravel s Thre e time s that day the Cas tle of Com
.
so T HE M ERCHANT NA VY [ OF T HE PA ST OH . I

s hort, worthy of the r Ol e with whi c h he regarded him s e l f

a s entru s ted that of vindi c at ing by foré e if need were , ,

t h e legi t imate a s pira t ion s of Engl i s h c ommerce % A c t s of

i ll egal ity— j u dge d by modern s t andard s— were undoub t ed l y
c o m mi tt ed on t hi s memorable voyage b u t no ne of the ,

great figure s in the new s c hool of adventure whi c h w a s

now ari s ing and Hawkin s l ea s t of a ll i s to be c l a s s ed
, ,

wi t h tho s e c o s mopo l it an bu c c aneer s of a l at er c entury ,

who s e c riminal deed s and re ck l e s s c areer s have s urrounded

the very name of the Spani s h Main with an irre s i s tib l e if
s ini s ter glamour of roman c e Roman c e w a s far from .

wanting t o the deed s of the s e E l izabethan mariner s but ,

what give s tho s e deed s their epi c qua l it y a s en s hrined in ,

the immorta l page s of Hak l uyt i s t h e national s pirit and ,

nat ional purpo s e whi c h in s pired them .

The c our s e of the voyage of the J E S U S O F LU B E C K and

’
her c on s ort s may be fo l lowed in the Admira l s own narra
tive a s re c orded by that c hroni cler Repri s al s on the .

Portugue s e a s wel l a s t h e u sua l hunting for negroe s

, ,

marked the week s s pent on the Afri c an c oa s t ; and when

the Atlanti c had been c ro s s ed t h e s hip s ai l ed from p l a c e
,

to pla ce ,
making traffi c with the Spaniard s s ome

what hard l y be c au s e the King had s t eadily c ommanded

,

a l l h i s Governor s in tho s e part s by no mean s to s uffer any

”
trade t o be made with u s Nevert he l e s s they met on
.

t h e who l e with c ourteou s entertainment s ave a t Rio ,

de la Ha c ha the depot for the pearl trade and a p l a c e of

, ,

di s a greeab l e memorie s for F ran c i s Drake Carthagena .

,

whi c h w a s t o have been the la s t port of c al l a l s o proved ,

o ffi c iall y obdurate and then s ome days l ater aro s e the

, , ,

extreme s torm whi c h drove the s hip s ou t of t heir c our s e ,

and u ltimate l y invo l ved them in t h e di s a s trou s in c ident

of San Juan de U l ua Into t hi s road s t ead t h e haven of
.
,

t h e town of Vera Cruz the battered s quadron c ame to refit

,

and revi c tua l and no doubt t o for c e a market for the

,

negroe s that remained un s o l d The c on s ternation of the .

Spaniard s w a s great when t hey re c ogni s ed their formidab l e

vi s itor s for l ying at mooring s were t h e trea s ure s hip s with
,
-

over a mi ll ion on board await ing the annual fleet of New

,

Spain and i t s e s c ort s for the c ombined homeward voyage .

’
A huge prize in fa ct l ay at t h e Engl i s hman s mer c y If
, ,
.

Hawkin s had been a mere pirate he wou l d have s eized it

out of hand and he proved him s elf the orderly trade r
,
CH .
]I THE F I G HT IN THE HA RB OUR 31

he had a l way s claimed to be by ignoring the trea sure .

He t ook c ertain mea s ure s of defen c e again s t treac hery ,

and s ent a formal me s s age t o the c ity aut horitie s for

permi s s ion to refi t and Ob t ain requi s i t e s upp l ie s wi th the ,

furt her reque s t t hat a ction s hou l d be taken t o prevent any

c onfli c t between h i m and t h e expe c ted Mexi c o flee t The .

very next morning t h e flo t a appeared at the mouth

of t h e Haven headed by a Roya l gall eon , .

Of t h e dramati c e v ent s whi c h fol l owed Sir Jul ian Corbett ,

h a s given a s ingu l arly c lear and unbia s s ed a c c ount ba s ed ,

on bo t h Engl i s h and Spani s h aut horitie s Pa s s ing over .

1

the detai l s one may s tate t h e fa ct s broad l y thu s : Hawkin s

, ,

wi t h a c oup l e of bat terie s mounted a s hore for h i s prote ction ,

was s t rong enough to have prevented the ent ry of a newl y

arrived fl ee t and to have a c c ompli s hed i ts de stru ction
, .

But he wa s fu l ly aware that an overt a ct of war wou l d have

been di s p l ea s ing t o the Q ueen and he gave fre s h eviden c e ,

of h i s di s c re tion and s en s e of re s pon s ibility by ent ering

int o negotiat ion s wi t h t h e Vi c eroy and t h e Admiral of th e
Fl eet Un der t h e t erm s arranged after a good deal of
.

di s put ation the two flee t s moored s ide by s ide within the
,

prote c tion of the breakwater the Engl i s h were permitt ed ,

to c ont inue t heir refitting and ho st age s were ex c hanged ,

.

The s eque l t o t hi s formal mi l itary c onvention w a s a c are

fu ll y matured p l ot on t h e part of the Spaniard s Se cret .

reinfor c ement s were s muggl ed on board t h e Ship s and th e ,

s ignal for a c oward l y at t a c k w a s gi v en wi t h t h e s udden

s tabbing of s everal Engl i s h s ailor s who had been drinking

and fraterni s ing with the Spaniard s a s hore Taken .

unaware s and at a c omplete di s advant age Hawkin s fought ,

a fier c e a ct ion in whi c h h i s s uperior gunnery Si l en c ed t h e

,

enemy s fire and s ank at lea s t t wo gal l eon s b u t di s c harges

’

from the s hore batterie s trea cherou s l y c ap tured at t h e,

fir s t Signal had s unk one of h i s own v e s s e l s and di s ab l ed

,

another a n d wh e n th e Spaniard s l oo s ed a c ouple of fi r e Ship s

'

-
,

at night the bad l y c ripp l ed J E S U S had to be abandoned t o

,

her fat e and Hawkin s him s el f bare l y e s c aped by boarding

,

t h e M I N I O N j u s t a s her s ai l were fi ll ing

s The onl y o her t .

V e s s el t o g e t away w a s t h e J u di th D rake h av m g worked

,

ou t of the harbour In the nor t herly

. ga l e whi c h i m m e d i
ately aft erward s s prang up t h e two S hip s were s eparated ,

and the l ittle barque wa s the fir s t to arri ve home ; but

D ra ke a nd th e T u d o r
1 N a y (
v Co r b e tt ) v o l i p 1 1 1 e t e
, q .
, .
s .
 32 T HE M ER C HANT NA VY OF T HE PA S T [ CH. 1

’
there s eem s no eviden c e for H awkins s c omplaint of de
s ertion again s t h i s kin s man .
1

It wa s a tragi c and di s a strou s s tory that lo s t nothing ,

in i t s e ffe c t when told to Eng l i s h ears It c ame at a time .

when the ho s ti l ity of Spain and the a ctivity of the c ounter

reformation were be c oming more an d more mena c ing and ,

when Catholi c plot s were on foot at home again s t Eliza

’
beth s life and throne The mi l itary and s eafaring men
.

”
al l over England s ay s Camden of the San Juan de Ul ua
, ,
”
a ff air fret ted and demanded war again s t the Spaniard s
, .

Cautiou s a s ever E l izabeth remained tru e to her prin ciple

,
“ ”
N0 war my lord s but her he l p t o the Huguenot s and t o
, ,

the rebel liou s subj e ct s of Philip in the Net herl and s be c ame
more a ctive F inally in 1 5 7 2 c ame the expo s ure of the
.
, ,

f o r e i gn pl o t t o a s s as s i n at e E l i zab e th wh i c h l e d t o t h e di s m i s s a l
,

of the Spani s h Amba s s ador and brought t h e two c ountrie s

to the verge of open war It was in that s ame year that .

F ran c i s Drake fitted o u t the expedition whi c h wa s to a c hieve

one of the greate s t adventure s in our maritime annal s .

The in c ident of S an Juan de Ul ua had c reated in the

mind s of Hawkin s and D rake a fee l ing of bitter re s entment
and irre c on c ilab l e ho s ti l ity toward s Spain Hawkin s .
,

who s e energie s were s oon to be c ome ab s orbed in the o fli c i a l

work of the Royal Navy had s e c ured the re l ea s e of h i s
,

abandoned c rew s a s we l l a s heavy c ompen s ation by t h e

, ,

c hara cteri s ti c method of a s ha m intri gue in whi c h he

c ompletely outwitted the Spani s h Amba s s ador Drake .

s ought another way by taking out letter s of repri s al armed ,

with whi c h c ommi s s ion he j oined in two voyage s to the

Spani s h Indie s O n the s e c ond o c c a s ion he c aptured at
.

lea s t one valuable prize More important s ti ll he effe c ted

.
,

a valuable re c onnai s s an c e in the Gulf of Darien e s tab ,

l i s h e d friend l y relation s with the Maroon s ( the e s c aped

negroe s of the Panama I s thmu s ) and even s e t up a regu l ar ,

ba s e for future operat ion s F or Drake wa s taking up t h e

.

work of Hawkin s and by infu s ing into i t a new s pirit of

, ,

daring and a c ontempt for tradition bettering t h e i n ,

s tru c tion of h i s ma s t er So now he s ai l ed out of P l ymou t h

.

S ound on the famou s voyage of Nombre de Dio s bent on ,

repri s al s in the form of a pirati c al adventure b u t we c annot , ,

doubt with a perfe ct l y c l ear c on s c ien c e c onvin c ed a s

, , ,

1
So , r u n s H a w ki n s s n ar r a ti v e i n H a kl u y t ,
’
wi t h t h e MIN I O N on ly
a n d t h e J u d i th , t h e s m all b a r qu e o f te n t o n , w e e sca pe d wh i c h b ar qu e
g
t h e s am e n i h t f or s o o k u s i n o u r gr e a t m i s e r y
”
.
on . I ] D R A K E IN T HE SPANI S H MAIN as

a l l h i s Prote s tant c ountrymen were c onvin c ed of the ab ,

s o l u t e j u s t i c e o f t h e pro c eeding s The voyage may be s aid .

t o mark a new departure in s e a going exped i tion s—a -

c hange in e ffe c t from armed trading to priva t eering .

The l ittle s quadron c on s i s ted of two ve ss el s only

the P as ch a of 7 0 ton s and the S wan of whi c h h i s brother
, , , ,

John Drake w a s c aptain of only 2 5 ton s But s mall as

, , .

it wa s i ts equipment wa s a s perfe ct as the military s cien c e

,

of the day c ou l d make it Cro s s ing the Atlanti c in twenty .

five days Drake an c hored to water h i s s hip s o ff the

,

Ameri c an c oa s t and then made the s e c ret harbour where

,

on h i s previou s voyage he had improvi s ed a ba s e To h i s .

c hagrin he found t ha t t h e Spaniard s had di s c overed and

,

plundered h i s s tore s While at thi s s pot he fell in with

.

another Engli s h adventurer Captain Ran s e c arryi ng two , ,

Spani s h prize s along with him To the new c omer Drake .

-

revealed h i s plan s he meant to s eize Nombre de Dio s the

renowned depot of the Spani s h traffi c from Peru—to s eize it
,

while the trea s ure hou s e s were s till full Arti cle s of partner
-
.

s hip were agreed o n ; and after s etting up the pinna c e s whi c h

Drake had brought with him the c ombined s quadron s ai l ed ,

north we s t along the c oa s t to the Pi ne I s l and s where

-
,

Ran s e remained with the three s hip s and the prize c aravel ,

while Drake c ontinued the voyage with the pinna c e s and

the remaining prize s and a for c e of s eventy three men -
.

In a few day s the lit tle expedition rea c hed the entran c e
to Nombre de Dio s Bay and an hour before dawn da s hed ,

in to the atta c k by the light of the moon While the .

Engli s hmen were forming up on the s and after s urpri s ing

the s hore b a ttery the c hur c h bell wa s franti c ally pealing
,

i t s alarm in the ear s of the terrified inhabi t ant s F or h i s .

a s s ault on the town Drake divided h i s men into two for c e s ,

and after a brief re s i s tan c e the Spaniard s c aught between ,

the double fu s i l ade and over e stimating the s trength of -

t heir a s s ai l ant s broke and fled c a s ting away their arm s

, ,

a s th e s ai l or s with broad We s t Country c heer s c ha s ed t hem

, ,

through the Panama gate Wi t h the p laza held the hunt .

,
’
for trea sure began In the Governor s hou s e were found
.

bar s of s ilver pi l ed high 3 5 0 ton s in all awai t ing the arrival

, ,

of t h e flo t a of Tierra F irme— the t rea s ure fl eet of the

Spani s h Main Bu t i t wa s gold and j ewe l s not m ere l y
. ,

s i l ver that D rake wa s in s ear c h of and the s e were s tored

, ,
’
within the s olid ma s onry of the King s Trea sure Hou s e -
,
34 THE M ER CHANT NAVY OF THE PA S T [ CH . I

down by the water It wa s then that the fir s t c he ck

.

o c c urred to damp t h e ardour of the s e amazing men of the

se a . A tropi c a l downpour of rain ne c e s s itated their s eeking
s helter for the s ake of bow s tring s and powder and the -
,

c on s equent abandonment of their po s t in the

p l a za and ,

the s tout wall s of the trea s ure hou s e re s i s ted all effort s -

t o break in R umour s of Spani s h reinfor c ement s produ c ed

.

s omething like a pani c and how natural wa s the feeling

,

c an ea s ily be imagined F or never before had the s e s imple

.

though daring mer c hant s eamen engaged in s u c h an extreme

—
adventure as thi s of Drake s the del iberately planned ’
-

atta ck by a diminutive if well found land for c e upon a ,

-
, ,

town of s u c h s ize that the men of Devon c ould only

c ompare it with their well loved port of Plymouth -
.

The rain however c ea s ed and Drake c ontrolled the

, , ,

pani c with c hara c teri s ti c re s our c e and c ourage A de .

t a c h m e nt wa s s ent round to break in the door s of the

trea su re hou s e and the wi l de s t dream s of the s eame n
-
, .

might well have been reali s ed but for another unlu cky
s troke of fate Their indomi t ab l e leader had c on c ealed a
.

wound re c eived in the firs t Spani s h volley and now at the ,

c riti c al moment he s uddenly fell in a s woon That ended .

the matter The men vowing their c aptain s life more

.
,
’

valuable than all the trea s ure of the Indie s bore him to ,

the boat s and pi c king up on the way out with a c oolne s s

, ,

that provoke s a s mile a s olitary wine s hi p newly arrived

,
-

at i ts mooring s in the harbour they in s talled them s elve s ,

and their wounded on the town s vi c tualling i s land j u s t ’

out s ide the bay Hither in due time c ame o n a s pying

.
,

errand and under a flag of tru c e an offi c er bearing a me s s age ,

from the Governor c ou c hed in term s of true Spani s h

politene s s and paying tribute to the humanity s hown by
,

Drake on h i s previou s expediti on s The vi s itor wa s finall y .

di s mi s s ed with a flow of equally impre s s ive c ompliment s but ,

with the plain a s s uran c e that Captain Drake ere he departed , ,

meant to reap s ome of the harve s t of that c ommodity whi c h

alone would s ati s fy h i s c ompany The s tory of thi s interview .
,

the s ub s tantial truth of whi c h s eem s indubitable read s ,

l i ke a page from s ome s tirring roman c e It i s of s pe c ial .

i nt ere s t al s o a s illu s trating tho s e qualitie s in the young

—
, ,

c ommander whi c h c on s i s tent l y marked h i s future c areer a

s trong regard for humane dealing and a love of c eremonial ,

'

an d di s play befitting t h e d i g ni ty of a great s e a c aptain -

.
on . I ] T HE T RE A S URE T RAIN -
35

F or the pre s ent however the s troke s o daringly co n

, ,

ce i v e d and s o energeti c al l y exe c uted had failed Y et the .

fa c t remained that Nombre de Dio s the very gate of the ,

Peruvian Trea s ure Hou s e had been a c tuall y taken and

-
,

for awhile held and Drake returned to the waiting s hip s

,

evolving new s c heme s in h i s re s t l e s s brain The s e pl an s .

,

ba s ed on the information of a runaway s l ave c al l ed Diego ,

did not c ommend them s e l ve s to Ran s e who parted ,

c ompany with the bolder man arguing wi t h rea s on enough , , ,

that the affair of Nombre de Dio s would have given the

a l arm to all the c oa s t s ett l ement s S o indeed the event .
, ,

proved when Drake turned to h i s next in credible adventure

—an attempt on the c apital of the Spani s h Main it s elf .

Carthagena like the re s t of the port s wa s on the alert

, , ,

and though he took three prize s in the bay in cluding a ,

well laden Sevi l le s hip he qui ckly s aw that s ome new p l an

-
,

mu s t be evo l ved What he finall y de c ided on wa s a novel

.

and c hara c teri sti c departure from the general method of

—
harrying the c oa s t nothing le s s than a raid into the
interior And h i s purpo s e wa s to s eize in c o operation
.
,
-

with the Maroon s the mule train whi c h woul d bring the
,
-

trea s ure of Peru from P anama a c ro s s t h e I s t h m u s to

N ombre de Dio s for s hipment to Spain In order to man .

the pinna c e s w h i c h would be e s s ential to the enterpri s e

, ,

it was ne c e s s ary to s a c rifi c e one of h i s s hip s and the s e c ret ,

s cuttling of the S wa n h i s own ve s s el and a parti cu l arly

,

good s ailer i s one of tho s e in c ident s whi c h ca s t a flood of

,

light on the ma s terful and fearl e s s c hara cter of thi s born

leader of men B a c k in the Gu l f of Darien a new head
.

quarter s wa s e s tabli s hed and then pa s s ed month s of

—
,

waiting for the great attempt month s full of the mo st

diver s ified in cident s whi c h are none the le s s a stoni s hing
for the s impli c ity and dire c tne s s with whi c h the Narrati v e
s et s them forth It i s a wonderful tale of privation
. ,

extremity of tempe s t daring defian c e of Spani s h authority

, ,

threatened de s ertion de s perate fighting de c imating s i ck

, ,

ne s s— a s u c c e ss ion of vi c i s s itude s s u c h a s might hav e

broken the s tan c hne s s of the brave s t and s eemed onl y ,

to s timulate the great s e a c aptain to fre s h feat s of re s ourc e

-

and daring .

At length the mar c h inland began with the negro allie s ,

a s guide s and on the fourth day thi s devoted band of

,

E ngl i s h s eamen rea c hed the highe s t ridge of the Cordillera s ,

Be T HE M ER C HANT NAVY OF T HE[ PA S T ca 1

a t a point where the faithful Diego had promi s ed h i s white

ma s ter that he s hou l d s e t eye s on the S outh S ea Pizarro .

and Cortez and Bal boa had been there befo re him but ,

c a n our maritime hi s tory c onj ure a more dramati c s c ene

than wa s ena c ted on thi s Spot in the va s t mountain fore s t

‘

The Maroon s led Drake t o a good l y and great tree ,

not c hed with s tep s for c limbing and promi s ed him that
,

from i t s top he might s e e t h e two o c ean s at on c e S o the .

m ightie s t of our mariner s a s c ended and having beheld ,

with what pure pa s s ion of the explorer s urging in h i s

heart that s e a of whi c h he had heard s u c h golden
report s made h i s memorabl e vow b e s ee c hing Almighty
, ,

Go d of Hi s goodne s s to gi v e him life and leave to s ail on c e

in an E n gli s h s hip in that s e a And another c ontem
.

p o r a r y c hroni c ler ( Camden ) add s F rom, that time forward

h i s mind w a s pri c ked on c ontinually night and d ay t o
”
perform h i s vow . Not long aft er h i s fir s t s ight of the
S outhern S ea Drake had a cc ompli s hed the c row ni ng feat
,

of h i s daring r aid by the c apture of the mule trea s ure

,

train on i t s way a cro s s t h e Panama I s thmu s .

It w a s not ti ll N ovember 1 5 7 7 t hat Drake s ailed from

Plymouth on the immortal voyage of c ir c umnavigation
whi c h wa s to a c c ompli s h h i s vow The fame of h i s pa s t
.

exploit s brought a throng of volunteer s to h i s s ervi c e and ,

the expedition wa s a c on s iderable one for the time c o n ,

s i s ting of the P e li can ( Admiral ) of 1 0 0 ton s and four

, ,

s maller ve s s el s , a l l well armed and equipped To follow .

the c our s e of one of the mo s t famou s voyag e s in hi s tory

i s beyond our s c ope and ex c ellent c ontemporary narrative s
,

have made i ts detail s familiar Drake s purpo s e was to

. .
’

rea c h the Pa c ifi c by way of the pa s s age di s c overed by

,

Magellan in h i s la s t fatal voyage ; and s o having c ro s s ed ,

the Atlanti c he took a s outh we s terly c our s e along the

,
-

South Ameri c an c oa s t Every s ort of mi s fortu ne s eemed

.

to dog h i s way the fleet w as s c attered by s torm and one ,

of the s maller ve s s e l s foundered ; di s s en s ion s o c curred

‘

between the s e a o ffi c er s and the gentlemen volunteer s ;

and the extraordinary epi s ode in whi c h Thoma s Doughty
played the leading r Ol e ended with the exe c ution of that
offi c er in the little port of St Julian In t h e bu ff eting s
. .

whi c h befell the s hip s on rounding the Ameri c an c ontinent

’
D rake di s c overed the open s e a pa s s age s outh of Magellan s
-

Strait s and it wa s during the s e terrible month s Of almo s t

,
38 THE M ER C HANT NA VY [ OF THE PA S T OH . I

s ou rc e s open war be c ame only a que s tion of time and no

, ,

doubt exi s ted a s to t h e obj e c t s with w h i c h Philip w a s

already beginning to prepare a great o ffen s iv e fleet S o .

n o w we part c ompany with Drake the indomitable navi ,

gator and brilliant s e a adventurer Hen c eforth it w as .

,

large l y t o the work of national defen c e that Sir F ran ci s

’
Drake a s Admiral o f H er Maj e s ty s N avy devoted him s elf
, ,

in the interval that pre c ede s the s ail ing of the Arm a d a .

It mu s t s u ffi c e here to re c ord that aft er the di s c overy of ,

Spani s h c ompli city with T h r o gm o rt o n s plot Drake with ’

, ,

F robi s her as s e c ond i n c ommand c ondu cted a raid o f

- -
,
-

repri s al s on the Spani s h Indie s with a fleet of thirty s ail ,

plundering s a cking and ran s oming on a s c ale h i therto

, , ,

unattempted ; and that by h i s blo ckading operation s o ff

,

the Spani s h c oa st two year s later he threw S anta Cruz s ,

’

plan s into utter c onfu s ion and delayed the s ailing of the
Armada by a twelvemonth .

The familiar s tory of that determined attempt at inva s ion

need not be told here beyond noting that thi s great fight
,

in the N arrow S ea s s hed s lu s tre on the daring of the E l iza

be t han mer c hantmen whether trading ve s s el s or privateer s
, ,
’
and on their c rew s Her Maj e s ty s S hip s formed only the
.

nu c l eu s of the fleet whi c h gathered in the Channel under

the flag of L ord H oward of E ffi ngh am with Drake and ,

H awkin s and F robi s her a s wel l a s other s s c ar c ely l e s s

,

famou s a s h i s vi c e admiral s and c aptain s The defeat

,
-
.

’
of Medina Sidonia s va s t and heterogeneou s c on c our s e of
c raft w a s c on c l u s ive eviden c e of the c omplete s uperiority

of Engl i s h s hip s Engli s h gunnery and E ngli s h s eamen

, ,

of the Royal Na v y wh i ch was on c e more to a s sume import

,

an c e
. F or not only were the Engl i s h s hip s f a s ter and
’
more weatherly than the enemy s but their crew s were ,

s eamen and gunner s too c apab l e equal l y of s ai l ing their

,

s hip s and fighting them nor did they need to c rowd their
,

de c k s with s oldier s a s the Spani s h did Expre s s ed briefly .

and broa dly the Engli s h s e a ta cti c wa s naval in i t s origin

, ,

the Spani s h military In j u sti c e al s o to tho s e fighting

.

s eamen of three c enturie s ago one other point s hould be ,

noti c ed With s ome c ommentators it h a s been a habit

.

to a s c ribe the defeat of the Armada to the s torm s whi c h

followed the battle o ff Graveline s It i s wel l then to .
, ,

re c ord here the s imple fac t that the Armada w a s a

.

b eaten a nd utterly demorali s ed fleet before it turned

CH .
]
1 T RAD E W ITH THE 39 EAST IND I E S
northward s on i ts wi l d s torm driven c our s e round S c otland -

—beaten by th e s uperior da s h gunnery and s eaman ship

,

, ,

of Engli s h s ailor s The weather and the peri l s of tho s e

.

northern waters c omp l eted the work of the Engl i s h gu n s .

The bearing of t hi s great flee t a c tion on th e fur ther differ

e n t i a ti o n between t h e naval and mer c an ti l e s ervi c e s may

c onveniently be referred t o la t er .

’
Drake s bur s t into the Southern Sea s s timulated a s we ,

have s aid t h e national s pirit of adventure and in parti cular

, , , ,

the mind s of Bri ti s h mer c hant s eamen were more than ever
bent on the ambition of rea c hing the land of s pi c e s and pre
c i o u s s tone s s o long the c lo s e pre s erve of the Portugu e s e
, .

Fr o b i s h e r s great voyage s to the north we s t e arl y i n the reign

’
-

were originally in s pi r ed by the de s ire to find a north we s t -

pa s s age to India and they degenerated into a fruitle s s

,

que s t for gold yie l ding ore In t h e year s between Drake s

-
.
’

voyage of cir cumnavigation and the c oming of t h e Armada ,

John Davi s one of the mo s t s cientifi c of E l izabethan

,

navigator s fol l owed in F r o b i s h e r s tra c k in three s u c c e s s ive

’
,

year s in t h e hope of rea c hing India ; and in the s ame de c ade

Thoma s Can di s h taking D rake s old route by way of the
,
’

Magellan Strait s s o far reali s ed h i s ambition s a s to rea ch

,

China and the E a s t Indie s and ended by s ailing round the ,

’
w orld . Sir Humphrey Gilbert s di s a strou s expedition to
N ewfoundland of 1 5 8 3 i s to be noted a s one of tho s e early
attempt s at Briti s h c oloni s ation whi c h s eemed s o fruitle s s
in their immediate re sult s and in the fol l owing year
Sir W alter R al eigh obtained h i s letter s patent for the
”
pl anting of n e w land s on the c oa s t of Ameri c a the fir s t ,

s t e p to the s u c c e s s ful foundation of Virginia the or i gi nal ,

s eat of the Anglo Ameri c an ra c e -

.

It i s however with the ri s e and pro sperity of the Ea s t

, ,

India Company that the hi s tory of the Merc hant Marine

in the s eventeenth and eighteenth c enturie s i s c hiefly
a s s o c iated The defeat of t h e Armada provided a new
.

in c entive to Engli s hmen to s hare in the c oveted trade with

India Can di s h who returned from h i s great v oyage j u st
.
,

s triumph brought home

’
,

seamen and Briti s h mer chant s S o in the following year .

we find a s ignifi c ant de c i s ion taken by the s yndi cate

c on c erned in di s pat c hing John Davi s on h i s north we s t
-

voyage s Abandoning thi s long cheri s hed hope they

.
-
,
 40 THE M ER C HANT NAV Y OF THE PA S T [ OH . I

s ent out yet another expedition under the great nav i gator ,

but thi s time by way of the Cape of Good Hope It proved .

the firs t of a s e rie s of voyage s whi c h only c eased with th e

death of thi s fine s eaman who wa s ki ll ed by pirate s o ff the
,

c oa s t of Ma l a c c a . More Signifi c ant however than D avi s s , ,

’

voyage of 1 5 8 9 w a s the a ct ion taken i n that year by c ertain

Engli s h mer c hant s in petitioning the Q ueen for l i c en c e
and en c ouragement to open a trade wit h the Ea s t Indie s .

In s upport of their memorial they urged that s u c h trade ,

would a s the examp l e of Portuga l had s hown tend to the

, ,

in crea s e of the s trength of the Royal Navy Elizabeth .

c hara c t e ri s ti c a l ly toyed with the propo s a l but in the end ,

granted the ne c e s s ary authority and in April 1 5 9 1 three

—
,

t all s hip s the P e n e lo pe M a r ch ant R oy a l l and

—
, ,

E dwa r d B o na ve ntu e r s ailed out of Plymouth Sound

under J ame s L an c a s ter H ak l u y t s narrative of the.
’

voyage s how s that from Table Bay the M ar ch ant R oy a l l

1

w a s s ent ba c k owing to the ravage s of s c urvy and that ,

the P e ne lope foundered in a mighty s to r m e s oon

after rounding the Cape With a s tri cken c rew and a .

partially di s abled s hip L an c a s ter kept s teadfa s tly on h i s

,
”
way through hurri c ane s and ele ctri c s torm s and with ,

the further l o s s of h i s ma s ter and s ixteen men trea c herou s ly

s lain at Comoro I s l and s to Z anzibar , Here the mariner s
.

had their fir s t tas te of t h e a c ute j eal ou s y with whi c h the

P ortugue s e regarded a ll riva l s in the ri c h trade of the Ea s t .

After s ome month s on the Afri c an c oa s t L an c a s ter got a ,

favourable wind to take him a c ro s s the Indian Oc ean ,

doubled Cape Comorin mi s s ed the Ni c obar I s land s

,
’
through our ma ster s defau lt for want of due ob s ervation
of the S outh Starre and rea c hed one of the s mal l i s land s
,

to t h e north of Sumatra In s pite of the weakne s s of a

.

c rew now redu c ed to thirty three men and a boy -

the ,

E dwa r d pi c ked up two s mal l prize s and then while lying , ,

in wait in the Ma l a c c a Strait s thi s re s o l ute l itt l e fighter

,

atta c ked and c ap tured a Portugue s e t rader of 2 5 0 t o n s ,

and later on a s hip of 7 5 0 ton s with a c argo of great variety

and va l ue In fa c t profit w a s l ooked for from what wa s
.
,

c on s idered a legitimate form of pira c y rather than from

trade and but for a run of il l l u c k of a l l kind s L an c a s ter

,
-
,

wou l d have remained l urking in the Ni c obar I s land s ,

whi ther he returned on t h e homeward voyage in the ,

H e o b tai ne d h i s s to r y f r o m L an c as te r s li e u te n ant E dm u n d Bar ke r

’
1
, .
CH 1]
. THE FIRST EAS T IND IA CO M PANY 41

knowledge t h at many a ri c h mer c hantman from Bengal

and Siam would be s ure t o pa s s that way on the fir st s tage
of the voyage t o Li s bon A mutinou s Spirit among h i s .

men damage by s torm c ontrary gale s s hortne s s of

, , ,

provi s ion s s o that o ff Porto Ri c o t hey were redu c ed t o

eating hide s c u l minated in the lo s s of the s hip her s el f while
,

the maj ori t y of t h e c ompany were a s hore Final l y .

,

L an c a s ter and h i s c ompanion s obtained a pa s s age home on

board a D ieppe s hip and c ro s s ed to Rye in May 1 5 9 4 In
, .

a s en s e the voyage had been di s a s trou s But L an c a ster s

, .
’

mi s fortune s had pur c ha s ed a fruitful experien c e and a

fund of valuable information and offered Engl i s h mer ,

c hant s and s eamen a great and c onvin c ing proof that the

trea s ure hou s e of the Ea s t lay Open before them

-
.

Meanwhi l e the Dut c h were beginning to e s tabli s h that

,

trade with the Orient whi c h wa s s oon t o enable t hem t o

s upplant the P ortugue s e a s our c hief ri v al s an d their ,

enterpri s e s purred L ondon mer c hant s to new a cti on In .

1 5 9 9 a number of them c h ie fl y a s s o c iated wi t h t h e L evant

, ,

Com pany whi c h held a c harter for overl and t rading to

, ‘

India pe titioned for a monopoly of t rade with th e Ea s t

,

Indie s The Q ueen gave her a s s ent to the petition at t h e

.

end of the following year the trading privilege being ,

granted for a period of fifteen year s and thu s c ame into

exi s ten c e t h e firs t Ea s t India Company—th e progenit or
,

of that John Company whi c h w a s to be the mean s of

adding India to the Briti s h Empire No time wa s lo s t .

in di s pat c hing the fir s t expedition of the s e Adv enturers

”
for the D i s co ve r i e of the Trade for the Ea s t Indie s The .

—
fleet of four ve s s e l s o f t onnage ranging from 3 0 0 to 1 3 0 ,

—
with c rew s to the number of 4 8 0 men left Woo lwi c h in
F ebruary 1 6 0 1 A fitting generall of the F l ee t w a s
.

found i n Jame s L an c a st er who in h i s re c ent voyage had ,

given s u c h plain proof of indomitab l e c ourage and r e

s our c eful leader s hip and with him a s Vi c e Admira l went
,
-

John Middleton and a s Pi l ot Maj or t h e famou s John

,
-
,

Davi s The voyage wa s a c omp l ete s u c c e s s L an ca s t er

.
.

put h i s mer c hant s a s hore to trade and e s t ab l i s hed fa ctorie s ,

in J ava and e l s ewhere and whi l e t hi s more l egitimat e

,

bu s ine s s w a s going on him s e l f got a c ro s s t h e trade rou t e

,

and pre s ent l y c ap t ured a ri c h c ara ck of 9 0 0 ton s Ou t h e .

' .

voyage home thi s gal lant s eaman proved h i s rare qual e

i t i s
,

afre s h by s aving h i s s hip in we ll nigh de s perate Ci rcum -

42 THE M ER C HANT NAVY OF THE PA S T [ CH . I

s tan c e s s u c h a s would have te s ted the nerve and enduran c e

,

of the brave s t The l itt l e fl eet returned in the early

.

’
month s of Jame s I s reign l aden with c argoe s that in c l ud e d
,

over a mi ll ion pound s of pepper and tho s e W h o had i n ,

ve s ted their money re c eived 9 5 per c ent on their c apital . .

’
The s ame four v e s s el s made the c ompany s s e c ond voyage
in the fo ll owing year with a re s ulting profit of nearly
,

1 0 0 per c ent . to whi c h a s before exten s ive privateering

, , ,

had large l y c ontributed ; and in 1 6 0 7 a third expedition

s e t out remarkable for the fa c t that now for the fir s t time
, , ,
’
the c ompany s s hip s entered a port of the Indian su b
c ontinent it s elf Thi s port wa s Surat j u st above Bombay
.
, ,

and an agent wa s landed to c onvey to the Great Mogul at

Agra a letter of re c ommendation from King J ame s I A .

little later that S overeign extended the Company s Charter ’

,

and in the s ame year ( 1 6 0 9 ) w a s pre s ent at the laun c hing

of the large s t c ontemporary E a s t Indiaman the T r a de s ,
’

I n cre as e one of the fir s t two ve s s el s bui l t in the c ompany s

’
,

own yard at Deptford A S hip of . ton s s h e wa s o n e ,

of t h e s en s ation s of the early s eventeenth c entury but s h e ,

proved c lum s y and unhandy and c ame to a tragi c end ,

aft er a brief and adventurou s c areer She may be taken .

a s a fitting i ll u s tration of the rule of th u mb method s of

s hip c on s tru c tion then prevai l ing and it may be noted here ,

that it w a s not unti l after the Stuart period that Engli s h

s hipbui l ding began to e s tabli s h it s elf on a s c ientifi c ba s i s ,

largely a s the re s ult of the example of F ren c h naval mo del s .

At thi s early period in i t s hi s tory the Ea s t India Com ,

pany i s s een firmly e s tabli s hed a s we ll a s earning hand s ome

dividend s for i t s s hareho l der s i t s s hip s built in i ts own
,

yard ( although thi s pra c ti c e wa s c hanged at a later date )

and vi c tual l ed from i t s own s t ore s and enj oying t h e ,

enormou s advantage of a hydrographi c al department of

i ts own ba s ed on t h e j ournal s and ob s ervation s c o m pu l
,

s o r il y c ontributed at the end of ea c h voyage by the ma s ter s

o f i t s fleet . Development s in India c ame s wiftly Sailing .

with two ve s s e l s from Grave s end in 1 6 1 2 Captain Be s t ,

en c ountered the Portugu e s e traders in Surat Road s tead ,

and beat them in a s ki l fully c ondu c ted a ction It wa s a

-
.

s mall if de c i s ive a ffair ; but i t s e ffe ct s were immediate

and far rea c hing F or the pre s tige of the Portugue s e in
-
.

the Ea s t wa s s harply lowered and the Grand Mogul ,

h as tened to c onfer trading privilege s hithert o denied it , ,

 D UT C H RIVAL RY 48

upon the new P ower in the E a s t F a ct orie s were s e t going .

at Surat and el s ewhere Sir Thoma s Row c ame out three

,

year s later a s an Amba s s ador to the Grand Mo gul in order

to ratify the new treaty and by th e s ame date the Indian
,

Marine initiated by the Corporation a s a mean s of pro

,

t e c ti o n from pirate s a nd Portugue s e alike and manned by

Briti s h s eamen had rea c hed the total of t e n lo c al ve s s e l s
, .

F orty years lat er Cromwell in pur s uan c e of that po l i c y

,

whi c h i s s o well expre s s ed in h i s Navigation Act deal t th e ,

’
la s t blow to Portugal s pride and s e a dominan c e by ex
t o r ti n g a treaty giving to Engli s h s hip s t h e right to trade
in all the Portugue s e po s s e s s ion s in the Ea s t .

The N avigation A ct s of the s event eenth c entury how ,

ever were main l y dire cted again s t the Dut c h for Holland
, ,

s u c c eeded Portugal a s our s upreme riva l on the s ea s The .

s truggle with t hat s tubborn s e a going ra c e c ontinued -

almo s t c ea s e l e s s ly for twenty fi v e year s and while i t nearly

-
, ,

exhau s ted the Dut c h left Engl and buoyant l y ready t o

,

meet the more powerful rivalry of the F ren c h In th e great .

expan s ion of Engl and s s e a power whi c h followed th e

’
,

Ea s t India Company played a c on s pi c uou s part and before ,

the end of the eighteenth c entury it s tood virtual l y alone

a s the one s urviving trading P ower in the Orient i ts ,

operation s embra cing China a s we ll a s India Moreover . ,

the s e s trongl y built we l l armed Ea s t Indiamen with their

,
-
,

fine c rew s of s ea s oned s ailor s did yeoman s ervi c e for the ,

c ountry in the long s erie s of war s whi c h c ulminated in the

N apoleoni c s truggl e F or they c on stituted the c hi ef
.

element in that large c ommer c ia l marine whi c h our mer

c a nt il e po l i c y c reated a s a re s erve from whi c h t h e Royal

Navy c o u l d be almo s t indefinite l y in c rea s ed .

I is c
t onvenient here to no t e one a s pe c t of t h e s ignifi c an c e
of the Armada c ampaign for i t s effe c t on the movement
toward s that di fferentia tion between t h e naval and mer
c a ti l e s
n ervi e
c s whi c h a s we ,
have s een w a s initia t,ed by
t h e s e c ond Tudor king ll
Ga an l yt .
a s the mer han men c t
fought in S ingl e s hip c ombats th e nava l battl e i n t h e
-
,

Channel s howed how inadequat e t hey were t o th e need s

of a gre at fleet a ction and from ,
t h e c l ear percept on of i

that fa c t s prang a s trong impul s e to pe ial i a on s c s t i and a

widening of t h e brea c h be tween profe ional and ama e r
s s t u

warfare at s e a The in s titution of Ship Money i n th e next

.

c entury marked a further s t ep in the ame d re t on

s i c i .
44 THE M E RC HANT NAVY OF THE PA ST [ C1L 1

The poli c y of Charle s I expre s s ed in that levy wa s to

s ub s titute a s y s tem of money c ontribution s a s a mean s of

fo r m i n g a regu l ar fleet for the medi ae val plan of c ontribution s

of S hip s A few year s later Cromwe ll s poli c y s e cured
.
,
’
,

under the profe s s iona l s oldier admiral of t h e B l ake type -

,

an in c rea s ed s pe ciali s ation whi c h by the end of t h e c ent ury

,

led to the pra c ti c al di s appearan c e of the mer c hantman as

a fleet s hip .

T HE ME R C H A N T NA V Y R E V O L U T I O N A RY
IN T HE AN D
NAP O L E O N I C W A R S

IN that period of almo s t c ontinuou s war whi c h began with

t h e s truggl e with Revolutionary F ran c e in 1 7 9 3 , and ended
with the downfal l and exile of N apoleon in 1 8 1 5 the ,

s trength of F ran c e on the s ea s w a s devoted to the d e s t r u c

tion of Briti s h c ommer c e and never with more determ ined

,

per s i s ten c y than in the ten year s whi c h s u c c eeded the

vi c tory at Trafal gar The c onfli c t wa s maintained with
.

all the re s our c e s whi c h F ran c e ruled by de spoti s m was , ,

able to throw into the s c ale s with the s upport of the ,

re s our c e s of allie s whom s h e made her va s s al s Yet thi s .

re s ult i s clearly s hown : that from the outbreak of h o s

t i li t i e s the s trength of the Briti s h mer c antile fleet ever
grew l arger and larger de s pite the un c ea s ing on sl aught
,

whi c h w a s maintained again s t it and de s pite the h e avy ,

lo s s e s whi c h s u c h protra cted warfare ne c e s s arily i n

volved .

Eleven thou s and Briti s h merc hant s hip s pa s s ed out of

the S ervi c e by c apture a s prize s during the F ren c h wars 1
.

S ome c ompen s ation wa s found in t h e numbers of enemy

s hip s taken and t ran s ferred to our flag ; b u t t h e a c t i v i ty
‘

in Bri t i s h s hipyard s wa s s o well s u s tained that in 1 8 1 5 thi s

c ountry po s s e s s ed more s hip s and a greater volume of

tonnage than at the opening of t h e Angl o F ren c h s truggle -

.

On the o t her hand F ren c h t rade in a few year s wa s a l mo s t

,

s wept from the s ea s by the Briti s h naval s uperiority ,

and opportunitie s of prize taking by our c rui s er s were -

R ll o f E n gli h m e c h n t v e ss e ls c p t e d by th e Fr e n ch d u ri n g th e
1 81 5 —
1

1 793 —
o s r a a u r

w ar , N
”
o rm an s
’
Cor s a i r s o f F r a nce .
46 M ER C HAN T NAVY OF T HE PA S T [ ca n
whi c h e s c aped c apture by Briti s h c rui s er s or in c lo s e ,

pur s uit were dri v en into her port s effe c ted a qui c k tran s ,

formation F ran c e had i n the s turdy N orman and Bret on

.

population s of her c oa s t s inured to t h e hard s hip s of life

,

at s e a and a l ready made fami l iar with war a s t riking for c e ,

ready to be u s ed and they were not c ont ent to remain

,

idle while ri c h reward s were wit hin their gra s p In .

hundred s F ren c h mer c hant s hip s were armed and tran s

formed into privateers new c raft s pe c ial l y de s igned for
,

s peed were laid down in the yard s and s ai l ing wi t h letter s , ,

of marque they harried the long line s of Briti s h s hip s

,

beating up the Engli s h c hannel or traver s ing the N orth

S e a route s Into the s ingle port of D unkirk thirty s i x
.
-

Engli s h prize s were brought within three month s of the

outbreak of war No fewer than 40 7 E ngl i s h prize s were
.

s o l d in that port alone before the Pea c e of Amien s brought

the firs t pau s e in the war The enterpri s e or greed of .

profi t by owner s wa s s e c onded by publi c s ub s c ription s .

A cl ub at Stra s burg fi tted out a c or s air t h e J a cobi n whi c h , ,

effe ct ively raided Briti s h trade The muni c ipal ity of .

B ordeaux equipped three c or s air s one of whi c h the Genera l , ,

D u m ou r i e r in her firs t c rui s e returned with prize s va l ued

, ,

at B l ank l etter s of marque were i s s ued to the

Commi s s ionaire s of Marine in every port of F ran c e and ,

from Dunkirk to St Jean de Lu z the c oa s t wa s s tudded

.

with c ompanie s who s e s ole aim and obj e ct w as the de

s tru c tion of Engli s h c ommer c e
1
.

The more venture s ome F ren c h c or s air s better equipped ,

and fitted and c ommanded by men who s e daring won for

,

them a warm pla c e in the heart s of their c ountrymen lay ,

in wait for the valuable c argoe s pa ss ing to and from India

and the E a s t and the high l y important trade c arried on
,

between England and the We s t Indie s F ran c e brought .

into thi s s erv i c e s wift s ailing s hip s powerfully armed ,

.

O ne of the s e privateer s the B or de l a i s c aptured in 1 7 9 9

, , ,

had operated at no greater di st an c e than Tory I s land ,

about whi c h s h e had done great damage in the previou s

s ummer . Her keel wa s a s long a s that of our 3 8 gun -

frigate s s h e wa s pier c ed for twenty tw o gun s on de ck had

twenty four bra s s 1 2 —
-
, ,

-
pounder s mounted and c arried a c re w ,

numbering 2 2 2 men The B or de lai s wa s c ondu cted into

.

Cork by H i s Maj e s ty s s hip R E V OL U T I ON N AI R E after having

’
,

1
N o rm an , T h e Cor sa i r s f
o F ra nce , p . 2 92 .
CH . 1 ] CO ND ITI O N S IN THE CHANN E L 47

been c ha s ed 1 2 9 mi l e s In nine and a half hour s being final l y ,

overhau l ed in a gal e of wind .

1

As Often before in her hi s tory England at the outbreak ,

of war wa s unready Nearly s i x mont h s pa s s ed before .

t h e Channe l Fleet under L ord Howe g o t to s e a , Near , .

home in t h e early day s of the s truggl e it wa s bel ieved

, ,

t hat Briti s h mer c hant s hipping w a s be s t prote c ted by the

c on c entration of a main fl eet in the V i c ini t y of Torbay ,

with a re s erve fleet o ff the I s le of Wight Frigat e s .

wat ched Bre s t and other F ren c h port s and a c on s t ant ,

patrol wa s maintained Thi s di s po s ition wa s afterward s .

varied the blo ckade of Bre s t being made s ti ll c l o s er and

, ,

two s eparate s quadron s were formed wit h ba s e s at Spithead ,

and t h e North S ea The s ealing of F ren c h outlet s c oul d

.

rare l y however a s experien c e S howed be made effe ctive

, , ,

again s t raiding c raft .

The c onfiguration of the oppo s ing c oa st s of F ran c e and

England and the s mal l di stan c e s to be traver s ed by
fa st s ailing raider s added greatly t o the perplexity of the
-

prob l em c onfr onting the Briti s h Admira l ty The Engli s h .

Channel h a s nowhere a greater width than one hundred

mile s and at the ne ck narrow s to twenty mi l e s ; and
,

though the N orth Sea o ffered a broader expan s e the Engl i s h ,

c oa s t w a s qui ck l y rea c hed from t h e northern port s of

Fran c e and t h e N etherland s The Engl i s h s outh c oa st i s .

poorly provided with natural haven s and in c ertain wind s ,

no s helter wa s to be ob t ained between Port s mout h on t h e

one hand and the Down s on the o t her N ewhaven had .

not been deve l oped into a port nor had even a l ight been ,

pla c ed there Oppo s ite were the Fren c h port s of Cher

.

bourg and Havre with St Malo Boulogne Calai s and ,

.
, , ,

Dunkirk all within ea s y a c c e s s of the trade rout e s ; all

,

o ffered admirab l e s he lter to the Fren c h privateer able t o

wait a favourab l e wind and opportunity The c on cavity .

of the Engl i s h l and l ine e s pe c iall y t h e l ong s tret c h from

-
,

Se l s ey Bi ll to B ea c hy Head the dangerou s s hore the , ,

.

impo s s ibi l ity of weathering a s outherl y gal e upon i t at

n
a c hor and the great
,
wan t of ligh t s and of c on v en i ent

harbourage all added to the peril s to whi h Br t h h p

,
c i i s s i s

c ongrega t ing t here were expo s ed If making a l arge o ffing .

s
to e s c ape the bay they ran imminen ri k from pr vat eer
“

t
,
s s i

whi c h s allied out from the port s of N ormandy L e v i l l e of . ,

1 N a va l Ch r oni cl e , 11 , 53 5 .
48 THE MER C HANT NAVY OF THE PA S T [ OH . I

Dunkirk one of the mo s t daring of the s e c ommander s

, ,

c rui s ing in the Channel in the privateer Ve nge an ce and ,

eluding Bri t i s h war s hip s on wat c h in five we ek s of the ,

autumn of 1 7 9 5 made no fewer than twenty Engl i s h prize s .

The mo s t urgent c al l for naval s hip s being about the

Briti s h c oa s t s and in the We s t Indie s the Indian s ea s were ,

left unprote cted When Admiral Cornwa lli s s ai l ed for

.

Europe with h i s s mall s quadron in Sep t ember 1 7 9 3 a ,

s ingle s loop o f war remained to prote c t t h e va s t expan s e

- -

of o c ean c overed by the c ommer c e of the E a s t India

Company h i s s u c c e s s or did not rea c h the s tation ti l l a
1

year later In s u c h c ir c um s tan c e s s evere lo s s e s were

.

inevitable They were however le s s s evere than might

.
, ,

have been expe c ted The Indiamen of a c entury ago were .

the monar c h s of the s ea s s tout s hip s of 8 0 0 to ton s

, ,

s ome rea c hing ton s fa s t s ailer s better armed and , ,

manned than any other s flying the mer c antile flag and ,

c apab l e of giving a good a cc ount O f them s elve s in an

en c ounter with any interfering c raft s hort of an enemy

frigate The Ea s t India Company too fitted out s everal
.
, ,

heavi l y armed s hip s t o c rui s e for the prote ction of t rade

-
.

The fleet s engaged in the c ommer c e c arried on with the

We s t Indie s in s ugar c o ffee rum and other c olonial
—
, , ,

produ c e and in thi s c onne c tion Slave s mu s t not be

—
omitted offered an ea s ier prey for the larger c la s s of
F ren c h privateer fitted for long voyage s and o c ean s ervi c e ,

and fa c i l i t at ed raid s upon the t r a fli c to and from the We s t

Indie s varied with irruption s upon the route s to India
,
.

To s u c h atta ck s on c ommer c e the more daring of the ,

—
F ren c h c or s air s men like the famou s R obert Sur c ouf ,

.
—
of St Ma l o devoted their re s tle s s energie s .

The fine s pirit in whi c h the s e atta c k s w ere met by Briti s h

mer c hant s eamen i s manife s ted in the re c ord s of a hundred
a ction s fough t about the i s land s out in the Atl anti c Thi s .

one i s typi c al The Briti s h s hip P lante r in t h e year

.
,

1 79 9 ,wa s overhau l ed by a fa s t s ai l er Captain John .

Watt s her c ommander ba c ked h i s main s ail and laid by

,
‘

for the enemy al l hand s giv ing three c heer s

,
We found .

her , he s ay s to be a privateer of twenty two gun s

,
-
,

twelve s nine s and s ixe s with s ma ll arm s in the top s and

, , , ,

ful l of men We poured in our l agr i s ch e and u s ed grape

.
,
”
s hot with great s u c c e s s The privateer s heered o ff t o
.

Bre nton s N a va l H i s to ry i 3 4 6
1 ’
, , .
CH . 1 ] A C TI ON S W ITH P R I VATEER S 49

repair damage The a ction re c ommen c ed and was fought

.
,

with great gallantry throughout the afternoon ti ll the

light waned Captain Watt s add s in a letter to h i s
.

owners
At la s t he found we would not give out and night ,

c oming on s heered o ff and s tood to the s outh we s t

, Our -
.

fire mu s t have done great exe c ution My s hip s c ompany .

’

a c ted with a degr ee of c ourage whi c h doe s c redit to the

flag I c annot help mentioning the good c ondu ct of my
.

pa s s enger s during the a ction : Mr Mc K e nno n and Mr .

.

Hodg s on with s mall arm s s tood to their quarters wi th

, ,

a degree of noble Spirit ; my two lady pa s s enger s Mr s , .

McDo w e ll and Mi s s Mary Hart l ey kept c onveying the ,

c artridge s from the magazine to the de c k and were very ,

attentive to the wounded both during and after the a ction , ,

in dre s s ing their wound s and admini s tering every c omfort

the s hip c ould a ff ord in whi c h we were not defi cient for a
,

mer c hant s hip When he s heered o ff we s aw him heaving

.

dead bodie s overboard in abundan c e We had four ki ll ed .

,

eight wounded The for c e of the P la nte r was twelve

—
.

”
9 pounder s and s i x 6 pounder s
-
forty three men - -
.
1

It was the c ommon obj e ct of a privateer c aptain wherever -

po s s ible to effe ct a boarding The advantage l ay wi t h him .

in h i s s uperior number s of men trained in th e u s e of arm s ,

and ex c ited by the pro s pe ct of a prize whi l e the mer chant ,

man s c rew wa s generall y weaker and many a bloody fight

’
,

wa s waged on the narrow de c k s A letter from Barbadoe s .

of De c ember l s t 1 7 9 8 de s c ribe s s u c h an a ction fought

, , ,

mo s t gallantly and in thi s in s tan c e s u cc e s s full y by t h e

, ,

L iverpool s hip B ar ton ( Captain Cu tl er ) after being o v er ,

haul ed twenty league s to windward by a Fren c h priv at eer

mounting eighteen gun s 9 pounder s and 6 pounders The ,
- -
.

c ha s e l a s t ed two and a ha l f hour s t h e privateer repeat ed l y ,

altering her c our s e to board but th e heavy and well dire ct ed ,

-

fire from the Briti s h s hip prevented her from getting near
enough to effe ct her purpo s e Di smantled in her rigging . ,

the enemy s heered Off .

having refitted c ommen ced a s e c ond attack at nno n

Bu t , ,

with a mo s t s anguinary de s ign of boarding and n o tW Ith ,

1 N a va l Ch ron i cl e , 11 , 2 50 .
50 THE M ER C HANT NAVY OF THE PA S T [ CH . I

s tanding the in c e s s ant c annonading from the Ship ran ,

plump on board and endeavoured to throw her men into

,

her b u t found her wel l prepared to re c eive the enemy

, ,
’
the who l e of B ar ton s c rew being a s s embled on the quarter
de ck and headed by their gall ant c ommander who w a s
, ,

s pirited l y s e c onded by h i s pa s s enger s An atta c k s word .

,

in hand c ommen c ed and the enemy were driven ba ck with

, ,

c on s iderable l o s s many of them being s piked from the

,

netting and s hroud s of the s hip while by a wel l dire c ted ,

-

fire from t h e c abin gun s number s were s wept from their ,

own de ck and a great part of her rigging being cu t away

s h e dropped a s tern and gave over the c onte s t amid s t the ,

vi ct oriou s huzzah s of the Briti s h tar s who s e bold c o m ,

mander c all ing from h i s quart er de ck defied the van

,
-
,

q u i sh e d R epubli c an s to return to the atta ck H i s .

pa s s enger s bear a proportionate s hare of the honour with

”
the c aptain .
1

After s u c h adventure s in the O pen s e a many a s tout

mer c hantman returned to port badly mauled for repair s , , ,

but s hip and c argo s aved by the dauntle s s c ondu ct of

o ffi c er s and c rew .

The geographi c al po sition of the F ren c h We s t India

I s land s favoured the operation s of the raider s affording ,

ba s e s into whi c h prize s c ould be taken and from whi c h ,

c rui s er s and privateer s c ould s a l ly out qui c kly upon the

trade route s be s ide s Offering s helter and opportunity for

,

refitting Around the s e i s land s t h e war on c ommerc e wa s

.

c arried on with ever in c rea s ing Briti s h lo s s e s and the ,

ne c e s sity of prote c ting thi s trade invo l ved the deta c hment
of large number s of frigate s and Sl oop s whi c h were bad l y
needed f o r s ervi c e el s ewhere The s eizure one after .

another of al l the F ren c h i s land s eventual ly c he cked t h e

depredation s though it wa s found impo s s ible to s top them
,

a l together Driven from their own l air s Fren c h pri v ateer s

. ,

fit ted o u t in Ameri c an port s when c e they s ai l ed under a,

thin di s gui s e to re s ume their predatory warfare upon

Brit i s h mer c hantmen .

The guarding of the long o c ean route s to India and China

o ffered far greater perp l exitie s to the Briti s h Admiralty .

As t h e year s went on the F ren c h made ever mor e deter

,

mined effort s to cu t our trading c onne c tion s strengthening ,

1 N a va l Ch r on i cl e , i , 4 3 7 .
 CH . 1 ] A P I CT URE OF SE A T RAFF I C 51

their al ready powerfu l patrol s of c rui s ing frigate s and

S l oop s with S hip s of the l ine The c on c entration of a .

c on s iderab l e flee t under R ear Admiral Sir Edward Pe l l e w -

,

afterward s L ord Exmouth re sulted in the lo s s e s being kept ,

within bound s but throughout the l ong war the Eas tern
,

trade route s were th e s c ene s of s ome of the mo s t de s peratel y

c onte s ted a c tion s between Briti s h and Fren c h frigate s and

o l i r armed mer c hant men and raiding pri v ateer s The need .

for prote ction of t h e large Briti s h trade with the Balti c

and t hat with Ameri c a were other c au s e s whi c h made
ne c e s s ary the di s sipation of Briti s h naval s trength over
many di s tant s ea s .

When a l l h a s been s aid however the area of th e , ,

grave s t peri l wa s the water s about our own c oa st s for there ,

the gr eate s t part of our c ommerc e borne by the mer c hant

fleet s ne c e s s ari l y c ongregated Mahan h as drawn in lively .

fa s hion a pi cture of the s ea s in N apo l eoni c time s

F a s t frigate s and s loop s o f war with a h o s t of s maller - -

,

ve s s e l s were di s s eminat ed over the o Ce a n upon the track s

, ,

whi c h c ommer c e fol l ow s and to whi ch the ho s tile c rui s ers

were therefore c on s trained To ea c h w a s a s s igned h i s .

c rui s ing ground the di s tribution being regul at ed by th e

-
,

c omparative danger s and by the ne c e s s ary a c cumu l ation

,

of mer c han t S hipping in parti c u l ar lo c al itie s a s in t h e ,

North Sea the approa c h to the Engl i s h Channe l , and

, ,

general l y t h e c entre s to whi c h the rout e s of c ommer c e

,

c onverge The for c e s t hu s e s pe c iall y a s s igned t o patrol

.

duty the s hip s on a c rui s e to u s e the te c hni c a l expre s s ion

, ,
’
,

were c a s uall y in c rea s ed by t h e large number of ve s s e l s

going ba c kward and forward between Engl and and t heir
re s pe ct ive s tation s di s pat c h boat s s hip s going in for
, ,

repairs or returning from them s o that t h e s ea s about ,

Europe were al iv e wi t h Briti s h c rui s er s ea c h one of whi c h

w a s wide awake for prize s To t he s e again were added . , ,

the many privateer s who s e c rui s ing ground w a s not ,

-
,

indeed a s s igned by the Government but whi c h were

, ,

c on s trained in t heir c hoi c e by the s ame c ondi t ion s t hat

di ctated at on c e the c our s e of t h e t rader and t h e l air of t h e

c ommer c e de s troyer Through thi s c l oud of friend s and
-
.

foe s the unprote c t ed mer c hantman had to run t h e gauntl et ,

tru s ting to h i s hee l s If he were aken all indee

t .
d w a s
, , ,

not lo s t for t h ere remained the c han c e of re c apture by a

,
52 THE M ER C HANT NA VY OF THE PA S T [ CH . I

friendly c rui s er but in that c a s e the s alvage made a large

” 1
dedu ction from the profit s of the voyage .

The unprote cted mer c hantman making h i s way over

s ea s c overed with friend s and foe s wa s a rea l ity but thi s
wa s not the typi c a l Briti s h c ommer c e bearer Alway s there -
.

w a s the individua l owner wi ll ing to t ake the greater ri s k s

in order to earn enhan c ed profit s tru s ting to Speed and ,

good lu c k to avoid c apture by the enemy and c rew s were ,

ready for high wage to tempt Fortune o n an adventure .

Su c h V e s s el s were the c on s t ant c au s e of attent ion by and

anxiety to the patro l s whi c h the Admiralty found it s elf
for c ed to maintain But the bu l k of Briti s h o c ean borne
.
-

c ommer c e w a s not left to the hazard of c han c e Convoy .

wa s o ff ered and a c c epted and the mer c hantmen outward

s ai l ing or c ongregating near our c oa s t s were mo s t l y gathered

in large fleet s Every s u c h c onvoy involved delay in the

.

a s s emb l ing of the s hip s ; the s peed of the fa s te s t c raft

s ai l ing in the c ompany wa s brought down to that of the

s lowe s t ; and the s imultaneou s arrival of many s hip s in

port threw large c argoe s upon a c hoked market thu s ,

tending to lower pri c e s and redu c e profit s It w a s the .

e l imination of the s e effe ct s in the balan c e s heet that made -

the daring individual voyage s o attra c tive The eva s ion s .

of c onvoy and the many lo s s e s of s hip s and s eamen

,

c on s equent upon them led to t h e pa ss ing of t h e Convoy

,

A c t s in 1 7 9 8 and 1 8 0 3 whi c h c ompelled s hip ma s ter s to

,
-

take c onvo y and to pay a c ertain s u m for the prote ction

a ff orded The benefi c ial re s ult s were at on c e apparent in
.

the fal l of in s uran c e rate s and in what wa s more important

, ,

to the nation fewer c apture s of s hip s and men

,
.

Briti s h c onvoy s during the Napo l eoni c War s rea c hed

the mo s t unwieldy dimen s ion s and the fine s pe c ta c le s u c h
,

a s a c lu s ter of s ail made at s e a w a s we ll c al c ulated to rou s e

enthu s ia s m in every Briti s h heart Admiral Sir Wi ll iam .

P arker when a young mid s hipman in the O R I O N i n 1 7 9 4

'

, ,

in a letter to h i s mother s ay s

We left Torbay on the 1 3 th S aturday and the next , ,

day were o ff P l ymouth where the c onvoy c ame out to u s

,
.

It wa s the grande s t s ight ever wa s a c onvoy of s i x hundred ,

s ail be s ide s thirty s i x line o f battle s hip s

,
-
The wind was
- -
.

I nflu e nce o f S ea P owe r on th e F r e nch R e volu ti on, i i , 2 0 4- 5 .

54 THE M ER C HANT NAV Y OF THE PA S T [ CH . I

The atta c k by t h e enemy wa s not on l y again st s hip s

and c argoe s b u t al s o again st the s eamen Happily the
, .
,

barbaritie s whi c h attended s ubmarine warfare a s prae ,

t i s e d by the German s in the European War were then ,

unknown Ship s were not s unk at s ight and mer c hant

.
,

s ai l or s — oft en a s wel l pa s s enger s deli c ate women and

, , ,

—
he lp l e s s c hi l dren left adrift in open boat s at the merc y
of the o c ean t h e ga l e and the biting fro s t s ometime s when
, , ,

hundred s of mi l e s from l and S pu r los ve rs e n ken a s a po l ic y .

of warfare had not been invented But the merc hant .

s eaman of the Napoleoni c War s w as liable to c aptu re and

c onfinement ti ll the end of the war or ex c hange and thi s ,

peri l wa s ever pre s ent with him when he went to s e a H e .

knew the ri s k and a c c epted it a s s eamen of the Great War

, ,

of the twentiet h c entury fa c e d without fli nc h i n g the far

more s eriou s ri s k s of lo ss of life by torpedo and s hell fi r e —o r -

drowning or maiming by expo s ure to fro s t bite The pr a c

,
-
.

t i c e of c onfining c ap tured mer c hant s eamen wa s adopted

by both be lligerent s for in days of s imple armament s t h e ,

trained mer c hant s eaman w a s already more than half a

fighting man and h i s t ran sformation into an effi c ient naval
,

rat ing wa s qui c kly a c c ompli s hed The R oyal Navy wa s .

l argely manned by men re c ruited from the mer c hant

s hip s s o the c apture and detention of pea c eful s eamen
,

by the enemy s erved him in a double purpo s e b y injuring—

Briti s h c arrying trade and by withho lding a potential
s our c e of s t rengt h from t h e N avy .

Mention h a s been made of the large s ize of the Ea st

India C ompany s s hip s ri s ing to regi stered tonnage
’
, ,

and in a few exc eptiona l in s tan c e s to a s mu c h a s

ton s Su c h ve s s el s exc eeded the dimen sion s of a fi r st c la s s
.
-

frigate and were a l mo s t equiva l ent to a s ma ll s hip of t h e

—
,

l ine Ear l y in t h e war their armament w a s in c rea s ed by

.

'

t h e addition of 1 8 pounder s and t hey were ab l e to put -

,

up a good fight with any raiding c or s air T he s e were .

,

however ex c eption s in our c arrying t rad

,
a c l a s s by

thems e l ve s The traffi c between Ameri c a and Europe

.

w a s mo s t ly done in ve s s el s n o t ex c eeding 3 0 0 t on s F rom .

Ma c pher s on s t able s quo t ed by Admiral Mahan it appear s

’
, ,

that t h e s hip s t rading to the We s t Indie s and t h e Ba lti c ,

between 1 7 9 2 and 1 8 00 averaged about 2 50 ton s ; to ,

Germany to Ita l y and t h e We s tern Mediterranean about

, , ,

1 5 0 ton s ; to the L evant 2 5 0 to 3 0 0 ton s with a few , ,

CH . 1 ] T O NNA G E OF B R ITI S H SHIPPING 55

of 5 00 ton s Even by throwing into the s c ale the Ea st

.

India Company s s hip s ( averaging about 8 0 0 ton s ) t h e

’

general average of Briti s h s hipping i s redu c ed to a s l o w

a s 1 2 5 ton s owing part l y to the s ma ll c apa c ity of the large
,

number of ve s s e l s engaged in t h e Iri s h trade In 1 7 9 6 .

t he re were entrie s and c learan c e s from Engli s h and

S c o tti s h port s for Ire l and and the average s i ze of the s e ,

s hip s w as on l y 8 0 t on s A s imilar average i s found from .

t h e re t urn s of the Iri s h trade in 1 8 0 6 Other indic ation s .

in the naval literature of the t ime c onfirm the s mall s ize

of both our own and enemy s hipping Thu s Sir William .

Parker when an a c t ive frigate c aptain c ommanding a

,

s ing l e s hip from the year 1 8 0 1 to 1 8 1 1 wa s in that period ,

intere s ted in fi fty t w o prize s t h e average tonnage of whi c h

-
, ,

exc luding a s hip of the line and a frigate wa s 1 2 6 ton s , .

1

Ve s s e l s engaged in the Briti s h c oa stal traffi c were s til l

s ma l ler ; of c oa s ter s whi c h entered or left the port
—
of L ondon in the year 1 7 9 8 exc luding the c ol l ier s whi c h
—
, ,

a s a c l a s s were of larger bui l d, the average s ize wa s only

7 3 ton s .
’

Su c h wa s the type of ve s s el dotted about the o c ean s of

the wor l d The mer c hant s eaman of the day wa s a muc h
.

harried individua l l iving the life of a fugit ive dreading , ,

n o t on l y c ap ture by the enemy but a l mo s t a s mu c h c ap ture ,

by t h e s hip s of war of h i s own c ountry A s hore or afl oat .

the trained s eaman s o muc h s ought after wa s never free , ,

from the attention s of the pre s s gang whi c h wa s t h e -

,

ultimate method of enfor c ing c ompu l s ory s ervi c e in the

Fl eet on tho s e who t ried to avoid it In th e s treet in .
,

t h e tavern in h i s own home t h e mer c han t s eaman w a s

, ,

marked down for s eizure He had no redre s s ; the appeal .

whic h w a s s uppo s ed to s hield him again st inju stic e exi sted

on l y in the l etter At night he was dragged out of h i s bed. ,

to be herded with a c rowd of other s awaiting dis tribution ,

among the King s s hip s C l o s e a s wa s the man hunt

’
.
-

a s hore it was not le s s keen a fl oat The s ai l ors in the

,
.

Merc hant S ervi c e had to run t h e gauntl et for t heir libert y

from one end of the wor l d to the o t her A Briti s h s hip .

o f war fa ll ing in with a mer c han t ve s s e l in any par t of t h e

-
,

g l obe would un c eremoniou s l y t ake from her t h e be st

,

s eamen l eaving her j u s t enough hand s to bring her h ome

,
.

1 L i fe of A dm i r a l S i r W i ll i a m P a r ke r , i , 4 1 2 .

1 C q
o l u h o u n
’
s Co m m e r ce o f th e T h a m e s ,
1 3 p . .
56 THE MERCHAN T NA VY OF THE PAST [ CH . I

As the ve s s e l approa c hed the Engli s h s hore our c rui s er s ,

hovering in a ll dire c t i on s would t ake the pi c k of t h e ,

remainder An old L iverpool s e a c aptain in remini s c en c e s

.
-
,

of the c l o s ene s s of the pre s s in that port h a s de c l ared that ,

s u c h wa s the dread of the ever a c tive pre s s gang s a s hore - -

that home c oming s eamen wou l d often take to their boat s

on the other s ide of the B l a c k R o c k that they might ,

c on c eal them s e l ve s in Che s hire and ma ny a ve s s e l had to ,

be brought into L iverpoo l by a l ot of rigger s and c arpenter s ,

s ent round by the owner for that purpo s e

1
.

Many a mer c hant s eaman figuring a s volunteer wa s

a pre s s ed man s o de s c ribed to get him the bounty and
, ,

other s when t h e emergen c y aro s e volunt eered to a s s ure

, ,

thems elve s of the bounty knowing that they were liab l e ,

to be impre s s ed and that the c han c e s of e s c ape were

,

remote . Many men hid from the pre ss gang s while -

waiting for the off er of a bounty whi c h fo l lowed after ,

c ompu l s ion had done i t S be s t T h e importan c e of i m

‘

p r e s s m e n t in the s c heme for manning the R oya l Navy

c a n be s t be j udged from the e s tabli s hment W hi c h w a s
—
kept up for thi s s ervi c e alone In 1 7 9 3 4 the fir s t year .
,

of t h e l ong Fren c h War s when impre s s ment wa s by no ,

mean s at i t s height nor was the R oyal Navy maint ained

,

at anything c omparable to i t s s ub s equent s trength there ,

were three flag offi c er s twenty nine c aptain s fi fty four,

-
,
-

lieutenant s employed in the impre s s s ervi c e with over

, ,

—
men and on o c c a s ion s many more 2
.

The rigour whi c h marked t h e impre s s ment on s ome

o c c a s ion s when men were badly wanted for the R oyal
— —
Navy and the want wa s never s ati s fi e d i s s u ffic iently
i l lu strated by two quotation s from the new s paper s of
the day

T he impre s s s ervi c e parti c ularly in the metropoli s

, ,

h as proved un c ommonly produ c tive in the number of

ex c e ll ent s eamen The return s at the Admir alty of the
.

s eamen impre s s ed on Tue s day night amounted to

of whom no l e s s than two third s are c on s idered prime -

hand s At Port s mouth Port s ea Go s port and Cowe s a

.
, , , ,

general pre s s took p l a c e the s ame night Every mer c hant .

s hip in the harbour and at Spithead w as s tripped of i ts

G m e W i lli m s T h L i e p l P i v tee s p 3 2 0
1 o r a ,
e v r oo r a r , . .

2 S te e l
’
s N a vy L i st, 1 79 4 .
CH . 1 ] THE WAR AFTER TRAFALGAR 57

hand s and a ll the watermen deemed fit for Hi s Maj esty s

,
’

s ervi c e were c arried o ff Upward s of 6 0 0 s eamen were .

c olle c ted in c on s equen c e of the promptitude of t h e mea

s ure s adopted Government we under stand re lied

.
, ,

upon in c rea s ing our naval for c e with s eamen ei ther ,

vo lunteer s or impre s s ed men in le ss than a fortnight in , ,

c on s equen c e of t h e exertion s whi c h they are making in a ll

the prin c ipal port s S everal frigate s and gun brig s

.
-

have s ailed for the I s land s of Jer s ey and Guern s ey with ,

”
impre s s warrant s .
1

The impre s s on the Thame s on Saturday both above ,

and below the bridge wa s the hotte s t that h as been for ,

s ome time ; the boat s belonging to the s hip s at Deptford

were parti c u l arly a c tive and i t i s s uppo s ed they obt ained
,

upward s of 2 0 0 men The impre s s ed men for whom

.
,

there wa s no room on board the E NTE RP RIZ E on Saturday ,

were put into the Tower and the gates s hut to prevent ,
”
any of them eff e c ting their e s c ape .
3

The epo c h of fleet a ction s between the Briti s h and Frenc h

navie s c lo s ed with the vi c tory of Trafa lgar England had .
,

thanks to her i s o l ation by s e a and her naval s upremac y ,

maintained her independen c e and enlarged her Empire ,

while on the Continent State afte r S t ate wa s tumbling to

ruin and va s s alage Yet the c o st had been a heavy one
. .

Her mer c hant s hipping had undergone deva station though , ,

thanks to the a c tivity of her s hipyard s and her own

wea lth the lo s s e s were more than made good In the
,
.

s truggle la s ting over twelve and a ha l f year s broken ,

by one brief interval of peac e England had l o st s ome ,

s hip s by c apture In t h e s ingl e year 1 7 9 7 the

.

s tati s ti c s s how 9 4 7 ve s s el s c aptured

— a number hap pi l y , ,

far higher than in any other year and onl y approac hed in ,

1 79 9 when the c apture s are returned at 7 3 0 In the

,
.

s ingle month of June 1 7 9 7 no fewer than 1 0 6 s hip s were

plac ed upon th e li s t s o f prize s taken from u s .

Trafalgar s ignali s ed the beginning of a yet more

inten s e at t a c k upon Brit ain s o c ean borne c ommerc e ’
- .

N apo l eon defeat ed in h i s effort s t o oppo s e Brit i s h naval

,

s trengt h at s e a de s poi l ed of a ll hope s of effe ct ing su c h a

,

nava l c on c entration a s s hould make the i nv as l o n of

England a pra cti c ab l e t a s k s ought ot her mean s to ae c om ,

1
Th e Ti m es , M a rch 1 1 th ,
1 80 3 .
2 Ib i d .
, May 9 th ,
1 80 3 .
58 THE MERCHAN T NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH . I

p l i s h the downfall of h i s c hief adver s ary The B erlin and .

Mi l an D e c ree s of 1 80 6 and 1 80 7 aimed to s hut out from

the Continent a l l Briti s h c ommer c e and by c au s ing wide , ,

s pread ruin at home to undermine the s trength of the

,

great Power again s t whi c h on s e a and la nd he had fought , ,

in vain The Emperor unable to keep a s hip at s e a ex c ept

.
,

for s u c h a time a s it c ou ld elude the s tronger for c e s of h i s

opponent de c lared a b lo c kade of Great Britain
,
The .

Briti s h Mini ster s retorted by the famou s Order s in C oun c il ‘

whi c h forbade all neutral ve s s el s t o trade between the

port s be l onging to the enemy and h i s a ll ie s and s ought ,

to divert the world s trade thr ough Eng l and ’

F rom .

Trafa lgar onward s the F ren c h fleet s though c ontinual l y ,

enlarged never deliberately atta c ked and at s e a a s in

, , ,

the earlier Revolutionary period the s truggle again be c ame ,

that of a gu e rre de cou rs e .

It wa s c ondu cted with the extraordinary thoroughne s s

and vigour whi c h Napoleon enj oying c omplete ma stery ,

over Fran c e wa s ab l e to emp l oy in all h i s s c heme s

, .

Nothing wa s permitted to s tand in h i s way Under h i s .

impul s e the Fren c h fleet s oon be c ame s tronger in material

than it had been s in c e the opening of the war ; and the
new fl eet was c reated with a s ing l e obj e c t 1
.

N els on s one c all t hroughout h i s c ommand s had been

’

—
for more frigate s always more frigate s The larger .

number of them were employed on the prote c tion of trade ,

and the s hortage of c rui s ing ve s s e l s with the batt l e fle e t s -

—
who s e eye s they were due to thi s c au s e had a marked ,

influen c e on many of the mo st important engagement s .

Wit h t h e di s appearan c e of fleet a ction s the s ma ll er s hip s ,

were ab l e to give le s s divided attention to trade prote ct ion ,

but there s ti ll remained work for the l arger ve s s el s The .

F ren c h for in s tan c e deta c hed s everal s hip s of the line

, ,

to s uppor t t h e determined attac k s they made on the Indian

trade route s and our own s quadron s had s imilar l y to be
,

reinfor c ed England after Trafa lgar devot ed her c hief

.
, ,

energie s in s hipbuilding to laun c hing in c rea s ing number s

of frigate s and s l oop s Thi s growt h in the number of .

c rui s ing s hip s a c tual l y employed on

-
s e a s ervi c e whil s t ,

the number of s hip s of the line remained practi c a ll y

s tationary i s s hown in the fo l lowing t able
3
,

1 B re n t o n
’
s N a va l H i s to ry .

2 J ou r na l of R oy a l Uni ted S e r vi c e I ns ti tu ti on , Ap r i l 1 9 1 3 .
CH . 1 ] BRITISH PACKET S GALLANT FIGHT ’
59

1 80 7 . 1 80 8 . 1 80 9 . 1 81 0 . 1 81 1 .

103 1 13 1 13 10 8 10 7
606 6 18 6 84 666 620

The di s po s ition of naval s hip s for the prote ction of trade

ne c e s s arily underwent c on s iderable modifi cation S quad .

ron s of l arge frigate s were kept c on stantly at s e a r a ging ,

from Cherbourg to Fini s terre the c oa stal trade an th e

’
St George s Channel were guarded by the s mal ler c raft ;
.

and a s tring of c rui s er s kept up c ommuni c ation between

F a l mouth and Gibra ltar The work put the greate s t
wh o for yet another ten years
.

s train upon our s eamen ,

were c all ed upon to maintain their untiring vigi lan c e .

Co llingwood having embarked at P lymouth on t h e la st

,

day of April 1 80 5 and after Trafalgar a s sumed the ,

c ommand in t h e Mediterr anean never found opportunity ,

again to s e t foot in h i s native c ountry to whi c h he was ,

brought home a c orp s e in 1 8 1 0 .

The s tory of fight s by Briti s h merc hant c rews in defenc e

of their s hip s during the fier c e attac k upon our trade after
Trafa l gar i s told in hundred s of letter s from c aptain s to
their owner s Many of t hem are addre ss ed from port s
.

whi c h the s hip s had s afely made with riddled hu ll and ,

s hot torn s ai l s
-
and rigging tel l ing of the peri l s s afe ly
,

pa s s ed Not le s s frequent l y it mu s t be admitted t h e l etter s

.
, ,
’
bearin g the i ll new s of c apture c ame from s ome pri s oner s
c amp Enemy c rui s er s were c on stantl y on the l ook ou t
.
-

for ve s s el s detac hed fr om the l arge s ai l ing c onvoys and ,

again s t a we l l armed man o f war the merc hant man with

- - -
,

a le s s er weight of metal and il l trained c rew had s mal l -

,

c han c e An Homeric c onte s t waged s u cc e s sfu ll y again st

.
,

overwhelming odd s wa s t hat between the Briti s h pac ket

,

W i n ds or Ca s tl e and the Frenc h privat eer s c hooner L e

J e a n e R i ch ar d A pa s s enger writing from Barbadoes on
.
,

O c tober 3 r d 1 80 7 give s t h e fo l lowing a c c ount

, ,

We are j u st landed here after an unplea s ant pa s s age

of thirty s even days and experien c ing one of the mo s t
-
,

de s perate a c t ion s whic h h a s been fought in thi s war ,

though thank God we have been v ic t oriou s and have

, , ,

c leared tho s e s ea s of one of the fa ste s t s ailing privateer s -

 60 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH . 1

out of Guadaloupe whi c h had in the la s t s i x weeks taken

—
,

no le s s than s i x fi n e running s hip s viz the A m e ri ca and

-
.
,

Cli o in c ompany the M a rga re t the P ope the P or ts e a and

, , , ,

another When we met her s h e wa s s i x days o n a fre s h

.

c rui s e with eighty s i x men and s i x long s ixe s and one

,
-
,

long 3 2 pounder gun O ur forc e c on s i sted of s i x gun s

-
.
,

s hort s ixe s and thirty men in c luding three p as s enger s

, , .

We lo s t three men ki l led and s even wounded the fir s t ,

broad s ide but I am happy to s ay that with the remainder ,

in an hour and forty minute s s u c h wa s their gal lantry , ,

that they c arried the privateer after killing twenty s i x ,

-
,

wounding thirty and making pri s oner s thirty not wounded

, ,

in all s ixty pri s oner s almo s t treble the number we had left ,

for duty I c annot enter into more detail by thi s o ppo r

.

tu ni t y and c a n only s ay that if any man h as de s erved a

,

token of merit from your U nderwriter s Captain R oger s ,

de s erve s it in the highe s t degree He i s a young man h i s .

,

fir s t voyage a s A c ting Captain ( the Captain being left at

home ) and h a s therefore nothing but h i s merit to depend
,

upon H e wa s left with only ten men about him for the
.

la s t half hour rallying them to their duty with a deter

-
, ,

mination to c arry the prize whic h repeated l y endeavoured ,

to c lear from the pa c ket but wa s too fa s t la s hed by her ,

bow s prit to e s c ape and he boarded her at the head of four

,

men and c harged her de c k with a gal l antry never exc elled
, ,

and s eldom equalled The o fli c e r s of the man o f war here .

- -

are a s toni s hed when they look at the two ve s s el s and their
c rew s and in s tant l y in the hand s ome s t manner relinqui s hed
,
” 1
all c laim to the prize .

In s tan c e s of s u c h a c tion s fought by Briti s h merc hantmen ,

when prac ti c a ll y every s hip was armed for i ts defen c e ,

might be re c orded indefinite l y It mu s t s uffice to mention .

the ga l lantry both in defen c e and atta c k of the l itt l e

, ,

F almouth pa c ket A nte lope when c ha s ed o ff the Cuban ,

c oa s t by the Fren c h privateer A tla nte The pac ket c arried .

a c rew of twenty three men and had no bett er armament

-
,

than s i x 3 pounder s but s h e had s everal pa ss enger s on

-
,

board who a s s i s ted in l oading the gun s with grape s hot

, ,

bu c kled on c ut l a s s e s and primed their mu s ket s , T he .

privateer s firs t broad s ide at c l o s e range killed the Ante

’

l op e s c aptain and the fir s t mate Her s e c ond mate having

’
.

G om e r W i lli am s T h e L i ve p l P ri va tee r p 4 1 0
1
, r oo s, . .
62 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH . I

bargain having been s tru c k t hat he s hould obtain the

ex c hange of an equa l number of Fren c h pri s oner s o f— war -
,

to be s ent from England t o Fran c e The Fren c h c ap t ain .

further de clared that if t h e ex c hange were honourably

made he would s e t free on the fir s t opportunity every
E n gl i s h m an wh o m the fortune of war s hould throw into
h i s power .

N o royal road to preventing lo s s e s among our s hipping

was ever found and year after year unti l pea c e in 1 8 1 5
, ,

c rowned the titani c effort s of a nation al mo s t exhau s ted

in the s truggl e the table s of s tati s ti c s tel l their own c ertain

,

tale By immen s e e ffort c ontinuou s ly s u stained by a

.
,

Royal Navy whi c h in c rea s ed ea c h year in s trength of

fighting s hip s in gun s and in per s onnel the l o ss e s of
, ,

mer c hant s hip s in the ten year s after Trafal gar were s o
, ,

c he c k e d that they were not greater than in the c orre

s p o n di n g earlier period And it mu st be re c olle cted that

.

for a year and a half during that period ho s tilitie s with the
U nited State s added a heavy quota to t h e depredation s
of F ren c h priva teer s The Briti s h mer c hant s hi p s were
.
‘

pygmie s c ompared with the leviathan s that c ro s s the s ea s

to day Indivi dual l y their lo s s c ounted for mu c h le s s
-
.
,

but the large number s taken ea c h year, in a war waged

c ontinuou s ly for twenty year s pla c ed a s train upon the
,

trade and re s our c e s of the nation whi ch onl y the giganti c

’
edifi c e of Britain s world wide c ommer c e built up upon -
,

s olid foundation s of individual enterpri s e and s erved by a

s talwart s eafaring ra c e c oul d have borne

, , .

Our o c ean borne trade atta cked with untiring per s i s t

-
,

en c e throughout two de c ade s of war wa s the c hief obj e ct ,

s ought out by the F ren c h naval s hip s and the larger

privateer s but it by no mean s repre s ented the whole body

,

of Brit i s h c ommer c e expo s ed to s e a peril England wa s .

at the s ame time s erved by great numbers of s mal l s ai l ing

s hip s whi c h c ondu c ted the c oa s tal trade round the Briti s h
,

I s le s and that between our i sland c o l onie s ; and the s e line s

of s hipping were pe cu l iarly open to raid s by the enemy .

Many s u c h ve s s el s undoubted l y s we ll t h e li s t s o f c apture s ,

and they have c ompl i c ated the table s of c ontemporary

s tati s t i cs vitiating the c on c lu s ion s drawn from t hem both
, ,

by their pre s en c e there and by their ab s en c e for a large

proportion of the c oa s tal s hip s figure on no return and ,

the va st bulk of c ommer c e whi c h they c arried and of ,

CH .
]1 L OSSES OF COASTAL SHIPPING 63

whi c h the enemy took toll e s c aped ob s ervation a s the , ,

c learan c e s made are but imperf e ctly re c orded .

Any e s timate of l o s s e s among the s hip s trading from

port to port around the c oa s t s c an onl y be made by
inferen c e but there are abundant indi c ation s that the s e
,

lo s s e s were s evere In a s outherl y gale blowing al ong the

.

Engli sh s outh c oa st s hip s o f war guarding the Channel

,
- -

found them s elve s c ompe ll ed to run for Port s mouth or the

Down s leaving the s l ower s ai l in g merc hantmen heavi l y
,
-
,

l aden without prote ction or without harbourage about

,

t h e long stre t c h of dangerou s s hore and open to atta c k ,

by F ren c h privateer s putting out from Cherbourg Havre , ,

and Dieppe The Fren c hmen wel l aware of the s ys tem

.
,

pur s ued by our c rui s er s and enabled c on s tantly to keep ,

to windward of them found the merc hantmen an ea s y prey

,

in the s e c ondition s They c ame out in the wilde st weather

.
,

in whi c h far too often for our welfar e they a chieved their
, ,

greate st s u c c e s s e s .

Mixed wit h th e o c ean trader s beating u p Channel wa s a -

not in c on s iderable c oa stal trade and at the Thame s m o nth ,

thi s wa s j oined by a s til l l arger st ream of s mall v e s s el s

making the j ourney along the ea s t c oa st s of S c otl and and
Engl and t o L ondon There being no inl and wat erways. ,

and the main road s being who ll y i n su fli ci e nt to c arry the

burden of tr a fli c L ondon re c eived not only th e great
, ,

ex c hange of c ommer c e whi c h made it the trading c entre

of the world but al s o the bulk of i t s own s upp l ie s from the
,

se a . At every hour of the day and night l ong l ine s of

s hip s ,
numbered by thou s and s in all s tret c hed from ,

Orf o r d n e s s to the far north of S c ot l and and from Sel s ey ,

to Ram s gate In the Thame s e stuary hundred s c o n

.

g g
r e at e d at every tide pa s s ing on their way or wait ing to
,

go up or down the river or taking advant age of th e s helter,

.

Given a dark night a fair wind oft en a fog and a daring

, , ,

enemy wa s rare l y without an opportunity for attack the ,

qui c k s eizure of a prize and s afe e s c ape Of s u c h o ppo r

,
.

t u ni t i e s he made fu l l u se With a fleet s urpa s sing the

.

”
navy of the who l e world c omp l ained a writer in th e year ,

1 81 0 ,
and b y whi c h we are enab l ed to s e t s o large a
proportion of it at defian c e we c annot guard our oa t c s s
,
”
again st in s u l t .

In addition to the crui s ing frigate and war hip wat h ng

s s s c i

the F ren c h s hore our own c oa t warmed with b g

s
,
s s u s ,

6
64 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH. 1

Sloop s and c utter s kept ready for in s tant a c tion in every

, ,

harbour and inlet who s e duty it was to patrol and to

,

prot e ct the c oa s tal traffi c S o numerou s were the s e that .

at one period there were 1 4 9 s tationed between S outhend '

and Or fo r dn e s s ; 1 8 1 between the Thame s mouth and

H a sting s 1 3 8 from N ewhaven to Poole 2 1 at Liv e rpool ,

Gl a s gow and Greeno c k ; 1 1 4 on the c oa st of Ire l and

,

and the long s tret c h from Y armouth to L eith wa s prote cted

by 1 3 5 c raft Yet in s pite of t h e utmo st vigi l an c e the
.
1

lo s s e s c ontinued The publi c indignation at r aid s effe cted

.

within s ight of our c oa s t s wa s expre s s ed in the letter of

another writer who de clared that the auda c ity of F ren c h
,

privateer s o c c a s ioned univer s al indignation and regret

—
.

Our mer hantmen c aptured before our ey e s the national

c

c olour s of our enemy floating with ga s c onading in s olen c e , ,

along our s hore s and effe c ting their e s c ape with impunity
, ,

i s indeed too mu c h for an Engli s hman s re fl e ction

’
, , ,

a cc u s tomed a s he 1 5 to behold the vanqui s hed s treamer s of

” ’
the foe waving in s ubmi s s ion beneath h i s c ountry s flag .
1

The F ren c h privat eer s engaged in the s e depredation s

upon the c oa s tal t raffi c were mo s tl y the s mal l er ve ss el s
w hi c h s warmed in the harbour s of Dunkirk Cal ai s Bou , ,

l o gn e and Dieppe
, Any c raft c ou l d be made to s erve
.
,

provided it had s peed The provi s ion of a gun or two a .

,

few hand s c ol l e c ted from the de sperate ri ff raff of the port s -

,

the very minimum of provi s ioning and all was ready , .

L itt l e w a s ri s ked by the owner s who s e c raft w a s worth no ,

more than the pro c eed s of one or two fortunate voyage s .

The c rew s it wa s true ran the c han c e of c ap t ure and of

, ,

pining in an Engli s h pri s on but the reward qui c kly earned , , ,

wa s an ample in c ent ive Lugger s s l o o p s fi s h i ng s ma ck s ;

.
, ,
-

with a s ingl e gun p l a c ed on b oard even open row boat s ,

-
,

p l ayed their part in the s ervi c e ; and though individual

prize s might be of s mall value c ompared with tho s e made
by the o c ean going c or s air s together they ama s s ed a very
-
,

c on s iderable su m A privateer s teal ing o u t at du s k

.
,

before a long winter s night might with fortune return ’

,

with i t s prize before the next day s s u n wa s high ’

.

N aturall y the headland s s u c h a s Portland Bea c hy , ,

H ead Dungene s s and other s were favourite pla c e s for

, , ,

atta ck and not infrequently tho s e wat c hing from the s hore
,

1
H ann a y S h o r t H i s tory of th e R oy a l N a vy
’
8 ,
11 , 440 .

2 N a va l Ch r on i cl e , xx i v , 4 6 0 .
 CH . 1 ] FRENCH PRIVATEERS DARING ’
65

were witne s s e s of s ome s mart bit of cutting out wh i c h

the Briti s h nav al forc e s were powerle s s to prev ent Uti l
—
.

i s ing the Briti s h fla g a frequent ru s e and moving on-

the
s kirt s of the a s s embl ed s hipping a daring raider in full ,

daylight would make prize s and get c l ear away under the
very eye s of wat ching s eamen Bu t night wa s of c our s e .
, ,

the mo s t favourable time and the very s evere l o s s e s of ,

trade in the winter s immediately before and aft er Trafalgar

led to th e introdu ction of a s ys tem of wat c hing by appointed
’

c rui s er s ea c h harbour and outlet on the Fren c h c oast

, ,

thu s blo ck ading the privateer s s eeking to da s h out from

the port s between Cherbourg and D unkirk but no twi th ,

s tanding thi s vigi l an c e many c ontinued to s l ip through ,

the c ordon a s the heav y lo s s e s among the Briti s h mer c hant

,

s hip s from 1 8 0 5 to 1 81 0 te s tify A c omp l ete c hain of .

wat c hing c rui s er s to be maintained all al ong the Fren c h

c oa s t wa s one of the mean s re c ommended by the s hip

owner s t o redu c e the tal e of l o s s e s .

1

The F ren c h s pirit made their men qui ck to adopt every

ru s e A c ommon peri l be s etting our c oa s tal t rade was
.

found in inno c ent looking fi s h i ng boat s s howing their - -

,

half dozen men bu s y at their work whi c h lay at an c hor

-
,

upon or within the line s j oining headland to head l and

, ,
.

D e s peradoe s out from D unkirk or Cal ai s armed with ,

not hing more e ffe ctive than the s hort range mu skets -

of the day wat c hed the c hara cter and appearan c e

,

of pa s s ing ve s s e l s When night or other fav ourable .

opportunity c ame they pul l ed qui ckly al ong side the

un s u s pe c ting mer c hant s hip whi c h undermanned and ,

unwat c hfu l from the s c arc ity of s eamen w a s firs t awakened

, ,

to t h e d anger by a vo ll ey of mu sketry fo ll owed by the ,

c lambering of the enemy on the de c k s The c rew s few . ,

i n number poor in qua

,
l ity and not paid for fighting , ,

frequent l y c ou l d offer but sl ight re s i s tan c e t o an over

powering a s s au l t Typi c al of Fren c h daring was the
.
2

c apture of a We s t Indiaman the B e nj am i n a nd E li za b e th ,

,

in 1 7 9 9 four league s o ff Dungene s s in a fog

,
She was ,
.

hai l ed by a lu gger who running under her quart er a sked

, ,
,
”
her if s h e wanted a pi l o t On being an swered No a man . ,

on board the little c raft who s poke good Engl is h c al led on

o r an d u m
Me m n o f th e Co as ti n g Tr a de pr e s e nte d by
1
on th e Pr o te c ti -o ,

Mr Gr e v i lle 1 80 9
.
, .

208
0

2
M ah an I nflu e nce ,
o f S ea P o we r o n th e F r e nch R e vo l u ti o n , 11, .
66 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH . I

the Indiaman to ba c k her mainyard and s urrender follow ,

ing thi s demand wit h a vo ll ey of mu s ketry after whi c h ,

men s warming on t h e l ugger boarded her on the quarter

, , .

A s harp fight re s u l ted l n t h e c rew being overpowered and ,

the pri ze w a s headed for F ran c e H M S R A C O O N c ame up . . . .

on t h e c ro s s ing re c overed the s hip and sank the lugger

, ,

with a broad s ide all on board going down 1

,Tale s of the .

s ort were the c om m on ta l k in every s ailor s tavern ’

.

The t otal lo s s e s to whi c h the Briti s h mer c antile fleet s

and Briti s h c ommerc e were s ubj e c ted during the R e v o l u
t i o n ar y and Napo l eoni c War s have been di s c u s s ed by
Commander ( now Captain ) K G B D ewar R N It . . .
, . .
2

mu s t be admitted that the material availab l e i s far from

s ati s fac tory owing to variou s c au s e s the in c omp l ete
,

mann e r in whi c h s tati s ti cs were kep t ; t heir not i nfr e

quently c onfli cting nature ; t h e c omp l i c ation s introdu c ed
by the re c apture of ve s s el s taken by the Fren c h and the ,

addition s of enemy prize s whi c h were diverted to the Bri ti s h

mer c hant fleet s ; and the un c ertain eviden c e c on c erning
c learan c e s and time s of voyage s whi c h require an average ,

to be a s s umed Admiral Mahan e s timated th e total lo s s e s

.

of Briti s h s hip s in round number s at an annual

average of about 2 1 per c ent and held t hat the dire c t .
,
1

total lo s s to the nation by the Operation of ho s ti l e c rui s er s

did not ex c eed 2 1 per c ent of th e c ommer c e of the Empire . .
‘

The s tudie s of the N aval War Col l ege have pla c ed the
lo s s e s at double that proportion—5 per c ent Low a s .
5

h i s e s timate i s Mahan qua l ified and redu c ed it adding

, ,

Thi s l o s s wa s partial l y made good by the prize s hip s

and mer c handi s e taken by i ts ( Great Britain s ) own naval ’

ve s s el s and privateer s A partia l if not c omplet e c o m .

, ,

p e n s a t i o n f o r her remaining lo s s i s a l s o to be found in the

great expan s ion of her mer c antile operation s c arried on
under neutral flag s for al though thi s too wa s u n ,

doubt ed l y hara s s ed by the enemy yet to i t almo s t entirely ,

wa s due the vo l ume of trade that poured through Great

1 N a va l Ch r o n i cl e ,
1
W h a t i s th e In fl u e nce ofOv e r s e a s Co m m e r c e i n t h e Op e r ati o n s o f
W ar , e tc .
”
P r i n te d in J ou r na l of th e R oy a l Un i ted S e r vi ce I ns ti tu ti o n ,
Apr i l 1913 .

3 I n flu e c e of S ea P owe r u p on th e F r en ch R ev ol u ti on , 22 3
n 11, .

4 Ib i d , i i , 2 2 6
, .

5 Ofii ci a l M em or a n du m , b y S i r Ju i an Co r e t t l b .
CH 1
.
] ESTIMATE OF BRITISH LOSSE S 67

Britain to and from the Continent of Europe every ton ,

of which left a part of i t s value to s we l l the bulk of Briti sh

wealth The writing s of the perio d s how that the injurie s
.

due t o c aptu red s hipping pa s s ed unremarked amid the

(

c ommon in c ident s and mi s fortune s of life ; neither their

s ize nor their effe ct s were great enough to at tra c t publi c

no ti c e amid the s te ady in c rea s e of national wealth and the

,
” 1
a c tivitie s c on c erned in ama s s ing it .

The dutie s levied up on c argoe s of neutral s who were

for c ed to enter our port s by the Order s in Coun cil framed
,

a s an an s wer to the B erlin and Mi l an De c ree s c ertain l y ,

a ss i s ted Great Bri tain in bearing the c o s t of the war b u t

it i s s training the meaning of word s to c ompri s e s u c h traffi c
within the ambit of Briti s h wealth Mahan claimed in .
,

parti c ular that the Briti s h return s of Briti s h l o s s e s at s e a

,

were larger than t ho s e mad e b y the Fren c h b u t that re su lt ,

i s probably due to the very ineffi c ient manner in whi c h

the F ren c h return s were c ompiled and the omi s sion of ,

c olonial c apture s .

Without entering into detailed examination of stati sti cs

on whi c h there i s ground for di s agreement we may c ite ,

the tab l e ( p 6 8 ) c ompiled by Commander Dewar a s

.

affording an approximate indi c ation of the inten s ity of

the atta c k on t rade during the war .

N egl e ct ing the year 1 7 9 3 the average c olumn ( IV) works

,

out at 5 6 per c ent As however s hip s mu s t on the.

, ,

avera ge have c leared more than on c e a year th e number ,

of s hip s mu s t be c on s iderab l y overe s timated and the ,

perc entag e of c apture s in Co lumn IV c orres pondingly

undere stimat ed On the other hand a l arge number of
. ,

c apture s in c luded s hip s engaged in the c oa s t al trade and ,

if the tonnage of the c oa s tal s hipping were added to

Column III the per c entage of c apture s woul d be
,

de c rea s ed .

Return s of the c oa s ting trade were not made unt i l 1 8 2 4 .

It wa s a v ita l part of our c ommer c e in an epo c h when the

bul k of the di st ribution of mer c handi s e throughout th e
Brit i s h I s l e s w a s done by wat er and th e many hundred s ,

of s ma ll s ai l ing s hip s c ontinuou s ly engaged in thi s traffi c

-

traded with a c omparat i ve l y s ma ll number of ports To .

F re nch R e vol u ti o n , 22 7
I n flu S ea P o we r p on th e
1 11,
e nce o f u .
 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST
%

68 [ CH . 1

B RITI S H ME RC HA N TM E N —
CA P T URE D 1 7 9 3 1 81 2

By Commander K G . . B Dewar , R N , J ou r na l of th e R oy a l
. . .

Un i te d S e rvi ce I ns ti tu ti on , vol l v ii , N o 4 2 2 . . .

II III IV
B r i ti s h g p
P e r ce n ta e o f Ca tu r e s to
gfigp ifilg figggll i fi
l l a e sl
Ye ar M e r c h an t h e a
h hp
B r i ti s S i s e n a e g g d in
.

m e n c ap
Fth ig T d
e o re n ra e
g T d
F o re i n ra e ( assu m i n g
tu r o d . l
On e C e a r a n c e a Y e ar ) .

’
—
A U TH O R S N OTE The a c cura c y of thi s table c annot be
.

guaran t eed but it a fford s an a c curate c ompari s on between

,

t h e variou s year s Column s II and III are taken from the

.

Ca m br i dge M o de r n H i s to r y vol viii pp 4 8 5 and 4 8 6 , .

, .
,

vol ix pp 2 4 1 and 2 4 2 The average t onnage of s hi p s

.
, . .

emp l oyed in the foreign t rade in 1 8 0 2 i s taken a s 1 3 4 t on s

E N a l D e f e n ce by Vi c e Admiral P H Colomb
( n -
s s a y s o a v , . .
,

p. A s s uming that ea c h s hip c l ear e d on c e a year ,

the number of s hip s employed in the foreign trade i s

obtained by dividing Column III by 1 3 4 .
70 T HE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH . I

III
T HE D E VE L O P M E N T O F T HE ME RC HA N T NAVY , 1 81 5 1 9 1 4
-

T HE Briti s h people emerged from the Continental s tru ggle

v i c toriou s but exhau s ted F amine i s the O ffs pring of
.

war and it s eemed to c ontemporarie s that although the

, ,

s uprema c y of the s ea s had been won e c onomi c ruin c o n ,

fronted t hem While wage s had ri s en by about 6 0 per

.

c ent . the pri c e of wheat had gone up by 1 3 0 per c ent

, .

Throughout the c ountry the lower cla s s e s of the population

had been redu c ed to a s tate of privation In the r ural .

di s tri c t s parti cu l arly in the s outh the advent of the s team

, ,

engine and the indu s trial movement northward toward s

, ,

the c oa l fi e l d s in a s s o ciation with the e c onomi c effe c t s of

-
,

the war had robbed pro s perou s little town s and hamlet s
,

of the mean s of livelihood The c ondition s had be c ome s o

.

grav e that in the ab s en c e of Parliamentary intervention

, ,

lo c al j u s ti c e s felt c ompelled before the end of the c entury

to grant allowan c e s from the rate s to s upplement the low
wage s then ruling the allowan c e s being varied a cc ording
,

to t h e pri c e of c orn Rural Engl and largely owing to the

.
,

extin c tion of vi ll age indu s trie s wa s brought to a c ondition ,

of mi s ery whi c h had not been known h i therto The s u ffer .

ing s of the town s were even wor s e and di s tre s s wa s wide ,

s pread The privation s of the ma s s of people had s eemed

—
.

to rea c h a c l imax in 1 8 1 1 1 2 when the harve s t failed all ,

o v er Europe The ev il wa s deep rooted and did not s oon

.
-
,

pa s s away Riot s due in the main to the introdu c tion

.
,

of ma c hinery at thi s period of e c onomi c di s turban c e from

the e ffe c t s of war c ontributed to render the outlook s o
,

grave t hat men feared that indu s trial unre s t would be

fo l lowed by national ruin .

Contemporary opinion failed to real i s e that in liberating ,

Europe by the u s e of s e a power thi s c ountry had c re ated ,

the foundation s upon whi c h it might build on the ru in s

of the war a new and better s tate of s o c iety N ot only .

had t h e s uprema c y of the s ea s been gained but during ,

the long period c overed by ho s tilitie s an organi s ation had

been c reated to enable the Briti s h people to take advantage
of that s u c c e s s c on s tituting them s elve s in pro c e s s of time
,

the s e a c arrier s of the worl d Both the Royal N avy and .

th e Mer c hant N avy were s tronger when pea c e wa s s igned

ca . I ] A MARITIME PO LICY 71

than they had been when it was broken in 1 7 9 3 The .

Mer c hant Navy had grown in s pite of the heavy lo ss e s

s u s tained at the hand s of the enemy In other word s .
,

a s the c onfli c t by s e a drew to i ts c lo s e Briti s h s e a power , ,

notwith standing the ri sk s to whi c h it had been expo s ed

over a period of two de c ade s and the lo s s e s s u stained ,

ro s e to a greater s trength than it had before attained .

In the opening year s of the nineteenth c entury the ,

Briti s h people were s o impre s s ed with the mi s erie s whi ch

they attributed too ex c lu s ive l y to the war that they were
'

>

blind to the promi s e of pro s perity whi c h their s e a power

a s s ured them a s an i s land peopl e They had in fa ct .
, ,

s u ffered l e s s in c on s equen c e of the long drawn s truggl e -

than any other people in Europe owing to the po l i c y ,

c on s i s tent l y adopted by s u c c e s s ive Go v ernment s Mini s ter s .

had refu s ed in s pite of temptation s to embark upon a

, ,

po l i c y of military expan s ion whi c h would have drawn

t en s of thou s and s of men away from produ ctive emp l oy
ment and in parti cu l ar from the indu s trie s s pe cially
,
’
a s s o c iated with the maint enan c e of the c ountry s s e a power .

F oreign t roop s were s ub s idi s ed but t h e utmo st relu ctan c e ,

w a s exhibited to take any s t ep in oppo s ition to the n u

adulterated maritime prin c ip l e s of defen c e and o ffen c e .

Even in 1 81 5 the year whi c h wa s marked by the overthrow

,

of Napo l eon at Water l oo the number of men voted for the,

Briti s h Army wa s on l y The c ountry reaped the

full advantage of thi s adhe s ion to a maritime po l i c y .

Whi l e the war wa s s ti ll in progre s s and the pop u l ation of ,

the Briti s h I s l e s wa s s uffering e c onomi c all y the work of ,

indu s trial re c on s tru c tion w a s undertaken The devel op .

ment of the s team engine had dire cted attention to the

-

va s t weal th repre s ent ed in the c oal s eam s in the northern

c ountie s and t h e opening year s of the c entury witne s s ed
,

t h e upri s ing of the great manufa c turing c entre s whi c h

were t o tran s form Engl and from a c ountry in the main
agri c ultural into one di s tin gui s hed by i t s indu strial
pre eminenc e The foundation s on whi c h the promi s e of
-
.

t h e future re s ted w a s t h e s uprema c y of t h e Roya l Nav y

and th e s trength of the Mer c ant i l e Marin e .

Mer c hant s hipping i s n o t a ba s i c indu st ry i t produ ce s

not hing It i s howe v er the c onduit pipe of c om m erc e
“

.
, ,

from market to market L eaders of publi c Opinion in th e

.

early y ears of la s t c entury failed to reali s e that a new age

72 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH . I

wa s dawning owing to the invention of the marine s team

,

engine whi c h was to c ontra c t the world and thu s en c ourage

,

o c ean borne trade Yet event s were to prove that thi s

-
.

non produ ctive indu s try wa s the mo s t e s s ential element

in the life of a people living m a group of i s land s drawing
, ,

their raw material s in large mea sure from over s ea and

, , ,

relying upon over s ea market s for c u s tomer s to pur c ha s e

their good s Briti s h mer c hantmen be c ame the s huttle s
.

in the great e c onomi c loom whi c h was c reated in the years

fol l owing the c on c lu s ion of pea c e by s low and painful
s tage s and amid m u c h politi c al turmoi l As indu s try .

deve l oped the Mer c hant Navy s upport ed it with an

,

in c rea s ing s trength that pa s s ed almo s t unnoti c ed The .

s h i pping indu s try in tho s e day s owed little to the State

it wa s an individuali s ti c movement i t s in s piration and ,

mobility due to far s ighted and re s our c eful bu sine ss men

-

in the great s e a port s who devoted them s elve s to the

-
,

c reation a s a c ommer c ial enterpri s e

, of a great c arrying ,

trade S O l ong a s war c ontinued they had maintained

.

their s ailing s i n s pite of the a c tion of enemie s and the

,

interferen c e of the pre s s gang With th e c oming of pea c e .

,

when the demand s of the R oyal Navy for men were no

longer paramount they devoted them s elve s without
,

embarra s s ment to the management of the Briti s h Mer c hant

N avy whi c h for a hundred year s wa s to prove the lyn c h pin
,
-

of the indu s trial movement of the Briti s h I s le s and the

foundation of Briti s h e c onomi c s trength for a free s e a and ,

a hea lthy m ar ine were the ba s e s on whi c h the Free Trade

poli c y of the latter part of the Vi c torian Er a re sted .

T hough the nation had pre s erved i ts M e r c antile Marine

in s trength that organi s ation w a s in anything but a
—
,

healthy s t ate The o l d Navigation L aws the expre s s ion

.

of a traditional mer c antile polic y now outgrown and s oon

—
to be c hanged were s till in forc e They c onfined the .

import trade to Briti s h s hip s or s hip s of the produ cing

c ountry re s tri c ted to Briti s h s hip s the c arriage Of mer
,

c h a n d i s e to the Colonie s and re s erved the whole of the

,

c oa s ting trade to Briti s h ves s el s navigated by Briti s h

ma s ter s and manned by c rew s c ontaining at lea s t 7 5 per

,

c ent. of Briti s h s ubj e ct s The N avigation L aw s limited.

c o mpetition at a moment when the mar i ne s team engine

-

was making i t s appearan c e and the nation was beginning ,

to under stand the advantage s it po s s es s ed by rea s on of i ts

CH .
] 1 A COMMITTEE OF IN Q UIR Y 73

c oal fi e l d s
-
It wa s apparent to far s eeing men that the iron
.
-

s hip w a s abou t to make i t s appearan c e Even whil e the .

war w a s s til l going on experiment s had been made with ,

iron for the c on stru ction of s hip s and in 1 8 1 9 the fir st ,

ve s s el bui lt entire l y of iron wa s c omp l eted on the C l yde .

S he wa s intended for c arrying c oal on the Forth and C l yde

Canal In s ub s equent year s other experiment s w ere made
.
.

In view of the advent of the s t eam engine and the po s s i -

b i l i ty of employing iron in the S hipyard s in p l a c e of wood ,

s hipbui l der s t hought i t ne c e s s ary to adopt a c autiou s po l i c y

They c ou l d well afford to do s o s in c e they were protected

.

from the fu l l brunt of foreign c ompetition at any rate s o ,

far a s Briti s h and Imperial t rade wa s c on c erned B etween .

1

the s igning of peac e in 1 8 1 5 and the c lo s e of the year 1 8 3 0

‘

the Briti s h Mer c hant Navy not only did not inc rea s e but ,

wa s thought to have de c l ined s light l y bot h in number s

and tonnage The falling o ff however wa s more apparent
.
, ,

than rea l In 1 8 2 3 Parliament began the ta s k of repealing

.

the Navigation L aw s but it was one be s et with many ,

di ffi c ultie s Further eviden c e of a nat iona l awakening

.

to the importan c e of the Mer c antile Marine was s upp l ied

in 1 8 3 6 when a Committee wa s appointed to inquire
,

into the c au s e s of wre c k s It be c ame apparent that a ll .

wa s not well The C ommittee report ed t hat the s hip s

.

were s o fau lty in de s ign and a s s ai l er s s o S l ow that ,

Briti s h s hipowner s feared free trade bec au s e they knew

that s u c c e s sful c ompetition on equal terms with foreign
” ’
s hip s wa s impo s s ible The C ommittee s report c ontained
.

the following s ignifi c ant pa s sage s

That the frequent in c ompetenc y of ma sters and

Ofli c e r s appear s to be admitted on a ll hand s thi s i n c o m ,

p e te n c y s ometime s ari s ing from want of s ki l l and know

ledge in s eaman s hip but more frequent l y from the want

,

of an adequate knowledge of navigation i t being proved

’

that s ome mas ter s of mer c hant ve s s e l s have been appointed

to c ommand after a very s hort time at s e a ; that other s
’
have hardly known how to trac e a s hip s c our s e on a c hart ,

or how to a s c ertain the l atitude by a meridian altitude of

the su n that many are unac quainted with the u s e of th e
c hronometer and that v ery few indeed are c ompetent to
,

1 l
T h ru e as t o th e e m
e p l ym e n t o f E n gl i s
o h s h i p s fo r i m p or t s w as l axe d re

i n th e c ase of Am e ri c a i n 1 79 6 .
74 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ OH . I

a s c ertain the longitude by lunar ob s ervation s while s ome ,

.

are appointed to c ommand mer c hant ve s s el s at period s

of s u c h extreme youth ( one in s tan c e i s given b f a boy of -

fourteen a l l of who s e apprenti c es were older than him s elf)

, ,

and ot hers s o who ll y de s titute of maritime experien c e

( another in s tan c e being given of a porter from a s hip -

owner s warehou s e who wa s made a c aptain of one of h i s

’

s hip s ) that ve s s el s have been met with at s e a whi c h were

,

out of their re c koning by s everal hundred mile s and other s

have been wre c ked on c oa st s from whic h they believed
thems elve s to have been hundred s of mile s di s tant at the
time .

That drunkenne ss either in the ma s ter s offi c er s or

, , ,

men i s a frequent c au s e of s hip s being wre cked leading

, ,

often to improper and c ontradi ctory order s on the part

of the o ffi c er s ; s leeping on look out or at the helm among -
,

the men o cc a s ioning s hip s to run foul of eac h other at

,

night and one or both foundering to ve s s el s being taken

,

aba c k or overpowered by s udden s quall s and s inking , ,

up s etting or getting di s ma s ted for want of timely vigilan c e

, ,

in preparing for the danger and to the s teering of wrong ,

c our s e s s o a s to run upon danger s whi c h might have

Otherwi s e been avoided .

T hat the pra cti c e of taking large quantitie s of ardent

s pirit s a s part of the s tore s of s hip s whether in the N avy ,

or in t h e Mer c hant S ervi c e and the habitual u s e of s u c h

,

s pirit s even when diluted wit h water and in what i s

, ,

ordinarily c on s idered the moderate quantity s erved to

ea c h man at s e a i s it s elf a very frequent c au s e of the lo s s
,

of s hip s and c rew s S hip s frequently taking fire from the

.

drawing o ff of s pirit s whi c h are always kept under hold

,
'

c rew s frequently ge tting a cc e s s to the s pirit c a s k s and ,

be c oming intoxi c ated and almo s t all the c a s e s of i nsu b

,

ordinat ion in s olen c e di s obedien c e of order s and refu s al

, , ,

to do du ty a s well a s the c o n fi n e m e nts and puni s hment s

,

enfor c ed a s c orre c tive s both of whi c h mu s t for the time

,

greatly le s s en the e fli c i e n c y of the c rew s being c lear l y ,

trac eable to the intoxic ating infl uen c e of the s pirit s u s ed

”
by t h e offi c ers and men .

The maritime po s ition of the c ountry wa s un s ound .

Many harbour s were s o s hal low that the bottom s of

s hip s were s pe c ial l y c on s tru c ted to take the ground In .
CH . 1
] C OND ITION OF MERCANTILE MARINE 75

s pite of the fa c t t hat s ome of the Ofli c e r s of t h e larger

foreig n going s hip s were men of the highe st att ainments
-

and Of undoubt ed reputation drunkenne s s and i nc o m pe ,

teney among offi c er s of average type a s wel l a s the s eamen , ,

were notoriou s S hip s were provided wit h inadequate

.

c hart s even where any c hart s were s upplied The Mer .

c ant i l e Marine depended l arge l y on pauper apprenti c e s for

i t s s upply of s eamen and there w a s no examination of ,

ma s ter s mate s or engineer s to te s t their profe ss ional

, , ,

s ki ll .Numerou s l ighthou s e s s ti ll remained t h e ab s olute

property of individua l s or were lea s ed to individual s for ,

t heir per s ona l benefit and s urp lu s light dues went to ,

s o c a ll ed c hari t ab l e purpo s e s and were di s per s ed through

-

avenue s entire l y un c onne c ted with s hipping Harbour .

due s to wn due s c harity due s and pa s s ing due s

, , ,

l evied on s hip s were s imi l arly diverted There were no .

harbour s whi c h c ou l d be de s cribed as harbours of refuge ,

though a pa s s ing toll had to be paid by all s hip s o ff

Whit by Brid l ington D over or R am s gat e The Tyne
, , , .
,

Clyde and Tee s were navigable only by s mall ve s s el s even

,

at high wat er and many other port s now fl ouri s hing

-
,

s c ar c e l y exi s ted Freight was the mother of wages

.

payment for s alvage of life wa s unknown ; s hip s did

not c arry s ide light s ; no internationa l ru l e of the road
-

at s e a exi sted ; neither reports of wre c ks nor inquirie s

a s to the c au s e of wre c ks had been in s tituted ; c rimp s

preyed and preyed un c he c ked on Briti s h s eamen ; t here

, ,

wa s no s ys tem of re c overing the wage s or e ffe cts of

de c ea s ed s eamen Parliament had not thought i t nec e s s ary
to make any pra ctic al s tatutory provi s ion a s to the
s upp l y of food or a s to t h e a cc ommodat ion of s eamen ;
,

there were no c he c k s on the tyranny of ma s t er s at s e a and ,

no provi s ion for the proper exe cution of c ontra ct s between

mas t ers and s eamen ; a s eam an c ou l d not rai s e any
que s tion a s to the un s eaworthine s s of h i s s hip but c ould ,

1 Thi s s u m m ari s e d s tate m e n t o f th e c o n di ti on o f th e Me r can ti le Mar in e

i s b as e d o n an a dd r e s s a t t h e M an s i o n H o u s e F e b ru ar y 1 7th 1 887 b y
, , ,

Mr Th o m as G r a y C B Ass i s tan t Se c
.
, .
r e.
t a
,
r y M a r i n e D p
e ar tm e n t,
B oa r d ,
 76 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ OH . I

c au s e s of wre c k s The inve s t i gation s how e d that the

.

maritime intere s t s of the nation were s uffering to the ,

inj ury of trade and the weakening of the Imperia l s y s tem .

The C ommittee empha s i s ed many of the c au s e s of the

de cline of the s hipping indu stry whi c h have already been
s ummari s ed and in parti c ular remarked on t h e in c rea s ing
,

c ompetition with foreign s hipowner s ,

who from the
,

many advantage s enj oyed by them in the s uperior c heap

ne s s of the materia l s for building equipping and pro , ,

vi s ioning thei r ve s s el s are enabled to rea l i s e profit s on

,

term s Of freight whi c h wou l d not even c over the expen s e s

”
of Engli s h S hip s . The report of thi s inquiry went a l ong
way to c onfirm the s tatement s whi c h had been made by
Mr Jo s eph Hume who from h i s pla c e in the Hou s e of
.
,

Common s had de c lared that the Briti s h Merc hant Navy wa s

lo s ing i t s plac e among the mer c antile marine s of the world ,

and that it wa s urgent l y ne c e s s ary that Par l iament s hou l d ,

in particular dire c t attention to the admini s tration of

,

lighthou s e s around the c oa s t and the provi s ion of harbour s .

The pu bli c attention whi c h w a s attra c ted to the s tat e of

th e Mer c anti l e Marine at thi s period at la s t led Par l iament
to pa s s a s u c c e s s ion of a c t s whi c h pra c ti c al l y for the fir s t
,

time s in c e the expan s ion of the c ountry s maritime power ’ 1

,

re c ogni s ed the prin c ip l e that the State had a re s pon s ibi l ity
toward s t h e s hipping indu stry beyond that whi c h refle cted
the broad e c onomi c poli c y of the c ountry and that it w a s , ,

e s pe c ia ll y bound to enfor c e re gulation s f o r t h e prote c tion of

, i

the live s of pa s s enger s and s eamen Mea s ure s were pa s s ed

.

regulating the c ondition s under whi c h emigrant s trave ll ed ,

e s t ab l i s hing a regi s try Offi c e for s eamen and tran s ferring to ,

Trinity Hou s e a number of lighthou s e s whic h formed part

of the heredit ary e s tate of t h e Crown and s tep s w ere al s o ,

taken to provide better harbour s In 1 8 4 6 furt her progre s s

.

wa s made to in s ure greater s afety at s e a . It wa s ena cted

that al l iron s teamer s s hould b e divided by watertight
c ompartment s i nto three divi s ion s that a ll s e a going -

ve s s e l s s hou l d be provided with boat s in proport ion to t heir

tonnage ; that s t eamer s s hou l d pa s s t o the port s ide of
eac h other ; t hat s teamer s when within twenty mil e s of
the c oa s t s hou l d c arry light s to be pre s c ribed by the
Admiralty ; that pa s s enger s teamer s s hou l d be s urveyed
1
T h e e s s e n ti al f a c t s e e m s t o h a v e b e e n t h a t s h i pp i n g e xp an d e d s o
e n o r m ou s ly as t o r e n d e r e xi s ti n g r e g u l a ti o ns o u t o f d a t e .
78 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ OH . I

edu c ated s ober inte l ligent men c apable of c ommanding

, , ,

their s hip s and that foreign s eamen are c on s equently

,
”
more orderly .

E ventually Parliament took a ction on the line s s ugge s ted

by Mr Murray and in 1 8 50 the Marine D epartment of the
.
,

B oard of Trade wa s e stabli s hed In the previou s year .

the la s t remain s of the Na v igation L aw s a s to foreign trade

had been repealed to be followed five year s later by the
,

abolit ion of t h e re s tri ction s on the c oa sting trade A l mo s t .

s imultaneou s l y therefore the prote c tive s ys tem a s applied

, ,

to mer c hant s hipping wa s aboli s hed and a s pe cial o ffi c e ,

c rea t e d to admini s ter the varied and Often c ontradi c tory

legi s l at ion with referen c e to the Mer c anti l e Marine whi c h

had been pa s s ed s in c e the opening year s of Q ueen Vi ct oria s ’

reign Hen c eforward the c onfu s ion whi c h had hitherto

.

exi s t ed with referen c e to the admini stration of the law s

relating to s hippi ng wa s mitigated and there were many ,

indic ation s of inc rea s ed pub l ic intere s t in the indu stry ,

parti c ular l y a s aff ecting the s afety of pa ss enger s and c rew s .

Mr Samuel P l im s o l l wa s largely re s pon s ible for the

.

movement of pub l i c opinion whi c h o c c urred in later year s .

He dire c ted attention in parti c ular t o the number of, ,

ve s s el s whic h put to s e a in an un s eaworthy c o ndition and

over l oaded having often been heavi l y in s ured by their
,

owner s who thu s s tood t o gain in c a s e of di s a ster Mr

,
. .

”
P l ims o l l s agitation again s t c o ffi n s hip s greatly e xag
’
-

gerated the extent of the evil but t h e evi l undoubtedly ,

exi st ed Hi s pertina c ity l ed to the appointment of a

.

Commi s s ion of Inquiry and the public it y given to the ,

s c andal re s ulted in the pa s s ing of the Mer c hant S h ipping

Act of 1 8 7 3 giving s tringent power s of in s pe c tion t o the

,

Board of Trade and lega l i s ing what i s now known a s the

,
”
P l im s ol l Mark as a prot e ction again st overloading .

The evi l wa s s c ot c hed b u t not ki l led and the matter ,

re c eived further attention about ten year s l ater when ,

Mr Jo s eph Chamberlain Pre s ident of t h e B oard of Tra d e

.
, ,

introdu c ed into the Hou s e of Common s a Bi l l to provide

”
for greater s e c urity of life and property at s e a In .

moving the s e c ond reading of the Bil l on May 1 9 t h 1 8 8 4 , ,

he reverted to the c ontrovers y whi c h had ari s en a s to the

‘

re s pon s ibility of s hipowner s for the abu s e s whi c h had

undoubtedly e xi sted over a long period He m ade it c lear .
on . I ] T HE WORK OF REFORM 79

that he advan c ed no c harge again st s hipowner s generally ,

but wa s dea l ing only wit h a minority He pointed out .

t hat a c c ording to Mr H o lla m s a well known lawyer the

, .
,
-
,

l aw a s it then s tood de c lared to the s hipowner buy ,

your S hip a s c heap l y a s you c an equip her a s poor l y a s ,

you c a n load her a s ful l y a s you c a n and s end her to

, ,

se a . If s h e get s to the end of her voyage you wi ll make a

very good t hing of i t ; if s h e goe s to the bottom you will
h ave m a d e a v e r y mu c h better t hing of it Mr Cham
'

. .

b e r l a i n referring to the R epo rt of the Commi s s ion added

, ,

The Commi s sioner s pointed out that the s ystem of

our marine in s uran c e while it prote ct s s hipowner s again st
,
“

lo s s e s whi c h would ot herwi s e be ruinou s tend s to render ,

t hem l e s s c arefu l in t h e management of their s hip s .

The c ontra ct of marine in s uran c e i s in i t s e s s en c e a , ,

c ont ra c t of indemnity and the s pirit of the c ontra ct i s ,

violated if the in sured c an make t h e o c curren c e of a l o s s

'

a mean s of gain T h Commi ioner s added t hat our

’
e s s .

whole s y st em of in suran c e law require s c omplete revi sion ,

for n o t on l y doe s it a ll ow the s hipowner in s ome c a s e s

to re c eive more than the amount o f t h e lo s s s u st ained by
him but i t al s o on the other hand deprive s him of an
, , ,

i ndemnity in c a s e s in whi c h he ought to be prote cted by

h i s in s uran c e
’
.

Further import ant and far reac hing reform s were -

introdu c ed toward s the end of the nineteent h c entury ,

thu s c ompleting th e ta s k of revi s ing and c odifying the

law re l at ing to the Mer c antile Marine whi c h had been
attempt ed with a large mea sure of s u cc e s s in 1 8 54 .

It may be profitab l e to turn from this s urvey of legi s

lation to an examination of the progre s s of the Merc ant i l e
Marine during t he s e year s when Briti s h s hipping the ,

Navigation L aw s having been repealed had to fac e ,

world c ompetition when s ome of the burden s impo s ed

-
,

on Brit i s h s hipowner s were lift ed from them and when ,

Par l iament intervened t o enab l e the B oard of Trade to

in s i st upon the s eaworthine s s of s hip s and the s afet y of
1
pa s s enger s and c rew s In 1 8 7 5 Sir Thoma s Farrer .
, ,

t hen S e c retary to t h e B oard of Trade prepared a m e m o r ,

andum with referen c e t o t h e s t a t e of Briti s h S hipping

1
Af te r w ar d s L o r d F ar r e r .
80 T HE MERCHANT NAVY [ OF THE PAST CH . 1

and s eamen He pointed out that the a ctual in crea s e

.

of our Mer chant Navy i s a mo s t remarkable fa c t and i n ,

order to illu s trate the progre ss gave a s erie s of figure s

( s e e below ) .

Comment ing on tho s e figure s the S e c retary of the B oard

,

of Trade remarked that they gave a very imperfec t r e

fle c t i o n of the in c rea s e in the quality and quantity of t h e
work done by the Merc hant Navy The quantity of that .

work i s to be mea s ured by the number and length of

voyage s made and the nature of the freight s c arried It .

i s s c ar c ely po s s ible to get at thi s a c c urately but s om e ,

PR O GR E SS OF B R I T IS H S H I PP IN G
Sh i ps b e l ongi ng to th e B ri ti sh
Ye ar s .
i
E m p r e at th e E nd o f E ach Ye ar .

notion of it may be found from the number of entran c e s

and c learan c e s F or the F oreign Trade of the U nited
.

K ingdom we c an give the s e F or the Coa sting Trad e we

.

c annot ,
s in c e a large proportion of c oa s ting voyage s do

not appear in the Cu stom Hou s e books ; nor c an we give

c omp l ete return s of the emp l oyment of Bri t i s h s hip s on

the Foreign Trade of foreign c ountrie s In order to .

make thi s point c l ear quot at ion was made of t h e number

,

and tonnage of Brit i s h ve s s el s entered and c leared in the

foreign trade of the United Kingdom ( with c argoe s and
in ba ll a s t ) between 1 8 1 8 and 1 8 7 4 In the former y e ar .

the number Of s hip s wa s with a tonnage of

in the latter year the number wa s and the t onnage
CH . 1 ] THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 81

It wa s remarked that if c omplete return s ,

were avai l ab l e for the c oa sting trade and for the trade
c arried on between foreign port s by Briti s h s hip s an even ,

more remarkab l e indic ation of the progre s s of Briti s h

s hipping would have been po ss ible s in c e the c oa sting ,

trade h a s been c arried on almo st exc lu s ive l y by Briti s h

”
s hip s . F rom the s tati s ti c s given it wa s evident that ,

whilst Briti s h tonnage near l y treb l ed between 1 8 3 5 and 1 874

and more than doubled between 1 8 4 2 and 1 8 74 the tonnage ,

entran c e s and c l earan c es of Briti s h s hip s in the foreign trade

of the United K ingdom in 1 8 7 2 were about s i x time s what
they were in 1 8 3 5 and more than four time s what they
,

were in 1 8 4 2 The explanation it wa s pointed out was to

.
, ,

be found in the in c rea s e of s team ve s s e l s making many -

,

voyage s where a s ailing ve s s el make s but one Stati stic s

-
.

were quoted by the S e c ret ary to Show the great growth

of s team tonnage and the in crea s e in the number of men ,

ex c lu s ive of ma s ter s in s pit e of the int rodu ction of labour

,

sa ving de v ic e s The number of men in 1 8 5 2 was

.

and in 1 8 74 ,

During the period when Parliament wa s t urning i t s

attention to the c ondition of t h e Mer c antile Marine the
U nited State s w a s developing a great s e a c arr ying trade -
.

The Amer i c an s had not on l y s hown that t hey c ou ld build

the fine s t and s wifte s t c lipper s hip s but in 1 8 1 4 t hey ,

laun c hed their fir s t steam s hip on the great water s of t h e

Mi ss i s s ippi and immediately pro c eeded t o the development
,

of their internal maritime c ommunic ation s whi ch the new

propul s ive agent made po s s ible With a fine s pirit of .

enterpri s e they c ultivated their merc hant navy by every

pra ctic able mean s and by t h e middle of t h e nineteen t h
,

c entury were the mo s t s eriou s c ompet i tor s of thi s c ountry

for s e a power B y the early s ixtie s the Brit i s h lead

.

amounted to little more than a quarter of a mil lion ton s .

And then c ame the Civil War The North po s s e s s ed only

.

a s ma l l fighting fleet and in t h e emergen c y th e aut horitie s

,

t urned to t h e Mer c antile Marine to s upp l y the defi c ien c ie s

in order t hat e c onomi c pre s s ure by mean s of a b l o c kad e,

of th e numerou s port s of the Confedera c y might be app l ie d ,

without de lay War s hip s were improvi s ed but at a t errib l e

. ,

c o st to t h e Mer c han t Marine Prior t o the Ci v i l W ar

. , ,

two third s of the foreign trade of the United State s wa s

-

c arried i n s hip s flying the Star s and Stripe s A mer i c an .

82 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH . I

s hipping repre s ented ton s The extraordinary .

c hara c ter of the emergen c y demanded that mu c h of t hi s

tonnage s hould be impre s s ed int o the naval and mi l itary

s ervi c e s One mi ll ion eight hundred thou s and ton s were
.

taken and , withdrawn from the c apital em

barked i n the s hipping indu stry The A L AB AMA the C on .
,

federate t iger of the s e a de stroyed ton s of s hipping

, ,

and c au s ed the owner s of ve s s e l s to s eek foreign regi s trie s

‘

or t i e their c raft to the doc k rather t han s end them u npr o ,

t e c te d on voyage s whi c h were l ikely to end in the prize

c ourt or de s tru c tion by fire at s e a Foreign s hip s and .

foreign c apital eagerly entered the indu s try whic h t h e

United State s w as c ompe ll ed to abandon 1
F rom the .

damage infli cted upon our Mer c hant Marine during the
Civil War there h a s been a s yet no full re c overy ; and , ,

the s tupendou s in c rea s e in our foreign trade i s the more

remarkable in V iew of t h e fa c t that it h a s been effe cted in
s pite of the di s advantage of i t s c onveyan c e in s hip s flying
” 1
the flag s of other nation s than our own .

The Ameri c a n Civil War c oming in the very mid s t of the ,

tran s ition from s ail s to s team removed the mo s t s eriou s ,

c ompetitor s with whom Briti s h s hipowner s had had to

c ontend When in 1 8 7 5 the S e c retary of the B oard of

.

Trade c ontinuing h i s examination of the s tate of Briti s h

,

merc hant s hipping inve stigated the progre s s of the ,

Briti s h Merc antile Mar i ne in relation to that of other

c ountrie s he w a s able to paint a gratifying pi c ture
,
Whi l s t .

the Brit i s h tonnage in the trade of t h e U nited Kingdom

had in c rea s ed from 6 5 per c ent of that trade in 1 8 50 to .

6 8 per c ent in 1 8 70 U nited State s tonnage whi c h had

.
, ,

6 0 per c ent of the trade of t h e U nited State s in 1 8 50 had

.
,

only 3 8 per c ent of it in 1 8 70 F ren c h tonnage wh ic h

. .
,

had 4 1 per c ent of the trade of F ran c e in 1 8 50 had only

.
,

3 1 per c ent in 1 870 . D ut c h tonnage whi c h had 4 2 per

.
,

c ent of the t rade of Holland in 1 8 5 0 had on l y 2 8 per c ent

.
, .

In 1 8 7 0 Pru s s ian tonnage whic h had 4 9 per c ent of

.
, .

the trade of Pru s s ia in 1 8 50 had 4 6 per c ent in 1 8 70 ,

. .

Swedi s h tonnage whi c h had 43 per c ent of the trade of

,
.

Sweden in 1 8 5 0 had only 3 2 per c ent in 1 8 70

,
Even in . .

the c a s e of Norway who s e marine had g rown rapidly , ,

1
An i n te re s ti n g p ar alle l i s th e bl o w t o E n gli s h m e r c h an t s hi p p i n g as
th e re su l t of th e W ars o f
R ose s th e .

1
T h e N e w A m e r i ca n N a vy , b y th e H o n J am . es L on g , f o rm e r S e c r e t ar y
o f t h e N av y
De t , U S A p . . . .
CH. 1 ] PROSPERITY OF BRITISH SHIPPING 83

N orwegian tonnage whi c h had 7 3 per c ent of th e trade

, .

of No rway in 1 8 50 had de c rea s ed t o 70 per c ent in 1 8 70

, . .

It was of c our s e t o be expe cted

,
the Se cretary t o
, ,

the Board of Trade remarked t hat when the foreign ,

trade s of the different c ount rie s were opened t o foreign

s hip s the nat i v e s hip s of ea c h c ountry wou l d do a s ma ll er
,

proportion of that trade finding their c ompen s ation in ,

the new trade s between other c ountrie s thu s opened t o

them And s o it happened in the c a s e of all maritime
.

c ountrie s exc ept Great Britain But in her c a s e with

,
.
,

a trade far exc eeding t hat of any other c ountry and ,

in c rea s ing more rapid l y than that of mo st c ountrie s her ,

s hipping h a s not only c ontinued to do the s ame proportion

of her own trade a s it did before the trade wa s opened to

other nation s but h a s in c rea s ed that proportion Nor i s
, .

thi s all The foreign trade of ea c h foreign c ountry h a s

.

als o in c rea s ed very large l y ; and the nati v e s hipping of

ea c h foreign c ountry no longer doe s the s ame proport ion
of her own trade a s it former l y did The proport ion whic h .

native s hipping no longer doe s mu s t be done by ship s of

s ome other flag and though we have no c omp l ete figure s
to s how how mu c h of the trade of ea c h of t he s e c ountrie s
i s done by the Briti s h and how mu c h by other foreign
flag s we have s ome eviden c e to S how that t h e Briti s h
,
” ’
flag c ome s in for the lion s s hare of it .

Summari s ing all the eviden c e whi c h he h ad been ab l e

to c olle c t the S e c retary of the Board of Tra d e c ame to
,

the c on c lu s ion that it i s abundant l y evident not only

“
,

that Briti s h mer c hant s hipping h a s in the twenty y ear s ,

s u c c eeding the repeal of the Navigation L aw s enj oyed ,

i t s due proportion of t h e in c rea s e in the trade of t h e wor ld ,

whic h h a s followed on free trade and t h e u s e of s team ,

but that it h a s obtained mu c h more than i t s due pro

‘

portion and h a s outdi stan c ed many of i t s on c e dreaded

,
-

c ompetitor s Having s pec ial advantage s in the po ss e s s ion

.

of c oa l and iron and having the m e c hani c al geniu s to

,

turn t he s e advan t age s to a c c ount it h a s led the way and , ,

s e c ured it s e lf not on l y the large st s hare of the c arrying

,
”
trade of the wor l d but the mo s t valuab l e part of that trade
,
.

The l egi s l at ion aff e cting s hipping whi c h wa s pa s s ed

during the latt er part of the ninet eenth c entury wa s '

oppo s ed t o the po l iti c al s entiment s o f t h e time S t at e

'

interferenc e with trade either by l and or by s e a wa s , ,

 ’

84 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH . I

regarded with s u s pi c ion and di stru st It wa s felt that .

Parliament wa s treading dangerou s ground in attempting

t o regulate indu stry A powerful impul s e from without
.

wa s ne c e s s ary in order to s e c ure Parliament ary a ction ,

even to a s s ure the s afety of pa s s enger s and c rew s Ship .

owners generally were no doubt guiltle s s of the gro s s

c harge s whi c h were leve l led again s t them a s a c la s s by

tho s e who were s tirred to a c tion by the abu s es whi c h

exi s ted in s ome s hip s of the Mer c anti l e Marine T he .

s c andal s may have been due t o the negle c t or c riminality

of the minority Pra c ti c ally everyon e who w a s c on c erned

.

with finan c ing and manag i ng the Mer c antile Marine

oppo s ed the earli er legi s l ative mea s ure s believing them ,

t o be harmful to an indu s try whi c h had hitherto been

individuali sti c However exaggerated the s tat ement s may
.

have been whi c h were made by Mr Jo s eph King Mr

—
. .
,

S amuel Plims ol l and other s and mo s t agitation s are

—
,

ba s ed on ex part e and over c oloured a s s ertion s i t c annot

-

be doubted that had it not been for the intervention of

,

s u c h publi c s pirited men and the s u c c e s s with whi c h they

-

played on pub l ic s ympathy little wou l d have been done

,

by Parliament ; or at any rate a ction would have been

, ,

indefinitely po stponed O n the other hand the pre s sure

.
,

of unin struc ted publi c opinion in the c ountry led to the

pa s s ing of mea sure s without due c on s ideration of detail s ,

and a s u c c e s s ion of amending and c on s olidating Shipping

A c t s was required to unravel the tangle c reated by the
legi s lation c arried in the year s of agitation The move .

ment w a s not c ontinuou s nor wa s it always wi s ely dire c ted

, ,

but i ts general e ffe c t wa s good Stage by s t a ge important

.
,

power s were c onf erred on the B oard of Trade Its .

Marine D epartment i s a modern development c reated ,

to meet modern need s i t s dutie s though numerou s are

, , ,

c learly defined and re s tri c ted It i s c onc erned mainly

.

with the s e curity of life and property at s e a and h a s had , ,

dire ctly no s hare in the upbuilding of t h e Mer c anti l e

,

Marine The s trength of the Merc hant Navy h a s always

.

depended in the main upon the enterpri s e and bu s ine s s

’
abi l ity of the s hipowning c ommunity in meeting the nat ion 5
need s without State s ubvention or State enc ouragement .

The pa s s age of merc hant S hipping l egi s lation between

1 8 80 and 1 8 8 5 wa s s u c c eeded by a further period of great
pr o s perity for Briti s h s hipping F reight s both home ward
.
,
 86 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH . I

The tonn age of the United Kingdom c on s i sted mainly

of ve s s el s large enough for o c ean voyage s If the dividing .

line between o c ean going and other ve s s el s i s taken at -

ton s net ( or ton s gro s s ) it wi l l b e found that ,

9 0 per c ent of the tonnage of the United Kingdom was

.

made up of ve ss el s of the larger type The number and .

net tonnage of s team ve s s el s ( a ) of le s s than ton s -

,

and ( b ) of and above ton s whi c h were on the Regi ster ,

of the United Kingdom at the end of 1 9 1 3 were a s fol l ow s 1

No . N e t T ons .

( )
a Ste am - l
v e ss e s o f le ss than t o ns n e t
( b) Ste am - v e ss e ls o f an d a b o v e t ons n e t

It i s thu s evident that the nation wa s dependent for

s upplie s and trade on a c omparatively s mall number of

V e s s e l s of great S iz er
—the s e c ret of s u c c e s s in pea c e and
danger in war Ve s s el s of large s ize are generally more
.
,

e c onomical than s maller ve s s el s but in war their lo s s i s the ,

more s everely felt proportionately a s their nu mber i s limit ed .

The enemy s s ubmarine warfare be c ame vital the moment

’

it began to atta c k the larger ve s s el s on a great s c ale .

B efore the war thi s c ountry led the way in mo st ma tter s

o f s hipowning and s hipbuilding ; and not lea s t in the
building of merc hant ve s s el s of large s ize B etween the .

end of 1 9 1 0 and the end of 1 9 1 3 the average s ize of the

S te am -Ve ss e l s R e g i ste r of th
on th e e
U K on Dece m b e r 3 l s t
. . .

Ne t T ons . Ne t T ons .

Of an d u n de r t on s n e t 1

Of an d u n de r to n s n e t
Of an d u n d e r t o ns n e t 630 8 04
Of to n s n e t an d a b ov e 148 2 10

1 In th e m o r e e t ai e d
su rve l d
o f th e y p
os i ti o n o f th e ri ti sh M e r c an ti e B l
b f h pp g
M ari n e e o r e th e war , th e s i i n o f th e ni te K i n o m , w i c r e p r e U d gd h h
s e n te d9 3 p e r c e n t o f th e E m i r e s s i
.
’
in p h pp g
i s e ne ra re e rre
,
gt o , th e lly f d
r e as o n b
e in t at g h
e tai e d l d
s ta ti s ti cs we r e n o t a w a s a v ai a l
e f o r th ey l bl
r e m ai n e r d .

1
d
T h e r e u c ti o n i n th e n u m e r o f s i s o f e s s t an b hp l h
t on s e x act ly
p
c o rr e s o n e d d h b
wi t th e i n cr e as e i n th e n u m e r o f v e s s e s o f an d a b o v e l
t o ns ,
CE . I] TONNAGE AND SPEED 87

o ean going team ve s s el s on the regi ster of the United

c -
s -

K ingdom inc rea s ed from to ton s net a ,

s ignifi c ant movement .

It i s not ne c e ss ary to make any detailed c ompari s on

between t h e Briti s h and other merc anti l e marine s a s
regard s t h e s ize of ve s s el s employed The average s ize of .

s team ve s s e l s of and above 1 00 ton s gro s s or about 6 0 t on s

(
-

net ) i s a rough index to the kind of trade in whic h t h e

ve s s el s of the re s pe ct ive c ount rie s were princ ipa ll y
employed and the average tonnage of s u c h ve s s e l s whic h
were on the Regi ster on June 3 oth 1 9 1 4 i s a c c ording l y , ,

s hown below

Un i te d K i n gd o m
G e rm an y
It aly
Ja p an
Ne the rlan ds

The high average tonnage of German and Italian ve s s el s

indic ated that their trade s were almo st wholly o c ean and ,

indeed liner trade s Thi s wa s true al s o though in a l e s s er

, .
,

degree of Japan and Holland The low average tonnage

, .

of Dani sh Norwegian Ru s s ian and Swedi s h ve s s e l s was

, , ,

equally s ignifi c ant for the c onver s e rea s on Thi s c ompari s on .

,

moreover doe s le s s than j u stic e to the United Kingdom

, ,

be cau s e Briti s h o c ean going tonnage alone was more than

-

three time s a s l ar g e a s the entire German Merc anti l e Marine .

The Briti sh c arrying trade before t h e war wa s divided

between the regular line s with scheduled s ailing s whic h ,

traded on defined route s and owners of ve s s el s engaged ,

in general trade or tramp owner s who s e ve s s el s were

, ,

often c hartered to third partie s and traded wherever a

'
,

c argo might b e f o u nd It i s impo s s ible however to state

.
, ,

how mu c h tonnage wa s al lo c ated at a given time a s between

”
liner s and tramp s The L ine s ran pa s s enger .

ve s s e l s and a l s o c argo ve s s el s general l y of a higher type ,

and s peed t han ordinary tramp ve s s e l s but t here wa s ,

a lways a c la s s of ve s s el on the border line between l iner s -

and tramp s whic h might be o f s ervi c e in either c apa c it y

’

a s o c c a s ion required The on l y avai l able index of t h e

.

import an c e of tramp tonnage i s that aff orded by th e s peed

Parti c ular s given in L loyd s Regi ster
’
of the ve ss els .
88 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH . I

indi c ate that o f the steam tonnage o wned by th e

,

Briti s h Empire on June 3 oth 1 9 1 4 3 5 per c ent wa s , , .

c apable of maintaining a s e a s peed of 1 2 knot s or

more ; and probably a ll ve s s el s of that s pee d were l iner s -
.

It may be e stimated roughly t hat of the total tonnage ,

of the United K ingdom before the war 6 0 per c ent , .

c on s i s ted of tr amp s and 40 per c ent of liner s . .

The importan c e of the tramp owner in the s hipping -

e c onomy of the Empire c annot be too mu c h empha s i s ed .

“
Not only wa s he re s pon s ible for the larger part of
o u r s team tonnage but we were dependent on him for
,

the import and export e s pe c ially of what may be termed

the rougher c la s s of bulk c argoe s whi c h are not a s a rule ,

s uitable for liner bu s ine s s It would be impo s s ible for

.

a c ountry like the U nited Kingdom with i t s enormou s ,

flow of trade to depend whol l y on regular line s with

,

s c heduled s ailing s
1
It had been re c ogni s ed for many
year s that it wa s e s s ential that there s hould be a large
amount of loo s e tonnage c apable of s upplementing
the liner s ailing s and prepared to trade at s hort noti c e
,

to any part of the world Yet pre c i s ely bec au s e of h i s

.
,
”
ubiquitou s pre s en c e the tramp owner s diffi c ult ie s th e
,
-
’
,

Committee on Shipping and Shipbuildi ng remarked were ,

the lea s t ea s ily defined and met and he wa s pec uliarly ,

s u s c eptible to any s eriou s modifi c ation of the c ondition s

” 1
under whic h s hipping i s u s ually c arried on .

N o a c c ount i s taken of s ailing tonnage It s import a n c e .

wa s s mall The di s advantage s of s hip s dependent on

.

wind and weather had be c ome obviou s Already the .

c arrying power of s ailing V e s s e l s of a given tonnage w a s

- -

in c omparably l ower than that of s team ve s s el s of equivalent -

tonnage ; and the error due to the omi s s ion of s ailing

’
tonnage from any e s timate of the world s c arrying power -

i s almo s t negligible In 1 8 90 the United Kingdom

.

po s s e s s ed ton s of s ailing ve s s e l s ; by 1 9 0 0 the -

amount had de c lined to a little over ton s and ,

1
Co m m i tte e o n Sh i p i n g an d Sh i pb u i ldi n , Cd 9 0 9 2 g
l;
. .

1 T h e S pe e d o f v e s s e o f f o r e i gn c ou n tr1 e s d 1 d n o t , o n t h e wh o le , c o m p a r e
f a v o u r a bly wi th B ri ti s h v e s s e ls T h e p r o p o r ti o n o f N o rw e gi an v e s s e ls
.

o f 12 kn o ts a n d a b o v e w as i ns i gn i fic an t , b u t t h e n u m be r o f N o rw e gi a n
. . G
l i n e rs w as s m all Only 2 3 pe r c e n t o f e rm an s te am t o nn a ge w as
c a p a ble o f m ai n t ai n i n g a s e a S p e e d o f 1 2 k n o ts o r m o r e , an d y e t th e
G e rm an tr a d e s we r e p r e - e m i n e n tly li n e r t r ade s , th e i r t r am
p i n te r e s ts
b e i ng s m all .
90 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF T HE PAST [ OH . I

( )
2 Great a s wa s the expan s ion of the W orld s tonnage ’

in the twenty fi v e year s before the war the expan s ion of

-
,

the world s power of tran s portation wa s even great er

’
,

owing to the s uperiority fir s t of steam over s ailing s hip s

, ,

and then of improved type s of s team s hip s over the Older

type s The c arrying power of the U nited Kingdom
.
-

proportionate l y to the t onnage on the Regi st er i nc rea s ed

more rapid l y than that of other c ountrie s In any a ppr e .

c i ati o n of the maritime po s i t ion of thi s c ountry before the

”
war thi s fa ctor c annot be overlooked
, .

The world s s hipping wa s undergoing a c ontinual pro c e s s

’

of renewal and repla c ement in t h e year s pre c eding the

outbreak of war Immediate l y before t h e war t h e
.
,

average annual rate of expan s ion of the world s s team ’

tonnage a s a whole w a s rather le s s than 5 per c ent of .

the tonnage on the R egi s ter The output of n e w tonnage .

amounted to rather over 7 per c ent of the tonnage on .

the R egi s ter and it may therefore be inferred that about

2 per c ent of the world s s hipping w a s every year lo s t or
’
.

broken up .

N early one half of the world s s hipping a s h a s been

-
’
,

above indic ated w a s on the R egi ster of the United King

,

dom If the Mer c antile Marine of the United Kingdom

.

be taken by it s elf it will be s een that the pro c e s s of devel

,

o p m e nt in i t s c a s e w a s widely diff erent In the year s .

immediate l y before the war the steam tonnage of the

United Kingdom in crea s ed by not more than 2 1 per c ent .

annually But it i s s ignifi c ant that s ome

. ton s
net ; or nearly 5 }3 per c ent of the total tonnage wa s every.
,

year removed from the R egi ster for one rea s on or another .

Two third s or
-
, ton s wa s s old to foreign flag s , ,

the amount a cc ounted for by ve s s el s l o s t or broken up

a v eraging only ton s O n the other hand addition s .
,

to the R egi ster of the United Kingdom in the year s

1 91 1— 1 3 a v eraged about ton s a year o f whic h ,

9 3 per c ent c ompri s ed ve s s el s newly built

. .

Thi s tran sfer of large number s of older Briti s h ve s s e l s

to foreign flag s wa s of great importan c e in c onnexion wit h
the deve l opment of the Mer c antile Marine Our s hip .

owner s were thu s afforded a ready market for th e di s po sa l

of ve s s el s no longer s ati s fac tory t o them a s a preliminary
t o the ordering of new ve s s el s better s uited to their
CH . 1 ] RENEWAL OF BRITISH SHIPPING 91

purpo s e and the merc hant tonnage of foreign c ountrie s

, ,

a s a whole w a s older and t herefore le ss e ffi c ient than t h e

, , ,

tonnage of the Briti s h Mer c ant i l e Marine .

As a re su lt of thi s pro c e ss of s ale and repla c ement ,

8 5 per c ent Of the tonnage on the Regi ster of the United

.

Kingdom at the e nd of 1 9 1 3 had been built s in c e 1 89 5 ,

in c luding 6 8 per c ent bui lt s in c e 1 9 0 0 and 4 4 per c ent .

, .

bui lt s in c e 1 90 5 The fo l lowing tab l e s hows the d i s tr i

.

b u ti o n of our steam tonnage a c c ording to age at the end

Of
1
1913

1 89 0 an d e ar li e r
1 89 1 to 1 895
1 89 6 to 1 9 00
1901 to 1 9 0 5
1 90 6 to 1 9 1 0
Si n c e 1 9 10

1 0 0 -0

In thi s s hort s urvey no a c c ount h as been taken of

tho s e per s ona l fac tor s whic h whi l st an indi s pen s ab l e ,

e l ement of s u cc e s s are the mo s t d i fli cu l t to apprai s e

,
The .

initiative and enterpri s e of s hipowner s and s hipbuilder s

were a vita l e l ement in the building up of the greate s t
c arrying trade that the world h a s ever s een A furt her .

e l ement of s u cc e s s on whic h it i s impo s s ible to lay t o o

,

mu c h s tre s s wa s t h e s kill effi c ien c y and s eaman s hip of

, , ,

the o ffi c er s and men who manned and navigated our ve s s e l s

in pea c e and who during the war have by t heir c ourage
, ,

and devotion in sured the maintenan c e of our S e a borne

,
-

”
trade .
1

A s tati stic al ba s i s for e stimating the s ize and c har

a cter of t h e target expo s ed t o enemy atta c k on th e outbreak
of war in 1 9 1 4 i s s upp l ied by the c a lc u l ation s on p 9 2 . .

There i s a di sc repan c y between the s e figure s and t h e

aggregate tonnage of t h e Mer c anti l e Marine a s re c orded
by the B oard of Trade i n i t s genera l ta ement of s t t h ,
e

s trength of the Mer c hant Fleet Thi s i s due to the .

exc lu s ion from the table whi c h follow s of a large nu m ber

of s ma l l ve s s e l s ya c ht s and inland navigation ve e l
,
s s s
,
,

whic h are all c ounted in the o ffi c ial enumerat ion of tonnage

1 h an t tonn ag e of ot h e r c o u n tr i do n o t,
Stati s ti c s o f th e age o f th e m e rc e s

o n t h e w h o le
,
c om pa re fav o u r ably wi th tho s e f or th e Um te d K i n gd o m .

2
Cd 9 0 9 2
. .
92 T HE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST
[ CH. I

—
over 1 0 0 ton s net The s mal l er tonnage o f s e a going -

—
.

trading s hip s wa s the a s s et whic h the nation had at i ts

-

di s po s al when the Great War o c c urred E ven thi s redu c ed .

“

figure may be analys ed with profit The Annua l Naviga .

tion Statement in c luded under the de s c ription of Home ,

Trade not only ve s s el s emp l oyed in the c oa sting trade of

,

S AILIN G AN D STE AM VE s s m s E m no m n I N T m m m o l

In th e H om e In th e F ore i gn
T rad e . T r ad e .

Nu m b e r

Ve sse l s .

S ai l 1 77
St e am

T o tal

the U nited Kingdom but al s o tho s e trading with the ,

Continent of Europe between the River Elbe and Bre s t

in c lu s ive and it failed to di s tingui s h between the ve s s el s
,

employed in the s e two trade s But the table s publi s hed .

in 1 9 1 3 to s how the progre s s of mer chant s hipping

,
’
,

made thi s di s tin ction the number a s on April 3 r d , ,

1 9 1 1 being
,

F o r e i gn T r a de W i thi n Ho m e lim i ts 4 59 s te am s hi ps
Co as ti n g T r a de

The s team s hip s above referred t o in c luded only

the ve s s el s whi c h on April 3 r d 1 9 1 1 had c rew s on board , , ,

and if al l owan c e be made for the s hip s whi c h were not in

c ommi s s ion on the given date it i s probable that in 1 9 1 1 ,

there were in all about s team s hip s employed in the s e

two trade s The number of s team s hip s s o employed

.

remained pra ctic al l y the s ame in 1 9 1 3 being made up of ,

ve s s el s de s c ribed a s employed in the Home Trade ,

and about one third of the 3 2 6 ve s s el s employed partly

-

in the Home and partly in the F oreign Trade .

1Ann al Sta t m e n t o f th e Nav i g ati on an d Sh i pp i ng o f th e Un i te d

u e

K i n gd o m f o r t h e Ye ar 1 9 1 3 , Cd 76 1 6
. .

3
Ibi d Cd 70 3 3
. .
94 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH 1
.

on the outbreak of the war s team ve s s el s of ove r

,
-

ton s net their tonnage being ton s net

—
.
,

Tho s e s team s hip s were c la s s ified under two h ead s fi r s t ,

the ve s s el s trading in regu l ar line s on fixed route s ; and ,

s e c ond l y the general trader s going wherever c argo offered

,
.

The liner s numbered about and the general t rader s

about The average s ize of the liner wa s ton s
net repre s enting about
,
ton s gro ss and that of the
genera l trader about ton s net or about ton s ,

gro s s .

It would be an error to a s s ume that before P arliament

began to evin c e an intere s t i n mer c hant s hipping no c ontrol
o f any kind wa s exer c i s ed over the de s ign a nd c on s tru c tio n
’
of ve s s e l s Ear l y in the s eventeent h c entury L l oyd s
.

Coff ee Hou s e had be c ome the re c ogni s ed headquarter s of

-

maritime bu s ine s s in L ondon and e s pe c ially of marine ,

in suran c e There whether on the initiative of the pro

.
,

p r i e t o r or the frequenter s were kept c ertain

,
re c ord s of

s hipping termed s hip s li st s whi c h c ontained an a c c ount

’ ’
, ,

of ve s s e l s whi c h the underwriter s who met at the hou s e were

”
likely to have off ered to them for in s uran c e Thi s c offee .

hou s e proved the foundation o f a c orporation whi c h wa s to

exer c i s e a wide s pread and benefi c ial influen c e on the de
v e l o pm e n t of the indu stry The Regi ster be c ame the guid e
.

t o the in s urer who wa s a s ked to ri s k h i s money and s hip ,

owner s wh o wanted to in s ure on advantageou s term s found

it to their advantage to meet the view s of the underwriter s
when plac ing their order s for ve s s el s to be built In 1 7 6 0 .

the under writer s e s tabli shed a s o c iety for their prote ction ,

and i s s ued a regi ster whic h c ame to be known a s the Gr e en

B o ok . It wa s s upported exc lu s ively by underwriter s and ,

wa s intended for their s ole u s e At the end of the eight .

e e n t h c entury the s hipowner s who had long obj e cted to ,

the c la s s ifi c ation of their ve s s e l s at the un c ontrol l ed

di s cre tion of the body of underwriter s s t arted t h e ,

R e d B ook whi c h w a s virtual l y a s hipown er s regi s ter

,
’
.

Not until 1 8 3 4 were the c ompeting int ere st s led to

make an arrangement under whi c h Lloyd s Regi stry of ’

Briti s h and Foreign S hipping wa s e st abli s hed a c ommittee ,

being appointed c on s i sting of eight mer c hant s eight

, ,

underwriter s and eight s hipowner s with the c hairman

, ,

of L loyd s and of the Genera l Shipowner s S o c iety a s ex

’ ’

o ffi c i o member s The general prin c iple of c la s s ifi c ation

.
 LLOYD S REGISTER
’
on. 1 ] 95

o n whi c h t h e R egi s trar wa s to a c t w a s to a s sign c hara ct er s

whi c h s hould be a s nearly a s po ss ible a c orre c t indic ation
o f the real and intrin s i c qualit y of the s hip the practic e
of c la s s ing ve s s e l s a c c ording to pla ce of build or t h e
de ci s ion of the s urveyor s wa s to be abandoned and all ,

c hara c ter s were t o be granted on l y by the Committee

after due in s pe c tion of t h e report of t h e s urveyor s and

”
the do cument s whi c h may be s ubmitt ed to them It .

wa s not u n ti l s everal year s later that L loyd s Regi s ter

’

obtained an a s s ured po s i tion and wa s ab l e to exer c i s e ,

a c ompelling influen c e on s hip c on s tru c tion -

.

In the meantime t h e indu s try wa s undergoing a r e v o l u

,

tion Fir s t the marine s team engine had made i ts appear

.
,
-

an c e and s e c ond ly experiment s in bui l ding s hip s of

, ,

1 ron in s tead of wood gave ri s e to a c ontrover s y whi c h ,

divided the s hipowni ng c la s s into different c amp s and ,

interfered with the e ffi c ient di s charge by the Regi s try

of i t s re s pon s ibili tie s t oward s underwri ter s mer c hant s , ,

a nd s hipowner s Experien c e wi t h t h e s team engine had

.
-

to be a c quired and a new c la s s of s eamen edu c ated Later .

on when the iron s hip took th e water s a s omewhat

, ,

s imilar s ituation deve l oped During tho s e year s of tran .

s i ti o n t h e c ontrol exer c i s ed by L l oyd s Regi s ter wa s

’

s ubj e c t to flu c tua tion s and it wa s on l y gradua lly t ha t a ,

vo l ume of experien c e wa s bui lt up enabling the So cie t y ,

to lay down defini te rule s c a l c u lated t o pro te c t t h e in tere s ts

of t ho s e intimate l y a s s o c iated wit h t h e indu s try and t o
s a ti s fy t h e nat ura l c on c ern of the nation a t l arge
— ar ti c u
p
l ar l y t hat part of i t a ccu s tomed to trave l by s e a for —
L loyd s Regi s ter in
’
the s afety of o cean going ve s s el s -
. ,

pro c e s s of time be c a m e t h e s upreme arbi ter in s hip c o n

,
-

s tru c tion n o t on l y in t hi s c oun try b u t to a large ex tent

, , , ,

abroad 1
In the fir s t in stan c e t h e p lan s of ve s s e l s and
.
,

of boi ler s of s teamer s for whi c h th e So c ie ty s c la s s ifi c ation ’

i s s ought are s ent for approval Clear ly if a ve s s e l i s i n .

,

1
L l o yd s R e g i s t e
’
r i s t h e o ld e s t S o c i e t y o f t h i s d e s c ri p t i o n i n t h e w o r ld .

N e x t t o l
L y o d s R ge i s t
’
e r i n p o i n t o f a n t i q i t y c o m e s t hu e B u r e a u V e it s r a ,

o f P a i s f o u n de d i n 1 82 8
r T h e N o r s k e Ve ri t as o f Chr i s ti an i a was f o u n d e d
. , ,

G
,

i n 1 86 4 th e h
e m an i s c e r L o
r l yd o f B e li n ,
i n 1 8 6 7 r t h e
,
R e c o r d of

Am e r i can an d F o r e i gn Shi pp i n g o f N e w Yo r k i n th e s am e y e ar ; th e
, ,

g i l
R e s tr o It a i an o o f G e ,
n o i n a, t h e V e i t as A u s t r o U n rg a n c o of -
,

T r i e te i n 1 8 5 8 an d th e B i ti s h Co rp o
s ,
r r a t i o n f o r t h e S u r v e y a n d R e g y s t r i

of S i h pp in g h h d
wi t i ts e a qu a te r s a t G
,
l ars g o w i n 1 8 9 0 I n a
,
d d t l o n m ay.
i

ch
d
b e m e n ti o n e t h e L i v e r o o p l U d
n e rw r i t e r s R e g l s t r y f o r
’
I r o n V e s s l s w h e ,
1

bl h d l g d h l d g 88 5
o

was e s ta i s e i n 1 86 2 an d am a am a t e w i t L o y s R e i s t e r i n 1 ’
.

l
8
96 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ OH . 1

t ended for general trade no c la s s c an be a s s igned unle s s

, .

s h e c onform s to the s tandard of s treng t h s e t up by the

R ule s a s requi s ite for ve s s el s intended to go anywhere and

—
do anything though how that s trength i s att ained may
be immat erial If however a ve s s e l i s intended for a
.
, ,

s pe c ia l trade s h e c an re c eive a c la s s for that t rade i f her

, ,

s c ant ling s and arrangement s are c on s idered s uit able ,

qui te irre s pe c tive of the R ule s governing the c la s s ifi c ation

of general trader s The c on s tru c tion of ve s s el s in c luding
.
,

the ma c hinery and boiler s of s teamer s then pro c eed s from ,

s tart to fini s h under the So c iety s in s pe c tion no s teel’

,

being u s ed whi c h h a s not been produ c ed at approved

work s and te s ted at the manufa ctorie s by the s urveyor s
t o L l oyd s R egi s ter For the examination of large forging s
’
.

to be emp l oyed in t h e s tru c ture of the ve s s el s the So c ie t y

employs s pe c ia ll y trained and experien c ed men who ,

c arefu ll y in s e c t t hem while in pro ce s s of manufa c ture in

p ,

order to dete c t defe cts whi c h c ould not be ob s erved in

t heir fini s hed s t ate after delivery Simi l arly all heavy .
,

s teel c a s ting s are c areful l y te s ted b efore they are a c c ep t ed

for u s e in a c la s s ed ve s s el The s urveyor s s e e t hat the

.

equipment of an c hor s and c hain c able s c orre s pond s with

the Rule s and t hat t hey have been t e s ted in a cc ordan c e
,

with s tatut ory re quirements at publi c proving hou s e s all -

,

of whi c h are under the s uperin t enden c e of the Commi ttee

of L l oyd s Regi s ter Beyond the s t atutory requirement s
’
.
,

al l c a s t s teel an c hor s are required to undergo s pe c ia l te s t s at

-

’
the manufa c tory in t h e pre s en c e of the So c iety s s urveyor s .

Fina lly detai led repor t s are s ent to headquar ter s where
, ,

t hey are examined by the te c hni c al s ta ff being s ubmi tted ,

t o t h e Commi tt ee wi t h a V iew t o c la s s e s being a s s igned

1
.

In any e ffort to indi c ate the progre s s of t h e Briti s h

Mer c anti l e Marine s in c e the opening of the ni ne teenth
c en t ury i t i s i mpo s s ib l e t o ignore the in fl uen c e whi c h
,

L l oyd s Regi s ter exer c i s ed during t h e c ri ti c a l period whe n

’

t h e indu s try wa s undergoing a s u cc e s s ion of revolution s

owing to t h e app li cation of phys i c al s c ien c e t o s hip pro
pu l s ion c on s tru c tion and equipment L loyd s Regi s ter
, ,
.
’

w a s t h e ne c e s s ary c ount erpar t t o t h e re s pon s ibi li tie s whi c h

were t hrown by legi s l ation on the Board of Trade It .

1 Th e l fi
C a s s i c a ti o n o f M e r c an t S i h in , h pp g a p ap e r re a d by Mr . H; J
h
Co m i s , C i e h f
Su r v e y o r t o L o
’
l yd
s R e i s te r , g at th e su mm er m e e ti n g
o f th e In s ti tu ti o n o f N a v a lA h
r c i t e c ts , 1 9 0 5 .
 T HE MERCHANT NAVY o r THE PAST ( ca . 1

internal c ommer c e ; but the Briti s h indu s trial ma chine

c ould exi s t for a long period in s pite of the laying up of

large n umber s of m er c hant s hip s The naval authori tie s .

b
,

from the ear lie s t time s down to the pea c e o f 1 8 1 5 c o n ,

t i n u e d wi t hout inj ury to vital in tere s t s to regard the

, ,

Mer c han t S ervi c e a s a re s ervoir upon whi c h almo s t u n

li m i ted draft s c ould be made for men .

But from the period of the Fren c h Revolution onward

the c u s tom of impre s s ing men of the Mer c hant S ervi c e for
the R oyal N avy be came in c rea s ingly unpopular For .

s ome year s prior to the pa s s ing of the R eform Bill of 1 8 3 2 ,

a s trong feeling e xi s ted in the c ountry again s t the R oyal

Preroga tive and no s ooner wa s the Reform Ac t in Opera tion
,

than expre s s ion wa s given to that fee li ng Many Member s .

were returned to the n e w Parliament pledged to do al l in

their power t o pro cure the a b o lition of the pre s s gang -
,

and the adop tion of a s y s tem of re c ruiting for the Navy

le s s at varian c e it wa s claimed with the s pirit of the Briti s h
, ,

Con s titu tion A Bill dealing with the Mer chant Servi c e
.

wa s a cc ordingly introdu c ed i n to Parliament in 1 8 3 4 by , ,

the Fir s t L ord of t h e Admiralty Sir Jame s Graham It , .

wa s drawn up with a view t o in c rea s ing the number of

mer chant s eamen by i mproving t heir po s i tion and to ,

providing a s y s tem of regi s tration whi c h would s e c ure t h e

s ervi c e s of mari time per s on s general l y in th e even t of an

emergen c y . Their identity wa s to be e s t abli s hed by

mean s of a regi s ter ti cket in c onformi t y with an opi ni on
,

expre s s ed by L ord Nel s on in a letter to L ord St Vin c ent .

in 1 8 0 3 t hat that s y s tem of regi s tration wa s of great e ffe c t

, ,
”
and in h i s opinion indi s pen s able
, , The Bill a s fir s t
.
l

drafted wa s n o t pro c eeded wi t h ; but in 1 8 3 5 t h e Mer c hant ,

S e a m e n s Ac t 5 6 Will IV c a p 1 9 wa s pa s s ed c ontain
’
, .
, .
, ,

ing the provi s ion s of the original mea s ure ex c ept that a ,

regi s ter of the name s of s eamen wa s s ub s titu ted for the

per s onal regi s ter at fir s t c ontemplated The alteration .

wa s made after mu c h deliberation ; it being fina l ly c o n

s i de re d advi s able not t o attemp t too mu c h in t hat
dire c tion in the fir s t in s tan c e The full ti tle wa s . An
Ac t to amend and c on s oli date the L aw s relating to
the Mer c hant Seamen of t h e U nited Kingdom and for ,

forming and maintaining a Regi s ter of a ll the Men engaged

”
in that Servi c e .

1
E vi de n c e o f Si r J G ah am b e f o r e M ann i n g Co m m i s s i o n i n 1 8 5 8 p 5 2
. r , . .
an. 1] SEAMEN AND T HE STATE 99

In the ame s e s s ion wa s pa s s ed An Ac t for the e n

s
c o u r age m e nt of voluntary enli s t ment of s eamen and to ,

make regulation s for the more effe c tual manning of Hi s

”
( V
’
Maje s ty s Navy 5 6 Will I c a
p The
.
, .

Ac t reaffirmed the medi ae val prin c iple of c ompu l s ion by

giving a s tat utory s an c tion to the power of the King
t o c all for the s ervi c e s of s eafaring men in the event of an
emergen c y .The poli cy of the Government a s enun c iated ,

by Sir Jame s Graham wa s to maint ain the prerogative of

,

impre s s ment but to take every mea s ure whi c h might

,

render the u s e of the power of impre s s ment even in

time of war an ex c eption to the rule ba s ed only upon ,
”
urgent ne c e s s ity Provi s ion wa s made for e xe m p
.

ting from furt her i mpre s s ment men who had on c e be en

pre s s ed and had s erved at s e a for a period of five year s
, .

Thi s Act wa s a mea s ure of expedien c y and c ompromi s e ,

and the Government doubtle s s were j u s tified for a time

, ,

in feeling their way ; b u t s eeing that the s ys tem of

,

i m pre s s ment wa s s o wide l y c ondemned a grave re s pon s i ,

b i li ty wa s in c urred by tho s e in au thori t y in a llowing a

quarter of a c e n tury to elap s e before ano t her re c ogni s ed
s ys tem of providing s eamen a t s hort noti c e wa s s ub s ti tuted .

Happi l y no national emergen c y aro s e during the period ;

,

and ultimately the s y s tem of regi s try with t h e ne ce s s ary

, , ,

ma c hinery initiated by Sir J ame s Graham s Act re s ulted

,
’
,

in bringing the s ai l or under offi c ial c ontrol and afforded ,

a mean s of s e curing h i s s ervi c e when o cca sion required .

Thi s legi s lation marked the beginning of t h e end of t h e

s y s tem of impre s s ment b u t an old cu s tom wa s s low t o die
,
.

Senior o ffi c er s of the Navy who had s erved t hroughout

the Revolutionary and Napoleoni c War s were unwil ling
to agree to any weakening of the power of t h e Admira l ty
to make whatever c laim s i t deemed fi t upon t h e Mer chant
Servi ce in time of war ; and in point of fa c t the right of
, ,

the Crown to c all upon s eamen to s erve the S tate wa s

never abando n ed What happened wa s that the intro
.

du ction on February 1 4 th 1 85 3 of a s ys tem of c ontinuou s

s ervi c e for s eamen in the N a v y —repre s enting the l a s t word
, ,

in that pro c e s s of s pe c ial i s ation whi c h a s we hav e s een ,

—
,

dated from the reign of Henry VIII gradua lly provided

the fighting arm of t h e c ountry wit h a we ll trained -

per s onnel Prior to thi s event i t had be c ome apparent

. ,

t hat the R oya l Navy and the Mer c hant Navy were de
1 00 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH I .

v e l o pi ng on different line s . The fighting s ervi c e wa s

re s pond ing to new demand s ari s ing from the appli cation
of phy s i c al s c ien c e to nav al warfare while the Mer c hant
,

Servi c e wa s al s o undergoing a c hange in c harac ter The .

growth of international c omme rc e wa s leading to t h e

foundation of great s hipping c ompanie s making regular ,

s ailing s over pre s c ribed route s at definite time s an d it wa s ,

dawning on the authoritie s that even in war the m ai nte n

an c e of t he s e c ommuni c ation s wou l d be e s s ential Owing .

t o the rapid indu s triali s m of England and the c o n s e

quent depre s s ion of agri c ulture the population wa s ,

be c oming in c rea s ing l y dependent on over s ea s s upplie s .

In s hort the former haphazard manner of manning the

,

fighting s ervi c e wa s un s ui ted to c ondi tion s at s e a whi c h ,

required that men of the Fleet s hou l d be c arefully trained

over a long period of year s in order to enable them to
,

handle the in crea s ingly c ompli c ated weapon s of warfare

whi c h were being introdu c ed w h i le the c ountry wa s
,

be c oming s o dependen t on over s ea s upplie s that the

po s s ibi lity of laying up any portion of the Mer c hant Navy
in order to c omplete the manning of the R oyal Navy
s ugge s ted peril .

Before the introdu ction of long s ervi c e in the Navy ,

attention had been dire cted to the deterioration of the

per s onnel of the Mer c hant F leet and no doubt tho s e
‘

revelation s were not without their influen c e upon the

c our s e eventua l ly taken by the Admiralty in providing
the Royal Navy with a body of s pe c ially trained men who
engaged to s erve c ontinuou s l y with the pro s pe c t of pe ns ion
, .

Referen c e h a s already been made to the c ir culars i s s ued

1

from the F oreign Offi c e in 1 8 43 to Bri ti s h Con s ul s abroad

a s to the manning of the Mer chant F lee t In order to
‘

O btain a c orre c t V iew of the progre s s of the Mer c hant

Servi c e betwe e n the c lo s e o f the la s t Great War a nd the
O pening of ho s tili tie s in 1 9 1 4 it may perhap s b e o f
, , ,

intere s t to quote fr om s ome of the report s s ent to the

Foreign O ffi ce whi c h had thei r i nflu e nce o n th e d e ve lop
,

ment of the two S ervi ce s

Our mer chant s eamen are pi cked up a s they may be

found O n di s charge no writing of c hara cter i s given ; on
.

r e -e ngag eme nt
, o f co ur s e no s u c h c e rti fi cate
, c an be
3 See p 77 . .
1 02 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH . 1

be c ome irritated again s t ea c h other in c on s equen c e of

har s h and vio l ent c ondu ct s hown on one s ide and d i s ,

c ontent ,ill humour and in s ubordination on the other

-
, ,
.

Their mutual animo s itie s are however in general s u p , , ,

pre s s ed and kept within c ertain bou nd s by ne c e ss ity

,

during the time t hey are at s e a On their arrival in port .

their fir st thought ( too generally of ma ster s as well a s ,

men ) s eem s to be to get drunk All their animo s itie s then .

break out with redoub l ed violen c e and quarre lling , ,

fighting and other di sgra c eful s c ene s en sue whi c h bring

, ,

di s c redit upon their c ountry equa ll y with thems e l ve s , .

Mot ive s of e c onomy are among st s ome a s our c e of , ,

di sturban c e O n arriving in Briti s h port s many ma ster s

.

di s c harge almo st all their c rew in order not to be at the ,

c harge of maintaining and paying them whi l e they are

in port They do not fi l l up their c omplement s until

.

they are j u st on the point of s ailing again on their outward

voyage ; they are then obliged to take the fir st per s on s
they c an find who frequent l y prove not to be s eamen or
, ,

very i n e fli c i e nt men and oft en turn out to be very bad

” —
,

c hara c ter s and c au s e a great deal of troub l e

,
Con .

s tan ti n op le .

In point of intelligen c e addre s s and c ondu c t they , , ,

—
B riti s h ma ster s are t h e inferior to the Americ an s hip
ma ster s and in c on s equen c e of t heir intemperan c e when
, ,

in port great di s s ati s fa ction i s expre s s ed by their c rew s

,
.

What their knowledge of prac t i c al navigation and

s eaman s hip may be I am not c ompetent to s ay having , ,

always preferred when vi s iting Eng l and taking a pa s s age

, ,

in an Americ an ve s s el but I have ob s erved that de s ertion s

very s eldom o c cur or only to a l imited extent from ve s s e l s
, ,

c ommanded by s uperior men while le s s effi c ient ma ster s ,

not infrequently lo s e their entire c rew s .

I have in a former year a sc ertained the amount d i s

b u r s e d by every Briti s h and every Americ an ve s s el fr e
q u e nt i n
g thi s port and the expenditure ,
of the Bri t i s h
w a s from 3 0 to 50 per c ent greater than the Americ an . .

The Brit i s h ma ster s eldom re c eive s more than £ 1 0 per

mont h whil st a fl o at and c on s equently prefer s a long to
,

a s hort voyage The wage s of an Americ an ma ster with

. ,

h i s perqui s ite s are near l y treble that amount ; he h a s

, ,

therefore no indu c ement to di s hone sty t o s upport him s elf

,
.

The Briti s h ma ster s I have been c redibly informed run

, ,
CH. 1 ] BRITISH AND 1 08 AMERICAN MASTERS
up longer bill s with the diff erent trade s men and after ,

payment of them and a rec eipt in ful l taken many arti c l e s

, ,

are s ent bac k and the c o s t of them a s c harged in the bill

, , ,

refunded to the ma ster the inferenc e i s that the owner s ,

o f the ve s s e l s never re c eive c redit for the arti c le s s o r e

turned ” —S avannah
. .

There doe s not appear to be the s ame enc ouragement

extended to Briti s h ma s ter s a s there i s to Americ an The .

average wage s per month ( in thi s trade ) paid to the former

i s £ 8 IOS together wit h the average of h i s proportion of
.
,

the c abin freight £2 i s equal to s ay £ 1 0 1 0 8 per month ;

, , .

while to the latter in c luding all h i s perqui s ite s s ay £2 0

, ,

per month It i s very u s ual for the Ameri c an ma ster t o

.

have an intere s t of an one eighth to one fourth in the - -

ve s s el under h i s c ommand and owner s of ve s s el s being , ,

s o c onvin c ed that it i s to their advant age that t h e ma ster

s hould be s o intere sted frequently give them a s hare on ,

c redit A s a proof that the c hara cter of Brit i s h s hipping

.

h a s de c lined I wou l d in stan c e the fa c t that almo s t i n

, ,

variably Americ an s hip s not only obtain a dec ided prefer

,

enc e over Briti s h s hip s but general l y a higher rate of

” —
,

freight N or f o l k Vi rgi ni a
.
, .

If I were to mention the name s of tho s e per s on s whom

I deem u nfi tt e d for c ommand I fear I s hould inc lude ,

the whole of the remaining trader s to thi s port With the .

former exc eption s ( mentioned ear l ier in the report ) I do ,

not think that a Briti s h ve s s el arrive s at Pernambuc o with

out s ome c omp l aint being made to me from the men of ,

brutality s tar v ation in s ulting language overwork or

, , , ,

want of s u ffi c ient hand s In nine c a s e s out of ten I am . ,

obliged to d e c ide in favour of th e men ; and what i s the

c on s equen c e Why that armed wit h no s pe c ifi c power s
, ,

the ma ster laugh s at the dec i s ion whic h he hims elf h a s

oftentime s invoked ; even here where the Commerc ial ,

Treaty make s Her Maj e sty s Con sul s arbitrat or s in the ’

dis pute s of their c ountrymen no power s of enfor c ing them

”—
,

are c onferred P e m a m bu co. .

Mr J ame s Murray in a memorandum dated Novem

.
,

ber 2 2 n d 1 8 4 7 de c lared that the c ondit ion of Briti s h

, ,

Shipping a c c ording to e v idenc e from the port s of foreign

,

S tate s may not unj u st l y be termed di sc redit ab l e t o

,

this c ountry No s u ffi c ient effort s appear to have been

.
1 04 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH . 1

made in Great Britain to remedy the exi sting evi l s

while pain s have been taken by foreign Government s and ,

with s u c c e ss to improve the c ondition of their Merc antile

,
”
Marine .

We may turn from the evil s s o fully illu strated in

the s e report s and s o clearly empha s i s ed in Mr Jame s
, .

Murray s memorandum ba s ed upon them to the re l ated

’
, ,

que s tion of the ineffe ctive c ontrol by the State of the

manning of t h e Mer c antile Marine B eyond the mu ster .

roll s required s in c e 1 74 7 by t h e Se am e n s R elief Act

,
’

( 2 0 t h of Geo II c a
p . 3 8 ) and s
,
ub s equent
. Statute s t o ,

be kept on board m er c hant s hip s and the dup l ic ate s to ,

be rendered to the c olle ctor s of Cu stom s in c onne c tion ,

with the Mer c hant S e a m e n s Fund no re c ord s of the

1 ’
,

c rew s of Briti s h ve s s el s were in exi s t en c e and apparently

no s tati stic al u s e wa s made of t h e a c c ount s s o rendered .

The only p u bli s hed figure s in c onne ction with the Mer c hant
S ervi c e were c ontained in the Parliamentary R eturn ,

prepared by the R egi strar General of S eamen s u b s e -

,

quently of Shipping and S eamen who was for many ,

year s an offi c er of the Admiralty and afterward s of the ,

B oard of Trade s howing the number of ve s s el s with the

, ,

amount o f their tonnage a n d th e a ggr e ga te n u m be r of,

m en an d b oy s u s u a ll em l d in n avi ga ti n g th e m
y p yo e ,

that belonged to the s everal port s of the Briti s h

E mpire on D e c ember S l st in ea c h year The Admiralt y .

had thu s but a vague knowledge of the s our c e fro m whic h

the N avy w a s part l y manned in time of pea c e and from ,

whi c h it would be re cruited in t ime of war In s hort .

,

the c on s titution of the Mer c antile Marine wa s a matter

of s urmi s e and a s s umption off ering no ba s i s for a s c heme
,

by whic h the s upply of s eamen c ould be in c rea s ed .

1 T h i s was a fu n d e s tabli sh e d wi th a vi e w to grantin g p e ns i o n s to se am e n .

Al l se a m e n w e r e c o m pe lle d to c on tr i bu te to i t Afte r a lo n g pe ri o d o f
.

m i sm an age m e n t i t b e c am e i ns olv e nt B y an Act i n tr o du c e d by Mr

. .

L a b ou c he re i n 1 8 5 1 th e G o v e rnm e nt u n de rt o ok t o r e m o v e th e gre a t
,

gri e v an ce t o se am e n by wi n di n g u p th e fu n d a t th e c o s t o f th e c o u n tr y .

T h e p ri n c i ple a d o p te d w as t o ta k e al l e xi s ti n g as s e ts t o p ay all e xi s ti n g
p e n s i on s o r clai m s t o p e n s i o n ; an d t o allo w e xi s ti n g c on tr i bu t o r s t o
c o n t i n u e t he i r c o n tri b u ti o n s w i th th e p r o s p e c t o f a p e n s i o n T h e am o u n t .

o f f u tu r e p e n s i o n s w a s d e t e rm i n e d by ta ki n g t h e a v e a g e o f t he n e x i s ti n g
r

p e ns i o ns w hi c h b e s i de s b e i n g fre qu e n tly wi t hhe ld fr o m wan t o f fu n ds

, , ,

di ffe r e d i n am o u nt a t th e di ff e r e n t p o rts T h e di ff e r e n ce b e tw e e n as s e t s
.

an d li a bi li ti e s w as p ai d o u t o f th Pu bli c Exc h e u e r
q T h e w i n di n g u
e .
p
re sses 6 6 66 th e State ab ou t
p
 1 06 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH . I

prevailed at the Admiralty le s t the ne c e s s ity for i s suing

Pre ss Warrant s s hould ari s e before milder and wi s er meth o d s
had been tried .

The Regi strar General of S eamen wa s in Con s equen c e

-
, ,

c alled upon by the Admiralty in O c tober 1 8 3 8 to s tate , ,

whether he wa s prepared to re c ommend any mea s ure

to in s ure the power of pro curing a c ertain number of
”
men for fil ling up the S hip s at s hort notic e Captain .

Brown R N the R egi strar General at onc e s ubmitted

, .
-
,
’
h i s view s s etting forth a s th e re s u lt of h i s experien c e
, , ,

two remedie s for for c ible impre s s ment

1)
A general per s onal regi s try of all mariner s of every
degree taki ng minute individua l de sc ription of eac h a s
,

to age c apa c ity e t c and after rej e c ting the aged and
, , .
,

in c apable from the li s t to draught or ballot a c ertain ,

number at fixed period s ; the name s of men s o drawn to

be exhibited at every Cu stom Hou s e with noti c e to c ome ,

forward under c ertain penaltie s for refu s al or n egle ct

, ,

when c alled on by Pro c lamation .

( )
2 To form a re s erve of men either in one two or ,

three c la s s e s whi c h may be di stingui s hed a s the N aval

,

R e s erve .
’

H e pointed however many s eriou s obj e ction s to

out , ,

the fir s t plan and warmly advo c ated the adoption of the

,

s e c ond .

The matter remained In abeyan c e til l when in ,

c onne c tion with the Mer c hant S e a m e n s Fund the que s tion
’
,

of e stabli s hing a te s t of identity for ea c h Briti s h s eaman

w a s c on s idered by a Parliamentary C ommittee appointed
to inquire into the working of that Fund It wa s at .

leng th re s olved to amend th e Mer chant S e a m e n s Act and ’

,

to inaugurate a new s ys tem of registry with a twofold ,

,

obj e ct : fir s t to benefit s eamen by affording them a ready

,

mean s of e s tabli s hing their c laim s for re l ief or s upport

from the Mer c hant S e a m e n s Fund ; and s e c ond l y to ’
, ,

pro v ide for the ab s tra c tion of c la s s e s of s eamen from the

general body without re s orting to indi s c riminate i mpre s s
,

ment A mea s ure wa s a c c ordingly prepared whi c h p a s s ed

.
,

int o law on S eptember 5 th 1 8 4 4 entitled An A ct to , , ,

1 Thi s w as t h e ye ar h h
in w ic th e F o r e i n O g ffice ; a t th e r eq u e s t o f t h e
A dm i r al ty , ca lle d fo r re p o r ts as t o t h e m an ni n g o f th e M r can ti le Mar i n e
e .
 T HE SEAMAN S TICKET ’

]
‘
on. 1 1 07

amend and c on s olidate the L aw s re l ating to Mer chant ‘

S eamen and for keeping a Regi ster of S eamen ( 7

, 8
Vi c t c a p
.
, The A c t provided for the adoption of th e
.

regi ster ti c ket and Sir J ame s Graham de c lared in the

,

Hou s e of C ommon s when the Bill wa s read a third t ime , ,

that t hi s provi s ion formed part of h i s original intention .

U nder the new law no per s on exc ept a ma ster or surgeon

, , ,

being a Briti s h s ubj e c t wa s to s erve on board s hip wit hout,

a ti c ket bearing h i s name and de s c ription Thi s tic ket .

ea c h s eaman w a s required to depo s it with the ma ster of

the ve s s el in whic h he engaged when s igning artic le s and ,

t h e ma ster wa s required to return it to the s eaman at the

expiration of h i s agreement .

The R egi strar General of S eamen wa s deputed to c arry

-

the mea s ure into e ff e c t and it fe l l to the Offi c er s of Cu st om s

,

at the s evera l port s to i s s ue the ti c ket s Ea c h tic ket wa s .

di s tingui s hed by a number from 1 upward s and bore ,

the stamp of the General R egi ster and Re c ord O ffi c e

of S eamen —the word s and Re c ord ”
having been
added to the tit l e by t h e new Act 1
A numeri c al regi ster .

w a s opened in that Offi c e in whi c h were re c orded the

partic u l ar s of the men to whom the regi ster t ic ket s were
i s s ued and their s ub s equent movement s were du l y entered
,

thereon from the c rew l i s t s furni s hed a s heretofore wit h

, ,

the addition of eac h man s e s pec ial number To quote ’

.

from a report by Captain Brown dated No v ember 2 4 th , ,

1 847 ,
the mea s ure a s c arried int o e ffe c t be c ame popu l ar
with the s eamen who adopted the opinion t hat t h e t ic ket
,
,

being i s sued to Briti s h s ubj e c t s on l y wo u l d prevent ,

”
foreigner s from u s urping their bert h s At thi s time and . ,

unti l 1 8 5 3 no foreigner s were allowed to s erve in c oa st ing

,

ve s s el s and n o t more than 2 5 per c ent of th e c rew in foreign

,
.

going ve s s e l s It al s o appear s from t h e report that t h e

.

mea s ure wa s general l y popular with th e s hipowner s be ,

c au s e they c on s idered t hat t h e depo s it o f the ti c ket with t h e

’
ma st er s of ve s s el s during the term s of a s eaman s s ervi c e
”
gave them a lien upon him whi c h would prevent de s ert ion .

Di s appoint ment en s ued however when it wa s found t hat , ,

1 A fu r t he r a ddi ti o n t o th e ti tle o f th e Offi d c e w as d m a e i n 1 8 72 .

Un er

th e M h
e c an tr S h pp in g h
Ac t o f t a t y e
i ar t h e r e w as a t r a n s f r o f e
,

r e gi s tr y w o k f r o m r t h e Cu s t o m s an d t e R g
h e i s t,
r a r G e n e a l o f S e am e n - r

b e c am e th e R e gi s tr ar Ge n e r al o f Shi ppi n g an d Se
- a m e n T h e o f fi h
c e t e n .

as s u m e d i ts p r e s e n t t i tle o f th e Ge n e r al R e gi s t e r a n d R e co r d O ffi
.

ce o f
S hi pp i n g an d Se am e n ”
.
 1 08 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF [ T HE PAST CH . I

“
the mac hinery of the R egi ster O ffi c e wa s not to be
brought to bear upon de s erter s to pro c ure their c onviction
”
and puni s hment .

However good the s ys tem wa s on paper it br oke down in ,

pra c ti c e ; main l y be c au s e there wa s no dire c t indu c ement

for the men to take c are of the ti c ket s The Mer c hant .

S e a m e n s Fund o ff ered none a s it turned out F or s ome

’
.
,

time in an in s ol vent s tate owing t o gro s s mi s management , ,

it was practi c ally aboli s hed s o far a s nine tenth s of t h e ,

-

Servi c e wa s c on c erned by the Winding u p Act of 1 8 5 1 ,

-
.

The maj ority of s eamen had long looked upon the F und
with s u s pic ion and di sgu st : money w a s s topped from
their wage s and they under s tood not where t h e money
,

went Thu s having no pa l pab l e intere st in s afeguarding

.
,

their identity it i s not surpri s ing that the s eamen re s orted

,

to an illega l traffi c in ti c ket s in s pite of c aution s and ,

penaltie s With the strength of the Merc antile Marine

.

then ranging from to Briti s h s eamen

( ex c lu s ive of ma ster s ) the i s s ue of over half a million ,

ti c ket s in the c our s e of s i x year s pointed to the prevalen c e

of abu s e s Indeed it wa s s tated in evidenc e before the
.
,

L ord s Committee s itting in 1 8 4 8 to inquire into the Navi

i L aw s that in the Jews s hop s at Shadwe ll and ’
g a t o n ,

in s imilar p l a c e s at Bri s tol s ai l or s c ou l d pur c ha s e a s many ,

regi st er ti c ket s a s t hey wanted and for ha lf the amount ,

of t h e fine that would be a s ked of them if they went to t h e

”
Cu s t om Hou s e .

The repeal in 1 8 5 3 of the Manning c lau s e s of the old ‘

N avigation L aw s whi c h exc luded foreigner s from s er ving,

in c oa sting ve ss el s and limited the number to be employed

in foreign going ve s s el s made it no longer ne c e s s ary to
-
,

prove nationa l ity at time of engagement and s o did away ,

wit h what litt l e value the ti c ket s til l po s s e s s ed for a Briti s h

s ea m an In the c ir cum stan c e s there wa s but one
.
,

thing to be done The fun ction s and power s ve sted in the.

Admiralty under the Merc hant Se am e n s Ac t and t h e ’

amending Ac t of 1 844 had been tran s ferred to t h e B oard

1

of Trade by the Merc anti l e Marine A ct of 1 8 50 ( 1 3 14

Vi c t c ap.
, with fu ll power s to a lter or di s pen s e with
.

the regi ster ti c ket s ys tem Ac ting on the s e power s t h e

-
.
,

B oard of Trade formal l y aboli s hed the s y stem by noti c e

in the Lon don Gaze tte of S ep t ember 3 ot h 1 8 5 3 , .

1
Acts 5 6 W i ll IV c ap 1 9 an d 7 8 Vi c t c ap 1 1 2
.
, .
, .
, . .
110 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH . I

forth in the S hipping and N avigation Return s under th e

”
head of Per s on s Employed In addition the c rew li st s .
,

c ontaining their s ignat ure s and de s c ription s were fi l ed and

were avai lable for referen c e 1

.

The breakdown of the per s onal te s t s ys tem led to the

c on s ideration of Cap t ain Brown s s e c ond plan for pro c uring
’

—
men for the Navy at s hort notic e v i z the formation and ,

maintenan c e of a vo luntary N ava l Re s erve In fa ct .

,

money wa s voted in the Navy E stimate s of 1 8 5 2 3 for —

experimenting with the s c heme to the extent of
men but owing to a c hange of Government nothing wa s
,

done The Admiralty however were s oon to experien c e

.
, ,
’
the truth of Captain Brown s dic tum that the mean s
of augmenting our naval for c e c annot be extempori s ed ,
”
but mu s t be pr e o r ga ni s e d A c c ording to the eviden c e .

of R ear Admiral Mi l ne and S ir J ame s Graham before t h e

-

C ommi s s ioner s for manning the Navy in 1 8 5 8 immen s e , ,

d i ffi c u lty wa s experien c ed in 1 8 5 4 in fitting out the Balti c

and Blac k S ea Fleet s The operation wa s s low in the .

extreme ; s mall ve s s el s had to be re c alled from foreign

s tation s and their c rew s tran sferred a s a nu c leu s to the -
,

larger s hip s Mo s t of the men s ent out to the Balti c Fleet

—
.

were very young and without experien c e land s men

, ,

in fa c t Well might Admiral S ir Charle s Napier c omplai n

.

of the delay in getting h i s c omplement of men and of the ,

quality of tho s e he did get It wa s j u st the time when a .

re s erve of s eamen would have been inva luable had there

been one Sai l or s were urgently needed and yet the
.
,

s ituation wa s not s u ffi c ien t ly s eriou s to warrant the i s s ue

of a pro clamation with all the inc onvenien c e s att ending

,

bount ie s and embargoe s 1

Even a s i t wa s there wa s s u c h
.
,

a dema nd for s eamen that wage s in c rea s ed nearly 40 per

c ent . With s hipowner s outbidding the Government a s ,

1 p
T h e p r e ar ati o n o f th e s ta ti s ti cs r e fe rr e d t o i n th i s p a r a gr aph c alls
f o r a fe w r e m ar ks T h e fir s t r e li a ble figu r e s w e r e c o m p i le d i n 1 700 , w h e n
.

t h e R e gi s tr a r s o f Shi pp i n g i n E n gl an d w e r e r e qu i r e d t o s e n d i n li s ts o f t h e
v e ss e ls o n t h e i r r e gi s te r s , wi t h t h e n u m b e r s o f m e n u s u ally r e qu i r e d t o
m an t h e m R e gi s tr a r s i n Sc o tl an d an d Ir e l an d w e r e br o u gh t i n t o li n e
.

l ate r o n Afte r a lon g p e ri o d i t w as r e c o gn i s e d t hat m an y v e s se ls o n t h e

.

r e gi s te r w e r e e i t h e r l a i d u p , e m pl o y e d i n l an d , o r o u t o f e x i s te n c e , s o s i n c e

1 8 4 8 , o n ly t h o s e v e s s e l s e m pl o y e d a t s o m e t i m e d u r i n g t h e y e a r i n t h e
H o m e o r F o r e i gn T r a de o r i n F i s hi n g h a v e b e e n i n clu de d i n t h e Ann u a l
S ta t i s ti c s A m o r e de ta i le d an alysi s o f s hi p s an d c r e ws h as be e n m a de
.

i n th e qu i n qu e nn i al Ce n s u s r e t u rn s c o m p i le d s i n c e 1 8 9 1 .

1
Cf Si r J am e s
.
’
G
r ah am s e vi d e n c e b e f o r e M ann i n g Co m m i s s i on i n 1 8 5 8,

p 53
. .
CH .
]1 THE ACT OF
111 1 85 9

they would have done wages mu s t h ave gone up t o a ,

'

ruinou s rate The le s s on t hen taught the aut horitie s wa s

.

n o t forgot ten and re s u lted in t h e appointment of a Roya l

,

Commi s s ion in 1 8 58 to inquire into the be s t mean s of

manning the Navy The Commi s s ion pre s ided over by .
,

L ord Hardwi c ke favoured Captain Brown s s c heme of a

,
’

voluntary Nava l Re s erve They propo s ed in t heir Repor t .

the s ub s ti tution of a s ys tem o f defen c e vo luntary and ,

”
e ffe c tive for untrained c ompul s ory s ervi ce
, They were .

of opinion that from t h e Mer c han t Servi c e c ou ld be formed

a for c e of thorough s eamen trained i n gunnery and ,
'

qualified for i mmediate s ervi c e on board a S hip of war .

An Ac t wa s a cc ordingly pa s s ed in Augu s t 1 8 59
( 2 2 2 3 Vi c t c a p 4 0 ) giving
.
,the Admiral t y power
. to
rai s e Royal Nava l Volu nteer s not to ex c eed ,

men . The ma c hinery for the e s tabli s hment of the For ce

wa s ready to hand in the General Regi s ter and Re c ord
Ofli c e of Seamen a nd the variou s S hipping o ffi ce s in the
United Ki ngdom Under the Mer canti l e Marine Ac t
.

of 1 8 5 0 whi c h pla ced the management of matter s relating

,

t o t h e Briti s h Mer c antile Marine un der the Board of Trade ,

—
Shipping Ma s ter s s in c e de s c ribed a s Superintendent s of
the Mer c anti le Marine Offi ce s — had re cently been appointed
to s upe rintend the regi s try engagement and di s c harge , ,

of s eamen e t c and their s tatu s and dutie s were further

, .
,

defined by the Mer c hant S h ipping Act of 1 8 5 4 The s e .

o ffi cer s were ne c e s s arily in c lo s e t ou ch with the s eamen ,

and a c ting under the dire c tion of the Regi s trar General
,
-

of Seamen were the be s t po s sible agent s for pro curing

,

volunteer s It i s intere s ting to note that a s the fir s t

.

s ugge s tion in modern t ime s to rai s e an effe ctive Naval

Re s erve o r i gi n ate d i n 1 8 5 2 with Cap tain Brown t h e original ,

holder of the appointment of Regi s trar Genera l of Seamen -

,

s o wh e n t h e s c heme wa s a d o p te d i t wa s found t hat in tha t

.

o ffi c e with i t s re c ord s and admini s trative ma chinery

, .

throughout the c ountry lay the hope s of s u c ce s s Su c ,

.

c e e d i ng Regi st rar s General — notabl y Mr J J Mayo Mr

- . . .
,
.

H N Malan Mr John C lark Ha ll and Mr C H Jone s

. .
, .
-
,
. .

.
'

working in c onj un c tion with th e v ariou s Admi ral s Super

i nt e n d e nt of Nav a l Re s er v e s ( aft er 1 9 0 3 Admiral s Com
manding Coa s t Guard and Nav al Re s erve s ) s u cc eeded in ,

organi s ing out of th e per s onne l of the Me r c antl l e Mari ne

.

and the fi s hing indu s try a l arge dependable and readi ly , ,

9
112 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH I .

avai l able re s erve for c e for the R oyal Navy Certain alter .

native propo s al s were brought forward o r given a tri al ,

and th e Roya l Naval Coa s t Vo lunt eer s e s tab l i s hed in ,

c ontinued in exi st en c e for twenty year s ; but

%

1 853 ,

experien c e at la s t c onfirmed the wi s dom of O bt aining a

s e a going for c e
-
thu s giving e ffe c t to s ugge s tion s made
,

by l eading naval o ffi c er s of the war period in c luding ,

Ne l s on who on s everal o c ca s ion s u rged on the naval

,

authoritie s t h e advi s abili t y of fo s tering the Mer chant

Navy a s th e s our c e of a s upp l y of handy and experien c ed
s eamen for men o f war in a t ime of s udden emergen c y
- -
.

The hi s t ory of t h e Royal Naval Re s erve h a s been a

c hequered one Offi c er s of the N aval Servi c e who s at on
.

the Board of Admiralt y were apparent ly impre s s ed i nc r e a s

i ng l y in pro c e s s of t ime by the wide divergen c e between
, ,

the need s of the Royal Navy and tho s e of t h e Mer c hant

Servi c e a s the former re s ponded t o t h e impul s e of invention
—
,

and developed a demand for men of s pe c ial training for

s igna lling gunnery t orpedo work and other dutie s At
, , , .

fir s t t h e Royal Naval Re s erve c on s i s ted only of lower de c k -

rating s and there wa s c on s iderable oppo s ition to the

,
“

propo s al that o ffi c er s of the Mer c antile Marine s hould be

in c luded in the F or c e but an Act wa s pa s s ed in 1 8 6 1 pr o v i d
,

ing for their appointmen t It wa s repealed and fre s h pro .

vi s ion s were made by t h e Ac t of 1 8 6 3 ( 2 6 85 2 7 Vi ct c a p 6 9 ) .

, . .

Cap tain H J Cha l li s R N in h i s eviden c e before a Genera l

. .
, . .
,

Commi ttee of the Admiralt y and Board of Trade in 1 8 6 9 ,

s tated that he obj e c ted a ltogether to the prin ciple that

o ffi c er s of the Mer c antile Marine be employed in the Naval

Re s erve adding that he c on s idered that t here wa s

,

s u fli c i e n c y of naval o ffi c er s who are well fitted for the

”
work . Captain Cha lli s e v ident ly re fle cted t h e general view
'

of t h e Navy a t t h e ti me For many year s t h e training of the

.
1

F or c e wa s neg le c ted ; offi cer s and men were re l egated

to s hore batterie s provided only with muzzle l oading g ri n s -

after t h e bree c h loader had been adopted for s ervi c e at s e a

-
.

Genera lly the Servi c e s u ffered from unintelligent d i s

c o u r a ge m e nt In January 1 8 89
. there wa s not
( ex c ept on board the D i s t ri c t Coa s tguard s hip s ) a s ingle
bree c h loading or ma c hine gun u s ed in the in s tru c tion of
- -

the Re s erve b u t e ar l y in 1 8 9 1 we find tha t four teen 5 in ch

,
-

E v e n i n 1 8 79 Adm i r al Si r Au gu s tu s Ph il l i m o r e u r g e d t h at c om

m i ss i ons s ou be h ld c o n fin e d t o a v e r y li m i te d n u m b e r .
 T HE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST
'

11 4 % i cm I

The arrangement s for t h e dri ll and tra ining of men

of the Roya l Nava l Re s erve have been re c ent l y reviewed
i n order to i mprove the e ffi cien c y of thi s bran c h of t h e
Re s erve s and a l s o to redu c e i t s co s t Hi ther to Royal
, .
,

Nava l Re s erve men have been dri lled on board t h e harbour

dril l S hip s and batterie s e s tab li s hed roun d the c oa s t s of
-

the Uni ted Kingdom and a c ertain nu m ber have undergone

,

a period of naval training on board the s e a going dri l l -

S hip s or in s hip s of the Channel F leet Thi s s y s tem i s

, .
,

however no longer wel l adap ted to t h e requirement s o f

,

the Servi c e ina s mu c h a s the greater part of t h e drill h a s

,

been devo t ed to g u nnery a c la s s of du t y whi c h i s very

,

un likely to devolve upon R oyal Naval Re s erve m e n in

war and a s ( ex cept perhap s the li mit ed number of men
, , ,

who embark for nine mont h s of nava l training ) they do

n o t a c quire and main t ain s uffi c ient know l edge of the
general routine of a man o f war The e s tabli s hment of - -
.

the divi s ion s of S hip s in c ommi s s ion in re s erve h a s now

given an O pportuni t y for a ffording the Royal Naval
Re s erve the training in whi c h they have hi t herto been
wanting The s e s hip s have on l y a portion of their c rew s
.

on board and c an t herefore a c c o m moda te a c on s iderable

,

number of Re s erve men with advantage both t o t hem s elve s

,

and t heir c rew s A lt hough t h e S hip s on l y go t o s e a for

.

c rui s e s on c e a quar ter t h e genera l routine i s mu c h the

,

s ame a s when they are fu ll y c ommi s s ioned for s e a s ervi c e

and s in c e they will c hange frequent l y the Re s erve men ,

wi ll have more fa ci litie s for be c oming familiar with the

internal e c onomy of a modern man o f war It h a s a c - -
.

c o r d i n gl y been de c ided that from April l s t next al l dri l l ,

at batterie s and in harbour dri l l s hip s s hall c ea s e and -

,

t h e e s tab l i s hment s wi l l be c lo s ed ex c ept in a few c a s e s , ,

where t h e pre s ent s y s tem wi ll be c on tinued a litt l e longer .

The s e ex c ep tion s are the dri ll S hip s in L ondon Aberdeen -

, , .

Bri s to l and L iverpoo l and t h e Royal Naval R e s erve

, ,

batterie s at Penzan c e Yarmout h Wi c k Stornoway , , , ,

L erwi c k Greeno c k Upper Cove and Ro s s lare

, ,
Under , .

thi s new s ys tem of training th e men wi ll be expe c ted t o ,

embark in t h e fir s t year for t hree mon th s and thereafter ,

”
for one mont h every al ternate year .

The regu lation s for c arr y ing into effe c t t h e foregoing

po li c y were i s s ued on Mar c h 2 9 th 1 9 0 6 ; on Mar ch 3 1 8 t ,
 on . 1 ] IMPROVED TRAINING 115

five harbour dri ll s hip s and five torpedo gunboats were

-

paid o ff and twenty fi v e R oyal Naval Re s erve batterie s

,
-

c lo s ed and on April l s t 1 9 0 6 the new s ys tem of training

, ,

c ame in t o for c e O ffi c er s of the Roya l Naval Re s erve

.

were given t h e option of dri ll ing at t h e remaining dril l

s tation s under the old s ys tem for five year s from Apri l l s t ,

1 9 0 6 but on promotion t hey were required to embra c e

,

t h e new s y s te m . R oyal Naval Re s erve men s erving in

t h e For c e on Apri l l s t 1 9 0 6 were given t h e option of
, ,

c a r f y i n g out th e ir dri l l s a t t h e remaining harbour s hip s -

or s h ore batterie s during their c urrent period of enro l ment

or of adop ting t h e new s ys tem but upon r e enro l ment ,
-

t hey were required to fall in with the new s y s tem The r e .

maining harbour drill s hip s and Roya l Naval Re s erve b at

-

te r i e s were fina ll y paid o ff and c l o s ed on Mar c h 3 l s t 1 9 1 1 , .

The effe ct of t h e formation of the Royal Flee t Re s erve

and the c hange in the s y s tem of training Nava l Re s ervi s t s
rea c ted on t h e s trength of t h e latter for c e whi ch if it ‘

, ,

gai ned in effi c ien cy l o s t in number s s in c e under the new

, ,

s y s tem it wa s l e s s c onvenient for mer c hant s eamen to u t

p
in t heir t raining than wa s t h e c a s e when t hey c ould go to
a l o c a l ba ttery and qua lify Experien c e c onfirmed the .

Admiralt y in i ts op i nion of the new s c heme and in 1 9 1 0 ,

the Fir s t L ord ( Mr Reginald Mc Ke nn a ) announ ced that

.

t h e t r aining in t h e s hip s of the H ome F l ee t under t h e new

s ys tem i s very valuab l e and wi ll render t h e Roya l Naval
,
”
Re s erve For c e an e ffi c ient por tion of t h e naval per s onne l ,

a s t ime wa s to S how In 1 9 1 0 a traw ler s e c tion of th e Royal

.

Nava l Re s erve wa s formed c on s i s ting of s kipper s s e c ond

, ,

hand s de c k hand s and engine room hand s of trawler s

, ,
-
.

The poli c y of the Briti s h Government whi c h h a s been ,

tra c ed in brief s ummary wa s developed in s ome c onfu s ion

, , ,

on t h e following line s

( )
1 To develop the Mer c hant Servi c e by mean s of t h e
Navigation L aw s whi c h were repealed when it w a s de c ided
,

that t hey were inj uriou s .

( )
2 To a s c e rtain t h e number of s hip s and men b e l o ngl ng

to t h e Empire by mean s of the law s for regi s tering S hip s .

( )
3 To e s tab l i s h s ui t able R e s erve s .

As to t h e t hird point the c hief obje c t wa s to repl a c e

,
”
untrained mer c hant s eamen by gunner s wi t h s e a leg s -
,
116 THE MERCHANT NAVY OF THE PAST [ CH . I

whi c h led to t h e formation in 1 8 7 2 of the old Se c ond Cla s s -

Re s erve re c rui ted c hie fl y from t h e fi s hing indu s try

, .

Here we rea c h the final s tage in the s e cular relation s

between the Navy and the Mer c antile Marine The .

nineteenth c entury s aw the c omp l ete extin c tion of the

medi ae v al s y s tem Yet wi t hin a few year s of i ts extin ction
.

it had begun to be re v iv ed on new l ine s by the forma tion

of a Re s erve drawn from the Mer c hant Servi c e and in
other way s And the general c on c l u s ion to be noted i s that
.

long before the European War c a m e upon u s the Admira l ty ,

s o far from having forgotten the hi s tori c c onne c tion

between the two S erv i c e s wa s endeav ouring t o rev v e
,

it though to a l imited extent on l y in a modern form

, , .

As a re s u l t of t he s e effor ts when the s torm broke in

,

Augu s t 1 9 1 4 t h e Admira lt y c ontro ll ed a Nava l Re s erve

,

of upward s of t rained o ffi c er s and men of the

Mer c anti l e Marine and F i s hing Indu s try be s ide s nearly ,

offi c er s and men of the Royal F lee t R e s erve In .

addition t h e nation benefi ted by the ame liorative mea s ure s

,

a ff e c ting t h e per s onnel of the Mer chant Navy whi c h had ,

been c arried o u t in t h e pre c eding fift y year s Wherea s dur .

,

ing the Revolutionary and Napo l eoni c War s the c on s tant ,

preo c cupa tion of t h e naval authoritie s wa s t h e manning

of the F leet a s wa s al s o the c a s e at t h e time of the Cri mean
,

War in the s ummer of 1 9 1 4 the Admira lt y had at i t s

,

di s po s a l in addition to the regu lar per s onnel of t h e Roya l

,

Navy with i t s own re s erve not on l y , RN R . . .

offi cer s and men trained in war dutie s b u t t h e who l e ,

reformed per s onne l of t h e Mer c antile Marine c on s i s ting ,

of s ome men of Bri ti s h birth a larger number ,

than at any previou s date in Bri ti s h annal s together wi th ,

s ome fi s hermen At the beginning of Augu s t 1 9 1 4

.

the s trengt h of N aval per s onne l w as in November

1 9 1 8 when the Armi s t i c e w as s igned it had been in c rea s ed
, ,

by s ome offi c er s and men in addi tion to t h e making

,

good of a wa s tage of s ome It w as large l y from t h e

men of Briti s h birth belonging to the Mer c ant ile
Marine and the men emp l oyed in fi s hing round
the c oa s t s of th e United Kingdom t hat t h e required re c rui t s
’
had been obtained The hi s tory of the Mer c hant Navy s
.

par t in t h e war revea l s the manner in whi c h t he s e men

a c qui tted t hem s elve s in fa c e of danger s unpre c edented in
variety and c hara cter .
 118 ON THE EVE OF WAR [ CH . 11

t h e S hip s of the Bri ti s h Mer c hant Navy wa s c apab l e of

s teaming a s fa s t a s t h e late s t and s wifte s t c rui s e rs of the

national fighting flee ts of the Great Power s quite apar t ,

from the other dis advantage s from whi c h t hey s uffered .

In t he s e c ir cum s t an c e s mer c hant o ffi c er s and men c o n

,

fronted the new c ondition s rea lis ing t heir defen c ele s s ne s s
, ,

but with c onfiden c e that no deve lopments were probab l e

during th e c ours e of war when pa s s ion s be c ome ex cited
, ,

whi c h wou ld put their live s in danger a s defen c ele s s non

c ombatant s .

The s ens e of s e curity of mer c hant s eamen had been

‘

s trengthened by the di s c u s s ion s a ffe c ting the interpretation

of maritime law whi c h h a d taken pla c e at The Hague and ,

later on during the Naval Conferen c e in L ondon Certain .

provi s ion s were a cc epted wi thout c ontrove rs y from any

quarter Wider re c ognition was given to the dis tin c tion
.

between c ombatant s and non c ombatant s and it wa s -

,

a ffirmed that al l the Powers c on c erned in the s e deli bera

tion s though exhibiting differen c e s in approa c hing s ome
,

detai l s were united in their de s ire to s pare a s mu c h a s

,

po s s ible the unprote c ted mer chant s eamen whe t her of ,

enemy or neutral natio nality from the s ufferings in c idental

,

to warfare in t h e pa s t An illu s tration of t h e a ttitude

.

a s s umed towards s eamen generally during t h e dis cu s sion s

i s furni s hed by the remark s of Baron Mars c hall von .

Bi e bers tein whe n t h e s ubj e ct of t h e laying of mine s wa s

under di s cu s s ion at The Hague in 1 9 0 7 Admiral Siegal .
,

Germany s nava l advi s er obje cted t o a propo s al intended

’
,

to adju s t the diver s ity of opinion whi c h had been revealed

in t h e Examining Committee Sir Erne s t Satow on .

l
,

behalf of the Britis h Government followed c o n te n di ng th at

, ,

t h e draft regulation s were inadequate a s a s afeguard to

legitimate neutrals In effe c t he urged amendment s in
.
,

line with th e di ctate s of humanity Baron Mars c hall

.

von Biebers tein ( Germany ) intervened di s c laiming that ,

Germany in tended t o demand unlimited l iberty in t h e u s e

of mine s or had any de s ire to s o w mine s in profu s ion in
all the s ea s The s ubj e ct c ame up later on at the eighth
.

plenary meeting of the C onferen c e ( O ctober 9 th ,

when he made the fo llowing amplified s tatement

A be ll igerent wh o lays mine s a s sumes a very heavy

re s pon s ibilit y toward s neutral s and pea c eful s hipping .
 “

an .
]
11 GERMAN PROTESTATIONS 11

O n t hat point we are a ll agreed No one will re s ort t o .

s u c h mea s ure s un l e s s for mi l it ary rea s on s of an ab s olu t ely

urgent c hara c ter But mi l itary a ct s are not governed

.

s o l el y by prin c iple s of internati onal law There are .

ot her fa c t or s c on s c ien c e good s en s e and the s entiment s

, ,

of dut y impo s ed by prin c ip l e s of hu manity will be the

s ure st guide for t h e c ondu c t of s ai l or s and wi ll c on stitute ,

t h e mo s t eff e cti v e g u a r an t e e a g a i n st abu s e The o fli c e r s .

of the German Navy I emphatic ally a ffi rm ( j e l e d i s 8

, .

voix haute ) wil l alway s fulfi l in the s trict e st fa s hion the

, , ,

dut ie s whi c h emanate from the unwritten law of humanity

and c ivili s ation .

I have no need t o tell you he c ontinued that I

, ,

re c ogni s e entirely the import an c e of the c o difi c ati o ns of ‘

rule s to be fol lowed in war But it wou l d be wel l no t

.

to i s s ue ru l e s the s tric t ob s ervan c e of whi c h might be

rendered impo s s ible by the for c e of thing s It i s of t h e .
,

fir st importan c e that the international maritime law

whi c h we de s ire t o c reate S hou l d on l y c ontain c l au s e s the
exe c u t ion of whi c h i s po s s ible from a mi l itary point of View ,

even in ex c eptiona l c ir c um stanc e s Otherwi s e the re s pe ct .

,

for law w i l l be le s s ened and i t s authority undermined .

Al s o it wou l d s eem to u s to be preferab l e to pre s erve at

pre s ent a c ertain re s erve in the expe ctation t hat five
,

year s hen c e it will be ea s ier to fi n d a s olution whi c h will

be a c c eptab l e to the who l e wor l d A S t o the s entiment s .

of humanity and c ivi l i s at ion I c annot admit that ,

there i s any G overnment or c ountry whi c h i s superior in

t he s e s entiment s to t hat whi c h I have the honour to
”1
repre s ent .

That s tatement one of many made by the repre s enta

,

ti v e s of Germany and other maritime Power s en c ourag e d ,

merc hant s eamen to hope that when war c ame it w ou l d

bear l e ss hardly upon them than pa st c onfl i ct s by s e a had
done Whatever may have been t h e merit s or demerit s
.

of the D e cl aration of L ondon i t did at l ea s t c onfirm ,

th e be l ief that ho s tilitie s wou l d be c ondu c ted in future

wit h l e s s ri s k to inno c ent l ife .

On one matt er apart from mine s doubt exi sted a s to

, ,

the c our s e whi c h Germany would adopt At th e S econd .

1
P ar l P a pe r s ,
.
Mi s c N o.
,
. 4
120 ON T HE E VE or [ W AR CH . 11

C onferen c e at T he Hague a s at t h e L ondon C onferen c e

, ,

s h e had s t ou t l y oppo s ed t h e Briti s h propo s a l s upport ed ,

by Japan and t h e United State s whi c h wou l d have a ll owed

,

the arming of mer c hant s hip s on l y in the n at ional port s

and territorial water s of the c onverting Power or in port s ,

and territ orial water s o cc upied by that P ower C on .

ver s ion on the high s ea s wou l d have been prohibited in

the c a s e of a ll S hip s G er m any on t h e o t her hand s tood
.
, ,

for t h e utmo s t m ea s ure of freedom .

1

Su s pi c ion s were s ub s equent l y arou s ed as to the c ours e

whi c h Germany intended to purs ue in the event of war .

In 1 9 1 2 t h e Admira lt y in view of information whi c h had

,

rea c hed i t appoin t ed a Committee t o c on s ider the a d

,

v i s a b i l i ty of defen s ively arming mer c hant S hip s The .

Comm i tt ee favoured a s c heme of armament and in ,

No v ember of the s ame year Rear Admiral H H Campbe l l -

. .
,

w a s appoin t ed t o c arry i t o u t It w a s agreed t hat .

t h e weapon s S hould be mounted aft s o a s to be availab l e ,

only when the s hip wa s trying to e s c ape Thi s offi c er de .

t e r m i ne d that n othing S hou l d be done to affe c t the s t atu s of

the s hip s provided with gun s and he de c ided to pla c e the
,
'

admini s tration of the s c heme a t the three port s s e l e c ted i n

the hand s of offi c er s of the Royal N aval Re s erve who were
already a c quainted with the marine s uperintendent s and
other o ffi c er s who s e intimate knowledge of S hipping matters
’
wou l d enable them to arrange t h e training of the gun s
c rew s s o a s to c au s e the minimum of in c on v enien c e and
“

lo s s to the owner s L iverpool L ondon and Southampton

.
, ,

were c ho s en a s ba s e s for the trial of the s c heme be c au s e ,

the s e port s were u s ed by ve s s el s bringing in frozen meat

from the P l ate and Au s tral ia .

A d miral Campbe l l at on c e got into tou c h with the leading

s hipowner s , and a ttention was turned to the ri s k of c o m
p l i c ation s abroad whi c h might ari s e owing to t h i s re v er s ion
t o t h e o l d poli c y of the Bri ti s h Mer c an t ile Marine The .

Royal Mai l Steam Pa c ket Company wa s the fi r st l i n e a

t o be approa c hed Sir Owen Phi l ipp s the Chairman of

.
,

that c ompany w a s s o impre s s ed by the s ituation that he

,

agreed to fit gun s in a number of the c ompany s big ’

s tea m er s free of expen s e to the Admira l ty on c ondition ,

that gun s and ammunition were s upp l ied On April 2 5 th .

,

1 9 1 3 the A r a gon one of the ve s s el s of the Royal Mail

, ,

1 T h e Ha gu e Con fe r e n ce By A P e a c e H i ggi n s
. . r .
1 22 ON THE EVE OF WAR [ OH . 11

I t urn to one a s pe c t of trade prote ct ion whic h require s

s pe c ial referen c e. It wa s made c lear at the S e c ond Hague
C onferen c e and the L ondon C onferen c e that c ertain of ,

the Great Power s have re s erved to them s e l ve s the right to

c onvert mer c hant s t eam er s into c rui s er s not merely in ,

national harbour s but if ne c e s s ary on the high s ea s

, , , .

There i s now good rea s on to believe that a c on s iderab l e

number of foreign mer c hant s t eamer s may be rapid l y
c onverted into armed S hip s by the mounting of gun s .

The s e a borne trade of the world fo l low s we l l marked

-

'
-

route s upon nearly a ll of whi c h the tonnage of t h e Briti s h

,

Mer c ant i l e Marine large l y predominat e s Our food c arry .

-

ing l iner s and ve s s e l s c arrying raw material fo ll owing

the s e trade route s would in c ertain c ontingen c ie s meet
, ,

foreign ve ss el s armed and equipped in the manner de s cribed .

If the Briti s h s hip s had no armament they wou l d be at ,

the mer c y of any foreign liner c arrying one eff e ctive

gun and a few round s of ammunition It wou l d be o b .

v i o u sly ab surd to meet the c ontingen c y of c on s iderable

number s of foreign armed mer c hant c rui s er s on the high
s ea s by building an equal number of c rui s er s That .

wou l d expo s e thi s c ount ry to an expenditure of money

to meet a parti c ular danger a ltogether di s proportionate
to the expen s e c au s ed to any foreign Power in c reating
that danger Ho sti l e c rui s er s wherever they are found
.
, ,

wil l be c overed and met by Britis h S hip s of war but the ,

proper reply to an armed mer c hantman i s another mer

ch a n t m a n armed in her own defen c e .

”
Thi s i s the po s ition Mr C hur c hill added
, . to whic h ,

the Admiralty have felt it ne c e s s ary to draw the attention

of leading s hipowner s We have felt j u s tified in pointing
.

out to them the danger to life and property whi c h would

be in c urred if their ve s s el s were total l y in c apable of offering
any defen c e to an atta c k The s hipowner s have re s ponded
.

to the Admiralty invitation with c ordiality and sub s tantial ,

progr e s s h a s been made in the dire ct ion of meet ing it by ,

preparing a s a defen s ive mea s ure to equip a number of

fi r s t c la s s Briti s h l iner s to repe l the atta c k of armed foreign
-

mer c hant c rui s er s A lt hough the s e ve s s el s have of c our s e

.
, ,

a who ll y diff erent s tatu s from that of the regu l ar l y c o m

mi s s ioned c rui s er s s u c h as tho s e we obtain under the
,

Cunard agreement the Admiralty have felt that the greater

,

part of the c o st of the n e c e s s ary equipment s hould not fall

CH . 11 ] S TATUS OF ARMED MERCHANTMEN 123

on the owner s and we have de c ided t herefore t o l end t h e

, , ,

ne c e s s ary gun s t o s upp l y ammunit ion and t o provid e

, ,

for th e training of t h e member s of t h e s h i p s c ompany *

’

to form t h e gun s c rew s The owner s on t heir part are

’
.
, ,

paying the c o s t of the ne c e s s ary s tru c tura l c onver s ion ,

whi c h i s not great T he Brit i s h Mer c ant i l e Marine wi ll

.
,

of c our s e have t h e prote c tion of t h e Brit i s h Navy under

,

all po s s ib l e c ir c um st an c e s but it i s obviou s l y impo s s ib l e ,

to guarantee indi v idua l ve s s el s from atta c k when t hey are

s c a t t ered on t heir voyage s a ll over t h e wor l d N o one .

c a n pretend t o V iew t he s e mea s ure s wit hout regret or ,

wit hout hoping t hat the period of retrogre s s ion a ll over

the world whi c h h a s rendered them ne c e s s ary may be
, ,

su cc eeded by day s of broader int ernationa l c onfiden c e

and agreement than tho s e through whic h we are

”
pa s s ing .
1

Thi s de c i s ion wa s wel c omed genera ll y in the Hou s e of

C ommon s and in t h e c ountry It wa s de c l ared by L ord .

C har l e s B ere sford to be t h e mo s t import ant s c heme of

1

a ll t ho s e announ c ed by t h e Admira lt y even m ore important

t han bui l ding men —
,
”
o f war for he added you c annot -
, , ,
”
bui l d any more than you are doing S ome doubt w a s .

s ub s equent l y expre s s ed a s to wha t the s t at u s of the s e

V e s s el s wou l d be in t h e time of war The Fir s t L ord of .

the Admira lty explained that mer c hant ve s s el s c arrying

gun s might be l ong to one or other of two different
c la s s e s .

The fir st c la s s he added i s that of armed mer c hant

, ,

crui s er s whi c h on t h e ou t break of war wou l d be c om m i s

,

s i o n e d under the White E n s ign and wou l d t hen be i n

—
,

di s t ingui s hable in s t atu s and c ont ro l fro m men f war o ,

-
.

In thi s c l a s s bel ong t h e M au re tani a and t h e L u si tani a .

The s e c ond c l a s s c on s i st of mer c hant v e s s el s whi c h wou l d

( un l e s s s pe c ia ll y t aken up by t h e Admira l ty for any
purpo s e ) remain mer c hant ve s s e l s in war without any ,

c hange of s ta t u s b u t have been equipped by t heir owner s

, ,

with Admira lt y a s s i s t an c e wit h a defen s ive armament ,

in order t o exer c i s e t heir right of beat ing o ff an atta c k .

1 Han s a rd H o u,
se of Co m m o n s , M ar c 2 6 th , 1 9 1 3 h .

2 Af te r w ar ds r ai s e d g
t o th e P e e r a e as L o r Be r e s o r d f d .
 ON THE E VE OF W AR
°

19 4 ( an . 11

T here i s no rule that the ma ster or c hief offi c er mu st belong

to the R oyal N ava l R e s erve and it wil l be c l ear from , ,

what I have s aid that no s u c h rule i s ne ce s s ary The

, .

B lue En s ign wou l d on l y be fl own if the ve s s e l had re c eived

an Admiralty warrant B efore lending the gun s the .
,

Admira lt y s ati s fie s it s e lf that the hand l ing and firing of

them will be c arried out by men who have be c ome c o n
” 1
ver s ant with the s e operation s through drill .

The Admira l ty c ontinued t o pur s ue with renewed energy

and in fa c e of a good deal of advers e c riti c i s m the po l i c y
whi c h it had adopted and at t h e opening of th e war thir t y
,

nine ve s s el s be l onging t o t h e fo ll owing c ompanie s had been

defen s ively armed ea c h having been provided with two
,

in c h gun s

White Star Line

R oyal Mail Steam Pa c ket Co .

F edera l H o u l d e r s Argen tine L ine

C Thomp s on
. Co L td . .

Wil s on L ine Hu l l
N ew Z ealand Shipping Co L td
.
,

. .

F ederal Steam S Co L t d . .
,
.

S haw S avi l l
,
Albion Lt d , .

Turnbull Martin Co .

In tho s e c ir c um s tan c e s the s ituation wa s fu ll of u nwe l

c ome po s s ibi l itie s when a t leng t h war w a s de c l ared Ger .

many po s s e s s ed a large number of ve s s el s whi c h were

c apable of c onver s ion T here were about twenty s u c h s hip s
.

in German port s in c luding the fol l owing : B r e m e n ( 1 5

,

knot s ) Ca p F i ni s te rr e
,
Ca p P o loni ( 1 8 ) ( c omple t ing
for s e a ) ; Cleve la n d Co lo a ( 1 4 Gra f W a lde r s e e
I m p e r a tor K ai s e r i n A u gu s te Vi ctor i a ( 1 7 5 )
K i gom a ( 1 5 K oni g F r i e dr i ch A u gu s t ( 1 5 K on i gi n
'
°
°

Lu i s e H e l s or ( 1 2 P r a tani a °

P r i nz L u dwi g
( 1 5
°

S ch a r n h o rs t ( 1 4 and Vi ctor i a
°
L u i se

The mena c e whi c h t he s e s hip s s ugge s ted wa s limit ed by

the know l edge t hat the Grand Fl eet had taken up i t s
1 Ha ns a rd , H ou s e of Co m m o ns , Ju n e l oth ,
1913 .
1 26 ON THE EVE OF WAR [ CH . 11

P r i nz Os ka r knot s ) , arrived , P hiladelphia

Augu s t 5 t h .

K r on pr i n z W i lh e lm ( 2 3 kno t s ) , s ai l ed from New York ,

Augu s t 3 r d , to meet the K AR L S RU HE , by who m s h e
wa s arm e d .

S pr e e wa ld knot s ) , at s e a ; c aptured by the

B E RW I C K , S eptember 1 2 t h
N e cka r ( 1 4 knot s ) , at s e a ; arrived B a ltimore , S ep
tember 2 n d .

K a i s e r W i lh e lm der Gr os s e kn ot s ) on her way ,

out from Germany into the A t l anti c ( movement s

“

unknown a t the time ) .

Be th a ni a ( 1 2 knot s ) on her way from Medit e rranean

,

to j oin the K AIS E R W IL HE L M D E R G R OS S E c aptured ,

by the E S S E X S eptember 7th

, .

In S pa ni s h a n d P ortu gu e s e P orts
W e s te r wa ld knot s ) at L i s bon on Augu st 4 th , .

Goe be n knot s ) , at Vigo on Augu s t 4 t h .

Bil lo w knot s ) , at L i s bon on Augu s t 4 th .

In M e di te r r ane a n
K oni g A lbe r t ( 1 5 knot s ) at Ge noa on Augu s t ,
4 th .

M o ltke knot s ) at Genoa on Augu st 4 th

, .

In S e a of M a r m ara
Cor cova do knot s ) , at Panderma .

E a s t of S u e z
S u dm a r k knot s ) at s e a between C olombo and
,

Aden ; c aptured by the B L A C K P RIN C E Augu st 1 5 th , ,

in R ed S ea .

Z e i te n knot s ) at s e a between C o l ombo and

,

Aden j oined the K ON I GS B E R G

,
Arrived Mo za m .

bique Augu s t 2 oth

, .

K le i s t knot s ) s a fle d for C olombo Augu s t 2 n d

, ,

arrived Padang Augu s t 7t h , .

T a b or a knot s ) at Dar e s S alaam Blo c ked in

,
- -
.

port Augu st 8 th
, .

Yor ck knot s ) at T s ingtau S ai l ed Augu st 4 t h

,
.
, ,

with s upp l ie s for Admiral Vo n S pee .

P ri n z E i te l F r i e dr i ch ( 1 5 knot s ) at T s ingtau s ail ed , ,

( armed ) Augu
, s t 6 t h .
CH .
]
II GERMANY ’
S CONVERTIB LE SHIPS 1 27

P r i n ce s s A li ce
knots ) arri v ed Manil a Augu st 5 th ; , ,

mo v ed about for s ome time around Phil ippine s .

S e y dli tz knot s ) s ail ed for S ydney Augu st 3 rd ; , ,

arrived Valparai s o Augu st 2 ot h , .

In S u ez Ca n a l
De r fii i n ge r knot s ) interned by Egypt ian Govern
,

ment .

In S ou th A m er i can P or ts or W a te rs
Ca p T r af a lga r ( 1 8 knot s ) , at Bueno s
Ayre s Put to .

se a and armed from the E B E R Sunk by the .

C A R MAN IA S eptember 1 4 t h
, .

B lu ch e r knot s ) at Pernambu c o on Augu s t 4 th , .

W Coas t of A f r i ca
es t

Ma ze Br o ck ( 1 1 knot s ) at Duala Captured by the , .

C U M BE RL AN D in S eptember .

Ito lo ( 9 knot s ) s unk by Fren c h in C ori s c o Bay

, .

In Br i ti s h a n d Be lgi an P or ts
Gn e i s e n a u knot s ) at ,
Antwerp on Augu st 4th .

S eized by B elgian s .

P r i nzA da lb e r t knot s ) , s eized at F a l mouth ,

Augu s t 4 th .

S ome ot her s hip s su c h a s the P ri nz He i n ri ch at L i s bon

, ,

were a l s o s u s pe ct ed by the Admiralty of having been

prepared for c onver s ion .

In addit ion to the s e G erman mer c hant men the future ,

u s e of whi c h w a s open to s u s pi c ion there were a number ,

of Au s trian s hip s Moreover Germany and Au stria .

,
,

Hungary had in foreign wat er s many ot her s hip s whic h

, ,

were c apable of emp l oyment for int ell igen c e purpo s e s or

, ,

might be u s ed a s s tore s hip s o r c o lli e r s

‘

-
.

B eyond all the s e e l ement s of danger whic h the Admira lty ,

c ould not and in fa c t did not ignore there wa s a powerfu l

, , ,

s quadron of German men o f war in the Pa c ifi c and c rui s er s - -

,

were known to be s erving in other part s of t h e wor l d 1

.

1 Au s tr i a
H u n g ar y h a d i n f o re i gn wate r s o nly on e m an o f w ar o f i m
- - -

p o rt an c e th e li ght c r i s e r K AIS ERIN E LI Z AB E T H

, u t o n s d pl a ce m e n t ,
is

a m e d w i t h e i gh t
r n ch
f o u r t e e n 3 p o n d e r s l m a c hi n e g u n H e r s e a
-
1 - u -
.

s p e e d was 1 7 2 k n o ts -
Sh e was a t T s m gt au
. .
128 ON THE EVE OF WAR
The fo ll owing li st c on v ey s s ome idea of the added mena c e
ari s ing from the s e ve s s e l s 1

T o ns .

M ed i te r ra n ea n
GOE B E N ( 1 9 1 1 ) b 1 0- 1 1 i n 12 in —
1 2 2 2 pr
—
c
—
. . . . .

BR E s L A U ( 1 9 1 1 ) 1 2 4 -1 i n . 1 7 pr . 2- m .

F a r E as t
S C H AR N H O R S T ( 1 9 0 6 ) a c o
.

8 8 2 m s 5 Qm 0

GN E I S E NAU ( 1 9 0 6 ) a o m o
.

. . 8 2 e 5 Q m o

E MD E N ( 1 9 0 8 )
o

0 44 m 1 7 Pr
0
m
o
o .
,

L
I T IS ( 1 8 9 8 ) g b 4 5 pn 9 1 W fl
o
. .
,

JA G UAR ( 1 8 9 8 ) g b 4 5 pn e 1 W fl
o
. . .
,

T IG ER ( 1 89 9 ) g b . . 2 1 ln
o

. 6 1 P r .
,
fl

LUCHS ( 1 8 9 9 ) g b
o

. . 2 44 m 0 6 1 W .
0

,
m
CO RM O RAN ( 1 8 9 2 ) g b
o

. . 8 44 m A 1 P r . fi
T S IN GT AU ( 1 9 0 3 ) r g b . . 1 4 Pn 4 0
H m
L
VAT ER AN D ( 1 9 0 3 ) r g b . . . 1 Pn A oH m
OT T ER ( 1 9 0 9 ) r g b . . . 2 4 Pn 4 o
T Ax U ( 1 8 9 8 ) t h d . . . 2 Pn
( 1 8 9 9 ) t h d . . . 3 4 Pn 0

,
2A

—
1 0 4 -1 i n ; 1 7 p r ; —
—
. .

L EI PZIG 1 0 4 -1 i n ; 1 -7 p r ; . .

A u s tr a l i a n W a te r s
G
E IE R ( 1 8 9 4 ) g b
. .
—
8 4 -1 In ; 5- 1 p r ; . .

P L ANE T ( 1 9 0 5 ) s v . . 3 1 pr ; 2 m
-
.
-
.

W Coa s t of A fr i ca
—
est

E B E B ( 1 9 03 ) g b . . 2 4 -1 i n ; 6- 1 p r ; . .

E a s t Coa s t f A fr i ca
o

1 0 - 4 -1 In 1 - 7 pr ; .

K AR L S RUH E ( 1 9 1 2 ) 12 4 1 in ; 2 m -

in 2—
. .

D RE S DE N ( 1 9 0 7 ) 10 m .

The s heet an c hor of Britis h mer c hant s eamen c o n ,

fronted by the unknown po s s ibil itie s of war wa s the ,

in c rea s ed regard whi c h all the po l ite nation s of the world

had paid to internationa l law for many year s and th e ,

anxiet y whi c h had been expre s s ed by them to make t heir

—
a c t s c onform to the unwritten c ode the dictate s of
humanit y
— —
.

1 h b at tle i se r ; a rm ou r e d ise r ; l li ght i se r

—t p d b
e -
c ru a o c ru o c ru
—
. . . .

b g b ri v e r gu n b o a t t h d d e s t r o ye r
s v —
g.b g u n o
- at ; r . . . . . . or e o- o at

. su r v e yi n g
. v e s se l .
130 ON THE EVE OF WAR [ CH . 11

c apital s of Europe German mer c hantmen were a l ready

,

running in a ll ha s te to s afet y O n the other hand the .

,

German authorit ie s ignoring t h e pre c edent they s e t in

,

revealed by their a c t s that they int end ed to put

every ob s ta c le in the way of Briti s h mer c hant s hip s l e aving
German port s In s ome c a s e s the in s tru ction s may have
.

been ex c eeded owing to the zeal of t h e lo c al authoritie s ,

but it wa s s ub s equently e s t ab l i s hed that the Imperial

Government had intervened to s top s ai l ing s O n Augu s t .

l s t S ir E dward Grey s ent a di s pat c h to the Briti s h A m

,

b a s s a d o r at B er l in in whi c h he reported t hat information

,

had rea c hed the Foreign O ffi c e that t h e authoritie s a t

Hamburg had for c ibly det ained a s t eamer belonging to the
Great C entral Rai l way C ompany and other Brit i s h mer
”
c hant s hip s Surpri s e wa s expre s s ed at thi s a ct ion and S ir
.
,

E Go s c hen wa s a s ked t o reque s t t h e German Government

.

t o s end immediat e order s that ve s s el s s hould be allowed

to pro c eed without delay it being added that t h e eff e c t
,
,

on publi c opinion here would be dep l orab l e un l e s s thi s i s

”
done . An immediate reply wa s re c eived from B er l in
s t ating that t h e S e c retary of State who expre s s ed ,

great e s t s urpri s e and annoyan c e h a s promi s ed t o s end ,

order s at on c e to a ll ow steamer s t o pro c eed without delay .

In a s ub s equent telegram S ir E Go s c hen added that t h e

, .

S e c ret ary of State inform s me that order s were s ent l a s t

night t o a llow Briti s h s hip s in Hamburg to pro c eed on
their way H e s ay s t hat t hi s mu s t be regarded a s a s pe c ia l
.

favour of Hi s Maj e s ty s Government a s no other foreign

’
,

s hip s h a ve been al l owed to l eave R ea s on of deten t ion .

wa s that mine s were being l aid and other pre c aution s

being taken — a mere c loak for illegality O n the s ame .

day ( Augu s t 2 n d ) the F oreign O ffi c e s ent to B erlin anot her

t ele gram to the following e ff e c t I regret to learn that
1 0 0 t on s of s ugar were c ompul s orily unloaded from the
Briti s h s team s hip S a pph o at Hamburg and detained , .

S imi l ar a c tion appear s to have been t a ken with regard to

other Briti s h ve ss el s loaded wit h s ugar You s hould .

inform S e c retary of State t hat for rea s on s stated in my ,

t elegram of Augu s t l s t I mo s t earne s t l y tru s t that the

,

order s already s ent to Hamburg to allow the c learan c e of

Briti s h S hip s c over s al s o the re l ea s e of their c argoe s t h e ,

D ay s Of gr a ce
1
,
ru n n i n g t o a p e r i o d o f s i x we e ks w e r e
, e x te n de d to e n e m y
m e r c h an t S h p S t o
l e n a bl e t h e m t o le a v e G e r m an p o r t s .
 CH . 11 ] GERMANY S ILLEGAL ACTS
’
131
”
detention of whic h c annot be j u s tified S ir E Go s chen . .

replied on the fol l owing day that no information wa s

”
available O n Augu s t 4 th S ir E Grey s ent another
.
, .

me s s age to the Brit i s h Amba s s ador at B erl in st ating

I c ontinue t o re c eive numerou s c omp l aint s from Brit i s h
firm s a s to t h e det ention of their s hip s at Hamburg Cux ,

haven and other German port s Thi s a c t ion on the part

, .

of the German authorit ie s i s tot all y unju stifiab l e It i s .

in dire ct c ontravention of internat iona l l aw and of the

a s suran c e s given to Your E xc el len c y by the Imperia l
Chan c ellor Y ou s hou l d demand the rel ea s e of a l l Briti s h
.

”
s hip s if s u c h re l ea s e h a s not yet been given On the 1
, .

s ame day the German Amba s s ador in L ondon i s sued the

fol l owing explanat ion whi c h it will be s een avoided the

, , ,

fa ct that a genera l poli c y of detention had been adopted

The Wil s on l iner Ca s tr o wa s in Kie l Cana l and was ,

ordered by t h e German authoritie s to pro c eed t o Hamburg

for military rea s on s a s it wa s n o t de s irab l e that any c o m
,

m e r c i a l ve s s el s hould be in t h e c anal at pre s ent AS .

regard s the s e c ond c a s e the Government had pur c ha s ed

,

c oa l s hipped for Germany to a pri v ate firm and the order ,

wa s given for t h e S hip to pro c eed to Hamburg with her

c argo . It w as s o l ely a matter of c ha nging i t s de s tination .

In both c a s e s t here wa s no intention what ever of inter

f e r i ng with the propert y of the ve s s e l s It w as s imp l y .

”
a po l i c e mea s ure It w a s sub s equent l y a s c ertained that
.

in many of the German port s every po s s ib l e ob s ta cle had

been put in the way of t h e Briti s h s hipma ster s to prevent
them t aking their s hip s to s e a before war had begun ; ,

in s ome c a s es guard s were mounted while the two c ountrie s

s till maintained friendly relation s and threat s were made ,

to deter ma s ters from c ommuni c ating wit h their owner s .

Many of t h e merc hantmen pri s oner s who for many weary [

mont h s s ome a l mo s t for the entire duration of th e war

, ,

langu i s hed in German c amp s be l onged to ve s s e l s whi c h had

thu s been det ained c ontra ry to t h e re c ogni s ed pra ctic e The .

enemy treated t he s e s eamen with great har s hne s s a s wa s ,

re v ea l ed when their mi s erable e xperien c e s were s ub s equent l y

re c ounted S ome of them were maimed for life owin g t o
. ,

injury in fl ic t ed upon them by their guard s and o ther s ,

ne v er re c overed from t h e eff e c t s of bad food damp and ,

expo sure The German s detained no fewer t han e ight y

.

1
Cd . 78 6 0 .
192 ON T HE E VE or W AR [ OH . 11

Brit i s h S hip s U nfortunately the a ction c annot be a t

.
1
,

tributed to over zeal of the o ffi c ial s of one port for the

-
,

detention s were enfor c ed in pra c ti c a l ly all German port s .

Thi s early indi c ation of the c ontempt of t he German '

Government for international law may be c ontra st ed with

the attitude of t h e offi c er s of the German men o f war - -

during the fir st pha s e of the c onfli ct S o far a s i s known .

,

they re c eived no s pe c ial in s tru c tion s a s to the treatment

of enemy mer c hant men but were left to a ct in a cc o r ,

dan c e with the Nava l Prize C ode ba s ed general l y on the ,

provi s ion s of the D e c lara t ion of L ondon Under the fir s t .

arti c l e i t wa s l aid down that D uring a war the c o m 1

mander s of Hi s Maj e st y s s hip s of war have the right t o St o p ’

and s ear c h enemy and neu t ra l mer c hant ve s s el s and t o s eize

—and in exc eptional c a s e s to de s troy—the s ame together
,

, , ,
”
with the enemy and neutral good s found thereon The .

limit s to the right of c apture were dealt with at length ,

and in de s c ribing the obj e c t of s toppage and s ear c h it

w a s de clared that The s toppage and s ear c h s hall take
pla c e only if the c ommander deem s that it will be s u c c e s s
”
fu l It wa s added : ( A l l a c t s S hall be done in s u c h a
“

— —
.

manner even again s t the enemy a s to be c ompatible

with the honour of the German E mpire and with s u c h ,

regard toward s neutral s a s may be in c onformity with the

”
law of nation s and the intere st s of Germany The s hip s .

s pe c ifi c a ll y mentioned a s being free from c apture in c luded

ho s pita l s hip s and ve s s e l s engaged exc lu s ively in c oa s twi s e

fi s hery or in the s ma l l lo c al s hipping trade s o long a s they ,

did n o t in any manner part i c ipate in the ho s tilitie s .

C oa st wi s e fi s hery i s not c onfined to the territorial water s

of a parti c ular S t ate It i s deemed to in c l ude a l l fi s hing .

with the exc eption of what i s c lear l y deep s e a fi s hing -

.

E nemy mer c hant ve s s el s whi c h at the beginning of h o s ti l i

tie s were on a voyage from a German port or th e port of
an Al l y to their port of de s tination or to s u c h other port ,

as might have been de s ignated to them and were in ,

On A g t 4 th 1 9 1 4
1 u p p s l f m G m an y m ad s i m u lt n e u sly
u s , ,
a ro o a ro er ,
e a o

to G t B i t i n F n R u s i n d B lgi m th t d y Of g
re a r a ,
ra ce ,
sh ld s a, a e u ,
a a s race ou
b e gn i d
re co ip lly w
se c i
re c d b y t h B i ti h G v n m n t A
r oca ,
as re e ve e r s o er e .

pr o p o s al In c o rp o r a te d in th e L o nd o n Ga ze tte o f Au gu s t 4 th w as
c o u n te r - , ,

c o m m u n i c a te d t o G e r m an y th e o ffe r e xp i r i n g o n t h e 7th
,
T h e s u gge s ti o n .

w as n o t r e c e i v e d i n B e lin u n t i l th e 8 th an d n o thi n g c am e o f th e m atte r

r , .

T h e P r i z e Co d e O f S e p te m b e r 3 oth 1 9 0 9 ; B u lle t i n o f L a w s o f Au g u s t
1
,

3 d 1 9 1 4 am e n de d t o J ly l s t 1 9 1 5 ( Ge r m a n P r i ze L a w Hu b e r i c h an d
r , ,
u , .
,

Ki n g L o n d o n : St e v e n s
. Co ) .
 134 ON THE EVE OF WAR ( CH . 11

unneutral a ct s Per s on s on board a c aptured ve ss el

.

might be p l a c ed on board another ve s s el even the war ,

ve s s el if the c ir c um s tan c e s required s u c h a c our s e r e

, ,

maining on board the war ve ss el only s o long a s thi s i s -

”
ab s o lute l y ne c e s s ary .

Other c lau s e s of the Prize C ode c overed the method

.

of dea l ing with c aptured ve s s el s and s eized c argoe s The .

c o m mander i t wa s de c lared
,
provide s for bringing the ,

ve s s e l into a German port or the port of an A ll y wit h all

po s s ible de s pat c h and s afety A prize may be brought .

int o a neutral port on l y if the neutral Power permit s the

bringing in of prize s A prize may be taken into a neutra l
.

port on a c c ount of un s eaworthine s s s tre s s of weat her , ,

or l a c k of fuel or s upp l ie s In t h e latter c a s e s s h e mu s t

.

leave a s s oon a s the c au s e ju s t ifying her entran c e c ea s e s

”
to exi s t The c ommander wa s in stru cted t o give to t h e
.

o ffi c er of the prize c rew th e ne c e s s ary written in stru c tion s

in regard to the voyage and to make up the c rew s o a s to ,

enab l e the offi c er to bring in the ve s s el It wa s added t hat .

,

before pro c eeding to the de stru c tion of a ve s s el the ,

s afe t y of a l l per s on s on board and s o far a s po s s ible , , ,

their effe ct s i s to be provided for and a l l s hip s paper s

, ,
’

and other evident iary material whic h a cc ording to the , ,

view s of the pers on s at intere s t i s of value for the for ,

m u l a t i o n of the judgment of the Prize C ourt are to be ,

”
t aken over by the c ommander A s e ction of t h e Prize .

C ode wa s al s o devoted to the right s and dutie s of o ffi c er s

of a prize c rew i t being added that unne c e s s ary mea s ure s
,
”
of for c e are to be avoided .
1

O n June 2 2 nd 1 9 1 4 t h e Chief of the Admiralty S t aff

, ,

of the German N avy addre s s ed an order to the c ommanding

offi c er s and c ommander s in re s pe ct of t heir c ondu c t when
en c ountering armed mer c hant ve s s el s during war It wa s .

therein sta t ed that

The exer c i s e of the right of st oppage s ear c h and

’

, ,

c apture a s well a s any atta c k made by an armed mer c hant

, ,

ve s s e l again s t a German or neu tra l mer c hant ve s s el i s ,

pira c y The c rew are to be dea lt with under the ordinanc e

.

rel at ing to extraordinary mar t ial law .

If an armed enemy mer c hant ve s s el off er s armed

1
P i z C d o f th
r e Ge m an E m pi r e as i n f
o e e rJ l y 1 9 1 5 ( L n d on o rce u o

Ste v e n s
136 ON THE EVE OF WAR [ CH . II

on her voyage in the B o s phoru s when Sh e s tru c k a mine .

A patrol s teamer c ame to her a s s i s tan c e and the ve s s el,

w a s bea c hed Whil e temporary repair s were being c arried

.

out the Turki s h aut horitie s s eized the c argo Within a ;

week the Cr ai gforth w a s r e flo at e d and w a s about to re sume

,

her voyage to Hamburg when the ma ster and c rew were

ordered by the Briti s h C on s ul to leave her The s e two .

minor in c ident s however c onveyed no sugge stion of the

, ,

experien c e s whi c h were t o befa ll Briti s h mer c hant s eamen

during the fir s t pha s e of the enemy s operation s again s t’

s e a borne c ommer c e
-
B oth s hip s had s u ffered injury in
.

territorial water s But in the meant ime an event had

.
, ,

o cc urred in the North S ea whi c h indi c ated t hat t h e

‘

German s intended to take the fulle st advantage of a mining

po l i c y the K oni gi n L u i s e being c aught o ff Aldeburgh on
, ,

the morning of Au g u s t 5 t h laying mine s in the tra c k of

,

mer c hantmen In s pite of the s e development s s hipping

.
,

in Briti s h water s wa s c ondu c ted for s everal week s without

mi s hap ex c ept for the damage from a mine s u stained by
,

the Oa kby o ff S eaham on Augu st 3 oth ; that ve s s e l ,

however s u cc eeded in rea c hing the Tyne

, .
 CHAPTE R III
CRU IS E R ATTA C KS ON S H I PP IN G

WI THIN le s s than two day s of the outbreak of war an

in c ident o c c urred o ff the Gulf of Aden whi c h S howed that
enemy c rui s er s whi c h were a t l arge in the outer s ea s i n
tended to make the be st of what wa s to prove a c ompara
t i v e l y s hort period of freedom from interferen c e For .

a s s oon a s war wa s de c l ared the Admiral t y put into opera ,

t ion the p l an s for the prote ction of m er c hant s hipping

whi c h had been prepared in ad v an c e .

O n July 2 3 r d the Ci ty of W i n ch e s ter

, ton s ) ,

of the Hall L ine had left Cal c utta with a genera l c argo
,

for L ondon and D unkirk The v oyage wa s marked by no .

notable in c ident until the evening of Augu s t 5 t h when ,

the ma s ter ( Mr George R B o y c k ) re c eived new s of t h e

. .

outbreak of war in a dramat ic manner At p m . . .

,

when the ve s s el wa s steamin g at full s peed in t h e Gu lf

of Aden a s trange c rui s er afterward s re c ogni s ed a s the
, ,

K O N I GS B E R G drew toward s her making no s igna l and firing

, ,

no gun The s ignifi c an c e of the movement wa s n o t mi s s ed

.

by t h e c ap t ain of the Briti s h ve s s el The war s hip s gun s .

’

c ould be s een in the moon l ight t rained upon the defen c e l e s s

mer c hant S hip and when the Signal w a s re c eived to

, ,

s top,
C aptain B o y ck had no a lternati v e but t o c omply .

A boat wa s immediately s ent o ff from the K ON I GS BE RG

’
wit h an armed c rew and aft er th e s hip s paper s had been
,

s eized ,
and the s hip s wirele s s in stall at ion de s troyed
’
,

order s were given for her to pro c eed in a cc ordan c e with

dire ction s re c eived from the K ON I GS B E R G an o ffi c er and four ,

men remaining on board to in sure obedien c e D uring .

the whole of that night and until the aft ernoon of the
next day the c aptain the fir st Briti s h merc hant Offi c er
, ,

o n the high s ea s to experienc e t h e annoyan c e s and de l ay s

of war wa s dire cted to s team v ariou s c our s e s b u t a lways
, ,

to th e we stward unti l a n c hor wa s at la s t dropped in the bay

,

13 7
 138 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . III

of the s mall p o rt of Maka ll a about 2 0 0 mi l e s from Aden ,

on the Arabian c oa st At thi s point the K ON IGS B E R G wa s .

j oined by the Norddeut s c her L loyd s team s hip Z i eten ,

and the Os tm a r k of th e Hamburg Amerika L ine a c ting

, ,

a s s upply S h i p s A s t eam pinnac e with an Offi c er and a

.
-
,

party of men wa s then s ent to the Ci ty of W i n ch e s ter

, ,

and they took away all the c hart s and s ail in g dire ction s .

Anot her prize c rew c on s i s ting of two lieutenant s and ,

fifteen men all well armed wa s pla c ed on board and

, , ,

that evening the four s hip s put to s e a wit h all light s

out t h e Z i e te n l eading
, After leaving the bay t h e .
,

K ON IGS BE R G and 0 s tm ar k di s appeared and for the time ,

nothing more w a s s een of them F or the next two days .

t h e Ci ty of W i n ch e s te r c ontinued to follow the Z i e ten ,

a l way s making to the north ea s t until an c ho r was c a s t -

,

in t h e north ea s t bay of Ha l l a ni y a the large s t i sland

-
,

of the K h o r y a Morya group O n the following morning .

t h e Z i e te n went along s ide the Ci ty of W i n ch e s te r and c o m

m e n c e d to take about 3 0 0 ton s of her bunker c oal a s we l l ,

a s her s t ore s of food and drink In the meantime the c a p .

tain and the European c rew with t h e exc eption of the ,

s e c ond offi c er the third engineer and the c arpenter were

, , ,

tran s ferred to the German s hip and early on the following ,

mo rning the c oa l i ng being c omp l eted the Z i eten d i s

, ,

appeared in t h e darkne s s D uring the day the prize .

c rew c ompleted the ta s k of s eizing a l l the food s tuffs to

be found in the c argo The s ame afternoon the K ON IGS .

B E R G reappeared and making fa s t on the port s ide of the

, ,

Ci ty of W i n ch e s te r took the remainder of t h e c oal (about

,

2 5 0 ton s ) all the fre s h water and what w a s left of food s tu ffs
, , .

Throughout the night work c ontinued with c arefu ll y ,

s c reened light s At on the fo ll owing morning

.
,

Augu s t 1 2 th the remaining o ffic er s and t h e la s c ar c rew

,

were ordered on board the c rui s er with their per s onal

belonging s While the third engineer under c ompu l s io n
.
, ,

wa s pointing out to t h e German offi c er the s tep s whic h

c ould be taken to fl ood t h e S hip t h e ta s k of di s mantling ,

a ll that wa s portable of her equipment wa s c omp l eted by

the enemy In a s hort s pa c e mea s ure s were taken
.

to in s ure the s inking of the ve s s el and t hen t h e K ON I GS ,

BE RG having embarked the boarding party s tood off -

, , ,

fired three s hell s into the abandoned ve s s el and s teamed ,

away Two hour s later th e K ON IGS B E RG rea c hed a bay

.
,
1 40 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . 1 11

c our s e un c onc erned when he wa s s t opped by a s trange

, ,

man o f war o ff the mouth of the Amazon The war s hip

- -
.

proved to be the German light c rui s er D RE S D E N on her way

round the H orn to t h e Pa cifi c po s s ib l y intending to j oin
,

Admiral von S pee c ommanding the German Pa c ifi c

,

S quadron The meeting wa s as unwel c ome to her c aptain

.

a s it was to the ma s ter of the D r u m cli who had on

fi e ,

board h i s wife and c hild The Briti s h s eaman had of

.
,

c our s e re c eived no in stru ction s from the Admira lty

, ,

whil e C apt ain Li i d e c k e found him s elf in a s ituation

whi c h had not been anti c ipated in h i s order s A part y .

w a s s ent to the D r u m cli fi e and i t w a s at on c e reported

,

that a woman and c hild were on board Three c our s e s .

were open to the G erman o ffi c er c onver s ant with the

humane s entiment s expre s s ed at The Hague C onferen c e ,

and embodied in the German N aval Prize C ode He c ou l d .

either s end the Dr u m cli fi e with a prize c rew int o port ,

but none of a s uitab l e c hara c ter exi s ted in the vi ci nity ;

he c ould order the s hip to follow h i s movement s ; or he
c ould relea s e her on parole He c ho s e the l a s t c our s e
. .

The ve s s el s wirele s s in s tallation wa s di s mantled and the

’
,

o ffi c er s and c rew were c al l ed upon to s ign a de c larat ion

not to take s ervi c e again s t Germany during the war .

C aptain E van s feared t hat a refu s al to c omply with thi s

demand might j eopardi s e the s afety of h i s wife and c hild ,

and he and h i s men gave the ne c e s s ary undertaking .

Within two hour s or s o the Dr u m cli fi e wa s again under way .

The trouble s of the c aptain of the D RE S D E N were not

yet at an end The Dr u m cli fi e having been relea s ed at
.

on the afternoon of Augu st 6 th it wa s h i s mi sfortune ,

at t o fall in with the B oulder liner L y nton Gr a n ge ,

on pa s s age from R o s ario to B arbadoe s By s ignal .

from the D RE S D E N the ma ster of the L y nton Gr an ge

,

( Mr . H L S
. imp s on ).le arnt that a s tate of war exi s ted
between h i s c ountry and G ermany While the s ignal s .

were pa s s ing betwe en the two s hip s t h e Hou ston liner ,

Hos ti li ns on her voyage from Montevideo to Cienfuego s

, ,

Cuba via B arbadoe s c ame in V iew S he al s o had put t o

, , .

s e a before the ou t break of war and wa s pro c eeding in

,

c ompany with the L y n ton Gr an ge The c aptain of the .

D RE SD E N s ent boarding partie s to both s hip s In the .

c a s e of the L y n ton Gr a n ge the s hip s paper s were examined

’

on board the c ru i s er and then a naval o ffi c er returned

.

,
 ]
CH 1 1 1
.
“
HOST IL IUS RE LEASED WITHOUT PARO LE 1 4 1
and required t hat the Briti s h offi c er s and men s hou l d
s ign a de c l aration to the fo ll ow i ng e ff e c t

We the c aptain o ffi c er s and c rew of the s s L y nton

, , , . .

Gr an ge d e c l are formal l y t hat we wi l l n o t do any s ervi c e

,

in the Briti s h Navy or Army and wi l l n o t give any a s s i s ,

tan c e to the Briti s h Government again st Germany during

”
the pre s ent war .

A threat wa s made that if the de claration wa s not ,

i g ne d the o ffi c er s and men wou l d be taken on board the

,

c rui s er a s pri s oner s of war and the L y n ton Gr an ge s unk , .

If on the ot her ha nd t h e p l edge were given and s u b s e

, ,

quent l y c ontraband were c arried during t h e war t h e c rew , ,

if c aught would be s hot and t heir ve s s e l de s troyed

,
In .

the c ir c ums tan c e s the ma s ter and the other o ffi c er s ,

and the men de c ided to c omply with the demand and t h e

‘

ve s s el wa s re l ea s ed In the c a s e of the Hos ti li u s t h e .

,

boarding o ffi c er t ook the paper s whi c h were in S pani s h , ,

ba c k to the c rui s er to be t ran s lated He returned with .

them in about an hour bringing with him the form of ,

paro l e The ma s ter ( Mr Jame s Jone s ) c onferred with h i s

. .

offi c er s and told them that he him s e l f wou l d not s ign thi s
,

do cument It wa s then agreed to refu s e unanimou s l y to

.

give the parol e The German boarding o ffi c er on being .

,

informed of t hat de c i s ion him s e lf c a ll ed the c rew together ,

and read the do c ument to them The men stated that t hey .

wou l d s tand by Cap t ain Jone s A s ignal was t hen made to .

the D R E S D E N and to the s urpri s e of everyone on board

, , ,

the s hip wa s ordered to be rel ea s ed B efore th e boarding .

o ffi c er l eft however he made the following entry in the

, ,

c hief o ffi c er s log book

’

Hos ti li ns .

Held up by S M S D RE S D E N % C ommander F rigate . . .

-

Captain L ii d e c k e .

” ”
L at 1 2 1 N long 4 5 1 W
“
.
°
Hel d up Augu s t 6 th
.
, .
°
.
, ,

1 91 4 , p m ; let go Augu s t 6 t.h 1 9

. 1 4 p m , , , . .

L e t go be c au s e her de s t ru c tion did not s eem worth

“

while .

S
( gi n e d ) F R I E D R I C H B UR GH A R T ,

Li e u t Ca ptai n
.

The fir st s hip to be s unk by the D RES D E N was the

1 42 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . 11 1

s s Hy a de s
. . ton s ) whi c h left Pernambu c o on Augu st
,

1 4 th the ma s ter having put into t hat port for in s t ru c t ion s

,

on h i s pa s s age from R o s ario to R otterdam with a c argo

of maize and food s tuffs s hipped by a Ger man firm .

S he wa s n o t fit t ed with wire l e s s but the ma s ter ( Mr ,

.

J ohn Morri s on ) had fal l en in wit h the c rui s er G L A S GOW

on Augu s t 8th and a s a re s ult of t h e warning gi v en put
, , ,

into P erna m bu c o on the l oth The Vi c e C on s ul at Per .

-

n a m b u c o had taken s ome pain s t o a s c ert ain t h e exten t

of the danger threat ening Brit i s h s hip s having int erro ,

gated ma s ter s o f three Brit i s h ve s s el s arriving from

Briti s h or Ameri c an port s The rep l y in ea c h c a s e wa s .

ident i c al : nothing had been s een of enemy c rui s er s .

In t h e meantime the agent of t h e Hou ston C ompany ,

in rep l y to an inquiry had re c ei v ed a telegram from the

,

owner s s tating t hat un l e s s the Brit i s h authoritie s s pe c ial l y

,

detained the s teamer he was to in stru ct t h e ma s ter

,

to pro c eed to L a s Palma s adding German c rui s er s

, ,

allowing Briti s h s teamer s pro c eed unmole sted with ex ,

”
c e pt i o n removing wirele s s apparatu s The ma ster wa s .

therefore dire cted to avoid the regu l ar route The s hip wa s .

c on s iderably to the ea s tward of the mo s t ea s terly t ra c k to

Brazil ian port s and R iver Plate from the Canary I s land s ,

when s moke wa s s een on the horizon o ff the port bow .

The s moke i t wa s found c ame from the German c rui s er

, ,

D RE S D E N whi c h wa s a cc ompanied by two tenders

, ,

the Ba de n and P r u s si a As the D RE S D E N approa ch ed

.
,

s h e wa s s een to be fl ying the Fren c h flag a fami l iar de c oy , ,

but thi s w a s repla c ed by the German en s ign when about a

mile and a ha l f di stant The Hy a de s c ontinued on her
.

c our s e until s ignal l ed to s top A boarding party t ook the -

.

s hip s paper s and Captain Morri s on w a s told that it wou l d

’
,

be impo s s ible for him to rea c h Rotterdam a s he would ,

be diverted to a Briti s h port on entering the Channel .

The o ffi c er s and men were given an hour to leave the s hip

wi th their eff e c t s and boat s from the D RE S D E N c onveyed
,

them to the P r u s si a The Hy a des wa s afterward s s unk

.

by gunfire explo s ive s having been previou s ly p l a c ed on

,

board and the c over s taken o ff the c onden s er s The P r u ssi a . ,

a c c ompanied by the D R E S D E N and Ba de n then pro c eeded ,

s outh .A s the Hy a des c arried a c argo de s tined for Ger

many the lo s s of the ve s s el a s the Briti s h C on sul at Bueno s
, ,

Ayre s r emarked wa s ,
not an unmixed evi l The .
1 44 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH
. 1 11

and c r e w of the Ho lm wood were tran sferred to the Ka th ari ne

P a r k whi c h owed her relea s e to the fa c t that s h e c arried
,

an Ameri c an c argo The D RE S D E N and her s upply s hip

.

then ma de o ff .

The c aptain of the D RE S D E N wa s denied a furthe r su cc e s s

owing to the c ompeten c y with whi c h the Pa c ifi c Steam
N avigat ion C ompany s s s Orte ga ton s ) wa s handled
’
. . .

S he e s c aped c apture and de stru c tion in c ir c um stan c e s

whi c h l ater on drew from t h e Admira l ty in a letter to the ,

owner s a g l owing appre c iation of th e c ourageou s c o n

,

du ct of the ma s ter Ca pa i n D ougla s R K i n n e i r in throwing

, .
,

o ff h i s pur s uer s by s u c c e s s fu ll y navigating the un c harted

and dan gerou s pa s s age of N e l s on s Strait Three hun ’

.

dred Fren c hmen were thu s s aved from be c oming pri s oner s
of war and eventua ll y j oined the Army of our Ally
, .

N othing might have been k nown of thi s in c ident but for the
a c tion of H i s Maj e s ty s C on s u l General at R io d e J an e i r o
’
-
,

who l earning the detail s embodied them in a de s pat c h to

, ,

the F oreign O ffi c e In thi s s tatement he re c a l led that the

.

Or te ga s ailed from Valparai s o with s ome 3 0 0 F ren c h

R e s ervi s t s on board towar d s the c lo s e of S eptember .

The s e men were in c on s iderable danger of fal l ing into the

hand s of any enemy c rui s er whi c h s ighted the Or te ga a s ,

the s hip po s s e s s ed a s peed of only abou t 1 4 knot s wherea s , ,

a s h a s been no t ed a l ready the German s had at s e a a number ,

of s hip s of twenty or more knot s When the Briti s h .

ve s s el wa s c lo s e to the we s tern entran c e of the M a ge llan

Strait s a G erman man o f war whi c h wa s s ub s equent l y
,
- -
,

identifi ed a s the D R E S D E N appeared and gave c h a s e T h e , .

Or te ga being the s lower s hip o u ght s peedi l y to have been

, ,

c aptured but in fa c t s h e made her e s c ape in the manner

, , ,

narrated by the C on s ul General at R io de J a ne i r o -

U nder the s e ir cum s tan c e s the ma ster of the Orte ga

c

took a heroi c re s olve He c al led for vo lunteer s to a s s i s t

.

in s toking h i s ve s s e l : that appeal met with heart y r e

s po ns e : firemen engineer s and volunt eer s stripp e d t o
, , ,

t h e wai s t s e t to w ork with a wil l and the ma s ter a s s ured

, ,

me t hat they a c tua ll y s u cc eeded in wha c king t h e ol d s hip

( s h e w a s bui l t in 1 9 0 6 ) up to a good 1 8 knot s the m a s ter

headed h i s s hip s traight for t h e entran c e of a pa s s age

’
k nown as Nel s on s Strait ; and he made for the Strait
at ful l s peed hotly pur s ued by the German c rui s er whi c h
, ,
CH .
]
111 CAPTAIN KINNE IR 1 45
’
S DARING FEAT
ke pt firing at him with two h e avy b 0 w gun s Lu ckily
%

none of the s hot took e ffe ct and th e Or te ga su cc eeded ,

’
in entering Ne l s on s Strait where the German c rui s er did ,

n o t dare to fo ll ow her .

In order to reali s e the hardihood of thi s a ction upon

the part of the ma ster of the Or te ga it mu s t be remembered ,

that N el s on s Strait i s entirely un c harted and that the

’ '

narrow tortuou s pa s s age in que stion c on stitute s a veri

,

table nightmare for navigator s bri stling a s it doe s with ,

reefs and p i nna c le ro ck s wept by fierc e c urrent s and tide ,

rip s and with the c liffs on either s ide s heer to without

,
-
,

any an c horage I c an s peak from per s onal experien c e a s

.

to the terr i fying nature of the navigation of N el s on s ’

Strait having on c e pa s s ed through it many year s ago in

,

a s mal l s ealing s c hooner .

However the ma ster of the Orte ga man aged to get

,

h i s ve s s el s afe l y through thi s dangerou s pa s s age employing ,

the devi c e of s ending boat s ahead to s ound every yard ,

of the pa s s age E ventually by a mira cle of lu c k and good

.
,

s eaman s hip he worked h i s way into S myth s Channel

,
’
,

without having s u stained even a s crat c h to h i s plate s ,

”
and finally brought h i s ve s s el to thi s port .

It will be admitted that to take an ton s teamer -

s afe l y through s o perilou s a pa s s age c on s tituted a mo s t

notable feat of plu c k and s kilful s eaman s hip Captain .

K i n n e i r c onfronted with the po s s ibility of falling the

,

vi ctim of an enemy c rui s er had e xhibited on c e more ,

the re s our c efulne s s daring and s kill whi c h Briti s h s e a

, ,

men ha v e s o frequently di s p l ayed to the admiration of ,

the world The publi c ation of the s tory of h i s e s cape

.

rai s ed the s pirit s of the nation at a moment when ,

una c c u stomed to the hazard s of naval warfare it wa s ,

in clined to wond er what further mi s fortune was to

happen whi l e at the s ame time it in s pired the whole
,

Merc hant Navy with a high pride in i t s mi s s ion .

B efore her c areer ended the D RE S D E N en c ountered ,

two other Briti s h s hip s the s s N orth W a les ton s ;

, . .

ma s ter Mr G O wen ) ; and the Con wa y Cas tle

, . .

ton s ; master Mr J Wil l iam s ) ,

The former ve s s e l wa s
. . .

on pa s s age from Ju an F ernandez I s land on c harter by t h e

”

Admiralty with 70 4 ton s of c oal for th e Fa l kland I s land s

, ,

when s h e was captured by the D RE S D E N on the morning of

 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . 111

° °
N ovember 1 6 th ,
in lat 3 7 3 0 S long 7 7 0 W T h e .
’
.
’
.

day had j u s t dawned when t h e lookou t of the N or th

W a le s noti c ed what he took to be t wo war ve s s e l s on the -

s tarboard bow di s tant about nine mile s T h e Brit i s h

, .

ve s s e l immediately altered c our s e hoping to avoid being ,

s een by the two s trange s hip s whi c h in fa c t kept on their , , ,

c our s e unti l about a m a s though not noti c ing the .

mer c hantman when one of them whi c h proved to be the

, ,

D RE S D E N turned toward s the N or th W a les An hour

, .

later s h e s igna ll ed to her to s top The order was obeyed .

,

and t h e Briti s h en s ign wa s hoi sted under the impre s s ion

that the s trange s hip wa s a Japane s e c rui s er As the .

’
ma ster had been ob s erving the Admiralty s in s tru ction s ,

s teering a c our s e whi c h took him well c lear of t h e trade

route the en c ounter with the D RE S D E N wa s an unfortunate

,

s equel to h i s well dire c ted effort s to avoid enemy s hip s

-
.

A s s oon a s the German boarding party had exam i ned -

the s hip s paper s the ma s ter wa s info rmed that the ve s s el

’
,

would b e s unk time being allowed for the o ffi c er s and

,

men to c ol l e ct their c lothe s a n d per s onal eff e ct s Half .

an hour later the N or th W a le s w a s s unk and on the follow ,

ing day the c rew were tran s ferred to the G erman

s s
. . Rh a lcoti s whi c h wa s in c ompany with the D RE S D E N
,
.

S everal day s later an offic er from the D RE S D E N demanded

that the ma ster and men s hould s ign a formal de c laration
to take no part in the war and they were s ub s equently ,

landed by t h e R h a koti s at Callao on D e c ember 1 4 th The .

ma ster of the N or th W a le s putting a s tri c t interpretation ,

on the parole into whi c h he had entered refu s ed to give any ,

information to the Briti s h C on s ul at the port a s to what

had happened on board the R h a koti s during the int er
v e n i ng week s s in c e the c apture of h i s s hip beyond s tating ,

that during our whole time on board the s s R h a koti s . .

”
we were very well treated .

The la s t ve s s el to be c aptured by the D RE S D E N wa s the

s ailing ve s s el Con wa y Ca s tle whi c h had left Valparai s o on
-
,

F ebruary 1 7t h 1 9 1 5 for Q ueen stown with a c argo of barley

, , , .

°
A l l went we l l for ten day s In lat long 8 1 5 8 W
. . .
’
.
,

the D RE S D E N appeared and when s till three mile s ,

di s tant ex c hanged s ignal s ordering the s hip to s top ,

.

T he boarding party then pro c eeded on board and after

-
,

the s hip s s tore s and provi s ion s had been tran sferred to
’

the D RE S D E N to whi c h the c rew had been ordered to r o w

,
CH . I II ] KA ISER WILHE LM D ER GROSSE
in their own boat t h e Con way Cas tle was sunk On , .

Mar c h 7th ma ster ( Mr J ohn Wil l iam s ) and men were

,
.

tran sferred t o the Peruvian barque L O RT ON and rea c hed ,

Va l parai s o five day s l ater Thi s proved to be the la s t

.

exploit of t h e D RE S D E N whi c h w a s s unk at Juan F e r

,

n an d e z I s l and on Mar c h 1 4 th by Briti s h c rui s er s The .

narrat ive of the experien c e s of B riti s h s hipma s t er s s how s

that the c aptain of the D RE S D E N had a proper appre c iation
of the mandate s of humanity and re s pe cted them in h i s ,

dealing s wit h the unfortunate o ffi c er s and men of Briti s h

mer c hant s hip s whi c h he en c ountered during h i s c rui s e
a s a c or s air .

N or doe s the s tory of the c areer of the armed mer c hant

c rui s er K AI S E R W I L H E L M D E R G R O S S E reveal any le s s
re s pe ct for the law s of the brotherhood of the s e a whi c h
had obtained general a c c eptan c e throughout the world
before the out break of war Of the s wift mer c hant s hip s .

in German port s whi c h were c apable of offen s ive u s e on

the trade route s thi s wa s the on l y one to put to s e a in
,

t h e early day s of the war It i s probable that s h e w a s

.

de s pat c hed in order to te st the e ffi c ien c y of the Briti s h

c ontrol of the s ea s S he mu st have moved up the Nor
.

we g i a n c oa s t at fu l l s peed taking the fulle st advantage ,

of t h e darkne s s and pro c eeded on an extreme nort her l y

,
’
route s in c e at 7 o clo c k on the evening of Augu st 7 th s h e
,

c ame upon the Briti s h s team traw l er T u ba l Cai n ( 2 2 7 t on s

) .

A heavy s e a wa s running and the s kipper of the T u ba l ,

Ca i n ( Mr C har l e s S mit h ) had ju s t got h i s gear on board

.

and wa s preparing to light a buoy near whi c h he intended to

dodge when the K AIS E R WI L H E L M D E R G R OS S E a p
,

p e ar e d The . s c ene of the in c ident w a s about fifty mi l e s we s t

north we st from St a al b i e rg h u k on th e we st c oa s t of I c eland
-
, .

The German ve ss el put out a boat and two o ffi c er s boarded ,

the T u ba l Cai n They a s ked the s kipper if he had heard

.

that war had broken out between Germany and England .

The reply was in the affirmative a s he had heard it two ,

day s ago although the ket c h had left Grim sby on July 2 5 th
, .

A demand wa s made for the s hip s paper s and the c rew of ’

,

fourteen hand s w a s dire cted to get into the trawler s s ma ll ’

boat and pro c eed on board t h e K AIS E R WI L H E L M D E R

G R OS S E As t here wa s a heavy s e a running wit h a s trong
.

’
wind two j ourneys had to be made but by 9 o c l o c k
, ,

t h e tran s fer had been c ompleted and then the K AI S E R ,

1 48 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . II I

W I L HE L M G R OS S E moved a s hort di s tan c e from th e

DER
T u ba l Cai n and began firing Altogether forty eight s hot s .
-

were fired before the ve s s el wa s s unk The firing o ffi c er .

remarked to the s kipper by way of apology for the bad

gunnery that the trawler being Briti s h took a lot of
, , ,
”
s inking The s kipper and the c hief engineer were
.

taken to the o ffi c e r s quarter s an a ct of c on s ideration ’

whi c h w a s appre c iated but the re s t of the c rew wer e ,

s ent below .

In tho s e c ir cums tan c e s the K AIS E R W IL H E L M D E R

G R OS S E began her c areer in the c our s e of whi c h s h e was ,

attended from time to time by at lea s t four s upply s hip s ,

and s ank only two Briti s h mer c hantmen O n Augu s t 1 5 th .

s h e fell in with the U nion Ca s t l e liner Ga li ci a n ton s ) ,

whi c h had left Table B ay on July 2 8 th for L ondon The .

Ga li ci an wa s in lat 2 7 3 0 N long 1 8 W being about

° ’ °
. .

s ixty mile s o ff the u s ual tra c k from S outh Afri c a to

T enerife when the K AISE R W IL HE L M DE R GR OS SE over

,

hauled her A c c ording to the German offi c er s the pre

.
,

s en c e of the liner had been revealed by a wirele s s me s s age

whic h s h e had s ent The narrative of event s c a n be s t

.
'

be given in the word s of Captain E M Day the ma s ter . .

,

of the Ga li ci an
°
On
’
Augu s t 1 5 th at p m in lat 2 7 3,0 N long . . . .

°
18 W , we were overhauled by the German armed c rui s er
.

K AIS E R WI L H E L M D E R G R OS S E who s ignalled If you , ,

c ommuni c ate by wirele s s I will s ink you H e then .

’

ordered u s to lower our aerial and to fo l low him at full

s peed . At p m we were ordered. to s top
. The c rui s er .

then s ent a boat manned by two offi c er s and men wh o

’
de s troyed the wirele s s in s pe cted the s hip s paper s and , ,

mu stered and in s pe cted a l l pa s s enger s and c rew At .

p m the
. German s. left the S hip taking with them ,

L ieutenant D eane fi r s t cla s s pa s s enger and C S h e e r m an

,
-
, .

( gunner ) third c la
, s s pa s s enger al
-
s o all s hip s paper s and ,

do cument s e tc At ,p m we
. were ordered to pre c ede . .

°
c rui s er at full s peed and to s teer S 2 5 W ( magneti c ) . . .

At 6 p m we re c eived order s to keep all light s extingui s hed

. .
,

and to have all effe ct s belonging to pa s s enger s and c rew

ready on de c k to provi s ion a l l boat s and to have every
, ,

thing i n order for leaving the s hip at daylight At .

we were ordered to alter c our s e to S 1 7 E ( magneti c ) .

°
.
,
1 50 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . 11 1

upon o u r arrival at T enerife and obtained s ome s par e ,

part s whic h enabled him to fit up an emergen c y apparatu s

of moderate power When thi s had been done I in stru c ted
.
,

him that while he s hould take every op p ortunity of

,

re c eiving me s s age s he was on no a c c ount to tra n s mit

,

any me s s age s or to c o mmuni c ate with other s hip s until

we rea c hed the E ngli s h C hannel The fitting of thi s .

temporary apparatu s enabled me later on to c ommunic ate

with my owner s In my opinion great c redit i s due to the
.

o perator for the s tep s he took to enable me thu s to maintain

c ommuni c ation and I have every rea s on to believe not

, ,

o nly that he s tri ctly c arried out my order s in li s tening for

me s s age s a s we afterward s rec eived s everal but that he

, ,

al s o avoided s ending any me s s age s without my authority

—
.

T oba cco Having h e ard that s ome of the German

.

boatmen were tryin g to pur c ha s e c igar s and c igarette s

from our men on the lower de ck I pa s s ed along word that ,
,

there mu s t be no trading with thi s German s hip and thi s ,

I believe wa s al s o done by the German o ffi c er who wa s

then in my c abin After the mu stering of the c rew and
.

pa s s enger s and t h e examination and removal of the s hip s

,
’

paper s I a s ked the German offi c er if he would take a c igar

, ,

and he laughingly ob s erved Ye s we have no c igar s left , , .

’

Thi s I felt to b e a c onvenient opportunity for s howing

my s en s e of the c ourte s y with whic h thi s individual offi c er
had treated my s elf and my s hip and I s aid to him If , ,

you will have a few c igars or c igarette s I s hall be very ,

’
plea s ed . I then s ent a steward to fet c h 3 0 0 c igar s and
c igarette s whi c h I a s k e d the offi c er to a cc ept and
, ,

he expre s s e d h i s thank s for thi s act of c ourte s y .

In thi s c onnection I may add that after the German ,

c ru i s er had left u s I w a s told by s everal of my fi r s t c la s s

-
,

pa s s enger s that the men in the German boat did not appear
to reli s h their ta sk and that when a s king for c igarette s,

and tobacc o they s aid in what appeared almo s t a s tate ,

o f tremb l ing anxiety : W e do not want to fight ; we hav e

’
n o grudge again s t your E ngli s h s hip s .

M e di ca l S tor e s F rom c a s ual c onver s ation afterward s

.
-

with pa s s enger s I learn e d that s ome of them had been

,

told by the men i n the German boat along s ide that the
K AI SE R WIL HE L M D E R G R O S SE had a c rew of about 4 50
men very largely R N R men and it i s s igni fi c ant of the
, . . .
,

p o s s ibilit
y of a c on s id e rable a m ou nt of s i c kne s s being o n
 CH . 111 ] ANOTHER SHIP RE LEASED 1 51

board that the German o ffi c er in c harge of t h e boat s crew ’

” 1
took away a l l the quinine from the surgery of my ship .

Early on the morning of Augu st l 6 t h when th e New ,

Z eal and Shipping C o m pany s s s K a i pa r a ton s ) ’

. .

wa s on pa s s a ge t o Eng l and from Mont evideo with a large

c argo the K A I S E R W I L H E L M D E R G R O S S E
,
whic h had ju s t ,

rel ea s ed t h e Ga li ci an appeared making s ignal s whi c h the , ,

”
ma s ter ( Mr H Makepea c e ) . c ou l d . not under st and .

He real i s ed however that he w a s in danger He wa s

, , .

s ending wirele s s me ss age s for a s s i s tan c e when the K AI S E R

WIL HE L M D E R G R O S S E s teamed up and hail ed him t hrough

”
a meg aphone Stop your wirel e s s or I wil l s ink you .

A boarding party t hen went on b oard threw s everal part s

-
,

of the wire l e s s apparatu s overb oard examined the s hip s ,

’

paper s and s ending t h e offi c er s and men on board

, ,

the mer c hant c rui s er s ank the Briti sh ve s s el A c harge , .

of gun c otton w a s put in the s tokehole the c onden s er

-
,

door s were opened and then fi fty three s hot s were fired ,
-
.

O n t h e fol l owing day the R oyal Mai l Steam Pa c ket C om

liner A l ton ) w inter epted on her
’
p a n y s r a n za s a s c

voyage from Bueno s Ayre s to S outhampton She had left .

the former port on J u l y 3 l st and wa s in lat 2 4 40 N long , .

° ’
.

17 14 W T he pro c edure in th e c a s e of the Ga li ci an wa s

’
.

repeated The Ar lan za fir st re c eived a s ignal

. Heave ,
”
to or I wi ll fire into you
, When that order had been .

c omplied with the enemy ve ss el whi c h wa s then within

, ,

2 0 0 or 3 0 0 yard s s ent another s ignal L ower away

,
”
and throw ove rb o ard all your wire l e ss in s tal l at ion A .

later inquiry eli c ited the fa c t that the A r la nza w a s c arrying

a number of pa s s enge r s That wa s foll owed by the w e ] .

c ome not i fi c ation D i s mi s s ed on a c c ount of your having

”
women and c hildren on board That s ignal w a s twi c e .

repeated Then c ame t h e final me s s age

. I have no
”
further c ommand s for your c aptain C ommander C E . . .

D own in a repor t to h i s owner s s tated that h i s pa s s en

, ,

ger s were natural l y rat her ex c ited during the exc hange
1
In h i s re p o rt
Un i o n Cas t e Ste am s i
t o th e l
Co m an y , Ca t ai n D a y hp p p
d d h
r e c or e t at th e G
e rm a n o f c e r s w e r e fi
m o s t c o u r te o u s t r o u ou t h gh .

Th e Ad l m i r a ty s e n t t r o u th e h
n i o n Cas t e gh
ai Ste am s i U Co m an y l M l hp p
p l g d
a s e c i a m e s s a e o f c o m m e n a ti o n t o Ca t ai n D a y a n d th e w i r e e s s O e r a p l p
t o r o i t h e Ga li c i a n f
T o th e o r m e r f o r th e ta c t w i c h e h a d i s l ay e i n h h d p d
l
di ffi c u t c i r c u m s t an c e s , an d t o t h e a t te r f o r t h e r om l
ti tu e an d r e s o u r c e p p d
W it h h h l d
w i c h e r e p a c e th e W i r e e s s i ns t a ati o n l ll .
1 52 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . II I

of s ignal s wondering what their fate would be ;

, but
there wa s no pani c or noi s e and the relief wa s very marked ,
”
when they heard the verdi c t that we c ou l d pro c eed .

T he A r lanza rea c hed L a s Palma s at 7 a m on the fo ll owing . .

morning having by 8 p m on the pre c eding night or

, . .
,

s i x hour s after the arre s t fitted up and put in working ,

order the s hip s dupli c ate wirele s s s e t and s ent warning

’

me s s age s to the c rui s er C O RN W AL L whi c h was known to ,

be c rui s ing in the neighbourhood of the C anary I sland s ,

and that ve s s el pa s s ed them on to the C U M B E RL AN D .

The K AI S E R WIL H E L M D E R G R O S S E next fell in with

the Elder liner N y an ga ton s ) T hat ve s s el had .

s ai l ed from Calabar on the We st C oa s t of Afri c a on

, ,

July 2 8t h with a c argo of Afri c an produ c e for Hamburg ;

but on arrival at S ierra L eone the ma s ter ( Mr C H , . . .

J one s ) re c eived order s to pro c eed to L iverpool war ,

having broken out The N y anga was about 2 3 0 mil e s.

s outh we s t of C ape Blan c o

-
b eing to the ea stward of t h e ,

u sual tra c k when the German c rui s er wa s reported about

,

s even mi l e s on her port bow drawing in A s hort time , .

afterward s the N y an ga wa s ordered to stop and after , ,

the preliminary inquirie s had been an s wered by s ignal ,

a boarding party ins tru cted the offi c er s and c rew to c o ll ec t

-

their belonging s and pro c eed on board the K AI SE R

W IL E L M D E R G R OS S E The se a c o c k s were opened the
H - .
-
,

c onden s er c over s removed and the N y anga wa s then ,

s unk by mean s of a dynamite c harge whic h blew th e ,

’
s hip s s ide out
1
.

While the K AISE R WIL HE L M D E R G R O S SE wa s operating ,

with s mall re sult s in the s outh ea s t Atlanti c the German

,
-
,

c rui s er K A R L S RU H E the whereabout s of whi c h had been for

,

s ome time the s ubj e c t of anxiety to the Admiral t y wa s ,

bu s y in the neighbourhood of the We s t Indie s aft erward s ,

rea c hing out to S outh Ameri c an water s Elaborate .

arrangement s had been made to in s ure adequate s upplie s

of c oal and s tore s tender s being pla c ed under order s t o
,

meet the war s hip a s dire cted from time to time The .

c rui s e of the K A R L S RU H E s tand s out from the hi s tory of

the warfare on c ommer c e a s a notab l e su c c e s s a c hieved

by a weak s e a power in fac e of s u pe r 1 o r for c e After .

1 Th e c re ws o f th e K a i p a ra an d N y a nga w e r e s e n t o ff i n th e G e r m an

te nde r A ru ca s b e fo r e th e acti o n wi th th e HIGH FLYE R an d lan de d at L as

P alm as o n Au gu s t 2 8th .
1 54 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . 111

o ffi c er in c ommand of the guard di s regarded thi s plea .

Po s s ibly in a s pirit of bluff he explained that the enemy

,

had learnt of the s hip s depar ture from N orfolk and

’
,

that her c oa l was bad l y needed adding th at he c ould ,

not let legal tr i fi e s s tand in h i s way when the s u c c e s s

of the c rui s er s operation s wa s at s take A l l the c rew
’
.
,

with the ex c eption of s ome Chinamen who were retained ,

to tran s fer a portion of the c oal to th e K AR LS RU H E were ,

ordered to l eave the s hip whi c h w as taken away and s unk

,

s ome day s later when s h e had s erved the enemy s purpo s e

’
.

Her bunker s rep l eni s hed ; the K A R L S RU HE again put

to s e a and overhauled the s s M a p le Br an ch . . ton s ) ,

on pa s s age from L iverpool to Punta Arena s Chile Al , .

though the M ap le Br an ch c arried a valuable c argo of

ton s and prize c attle s tated to be worth the s hip
w a s de s troyed without c ompun ction the ma ster and c rew ,

being removed to the Cr e f e ld of B remen whi c h wa s in , ,

c ompany with the K A R L S RU H E F or s ervi c e a s s c out s .

,

t h e c aptain of the K A R LS RU HE k ept in attendan c e on

him two other ve s s el s the R i o N e gr o and A s u n ci on both
, ,

being fitted with wirele s s thu s fa c ilitating their u s e for

,

intelligen c e purpo s e s Provided with eye s and ear s the

.
,

K A R L S RU HE remained in the neighbourhood of P e r n am

bu c o where s h e had already done s o we ll and in the
, ,

s e c ond fortnight of S eptember added four more large

s hip s to her l i s t of c apture s — the Hi gh lan d Hop e
t on s ) the I n dr an i
, ton s ) ; the Corni s h Ci ty
ton s ) and the R i o Igu as s u ton s ) A l l the s e s hip s .
,

ex c ept the In dr ani whi c h under the name of Ho fi nu n g

, , ,

j oined th e K AR L S RU HE S for c e of s upply s hip s were s unk

’
, .

When the German s boarded the Hi gh lan d Hop e L ieu ,

tenant Sh r o v d e r with h i s armed party s tanding behind

,

him c onfronted the B riti s h c aptain in h i s c abin He d e

, .

m e nded in a peremptory manner why the Hi gh la n d Hop e

had not s topped when reque sted to do s o ; h i s di s plea s ure
probab l y wa s not le s s ened by an arre s ting c ari c ature
of the Kai s er whi c h c ould hardly have e s c aped h i s noti c e .

H e w a s s o in c en s ed that he threatened to have the ma s ter

( Mr . J B Thomp
. . s on ) taken to the c rui s er and put in
iron s Thi s intention wa s not however c arried out but
.
, , ,

o ffi c er s and men were dire cted to get their per s onal

belonging s together and in the meantime the G erman
,

s eamen rummaged the s hip eating anything they c ould ”

,
on . m ] A SUCCESSION OF PRI Z ES 1 55

lay their hand s on The tran s fer to the Cr e f e ld wa s not .

effe c ted without diffic u l t y and the engineer weighing , ,

about s event een s tone in c limbing up the rope l adder ,

while t h e s hip wa s ri s ing and fa ll ing in the s well fel l ,

ba c k on t h e c aptain who wa s attempting to hel p him , .

The Briti s h s eamen j oined on board t h i s German ve s s el

the c aptured c rew s of t h e S tra th r oy and the M a p le
Bran ch The men fairly took c harge of the s hip al l
.
,
” ’
hand s s inging It s a long way to Tipperary
, Thu s .

t he s e brother s in mi s fortune began their enfor c ed c rui s e

in the Cr e f e ld The c rui s er remained s tationary whil e
.

t h e Cr e f e ld s teamed to the we s t and the R i o N e gro

s teamed to the ea s t at di s tan c e s enabling them to keep ,

in vi s ual tou c h with the c rui s er Owing to the clear .

atmo s phere and the c row s ne st s at the ma sthead s t h e ’

,

enemy c overed a field with a front of about 1 4 0 mi l e s .

O n the 1 7t h the I n dr ani wa s c aptured and then t h e 1

,

s c ou t ing wa s re s umed O n the 2 l st the Dut c h steamer .

M ari a laden with wheat from Portland Oregon for

, , , ,

B elfa s t and D ublin wa s c aptured The crew c on s i sting

, .
2
,

of a motley c rowd of Greek s Ch il i a n s and Arab s had l itt l e , , ,

time to make their final preparation s ; s ome of them

arrived on board the Cr e f e ld in hard hat s and wearing
“

their be s t suit s other s had no s hirt s or s ing l et s and were ,

W it hout s to c king s S ome of the firemen had been c a ll ed

.

s traight from the s tokehold and were bla c k with grime ,

.

The s e men like tho s e of the In dr ani were greet ed on

, ,
”
b o ar d wi t h the s inging of It s a long way to Tipperary
’
,

and were then s ubmitted to c lo s e que stioning to l earn t h e

late st new s of the progre s s of the war .

A further intere s t ing s idel ight on the pro c edure followed

by the K A RL S RUHE i s furni s hed by the ma st er of t h e
Corni s h Ci ty ( Mr J Bethke ) who together with h i s c rew
. .
, , ,

wa s taken on board t h e R i o N e gro where they were ,

re c eive d with all friendline ss

B y thi s time the c ru 1 s e r s c rew were bu s y c onne cting ’

fu s e s e tc from the s hip to the c rui s er ready for b l owing

,

up the Cor ni s h Ci ty The s e a c o cks had already been .

-

M as t ; M N B Pi lch e r
1
er r . . . .

1 '
Th e M ar ia le f t
Ar e n as wi th a c ar g o o f whe at f o r Be lfas t an d
P u n ta
Du bl in
Sh e w a s
. l g u n de r th e D u tc h fl ag an d w as s u b se q e n tly
s a i in ,
u

c o n de m n e d b t h G m an P i e Co u r t o n t h e pl e a t h a t Be lf as t th e fi rs t
y e e r r z ,

p o rt o f de s ti n ati o n h ad b e e n d e clar e d a n av al har b o u r o n Au gu s t 1 4th

,
.
156 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [
“

OH . 11 1

O p e n e d and already the s teame r c ould b e s e e n t o s e ttl e

,

d own s low l y About thi s time we were j oined by another

.

G erman s teamer the Cr e fe ld who we were to l d had

, , , ,

already on board five B riti s h crew s of s teamers that had

b een c aptured and s unk Only the s ame morning
. s h e

had taken a c rew o ff a s teamer whi c h was found to be

c arrying c ontraband and t herefore s unk ,
All our c rew .

were s tanding about the d e ck wa i t i ng to s e e the la s t of ,

the Corni s h Ci ty but only a s mall hole two feet s quar e

,

had been blown into her and s h e took a long time to s ink , ,

and when s h e did finally take her la s t dive it wa s too da rk

to s e e anyt hing of her S he s ank at .
p m At 9 p m . . . .

the c rui s er K AR L S RU H E pro c eeded again followed by th e ,

Cre fe l d and the R i o N e gro s t eaming to t h e s outhward , .

As I have already s aid we were re c eived with t h e u t mo s t,

k indne s s on board the R i o N e gr o and made as c omfortable

a s po s s ib l e Thi s s teamer i s a pa s s e nger boa t fitted t o
.

c arry 6 0 fi r s t c la s s and 2 0 0 s e c ond c l a s s pa s s e n ger s

-
We -
.

were all given fi r s t c la s s berths with the ex c eption of t h e

-
,

s ai l or s and firemen who were put into the third c la s s

, Far -
.

from being regarded a s pri s oner s of war we were treated ,

like fi r s t c la s s pa s s enger s t hroughout everybo dy on board

-
,

c ombining t o make u s c omfor t able

—
.

S e pte m be r 2 2 n d On thi s d a y at 5 e m
. the c rui s er s , . .
,

s topped an Ita lian and an Au s trian s teamer but after , ,

b e ing examined they were al l owed to pro ceed At 7 a m

, . . .

another s teamer wa s s ighted ; thi s turned out t o be the

R i o I gu ass u 1
a Briti s h s t eamer loaded with c oa l She
, .

wa s s t opped and examined and the c rew told to c lear out .

But j u s t t hen a Swedi s h s t eamer c ame along and s h e mu s t ,

have given the crui s er s ome information about a Briti s h

c rui s er for a few minu t e s later we were a ll under way again
, ,

fol l owed by the R i o I gu as s u and s teering due we s t t o ,

t lear of the tra k A in the a e of the Co rni s h Ci ty

g e c c s c s. ,

the s e s teamer s were held up right in t h e u s ual s hipping

tra c k where a t any moment a Briti s h c rui s er might have
,

turned up We s teamed we s t until 1 p m when a s top

. . .
,

wa s made and the c rui s er went along s ide t h e Ri o Igu as s u

t o bunker Owing t o t h e heavy s well s h e found thi s to
. ,

b e i mpo s s ib l e and s h e c a s t o ff again a t 2 p m

, after w hi c h . .
,

a c rowd of marine s were s ent on board to t ake o ff any

provi s ion s Several boat lo ad s were taken away and then

.
-
,

Mas te r Mr G e o g e J o h ns to n e
1
, . r .
1 58 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ OH . III

i k at being held up like thi s a s there s eem s no c han c e

s c ,

of our being s e t a s h ore anywhere for s ome ti me We are .

s ti ll being t reated a s we ll a s we c ou l d wi s h but the time ,

hang s heavily on our hand s and we want t o be on our ,

way home again Even thi s s teamer s c rew wi s h a Bri ti s h

.
’

c rui s er wou l d c ome along and c apture u s a s they have ,

been out here c rui s ing around for the la s t s even week s ,

and they begi n to get tired of i t and they think if a Briti s h , ,

c rui s er wou l d c apture u s s h e wou l d s end them a ll home , .

T h i s afternoon the new s got around that the K ARL S RU HE

i s Only looking for one more c apture before s ending u s
al l to Para and nothing wou l d s uit u s better if it were
,

on l y true But I am afrai d thing s will be pretty bad at

.

P ara too and we s ha l l have a good deal of trouble to get

,

home from there Well we are hoping for the be s t and

.
, ,

i f we have to s tay here for a month or s o we s hall be half

dead with ennui
—
.

S e pte m be r 2 5i h Thi s s eem s to be a day of re s t a s

.
,

the crui s er and her two e s c ort s are lying s till and not
moving through the water for on c e It appear s tha t the .

former i s c leaning out s ome of her boiler s Ou r boat s .

have been over to her s everal time s to day taking pro -

vi s ion s s u c h a s flo u r beef and s ugar and have brought

, , , ,

ba ck an inj ured s ailor for attendan c e by the do ctor Of .

c our s e , t hey have a s urgeon on board the c rui s er but I ,

take it t hey wi s h to keep their ho s pital s c lear and have no ,

S i c k peop l e on board in c a s e they s hould have to fight

—
, .

S e pte m be r 2 6 th The three of u s are s till lying motio n

.

le s s i n the s ame pla c e apparent l y while the c rui s er i s

,

exe cuting repair s I wi s h I c ou l d find bu t our where

.

about s but t h e movement s are kept v e ry c lo s e I think

, .

we s hould be very near the Ro ca s and to the we s tward

of them a s we have been s teering to the we s tward s in c e
,

we left the tra c k The time pa s s e s very S lowly with u s

.

all and we s hall be glad when t hey land u s .

S u nday S e pte m be r 2 7i h
,
T h i s i s the fi r s t Sunday .
-

we have s pent a s pri s oner s of war and we earne s tly hope ,

it will be t h e la s t and that before next Sun day we s hall

,

all have been landed at s ome port where we s ha l l be able

to get a s teamer for home We have been lying i dle all .

the morning again but at 2 p m we c ommen c ed t o s team

,
. .

again taking a c our s e to the s outhward I heard t here

,
.

wa s a s teamer in s ome port on the S outh Ameri c an c oa s t ,

 CH .
] 11 1 ANXIOUS PRISONERS 1 59

or rather in s ome unfrequented bay where we are to go ,

t o c oa l the c rui s er T h i s may be true or not ; we hear .

’
s o many ta l e s t hat we c an t t el l whi c h t o believe If it .

i s t rue we s hould rea c h t h e c oa s t s ome time t o morrow

,
-

that i s if I am right in my appro ximat e po s ition of the

,

s hip We are now twenty four days out from home and
.
-
,

t o morrow t h e owner s wi ll be e Xpe c ti n g t o hear of our arrival

-

a t R io de Ja neiro It s not like l y t hey wi ll have heard of

’
.

our c apture b u t if t hey don t hear by Wedne s day they will

,
’

p robably imagine s ome t h ing of the s ort I wi s h i t were .

po s s ible to let them know about our being s afe be cau s e ,

our people W i ll be s ure to begin inquiring of the owner s ,

and i f they c an t hear anything definite about u s t hey wi l l

’

begin to worry about our s afety Bu t we mu s t wai t .

un til we g e t to s ome port from where I c an c able home .

L e t s hope that it won t be too long to wait

’ ’

—
.

S e pte m be r 2 8th W e kept s tea m ing al l thi s morning

.

to the s outhward and at 1 0 a m s topped and the three , . .

,

Ship s s pread out s o that ea c h s hip wa s j u s t within s ight

o f one of the other s Thi s looked a s if we were looking .

for s omething and s ure e nough at 2 e m we met another

, , . .
,

German s teamer the A s u nci on of thi s s ani e c ompany

, ,
.

Until 5 p m s h e kept i n c on s tant c ommuni cation with

. .

t h e c rui s er and the Cr e fe l d and then s h e again s teamed ,

away t h e s ame way s h e had c ome We t hen remained .

s t ationary for the rema inder of the day and part of the

night
—
.

S e pte m be r 2 9 th In the early morning of thi s day we

.

again began to s team but thi s time to the s outh ea s t ,

-
,

and pro c eeded until 2 p m when we were again j oined by . .

,

two o ther s teamer s One of the s e s teamer s had t h e pri ze .

c rew of the S tr ath ro y on board She ( the KA RLS RU HE ) had .

taken the la s t of the c oal out of her and t hen after , ,

taking the pri ze c rew o ff had s cuttled her The S tr ath roy ,
.

i s another Briti s h s teamer the German s had c aptured

and hi d away in one of the many unfrequented bay s on
t h e North Brazilian c oa s t to wait until her c argo of ,

c oal would h e wanted Her original c rew i s on t h e .

Cre fe l d now At 3 p m the c rui s er and the two s tranger s

. . .

s teamed away leaving the Cre fe ld and ours elve s here to

,

wait for order s

—
.

S e pte m be r 3 0 th Th i s day h a s been a very g l oomy

.

one for e v eryone on board and h a s left everyone fe e ll ng ,

12
1 60 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING
[ CH. II I

pretty mi s erable At 7 o c lo ck thi s morni ng whil s t s ome

.
’
,

beef and potatoe s were being s ent over from our s hip t o
the Cre fe l d the boat c ap s i zed and all the provi s ion s were
,

s pi l t in t o the s e a Thi s happened whi l e the boat wa s being

.

lowered into t h e water s o t hat lu ckily no men were in her , , ,

and no live s were lo s t At 1 0 a m t h e s hip s do c tor wa s . . .

’

found dead in h i s room next to mine He had been c o m .

p l aining for a long time about a s evere pain in h i s c he s t ,

but no one dreamt t hat he wa s s eriou s l y ill be c au s e he ,

a l ways u s ed to be about j oking and playing wi t h everyone .

It appear s however t hat he had been unable to s leep

, ,

and wa s in the habit o f taking

“

a t night s for s ome ti me ,

morphia to indu c e s leep and h i s heart being weak it wa s , , ,

unab l e to s tand it When he wa s found he had not been

.

dead for more than ha l f an hour or s o but although t h e ,

do c tor from t h e Cre fe l d c ame over at on c e he wa s not able ,

to do anything We buried him at 5 p m h i s bo dy being

. . .
,

lai d i n a teakwoo d c offin and c overed with a German flag , ,

lowered into the s e a We feel awfully s orry for him b e .

,

c au s e he wa s a well to do man who only c ame to s e a for

- -

the b e nefit of h i s health and wa s kept at s e a owing to ,

the war .

Octo be r l st At daylight we were j oined again by the

.
-

A s u n ci on and s h e remained with u s all day

, We were ‘

c on tinua ll y s teaming at about half s peed all day waiting -

,

for t h e c rui s er t o re turn but a l l we s a w were one or two ,

mer chant ve s s e l s who got away all right a s there wa s no

, ,

one to c ha s e t hem We are all longing to hear s ome new s

.

from home and how the war i s get ting on Ye s terday

, .

the do ctor and the mate of the Cre fe l d told u s that the
German s had t aken Pari s and had driven the Ru s s ian s
’
out of Ea s t Pr u ss ia altoge t her but of c our s e we don t , , ,

know how mu c h of t hi s i s true

—
.

Octo be r 2 nd At 9 o c lo ck thi s morning we s ighted

’
.

the c rui s er a c c ompanied by another large s teamer c oming

, ,

toward s u s Thi s s teamer t urned out to be the In dr a ni

. ,

o f L iverpool She i s a large c argo s teamer and wa s cap

.
,

t u r e d by t he s e people s ome week s ago L aden wi t h .

c oa l , s h e had been kept o u t of the way s omewhere a s a

c ol li er for t h e c rui s er and a new name pain t ed on her bow s

, ,

the Ho fi nu ng I s uppo s e after bunkering out of her

.
, ,

the c rui s er brought her ba c k t o a c t a s a kind of s c out

for u s for after getting under way for the tra ck again
, ,
 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . 111
'

mu c h beer a s we want S o we rea ll y hav e nothing .

mu c h to c omp l ain about ; but we wi s h to get home ,

and even good living doe s not make up for that We .

are in t h e tra c k again now looking for s hi ps but there ,

do not s eem t o be any about The three s hip s are l y i ng .

s c a ttered all day but before dark they are all c l o s e

,

t ogether and lie a ll night The weather i s keeping very .

warm and fine .

Octo be r 5th — Still lying s cattered looking for s hip s

.
,

th e three s hip s j u s t within s ight of one ano t her At .

4 p m . the crui s er s i gh te d s o m e t h i ng for s h e wa s o ff in

.
,

c ha s e o f s ome s teamer our s elve s fol lowing at fu l l s peed

, .

At 6 o c lo ck th e c rui s er c aught her quarry and s topped her

’
,

but we did not get up to her until 7 p m and by t hi s time . .

,

i t wa s too dark to s e e who the s teamer wa s Sh e s eemed a .

large boat and mu s t have been either Engli s h or Fren c h

, ,

but the crew wa s tran s ferred to the Cre fe l d and a pri ze

c rew put on b o ard to take c harge We heard s h e wa s .

laden with c oal s o they probably intend to keep her

,

for b u nk ering purpo s e s like the I ndr ani At mi dnight .

s h e s teamed away leaving the c rui s er and her two e s c o r t s

,

beh ind and we s topped where we were all night I

, .

wonder if they will trans fer u s now and s end u s in to h e

landed ; a s I mentioned s ome time ago t here h a s been ,

s ome talk of the Cre fe l d being nearly fu ll of pri s oner s ,

and that a s s oon a s one more s teamer wa s c aught and

c aptured we Should be tran s ferred to her and the lot of
,

u s s ent to b e landed at a South Ameri c an port I only .

ho pe it will turn out to be true

Octobe r 6th —T h i s morni ng we heard that the s te a mer
.

c aught la s t night wa s the F a r n outward bo und from

1
,

Cardi ff We had expe cted that s h e might have s ome new s

.

about the war but i f s h e had it h a s been s uppre s s e d and

, ,

we have heard nothing The c rew may have been able .

to tell u s s omething but a s I have s ai d they have been , , ,

s ent to the Cre fe l d We were c rui s ing around agai n thi s

.

morni ng looking for s teamer s and at 3 p m one wa s s ighted , . .

1
A f t e r h e r c a p tu r e t h e F a r n to n s ; m as t e r , Mr . G T . . Alle yn e )
p u t i n t o S an Ju an ( P o r t o R i c o ) on J an u ar y 1 1 th , 1 9 1 5, u n de r th e

c o m m an d o f a li e u te n an t t ak e n o u t o f th e c ru i s e r K ARLS RUH E h e r ,

m i s s i o n b e i n g t o o b t ai n fp r o v i s i o n s
, T h e St a te D e p ar tm e n t a t W a s hi n gt o n
.

de clar e d t ha t s h e w as t o b e r e g a de d a s a n av al te n de r an d tw e n ty f o u r
r ,
-

h o u r s w e r e g i v e n f o r h e r t o l e a v e At t h e e n d o f t h a t p e r i o d t h e v e s s e l
.

w as i n te r n e d .
 on . 111 ] T HE OVERCROWD ED CREFELD 1 63

s teering to the north ea s tward s Sh e turned out to b e the -

.

N i ceto de L a r ri n aga of L iverpoo l homeward bound from ,

1
,

t h e River P l ate wi t h a c argo of food s tuffs She wa s s ighted .

from t hi s s hi p fir s t and t h e s igna l given to t h e c rui s e r who

, ,

a t on c e s e t o ff i n c ha s e At 5 p m we c ame up wi t h her . . .
,

a boat from the c rui s er boarded her and a li tt l e afterward s ,

we c ould s e e all the c rew getting ready to l eave t h e s hip .

She i s a fine s teamer and looked near l y new but of c our s e , ,

being laden with grain s h e wa s of no u s e to the c rui s er

, ,
'
,

and had to be s unk It i s a s hame to s e e s o many fine .

s teamer s s unk but s o long a s no Briti s h c rui s er s c ome here

,

to put a s top to it they will no doubt c ontinue A lot , .

of time wa s taken up taking s tore s out of th e s hip for the

c rui s er e s pe c ial l y pota t oe s of whi c h the s e s hip s are run
, ,

n ing s hort At 9 p m the s t eamer began to s e tt l e but the

. . .
,

h ole blown into her mu s t have been very s ma l l for s h e wa s ,

a long time going down taki ng a li s t fir s t one way and t hen ,

t h e other She s ettled down bodily unt il her e ngine

.

room s kylight was awa s h after whi c h s h e went down by ,

t h e head I s uppo s e her c argo helped to keep her afloat

.
,

be cau s e it wa s 2 p m when at la s t s h e took her la s t . .

dive .

Octobe r 7th Thi s mor ni ng we c ould s till s e e a lot of

.
-

wre ckage floating around belonging to the s teamer s unk

la s t night s u c h a s boat s s par s and boxe s At 8 a m t wo
, , , . . .

other s t eamer s were s een and the c rui s er s e t o ff after ,

one of them our s elve s following him The other s teamer

, .
,

of c our s e managed to get away s o s h e had s omething to be

, ,

thankful for be cau s e i f the two of t hem had not happened

,

to be s een together at t h e s ame time both of them would , ,

have been c aught The one we fo ll owed wa s the Ly n .

r o wan of L iverpool al s o homeward bound from t h e River

1
, ,

Plate and laden with s ugar oat s e t c She a l s o wa s

, , , .

c ondemned and the c rew tran s ferred to the Cre fe ld li ke ,

the c rew of the s teamer c aught la s t night Among her .

c rew were two ladie s and I wa s s urpri s ed t hey were taken ,

to the Cre fe l d be c au s e that s teamer mu s t be ge tting pretty

,

over crowded with al l her pri s oner s of war She mu s t .

’

have at l ea s t 3 0 0 on board now and s eeing t hat t hi s , ,

s teamer i s bigger and be tt er t han s h e i s i t s eem s s t range ,

that they s hould over c rowd her like t hat and l eave t hi s
0
1 N i ce to d e L a r r i na ga t o n s ; m a s te r , Mr . R F Na l e ) g .

1
L y n r o wa n ton s ; m as t e r , Mr rt . A hu r J o ne s ) .
16 4 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . II I

s teame r with only one s hip s crew o n board As far as ’

.

we are c on cerned we s hould wel c ome s ome new arrival s , ,

fo r we may get s ome fre s h new s fro m them but I s uppo s e

, ,

they have their rea s on s for putting all the peo ple on board
there Ea ch of the three s t eamer s took a c ouple of boat
.

load s of s ugar out of the s hi p and at 1 1 a m all the c rew , . .

were away and the s hip ready for s inking We did not .

get a c han c e to s e e her s ink at c lo s e quarter s be cau s e

—
,

both the C fe and the

r e l d R i o N ge r o that i s our s elve s ,

were ordered away to look for other s teamer s However .

,

we c ould s e e from a di s tan c e that the c rui s er wa s u s ing

her for target pra c ti c e and wa s s hooting at h e r Sh e
—
, .

s ank at 2 p m thi s i s now two s hip s s unk within

. .

three day s and another one c aptured and detained and

, ,

it s eem s s trange to u s that thi s s hould be allowed to go on .

S urely long before thi s the new s mu s t have rea ched home ,

i f not definitely s till s o many s h ip s being s o long overdue

, ,

mu s t have given t h em s ome i dea of what i s going on here .

And yet the tra c k i s s aid to be c lea n c lear of Briti s h s hip -

ping ; it will be before long i f thi s goe s on mu c h longer .

We hear that there are s ome Bri ti s h c rui s ers on the South
Ameri can c oa s t and indeed there mu s t be for s o many s hip s
, ,

to get a s far a s thi s i n s afety only to be caught here ; but

it i s s ure enough there i s no Briti s h c rui s er anywhere
around here or it c ould not help s potting u s for we s el d om
, ,

go far o ff the tra ck

—
.

Octo be 8 th
r At 6 a m a s teamer wa s s ighted and the
. . .
,

c rui s er s e t o ff in c ha s e of her bringing her up about 8 a m , . .

S he turned out to be the s s Ce rvante s of Liverpool 1

. .
, ,

bound fro m the We s t Coa s t to Liverpool Crew wa s .

ordered off the s hip ; the crui s er took a lot of provi s ion s
o ff and a hole wa s blown into her
, At 1 1 a m s h e began . . .

to s ink We were then ordered away to s c out and at

.
,

p m s.a w her
. di s appear s tern fir s t At 1 p m our . . .

c rew re c eived order s to hold our s elve s in readine s s to be

tran s ferred to the s s Cre fe l d All thi s afternoon t h e R i o . . .

Ne gro wa s away s c outing while the c rui s er and the Cre fe l d ,

kept c lo s e together At 6 p m c lo s ed up for the night

Octo be r 9 th —
. . . .

At 1 a m another s teamer wa s s ighted

. . .
,

and s toppe d by a s ho t a cro s s her bow s turning out to be ,

the s s P ru th of L ondon on a voyage from the We s t

. .
,
’
,

1
Ce r va n tes to n s ; m as te r , Mr E J H olton)
. . . .

1
P r u th t o ns ; m as t e r , Mr . J E v a ns )
. .
1 66 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . 111

the German flag She knew that the c rui s er wa s due to

.

arrive here and tried to detain the Condor s o that s h e

,

would be c aptured Anyway the ru s e s u c ceeded and then .

, ,

the crui s er c ame on the s c ene j u s t in time S he then .

boarded her and the c rew wa s ordered to leave her She

, .

w a s abandoned at 8 p m and the s t eamer kept till the . .

,

morning to allow the c rew of the crui s er to get at s ome

,

o f the c argo
—
.

Octobe r 1 2th The c ru 1 s er I S bu s y all thi s morning

getting s ome of the c argo out of the Condo r She h a s a .

lot of oil s and milk among her c argo and thi s i s j u s t ,

what the crui s er and her e s c ort s need Our boats are help .

i ng her s o there s eem s no c han c e of getting away t o day -

—
, .

Octo be r 1 3 th Boat s s till bu s y thi s morning getting

.

c argo fro m the Con do r a m heard that we are . . .

,
’
to leave at 4 o c lo c k thi s afternoon 4 p m c rui s er . . .
,

hoi s te d s ignal s L E X T D L whi c h meant Di s mi s s ed ; ,

’
wi s h you a plea s ant voyage Began o u r homeward j our .

ney at p m s teering to the. nor t h

. ea,s tward bound -
,

for Tenerife .

The crui s e o f the K ARL S RU HE wa s nearing i t s end .

R epor ts of the de s tru ction s h e wa s s preading had already

led to t h e ne c e s s ary mea s ure s being taken by the Briti s h
naval authoritie s to put a s top to her c areer But before .

the end c ame s h e effe cted three more c apture s t h e -

Gl anton ton s ) on October 1 8t h ; the Hu rstdale

ton s ) on the 2 3 r d ; and the Vandy ck ton s )
o n the 2 6 th the la s t named being c aptured 4 1 0 mile s
,
-

from Cape St Roque The Gl anton ( ma s ter Mr George

. .
, .

Arthur ) had s hipped a c argo of c oal and general mer c handi s e

fro m Barry to Montevideo When s h e wa s overhauled .

by the KA RL S RU HE at 1 0 a m on October 1 8th the ve s s el , . .

,

w a s on the u s ual trade route between Cape Verde I s land s

and Fernando Noronha After the ma s ter and crew had .

been taken o ff and everything in the s hape of oil s tore s

, , ,

rope e t c had been c ommandee red the Gl anton wa s s unk

, .
, ,

by explo s ive c harge s The KARL S RU HE then re s umed her .

c rui s e and five day s later fell in with the Hu rs tdal e ( ma s ter
, ,

Mr John William s ) whi c h wa s on pa s s age from Ro s ario

.
,

to Bri s tol with mai ze ; and t h r ee day s afterward s s h e c ame

a cro s s the Vandy ck ( mas ter Mr Anthony Cadogan ) w h i c h , .
,

wa s pro c eeding to New York She s hared the s ame fate .

CH . III ] THE KARLSRUHE S ’
LAST PRI Z E 1 67

as the other s hi p s If it were only be cau s e the Vandy ck

.

’
wa s the K A RL S RU HE S l a s t s u c c e s s her fat e and the ex ,

e r i e n c e s of tho s e on board wou l d be of intere s t ; and i t

p
happen s that in thi s in s t an c e s ome no te s are avai lab l e
o f an Ameri c an c iti zen who wa s travel ling on board thi s
Briti s h s hip at the time

Our s hi p Vandy ck c aptured O c tober 2 6 th lat , , .

° ’
42 W
°
1 4 S and long 4 0
’
1 . by th e German crui s er
. .
,

K A R L S RU HE .

A ll on board the Vandy ck were tran s ferred to the old

( 1 8 9 5 ) Hamburg South Ameri c an c argo boat A s cu n ci o n -
.

If you refer to Regi s ter of Shi pping you wi ll appre ciate ,

the c ondition s c onfro nting our pa s s enger s and crew of

4 1 0 s oul s adde d to fi ft y one o fli ce r s and c rew of two pre
,
-

vi o u s ly c aptured Bri ti s h c argo s teamer s together with ,

fifty o ffi cer s and c rew of the s ai d As u nci on .

Under s tre s s men a l one u s ua lly fear for them s elve s

,

and s ay little about it but when you reali s e that more ,

t h an fifty o f the peop l e s ent on board the o l d A s u nci on

were women and c hi l dren mo s t of them ladie s u na c cu s ,

t o m e d to tho s e roughe s t of c ondition s you wi l l under s tand ,

the i ntolerable s tate o f a ffair s tha t met them when t h e

tran s fer was made from the Vandy ck to the A s u nci o n
—
.

The neare s t port Para c ould have been rea c hed in t hirty
-

hour s ; in s tead of whi c h the As u nci on wa s kept going a t

°
about 2 knot s per hour on longitude (more or l e s s ) 4 5 ,

W j u s t above the E quator until our days of probation

.
, ,

were ended and we were landed at Para November 2 n d

, ,
.

The women behaved remarkably we l l from the fir s t

s ho c k of being under the gun s of the man o f war un til t h e -
-

end re l yi ng on the men who s urrounded t hem and

,
—
their faith wa s not mi s p l a ced .

On c e on board the A s u nci on the women and ch i ldren ,

were pa cked i n the few c abin s on board in c luding the ,

’
o ffi ce r s quarter s and the men s lep t on the de ck s and any
,

where they c ould fi n d s towage pla c e .

Food wa s brough t on board from the Vandy ck and

c ooked a s be s t might be a n d s erved by the vo l u nteer
—
,

c ook s and s teward s of our Engli h c rew s a l l prai s e be

given to them for t h e fa c t %
The o ffi cer s of t h e KA RLS RU HE a s we ll a s of the ,

,
—
As u nci on were c ourteou s but t hen Navy men and ,
 168 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPIN G [ CH
. 1 11

s ailor s are gentlemen all over the world and live u pto th e ,

s tandard par ti c ularly where ladie s are c on c erned

, .

When c aptured we were on the a cc u s t omed route

from Cape St Roque to Trinidad a n d had s teamed all
.
,

o u r vo y age in darkne s s at night — a ll to no avail a s we ,

were c aptured in full daylight a m , . .

The five mer c hant s teamer s ( c ap t ured or otherwi s e )

s pread out and s couting i n zigzag i n tou ch by wirele s s
, ,

with the K A RL S RU HE formed a net impo s s ible t o evade , ,

no matter what c our s e we might have made .

K A RL S RU HE h a s no int ention of fighting her mi s s ion ,

i s to de s troy s hipping She c an ea s i l y e s ca pe anyt hi ng

.

s o far s ent aft er her From hori zon to b e i ng u n de r her gun s

.
~

s h e wa s twen t y s i x minu t e s -
S he c ame down on u s at
—
.

t h e rate of 2 8 knot s They y s a s h e c a n do 3 0 de s pite

.

her month s in c ommi s s ion and c on s equent fouli ng .

S he h a s c aptured up to O ctober 2 4 th s ix tee n Briti s h

, ,

c argo s teamer s havi ng s unk all but three Vandy clc wa s

—
.
,

number s eventeen O ctober 2 6 th .

The weather wa s good during our c rui s e about the

—
E quator fortunately s o a s the o l d A s u n ci o n wa s flying ,

light ve r y little c oal no ba l la s t ex cepting s ome hard

, ,

woo d beam s ( for gun mounting ) on the main de c k j u s t

where they would do the mo s t damage in c a s e of bad
weather As mu c h a s was po s s ible we were kept in i gno r
.

an c e o f our s hip s po s ition probable port of landing

’
,

and date of s ame until the night of O c tober 3 l s t wh en W e

—
, ,

—
b ore away to the we s tward for Para and finally landed
there on November 2 n d Two hote l s were pre s ented for .

our pa s s enger s and the good people on s hore lent every

,

a s s i s tan c e It wa s a new lea s e of life to all of u s Some

. .

o f the ladie s c ollap s ed when relieved of t h e greater s train ,

but finally they re c overed .

Six days more of wai ting c heerfully pa s s ed de s pite ,

the great heat and on November 8 th t h e Brazi lian

, ,

s teamer S an P a u lo took on board all o f the ladie s and c hil

r e n ( ex c ep ting fo rfr c ouple s who c ho s e to remain for the

next boat ) together wi t h t h e men to the extent of fift y
,

more than the S an P au lo s pa s s enger c e r tifi c ate as arranged ’

offi cially The men c ontinued to s leep on the de c k and

.

i n the pa s s age s .

We arrived New York November 1 9 th and were thank , ,

ful S s By ron and

. . . S ce ptre bring on remainde r o f
1 70 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . III

tu al l onveyed the ne e ary information to the aptain

y c c s s c

o f th e K A R L S RU HE At a m on October 2 8th I
. . .
,

wa s informed I c ou l d pro c eed and at on c e ran fu l l s pe e d ,

ahead again t hinking I wa s very lu cky w h i c h W a s the la s t

, ,
”
remark t h e o ffi c er made a s he left me .

The c rui s er wa s fortunate in inter c epti n g a number of

large c oal c argoe s and the c aptain obtained in all
, , ,

nearly ton s of c oal from h i s prize s Similarly .

,

from all the s hip s whi c h were int er cep ted s t ore s foo d s tu ffs , , ,

and wine s were ab s tra cted in order to rep l eni s h the c rui s er s ’

s upplie s a s well a s any p l ate or c ro c kery whi c h took t h e

,

fan c y of the boarding partie s The German s a s h a s been-

.
,

indi c ated treated t h e c aptured crew s general l y with

,

c ourte s y and returned to the mer c hant o ffi c er s all their

,

private property in c luding their revolver s and gun s

, .

Before pa s s ing on to de s cribe the memorable exploit s

of the German c rui s er E MD E N s ome referen c e mu s t be ,

made to another c or s air the armed mer c hant crui s e % ,

K R O N PR IN Z WIL HE L M On the outbreak of war the Nord

.

deu ts c her liner K R ON PR IN z WIL HE L M wa s one o f the large

German s hip s in New York H arbour whi c h c au s ed the
Admiralty a goo d deal of an xiety in view o f the report s
that they were being armed and might put to s e a at any
moment The s e rumour s had variou s s our c e s and they
.
,

s eemed to fit in with the theo r ie s whi ch had in s pired Ger

many s a c tion at T he Hague Conferen c e and later on at

’
,

the Naval Conferen c e at L ondon The K R ON PR IN Z W IL .

HE L M however was the only one of the enemy s hip s

, ,

whi c h got to s e a from New York and s h e broke out o n ,

the eve of the Briti s h de claration of war before the Ameri ,

c a n authoritie s had perfe c ted their arrangement s for wat c h

i ng enemy s hi pping Th i s liner indeed left a s though

.
, ,

sh e had no belli gerent purpo s e All doubt s however .

, ,

a s to her mi s s ion were s e t at re s t on Augu s t 6 t h whe n ,

R ear Admiral Chri s topher Crado ck wi th h i s flag in the

-
,

c rui s er S UFF O L K c ame upon the K R O N P R IN Z WIL HE L M

, ,

about 1 2 0 mile s north ea s t of Watling I s land in the We s t

-
,

Indie s in c ompany with the crui s er KA RL S RU HE Gun s

, .

and gun s c rew s were being tran s ferred when the S UFF OL K
’
,

i n c ompany with the light c rui s er B RIS T OL appeared , .

The K R ON PR IN z WIL HE L M made o ff in one dire c tion and

,
'

her c on s ort in the other The Briti s h Admiral had to make .

c hoi c e of h i s quarry and he s e l e cted the man o f war

,
- -
,
CH . 1 11 ] KRONPRIN Z WILHE LM S ’
OPERATION S 171

s ending the B R IS TOL on ahead at full s peed and at th e ,

s ame t ime c a l ling up by wire l e s s t h e armoured c rui s er

B E RW I C K Nei t her o f t h e Bri ti s h s hip s equa lled the

.

s peed of the German c rui s er w h i c h wa s c on s equen tl y ,

able to elude c apture t hough s h e near l y fe l l to the BE R ,

W IC K a s s ub s equen t l y appeared
, The KR O N PRIN Z W IL .

H E L M s eem s then to have c oaled from the W a lh a l la o ff

the Azore s and on Sep tember 1 9 t h took her fir s t prize
,

t h e s s I n di an P ri n ce
. . ton s ) The c apture took p l a ce .

2 1 0 mile s ea s t of Pernambu c o indi c ating t hat t h e liner ,

w a s operating in the s ame wa ter s a s the K ARL S RU HE .

The I ndi an P ri nce left the port of Bahia Brazil on Sep , ,

t ember 2 n d for New York On the evening of Sep tem

, .

ber 4th when the I n di an P ri n ce wa s well o ff the u s ual

,

t rade rou t e in a c c ordan c e with Admira lt y in s tru c tion s

, ,

t h e K R ON P R IN Z WI L HE L M wa s s ighted No re s i s tan c e to .

c apture wa s made the Bri ti s h ve s s el s teaming ahead of ,

the German auxiliary c rui s er thr oughout the night The .

following day two German naval offi cer s boarded the

I n di an P ri n ce and took away with them her paper s a s ,

wel l a s a l l c hart s ch r onometer s bino cular s ro cket s , , , ,

blue light s and t h e Briti s h En s i gn In a cc ordan c e with

, .

order s from the K R ON P R IN Z WIL HE L M the Briti s h ve s s e l ,

s t eered on variou s c our s e s until September 8 th when s h e ,

wa s dire c ted to s top in mid o c ean and the German au xi -

l i ar y c rui s er c ame along s ide An o ffi cer a cc ompanied by .

,

an armed guard pro c eeded on board and handed t h e ma s t er

, ,

( Mr J
. R Gray ) a .notifi c a t ion.in German a c c ompanied ,

by an Engli s h tran s lation a s follows ,

I hereby give you the o ffi cial pro clamation

1 Your s h ip i s ho s tile
. .

2 The c argo of your s hip are ho s ti l e good s

. .

3 You mu s t i mmediately go with al l your c rew on

.

board of the au xiliary Per s onal good s may be taken .

along .

4 R e s i s tan c e will re s u l t c ompu l s ion ( s i c)

“
. .

S i
( g ) n e d T H IE R FE L D E R “
,

Li e u te nant Com m ande r .

The crew pa s s enger s and e ffe ct s having been tra ns ferred

, ,

t o the K R O N P R IN Z WIL HE L M the work of looting t h e s h 1 p ,

wa s begun and c ontinued th roughou t the night al l t h e

, ,
1 72 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . 111

s tore s and c oal being tran s ferred to the K R ON PR IN Z W IL

HE L M F inally t h e Bri ti s h ve s s el wa s s unk

. .

More t han a month elap s ed before thi s German au xi liary

c rui s er c apture d ano t her Briti s h ve s s el The s s L a . . .

Co rre nti n a ton s ) t h e Vi ce Co ns ul at L a Plat a

,
-

having s tated that no lo c al danger had been r eported ,

wa s on her way to L iverpool with a c argo of fro zen

meat weighing ton s the property of the Briti s h
,

military au t hori tie s when the K R ON PRIN Z WIL HE L M wa s

,

s ighted early on the morning of Oc tober 7th I then .

kept the s hi p away to the ea s tward the ma s ter ( Mr ,

.

A Mu rr i s o n ) s ub s equently re c orded
. to s e e i f the ,

ve s s el would follow H e s till k ept end o n and ap

.

pe e red to be s teaming s lowly toward s u s allowing u s to ,

pa s s Con s equently I took him to be a B riti s h or F ren c h

.

au xiliary c rui s er But when well a s tern on our port quar te r

.

h e c ame ru s hing on at full s peed and when half a mile ,

o ff he opened o u t h i s s tarboard s i de and at the s ame time

, ,

s ignalled to u s to s top in s tantly H e al s o hoi s ted h i s

.

en sign and then we found he wa s a German I c omplied

, .

and s topped our s hip and he c ame along s ide our port,

s ide ( about fifty yard s ) and I then found that he had about
,

2 00 men with rifle s and other men s tationed at two

,

1 2 pounder s o n h i s fore c a s tle head

-
c overi ng our s hip ,
”
fore and af t The wirele s s operator of the L a Corre nti na
.

s ent out a s ignal for help but no reply wa s re c eived

,
.

The s hip wa s s ub s equently ordered to be abandoned the ,

pa s s enger s and c rew being tran s ferred with their per s onal ,

belonging s t o the K R ON P R IN Z WIL HE L M a s the s hi p s o

, , ,

i t wa s s tated would be s unk in an hour However t hey

, .
,

did not s ink her a s threate ned In the meantime

.
“

the c rui s er ba cked a s tern and c ame up on our s tarboard

s ide ,s m a s hing our boat s and davit s and bridge d e c k ,

and her men s warmed on board and took charge o f the

bridge engi ne room and the s hip generally Then a gang
,
-
, .

way wa s pu t out between the ve s s el s and pa s s enger s and ,

c rew and their baggage were tran s ferred to the c rui s er ,

after whi c h the S hip s par ted and s t eamed away to t h e

ea s tward in c ompany The Briti s h ve s s el wa s s unk o n
.

1
T h e c r e w an d p as s e n g e r s o f L a Cor r e nti na w e r e tr an s fe rr e d a b o u t s
w e e k l a te r t o th e s u p ply s hi p S i r a Co d o ba w hi c h m e t t h e K R O NP RIN Z
a

e r r ,

W ILH E L M a t a e n d v o u s w i t h a qu a n ti ty o f c oal b u t i t w as n o t u n ti l
r ez ,

N o v e m b e r 9 th t h a t t h e t w o v e s s e ls p a te d c o m p an y t h e S i e rr a Cor doba
r ,

e v e n tu ally lan di n g h e r B ri ti s h p as s e n ge rs a t M o n te v i d e o o n th e 2 2 n d .
1 74 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . I II

to the K RON P RIN Z WIL HE L M and the Briti s h s hip navi , ,

gat ed by a pri ze c rew wa s taken to the we s t ward when t h e , ,

work o f tran s hipping t h e c argo and st ore s t o t h e c rui s e r

wa s begun Thi s op eration l a s ted from De c ember 8t h
.

t o 2 ot h when t h e Be l le vu e wa s s unk
, In t hi s c a s e the .
,

s hip had been kep t we ll o ff t h e u s ua l trade route and the ,

ma s ter wa s c ompli mented by t h e Admira lt y on the manner

i n whi c h he had c onformed t o Admira lt y in s tru c tion s .

The K R ON P RIN Z WIL HE L M rounded o ff the mon t h wi t h

ano t her c apture n o t far from t h e s c ene of her mee ting
with th e B e lle vu e The He m i s ph e re t on s ; ma s ter
.
,

Mr Ri c hard Jone s ) wa s on pa s s age from Hull to Bueno s

.

'
Ayre s with c oal when the K R ON P R IN Z WIL HE L M headed
for her on the 2 8th After t h e c apt ure had been effe cted
.
,

both ve s s e l s s t eamed away t o the ea s tward un til early in

t h e morning of De c ember 3 ot h when the He m i s ph e re wa s ,

brought a l ong s ide t h e c rui s er and h e r c argo s t ore s and , ,

mo s t u s eful fitting s were taken On board t h e K R ON P RIN Z ,

WI L H E L M In t hi s c a s e a s i n other s the ma s ter and

.
, ,

c rew were c a ll ed upon to s ign a de c l aration under t aking

not t o take up arm s again s t the German Empire during

t h e war The German ve s s el wa s j oined by her tender
. ,

th e s s Ho lge r to whi c h the He m i s ph e re s O ffi c er s and

. . ,
’

men were tran s ferred after whi c h the K R ON PR IN Z WIL HE L M ,

s teamed away t o the northwar d .

’
About thi s time the R oyal Mail Steam s hi p Company s
s s
. P otaro
. ton s ) whi c h had left L iverpo ol in ,

bal l a s t on De c ember 2 5 th was on her way to Monte ,

vi deo Half an hour after midnight on J anuary l oth

. ,

s h e s ighted at a di s tan c e of about three mile s a large

, ,

s t eamer whi c h turned out to be the K R O N P R IN Z W IL HE L M

,
.

The Briti s h ma s ter s attem pt to e s cape failed and after ’

,

an hour s c ha s e the P otar o wa s c aptured A c a l l for

’
.

help wa s s ent out three ti me s during t h e pur s uit but ,

the wirele s s operator of t h e German s hi p j ambe d all

me s s age s A pri ze c rew having been pla c ed on bo ard
. ,

the two ve s s el s pro ceeded in a s outh ea sterly dire c tion -

,

and the s ame afterno on t h e ma s ter and c rew were t ran s

ferred to the K R ON P RIN Z WIL HE L M The P otar o then .

s teamed away and a cc ording to t h e ma s ter ( Mr, Henry .

J Benne tt ) wa s not s een again till January 1 9 th Then

. .

s h e appeared with everything painted man o f war c o l our

- -

and wi t h extra aeria l s a l oft In the meanti me the .

CH 1 1 1
.
] A STU BBORN LITTLE 1 75 CRAFT
s s t o —
German hip had e cured w more pri ze s th e s s Hi gh l and . .

Br ae t on s ; ma st er Mr R R Pond ) whi c h wa s , . . .
,

on pa s s age from Grave s end t o Bueno s Ayre s a n d t h e ,

s ai ling s hip W i l f ri d M
-
( 2 5 8 ton s ; ma s ter Mr C W
.
, . . .

P ark s ) pro c eeding t o Bahia fr o m St John s Newfound

, .
’
,

land The former s hip wa s taken by s urpri s e She wa s

. .

well o ff the u s ual tra ck in obedien c e to Admira lty i n ,

s tr u c ti o n s when the K R ON PRIN Z WIL HE L M appeared

,

keeping end on and enve l oped in s moke s o tha t we were ,

unable to di s tingui s h wh ether s h e wa s Briti s h or German

until within ha l f or t hree quart er s of a mile o ff when s h e -
,

hoi s ted the German en s ign fired a gun and s ignalled to , ,

”
u s to s top Sub s eque nt l y a pri ze c rew wa s pu t on board
.
,

and the t wo s teamer s pro c eeded in c o m pany u nti l the W i lfr i d

M wa s s ighted The c aptain of th e German s hip c ou l d
. .

not re s i s t the temptation to inter c ep t t hi s ve s s e l s ma l l ,

a s s h e wa s b u t later on he probab l y regret t ed h i s de c i s ion

, .

S he wa s c arrying a c argo of dried fi s h The gunner s o f .

the German s hip had a lready proved by demon s tration , ,

their ine ffic ien c y and t here wa s a s hort age of ammuni tion
, .

At any rate i t wa s de cided to ram the s mall wooden ve s s el

, .

Probab l y t h e s ub s equent c our s e of event s c on s titute s one

of the mo s t c uriou s in c ident s in t hi s war After the c rew .

had been taken on board the great German liner pro ceeded ,

to ram the W i lfri d M Four time s in s u cce s s ion t h e bow

.

of the K R ON PR IN Z W IL HE L M wa s driven into th e li tt l e

s hip and even then s h e was not s unk
, At t h e end of April .

1915 ,the Genera l Re gi s trar of Shi pping at Grenada

“
reported to the Board of Trade that a large por tion of
a dereli c t s hip wa s s een drif ting o ff the s outh c oa s t of
the I s l and of Carria cou a dependen c y of t h e Government
,

of thi s i s land whi c h fina lly s ettl ed o ff the reef of D umfrie s

,
”
Bay, about 6 0 0 yard s from s hore On examination i t .

w a s found to be the remain s of the W i lfri d M whi c h t h e .

,

German liner in s pite of a l l her e ffor ts had fai led to s ink

, , .

During the re s t of January t h e German s were bu s y

loo ting the Hi gh lan d B rae and afterward s t h e P otar o ,

wa s dea l t wi t h in the s ame way Early in February t h e .

four ma s ted Norwegian barque S e m anth a c arrying grain

-
,

from Portland Oregon t o Fal m o u t h or Q ueen s town for

, ,

order s wa s c aptured and afterward s s unk t h e c rew h aving

, ,

been t ran s ferred to t h e German ve s s el In t hi s in s tan c e .

again t h e gunner s of the KR ON PRIN Z WIL HE L M s howed a

13
 CRUIS ER ATTACKS ON SHIPPIN G
[ OH 1 1 1 .

la ck of pra c ti c e s in c e o f t h e thirteen s hot s whi c h were

, ,

fired at t h e barque only one took e ffe c t The l oo ting of, .

t h e P ota r o wa s t hen re s umed and on February 1 2 t h t h e ,

tender Ho lge r w a s brought along s ide ; a h i gh s e a wa s

running and the two s hip s bumped heavi l y a s the
,

tran s fer o f pa s s enger s took pla c e The t ran s hipment .

proved a dangerou s ta s k b u t wa s a t l a s t c omple t ed and , ,

t hen t h e Ho lge r par t ed c ompany l anding her pa s s enger s on , ,

February 1 8th at Bueno s Ayr e s where s h e wa s int erned

, , .

The K R O N P R IN Z WI L HE L M m e t wi t h no fur t her s u c c e s s

until F ebruary 2 2 n d when the Briti s h s s Ch as e h i ll , . .

ton s ) w a s inter c epted on her pa s s age from Newport

N e ws to Z arat e L a P l ata with c oal The ma ster ( Mr
, , . .

R H Kidd ) and the c rew were tran s ferred to the K R O N

. .

P R I N Z W IL H E L M and a prize c rew w a s put on board the

,

Ch as e h i ll The German ve s s el then t ook out of the Briti s h

.

s hip pra c ti c ally a l l the c oal On Mar c h 9 t h th e c rew were .

ret ran s ferred to the Ch as e h i ll together with the c rew ,

and pa s s enger s of the F ren c h mai l s teamer Gu adal ou p e ,

whi c h the K R ON P RI N Z WIL H E L M had c aptured s ome day s

before to find that their s hip had been mu c h damaged
,

during the pro c e ss of tran s hi pping the c oal The Ch as e h i l l .

,

with her F ren c h pa s s enger s and s eamen rea c hed Pern e m ,

bu c o early on the morning of Mar c h 1 2 th .

It appeared later on that the K R O N P RIN Z W IL HE L M ,

though s h e had Obtained c on s iderable quantitie s of c oal

and general s to re s whi c h wou ld have enabled her to s eek
fre s h s c ene s of a c tivity s till c ontinued her depredation s ,

on t h e trade route whi c h had already proved s o fruitful .

O n Mar c h 2 4t h the Royal Mai l Steam Pa c ke t Company s

,
’

s s T am a r
. . ton s ) with a large c argo of c offee from , ,

S anto s to Havre wa s c aptured On s ailing t h e ma s te r

, .
,

( Mr F .S Hannan .
) w a s warned
. to s tand to t h e ea s tward ,

and w a s attempting to a v oid danger when he wa s over

hau l ed by t h e Ge rman raider As u s ual the Briti s h c rew .
,

were t ran s ferred and then t h e T am ar wa s s unk by gun

,

fi re A de c l aration o f neutrality during the war w as

.

re quired from the c rew and pa s s enger s The K R O N P RIN Z .

W IL HE L M then re s umed her c our s e and on the 2 7t h fell ,

in with th e Briti s h s s Col e by t on s ) whi c h wa s b o und

. . ,

from Ro s ario with a c argo of wheat By thi s time .

,

a c c ording to the ma s ter of the T am ar the K R O N P RIN Z ,

W IL HE L M S howed s ign s of damage through having s everal

1 78 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ OH . 111

S he w as c rui s ing about s eventy mile s s outh of Valparai s o ,

in a fog when s h e c ame upon the Briti s h s s Ch ar cas

, . .

t on s ) s teaming from Corral to Guaya c an C h i l e

, , ,

en route to New Y ork with a s mall load Of nitrate of ,

s oda .The ma s ter ( Mr A C Norri s ) wa s hugging the s hore

. . .

a s c lo s ely a s po s s ib l e when t h e P R I N Z E IT E L F RIE D R I C H

inter c epted her fol l owing the s ame routine a s in the c a s e

,

of the other raiders On De c ember 1 2 th the German s hip

.

fel l in with the s ai l ing ve s s e l K i lda l ton on pa s s age from

-
,

Liverpoo l to Cal l ao Before t h e s hip w a s s unk the ma ster

.
,

( Mr .W Sh arp
.
) and c rew were taken on board the c rui s er
and eventual l y l and e d at Ea s ter I s land There they r e .

mained marooned from the la s t day of the year w h i c h had

s een the outbreak of the war till F ebruary 2 6 t h when they ,

were taken o ff by a Swedi s h s teamer and landed at Panama

on Mar c h 1 2 t h .

Exa c tl y two month s elap s ed before the P RI N Z E I TE L

F RIE D RIC H had another s u c c e s s and ag ain her c apture
wa s a s mall S hip—t h e s v I n ve r coe
,

ton s ) whi c h wa s
. .
,

c ar r y mg wheat from Port l and Oregon to a Briti s h port , , .

Thi s proved an ea s y c apture and after the ma ster ( Mr ,

.

Wm J King ) and c rew had been tran s ferred s h e w as

. .
,

s unk L e s s than a week later the P R I N Z E I TE L F RIE D RI C H

.

had better fort une When off Pernambu c o in the area

.
,

in whi c h the KA RL S RU HE and the K R O N P RI N Z WIL HE L M

had operated with s u c h e ffe ct s h e fell in with the s s
‘

,
. .

M ary A da S h ort ton s ; ma s ter Mr A E Do b , . . .

bing ) on F ebruary 1 8th Thi s s hip loaded with maize

.
, ,

wa s pro c eed i ng from Ro s ario and St N i c hola s ( St Vi n . .

c ent ) for o rder s when the P RI N Z E ITE L F RIE D RI C H w as

,
1

s ighted After provi s ion s had been removed a dyna

.
,

mite c harge wa s p l a c ed in the engine room and as thi s

'

-
, ,

proved ineffe ctive t w o S hot s were fired into the hu l l

, ,

and t h e v e s s e l then di s appeared Two d ay s later it wa s

'

the i l l fortune of the s s W i l le r by

-
ton s ) to be e n
. .

c oun t ered by the German mer c hant c rui s er w h i le pro c eed

ing from Mar s eille s t o Bueno s Ayre s in water ball as t All .

went well until F ebruary 2 ot h when the mas ter ( Mr , .

J Wedgwood ) wa s ordered by the PR I N z E ITE L F RIE D RI C H

.

to s top He i gnored the Signal b u t t hree quarters of an

.
,
-

hour later wa s overhau l ed On Mar c h 1 1 t h the P RI N Z .

,

E ITE L F RIE D RI C H who s e c rui s e had been b a rren s in c e

,

the c apture of the W i l le r by put into N ewport N ew s for ,

CH . 111 ] COMMERCE D ESTROY ER INTERNED -
1 79

repairs On a rr ival the c aptain found he had gravel y

.

prej udi c ed him s elf in the eye s of the Ameri c an pub l i c by

s inking the Ameri c an s s W i lli am P F r y e w h i c h had on . . .
,

board wheat c on s igned to a Briti s h port The s tory of .

the de s tru ction of thi s s hip though Sh e wa s not of Briti s h ,

nationality i s of su c h h i s tori c al importan c e from many

,

point s of view that it may be of intere s t to give the s tate

ment made by her c aptain ( Mr H H Kiehne ) after he . . .

had been landed by the P RINZ E ITE L F RIE D RI C H at N ew

port New s .

On January 2 7th he wa s approa c hed by the P RIN z

E ITE L F RIE D RI C H in the South Atlanti c H aving made .

the u su al inquirie s the German c aptain told him that he ,

deemed h i s c argo c ontraband and propo s ed to de stroy

’
,

it. Captain Kiehne prote s ted but German o ffi c ers and ,

men c ame on board and began to j etti s on the grain J

.

The P RIN Z E ITE L F RIE D RI CH t h e n di s appeared after

another s hip and when s h e reappeared to u s e Captain
, ,

Ki e h n e s word s
’
evidently the grain wa s not being
,

thrown Overboard fa s t enough to s uit the German ski pper ,

for he s ent half a hundred men aboard s oon afterward s

‘

and the work went on for hour s without interruption .

H owever it wa s s low at the be s t and I wa s informed the

, ,

next morning that my s h i p would be s ent to the bottom .

It was originally the intention of the German c aptain to

leave enough c argo in the hold of the s hip for balla s t .

That part of the grain w a s to be rendered u s ele s s by s alt

water As s oon a s I w a s informed that my s hip wa s to be
.

s ent to the bottom I and my wife with our two boy s , ,

and the c rew made for the German s team er in our own
,

boat s We were tak en on board and s hown every c ourtes y

.

”
throu ghout the remain der o f the voy age .

Inve s tigation after her arrival at Newport N ew s S howed

that the P RI N Z E ITE L F RIE D RI C H required new boiler s ,

and on April 8 th s h e w a s interned on the appli c ation of

her c aptain who handed to the c ol l ector of the port the
,

following s tatement

I inform you that I intend to intern S M S P RIN Z . . .

E ITE L F RIE D RIC H The relief I expe c ted appear not to.

arrive in time s o number and forc e of enemy c rui ser s

,

wat ch i ng the entran c e of the bay make s to me impo s s i b l e

the da s h for the open s e a with any hope of s u c c e ss I .
1 80 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . 111

have de cided not to de l iver the c rew and the s hip to fruit
le s s and c ert ain de s tru ction Bei ng ob l iged for the .

c ourt es y s hown by a l l the United State s au t h r i t i e s I am

g ,

expe cting y Ou r order s I have s ent s ame information to .

”
R ear Admiral Helm of the U nited State s s hip A L AB AM A
-
, .

Another c ommerc e de s troyer wa s the c rui s er LE IP Z I G -

,

a ve s sel of s mall tonnage whi c h formed one of the unit s

under the c ommand of Admiral von Sp e e Within about .

s i x week s of the opening of the war the LE IP Z I G made ,

her firs t c apture On S ep t ember l 1 t h t h e s s E l s i n or e. . .

to ns ) w a s on her pa s s age from Corinto to San L ui s

Ob i Sp o Ca l ifornia in ba l la s t when s h e w a s en c o u ntered
, , ,

by the LE I P ZI G a warning s hot annou nc ing that the ,

s tranger w a s a foreign c rui s er In thi s c a s e t h e ma s ter .

( Mr . J R obert .s ) w a s taken on board the German s hip ,

and re c eived order s to re tu rn and navigate h i s ve s s el

i n a c c ord an c e with in s tru c tion s re c eived from the German
c ommander Variou s c our s e s were then s teered t h e
. ,

German s s M ar i e being at that time in c ompany with

. .

the LE IP ZIG Captain Robert s made the following s tate

‘

ment a s to h i s exp erien c e whi c h indi c ate s the c our s e ,

purs ued by the c ommander of the LE IP Z IG in h i s e ffort s

to inter c ept Briti s h mer c hantmen

S ep te m ber 1 1 th .
—At I arrived on board of
a . m .

my own ve s s el and s e t , the engine s at fu l l s peed and c ou rs e

°
wa s s e t N 6 2 E . .

a m I wa s s ignalled by Mor s e to alter my c our s e

. .

to S 1 5 E and again at
.
°
. a m
,
w a s s igna l l ed to s teer . .

°
S 4 5 E th e n I began to get anxio u s wondering when we
'

. .

were to leave ( the s hip ) a s I w a s at thi s time fifty mile s ,

from the land .

At a m I w a s s ign all ed to make the be s t po s s ib l e

. .

s peed and at ,
a m we s ighted a c argo s teamer ahead . .

whi c h proved to be a German s hip named t h e M a r i e ,

but whi c h at fir s t I thought to be a poor unfortunate

like my s e l f owing to h i s movement s but I afterward s ,

found out that he w a s only obeying order s from t h e

LE I P Z IG and that the meeting w a s prearranged and that
, ,

the M ar i e w a s in c ompany with the LE I P ZI G s upplying ,

her with c oal and s tore s .

At a m I wa s agai n si gnalled to heave to and to

. .
1 82 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . 111

c ame to an c hor in Tagu s Cove Atte rn a v e I s l and and at , ,

p m. the c rui
. s er c ame along s ide and c ommen c ed to
bunker 7 p m owing to c ove being s o s mal l the c rui s er
. . .
, ,

c a s t off and went to a s afer an c horage ; P revi ou s to her

going away the c ommander s ent for me to c ome on board
he then told me that he would fait h f ully land u s a l l s afe
at Callao and how s orry he felt for me in s u c h a po s ition
, ,

and being a s ailor h i m s elf he was s orry that he had been

, ,

obliged to de s troy s u c h a fine s hip Then I informed him .

that I had a bag of mail on board from the Ameri c an

c rui s er D E N VE R for San F ran c i sc o whi c h he promi s ed he ,

would s afely deliver

—
.

S ep te m be r 1 8 th : The c rui s er c ame along s ide at 6 a m . .

,

a n d again c ommen c ed to bunker and at 9 a m c ompleted , . .

5 0 0 ton s At . a m both s hip s got under weigh . .

and pro c eeded out o f the c ove at full s peed and c our s e ,

w a s s e t s outh .

S e pte m be r 1 9 th Came to an c hor off H ood I s land

.
-
,

Galapago s at ,
a m and the c rui s er left and pro c eeded
. .
,

for Chatham I s land for fre s h provi s ion s whi c h I s till ,

beli eve wa s not ne ce s s ary a s he had more important ,

bu s ine s s i n view
—
.

S e pte m be r 2 0 th S hi p s till at an c hor o ff Hood I s land

.
,

and at 6 p m I am po s itive I s a w t wo di s tin c t s moke s

. .

from s teamer s in the dire c tion of Chatham I s land and thi s ,

proved to be c orre c t a s the c rui s er had another s teamer ,

awaiting wi th her s tore s e t c and equipped with wire le s s , .

, .

At 6 p m the c rui s er returned and an c hored c l o s e to

. .
,

and s ignalled that the c ommander wou l d s end h i s boat to

take me on board a s he wi s hed to s peak to me On arrival
, .

on board o f the c rui s er h e i nfo r m e d me that owing to

'

, ,

i nformation he had re ceived he wa s unable to fulfil h i s ,

promi s e to land me at Callao but he had made arrange ,

ment s at Chatham I s land for our board e t c and tha t after , .

,

fourteen day s a ve s s el would take u s o ff for Guayaquil ,

and I wa s to prepare to leave at the fol lowing morning .

T h e c ommander now s eemed to be working in s ome

mys teriou s way a s i f he were an xiou s to get c lear of u s .

H e invited me to take dinner with hi m but I wa s obliged ,

to refu s e owing to being s o depre s s ed to find t h e pre cariou s

,
:

po s i tion that F ate h a d pla c ed both my c rew and my s elf

i n s o I c am e ba c k on board and c al led my offi c er s together
,

and told them the exa c t word s the c ommander of the

 on . m ] LAND ED ON CHATHAM IS LAN D 1 83

LE I P Z I G had s ai d ; and when the crew were informed

they be came very di s s ati s fied whi c h c au s ed t h e crui s er s ,
’

people to double up the armed guard but however the , , ,

night pa s s ed quietly .

S e pte m be r 2 l st At 3 a m both s hip s got under way

.
-
. .

and pro ceede d toward s Chatham I s land and at 7 a m , . .

c ame to an c hor in the road s tead .

At 8 a m we all embarked in the crui s er s boat s with

. .
’

our remai ning e ffe c t s and s ma ll amount of provi s ion s ,

and at 9 a m we landed on Chatham I s lan d with on l y

. .
,

two hou s e s i n s ight and a large s tore s hed in whi c h pla c e ,

the c rew were lodged ( Thi s i s lan d belong s to E cuador .

,

and i s u s ed a s a c onvi c t s tation ) .

I arrang ed for two offi cer s to remain with th e crew

to k eep order and taking the c hief offi c er c hief s ignal ler
, , ,

and s e c ond engineer we rode on hor s eba ck to the s ett le

,

ment s i x mile s inland ( a s ugar and c offee plantation ) ,

and even here we fared very badly with regard to food and
bed s ; but the c rew fared very bad a s the provi s ion s were ,

ver y s car ce and had to be c arefu lly rationed .

S e pte m be r 2 2 nd Thi s day pa s s ed away after many

.
-

trouble s regarding s leeping a c commodation e t c but my , .

,

c rew s eemed to be getting very di s s ati s fied though up to the ,

pre s ent they had borne the hard s hip s bravely

—
.

S e pte m be r 2 4i h To day I made arrangement s wi t h

.
-

th e Governor of the I s land a Mr Ar az to take me and , .

,

half of the c rew to E c uador a s thi s wa s the only mean s of ,

getting into c ommun i c ation and reporting the l o s s of my

s hi p ; and he arranged to s end u s away in a s ma l l s loop
of fifty ton s the di s tan c e to Guayaquil being about 6 70
,

mile s s o he provi s ioned her a cc ordingl y s h e being about

, ,

ha l f loaded with a c argo of dried fi s h and hi de s and ordin ,

ar i l y would not have s ailed for another ten days .

The c ommander of the LE I P ZIG S intention wa s to ’

detain me on the i s l and a s long a s po s s ible s o a s to prevent ,

me c ommuni cating with the authoritie s and s poiling

h i s chan c e s of s inking mer c hant ve ss el s for when the ,

Governor of the i s land o ffered to a s s i s t me one of the ,

German offi cer s remai ni ng on the i s land s trongly obj e cted ;

but the Governor in s i s ted on our leaving owing to the
s c ar c ity of food there not being s uffi c ient t o k e ep a ll the
,

men for any length of time and al s o owing to h i s good ,

feeling toward s u s .
1 84 CRUISER ATTACKS ON SHIPPING [ CH . 111

SO after s ome c on s iderable trouble I pi cked out h alf

, ,

o f the c rew that wa s to a c c ompany me on what turned

out to be one o f the mo s t mono tonou s and harde s t five
days at s e a I ever experien c ed The a cc ommodation for
‘

t h e c rew w a s in the hold where t hey s lept on the hi de s ,

and dried fi s h and t h e s me l l at ti me s wa s s omething

,

terrib l e .

So at 3 p m after s ayi ng good bye to t h e remaining

. .
,
-

c rew we boarded our s ma ll c raft lifted an chor and

, ,

s e t s ail for Guayaqui l I m a y mention that thi s i s the .

mo s t i s olated and unfrequented s tret c h of water in the

world .

Mr Araz the Governor a cc ompanied u s and we o ccu

.
, , ,

pied the c abin t oge t her and he wa s mo s t kind and c o n ,

s i derate to u s a ll right through the trip and did all po s s ible

for our c omfort

—
.

Octobe 1 st
r Thi s day we arrived at Guayaquil after ,

a mo s t eventfu l trip i n many way s the total number of

per s on s on board the s ma l l c raft wa s twent y nine s o our -
,
” 1
c omfort and living c an be better i magined than de s c ribed .

As oon a s the E ls i nore had been di s pat c hed the

s ,

L E I P Z I G again got t o work and in t h e Gu l f of Guaya ,

quil on Sep te m ber 2 5 th s h e m e t t h e s s B ankfi e l ds

, , . .

t on s mas ter Mr J ohn Ingham ) ju s t out of , .

Eten bound for a Briti s h port wi t h a c argo of s ugar

and c opper ore R umour s had a lready rea c hed Cal l ao
.

that a German c r u i s er wa s o ff the Peruvian c oa s t ,

but the warning whi c h wa s i mmediately i s s ued did not

%

, ,

rea c h Eten unti l s ome hour s after the B ankfi e l ds had l eft ,

t h e o ffi c ial te l egram being de l ayed in t ran s it Thu s it .

happened t hat t hi s fine Briti s h s hip fe ll an ea s y prey

t o t h e L E IP Z IG by whom s h e wa s forthwith s unk
,
The .

rathe r unprofitable c areer o f the L E I P ZIG wa s next varied

by the c apture o f the s ailing ve s s el D r u m m u i r t on s ) -
,

o n De c ember 2 nd when o ff Staten I s land near Cape Horn,

.

S he wa s c arrying a c argo O f anthra c ite c oa l whi c h wa s ,

too va l uable t o be s unk s o s h e wa s taken to the ea s t ,

s i de of P i c ton I s l and about one mile from the s hore ,

.

1
Th e de r o f th e c r e w o f th e E l s i n o r e le ft Ch ath am Isl an d a fe w
r e m ai n

d a ys af te r th e de p ar tu r e o f th e m as te r the y w e r e c o n v e ye d t o P an am a .

i n th e s e E cu a d o r an d p r o c e e de d t he n c e t o Co l o n a r r i v i n g i n L o n d o n o n
. .
, ,

No ve m be r 2 5th b y th e R o y al Mai l Ste am Pack e t Co m pan y s Da nu b e

’
.
 CHAPTE R IV

T HE E XPL O I S T OF T HE
“
E MD E N

T HE s tory o f the raid s on Briti s h s hipping by the German

c rui s er E MD E N s till remain s to be told It i s perhap s an
.

advantage that the experien c e s of mer c hant s eamen at

the hand s of other enemy ve s s el s s hould have already been
de s c ribed
. A s tandard had thu s been afforded by whi c h
t h e i ngenuity re s our c efulne s s and humanity o f Captain
, ,

von Mii l l e r o f the E MD E N c an be mea s ured When brief .

parti cular s o f h i s e x ploit s were fir s t publi s hed in England ,

t here wa s a tenden c y to regard thi s German naval offi c er s

’

c on s i deration toward s the pa s s enger s and c rew s of c a p

tu r e d mer c hant s hip s a s quite ex c eptional The legend .

al s o grew up that the E MD E N a l one among the German

s hip s had s u c c eeded i n c arrying on c ommer c e de s tru c ti o n -

with any c on s i derable degree of s u c c e s s In the light o f .

the fuller revelation of the operation s o f German men o f -

war and c onverted mer c hantmen we are able to c orre c t

,

the s omewhat exaggerated e s timate whi c h wa s formed by

c ontemporary Briti s h opinion o f the re s our c e and s e a

man s h i p of Captain von Mil l l e r H e di d better than h i s

.

c ompeer s , but will hold no s u c h pla c e i n the hi s tory o f

thi s war a s wa s a cc orded to Captain Semme s in the
__

Ameri can Civil War and to Captain Paul Jone s in the

,

W ar of Indepe nden c e .

Captain von Mii ll e r s tru ck where he c ould produ c e the

m aximum e ffe cts politi ca l and c ommer cial though h e
, ,

pr o fited by an element of lu ck Moreover he like the

.
, ,

o ffi c er s who c ommanded other German men o f war - -

during the period when atta c k wa s being made on Briti s h

mer chant S hipping by s urfa c e s hi p s be s mir c he d h i s repu
,

t ati o n with no a c t c ontrary to the prin c iple s of the

brotherhood of the s e a or oppo s ed to the di ctate s of human
,

1 86
CH . Iv ] IN THE BAY OF BENGAL 1 87

i ty . The day wa s to c ome when German nava l o ffic er s

and men were t o earn the c o nt emp t of o t her s e amen
owing to the c allou s ne s s and inhumanity whi c h many of
them e x hibited D uring the opening pha s e of the war
.

the world we lc ome d many indi c ation s o f an intention ,

s o far as naval ho s tilitie s were c on c erned t o fulfil the ,

under t aking s w h i ch Germany s repre s entative s had given ’

at T he Hague and at L ondon when the rule s governing ,

the c ondu c t of war W ere di s c u s s ed .

In the c our s e o f her c areer the E MD E N c aptured and ,

s ank fifteen mer c han t s hip s the s ame number a s the

,

K A RL S RU HE s h e overhauled s even o t her ve s s e l s of whi c h ,

one e s caped two were c aptured and utili s ed and the other
, ,

four were relea s ed The s tory of the E MD E N S operation s

.
’
,

therefore re s o lve s it s elf into t h e narrative of the e x

,

r i e n c e s o f the o fli c e r s and men of twenty two Briti s h

‘
-
p e

mer c hant s hip s From the time when the c rui s er on the
.
,

eve o f the war wa s reported t o be at T s ingt au until s h e

,

appeared dramati c al l y in the Bay of Bengal li tt le or no ,

authenti c information had rea c hed t h e Bri ti s h Admiralty

a s to her whereabout s The war had run i t s c our s e for
.

a period of over a month before the Indian Government

wa s s uddenly for c ed to adm i t that it wa s c onfronted
with a s ituation wh i c h had not been fore s een and again s t ,

whi c h no adequate pre c aution s had been taken R e .

viewing the depredation s o f the E MDE N in the light of

the s ub s equent atta ck on o c ean borne c ommer c e a s -

waged by the enemy and the heavy l o s s e s in fli cted the

, ,

wide s pread irritation whi c h s h e o c ca s ioned both in the

Ea s tern and We s tern world i s notab le The fir s t full .

’
and authenti c new s o f the c hara cter of the E MD E N S
operation s in the Bay of Benga l t o rea c h Engl and wa s a
me s s age to the M o rni ng P ost of September 1 9 th The .

Colombo c orre s pondent of t hat j ournal related an inter

view whi c h he had had with a pa s s enger in the s s Di p . .

l o m at ton s ) whi c h had s ailed from that port on

,

the previou s Friday Squa ll y weather had been e xpe .

r i e n c e d in the Bay of Bengal for s ome week s before t h e

E MDE N appeared and that c ondition c ontributed to the

,

enemy s s u cc e s s
’
Fr om t h e morning when we left t h e
.

Sand Head s and dropped our pilot until th e moment when ,

eighteen hour s later the E MD E N c aptured u s by Pur l

,
,

there were intermittent rain Shower s when it wa s impo ssible ,

1 88 EXPLOITS OF THE [ EMD EN CH . Iv

to s e e fifty yard s ahead On the Saturday night we never .

troub l ed t o extingui s h light s s o c onfident were we alt hough , ,

we s ub s equen t l y l earnt t hat t hree Briti s h S hip s the I ndu s

—
,
”
L ovat and K i lli n had a l ready been s unk
, Continuing h i s .

narrative thi s pa s s enger s t ated t hat :

, About noon on
Sunday we s a w ahead a group of four ve s s el s in the c entre ,

o f whi c h wa s a war s hip whi c h the fir s t o ffi c er on our ,

bridge s uppo s ed to be Briti s h wi th c onvoys The manner , .

i n whi c h t h e s uppo s ed c onvoys were l ying rai s ed our

s u s pi c ion s however and the s e were s ub s equent ly c o n
, ,
’
firmed by the s ight o f t h e Pru s s ian Eagle on the E MD E N S
bow s and the s he l l whi c h whi s t l ed a c ro s s our bow s An
, .

o fli c e r l ate o f t h e Hamburg Amerika L ine who w a s

,
-
,

s er v ing h i s two month s annua l re s erve training when war

’

’
broke o u t wa s deputed to board u s The boat s Crew
, .

c arried Mau s er s and s i de arm s The fir s t a c t wa s to hoi s t

-
.

the German flag in the D i p lo m at and the next to s ma s h ,

our wirele s s Otherwi s e every c ourte s y wa s s hown and

.
,

we were a llowed t o take our per s onal effe c t s on board the

p revio u s ly c aptured K a bi nga whi c h s ub s equently brought
-
,

u s ba c k The E MD E N wa s in a dreadfu lly dir t y c o n

.

di tion having been s even week s at s e a without tou c hi ng

,
”
port .

Some time elap s ed before it wa s po s s ible to pie c e to

ge t her the s tory of the E MD E N S atta c k upon Briti s h ’

s hipping in the Bay o f Benga l An a c c ount of her ex .

e r i e n c e s t h e general a c c ura c y of whi c h wa s s ub s equently

p ,

c onfirmed wa s ob t ained later on from the diary o f a

,

German pe tt y o ffi c er o f th e E MD E N who be c ame a

pri s oner of war The E MD E N wa s ordered to prepare for
.

war on Ju l y 2 8 t h ; s h e wa s then lying a t T s ingtau T h irty .

s i x hour s later in the evening s h e put to s e a with all

, ,

light s out The ear l y days of Augu s t when the German

.
,

c rui s er w a s moving in Japane s e wa t er s were c omparative l y ,

uneventfu l The on ly variation o f the mono t ony wa s t h e

.

c ap t ure of the Ru s s ian volun t eer s hip R I A S AN whi c h ,

1
,

be i ng wi t hou t gun s or ammuni tion be c ame an ea s y pri ze , ,

and wa s taken ba c k to Ts ingtau War with Eng l and

. .

having been de c l ared the E MD E N again put t o s e a on t h e

, ,

evening of Augu s t 6 t h in c ompany wi t h t h e c o l lier M ar ko

,

m a nn i a l oaded with ,
ton s of c oal and ton s of
provi s ion s Evening wa s c ho s en a s t h e time for departure
. ,

R e n am e d COR MORAN an d u ti li se d
1 Se e p 1 77 . . .
1 90 EXPLOITS OF THE EMD EN [ CH . Iv

harve s t and h i s j udgment wa s c onfirmed on the fo ll owing

—
,

—
night September 1 2 th when he c aptured the K a bi nga
ton s ) T h i s s h ip had left Cal cutta for Colombo t h e
.

previou s day and wa s almo s t on the u s ual tra c k s teering a

, ,

s outh s outh we s terly c our s e from the Sand Head s with li ght s
- -

’
b u rning when at 1 1 o c lo ck the E MD E N appeared At the
, .

time the K abi nga put to s e a there wa s s ti ll no s u s pi c ion at

Cal c utta of t h e E MD E N S pre s en c e i n the Bay of Bengal s o
’
,

her c aptain had no idea that he wa s running any par ti cu l ar

danger Suddenly the flas h of gun fire pierc ed the darkne s s
.

and a crui s er wa s ob s erved on the port quarter s ignalling ,

to the mer chantman to s top in s tantly and not to u s e her

wi rele s s S hortly after ward s a boarding par t y rea c hed
.
-

the K a bi nga her wirele s s i n s tallation wa s damaged and

, ,

order s were given to the o ffi cer s and men to leave the s hip
i n two hour s a s it wa s intended to S ink her The weather
, .

wa s bad at the ti me The c rew wa s forthwith mu s tered

.

i n readine s s to take to the boat s The boarding offi c e r .

then di s c overed that the c aptain ( Mr Thoma s R obin s on ) .

had h i s wife and ch ild on board A s igna l wa s at on c e .

made to the E MD E N and a rep l y re ceived t hat the tran s fer

,

would not be made that night i n c on s i deration of the

rough s e a and the hard shi p whi ch the woman and c hild
would s u ffer It wa s however anti c ipated t hat the
.
, ,

order to de s troy the s hi p wou l d be c arried out o n the

fo l lowing morning but in the early hou r s of the morning
,

the Gla s gow s teamer Ki lli n ton s ; ma s ter Mr J K , . . .

Wil s on ) wh i ch wa s on her way from Cal c utt a to Colombo

, ,

loomed out of the darkne s s and nearly ran into t h e E MD E N .

S he wa s c arryi ng ton s of Bengal c oal At t h e .

moment the E MD E N wa s well s upp lied with fuel s o the ,

K a bi nga wa s ordered to re c eive the K i lli n s c rew on board ’

,

and the latter s hip wa s s unk A cc ompanied by her two .

‘

i mprovi s ed tenders and the K abi nga the E MDE N c rui s ed ,

until noon when the Harri s on liner Di plom at ( 7 6 1 5 ton s )

, ,

wa s c aptured on her way from Colombo to L ondon with

a valuable c on s ign ment of tea When s h e l eft t h e former .

por t on the eve ni ng of September 1 2 th the ma st er ( Mr ,

.

R J Thomp s on ) had s een an O ffi cial me s s age from Simla

. .

i n the o ffi c e of the Cal c utta agent of h i s firm to the e ffe c t

t hat navi gation i n the Bay of Bengal wa s rea s onab l y
s afe . Captain Thomp s on l ike other ma s ter s appear s t o
, ,

have a ccepted thi s a s s ur an c e a s a guar ante e Of s e cur ity ,

 CH. Iv ] MISTAKEN FOR A BRITISH CRUISER 191
’

whi c h wa s not the meaning it real l y bore When s hort l y .

before noon on September 1 3 th a c rui s er followed by three ,

mer c hant s h i p s c ame i n s ight he a t on c e a s s umed t ha t

, ,

the man o f war wa s Briti s h and that s h e wa s bringi ng

- -

in three German pri ze s He wa s s uppor ted i n th i s belief .

by a repor t whi c h had rea c hed Cal cutt a before he had left .

He wa s more or le s s on t h e trade route when the E MD E N

appeared on the Di p lom at s s tarboard quarter fired a ’
,

warning s hot and at the s ame time hoi s ted the German
,

en s ign . On the boarding party rea c hing th e Di p lo m at -

,

the o ffic er in c ommand informed t h e ma s ter that the

Bri ti s h ve s s el wa s an hour l ate The c rew were permitted .

to c olle c t s ome c lothe s and were t hen taken on board the

K a bi nga and the D i plom at wa s s unk
, The T rabboch .

t on s ) wa s the next Briti s h s hip to fal l a vi c tim to

the raider She wa s pro c eeding in bal l a s t from Negapatam
.

to Cal cutta At 6 p m on September 1 4 th s h e c ame out

. . .

of a rain s qua l l and the c hief offi c er reported land on the

port bow but to h i s u n s peak able s urpri s e
, , the l and 3 ,
’

proved to be a crui s er in c ompany with three other s h i p s .

The ma s ter ( Mr W H Ro s s ) of the T r abboch made t h e

. . .

s ame error a s other ma s ter s in thinking that he had fa l l en

i n with a Briti s h c rui s er with pri ze s bound for Colombo .

When the unre c ogni s ed man o f war wa s about th r ee - -

quarter s of a mile di s tant s h e fi red a s hot ran up t h e , ,

German en s ign made a s ignal to s top and the T ra bboch

, ,

wa s t hen rounded up c l o s e to the other s trange s hip s .

In thi s manner another s u c c e s s wa s a c hieved by th e

E MD E N more by lu c k than j udgment and the c rew of
, , ,

the mer chantman having been tran s ferred to the K abi nga ,

whi c h wa s a l ready crowded th e T r a bboch wa s s u nk , .

Ju s t before thi s the Ita li an s teamer L ore dano had a p

p e a r e d
. Ca ptain von M ii ll e r a s ked the ma s ter Captain ,

Gi a c o p o l o t o t ake o ff all the c rew s now a s s embled on board

,

the K abi nga and s tated that he wa s about to s ink that

,

ve s s el The c aptain of the L ore dano refu s ed to c omp l y

.

with the reque s t pleading that he had in s ufficient room

,

on board h i s s hip In the c ir cum s t an c e s therefore Captain

.
, , ,

V o n Mu ll er had no alternative b u t t o relea s e thi s neutra l

ve s s el wh i c h pro c eeded on her voyage and in fa ct c o n
, , ,

v e y e d to t h e Indian Port authoritie s information of the

E MD E N S a ctivi tie s enabli ng t hem to take pre c auti onary
’
,

mea s ure s whi ch re s ulted in the s aving of a c on s iderable

 EXPLOITS OF THE EMDEN
vo l ume of tonnage from c apture The c aptain of the .
1

E MD E N apparent l y rea li s ed that he c ou l d n o t mu c h l onger

keep h i s movement s s e c re t s in c e it wa s e s s entia l t ha t t h e ,

K a bi nga with t h e c aptured crews on board S hou l d be

, ,

s en t in t o a neighbouring port He doub tle s s regarded any .

a c tion t aken by the Italian mer chant o ffi cer a s of litt l e

i mportan c e At any rate the c rew s of t h e I n du s and
.
,

L ovat who had b een on board t h e M a rko m anni a were

, ,

tran s ferred t o the K a bi nga and t hat s hip wa s relea s ed to ,

pro c eed t o Cal c utta ; her c aptain wa s warned to take 1

c are when approa c hing Sa nd Head s a s the light s are ,

out . That c aution wa s t ypi c al of the c on s ideration

whi c h Captain von Mii ll e r exhibited throughout h i s raiding
c ru 1 s e .

Ju s t after the K abi nga had been relea s ed the E MD E N ,

s ighted t h e Cl a n M ath e s o n t on s ) c oming up to the

ea s t ward When S h e left Madra s on September 1 2 th
.
,

the Bay of Bengal wa s s till believed to be fairly s afe .

Captain Wi lliam Har ri s in an i nterview with L loyd s ,

’

agent at R angoon s ub s equently gave the fol lowing de tail s

,

o f the c ir c um s tan c e s i n whi c h he wa s c aptured

The s teamer wa s bound fr om Madra s to Cal cutta .

On Monday the 1 4 th the third offi c er c al l ed me and r e

, ,

ported that a s teamer on the port beam had s hown a red

flare I W ent out on de c k and s a w a s teamer on t h e port
.

beam s ome di s tan c e away wi t h two ma s t head light s

, ,

S howing c l early There wa s a s teamer on the port bow

.

with a l l light s s howing both at the ma s t head and on ,

de c k It wa s about four mi le s di s tan t Bo t h ve s s e l s

. .

were apparently heading the s ame c our s e a s our s elve s .

About I per c eived s ome s ignal s from a point on the

port quarter but the mi d s hipman on wat c h c ou l d not
,
’
read them a s they s eemed to s ay Do a s repe ated again
, ,

and again At . there wa s a gun s hot on t h e p Or t

1
C p t ai n Gi ac o p o l o o f t h e L e da n m d e v e y ff rt t w ar n B i ti s h
a ,
or o, a e r e o o r

s hi ppi n g o f th e dan ge r an d h e s u c ce e de d In s t o ppi n g th e Ci ty of R a ngo on

, .

H i s i n f o rm ati o n w as p ass e d o n t o o th e r v e ss e ls an d g a v e s u ffi c i e n t w arni n g

,

t o p r e v e n t t h e I ton u s L o tu s m e re an d R a y p u t f r o m f al li n g i n t o t h e e n e m y s
’
,

h an ds Thi s Itali an c ap t ai n s ac ti o n als o e n able d th e p o rt o ffi c er at Cal

.
’

c u tt a t o wi thdr a w t h e p i l o t v e s se l t o e x ti n gu i s h t h e tr a di n g li gh ts i n
,

c h ann e l s a n d t o w ar n
,
Ak y a b Chi ttag o n g F als e P o i n t Vi z a g ap atam
, , , ,

a n d Co c an a d a .

2 Ca p t ai n R o b i n s o n an d t h e wi r e l e s s o p e r a t o r
( Mr A W e s e l l y ) o f th e . .

K a b i nga s h o w e d c o n s i d e r a ble e n t e r pri s e an d i n g e n u i t y i n e s t o ri n g t h e r

wi re le s s i ns tallati o n e n a bli n g m e ss ag e s t o b e s e n t t o Calcu t ta

, .
1 94 E XPLOITS OF [ T HE EMD EN CH. N

were a number o f oil tank s ; Captain von Mi i l l e r de c ided -

to fire into t hem At on the evening o f Septemb e r

.

2 2 n d the c rui s er therefore c rept in toward s the harbour

, ,

and playing her s ear c hlight s on the tank s fi red s ome

, ,

preliminary s hot s i n order to get the range The s ear c h .

l ight s were then turned o ff leaving the c rui s er in darkne s s , ,

and the E MD E N poured in a s erie s of broad s ide s a ltogether ,

1 2 5 s hel l s Within a s hort time the harbour wa s lighted

.

up by t h e fier c e flame s o f the burning oil The Briti s h .

s s
. . Ch u p r a wa s among the ve s s el s in harbour whi c h
s uffered damage by gunfire He r dramati c purpo s e .

a c hieved the German c rui s er the n s teamed away at fu l l

,

s pee d in a north ea s terly dire c tion t h e fort s on s hore

-
,

opening fire without effe c t The intention of Captain .

von Mfi l l e r w a s to s ugge s t that he wa s pro c eeding

t oward s Cal c utta but when well out of tou c h with land ,

he turned s outh s ailing round the ea s t c oa s t of Ceyl on

, .

At the s ame time the P ontop or os was s ent a way to a

rendezvou s Goo d fortune again attended h i s c r u i s e for
.
,

the E MD E N en c ountered t h e K i ng L u d ton s ) on ,

pa s s age from A l exandria for Ca l cutta The s hip wa s on .

time c harter and at Perim L loyd s s ignal s tation s igna ll ed

, , ,
’ -

that the K i ng L u d wa s to pro c eed a s fa s t a s po s s ible to

Ca l c utta i n order to rea c h that port on September 3 oth
, .

Captain D avi d Harri s s ub s equent l y s tated that h e under

”
s tood that the road wa s rea s onably s afe
,
“
He met .

with no in c ident unti l he arrived o ff Point de Galle Ceylon , ,

when th e E MD E N hove i n s ight flying no flag and ordered , ,

the Briti s h mer c hant s hi p to s top The u s ual routine .

wa s fol l owed the K i ng L u d being s unk after the removal

,

of her offi cer s and men to t h e German tender M arko

m an ni a where a cc ording to Captain H arri s
, , we were all ,
”
we ll t reated .

Off Colombo the following day ( September 2 5th ) the

E MD E N s aw the Briti s h s teamer T y m er i c ton s ) j u s t
c oming out of harb o ur and followed her to about forty

mile s we s t The T y m e ri c wa s c arrying a c argo of s ugar

.

fro m Java to England with order s to c a l l at Falmout h ,

for order s The ma s ter ( Mr T T Tullo ch ) wa s taken

. . . .

by s urpr i s e a s he had not anti cipated trouble He wa s

, .

c on tinuing h i s c our s e to Mi ni k o i when s hortly before ,

m idnight he s a w a ve s s e l s howing no light s c oming up

, , ,

on the port quarter o nly two or three mile s di s tant T h e , .

 THE GR YFE VALE S AD VENTURE
’
CH .
]Iv

s tranger wh i c h proved t o be the German c rui s er drew

, ,

i n and then s ent the fami liar s ignal An armed party from .

the E MD E N afterward s took po s s e s s ion of the mer chant

man and Capt ain Tul l o c h wa s in s tru c ted to fo ll ow t h e
,

E MD E N Thi s he refu s ed to do s aying that h i s c aptor s

.
,

mu s t navi gate the s hip them s elve s An ex change of .

s ign al s t ook p l a c e The c aptain of the E MD E N de c ided

.

to s ink the T y m e r i c a s s oon a s t h e o ffi c er s and men had bee n

r e mo v ed to the M arko m anni a t h e ca ptain h i m s e lf being ,

t aken on board the E MD E N from who s e quarter de c k

,
-

he wat c hed h i s s hip s ett l e down On t h e fo llowi ng day .

the German c rui s er met t h e Gry fe va le ton s ) whi c h ,

wa s pro c eeding from Bombay to Co l o m bo in ba ll a s t The .

Gry fe vale had been detained i n Bombay owing to report s

of the pre s en c e of an enemy c rui s er i n t h e Bay of Benga l
on Se ptember 2 2 n d however c learan c e wa s given a s far , ,

a s Co l ombo The s hip therefore put to s e a on t h e 2 3 r d

.
, ,

a goo d l ookout wa s kep t and n o light s were s hown a t night , .

At midday on t h e 2 6 th when about thir t y fi v e mi l e s t o ,

-

the s outh ea s t of Cape Comorin a man o f war wa s s ighted

-
,
- -
,

and an hour later a s ignal to s top wa s re c eived In .

the s e c ir cum s tan c e s the E MD E N made another c ap ture .

Captain Steel wa s told that he might either fo llow

the c rui s er or have h i s s hip s unk He a c c epted the former .

alternative .

We s teamed out to the we s tward until 1 a m he . .

,

s tated in a s ub s equent report to h i s o wner s when light s ,

were s ighted and s hort l y afterward s the Admira lt y c har

,
-

te re d c ollier B u re s h wa s s topped Thi s wa s a valuab l e

1
.

pri ze for the Ge rman s The c rew with the ex cep tion of .
,

the c aptain c hief o ffi c er c hief and s e c ond engineer s s teward

, , ,

and c ook were s ent on board u s and at t h e s ame time

, ,

the pri s oner s from the M arkom anni a were s ent on b oard ;
they c on s i s ted o f the c rew of the K i ng L u d ( s unk on the
2 5 th o ff Gal l e Ceylon ) and part of the c rew of the T y m e r i c
,

( s unk out s ide Co lombo at mi dnight on the 2 5 th ) third ,

offi cer fourth engineer and c arpent er ; t h e c aptain and

, ,

c hief engineer were pri s oner s on board the E MD E N and t h e ,

1 T h e B u r es lc t o n s ) w as o n p ass a ge fr o m Ba r r y t o H o n g K o n g wi th
co al . Sh e w as u ti li s e d b y th e c a p t ai n o f t h e E MD E N du r i n g t h e r e m a in d e r
o f h i s cru i s e an d w as e v e n tu ally su n k o n N o v e m b e r 9 th
,
1 9 1 4 o ff N o r th , ,

K e e li n g Isl and Coc o s Is lan ds w he n th e Au s tr ali an c ru i s e r S YD NE Y d e fe ate d

, ,

an d s an k th e E MD E N Su c h o f t h e o ffic e r s an d m e n as h a d n o t alr e ady

.

be e n lan de d b y th e Ge rm ans we r e r e s cu e d by th e SYDN E Y .

1 96 EXPLOITS OF THE [ EMD EN OH. Iv

Chin e s e crew were tran s ferred to the B u re s k It appear s

’

that the c aptain and c hief engineer of the T y m e r i c had

refu s ed to fo l low the E MD E N they were given ten minute s
to get their boat s out and l eave t h e s hip t h e s hip wa s s unk
at on c e In a ll other c a s e s where t h e c rew s made no
.

trouble but s ubmitted t o t h e order s gi ven the c rew s were

, ,

a ll owed from one to three hour s to pa c k up their effe c t s

and leave the s hip About 4 a m W e s t eamed o u t to t h e . . .

we s tward the B u re s k a cc ompanying u s S hor tl y after

, .

daylight the Ri be ra in ba l la s t wa s s topped the c rew

1
,

tran s ferred to u s and the s hip s unk by s hel l fire The , .

c our s e wa s again s e t to the we s tward it evi dently being ,

t h e intention to get u s a s far a s po s s ib l e from Colombo

before re l ea s ing u s Before dark another ve s s e l whi c h .
,

proved to be t h e F oy le from Malta to Rangoon light

2
, , ,

w a s s topped the c rew tran s hipped to u s and the ve s s el

—
, ,
’
s unk At 1 0 o c lo ck mu c h t o my relief you may be s ure
—
.
,

I wa s told that we were free t o re s ume our vo y age I .

wi s h here to s a y that I appre c iate very mu c h t h e c ourte s y

s hown to u s by the o ffi c er i n c harge of the pri ze c rew and ,

al s o the good behaviour of the men ; they one and all

performed their dutie s with every c on s ideration for every
”
one o n board .

Intere s ting s i delight s on the pro ceeding s of the E MDE N

i n her atta ck s upon c omme rc e were afterward s furni s hed
by a diary whi c h wa s kept by the ma s ter of the Bu r es k
( Mr F G. Taylor ) i.n whi c h he re c ounted h i s remarkable
.
,

e xperien c e s during the period when he wa s c ompelled to

a cc ompany the E MD E N
S e pte m be r 2 7th — 1 a m s topped by German c rui s er
. . .

E MD E N o fli ce r s c ame aboard and t old c rew to go on board

Gry fe va le 2 a m . pro c eeded full s peed after E MD E N ;
. .

9 a m . s ank . R i be r a pro c eeded we s t toward s Mi n i k o i , .

1 T h e R i be a t o n s ; m as t e r M
r J o hn Is d al e ) w as p o ce e di n g i n , r . r

b all as t f o m Glas g o w t o B at a vi a whe n s h e e n c o u n te e d th e E MD E N n o rth

r r ,

w e s t o f Co lo m b o .

2 T h e F y le t o n s ) w a s o n p as s ag
o f om D u n s t n o T y n e t o e r a - u -

Co l o m b o an d R an g o o n i n w a t b ll t Acc o di n g t o C p tai n W H er a as . r a . .

Gi b s o n h e w as i n f m d a t t h e Adm i al S p i n te n d n t s o ffic at Malta

,
or e r u er e
’
e

th t le ar an d c alli n g t P o rt S i d h e e i v e d ”
th e as te r n o u te w as a l l a
'

a e r c , ,
a ,
re c

n o i nst c ti n s a n d s i l d o n S p te m b e
ru o ,
1 1 th a wi th v y c o n fid n e
e e r e er e c

t h a t t h e o te w as le a h a v i n g e i v d n o i n f o m a ti n t o t h e c o n t y ”
r u c r, r ce e r o r ar .

T h n o rm al c o n d i t i o n s i n th e Ar ab i an Se a co n tri b u te d t o a f als e s e ns e
e f o

s a f e ty .
 1 98 E XPLOITS OF THE EMDEN [ CH. IV

Maldive s to c oa l ; re c eive d wirel e s s that H AM PS HIRE wa s 5 0 0

mile s o ff al s o c ru i s e r s D U KE o r E D IN B UR GH C HATHAM
‘

, , ,

WE YM O U TH were s ear c hing for them but knew their

po s ition s ; a l s o got wire l e s s that Antwerp had fallen and
Ru s s ian s driven ba ck to War s aw .

Octo be r 1 5 th — Ar rived in t h e north group o f Maldive s

.

to c oa l at 8 a m left at 4 p m and s teered for Mi ni k o i

. . . .

L ight .

Octo be r 1 6 th Captured at 1 a m the Cl an Gr ant and

.
-
. .
1

dredger P o nra b be l a l s o B e nm oh r at 1 0 a m
’
All s unk
, . .

s ame day .

Octobe r 1 7th — Crui s ing round Mi n i k o i Light .

Octo be r 1 8th Noon re c eived wi re l e s s that s teamer s

.
-
,

were s teering s ixty mi l e s north of tra c k E MD E N pro c eeded

north and c aptured T roi lu s at 3 p m and S t E gbe rt a t . .
, .

9 p m
—1 aptured w o r d ; s ank T roi l u s
. .

Octo be r 1 9 th a m . . . c
”
and Ch i l kan a at 4 p m re l ea s ed S t E gbe rt at 6 p m . . .

Another fi r s t hand s tory of the E MD E N i s that of Mr

-
.

S omer s E l li s who wa s one of the s even pa s s enger s on

,

1 T h e Cla n Gr a n t t on s ; m as t e r , Mr N
L e s li e ) w as o n th e tr ac k
. .

Min i k o i to Co o m o w e n l b h c ap d -
tu r e , s h o rtly af te r m i dni ght o n Oc to b e r 1 6 th .

p
S h e w as r o ce e in rom d gf Gl as go w t o L i v e r p o o l t o Co lo m b o wi th a ge n e r al
c ar go .

2 Th e re d dge r P o n ra bb e l ( 4 73 t o n s ; m as te r , Mr E ar e ) e t ar r . . G G
. l f B y
Do ck o n u A g
u s t 2 3 r d , an d w as c a tu re w en ei p d h
te e n m i e s n o rt w e s t gh l h -

o f Mi ni k o i Li gh h
t ou s e .

3 T h e B e nm oh r 4 80 6 t o n s
( , l f h ) e t L e i t o n Se te m e r 4 th f o r Yo k o am a p b h .

h
Th e E MD E N , s o wi n g gh no li ts , w as i n i s ti n u i s a e i n t h e d g
ar kn e s s , h bl d
h
w e n th e B h r i ti s l h d
ve ss e w as ail e It w as n o t u n ti th e o ar i n
. ar
t l b d gp y
d
h ad e x am i n e hp p p
th e s i s
’
a e rs an d as k e a nu m e r of d
u e s ti o n s i n b q
p f gl h h
e r e c t En d y
i s t at th e i e n ti t o f t h e r ai e r w as r e v e al e d Ca t ai n d . p J B . .

h p g xp
Sar c e t , i n r e o rt i n h i s e b e ri e n c e s , s u s e u e n t s t ate q I s te e r e th e ly d . d
f
u su al t r ac k ro m G d f
Su e z t o u ar a u i F r o m t e r e I s a e m y c ou rs e t o
. h h p d
p b h y h
as s a o u t t i r t -fi v e m il e s n o r t o f Mi ni k o i I i n u i re at t h e . r i ti s q d B h
d h y
Co ns u l , P o rt S ai , if t e h ad an y i n s tru c ti on s t o i v e m e ; t e to m e g h y ld
’
g l
N 0 b u t I w as t o s i n a a t P e ri m o r Ad e n f o r i n s tru c ti o ns I s to e at . pp d
f g ll d
P e r i m i n t h e a te rn o o n an d s i n a e , as ki n i f t e h ad an y i n st ru c ti on s g h y
g h
to i ve ; t e ir re ply h
w as N 0 I t e n as k e i f t e re w as an y w ar n e ws ; d h
h l p d
t e y a so re li e y
No
’ ‘
M i n te n ti on w as t o as k at Co o m o o r P o in t d e
. l b
G lal e f o r in s t ru c ti o ns p In al l r e v i ou s v o y a e s I a v e a w ay s s a e m y
. g h l h p d
c o u r sef p
a te r
,
g G d f
as s i n p
u ar a u i , t o as s fi v e m i e s s o u t o f Mi ni k o i I l h .

l b f y l
c a c u l ate I w as a o u t o r t m i e s t o t h e n ort h
o f m y u s u a tr ac k w e n t h e l h
p d
B e n m oh r w as c a tu r e
”
.

‘
T h e T roi l u s l d l
t o ns ) c e ar e b
Co o m o o n Oc to e r 1 7th f o r L o n o n b d
h g g
wi t a e n e r al c ar o T h e m as te r a ffi r m e
. d h
t a t h e w as c arr i n g o u t t h e y
d f
i n s tru c ti o n s r e c e i v e ro m ll g t h e In te i e n c e O fi c e r a t Co o m o w e n h e f l b h
m e t t h e E MD E N .

5 T h e Ch i l ka na
( 3 ,
2 4 4 t o n s ; m as t e r , M r L N Ar c e ac o n ) was m ak i n
. . . hd g
f or Cal cu tta w e n s h e e n co u n te re th e E MD E N o ff Mi ni k o i an d w as s u n k
h d .
an . i v] A PASSENGER S ’
ST OR Y

board the T roi lu s and , wa s a cc ompanied by h is wife ,

Acc ording to Mr Elli s : .

Captain L ong c alled on the N aval Intelli gen c e O ffi cer

—
twi c e while at Co l ombo the l a s t time j u s t before leaving
—and wa s told that the route to Aden wa s c lear and s afe ,

but that a s an additional pre c aution it would be we ll

, ,

for h i m to go about forty mi le s north of th e u s ua l tra c k

by Mi ni k o i fir s t pa s s ing near Cape Comorin and t hen
, ,

s etting a c our s e paral l el to the regu l ar route Captain .

L ong c arried o u t the s e in s tru c tion s exa c tly and informed ,

me on Sunday morning that he had s ighted the light on

'

Cape Comorin during t h e night and w a s then about for ty ,

mi le s north of the dire c t t ra ck from Colombo to Mi ni k o i .

Sun day the 1 8th ins tant wa s a bri lliantly c lear day after
, ,

rain at early morning At about 2 p m Captain L ong

. . .

s aid to me that a s u s pi c iou s looking ve ss el wa s approa ching

-

from the s outh ; and after a s hort time we were able to

identify it a s a Germ an c rui s er of the E MD E N type A .

little behind her wa s a mer c hant ve s s el afterward s found ,

to be the Briti s h c oal tran s port s teamer Bu re s k The .

E MD E N rapidly c ame on in a dire ction c a l culated to cu t

,

u s off ( an o ffi c er afterward s told me that they were s team

ing at 1 9 knot s ) and when between one and two mile s

,

away hoi s ted s ignal flag s whi c h we c ould not at on c e ,

i dentify We were afterward s told that they s ignifie d

.

D on t u s e your W ire l e s s and then Stop

’
The E MD E N
,
’
.
’

then fired a b l ank s hot and the engine s of the T roi lu s ,

were promptly s topped at about p ,m When about . .

a quarter of a mile away the E MDE N lowered a boat and we

,

were boarded by a lieutenant a petty offi c er and ( I think ) , ,

twelve men in c luding ar ti fi ce rs who took c harge of the

, ,

engine room I did not hear t h e in s tru c tion s given but

-
.
,

a c ommen c ement wa s at on c e made to s wing o u t s i x boat s

and l ower them to the level o f the upper de ck where they ,

were left ha nging from the davit s and la s hed to prevent

s winging Thi s operation w a s c arried out s mar tly and
.

we l l We pa s s enger s were told to prepare al l our privat e

.

effe c t s for tran s hipment to another ve s s e l Toward s .

evening th e Ge rman o ffi c er i n c ommand told u s that the

c aptured c ol lier in attendan c e on the E MD E N had a l ready

several c rew s on board and that the a

, cc ommoda t ion wa s

very poor s o that we might r emain on th e T roi las that night

,
.
2 00 EXPLOITS OF THE [ EMD EN CH . Iv

H e s aid that they expe c ted another ve s s el that evening

with better a cc ommodation and that we s hou l d probab l y ,

be moved to her i n the morning Thi s o ffi c er a N aval .

,

R e s erve l ieutenant L auterba c h by name had been for , , ,

s ome year s in c ommand o f Hamburg Amerika c oa s ting -

s teamer s running between Shanghai and Tient s in and knew ,

both Captain L ong ( of the s s T r oi lu s ) and my s e l f by name . . .

They obviou s l y expe cted the T roi lu s and a s obviou s l y ,

knew the c our s e we ( and other s hip s ) were like l y to take

i f not on t h e dire c t run t o Mi ni k o i .

Immediately the boarding party had taken c harge -

,

the head of the T roi lu s wa s turned r o i m d t o a li ttle s out h

of ea s t and we pro c eeded at half s peed for nearly s i x hour s
,

( y
s a from t o p m ) in nearly the s ame dire c tion in . .

c ompany with the E MD E N and B a r e s k At about m

p . . .

a light wa s s een on the hori zon t o ea s tward and the ,

T roi lu s and Bu re s k were s hortly afterward s s topped ( we

had all light s out ) while t h e E MD E N went forward and ,

c aptured the expe c te d ve s s el the S t E gbe rt bound ( la s t ) , .

,

from Colombo for Aden and New York We a l l then went .

about s outh s outh ea st s low and at about 1 a m next

- -

morning the Briti s h c ollier w 0 r d outward bound with

, , . .

1
,

ton s Wel s h c oal wa s c aptured , .

At 6 a m on the 1 9 th we c ommen ced to load the boat s

. .

with baggage and at ab out 7 a m we tran s ferred therein

, . .

to the S t E gbe rt and met with the mo s t kind attention

.
,

from h e r c ommander Captain Barr , .

The s e a wa s s mooth wi th a s outh ea st s well and a gang ,

-
,

way wa s lowered on both boat s for my wife s u s e Previou s ’

.

to our leaving the T roi lu s twelve Chine s e firemen and a ,

C h ine s e s teward were s ent to the Bu re s k by the German

o ffi cer s order s and twelve other firemen were afterward s
’
,

s ent to the E xfo rd The s e men were promi s ed the s ame

.

pay a s before .

At about a m s moke wa s s een on the hori zon . .

,

and the E MD E N went away to wel c ome t h e Briti s h India

boat Ch i lkana a new s hip of ton s outward bound
,
2
, .

We s oon afterward s re c eived her c aptain twelve ,

T h e E xfo d
1 t n s ; m as te r Mr W
r C D o n o v n ) w as n p ass ag e
o , . . . a o

fr om Car di ff t o H o n g K o n g u n d e r Ad m i r alty s e al e d o r de r s T h e v e ss e l .

w as p r e s u m a bly e x p e c t e d b y t h e e n e m y ; a t a n y r at e , h e r c o m m an d e r
w a s g r e e t e d b y n a m e b y th e E MD E N S o ffi c e r wh o b o ar d e d h e r
’
.

2
T h e s e CMl ka n a . . g r o s s t o ne ) w a s s u n k by gu n fi r e , 1 1 0 m i le s -

E N E f ro m Mi n i k o i
. . . .
2 02 EXPLOITS o r T HE
[ EMD EN cm
~
1v

that her c rew were a s hore playi ng football Thi s em .

broidery as i n s o many s imilar ins tan c es wa s probably

, ,

mere bluff The next morning the E MD E N rounded up

.

the c aptured ve s s el s and all the pa s s enger s and c rew s

,

o f th e s teamer s Be nm oh r Cl an Grant Bu re s k T roi lu s , , , ,

E xfo rd Ch i lkana and P o nra bbe l were s ent on board the

, , ,

S t E gbe rt wh i c h wa s relea s ed on October 1 9 th with order s

.
,

to pro c eed to Aden In v iew of the large number of .

per s on s on board and c on s equent re s tri c ted a c c ommodation

and foo d s upplie s C aptain Barr wa s s ubs equently per
-
,

m i tte d to make for Co c hin where he arr ived on the ,

mornin g of O c tobe r 2 oth .

The month of O ctober wa s dra wing to i ts c lo s e and the ,

c aptain of the E MD E N s u s pe c ted that new s of h i s capture s

mu s t have be c ome known on s hore and s uitable mea s ure s ,

taken by the Briti s h naval authoritie s to arre s t h i s c areer

o f de s tru ction H e determined to pay a vi s it to Penang
.

and s e e what mi s c hief he c ould do there The E MD E N .

,

a s on th e o c ca s ion of the Madra s raid ere c ted a dummy ,

funnel made of c anva s i n the hope that s h e might be ,

mi s taken for one o f the Briti s h c rui s er s whi ch C aptain von

'

Mii l le r thought to be in the vi cinity of Pena ng It i s .

b eyond the s c ope of thi s book to de s cribe in detail the

torpedoing of the Ru s s ian c rui s er Z HE M C HU G whi c h wa s ,

lying i n the harbour The E MD E N having c ompleted that

.
,

ta s k turned and s teamed out of the harbour at full s peed

, .

Out s ide s h e en c ountered the Glcntu rret ton s ) wh i c h ,

had left L ondon on September 2 3 rd for Yokohama c a l ling ,

at Penang Singapore and Hong Kong She wa s loaded

, , .

with Govern me n t munition s and explo s ive s and would ,

have proved a valuable c apture for th e Germa ns On .

the night o f O ctober 2 6 th when m the neighbourhood of ,

Sabang the Gle ntu r ret s ent a wirele s s s ign a l that s h e

,

would arri ve at Penang on O ctober 2 8th and a s king that ,

a lighter s hould be provi ded to take o ff twenty ton s of

explo s ive s Arriving o ff the entran c e to Penang Harbour
.

i n the early hour s of the morning of the 2 7th the Gle n

.
,

tu rret s topped the ma s ter ( Mr H Jone s ) de c iding to wa it

, . .

until daylight before entering She wa s on her way i nto .

the harbo ur later i n the morning with the B flag ( e x ,

plo s ive s ) flying when t h e E MD E N ranged along s ide h e r

, ,

being only about t hirty feet di s tant Captain Jo ne s .

wa s hailed i n Eng li s h and a s ked h i s rea s on s for flying th e

T H E W H IT E ST AR L IN E R L
O YMP IC
”
( F R OM T H E A IR ) .
20 4 EXPLOITS o r THE [ EMD EN t
OH . Iv

pi c ked up by the Allied men o f war on c onvoy duty with

- -

t h e Fi rs t Au s tra l ia n Contingent On in s tru ction s from

.

the s enior offi cer S YD N E Y rai s ed s team for fu ll

,

s peed and pro c eeded to Dire c tion I s land The s tory .

“

of t h e de s tru ction of the E MD E N doe s not c ome within

the s cope of thi s hi s tory : i t i s s u fli ci e n t to add t hat the
German c rui s er s c areer wa s brought to an end the men
’
,

on board t h e Bu re s k being re s cued When Cap t ain G lo s s op .

r ea c hed t hi s s hip he found t hat s h e w a s S inking a s t h e

, ,

King s ton had been kno cked out and damaged to prevent
r e p a 1 r 1 ng .

The s t ory of the fir s t pha s e of the atta ck on Briti s h

c ommer c e would be 1 n c o m pl e t e were no referen c e made
to the c ir c um s tan c e s i n whi c h the gunboat GE IE R c aptured
t h e s s S ou th po rt
. . ton s ) The adventurou s s tory
. ,

whi c h afterward s moved the Admira lt y to expre s s their

approba tion of t h e a ction of Capt ain A Cl o pe t and the .

o ffi c er s and men c annot be better told than i n the form

,

of a paraphra s e of the narrati ve a s related by th e fi r s t

name d .

The s s S ou th port left Au ckland New Zealand on

. .
, ,

June 1 2 th to load a c argo of pho s phate s for t h e Pa c ifi c

,

Pho s phate Company at N auru c a lling at O c ean I s l and ,

for order s The voyage wa s uneventful

. Off N aur u . ,

i nformation wa s s ent by the manager of t h e Pho s phat e

Company that loading had been de l ayed owing t o dan ,

geron s weather s trong c urrent s and the expo s ed po s i tion

, ,

of t h e i s l and and that i n c on s equen c e of tonnage

, ,

having pre c eden c e over the S ou th port that ve s s e l need ,

not pre s ent her s elf for loading for s ome time C ap t ain .

Cl o pe t de c ided to fol l ow the example of other c ap t ain s

p l a c ed i n S imilar c ir cum s tan c e s and wai t at Tarawa ,

( G i l b e r t I s l a n d s ) where further
,
order s c ould be c onveyed
to hi m in preferen c e to s teaming round the i s land again s t
,

the s trong prevai ling ea s terly cu rrent The S ou th po rt .

returned t o Nauru on July 2 8th The c aptain found t hat

.

only s ome 4 5 0 t on s of pho s phate s had been loaded and ,

there wa s s ti ll a balan c e of ton s t o be S hipped before

the S ou th port would be required In order to s ave c oa l . ,

he de c ided t o bear up for Ku s aie the mo s t ea s terly i s l and,

i n the Caroline group ( German ) where the c ondition s ,

appeared to be better than a t Tarai v a It wa s a l s o .

arranged that the manager a t N auru s hould forward loading

an . IV ] CAPTURE or THE SOUTHPORT 2 05

order s by the s teamer Ge rm ani a due at Ku s aie on Augu s t ,

2 8th The S o u th port arrived at Ku s aie on Augu s t 4 t h

.
,

and remained t here awai ting in s tru ction s The non arriva l .
-

of t h e Ge rm ant a on t h e s tipu l ated dat e c au s ed s urpri s e

'

owing t o t h e regu l ari t y of her previou s voyage s No .

new s be i n g forthc oming it wa s de c ided to s ai l for N auru ,

on Sep tem b er 6 th On the 4 th th e c aptain being a s hore

.
,

a t t h e ti me t h e German gunboat G E IE R and the t ran s port

,

T s i ntaa of Bremen c ame to an c hor in the harbour and

, , ,

a boat fu ll of armed o ffi c er s and s ailor s put o ff from the

GE IE R and boarded th e Bri ti s h s hi p Captain Clo pe t on .
,

returning on board h i s s h i p S hor tl y afterward s wa s i n ,

formed by t h e German o ffi c er s t hat war havi ng been , .

”
de c lared by Eng l and on Germany t hey demanded that ,
’
a ll the s h i p s paper s regi s ter S hi p s arti c le s load line , ,
’
,
-
,

e tc be handed over
.
, It wa s exp l aine d t hat the s hip .

w a s c hartered t o l oad pho s phate s at N auru for Stettin .

The engineer s of the war s hi p then c ame on board and

began di s ab ling t h e ve s s e l prin c ipa ll y by removing t h e ,

four e cc en tri c s of the L P and H P engine s and other . . . .

c onne c ted part s a s well a s t h e int ermedi ate s top valve

, .

The fol l owing day t h e tran s por t T s i ntaa pro ceeded along
s ide and s tarted tran s hipping t h e S ou th po rt s c oal int o
’

her bunker s the work c on tinuing unti l 6 e m on

, . .

Augu s t 7 th ( Monday ) The s ame day at 1 0 a m a boat . . .

fu ll of armed o ffi cer s and men boarded t h e S ou th port and

c ame on t h e lower bridge when a formal a c t of s ei z u re ,

wa s read o ver t o t h e c aptain by t h e o ffi c er i n c harge ,

appropri ati ng the ve s s el t o t h e Imperia l Ge rman Govern

ment The armed s ai l or s were li ned up on one s ide of
.

t h e l ower bridge and the Bri ti s h en s ign having bee n

, ,

previou s l y hau l ed down the German naval en s ign wa s ,

hoi s ted on e fla g s t a ff the German o fli ce r s and s ai l or s ,

s a lu ting t he i ag Everything was done in the mo s t

.

forma l manner a s t hough t h e s cene were being ena c ted

,

on t h e s tage before an appre c iative audien c e Captain .

Cl o p e t wa s s ub s equen t l y informed t hat he would r emain

in c harge of t h e s hip and re s pon s ible for it a s we l l a s for ,

t h e di s c ipline of the c rew pending any future a c tion on ,

the par t of t h e German Governmen t It s hould be men .

ti o ne d t hat the c ommander of the GE IER at fir s t de c ided

to s ink t h e S ou th po rt He learnt afterward s t hat owing . ,

to the non arriva l of the Ge rm ani c with provi s ion s th e

-
,
2 06 EXPLOITS OF THE EMD EN [ OH . IV

S o u th po rt wa s ex ceedingly s hort of food and he wa s to l d ,

that the crew would be fa c ed wi th s tarvation unle s s t h e

s ituation wa s relieved The German o ffi c er wa s not u n
.

s ympatheti c b u t urged that he c ou l d not s end provi s ion s

, ,

having hi m s e l f an in s u ffi cient s upply Ultimately he did .

i n fa c t s end four lo a ve s of bread whi c h were a cc epted ,

.

But h i s more effe ctive aid took the form of an order on

%

the King of Ku s aie in the name of the Imperial German

,

Government to s upply the s hip with s u c h food a s t h e

,

i s land produ c ed .

The GE IE R and T s i ntaa left on the afternoon of the 7th ,

the German s apparently s ati s fied that the S ou th port c ould

not move ; they di s appeared in a s o uth eas terly dire ction -
.

After their departure the c aptain c on s ulted the c hief ,

engineer ( Mr J C Dodd ) a s to the po s s ibility of r e pa1 r1 ng t h e

. .

engine s in s u c h a manner a s to enable the S ou th port to put to

se a . Mr Do dd nothing daunted by the damage whi c h had
.
,

been done de cided that the po sition was not hopele ss Hi s

, .

c onfiden c e wa s j u s tified The work of repair wa s c arried

.

on from day to day until September 1 5 th when Captain ,

Cl o pe t had the s ati s fa ctio n of learning that the engine s

were ready Steam wa s rai s ed and order s were gi ven for
.

a trial that night The trial began S hortly after mi dnight

.
,

the c aptain b eing pre s ent i n the engine room in order to

j udge the reliab ility of the engine s After two attempt s .

the engine s s tarted They were s topped after a few .

revolution s the c hief engineer s tating that he wa s c on fi de nt

,

that everything wa s a s s ati s fa ctory a s c ould be expe cted .

A s tatement wa s handed to the captain in c onfirmation

o f thi s opinion The following evening Captain Cl o pe t
.
,

c alled the o ffi c er s and engineer s o f the s h ip to the c abin ,

and then told them that he intended to make an attempt

to re captu re the steamer and take her i ntp Au s tralian
water s Bri s bane being the near e s t po rt AS an alternative
, . >
,

it wa s s u gge ste d t h at the ve s s el might remain in Ku s aie

until the end of ho s tilities when in all probability an e x ,

c hange o f ve s s el s would take pla c e between E ngland and

Germany Captain Cl o pe t pointed out however that the

.
, ,

value repre s ented by the S ou th po rt was at s take and that ,

at that moment to all intent s an d purpo s e s the s hi p

, ,

wa s the property of the German Go vernment ; if the

attempt to bring the ve s s el to a s afe Au s tralian port wa s
s u c ce ss ful the money repre s ented i n th e s h i p would r ever t
,
2 08 EXPLOITS OF T HE
[ EMDEN CH . IV

On the s ame day the S ou th port ob s erved the D ut ch s teamer

T as m an of Batavia alteri ng her c o u r s e t o war d s t h e c oa s t
, , ,

and s hort l y afterward s a s teamer a s hore at right angle s

to the bea c h wa s ob s erved The S ou th po rt al s o turned
.

toward s the s teamer whi c h wa s flying t h e International

,

Di s tre s s Signal N C Want i mmediate a s s i s tan c e

. .

The ve s s el wa s the s s M ar lvo As the fir s t i mpre s s ion

. . .

c onveyed by the s teamer s po s ition w a s that s h e mu s t

’

have gone a s hore during the night the c aptain of the ,

S o u th po rt de c ided to c ome to an c hor in a po s ition t o render

he l p It was a c hara c teri s ti c a ct on the part of a Bri ti s h
.

s eaman who had s o re c ently been him s e l f in trouble .

The S ou th port drew i n between the T as m an and the

s tranded ve s s e l A s s i s tan c e had unfortunately c ome too
.

late for the M ar lvo already had her after c ompartment s

,

full of water through s triki ng s ome ob s tru c tion off Sandy

,

Cape Her pa s s enger s were tran s ferred to the T as m an

.
,

and the S ou th port pro c eeded on her voyage to Bri s bane .

S he c omp leted the pa s s age without fu rther in c ident In .

the s e c ir cum s tan c e s the GE IE R wa s depri ved of the only

pri ze wh i c h s h e made du ring her c areer a s a c ommer ce
de s troyer .

’
Though the enemy s atta c k o n mer c hant s hipping in
the early days of the war wa s c ondu cted on a mu c h s maller
s c ale than had been anti c ipated by many s tudent s of

German naval poli c y in pre war days the mea s ure of -

,

s u c c e ss whi c h wa s attained made a deep impre s s ion on

the p ubli c mind una c cu s tomed to the vi c i s s itude s of naval

warfare The inj ury in fli cted was however s light when
.
, ,

s tudied in relation to the experien c e s of Briti s h s h ipping

during the Revolutionary and Napoleoni c War s the ,

varied re s our c e s of the German N avy or the s ize of the ,

target offered by the Briti s h Mer c anti l e Marine c ompri s ing ,

4 4 4 per c ent of s e a going s team ve s s el s of the wor l d

.
- -
,

or 4 7 9 per c ent if the tonnage of the D ominion s be i n

.

c luded At the end of the fir s t quarter of 1 9 1 5 the volume

.

of Briti s h tonnage whi c h had been lo s t through the

agen c y of enemy ve s s el s and mine s s in c e the opening
of the war wa s only 2 3 2 8 2 4 gro s s ton s a very s mal l , ,
1

per c entage of the tonnage afloat Seventy two ve s s e l s 3

.
-

1
Me r ch ant p
Shi p i n g ( L o s s e s ) , 1 9 9 .

3
E x clu di n g th e s m al l s ai li n g -v e ss e ls F rau
by a to r pe do g
b o at o n Au u s t 7th ) an d A y es h a
an . IV ] RESU LT or T HE CRUISER RAID S 209

were c aptured by enemy c rui s er s and armed mer c hantmen ,

in cluding t h e Glentu rr e t w h i c h was not a ctual l y boarded

, ,

and the S ou th port whi c h e s c aped The depredation s were

, .

in fli cted upon t h e Mer chant Navy without the s a cri fi c e of

a S ingle l ife More t han that offic er s and men of the
.
,

German s hi p s whe t her men o f war or auxi liary c rui s er s

,
- -
,

exhibited a high re s pe c t for t h e di c tate s of humanity and ,

s howe d t o pa s s enger s and c rew s a c on s i deration and a

c ourte s y whi c h i n view of later event s de s erve to be

, ,

re c orded .

1
Th e to t al e x
clu d e s th e
s m al l s ai li n g
l

v e s se l A y e sh a ,
ca p tu r e d by
th E MD E N
’
e S
lan di n g p art y
-
.

2
Th e E x/o rd was

1 Th e I n dr a n i w as
u ti li s e d an d
su bs e qu e nt ly
K R ON P RI N Z
1
Th e P o ta ra w as
u l d
ti i se an d
su b s e q u e n tly
 CHAPTE R V
T HE P R OTE C TION OF ME RC H AN T S H IP P IN G

T HE o
p e mpha s e of th e war by s e a wa s marked by
n g
an atta c k by German c rui s er s and armed mer c hant s hip s
upon Bri ti s h s hipping The e ffe c ts O f that c ampaign
.

have a l ready been de s cribed It would be unfair to leave .

the re c ord s of the s inking s O f Briti s h mer c hant t onnage

during the s e ear l y days wi t h out s ome referen c e to the s tep s
t aken by the Admira lty and other depar t ment s to a ffo r d
prote c tion t o the Mer c anti l e Marine Strategi c al and t e cti .

c al c on s i deration s are dea l t with el s ewhere but it i s 1

,

appropriate to an a c c ount of t h e part taken by t h e Mer

c hant Navy i n t h e war t o examine t h e ba s e s of na tional

poli cy a s determined before t h e outbreak O f ho s tiliti e s .

I . S TR ATE GI C PO L I C Y

Time and again the s ubj e c t of the relation of t h e Royal

and Mer c hant Navie s wa s c ons idered either dire ctly o r ,

indir e ctly by Royal Commi s s ion s and Sele c t Commi ttee s

, .

In parti c ular the re s pon s ibili ty of the Navy fo r the s e curi t y

,

of Briti s h o c ean borne c ommer c e c ame under examination

-

by t h e Royal Commi s s ion on t h e Supp l y of Food an d R aw

Material in T ime O f War whi ch wa s appointed on April 2 7th
, ,

1 9 03 The t rading c ommunity w a s large l y r epre s ented ,

—
.

and among t h e member s were Vi c e Admira l afterward s -

—
Admiral Sir Gerard H U Noe l ( who wa s s u c c eeded . .

i n Janua r y 1 9 0 4 by Admira l Sir Day Hort Bo s anquet )

and Sir J ohn C R Co l o m b M P who had devoted great
. .
,
. .
,

att ention to the matter s with whi c h t h e Commi s s ion

w a s in s tru cted t o dea l The Commi s s ioner s were in c o n
.

s tant c ommuni c ation wi t h t h e Admira l t y and examined ,

a numbe r of naval O ffi c er s of s tanding in c l uding Captai n ,

1
Cf N a va l Op e ra ti o ns ,
. by Si r Ju l i an Co r be tt .

2 10
212 PROTECTION OF SHIPPING [ v OH .

c o s t u s the C ommand of t h e s e a would not produ c e a s e t

,

o f c ir cum s tan c e s S O far different from tho s e with whi c h

we are now about to deal a s to require s eparat e c on s idera
”
tion .

The report empha s i s ed the fa ct that the Admiralty had

c on s tantly and with ever in c rea s ing s o li c itude c on s idered
,
-
,

the s tep s to %b e taken to afford adequate prote c tion to

the Mer c hant Servi c e In t hi s c onne c tion the Com
.

mi s s ioner s remarke d that there wa s a c ertain degree of

mi s c on c eption i n s ome quarter s a s to the nature of the
prote ction whi c h c ou l d be a fforded by the Navy or rather ,

i n re s pe c t to the me t hod s by whi c h it c ould be given .

It h a s s ometi me s been a s s umed t hat s u c h prote c tion

c a n only be given either by s ending a number of c rui s er s
”
to prote c t the trade rout e s or by a s y s tem of c onvoy .

The Comm i s s ioner s having had the adv antage of c o n

,

s u l ti n g with the Admira l t y made a c omment whi c h i n

, ,

the light of war e xperien c e wa s s ignifi c ant , In their .

opi ni on prote c tion O f c ommer c e c ould often be more

adequate l y given i n other way s They were i mpre s s ed .

by t h e knowledge that the s upplie s Of food and raw

material on pa s s age to the United Kingd o m were di s tributed -

among many s hip s rather t han c on c entrated in a few and ,

that the trade it s elf wa s c ondu c ted in a fairly c on s tant

s t ream and wa s not c onfined either to one perio d of t h e
,

ear or to a ingle route The e fa t e s pe c ia ll y when

y S s. c s ,

taken i n c onj un ction with the p ower a fforded by s t eam O f

varying the route s a c c ording to t h e ne c e s s itie s O f any given
'

period make the c ondi tion s of the c hief t rade route s

,
”
an extremely favourab l e one for s u cc e s s ful defen c e .

The po s s ibility of an effe ctive blo ckade of the Unite d

Kingd o m w a s di s mi s s ed ; at that time t h e s ubmarine
had only re cently appeared on the naval hori zon the ,

s mall ve s s el s of the typ e being alway s a c c ompanied

by parent S h i p s , and po s s e s s ing only , li mited radiu s
‘

of a c tion and low s peed .

Thi s c on clu s ion having been rea c hed the ground wa s ,

c leared for an i nve s tigat ion o f the i mportant problem

the prote ction w h i c h c ould be afforded to the Mer c anti l e

Marine on the trade route s Two general prin c ip le s were
.

a c c epted The fir s t wa s that t h e c ommand of t h e s e a i s

.

e s s ential for the s u c c e s s ful atta c k or defen c e of c ommer c e ,

a nd s hould ,
therefore be the primary aim The s e cond
,
. .
CH .v] CONCENTRATION OF FORCE 213

wa s that the atta c k on or defen c e of c ommer c e i s be s t

, ,

e ffe cted by c on c entration of for c e and that a di s per s ion ,

of s trength for either O f tho s e O bj e c ts i s th e s trategy of

the weak and c annot materia ll y influen c e t h e u ltimat e
,

re s ults of the war They remarked t hat be s t opinion s

.
“

a ll t end in t h e dire ction t hat the fir s t and prin c ipa l obj e c t

on both s i de s in c a s e of fut ure maritime war wil l be
, ,
”
to O btain c ommand Of the s e a .

Reviewing the volume O f authoritative evi den c e s u b

m i tte d to them t h e Commi s s ioner s rea c hed the fo l lowing
,

c on c lu s ion It fo ll ow s from t hi s that c on centration of

our for c e s wi l l be the mo s t e ffe ctive prote ction that c an
be given to our trade from atta c k by t h e regu l ar men Of -

war of the enemy during at any rate t h e initial s t age s

, ,

O f a maritime c onte s t and that t h e poli c y of an orga ni s ed

,

atta c k on our c ommer c e if adopted i s not like l y t o meet

, ,

wi t h any great mea s ure of s u c c e s s The enemy in fa c t

.
, ,

would find him s e l f i n thi s dilemma : on the one hand ,

i f he s hou l d endeavour to organi s e an exten s ive atta ck

on our trade t h e inevitable re s u lt would be the s eriou s
,

weakening of h i s fleet in t h e c onte s t for the really de c i s ive

—
fa ctor namely the c ommand O f t h e s ea s : on t h e other
, ,

if he S hould mere l y deta c h on e or t wo c rui s er s for hara s

s ing our c o m mer c e and if t he s e c rui s er s s hou l d e s c ape
,

from the s urveillan c e of our s quadron s t h e Admira lt y ,

have pointed out that we c ou l d a l ways s pare a s uperior

number of ve ss e l s to fol l ow them NO doubt a c on s iderab l e
.

number Of s hip s might be required t o e ffe c t the a ctua l

c apture of a s ing l e ho s tile c om m er c e de s troyer s o long -
,

at l ea s t a s her c oal la s ted ; b u t it h a s been explained t o

u s by Sir Cyprian B ridge that even if only one of our
,

c rui s er s wer e i n purs uit i t c ou l d be made too dangerou s

,

for a ho s tile c rui s er to remain on or about a trade route .

Obviou s ly under the s e c ir cum stan c e s her freedom of

, ,

a ction would be mu c h hampered and the damage s h e would ,

be able to infli c t would be li mited It i s however right .

, ,

to mention that Sir Cyprian Bridge pointed out that i t

i s po s s ib l e to overdo c on c entration and he in s tan c ed t h e ,

mi s taken poli cy of the Federal State s i n a l lowing the

AL AB AMA t o remain at s e a pra cti ca ll y unmole s ted Hi s .

V iew wa s that prote c tion c an be be s t a s s ured by having

’
s u ffi c ient c rui s er s to ke e p the enemy s c ommer c e de s troyer s
-

c ontinually on the lookout for their own s afe ty w h i le ,

 PROTECTION ( OF SHIPPING on . v
c on c entrating the ma in for c e in the right pla c e from a
:

”
pure l y s trategi c point of view .

Some member s of the Royal Commi s s ion were s ti ll in

doubt a s to t h e abili ty of the Fleet t o fu l fi l i t s mi s s ion
of prote ction a s s uming t h e c ountry to be at war wi t h any
,

two of the gr e at m ar i ti m e P ower s

,
SO a c ommun i c ation .

wa s made to t h e Admiralt y in rep l y to whi c h t h e Ad m ira lt y

,

s tated that no guarantee c ou l d be given t hat no c apture

whatever c ou l d be made by the enemy a po s i tion

i mpo ible to maintain i n argument
s s — but it wa s be li eved
that there wou l d be no m ate ri a l d i m i nu ti o n i n the s upp l y '

o f wheat and fl our rea c hing t h e United Kingdom Fina l ly .

,

i n c ommenting upon the apprehen s ion that the di s po s i tion

O f t h e Bri ti s h Fleet s quadron s or s hip s might
, b e adver s ely ,

affe c ted and the free a c tion O f t h e Admira lt y i mpaired

by popu l ar pre s s ure e xer c i s ed t h r ough Par liament upon
,

th e Government thu s influen cing t h e Admira lt y i n

,

s tr u c ti o n s to the ad m iral s it wa s remarked t hat t h e Ad,

m i ra l ty c oul d never allow t heir a ction to be in fl uen c ed

by any pre s s ure and yet c on s ent to remain re s pon s ible
,

for the c ondu c t Of war .

The Commi s s ioner s afterward s turned to another a s pe c t

of t h e que s tion — v i a the poli c y whi c h wou l d mo s t l ike l y
,

be adop te d by s hi po wner s either voluntarily or by s tre s s

O f c ir cum s tan c e s during a naval war The evi den c e s u b .

mi tte d on thi s que s tion s howed c on c l u s ive l y t hat any

general layi ng u p of s teamer s either liner s or t ramp s
-
, ,

need not b e expe cted a lt hough a general ri s e in freight s

,

wou l d o cc ur A s s uming a s t h e Commi s s ioner s genera ll y

.
,

a s s umed that s hipowner s would do t heir be s t to keep

,

their ve s s el s running attention wa s then dire cted to t h e

,
’
i nfluen c e of s team on the enemy s operation s again s t
mer chantmen . Thi s s e c tion Of the report re fl e ct ed the
be s t nava l opi ni on of the day and it i s in s tru ctive i n , ,

the light of a ctual war e xperien c e to re ca ll the views ,

whi c h were expre s s ed : It i s an intere s ting s ubj e ct for

c onj e c ture ,
whether t h e c hange from s ail s t o s team wi l l
or will not t ell i n favour of t h e c han c e s of c apture of mer
c hant ve s s e l s a t s e a If it s tood a l one it i s probab le t hat
.
,

the balan c e of evi den ce would te l l in the dire ction of greater

i mmuni ty fr o m c apture A s teamer h a s freedom to c hoo s e
.

the lea s t da ngerou s route and to ent e r at the l ea s t danger,

o u s ti m e upon the area O f the s e a mo s t li k ely to be i n

2 16 PROTECTION [ OF SHIPPING CH. v

It wa s de clared that modern c ondition s tend to limit the

c apturing power of regul ar war c rui s er s i t b e i n remarked '
g
-
,

that the s e ob s ervation s do not however apply to o c ean , ,

trading s teamers c onverted and ar med for the purpo s e o f

”
atta c king c ommer c e It w a s added t hat torpedo craft
'

-
.

( i
. e de.s troyer s and torpedo boat s ) ca n neither s pare pri ze
-

c rew s nor a c c ommoda t e anyone above their c omplement

“
number s If t herefore employed again s t c ommer c e for
.
, , ,

w h i c h t h ey were never intended s u c h craft c ould only ,

c ompel mer c hant S hip s to fo l low them into port under

threa t of be ing torpedoed Moreover the s e c raft c an on l y .

,

o perate wi t hin a c omparatively s hort di s tan c e O f their

s hore ba s e s .

After noting that the Admiralty had in pro c e s s of for

mation an organi s ation for keeping i n tou c h with and ,

giving advi c e to t h e Mer cantile Marine in the event O f

,

an outbreak of ho s tili tie s and urging that the matter ,

s hould re c eive the earne s t a t ten t ion of tho s e in authority ,

as we ll on the part O f the c ivil c ommuni t y a s the Ad

”
m i r al ty the Commi s s ioner s pro c eeded to s u m up t heir
—
,
“
c on c lu s ion s They remarked t hat
. It mu s t not be thought
from anything we have s ai d t hat we are of O pinion t hat
there will be no c apture of Bri ti s h s hip s engaged in the
c arrying trade Whatever our naval s trength might be
.
,

s ome c apture s a s h a s a l ready been pointed out

, would ,

c ertainly take pla c e But with a s trong fleet we find no

.

rea s on to fear s u c h an interruption of our s upplie s a s wou l d

lead to the s tarvation of our people nor do we s e e any ,
”
evi den c e that there i s likely to be any s eriou s S hortage .

At that time the s ubmarine wa s a s yet in i ts infan c y ,

a nd few c raft O f thi s type had been bui lt by any

c ountry though in the year in whi c h the Commi ss ion
,

reported Germany laun c hed an experimental s ubmarine

from the Germania Yard Ki el , .

II . PR E W -
AR ARRAN GE ME N TS

During th e nine year s whi c h intervened between th e

publi c ation O f the R eport of the R oyal Commi s s ion on
Supply of Food and R aw Material In Time of War and the
1Mi n o ri ty re p o rts w e i s s e d th e qu o tati ons gi v e n are fr om th e m ai n
er u

r e p o t Of th e R o y al Com m i s s i on
r .
CH .
]
V A PRINCIPLE OF NAVAL D EFENCE
a ctual outbreak of ho s tilitie s i n Augu s t 1 9 1 4 c ons iderabl e
, ,

attention wa s devoted t o the mea s ure s to be t aken to s afe

guard mer c hant s h i pping In parti c ular the Comm ittee
.
,

Of Imperia l D efen c e dea l t with the matter in the c our s e

of the elaboration of s tep s t o be adopted to prote c t Briti s h

intere s t s over s ea s On May 1 9 th 1 89 6 the Co lonia l
.
, ,

D efen c e Committee whi c h s ub s equent l y be c ame a s u b

,

ordinate bran c h of the Committ ee of Imperia l D efen c e ,

had lai d down the prin c iple that The maintenan c e

O f s e a s uprema c y h a s been a s s umed a s t h e ba s i s of the

s ys tem of Imperial Defen c e again s t atta c k from over the

se a . T h i s i s t h e determinating fa ctor in s haping the who l e

defen s ive po li c y Of the Empire and i s fully re c ogni s ed by
,

the Admiralty who have a cc epted the re s pon sibi li t y of

‘

prote cting all Briti s h territory abroad again s t organi s ed

i nva s ion from the s e a T O fu lfi l thi s great charge t hey
.
,

c laim t h e ab s olute power of di s po s ing of their for c e s in

the manner t hey c on s ider mo s t c ertain to s e cure s u c ce s s ,

and O bj e c t to limit the a c tion of any part of them to the

i mmediate neighbourhoo d of pla c e s whi c h they c on s ider
may be more e ffe ctively prote cted by opera tion s at a
”
di s t an c e .

That prin ciple be c ame the foundat ion upon whi ch all
que s tion s a ffe c ting t h e Mer c antile Marine were c on si dered .

AS a c on s equen c e the s c a l e O f defen c e to be provided at

,

over s ea por ts of the Briti s h Empire whi ch might be u s ed ,

by mer chant s hip s a s we l l a s men o f war wa s c on s idered - -

,

in the light of that pri mary under standing At the s ame .

time it wa s re c ogn i s ed t hat Hi s Maj e s ty s s hip s engaged

,
’

i n s eeking out and de s troying the s quadron s of an enemy

might not be in a po s ition to prevent predat ory raid s on
Briti s h port s by ho s tile crui s er s whi c h might temporarily ,

have s u cc eeded in eluding t heir vigi l an c e and that ,

the c apture o f Briti s h S hipping had als o to be provi ded

again s t It wa s al s o e s s ential that the s quadron s of Hi s
.

Maj e s ty s s hip s engaged in defending the trade route s

’

again s t s u c h raid s s hould have adequa tely defended ba s e s .

”
The obj e c t of the c oa s t defen c e s it was de cl ared is , ,
“

to deter atta c k by a ho s tile fleet not s upreme at s e a and ,

therefore not in a po s ition to ri s k s eriou s lo s s of fighting

effi c ien c y Su c h defen c e s mu s t therefore be s trong enough
.
, ,

to be able to infli c t s ub s tantia l damage upon a s quadron

s uddenly atta c king them ; but they are not required to
218 PROTECTION OF SHIPPING [ OH . v

s u s tain a deliberate duel between fort s a n d s hip s for a

”
prolonged period .

T h e who l e s ubj e c t of over s ea port defen c e wa s re c on

s i d e r e d by the Colonia l D efen c e Com m i ttee in 1 9 1 0 The .

a s s uran c e wa s then given t hat t h e Admira lty were of the

opinion that s o l ong a s th e then exi s ting s tandard of nava l
,

s t rength wa s maintained Bri ti s h flee t s would be i n a

,

po s ition effe c t ua ll y t o fru s trat e any movement s of enemy

s hip s on a large s c ale wi t hin a c ompara tively brief period

o f their c ommen c ement and it wa s a s s umed t hat any

,

movemen t Of enemy s hi p s on a large s c a le wou l d be fo ll owed

up by a Briti s h fOI Ce with t h e l ea s t po s s ible delay It .

wa s added in thi s c onne c tion that the de c i sive advant age s

a c cruing t o t h e be l ligerent who s u c ceed s in e s tabli s hing ‘

s e a s uprema c y over h i s opponen t are now we l l under s tood

and it i s to be expe cted t hat any naval Power s hoping to

i nfli c t s eriou s inj ury upon u s will on the outbreak of war
, ,

attempt to neutra li s e our naval s uperiority and if po s sible , , ,

wre s t from u s the c ommand of the s e a T h i s O bj e c t can

.

only be attained a s t h e re s ult of great naval battle s in ,

whi ch the main fleet s of the c ontending Power s are c o n

c e ntr a t e d for de c i s ive en c ounter s It i s i mmat erial where
.

the great battle s are fought In whatever W ater s they

.

may take pla c e the re s ult will be fe l t throughout t h e

,

world ; for after having di s po s e d of the battle s qua dron s

O f t h e enemy the vi c tor will be able t o s pread h i s for c e
,

with a view to c apturing or de s troying any deta c hed for c e

o f t h e enemy that may remain at s e a He will then be .

i n a po s ition to gather the frui t s of vi ctory i n the s hape ,

of the enemy s outl ying po s s e s s ion s and h i s s hipping and

’

c ommer c e or to pro s e c ute an over s ea s c ampaign

, .

’
In the s u c c eeding paragraph of the Commi tt ee 8 report ,

attention wa s dire cted to a danger whi c h t h e publi c In ,

the early period of the war whi c h wa s to break o u t in the

s ummer of 1 9 1 4 wa s in c li ned to overlook
, It wa s remarked
.

that with a view to i mpairing the mea s ure s of c on c entration

,

i n war and i ndu c ing a weakening of t h e main fleet s an ,

en e my might endeavour to c reate a wide s pread fee ling of

i n s e c u rity and alarm t h r oughout th e Empire by u tili s ing
s u c h c l a s s e s of ve s s el s a s were u n fi tt e d for t aking par t

i n the de c i s ive a c tion s i n raiding Briti s h s e a borne trade -

and threate ni ng di s tant portion s of the Empire It wa s .

re c ogni s ed that in them s elve s s u c h rai ding operation s

220 PROTECTION OF SHIPPING
[ CH . v

Committee endor s ed at the time by naval and mi litary

,

opi ni on have a pe c uliar intere s t i n View of the c o u r s e

,

adopted by the enemy after the de c laration of war An .

enemy po s s e s s ing a powerful bat tl e fleet i s unlikely to

’

undertake organi s ed atta ck s on c ommer c e i n c ommer c ial

port s un til an attempt at lea s t h as been made to c ripple
our naval power for wh i c h purpo s e h i s c rui s er s are like l y
,

to be required i n the fir s t i n s tan c e to a ct i n c onj un ction

, ,

with h i s battle s hip s I s olated atta c k s on mer c hant

.

ve s s el s met during the progr e s s of s ome s trategi c move

ment s may ind e ed o c c ur b u t regular atta ck s on c ommer c e
,

i n di s tant water s i f they take p l a c e at all at the beginning

,

o f a war are more likely to be c arried out by armed mer

,

c hant ve s s el s t han by ho s tile c rui s er s whi c h are not ,

likely at that s t age to be available for s u c h s ervi c e In

, , .

view Of the s upr eme value of armoured ve s s el s i n war ,

and of their great c o s t and c o n s equent s mall number s ,

i t i s i mprobab l e that a s quadron would undertake a s u b

s i di ar y operation s u c h a s the atta c k on a c ommer c ial port ,

i f the defen c e were of s u c h a nature that the atta c ker s

wou l d run the ri s k of l o s ing even one o f their number ,

or of re c eiving s u c h inj urie s a s to involve ri s k of c apture

or i mmediate return to a ba s e Of re c ent year s foreign .
,

naval Power s have almo s t without ex c eption c ea s ed to

lay down any but s ma l l unarmoured c rui s er s and the ,

armoured c rui s er s now under c on s tru c tion appro xi mate

to the batt l e s hip type The great va l ue of s u c h armoured
.

ve s s el s a s adj un c ts to the batt l e fleet render s it i mprobable

that they would be deta ched for atta c k s on c ommer c e
or on c o m m e r i c a l por t s until the s truggle for the c ommand
O f the s e a h a s been de c ided The O lder type s of armo u r e d
.

c r u i s er s may however be c ome availab l e i n the future

, ,

for s ub s idiary O peration s O f t h i s nature .

An attempt wa s made to fore ca s t the probable poli c y

of the enemy wit h a view to s ugge s ting t h e mea s ure s
whi c h s hou l d be t aken by the Briti s h Government to fr u s
trate a tte m pt s to interfere with merc hant s hipping The .

Bri ti s h nava l rep l y t o atta ck s on c ommer c e it wa s r e ,

marked would probably invo l ve extended operation s

,

wi th c rui s er s quadron s and s ing l e s hip s taking full a dvan ,

t age of the fa c ili tie s a fforded by o u r numerou s c ommer c ial

por ts a s c oa ling p l a c e s and a s c entre s for t h e c o lle ction
and di s tribution o f intelligen c e relating to the movement s
.
CH . v] THE WAR BOOK-
221

of t h e enemy In the c ircum stan ce s anti cipated it wa s

.
,

de c ided that c ertain for tified c ommer c ial por t s on fr e

u e nt e d trade route s wou l d be u s efu l a s c oa ling s ta tion s -
q
and harbour s of refuge where mer c hant ve s s el s c ou l d in , ,

c a s e of need s eek pro t e c tion from c apture or mole s t a tion

, ,

and awai t a favourable O pportunity Of pro ceeding on

their voyage s The need for fix ed defen c e at c ertain great
.

c ommer c ia l port s wa s al s o admit t ed The mea s ure of .

prote ction i t wa s s ugge s ted s hould be s u ch a s would

,
-
,

involve s u c h ri s k of inj ury to the atta cking c rui s er a s

wou l d not i n the O pinion of a naval c ommander be j u s ti
, ,
”
fi e d by the po s s ible advantage s t o be O btained .

The s e s tatement s are of intere s t a s an indi c ation that

long before th e probability of war wa s reali s ed by the nation
genera ll y and c er t ain l y before publi c attention had been
,

dire cted to the danger s whi ch would threaten mer c hant

s hipping at the outbreak of ho s tili tie s the Government ,

of the day a c ting thr ough the Committee of Imperial

,

D efen ce had been s tudyi ng a l l the a s s o ciated problem s

,

with a View of proper a c tion being taken to s upport the

influen c e exer ci s ed by the Fleet .

Fu rthermore t h e Committee O f Imperial D efen c e s e t

,

up a number of S ub c ommittee s whi c h c on s idered the r e -

s po n s i b i li ti e s whi c h would be thrown upon the variou s

department s of t h e Government at t h e outbreak of war .

With the a s s i s tan c e of the s e bodie s upon whi c h the Ad ,

m i r a lt y the Board Of Trade and the Po s t O ffi c e were

, ,

repre s ented a s well a s the s hipping indu s try the S t anding

, ,

Sub c ommi ttee of the Commi ttee Of Imperial D efen c e

-

gradua ll y bui lt up what afterward s c ame to be known a s the

War Book -
The O bj e c t wa s to c o ordinate depart
.
-

mental a ction o n the o c curren c e of ( a ) s trained re lation s

and ( b ) t h e outbreak of war The vo l ume c overed a .

wide fie l d B u t the pre s ent purpo s e i s mere l y to refer to

.

that portion wh i ch dealt wi t h Bri ti s h Mer chant Shipping .

It i s not ne c e s s ary t o c on sider in de t ai l t h e large number

of order s whi c h had been prepared in advan c e in order
to pro te c t mer c hantmen c rui s ing in di s tant water s but ,

i t i s of intere s t t o re c a ll t hat provi s ion wa s made for

approp riate a c tion On re c eip t of t h e notifi cation of the .

outbreak of war Hi s Maj e s t y s di p l omati c repre s entative s

,
’

abroad had in s tru ction s t o telegraph to every c ons u lar

offi c er s tationed at a port i n the c ountry in whi c h he
222 PROTECTION OF SHIPPING [ CH . 17

re s i ded or i ts c oloni a l po s s e s sion s dire c ting warning s t o be

,

given to Bri ti s h mer c hant S hip s not to pro c eed to or

enter enemy por ts Sim i l ar provi sion w a s made for th e
.

warning Of ve s s el s in port s of Briti s h p o s s e sSi o n s abroad .

S t ep s were al s o taken for in s tru c ting repre s ent ative s

abroad i n t h e re s pon s ibi litie s wi t h referen c e t o mer c hant
s hipping whi c h wo u l d devolve upon them a s s oon a s
war wa s de c lared with a v iew to s afeguarding Briti s h
,

mer c hant S hip s . 1

'

In the view of the Commi ttee of Imperial Defen c e ,

the main s e c urity to t h e Mer c antile Marine w as to be

found in t h e genera l nava l arrangement s made by the
Admira lt y in the year s p r e c eding the outbreak of war .

In reply to Germany s poli c y of naval c on c entration

’
,

the Grand Fleet a s i t wa s s ub s equently de s cribed c ame

, ,

i nto exi s ten c e c hanging the whole c hara c ter of t h e

,

problem of provi ding for the s afety O f Briti s h mer c hant

s hipping The aim O f the naval authoritie s wa s not to
—
.

b l o ckade the enemy fle e t a n inten tion wh i c h Nel s on

always di s c l aimed but to make s u c h a di s po s i tion of t h e
-m

main for c e s Of the c ountry a s to redu c e to a m InIm u m t h e

probability of c rui s er s c on c entrated in the Nor t h Sea o r
Ba lti c port s of Germany e s c aping on t o the t rade route s .

That obj e c t be c ame in the c our s e o f time the de c i s ive

prin c iple of Admiralty poli c y Admira l Sir Arthur Wil s on
.
,

who s u c c eeded L ord Fi s her a s Fi r s t Sea L ord wa s led to ,

gi ve an expo s ition Of t h e view s O f the Admiralty when

t h e que s tion of t h e po s s ibility of inva s ion by t h e enemy
wa s a gi t a ti ng t h e pub li c mind
r
In a memorandum whi c h
.

he prepared for th e Army Coun c i l in November 1 9 1 0 he ,

de c l ared t hat the really s eriou s danger t hat thi s c ountry

h a s to guard again s t in war i s not inva s ion b u t int errup tion,
”
o f our trade and the de s t ru c tion of our mer chant s hipping .

In t h e light of that c on c l u s ion whi c h reinforc ed the,

view s of previou s Board s of Admiralty he remarked ,

t hat the s trength of our flee t i s determined by what i s

ne c e s s ary t o pro te c t our t rade and if it i s s uffi c ient for
, ,

that it wi l l be almo s t ne c e s s arily s u ffi c ient t o prevent

,

i nva s ion Sin c e the s ame di s po s i tion of th e s hip s to a great

,
”
extent an s wer s bo t h purpo s e s That expo s ition of
.

poli c y s howed t hat even four year s before the outbreak

,

of war the Admira lt y po s s e s s ed what event s were to S how

,

to be a c orre c t per c eption of the main duty whi ch,

2 4 PROTECTION OF SHIPPING v
[ OH .

III . T HE C RE ATI ON OF T HE T RAD E D I VIS ION

OF T HE W AR S TAFF
Duri ng the pro ceeding s of t h e Royal Co rfi m i s s i o n on
Supply of Food and Raw Materia l s i n Time of War a t ,

t ent ion wa s drawn to the need of an organi s ation a t the

Admira lty to re c eive from t h e s hipping c ommunity i n
formation a s to t h e movement s of mer c hant s hip s and to ,

give advi c e t o s hi powner s in t h e event O f an outbreak of

,

ho s tili tie s a s to t h e voyage s whi c h their ve s s e l s might

,

undertake with c o m parative s afety with more s pe c ia l ,

referen c e to t ho s e poi nt s at whi ch s u c h ve s s el s might expe c t

to find pro te c tion It wa s t hen s t a ted by t h e Admira lty
.

-
that i s t e n year s before the opening of t h e war— t hat
,

an organi s ation O f the kind i s now i n pro c e s s of forma

”
tion . The Co m mi s s ioner s s tated t ha t t hey were not
s a ti s fied t hat the mean s of c ommuni c ation be t ween t h e

Royal Navy and the Mer c antile Fleet would on t h e o u t

break o f war be found s u ffi c ient to ena b l e information
to be c onveyed t o mer c hant ve s s el s at s e a or that the ,

order s of t h e Admira lt y c onveyed through t h e ad m ira l s

by Hi s Maj e s t y s s hip s to mer c hant ve s s e l s wou l d be under
’

s t ood . In th e main repor t of t h e Commi s s ion a s trong

re c ommendation wa s made t hat t hi s mat t er s hou l d
re ceive the early attention of tho s e i n authority a s we l l ,

on the part of t h e s hipping c ommuni ty a s on the part O f

the Admira lty .

T he prob l em of the be s t mean s Of prote cting trade

c ontinued under a l mo s t unin t errupted c on s idera tion by

s u c c e s s ive D ire c tor s O f t h e Nava l In t e lligen c e D epartment .

The matter wa s one whi c h fe ll s pe c ia ll y wi thin t h e pro

vin c e of t h e Trade Divi s ion Of that Department D uring .

t h e ear l y pha s e s O f t h e inve s tigation Cap t ain Ing l e fi e l d , ,

Captain Harry Jone s and Captain S c o tt were Con c erned in

,

the mat ter In Augu s t 1 9 0 6 Captain Henry Campbe ll wa s

.
,

appoint ed to t h e Trade Divi s ion and he at on c e began a ,

very t horough i nve s tigation of t h e whole s ubj e c t Captain ,

Charle s O tt l ey having be c ome Dire ctor o f Naval Inte lli

gen c e Some progre s s wa s made but it wa s not un ti l
.
,

Cap t ain E dmond S l ade be c ame Dire c tor of Naval Inte l li

gen c e t hat a pra cti c abl e s c heme began to t ake s hape In .

Mar c h 1 9 0 8 Cap t ain Campbel l s ubmitt ed a memorandum

,

c on s i s ting of a c omplete and detailed examination of the

on . v] AN INTE LLIGENC ESCHEME 225

problem He re c eived order s from the Dire c tor to amplify

.

h i s argument s in favour of a s y s t em of advi c e a s s i s tan c e , ,

a n d de c entra li s a tion in a s s o c iation with an inte lli gen c e

,

s c heme on t h e main t rade route s Captain Campbe l l .

‘‘
s ugge s ted that by leaving the owner s i n c harge of their
O wn s hip s the c ontrol wou l d be s e c tional ; every ve s s el
,

would have i t s own brain s o t o s peak working out i t s , ,

”
own s afety He urged that under war c ondi tion s the
.

owner s c ap t ain s and c rew s of mer c hant s hip s wou l d be

, ,

a ll per s ona lly intere s ted In the s afe arriva l s O f the ve s s el s .

If t h ey c ould be gi ven s ome i dea of what and where the

danger s awai t ing them were t hey would be perfe c t l y . ,

c apab l e O f avoi ding a n d running t hrough t ho s e danger s ,

for that 1 s after a ll what their ordinary life 1 s daily fitting

, ,

t hem to do And t hey wou l d know t o o not o nl y what wa s

.
, ,

the be s t method of ge tting home but al s o probab l y the ,

qui cke s t and ea c h wou l d do thi s for h i s own indivi dual

,
”
case ,and never bother with genera litie s The purpo s e .

of thi s inte lligen c e s c heme wa s to obtain information ,

both po s i tive and negative from a s wide an area a s po s s ible ,

i n order t o make the be s t u s e of t h e prote ctive for c e avail

ab l e and give advi c e to s hipping The aim wa s to provi de .

the nu cleu s of an organi s ation pra cti s ed and deve l oped ,

i n pea c e time whi c h wou l d c ombine a ll t h e fa ci li tie s for

-
,

re c eiving and di s s emina ting inte lligen c e through variou s

c hannel s— nava l diplomati c Indian Colonial Cu s tom s
—
, , , , ,

L l oyd s and other c ommer c ial organi s ation s a nd it wa s

’

propo s ed to operate it by appointing O ffic e rs at t h e

prin c ipal c ommer c ial port s throughou t the world who ,

would form a c omplete s y s tem of information bureaux .

It i s not t o o mu c h to s a y that the a c tion taken i n thi s

dire c tion before the opening of the war s a ved th e c ountry
from heavy lo s s and at th e s ame time enabled the trade
,

route s t o be kep t open

‘

The nu cleu s of an organi s ation h av Ing been formed the ,

Trade Divi s ion wa s abol i s hed in O ctober 1 9 0 9 and not

re s u s c itat ed unti l Augu s t 1 9 1 3 when it wa s r e formed a s ,
-

the Trade B ran c h of th e Operat ion s Divi s ion Of the

re c ent l y formed War S taff b e ing p l a c ed under Captain ,

Ri c hard Webb a s s i s ted by a s ma ll s ta ff The re c on s titution

,
.

of t hi s bran c h of the War Staff indi cated that the naval

authoritie s had final l y c ome to the c on clu sion that Spe c ial ‘

provi s ion wa s ne c e s s ary for dea ling with matter s a ffe c ting
22 6 PROTECTION OF SHIPPING [ OH . v

mer c hant S hipping whe n war o c curred but the s mallne s s ,

o f the per s onnel might have s ugge s ted t hat there wa s an

inadequate appre c ia tion of the number and c omple xity of
th e prob l em s whi c h war would rai s e i n an a c ute form .

On the other hand s u c h an organi s ation under pea c e ,

c ondi tion s wa s ne c e s s arily on a mode s t s c a l e a s i t s ,

duty c on s i s ted mere l y i n laying the founda tion s for

a ction after ho s tili tie s had broken out ; it formed the
nu c l eu s upon whi c h an adequat ely s t affed bran c h of -

t h e War Sta ff c ould be buil t up when the ne c e s s ity

aro s e B efore the end Of Augu s t 1 9 1 4 it wa s how
.
,

ever found ne c e s s ary to expand thi s bran c h of t h e

,

Operation s Divi s ion into a s eparat e divi s ion O f the War

S t a ff known a s the Trade D ivi s ion
, A s t h e war pro .

g r e s s e d i t s per s onnel
, w a s gradua ll y in c rea s ed i n order t o

enable it to deal with thi s a s pe c t of t h e war and in , ,

parti cular to meet the requirement s of the Mer c anti l e

,

Marine the fi s h ing indu s try and the blo ckade of the
, ,

enemy As the organi s ation grew the divi s ion wa s s plit

.
,

up i nto s eparate s e c tion s to deal with variou s pha s e s

of the work and owing to the de ci s ion to in stitute a general
, ,

s y s tem of Convoy s w h i c h had been arrived at in June

1 9 1 7 the R oute giving S e ction of the Trade Divi s ion

,
-

wa s at the end of September 1 9 1 7 p l a c ed under Captain

, ,

Frederi c A Whitehead as Dire ctor of Mer canti l e Move

.

ment s a s wa s al s o the Convoy organi s ation for whi c h

,

P ayma ster Captain H Eldon Man i s ty had been dire c tly

-
.

re s pon s ible s in c e h i s appointment a s Organi s ing Manager

of Convoy s on June 2 5th 1 9 1 7 U nder Capt ain Alan , .

H otham who at the s ame time s u c c eeded Captain Webb

, ,

the dutie s Of the Trade Divi s ion were grouped into three
main s e c tion s ea c h under a Cap t ain R N to deal wi t h
, ,

( )
a Trade and Blo c kade ; b
( ) E quipment of S hip s and
In s tru c tion o f P er s onnel ; ( 0 ) Shipping Intelligen c e ,

C a s ualtie s e t c No department of th e Admiralty re s ponded

,
.

mo re e ffi c ient l y t o t h e Urgent demand s of war than t h e

Trade D ivi s ion of the War Sta ff in the early pha s e
of t h e operation s at s e a and during i t s s ub s equent
c our s e Step by s tep a s the ne ce s s i t y demanded the
.
, ,

organi s ation wa s s trengthened until it be c ame in ,

time one of the mo s t i mportant divi s ion s of the War

S ta ff .

Previou s to the outbreak of the war with the e x ceptio n ,

228 PROTECTION OF SHIPPING
[ OH . v

her naval repre s entation in foreign water s The mena c e .

to the Briti s h Mer cantile Marine from German men Of war - -

had c on s equent l y in c rea s ed by 1 9 1 4 ap art from the ,

threat whi c h the Au s tro Hungarian Fleet Offered in the

-

Mediterranean .

IV . T HE W AR IN S URAN C E S CH E ME S
’
The Admiralty s admi s s ion that a guarantee c ould not
be given that no mer chant s hip s wou l d be s unk by an
enemy brought home to the Gove rnment and the s hipping
i ndu s try a c learer apprehen s ion of t h e c ondi tion s whi ch
would e xi s t in the event of war The Roya l Commi ssion .

o n Supply of F oo d and Raw Ma t eria l i n T ime of War

had expre s s ed the be lief that a guarded and well co n -

s i de r e d s c heme of national indemn i t y wou l d a c t a s a

powerful addi tion to our re s our c e s but a Trea s ury Com ,

m i tt e e appointed in 1 9 0 7 with Mr Au s ten Chamberlain

,
.

a s Chairman de clined to re c ommend t h e adoption of

,

any form of national guarantee again s t th e war ri s ks

“
of s hipping and maritime trade ex c ept that whi c h
i s provi ded by the maintenan c e of a powerful navy .

W h ile Sir Frederi ck Bolton O f L loyd s wa s quie tly ,

’
,

working on the problem at the Admira lty s hipowner s , ,

i n order to meet the s ituation whi c h they feared

would be c reated on the outbreak of war deter m ined ,

to organi s e thems elve s fol l owing the example already

,

s e t by the North of Eng l and A s s o c iation On the .

outbreak of war near l y t hree four th s of the Briti s h -

s team s hip tonnage emp l oyed in the over s ea s trade wa s

e mbra ce d in the variou s War Ri s k s In s uran c e Club s or
A s s o c iation s .

In May 1 9 1 3 the Prime Mini s ter formed a Sub c o m -

m i tte e O f the Committee of Imperia l D efen c e to c on s i der

”
the in s uran c e O f Briti s h s hip s in time of war Thi s .

Committee c on s i s ted of the Right Honourab le F Hut h .

Ja ck s on L ord In ch ca pe Sir Norman Hil l Se c retary O f

, , ,

the Li verpool Steam s hip Owner s As s o c iation Sir Ray ’

,

m ond Be ck D eputy Chairman of L l oyd s and Mr Arthur

’
, , .

Lm dl e y with Captain Mauri c e Hankey

,
a s Se c retar
y
1
.

1 No w Li e u t -Col Si r M P A Hank e y , G C B,
. . . . . . .
cu v] . BASIS OF T HE PROBLEM 2 29

It adopted a s erie s Of general prin ciple s in the following

term s

( )
1 A slai d down in the term s of referen c e the s cheme ,

mu s t be on the ba s i s of rea s onable c ontribution s be ing

paid by the owner s O f s hip s and c argoe s toward s the c o s t
of in s uran c e .

( )
2 The main O bj e c t O f the State i s to keep the trade Of
the c ountry going and not to make a profit , .

( )
3 Never t hele s s it i s ne ce s s ary to s afeguard the S t ate
,

again s t in cal cul able finan c ial liabilitie s and more par ti cu ,

l ar l y again s t fraud .

( )
4 If the s c heme i s to have any pro s pe c t of s u cc e ss ,

i t i s e s s ential t o avoi d the ho s tility of any of t h e

i ntere s t s c on c erned It i s therefore ne c e s s ary to avoi d
.
, ,

any s tep prej udi c ial to the legi timate bu s ine s s of s hi p

owner s in s uran c e broker s u nderwriter s mer chant s or
, , , ,

banker s .

( )
5 The s c heme s hould avoi d the appearan c e of a
gratuitou s gift from the State to a par ti cu l ar trade ,

at a time when all bran c he s O f trade will be very

mu c h hampered and every c la s s Of the population wi ll
,

be s ubj e ct to unfore seen and in cal cu lab le ri s k s of

lo s s .

( )
6 It s hou l d on the , other hand avoi d di s c lo s
, ing to
the ene m y the real c ondi tion s prevailing at any moment ,

by t h e quotation O f O ffi c ia l rate s Of in s uran c e c orre s ponding

to the a c tual ri s k s a s known to t h e Admira lt y .

( )
7 It s hould avoi d or minimi s e a s far a s po, s s ib l e t h e ,

admini s trative diffi cu ltie s whi c h wi ll fa l l upon th e S t ate

e g . .of va luation avoi dan c e O f fraud c onge s tion of bu sine s s
, , , ,

e tc .

At th e out s et it wa s apparent t hat t h e formation of

the mutua l in s uran c e a s s o c iation s or c l ub s had e liminated
, ,

s ome of t h e diffi c u ltie s w h i c h had hindered a c tion in t h e

pa s t The Nor t h of Eng l and Pro te c ting a n d Indemni ty

.

As s o c iation c ompri s ed in i t s war ri s k s c l a s s s teamer s of

, ,

a v a lue of abou t The L ondon group of War

Ri s k s A s s o c iation s had s teamer s of a va l ue of
on i t s book s The L ondon and L iverpoo l War Ri s ks
.
.

In s uran c e A s s o c iation ( Limited ) c ompri s ed s teamer s of a

v lue
a O f ab o u t Thu s the total v alue s in s ure d
 230 PROTECTION OF SHIPPING [ OH. v

i n the s e three a s s o c i ation s amo u nted to about

whi l e the total s teamer tonnage of the United Kingdom
e ngaged in foreign trade wa s val u ed i n 1 9 1 1 at £ 1 2 7
The ri s k s c overed by the s e a s s o c iation s di ffered Somewhat in
detail but the main prin ciple s embo died i n their ins uran c e
,

were the s ame They c overed fu l ly the ri s k s in c ident to

.

a war SO long a s the United Kingdom wa s neu tral but the

, ,

ri s k s c overed in ci dent t o a war in wh i c h thi s c ountry

wa s a party were s tri c tly li m ited .

In i t s repor t t hi s Sub c ommittee of the Committee of

,
-

Imperial Defen c e pointed out that the lo s s e s and c laim s

to meet whi c h the s e In s uran c e Club s were formed are tho s e
whi c h are ex c lu ded from the ordinary marine in s uran c e
poli c y by the fo ll owing or Similar c lau s e : Warranted ,

free from c ap ture s ei zure and detention and the c o n

, , ,

s equen c e s t hereof or any attempt thereat barratr y

, , ,

pira c y riot s and c ivil c o mmotion s ex c epted and al s o

, , ,

from all c on s equen c e s O f ho s ti litie s or war like operation s ,

whether before or after de c laration of war Thi s c over .

’

appli ed both i n the c a s e of war between two foreign nation s ,

and al s o when Great Britain wa s one of the bel ligerent s ;

but when Great Britain wa s at war the c over wa s limited
i n the c a s e of ve s s e l s a ctually at s e a or in any enemy ,

port o n the de claration of war or the outbreak of ho s tilitie s

, ,

until the ti me of fir s t arrival at a Briti s h or neutral port

whi c h wa s a s afe port for the S hi p to lie in The period .

o f c over while i n s u c h s afe pla ce s varied In one Club it wa s .

li mi t ed to ten days i n another to t h i rty days while i n a

, ,

t hi rd it extended to the date of expiry of t h e poli c y .

Ve s s el s wh i c h were not at s e a on the outbreak of ho s tilitie s ,

but were i n a s afe port were held in s ured whi le they r e ,

mained there for a Si mi l ar period Every ve s s el wa s

, .

deemed to be in s ured again s t all peri l s c overed by a n o r

d i n a r y marine in s uran c e poli c y s o long O f c our s e a s it , , ,

s ai led under the Briti s h flag There were a number O f .

other c ondition s whi c h it i s not ne ce s s ar y to mention in

detail Only a nominal initial premium amounting to
.
,

a few pen c e per c ent on the value entered w a s c harged.

,

to c over the e xpen s e s of management but the member s ,

S hared all lo s s e s on the ba s i s of the in s u red value s The .

Cl ub in s uran c e s were effe c ted on February 2 oth in

ea c h year running until the s ame date in t h e fo ll owing
,

y e ar, when in ordinary, c ir c um s tan c e s the poli c ie s were ,

 PROTECTION OF SHIPPING
ri s k s for the c ompletion of a l l c urrent voyage s from the
ti me when the c over provided by the C l ub poli c ie s c ea s ed .

The diffi cultie s whi c h thi s s c heme rai s ed were weighed

by the Sub committee and eventua l ly it wa s de c ided
-
, .

to propo s e that the e xi s ting s tandard form Of poli c y of

the As s o c iation s S hou l d be a ltered s o a s to in c lude t h e
additional ri s k s invo l ved Thi s new form of poli c y would
.

run from year t o year a s wa s at th e t ime the c a s e a li s t ,

of the poli c ie s i s s ued by ea c h Club being given to the State

every year The Stat e wou l d enter i nt o a general agr ee
.

ment wi t h ea c h A s s o c iation a c c ep ting re s pon s ibility for

,

8 0 per c ent of the King s enemy l o s s e s in c urred under

’
.

the s e poli c ie s i n the c a s e of a war in whi c h we were one

of the belligerent s The in s ur an c e wou l d remain in for c e
.

for t e n c lear days following t h e arriva l of the s hip at her

port of de s tination The war ri s k s o t her than King s
.
,
’

enemy ri s k s wou l d be c overed under t h e s ame C lub poli c y

, ,

but for the s e the Club would a l one be re s pon s ib l e .

Going a s tep further the Sub c ommittee agreed that

,
-

word s s hould be introdu c ed int o t h e new po li c ie s provi ding

a warranty that after t h e outbreak of war s h i p s s hou l d ,

as far a s po s s ible c arry out any order s t ha t t h e

,

Admiralty might give in regard t o route s port s of c a ll and , ,

s toppage s . If t hey fai led to c arry o u t t h e order s it wa s ,

provi ded that they S hould lo s e t h e benefit O f in s uran c e ,

un l e s s the in s u red c ould s ati s fy the Commi ttee of t h e C l ub

that the brea c h O f order s happened without the fault
or privity of the a s s ured and O f the owner s and O f the
manager s Of the S hip Even i n tho s e c ir cum s tan c e s it
.
,

w a s t hought that the s hi pown er s S hou l d be liable to s ome

pena lty and it wa s s ugge s ted t hat the State s hou l d require
,

that the ru le s of every approved C l ub S hould c ont ain

provi s ion for an appropriate pena lt y t aking t h e for m of a ,

l evy of an e xtra premium payab l e by the member to the

C l ub on the in s ured value O f t h e S hip in whi c h t h e brea c h
had t aken p l a c e or of a dedu ction in the s e tt l emen t of
,

a c l aim O f an amount to be fixed wi t hin rea s onable li mi t s , ,

by the Committee of t h e C l ub In extreme c a s e s the .

,

Committee it w a s s ugge s ted might have th e power O f

, ,

expe lli ng a m ember from the C lub .

T h e Sub c ommittee in i t s re c ommendatio ns re l ating to

-
,

s hip s a fl oat at t h e time O f the outbreak of war c on s idered ,

that the fa c t that the Club s and throu gh th e m the s hi p ,

 CH . v] INSURANCE OF NEW VOYAGES 233

owner s would retain 2 0 per c ent of t h e ri s k s invo lved and

, .
,

pay the W ho l e c o s t of admini s tration might be looked upon ,

as a rea s onable c o ntri b u ti o n to war d s the c o s t of in s uran c e ”

‘

The manager s of t h e Club s s tated that s ome arrangement

for the c omp l e tion of the c urrent voyage s wi t hou t payment
of premium W ould probably be ne c e s s ary a s an i ndu c ement
to the member s Of t h e C lub s to a c cep t th e propo s al s for
c overing t h e in s uran c e O f ve s s e l s s tar ting after the o u t

break of war It wa s c a l c u l ated that t h e s c heme wou l d

.

i nvolve a State l iability O f In explanation of

i t s re c ommendation s the Sub c ommittee added :
,
-
It
ma y be argued that even if our s ugge s tion s are adopted
, ,

t hey W il l not c ompel any s h ip t o c omp le t e i t s voyage aft er

the outbreak of war It wi l l s ti ll be Op tiona l for t h e s hip
.

owner to give dire c tion s that h i s S hip i s to go to a s afe por t

and remain t here unti l t h e war i s over We admit that .
,

i f thi s poli c y were genera ll y adop ted our s c heme wou l d ,

fai l in i t s main obj e c t ; but we t hink that few if any , ,

s hipowner s are l ike l y to adop t thi s poli c y In t h e fir s t .

p l a c e the ve s s e l s on voyage s c urrent at t h e outbreak of

,

war wi l l only be earning pea c e freights and it wi ll be a ,

s trong indu c ement to t h e owner t o get h i s pre s ent voyage

c omp l e t ed S O tha t he may be ab l e to take advantage O f

,

t h e hi gher freight s for new voyage s whi c h wou l d pre

s u m ab ly be O ff ered after the out break of war And .
,

further the s hipowner wou l d real i s e that even if he lai d

, ,

up h i s S hip he wou l d not t hereby e s c ape h i s liabi li ty to

,

c ontribute p r o r ata t o the lo s s of other s hip s in s ured i n

”
h i s C l ub whi c h had r u n the ri s k s he wa s afraid of .

Turning to t h e in s uran c e O f hu ll s of s hip s on voyage s

'

c ommen c ed after the ou t break of ho s ti l i tie s i t wa s pro ,

po s ed that the s e s hou l d be s i mi l ar ly i n s ured by th e As

s o c ia tion s ,
and reins ured by t h e S t ate t o the extent O f
8 0 per c ent O f s u c h ri s k s
. The premium s would be
.

c olle c ted by the A s s o c iation s when i s s uing t heir poli c ie s ,

and 8 0 per c ent of t hem wou l d be a cc ounted for t o t h e

.

State in c ons i deration of i ts taking 8 0 per c ent O f th e ri s k s .

in s u red under the C lub po li c ie s a warrant y being i n

,

s e r t e d that s hip s W i ll not s ai l when ordered by Hi s Maj e s t y s

’

”
Gove rnment not t o do s o The Sub c ommittee propo s ed
’

.
-

that th e rate s of premium for s u c h new voyage s s hou l d

be fix ed by the S t ate varied from time to ti m e and it wa s
, ,

add ed : It wil l in our O pinion be ne c e s s ary t o have

, ,
23 4 PROTECTION OF ( SHIPPING on. v

di fferent rate s Of pre m i um for different zone s and it may be ,

found advi s able during the c our s e of the war to c hange the
, ,

rate s for c ertain of the s e zone s But we are s trongly of

.

opinion that the di ff erent rate s s hould be a s fe w a s po s s ible ,

and al s o that the c hange s in the s e rate s s hould be a s i n

frequent a s po s sible It i s admitted that the State i s
.

not undertaki ng t hi s bu s ine s s with a view to making a

profit out O f it but s olely with the O bj e c t of preventing
,

the interruption of our over s ea s c ommer c e i n time of war ,

owing to inability t o in s ure again s t war ri s k s t hrough the

u s ual c hannel s The rate s c harged by t h e State mu s t not
.
,

therefore be SO low a s to c ompete with the rate s that the

,

i n s uran c e market may be willing to quote nor mu s t they ,

be s o high a s to be prohibitive or materially to affe c t ,

the c o s t Of the foo d or other mer c handi s e being brought

to or c arried from the s e s hore s At the s ame time it .
,

would be obviou s l y unfair to the State s partner s in thi s ’

—
bu s ine s s the indivi dual s hipowner s i n the Club s that —
they Should be c alled upon either to pay premium s out of all
proportion to the ri s k s O f the voyage s undertaken or to ,

bear their s hare of lo s s e s i n re s pe c t of voyage s ins ured at

mu c h too low a premium It i s for thi s rea s on that we
.

re c ommend that the premium c harged s hould to s ome

extent depend upon the ri sk s i nvo l ved But we s hould .

like to s ugge s t that the maximum rate for any voyage

s hould be 5 per c ent and the minimum rate 1 per c ent
.
, .
,

and that any rate a c c epte d for a par ti cular voyage s hall
hold good provi ded that the s hip s tart s wi thin fourteen
,
”
day s after a cc eptan c e O f t h e ri s k .

Provi s ion wa s s ugge s ted for repre s entation O f the State

on the C ommittee Of ea c h C lub or A s s o c iation the c laim s ,

i t wa s added would be dealt with by the Committee of the

,

Club Some differen c e of opinion wa s expre s s ed a s to whe n

.

and how payment of c laim s S hould be made On thi s .

matter the Sub c ommittee reported that-

the general
prin c iple underlying the propo s ed arrangement s between
the State and the Club s i s t hat the C l ub s take the whole
o f the ri s k s and rein s ure 8 0 per c ent of them with the
, .

State A Club would therefore be primarily liable for

.
, ,
”
the s ettlement of the amount involved The c on c lu s ion .

wa s rea c hed that the State had no c on c ern wi th the i n

ternal arrangement s Of the Club s with regard to the
c olle ction of the c ontribution s from their members to a n
236 PROTE CTIO N OF SHIPPING
the right at i t s di s cre tion to refu s e to a c c e pt
, ,

for in s uran c e on thi s ba s i s if they are of opinion t hat the

,

value thu s arrived at i s ex c e s s ive The agreement for .

va l uation on thi s ba s i s wi ll be provi ded for i n t h e ar ti c l e s

”

of a s s o c iation or ru le s of t h e C l ub whi ch wi l l in a c c ordan c e ,

with the pra c ti c e of t h e Club s be in c orporated i n the ,

”
p oli c ie
. s

It i s unne c e s s ary i n thi s c onne ction to deal at lengt h

with the propo s al s for the in s uran c e of c argoe s l
The .

Sub committee in the c on c luding remark s in i ts Report

-
, ,

dated Apri l 3 oth 1 9 1 4 s ugge s ted that i f i t s pr Op o s a l s

, , ,

were approved they s hou l d be made publi c a s s oon a s

,

po s s ible It wa s urged that t h e earlie s t po s s ible publi c ity

.

wa s e s s entia l not only in order that the ne c e s s ary

,

c hange s in the pre s ent arrangement s for mu t ual in s uran c e

o f hu ll s s hould be made by t h e Club s but al s o in order ,

that the detail s of our propo s a l s for in s uring c argoe s

may be c arefull y prepared and periodi c a l ly revi s ed by
the Board of Advi s er s whi c h we re c ommend s hou l d be
appointed for t h e purpo s e Whi l e admitting that in the
‘

.
,

ab s en c e O f experien c e of the effe c t of naval warfare o n

Briti s h over s ea s trade it wa s i mpo s s ible to form any
,

reli able e s timate O f the State s liability it wa s e s timated ’

,

t hat t h e tota l l o s s e s on hu l l s in s ured again s t premium s

wou l d be 5 0 and the S t ate s s hare of tho s e lo s se s
,
’

would b e We e s timat e the value O f the

s t eam s h ip t onnage remaining availab l e for foreign trade

during the s i x month s fo ll owing the outbreak Of war at

Under norma l c ondition s ea c h ve s s el i n
t hat part of our foreign trade whi c h i s with the United
Kingdom make s on the average ten voyage s ea c h year
, , ,

c ounting ea c h outward and inward voyage a s a s eparate

voyage If that average c an be taken a s genera ll y a p

.

p l i c able and i f t h e number O f voyage s be maint ained

,

after t h e ou tbreak o f war premium s a t the average ra t e,

of 1 per c ent per voyage on t h e new voyage s would in Si x

.

month s be s u ffi c ient to c over the who l e of th e l o s s e s on hul l s

”
i n s u r e d a g a i n s t premium s The di ffi c u lty O f e s timating
’

t h e t o t al value o f c argoe s c arried i n Briti s h s t eam

s hip s i n foreign trade during the s i x month s following

the ou tbreak o f war wa s greater In the c ir cum s tan c e s .

,

the Sub c ommittee a c c epted a s a ba s i s for i t s c al culation s

-
, ,

1
Cf S e ab or ne T ra de ,
. by Mr . C E Fa y l e
. . .
 v] A PRACTICAL SCHEME
‘

on . 23 7
that the value s wou l d be If th e whole of
t he s e c argoe s were in s ured with t h e State Offic e t h e a s ,

s umed lo s s wou l d be c overed by pre m ium s at the rat e

of 1 per c ent per voyage It wa s added that
-
. . It i s pro ,

bable tha t at average premium s of 1 per c en t per voyage .

the greater part O f the hu l l s wou l d t hrough th e C lub s , ,

be in s ured with the State b u t the amount of c argo s o ,

i n s ured and t herefore the amount of c argo at th e ri s k

,

o f t h e State wou l d depend large l y on t h e fa c ilitie s o ffered

,
”
by the in s uran c e market Fina ll y it wa s remarked
.
,

that , when every a llowan c e i s made it wi ll be s een t hat , ,

even on an a s s umed lo s s of near l y 1 0 per c ent Of a l l .

Briti s h s teamer s employed in our foreign trade whi c h ,

on the outbreak o f war and for s i x month s t hereafter , ,

are at ri s k the c l aim on the State in re s pe c t of hu ll s and

,

c argo wou l d be but a very s ma l l per c entage on t h e total

”
volume of our trade .

In c on c l uding i ts repor t the Sub c ommittee s ubmitted,

-

that t hey had prepared an admini s tra tively pra cti c ab l e

”
s c heme .We beli eve t ha t it wil l s e cure th at in c a s e ,

O f war Bri ti s h s team s hip s wi l l not be genera lly laid up

, ,

and that over s ea c ommer c e wil l not be interrupted by ,

rea s on of the inability to c over the war ri s k s of s h i p s and

c argoe s by in s uran c e Even if the ma ximum pre m ium
.

of 5 per c ent on s hip s and of 5 per c ent on c argoe s i s

. .

c harged for a l l voyage s and th e whole O f thi s premium

,

i s borne by c argoe s the t otal in c rea s ed c o s t of s u c h c argoe s

, ,

on a c c ount of war ri s k in s uran c e wi ll not be ex c e s s ive , ,

and will not in our O pinion approa c h the extreme flu ctu

, ,

ation in pri c e s of many arti c l e s e s pe c ia l ly of arti c le s Of

,
”
food in re c ent year s
, .

It wa s a fortunate c ir cum s tan c e that the s ubj e c t of war

ri s k in s uran c e had been c on s idered and a pra c ti c a l s c heme ,

dea ling with hu ll s and c argoe s drawn up before th e s hadow ,

of war wa s t hrown a c ro s s th e c ountry A S t h e repor t .

of th e Sub commi ttee had n o t been pub li s hed the nat ion
-
,

genera ll y wa s i n ignoran c e of th e s t ep s whi c h had been

t aken to grapp le with t h e S itua tion whi c h rapid ly de
v e l o p e d toward s the end O f Ju l y 1 9 1 4 The Board of .

Trade kept it s e l f informed of th e trend O f event s and during ,

t h e day s of un c ertainty a s t o t h e i s s ue o f t h e a c tion whi c h

dip l omati s t s were taking i t wa s in c on s tant c ommuni c ation
,

with the manager s of the t hree Club s to whi c h referen c e

238 PROTECTION OF SHIPPING [ CH. v .

h a s been made On Saturday July 3 l s t Sir H L lewelyn

.
, , .

S mith the Se cretary of the Board of Trade informed

, ,

them that the Government had determined to adopt

the s cheme o f t h e rein s u ran c e of hu ll s and reque s t ed them ,

t o arrange at on c e for t h e 1 s su e of re vi s ed form s of poli c y .

T h i s wa s done with the utmo s t di s pat c h A S an ill u s tra .

tion it may be added t hat on Augu s t 4th when the Bri ti s h

, ,

de c l aration of war expired Sir Norman Hill addre s s ed a

,

c ir c ular to the member s O f th e L iverpool A s s o c iation

explaining t h e Government s c heme and s tating that h i s ,

Commi ttee had de c ided to bring the new form s Of in suran c e

i nto O peration without waiting for c ompletion of legal
forma li tie s a s t o the a c tual i s s ue Of the new form o f
”
poli c ie s . He added t hat pending the c omplet ion of
,

a l l s u c h formalitie s an undertaking had been given on

,

beha l f of the Government that the State will hold it s elf

”
bound a s i f the rein s uran ce had been given .

The prompt a ctio n O f the Government i n a s s oc iatio n ,

with a c er t ain feeling O f nervou s ne s s led many large ,

firm s who had previou s ly e ffe cted their o w n in s uran ce s

t o join the Club s In thi s way pra c ti ca l ly t h e whole
.
,

work of rein s uran c e O f s team s hip s under the Government

s c heme wa s c on du cted from t h e fir s t by the thre e
A ss oc iation s Form s of poli c y were immediate ly drawn up
.

by t h e C l ub s for i s s ue to their member s for c urr ent and

new voyage s together with a form of rein s uran c e in regard
,

to ea c h s u c h po li c y a s between the Board Of Tr ade and the

A s s o c iation s In illu s tration o f the c elerity with whi c h the
.

s c heme wa s put into operation it may be added that th e ,

agreement between the Board of Tr ade and the A s s o ciation s

w a s dated Augu s t 1 4t h 1 9 1 4 although s ome O f i t s de t ail s
, ,

were not c omp l eted unti l a few week s later Thi s de l ay .

di d not interfere with t h e operation s of the s cheme wh i c h ,

from the fir s t c entred in t h e Marine Department o f the

Board of Trade The manager s of the variou s A s s o c iation s
.

rendered the mo s t e ffi c ient help in thi s department Sir .

Mauri c e Hill K C pla ced h i s s ervi c e s at the di s po s al

,
. .
,

of t h e Board a s a l egal advi s er and gave va l uab l e a s s i s tan c e

,

both in drafting and i n interpreti ng From the very .

out s e t the relation s between t h e central department and t h e

A s s o ciation s were pla c ed on a s ati s fa ctory foo ting wi t h ,

the re su lt that the s c heme worked s m oo t hly and the danger

o u s di s l o c ation Of o c ean borne c ommer c e wh i c h the enemy
-
 PROTE CTION OF SHIPPING
[ CH. 17

the Admiralty wa s to c onvey to the Briti s h Mer cantile

Marine di stributed in all the s ea s s hort and c ompre
, ,

h e ns i v e in s tru ction s embodying t h e poli c y of the naval

au thoritie s in relation to t h e prote c tion of trade Order s .

t o Hi s Maj e s ty s s hip s oper ating in and about the trade

’

route s had been in e xi s ten c e for s ome tim e and they formed ,

the ba s i s on whi ch the early dire c tion s to mer c hant s hip

ping were framed As a normal matter of pea c e routine
.
,

c o m mander s i n chi ef and s enior O ffi c er s o f Briti s h naval

- -

for c e s had re c eived in s tru ction s from the Admiralty as

to the a ction to be taken i n the event of war i n order to
afford prote ction to mer chant s hipping The s e order s .

were b as ed upon the well e s tabli s he d prin c iple that the

-

s ure s t W a y of s tri k ing an e ffe c tive blow at the enemy and ,

at the s ame time s afeguarding tonnage and territory ,

wa s a prompt atta ck upon the enemy s fi gh ti ng s hip s

’
-
.

That prin ciple had guided Briti s h poli cy for c enturie s

—
.

The primary O bj e c t the annihilation o f the enemy s ’

—
for c e s in c luded t h e s e c ondar y the s e curity of Briti s h
,

o c ean borne c ommer c e

-
Sub s idiary to bo t h tho s e obj e ct s
.

wa s the c apture o f enemy mer c hant ve s s el s with the

obj e c t of s topping h i s trade and all c ontraband de s tined
fo r h i s u s e . It wa s s ugge s ted b y the Admiralty in i t s ,

earlie s t order s that the patrolling of area s or route s on

,

the chan c e of meeting an enemy on them wa s not fea s ible ,

a n d the a l lotting of s ingle ve s s el s along the route s wa s

a l s o c ondemned It wa s de c lared that the s alient point s

.

a n d the c o nflu e n c e s of the variou s o c ean r oute s u s ed by the

Briti sh Mer chant Marine were the mo s t profitable p lac es
for i t s de s tru ction by enemy ve s s el s and if tho s e point s
,

were i n W T c o m mu ni c ation with Briti s h W T s tation s

f
. . . .
,

the y were the be s t po s ition s in whi c h to work and await i n

t e l l i ge nc e of the enemy s movement s
’
It wa s added that
.

t h e for c e s employed in c ompany s hould be O f s u c h a

s t rength a s to affo rd rea s onable pro s pe c t s O f s ear c hing for

and engaging the enemy with s u c c e s s Tho s e in s tru c tion s

.

embodied rudimentary prin c ip l e s Their re s tatement wa s

.

ne ce s s ary i n view of t h e tenden c y to c onfu s ion of thought

whi c h had o ccu rred s in c e the s team engine made i ts -

appear an c e s ugge s ting that the c hara c ter of the m ena c e

,

o ffered by enemy S hip s and the be s t mean s of c ombating

,

that mena c e had undergone c hange s deep permanent

, , ,

a nd revolutionary Ho wever wi de s pread tho s e opi nion s

.
CH . v] COUNSELS OF WEAKNESS 2 41

may have been during the Vi c torian period the c loud s ,

of doubt had been di s per s ed long before the opening O f

ho s tilitie s It i s apparent from the a c tion of Admiral s
.
,

and other s enior O ffic er s during the opening pha s e of the

war that the n aval authori tie s had rea c hed a right c o n
,

elu s ion a s to t h e po li c y t o be adopted by a s upreme

navy i n prote c ting the Mer c antile Marine under i ts
nationa l flag .

Although t h e po s s ibility that the enemy might employ

s ubmarine s to prey on c ommer c e c ou l d not be ignored

after the s inking o f the HO GU E C RE S S Y and AB OU K IR on , ,

September 2 2 nd 1 9 1 4 and t h e de s tru c tion of the mer cha nt

, ,

s h ip Gli tr a i n the followi ng O c tober t h e primary c on c ern o f ,

the Admiralty during t h e ear l y pha s e of t h e war wa s fo r

the s afe ty of ve s s el s both naval and mer cantile atta cked
, ,

by enemy c rui s er s The naval authoritie s had always

.

admitted that i f s ailing s were maintained during t h e fir s t

,

few wee k s of war s ome l o s s e s were inevitable It had bee n

, .

s ugge s ted i n s ome quarter s that it mig ht be advi s a ble

for all s hip s on the outbreak of war to be warned to put

, ,

i nto the neare s t friend l y port and remain there until a ,

guarantee o f s afe ty c ould be given by the Admiralty .

That poli cy wou l d have freed th e naval authoritie s fro m

a heavy re s pon s ibi lity while attention wa s devoted e x ,

c l u s i v e l y to hun ting down enemy c rui s er s and providing

e s c ort for the tran s por t s whi c h were on pa s s age from India ,

t h e Dominion s the Crown Co l onie s and t h e D ependen c ie s

, , .

The s e c oun s el s were however reje c ted The bo ld , , .

poli c y wa s adopted of urging mer c hant s hipping to

c ontinue i t s operation s In t he s e c ir cum s tan ce s the
.
,

Admira lty had t o c hoo s e between t hree c our s e s The .

fir s t wa s the c on c entration of trade on definite fixed

route s the s e route s being c l o s e l y patro lled by Briti s h
,

c rui s er s ; the s e c ond a di s pers al of trade away from

,

the u s ua l rout e s thu s t aking advantage O f the va s t tra ct s

,

of o c ean a s a mean s o f pro te c tion and leaving Briti s h ,

c rui s er s free t o hunt down enemy war s hip s The t hird

'

c our s e c on s i s ted of ei t her of the a lternative s men

ti o ne d in a s s o c ia tion wi t h c onvoy That poli c y how .
,

ever wou l d have invo l ved a weakening of t h e o ffen s ive

,

a ction agains t the enemy in order t o provi de dire c t pro

te c ti o n to s hipping S h i powners and ma sters were
.

enerally oppo s ed to a s ys tem o f c onvoy s while na val

g ,
2 42 PROTECTION OF SHIPPING [ CH. V

opinion a s to i t s wi s dom wa s divided Reviewing the

.

S i t ua t ion broad l y and having regard to the limited number

,

of c rui s er s avai l able for trade prot e ction the Admira lty
,

de c ided upon a s wi de a di s per s a l of s hip s a s po s s ibl e during

t h e perio d when enemy c rui s er s were being tra c ked down .

Orders were promu l gated to the Merc antile Marine i n

a cc ordan c e wit h thi s de c i s ion through the c hannel s o f
c ommuni c ation then availab l e at home and abroad .

In order t o c onvey to t h e Mer c anti le Shipping the In

s tr u c ti o n s
, Route Order s and Advi c e ne c e s s ary to enable
,

ve s s e l s to navigate with t h e l ea s t po s s ibl e ri s k both from

,

dire c t enemy a c tion and a l s o from mine s a num ber of ,

Shipping Int e lligen c e Offi c er s were appointed at t h e prin

c i p al c ommer c ia l home port s and the s ys tem wa s gradually
,

ext ended t o other port s i n t h e Uni t ed Kingdom The s e .

o ffi c er s were i n dire c t tou c h W ith the Admiralty ( Tr ad e

Divi s ion ) and re c eived in s tru c tion s from time to time a s to
,

to be fol l owed e t c while s omewhat s i milar arrange

, .
,

were made at por t s abroad s o that ma s ter s c ould

the late s t Admiralty in s tru c tion s a s to their route s
from reporting offic er s who were u s ua l ly Con s ula r or
,

Colonia l o ffi c er s A s h a s already been pointed out L l oyd s

.
,
’

and the War Ri s k s C lub s were al s o u sed a s c hannel s

o f c ommuni cation where thi s wa s the mo s t c onvenient
mean s the e xi s ting c hannel s being gradua ll y c o ordinated
,
-

to form a rapid mean s of c ommuni c ation between the

Ad m iralty and t h e Mer c anti l e Marine The Board of
.

Cu s tom s and Ex ci s e likewi s e p la c ed their entire organi s a

tion s at the di s po s al of th e Admiralty and throughout the
,

war rendered invaluab l e a s s i s tan c e i n the di s s emination

of Traffi c In s tru ction s to mer chant ve s s el s The s e .

Traffi c In s tru ction s c on s i sted prin c ipa ll y of dire c tion s fo r

c oa s tal voyage s whi c h every ve s s e l had t o obtain from
,

the Cu s tom s Authori tie s at the port o f departure i m

mediately before s aili ng . It i s i mpo s s ible to s pe ak
t o o high l y of the c ordial s upport and c o operation r e -

ce i v e d by t h e Admiralty from the Board of Cu s tom s and

Ex ci s e
.

Ex cept on s pe c ial s hort s e a and c oa stal route s where

c on c en t ra tion of naval for c e s w a s po s s ib l e the c onvoy
,

s y s tem wa s not emp l oyed for mer c hant s hip s in the early

part of the war ; thi s wa s due par tly t o delays r egar ded
a s inevitable with any s y s tem of c onvoy and
, part l y to
2 44 PR OT E CT ION o r ( v S HI PP IN G on.

Advi s e Briti s h s hipping to s teer c our s e paral l el to

and from 8 0 to 1 5 0 mile s di s tant from regular tra ck .

Endeavour to fill up s u ffi c ient l y with c oal to avoi d bunker

ing on pa s s age Redu c e brillian c y of ligh t s
. When .

o bliged to pa s s t h r ough lo c alitie s where traffi c i s mo s t c o n

g e s ted endeavour
, to do s o at night U s e neutral territori al .

water s when po s s ible Homeward bound ve s s el s c all for

.
-

order s at any Signal s tation on South c oa s t of Devon or

-

Cornwall or on South North or We s t c oa s t s o f Ireland

, , , .

”
Pa s s thi s s e c retly by vis ual to any Bri ti s h s hip s met with .

During the s u cceeding week it be c ame apparent that ,

i n s pite of the ac tion of the naval authoritie s and the c over

pro vi ded u n der the War In s uran c e s c heme s ome s hip s ,

were being held up Further in s tru c tion s to c he c k thi s

.

development were de cided upon on Augu s t 1 3 th and c o m ,

m u ni c a te d to all Briti s h po s s e s s ion s and to Hi s Maje s ty s

’

repre s entative s and other s throughout the world After re .

c ommending that navigation light s s hould be extingui s hed

only when an immediate atta c k wa s apprehen d ed and ,

that the danger pa s s ed they s hould be re li g h ted the Ad

, , ,

m i ral ty added that it wa s mo s t i mportant that Briti s h

tra de s hould be interrupted a s lit t le a s po s s ible and that ,

Briti s h ve s s el s s hould not be held up nor advi s ed t o

r emain in port unle s s s u c h a c our s e s hould be deemed a b s o
”
l u te l y ne c e s s ary A week later an enemy armed mer c hant
.
,

c rui s er having i nterfere d wi t h ve s s el s s outh of the Canarie s ,

i t wa s s ugge s ted to Line s u s ing thi s route that under the c i r ,

c u m s t a n c e s then e xi s ting ve s s el s s hould be dire c ted where

,

po s s ible to avoi d pa s s ing the Canarie s and t h at in other ,

c a s e s they s hould go we l l c lear to the we s tward o f tho s e

i s land s the exa c t di s tan c e depending upon the importan c e
,

o f the voyage the amount of c oal available

, and other ,

s pe c ial c on s ideration s If s hip s are s o diverted it wa s

.
,
“
added , it i s c on s idered that the c han c e o f c apture will
be c on s iderably modified .

In s pi te of the a c tion whi c h the Admiralty had taken ,

a feeling of nervou s ne s s i n c ommer c ial c ir c le s s til l e xi s ted

o wing to new s of c apture s by the K oN I GS BE R G D RE S D E N , ,

K ARLS RUHE and K AIS E R W IL HE L M D E R G R OS S E

, In order .

to arre s t anything approa c hing a fee ling of pani c a s to the

danger on the trade route s fre s h in s tru c tion s were i s s ued
,

to the Intelligen c e Offi cer s on Augu s t 2 9 th advi sing them ,

 ”
on .v] SE A IS FREE T O ALL
‘
2 45

not to hold up Bri ti s h s hipping ex c ep t for good rea s on s ,

“
i t being added t hat the Go vernment In s uran c e S c heme
provide s for a s mall per c entage of l o s s and i t i s mo s t ,

i mportant t o keep the trade moving even if s light lo s s ,

”
i s in curr ed In fur t her referen c e t o the s ame tenden c y
.

t o c he c k t h e flow of s hi ppi n g a n d therefore of t rade , ,

another telegram wa s di spat c hed on t h e following day to

a l l Naval Indian and Coloni al authori tie s i n the Ea s t
, , .

R eferen c e wa s made in tha t me s s age to the c ontinual

c omp l aint s re c eived from s hipown er s a s to their ve s s e l s

being deta ined e s pe cially in Far Ea s tern and Au s tralia n

,
”
water s and it wa s added t hat the e s s ential trade of
,
”
the Empire s hould c ontinue uninterrupted The tele .

gram adde d that If ve s s el s s ail after dark make goo d

, ,

offing avoi d regular tra ck s danger o f c apture s mall

, , .

Mo s t e s s ential impre s s thi s on all c on cerned No s hip s .

s ho u ld ever be detained u nle s s defi nite new s of pre s en c e

”
enemy s c rui s er s i n i m mediate vi ci ni t y
’
In order that .

c ommer c ial c ommunitie s throughout the Empire s hould

be in no d oubt as to the poli c y whi c h wa s being pur s ued

by the naval authoritie s a s tatement wa s drawn up headed ,
”
Sea i s free to all It appe ared in the new s paper s on
.

September 3 rd

There appear s to be an i mpre s s ion in s hipping c ir c le s

that the Admiralty have prohibited the u s e o f c ertain
trade route s for mer c antile s h i pping Thi s i s quite erro .

neo n s .The Admiralty poli c y i s that the s e a i s free to

a ll Any li mitation s whi ch the Admiralty may advi s e are
.

intended s ole l y to a s s i s t s h ipowner s i n s afeguarding their

ve s s el s and no route s are prohibited
,
.

O wing to the German poli c y of l aying mine s i n water s

prin c ipa ll y frequented by pea ceful trading ve s s el s and ,

other threat s to the s afety of s hipping the Ad m iralty ,

have in s ome c a s e s c ons idered it advi s able to warn s hip

, ,

o wner s that c ertain route s are ex c ep tionally dangerous ,

and are therefore not c overed by the War R i sk s Ins uran c e

, ,

s c heme But s hould the s hipowner s de c ide to u s e tho s e

.

route s there i s no de s ire on t h e part of the Admiralty to

,
’
interfere with the s hipowner s ab s olute di s cretion in the
”
mat ter .

By the following d ay the Tra de Di vi sio n wa s bl e

a to
 2 46 PROTECTION OF SHIPPING [ CH
. v

modify th e advi c e previou sly given with referen c e to the

Canary I s land s s in c e i t s information s ugge s ted that the
,

danger wa s not for the time s o a c ute a s formerly Shi p .

owner s de s irou s o f s ending t heir ve s s e l s to the Canarie s were

therefore informed that they c ould do s o without undue ri s k .

K nowledge of the a c tivitie s of the K A R L S RUHE led the Trade

Divi s ion t o i s s ue an in s tru c tion to the e ffe c t that i n the
,

ab s en c e o f definite new s of th e pre s en c e of enemy c rui s er s

i n the vi cinity of port s s hip s s hould not be detained
, .

By t he s e mea s ure s t h e Trade Divi s ion endeavoured to

give s hi powner s c onfiden c e to c ontinue running their
ve s s el s in order that the maritime trade o f t h e Empire
might not be endange red during t h e c riti c al period of the
tran s i tion from the c ondit ion s o f pea c e to th e c ondition s
o f war By the end of September a lthough in the mean
.
,

time the E MDE N had made her appearan c e o ff Madra s ,

the War Staff wa s en c ouraged to i s s ue a further in s tru o

tion to Hi s Maj e s ty s repre s entative s abroad They were
’
.

advi s ed that the experien c e of the fir s t two month s of

the war had s hown that no in c rea s e in the lo s s of mer c hant
s hipping wil l be in c urred by alway s keeping trade route s

open When a ho s tile c rui s er make s her pre s enc e known

.

by s ending c rew s or pri ze s into port s h e i s unl ikely to

,

remain on the s ame route ; s hort of c lo s ing all route s

for i ndefinite time there i s no remedy a s next point of
, ,
”
atta c k i s matter for c onj e cture . It wa s a l s o pointed out
that the detention of in s ured ve s s el s i n port wa s ex
t r e m e l y c o s tly to owner s and mer c han t s and i f c ontinued
,

defeats the obj e c t of Government In s uran c e S c heme .

That Bri ti s h repre s entative s abroad might have c onfiden c e ,

they were remin ded that ve s s el s s ai li ng after dark and

mak i ng good o ffi n g with dimmed light s r u n li ttle c han c e
”
o f c apture . So in s i s tent wa s the Tr ade Divi s ion on the
a bs olute ne c e s s ity of c he c king any nervou s a c tion on
t h e part of Briti s h repre s entative s abroad t hat i n s tru o
,

tion s were i s s ued t hat any detention of s hipping s hould

at on c e be reported by c able . That in s tru c tion c onveye d
to Hi s Maj e s t y s repre s entative s an intimation t ha t d e te n
’

tion of s hipping wa s to be regarded a s j u s tified only

i n very ex c eptional c ir cum s tan c e s and that th e poli cy
,

s hould not be adop ted unle s s it be c ame i mperatively

n e c e s s ary owing to lo c al c ondition s . Similar warni ng
noti ce s wer e s ent through the Col o nial Offi c e to all s e lf
2 48 PROTECTION OF SHIPPING [ CH . v

the German c rui s er s i n the At l anti c have hitherto

made .

Tr ade route s i n the Ind ian Oc ean are admittedly

s omewhat more c on s tri c ted than in the At l anti c but a ,

divergen c e of 1 0 0 mi l e s from the norma l c our s e would have

probably en sured s afety e x c ept in the c a s e of three ve s s el s
,

c aptured near port s .

Several report s whi c h have rea c hed the Admiralty of

late point to the fa c t that the c omparatively s mall number
o f capture s i s indu c ing s ome ma s ter s to return more nearly
to the u s ual trade route s .

Ma s ter s s h o uld be c on s tantly reminded that the

farther from the trade route s the greater will be th e ,

s afet y ; thi s will c ontinue throughout the war .

Wirele s s communi cation s hould be redu c ed to a mini

’
mum and the ve s s el s po s ition and future movement s
,

s hould alway s be kept s e c ret .

It i s a s s umed that no ve s s el c arrie s any enemy s ubj e c t

a s part of her c rew and that no enemy s ubj e c t s are em
,

ployed i n any c apa city by owner s who s e ve s s el s are

c overed by the Government In s uran c e S cheme .

It i s pointed out that even one s py i n a ve s s el would

mo s t s eriou s ly c ompromi s e the s e cre c y of in s tru c tion s upo n
”
whi c h the s afety of Briti s h s h ipping s o largely depend s .

Thi s Memorandum wa s i mmediately gi ven wide c i r

c ulation among Hi s Maj e s ty s diplomati c repre s entative s
’

and R eporting Offi cer s i n Briti s h Dominion s Colo nie s and , ,

Prote c torate s .

The T rade Divi s ion i n s pite of all the a c tion whi c h had
,

been taken wa s s till not fully s ati s fied i n View of the

, ,

day to day report s whi c h rea c hed it that i t s poli c y wa s

- -
,

c learly under s too d So on O ctober 2 6 th further i n s tru c

.
, ,

tion s were i s s ued all over the world a s to the ne c e s s ity of

keeping O pe n the trade route s At that time the K AR L s .

RUHE and E MD E N were bu s y the former o ff Pernambu c o ,

and the latter o ff Mi ni k o i ”

It i s unde s irable it was
.
,

remark ed ,that ve s s el s on pa s s age s hould be dire c ted

to c onverge on fo c al point s s u c h a s Colombo or Singapore
merely fo r order s and unle s s ab s olutely ne c e s s ary Ship
, .

ping mu s t be more s c attered o ff the route s and where a ,

c hoi c e of pa s s age s e xi s t s thi s s hould be taken full a dvan tage

,

o f As enemy i s evidently a wa re of pre se nt s catte ring

.
on . v] INSTRUCTIONS AND WARNINGS 2 49

li m it s s u b s titute general o rde r that v e s s el s mu s t s catter

’

widely both s i de s o f u s ual tra ck s o that di s tribution o f,

s h ippin g s h a ll b e as e ffe c tive a s po s s ible In s tru ction s .

by Re po r ting o r Intelligen ce Offi cer s s hould wherever ,

po s sible be handed to the ma s ter s in writing and a re c ord

, ,

of s u ch in s tru ction s s hould be kept Ma s ter s mu s t be .

war ned to de s troy the s e in s tr u ction s i f i n danger o f c apture .

Colo u r s are no indi catio n o f n ationality until the ve s s el

o pe ns fi r e It mu s t there fore be impre s s ed on all ma s ter s
.
, ,

tha t mea s u re s s hould be taken t o avoid ve s s el s dire c tly

they or thei r s moke are s ighted All light s ex cept
, , .

Na vigation Light s s hould be hi dden and Navigation

%

Light s s ho u ld no t e x c eed brilli an cy lai d down i n Rule s

fo r Pr eventio n o f Colli s ion s at Sea The s e c ond ma s t .

”
head light i s u nne ce s s ary On the following day i n s tru c
.

tion s of a very s i m ilar c hara cter were i s s ued to Hi s Maj e s ty s ’

r ep re s entative s i n the area s c hi efly affe c ted by the opera

tion s of enemy s h i p s An additional paragraph s ugge s ted

.

that an ende avour s ho u ld be made to advi s e Briti s h

s hipping s e cretly of the be s t mea s ure s o f evading c apture

b y ho s tile ve s s el s .

At the o pening o f the ne w year the naval s ituation

changed fo r the better the K R ON P RIN Z W IL HE L M P RIN Z
, ,

E ITE L F RIE D R ICH and the D RES D E N b eing the only enemy
,

ve s s el s kn own then to be at large In the meantime .

,

s hipowner s had made c omplaint s that mer c han t ve s s el s

h a d been c aptured very s hort l y after o ffi c ial advi c e had

”
b een given that c ertain route s were s afe or c lear In .

a telegram to Intelligen c e Offi cer s at the port s m o s t a ff e c ted ,

the T rade Divi s ion remarked that s u c h s tatement s c ould

only be per s onal opinion s whi c h might be formed on ,

unavoi dably i mperfe c t information The s e and s imilar

.

e x pre s s ion s s ho u ld never be u s ed by anyone g i ving advi c e

or in s tru ction s a s to route s They i mply a s s uran c e s o f
.

s e c urity whi c h are obviou s ly impo ss ible in war time ; -

thi s tend s to di s credit the value of Admiralty advi c e .

Event s have proved that s u c h s tatement s may be m i s

leadi ng may c au s e relaxation o f the vigila n c e whi c h i s
,

so e s s enti al and may c au s e s eriou s di s a s ter Advi c e

,
.

s ho u ld b e c onfined to s tatement of fa c t s a s to c our s e to

s teer and s imilar matter s Any helpful information s hould

.

b e give n w h i c h doe s not di s c lo s e our plan s or the p os ition

o f o u r o wn war -v e s s el s .
 2 50 PR OTECTION [ OF SHIPPING cm v

Whi le the Tr ade Di vi s ion wa s advi s ing and s hepherding

t h e Mer c hant Navy during the s e early day s of t h e war ,

the Operation s Divi s ion of the War Staff un der R ea r ,

Admiral Arthur C L e v e s o n wa s al s o bus y in i ts o wn .

,

par ti cular s phere The Operation s Divi s ion wa s c harged

.

with taking a wide s urvey o f the naval s ituation an d clo s e ,

tou c h was m aintained between it and the Intel ligen c e and

Trade Divi s ion s From Augu s t 5 th onward s t h e Tr ad e
.
,

Divi s ion wa s in a po s ition to i s s ue daily voyage noti c e s ll

,

s pe c ifying t h e pa s s age s forbidden under the War I nsu r anc e

S c heme i n view of t h e Admira l ty s k n o wl e d g e o f the enemy s ’

f
’

a c tion s and probable plan s The c hara c ter of the s er vi c e s .

whi c h thi s bran c h of t h e War Staff rendered in t hi s re s pe c t

may be s t be il l u s trated by the daily voyage noti c e o f
Aug u s t 5th i n wh i c h pa s s age s were forbidden to the
,

Balti c to the North Sea Continental port s ea s t and north

,

o f Dunkirk th e North Atlanti c fro m Canadian port s

, ,

and port s of the United State s a s far s outh a s but n o t ,

i n c luding Philadelphia and trade on the North Pa c ifi c

, ,

c oa s t It would be tediou s and unne c e s s ary to tra c e the

.

gradual development of thi s work during s u cc eedi ng

month s a s the Briti s h nava l authoritie s gained a fu ller
appre c iation of the s itua tion It may be o f intere s t .
,

however to give by way o f c ontra s t the dail y voyag e

,

n o ti c e whi c h wa s i s s ued on the la s t day o f 1 9 1 4 :

For the p urpo s e s o f the Government War In s uran c e

sc heme the Admiralty c on s ider all voyage s may b e
,

undertaken s ubj e c t to lo c al c ondition s e x c ept the follo w ,

I ng t

( )
1 All po r t s i n Belgium H olland Denmark and Ge r , , ,

many .

Al l port s i n S weden ex c ept Gothenburg , .

( )
3 All R u s s ian Balti c port s .

( )
4 Adriati c N orth of V i e s t i , .

( )
5 All Bla c k Sea and Tur k i s h port s
—
.

N ote l Ve s s el s from the At l anti c bound to Gothen

.

burg o r Norwegi an port s are required to c a l l at a -p or t

i n the United Kingdom for order s before pro c eeding to ,

de s ti nation
—
.

N ote 2
“
Owner s who s e s hip s are trading to and from
.

1 Th e g
dai ly v o ya e n o ti ce s su b se q u e n tly b e ca m e kn o wn as S tan di n g
Or de rs u n de r th e G
o v e rnm e n t W ar In s u r an ce S ch e m e
”
.
2 52 PROTECTION OF SHIPPING [
OH. v

o f exhibiting During the whole o f Mar ch o nly t wo

—
.
,

ve s s el s were de s troyed by enemy s urfa c e ve s s el s the

T a m ar ton s ) on the 2 5 th and the Co le by
,

ton s ) two d a ys l ater both by the K RON PRIN Z WILHE LM

,

and bo t h o ff Pernambu c o The s e two in c i dent s marked

.

the end of the enemy s c rui s er warfare and i n s ub s equent

’
,

month s the Admiralty s main preo c cupation wa s the

’

prote c tion o f mer chant s hipping a gai ns t s u bmari ne

a tta c k s
.
 CHAPT E R VI

T HE O R GAN IS AT ION OF T HE A U XIL IA R Y P ATR OL

IT may be s aid of the Admiraltie s o f the world even ,

tho s e re s pon s ible for o c ean c ommer c e on a large s c a l e ,

tha t none fore s aw t h e c our s e wh i c h the war by s e a would

take and c on s equently there wa s a good deal o f ha s ty
,

i mprovi s ation to meet i t s need s parti c ularly on the part

,

of t h e Entente navie s whi c h had to keep o pe n the mariti me

,

c ommuni c ation s o f armie s and people s For ten year s

.

or more attention had been dire c ted almo s t ex c lu s ively

to the building of big men Of war battle s hip s and batt l e
- -

and i n 1 9 1 4 the number of s ma l l c raft—light

, ,

c rui s er s ;

c rui s er s
, ,
- —
de s troyer s and torpedo boat s po s s e s s ed by the
Great Power s not ex c luding Germany and Au s tria Hu n
,
-

gary wa s relative l y s ma l l That wa s a matter o f s light

,
.

i mportan c e to the enemy be c au s e he re li nqui s hed almo s t

, ,

from the fir st a l l attempt to u s e the s e a for mili tary o r

l ,

e c onomi c purpo s e s ; b u t it would have proved a gr ave

embarra s s ment to the Entent e Power s i f they had not
h a d a re s erve to be c a l led upon a s required c on s i s ting
, ,

o f the un c on s i dered and un c at alogued latent element s o f

naval power po s s e s s ed by the Briti s h peop l e wi th an c ient s e a
t radi tion s. Be c au s e it wa s re s pon s ible for prote c ting about
ha l f th e o c ean tonnage of t h e world and wa s better pro ,

v i d e d with s mal l c raft t han the Fr en c h or I t a lian n avre s

,

the burden of s e a c ommand bore main l y on t h e Briti s h

F l eet th roughout the war It had not been fore s een tha t
.

it wou l d be ne c e s s ary t o Organi s e what at length rea c hed

t h e propor tion s of a s e c ond fleet under Admi ralty c ontro l ,

c on s i s ting of c raft w h i c h were never i ntended for the

vio len c e of warfare but when the need aro s e it wa s met

,

wi t h c omp l ete s u c c e s s .

There had been no intention of making heavy demand s

upon the shi p s or men of t h e Mer c antile Mari ne though ,

2 53
2 54 T HE AUXI LIARY PATRO L
( on . v:
the Admiralty wa s prepared to take up a li mited number
o f s te a m s hip s for u s e a s s tore ammuni tion and ho s pi t al , ,

s hip s whi l e other ve s s e l s were he l d avai l ab l e for emp l oy

,

ment a s a u xiliary c rui s er s and tran s port s The ne c e s s i t y .

for organi s ing a great auxi liary fleet would not have
ari s en or at any rate i t would not have a s s umed s u c h
, , ,

large proportion s a s it di d a s s ume had it not been for ,

the enemy s de c i s ion to di s pat c h s ubmarine s to atta ck

’

mer c hant S h i pping That po li c y wa s an afterthought

. .

It i s hardly too mu c h to s ay that before the outbreak

of war no naval o ffi c er whatever h i s nationality , ,

s eriou s ly c ontemplated the po s s ibility of ve s s el s being

u s ed for atta c king o c ean borne c ommer c e w h i c h c ou ld -

not s upply pri ze c rew s or make provi s ion in c a s e the ,

priz e wa s de s troyed for the s afety of the c rew a s well a s

,

pa s s enger s if pa s s enger s were c arried For a number of

, .

years t orpedo boat s s wift and c arrying gun s a s well a s

-
,

torpedo e s had been in c omm i s sion b u t it had never bee n

, ,

s ugge s ted that the s e s mall ve s s el s the forerun ner s of the ,

s ubmarine s s hould be pre s s ed , into s u c h s ervi c e be c au s e ,

i t wa s reali s ed that s u c h a departure involved the i n

fra ction o f the general l y a ccepted law of nation s and i f -
, ,

human life wa s l o s t the flouting of t h e di c tate s of h u

,

manity The German s them s e l ve s entertained no s u c h

.

propo s al When the Submarine appeared and proved i t s

.

e ffi cien c y no i dea wa s held of c onverting it i nto an i n

,

s trument for atta ck ing c ommer c e a s i s proved by the fa c t ,

that i n the s ummer of 1 9 1 4 th e enemy po s s e s s ed only

twenty eigh t c ompleted ve s s el s of thi s type If any s u c h
-
.

s c heme had been determined upon a s part o f t h e war p l an s _

of the German s many more s ubmarine s wou l d c ertainly

,

have been i n readine s s to be thrown into the war when the

s truggle by s e a opened It wa s not u ntil after the Briti s h
.

c rui s er s H O G UE C R E S S Y and AB O U K I R had been s unk

, ,

by U9 and the Ge rman flag had been bani s hed fr om

,

the outer s ea s that the i d ea wa s c on c eived that if men o f

, ,
‘
-

war armed and armoured and with hi ghly trained c rew s

, ,

c ould be s o ea s ily de s troyed a s e x perien c e had s hown ,

s ubmarine s s hou l d be employed again s t unarmed mer c hant

men manned by c rew s unfamiliar with war c ondition s

,
.

That determination on the part of the enemy rea c hed ,

i n the late autumn of 1 9 1 4 vitally a ffe cte d the naval ,

s ituation as i t had bee n s t u died by the Briti s h naval . .

 2 56 ] THE AU X I LIAR Y PATRO L [ CH V I .

—
the upreme weapon the Grand Fleet o u whi c h the
s —
fortune s o f war mainly depended Owing to the pr e po n .

derating s trength of the Grand F l eet over the High Sea

Fl eet the enemy thrown ba c k on the defen s ive de c ided to
, , ,

rely a l mo s t ex c lu s ively on two method s of offen c e the mine ,

and afterward s the s ubmarine They c on s tituted dead l y

, , .

peril s not only to s hip s of c ommer c e but to men o f war

, ,
- -
,

and it wa s reali s ed from the fir s t that battle s hip s battle ,

c rui s er s and light c rui s er s were un s uited to o ffer an

,

adequate defen c e again s t s u c h in s trument s of warfare A .

battle s hip or c rui s er c arri e s too many live s in her vu l

n e r ab l e hull i s to o c o s t l y to build i s too diffi c ult to r e
, ,

pla c e and h a s too great a turning cir c le to engage i n

, ,

harrying c ha s ing and s inking s ubmarine s De s troyer s

, , .

were admirably s uited to the work but t hey were required ,

a s s creen s for the battle and c rui s er s quadron s and the ,

Bri ti s h Navy in c ommon with the o t her Al lied navie s

, ,

wa s s hort of the s e s mall c raft It s oon be c ame apparent .

that the N avy mu s t have a s s i s tan c e and on c e the need , ,

wa s re c ogni s ed it wa s met by one of the mo s t remarkable

,

vo l untary movement s for whi c h the war wa s re s pon sib l e .

The unexpe c ted development of the enemy s naval poli c y ’

s ugge s ted the employment in thi s s ervi c e of the s team

ya c ht the paddle s teamer with i t s moderate draught

,
’

-
,

the motor ve s s el the drifter and the trawler thu s utili s ing
-
, , ,

i n fighting at s e a the tonnage of the c ountry whi c h in norma l

time s wa s u s ed either in the pur s uit o f plea s ure or in the
fi s herie s Fi s h ing ve s s el s were admirably adapted to meet
.

the N avy s urgent requirement s c arrying s mall c rew s

’
, ,

being handy i n a s eaway drawing little water and being , ,

c heap to build The s e were the s h i p s whi c h were c o n;

.

s equently taken up s oon after the outbreak of war fitted

”

out and pla c ed on duty i n the water s s urrounding the

,

Briti s h I s le s On the s e ve s s el s devolve d the dut y of

.

examining and c ontrolling millio ns of ton s of S hipping

pa s s ing through the narrow s ea s day by day they s wept
c hannel s of s afety de s troying thou s and s of mine s in the
,

pro c e s s ; they en c ir c led the Briti s h I s le s with their ever

vigilant patrol i n fog and in s torm i n s ummer and i n
, ,

winter ; they e s c orted mer c hant S hip s warning them ,

from dangerou s area s ; they towed torpedoed ve s s el s

i nto s afety ; they s ent enemy s ubm arine s to their
d oom by ramming s helling dropping e xplo sive s o r , , ,
CH . VI ] MINE SW E E P ING
-
EXPERIMENTS 2 57

other mean s The s e auxiliary c raft proved the s alvation

.

of the Roya l Navy a s of the Mer c hant F l eet Gradua ll y .

t h e s phere of operation s of the Auxiliary Patrol was e x

t ended a s far nor t h a s the White Sea a s far s outh a s the ,

Mediterranean and ZEg e a n and a s far we s t a s the We s t ,

Indie s Wherever t he s e ve s s el s were employed thei r

.
,

o ffi c er s and men performed redoubtable s ervi c e i n t h e

c ommon c au s e They were the heroe s of s ome of the mo s t
.

gallant e xp l oit s in naval hi s tory a s was atte s ted by the ,

l ong li s t of de c oration s won i n unequal c onte s ts again s t

the mine and s ubmarine The s tory of the part taken i n .

the naval war by t h e Auxiliary Patrol c on s i sting of nearly ,

ve s s e l s and manned by nearly o ffi c er s and

men c on s titute s a c hapter i n our naval annal s of i m
,

peri s hable renown It i s a story wh i c h prove s that

.

the Bri ti s h s eaman even i n the days of hi ghly develope d

,

me c hani c al l y driven S hip s h a s nothi ng to fear by c o m

-
,
a

pari s on with the s tandard s of the golden age of the s ailing

s hip . Side by s ide with the per s onal a c hievement s of the
s eamen an endeavour wi l l be made to S how how a for tuitou s
,

and unorgani s ed a s s embl age of s hipping with c rews u n ,

di s ciplined to the demand s of war developed int o wh at ,

wa s in e ffe c t a s upp l ementary navy .

When the war broke out in Augu s t 1 9 1 4 a mode s t ,

organi s ation wa s a lready in e xi s ten c e for the employment

of fi s hing c raft under the White En s ign whi c h enabled ,

traw ler s to be di s pat c hed wi t hin a few hour s to s wee p

up the fir s t minefie l d lai d by the enemy o ff our c oa s t .

In 1 9 0 7 Admiral L ord C h arle s Bere s ford wa s Com

n —
mander i Chief of t h e Channel Fleet with h i s flag in t h e
-
,

K IN G E D W AR D VII For s ome time pa s t he had bee n

.

c on c erned with the be s t method of c learing a c hanne l fo r

a batt le fle e t l eaving harbour duri ng s trained relation s o r

-

i n t ime of war When ear li er he had been Co m man de r

.

i n Ch i e f of the Mediterranean Fl eet he had tried s weeping

~

experiment s with tug s and de s troyer s but b o th c la s s e s o f ,

ve s s e l s were found to be u n s uitab l e Whil s t on a vi s it to .

Gri m s by he s a w about 8 0 0 traw l er s c ongregated i n th e

harbour He i n s pe c ted s ome of them and ta lked with
.
,

the Ski pper s Here were men a c c u s tomed to deal with

.

t rawl rope s and trawl s the equ iva l ent to mi ne S weep s

-
,
- .

The s e fi s hermen were s o e x pert at their wo rk that they

never fouled their s c rew s with the wi re ro pe s and the ir ,
2 58 T HE AUXI LIARY PATRO L [ cm v;
s hip s were fit t ed wi t h s team wi n c he s and all the ne c e s s ar
y
gear required for S weeping What c ou l d be more s u itable
.

t han the s e S hi p s and men for mine s weeping In Ju l y -

1 9 0 7 he therefore s ugge s ted t o t h e Admiralty that a tria l

.

S hould be made with t he s e c raf t and fur t her t ha t if s u c , , , ,

c e s s fu l a c ertain number of traw l er s S hou l d be requi s itioned

,

for the di fferent por t s s o a s to be ready for s ervi c e when t h e

period of s trained re l ation s wi t h a foreign Power arrived .

In re s pon s e t o t hi s s ugge s tion t h e Admira lty approved ,

of L ord Charle s making a pra c ti c al te s t At the be gin .

ni ng of t h e fo ll owing year Commander E L Booty of the

, . .

K IN G E D W A R D VII wa s s ent t o Grim s by where he s ele c ted ,

two t ypi c al s team trawler s t h e A nde s and A lgom a They, .

rea c hed Portland on February 5 th with their S kipper s ,

and c rew s of nine apie c e ; and for the ne x t eight day s

they pro ceeded to s weep up dummy mine s The trial s .

were c arried out under the s upervi s ion of a Channel

Fl eet Mining Committee of whi c h Captain F C D , . . .

St u rdee then c ommanding offi c er of t h e NE W Z E AL AN D

1
, ,

wa s Pre s ident A s s o ciated wi t h him were Captain

.

R F Ph i l li m o r e and t wo torpedo lieutenant s togethe r

. .
,

w ith a mining expert from the VE RN ON The Committee .

re ported t hat t h e experiment s had proved s u ffi c iently s ati s

fa c tory to j u s tify the taki ng up of t rawler s for s ervi c e i n
war to a s s i s t in keeping c lear the approa c he s to harbour s
,

that were likely to be mined L ord Charle s Bere s ford .

s tated in h i s report that the trawler s would prove i n

valuable for s weeping dutie s a s the c rew s had been a c c u s ,

t o m e d to earning their liveli hood by thi s c la s s of work .

S k ipper s and c rew s had entered into the trial s with both
enthu s ia s m and de light ; a s to the t rawler s them s elve s ,

their s hape and build rendered s weeping ea s y and prae ,

ti c ally no additiona l gear wa s required In other word s .

,

a trawler with i t s c rew when ready to pro c eed to the

,

fi s h i ng ground s wa s equal l y prepared for mine s weeping

-
,
-
.

As t he s e trial s a c tua l ly brought about t h e c r e ati o n of ‘

the mine s weeping s ervi c e whi c h rendered s u c h gallant

-
,

a s s i s tan c e throughout t h e war it may be not out of pla c e ,

to s e t down the detail s of the A nde s and A lgom a T hey .

mea s ured 1 0 5 feet in length 2 1 feet beam with a draught , ,

o f 1 3 feet aft and about 9 feet forward Their s peed wa s .

fi t knot s ; i h p 2 4 0 and t hey c arried 8 0 ton s of c oal ,

. . .
,

1 Af te r wa r ds Adm i r al Si r D o v e to n Stu r d e e .
2 60 THE AUXI LIARY PATRO L [ CH . v1

and 9 - foot kite s , or even 1 2 foot for larger c raft They -

, .

further s ugge s ted that s i x trawler s s hou l d be pur c ha s ed

i mmediately for e Xpe ri m e nta l and in s tru c tiona l s ervi c e ,

a n d that trawler owner s s hould be approa c hed by the

-

Ad m ira lty to a s c ertain i f they c ould provi de c rew s in pea c e

time for in s tru c tion a s well a s i n war time for s weeping
,
-

m i ne s .

L ittle ti me wa s wa s ted for by the midd l e of Augu s t

,

b o th Sir J ohn Fi s her and t h e Fir s t L ord Mr Regi nald , .

McKe nna had approved of Si x t rawler s being o b tained

,

( two for ea c h of the three Torpedo S c hoo l s ) i n order to

enable in s tru c ti on i n mine s weeping to pro c eed withou t-

delay There wa s s til l mu c h to be learnt in regard t o the

.

be s t type s of kite s and the mo s t s uitable wire s and further , ,

more O ffi c e r s and men required a c ertain amount of i n

,

s tru c tion The urgen c y of the matter aro s e from the

.

fa c t that foreign Power s were known to be in c rea s ing the

nu m ber s of their blo c kade mine s There wa s t h e c o n s e .

q u e n ti a l danger that at the outbreak of war the Bri t i s h

F leet might be taken by s urpri s e blo c kaded by mine ,

fi e l d s and unable to emerge from i t s ba s e s

, .

In s pite of the urgen c y of the matter there followed ,

s ome delay i n O btaining finan c ial s an c tion for the pur

c ha s e o f the s e trawler s ; b u t in t h e Naval E s timate s for

1 9 0 9 1 0 t h i s wa s pro v ided for

-
In Mar c h 1 9 1 0 Mr . .

Mc Ke nna s tated that during the year great a ttention had

been pai d to mine S weeping and that S i x traw ler s had
-
,

been bought for s ub s idiary s ervi c e s More than thi s .

wa s not revealed publi c ly a s there wa s a de s ire to keep all

,

mine s weeping deta il s s e c ret The fir s t four traw ler s were

-
.

p u r c ha s ed in April 1 9 0 9 their name s being t h e S pi de r

, ,

S p arro w S e aflowe r and S e am e w

, , From thi s date pr a c .

ti c e and experi mental work in mine S weeping were c arried -

o u t c ontinuou s ly and the re s ult s were eminent l y s ati s

,

fa c tory In De c ember i t wa s de c ided t o allo c ate the

.

S p arr o w and S pi de r to the VE RN ON at Port s mouth the ,

S e am e w and S e aflowe r to the ACT E ON at the Nore whil s t ,

the two other s s till to be bought were to be a tt a c hed t o

the D E F IAN C E at Devonport Bu t from June to t h e end .

o f September every year the s e s i x t rawler s were t o be

u s ed for vi s iting the fi s hi ng p o r ts a n d traini ng ra ting s .

The Admiralty having O btained the s e t rawler s the ,

n ext s te p wa s to s e c ure the per s onnel It wa s ne c e s s ary .

cn . w] NAVAL OFFICERS TRAINED 251

to detail nava l o fli c e r s to take c harge of the unit s of

trawler s when s weeping but a di ffi cu lty aro s e In th e
, .

fir s t p l a c e t here were very few o ffi c er s who had e Xpe r i

en c e of S weeping and it wa s c lear t hat in time of war
,

every availab le o ffi c er on the a c tive li s t wou l d be required

for s ervi c e in the Royal Navy The diffi culty wa s met .

when it wa s de c ided early i n 1 9 1 0 to de t ail and train

, ,

c er t ain offi c er s on t h e emergen c y and retired li s t s for t hi s

s pe c ial purpo s e . At the out s et twenty two lieutenant s -

or c ommander s were required ea c h of whom in time of ,

war would c ommand a uni t c on s i s ting of s i x trawler s .

Of tho s e who were invi ted about twenty c omm ander s,

and lieutenant s a c c epted the c all and underwent a fourteen

day s c our s e i n the VE RN O N Thi s wa s s oo n followed by
’
.

another c our s e for an additional number and thu s a fairly ,

big nu c leu s of trained offi c er s be c ame availab le The s e .

de tail s of organi s ation were arranged none t o o ear l y .

Sin c e t h e year 1 9 0 6 Germany had been e x pending large

,

s um s of money on the c on s tru c tion of mine layer s the -

,

manufa c ture of mine s and the t raining of o ffi c er s and

,

m e n in mine layi ng
-
The Ru s s o Japane s e War had
.
-

S hown t h e value of m ine s for no fewer than t h i r ty s e ven

,
-

c raft from battle s hip s t o pi c ket boat s

, had s tru ck mine s -
, ,

and t here were al s o lo s s e s to mer c hant s hipping .

O ffi c er s for the uni t s havi ng been obtained the ne x t ,

s tep wa s to get together a s pe c ia l s e c tion of the Royal

Naval Re s erve to be known a s the Traw ler Se c tion whi c h

, ,

w ould man the s e c raft Men were not to be drawn from

.

the exi s ting Ro y al N aval R e s erve a s O bviou s ly s u c h a ,

s tep would interfere with the man ni ng of s ome of the

bigger s hip s i n time of war The regulation s for thi s .

Trawler Se c tion were drawn up i n O c tober 1 9 1 0 It .

wa s de c ided to retain for the men their e xi s ting title s

”
of rank s and rating s S ki pper Se c ond hand and ,
-
,

s o on The pay wa s ba s ed on the wage s normally o h

.

tai ni ng i n the trawling indu s try but about 2 0 per c ent ,

.

lower The S kipper wa s to be given the rank of a

. ,

warrant offi c er ; i t wa s determined that he mu s t have

c ommanded a trawler for at lea s t two year s po s s e s s a ,

Board of Trade c ertifi c ate and before re c eiving the,

’
Admira lty warrant mu s t undergo eight days training in
one of Hi s Maje s ty s s team traw ler s
’
.

The Slac k s ea s on in the trawli ng trade o c cu r s Im m e di

 2 62 T HE AUXI LIARY PATRO L ( an . n

ately after L ent e s pe c ially between June and September

, ,

and the de c i s ion wa s made that the traini ng s ea s on

s hould c oin c ide with the s la ck s ea s on a s far a s po s s ib l e .

The fi r s t e nr o h n e nt of fi s hermen for the Ro yal N aval

R e s erve ( T ) wa s po s tponed unti l the beginning of 1 9 1 1
.
,

when the Admiralty endea voured to obtain fifty s kipper s

and fifty s e c ond hand s The training wa s to be
-
.

c arried out on board the s i x trawler s now a t t a c hed to

the Torpedo S c hool s the name s of the re c ently added ,

-

pair being the R os e and D ri ve r atta c hed to Devonport , .

For the c o m men c ement of thi s training Aberdeen wa s

s ele c ted and t here the s i x Admiralty trawler s were to
,

a s s emble toge t her with H M S JAS ON and C IRC E tho s e

, . . .
,

two gunboat s having been s ele c ted by rea s on of the

training and e x perien c e of their c ommandi ng o ffi c er s in
mine s weeping The fir s t c our s e at Aberdeen began on
-
.

J anuary 3 0 1 9 1 1 and ended by the middle of April

, , ,

during w h i c h time twenty eight s ki pper s twenty s even -

,
-

s e c ond hand s -
twenty de c k hand s twenty one engineer s
,
-
,
-
,

and twenty trimmer s had been re c ruited and trained ,

”

Thu s the fir s t bat c h of the Trawler Res erve wa s o b

t ai n e d Commander H olland of the C IRC E afterward s
.

reported that the c la s s of men enrolled wa s very good ,

and mu c h better than had been expe cted they all

took very keen intere s t in their work and were amenable ,
’
to di s c ipline The eight days in s tru c tion i n c luded
.

s weeping independently in pair s reeving s weep s wheeling , ,

and S lipping the s weep s weeping up d ummy mine s and , ,

s o on .

At the beginni ng of April re c ruiting began at Grim s by ,

b u t the re s ult s were by no mean s en c ouraging Not more .

than a dozen men volunteered and not one of the s e wa s ,

a S ki pper There wa s no di s gu i s ing the fa c t that Grim s by

.
,

whi c h had been the birthpla c e of thi s Tr awler Re s erve

s c heme and wa s al s o the home of the great fi s hing indu s try
, ,

s howed it s elf very far from enthu s ia s ti c There wa s .

s omething not quite a s i t s hould be What wa s it .

Anyone a c quainted with the s e rough hearty fi s hermen ,

know s that in many ways they are j u s t delightful big

”
c hi l dren If one man t h row s h i s hand in pra c ti c ally
.
,

the whole c rew wi l l do the s ame The trouble in thi s .

c a s e began with the s ki pper s s ome of whom mad e what ,

the s eaman c all s a bit o f a moan over s ome apparent

2 54 T HE AUXILIARY PATRO L [ CH . v1

virtually blo c kaded S weeper s , mu s t be ready to work

almo s t at on c e .

The Admiralty reali s ed in November of thi s s ame year

that there s hould be appointed for ea c h of the s e traw ler
port s a mobili s ing o fli c e r who s e duty wa s laid down , .

Ju s t before the outbreak of war t h i s offi c er wou l d on ,

re c eipt of a telegram ordering hi m to take up h i s mobi li s a

t ion appoint ment pro c eed to h i s a s s igned port
, There .

he wou l d re c eive in du e c o u r s e another telegram ordering

him to t ake up s o many trawler s c a ll on the R egi s trar of ,

the R oyal N aval Re s erve for that port and warn him to ,

prepare c rew s for t he s e c raft The R egi s trar of Shi pping .

and Seamen wou l d furni s h the mobili s ing offi c er with a li s t

of the trawler s in port or likely to arrive V ery s hortly , .

Arrangement s would be made to have the s e c raft prepared

for s e a c oaled and filled up with water oil and provi s ion s
, , , ,

to la s t s even day s The owner s were to take out all the

.
,

fi s h the i c e and the fi s h i n g gear ex c epting the warp s

, ,
-
, .

Having s ele c ted from the available trawler s tho s e whi c h

were s uitable the mobili s ing O fli ce r wa s to give the S kipper s
,
‘

t heir c hart s and s ailing order s and away they would s a i l ,

to their port Having pro c eeded thither at fu l l S peed

.
,

the trawler s s kipper would then draw h i s s pe c ia l s weep

’

ing s tore s s u c h a s h i s kite White En sign flag s c one

, , , , ,

an d s ignal book and be informed to whi c h group of

,

sweeper s he wa s to belong a s well a s the name of the ,

arent S hi p of the o ffi c er i n c harge of h i s group H e

p .

would al s o be given a number wh i c h wa s to be painted ,

n white figure s two feet long on ea c h bow and h i s s hi p ,

would i n future be known O ffi c ial l y by that number .

Hi s fi s hing letter s and number were to be painted out A .

naval petty offi c er would al s o j oin the trawler i n order

to a s s i s t the s kipper with advi c e e s pe c ia ll y i n purely ,

naval matter s i n s ignal ling and keeping a c c ount s ; and thi s

,

petty o fli c e r would be third i n c ommand By thi s time .

t h e s hip would al s o have been painted a navy gre y and

be flying the Whi te En s ign ; s h e wou l d i n fa c t have , ,

c hanged her c hara c ter from that of a pea c eful fi s herman

to a man Of war
- -
.

Mention mu s t not be omitted of the arrangement

whi c h had been made a l s o prior to the war between the, ,

Admiralty a nd the trawler owner s It wa s reali s ed that -

.

in th e event of ho s tilitie s the fi s hing indu s try wo uld ,

CH .
]VI ARRANGEMENT WITH THE OWNERS 265

e x c ept in c ertain area s removed from t h e theatre of

O pera tion s automati c a ll y s top ; that the trawler s wou l d
,

have to remain in port and therefore t h e owner s wou l d ,

c ea s e to re c eive dividend s The Admira lty s c heme by .

,

taking over the s e ve s s el s i n war time a t a c er tain rat e of -

h i re wa s to be c on s idered a s O ffering a s ound bu s ine s s

,

propo s ition Before the war an arrangement exi s ted

.

be t ween c ertain owner s and the naval authoritie s whereby

s u c h ve s s el s would be c hartered i n priori t y of any o t her

trawler s in the event of ho s tilitie s The owner s agreed t hat .

a s s oon a s po s s ible after re c eipt of noti c e they would hire

their ve s s e l s to the N avy upon term s whi c h had a lready

been arranged The payment in re s pe c t of hire wa s to
.

be 1 2 per c ent per annum on the then value of the trawler

. .

The fir s t c o s t wa s to be a s c er t ained by valuing the hu l l

and outfit at £ 1 8 per ton of the gro s s tonnage on t h e
Board of Trade c er tifi c ate and the ma c hinery and boiler s ,

at £4 0 per no m inal hor s e power Thi s e s timat ed fir s t -

.

c o s t wa s to be depre c iat ed at the rate of 4 per c en t for .

’
every year of the t rawler s age ; the c la s s of ve s s e l ai med
at wa s c raft not more than ten year s old and able to ,

c arry enough c oal to s team at lea s t mi le s at 8 knot s .

In the month of Mar c h 1 9 1 2 a number of retired naval ,

o ffi c er s were s ele c ted to take c harge of mine s weeping -

trawler s at Sheerne s s the Firth of Forth Dover Por t s , , ,

mouth Portland Devonport and Mi l ford A s s oon a s

, ,
.
, .

the s e o ffi c er s s hould re c eive a t elegram ordering t hem t o

mobili s e they were to pro c eed to t heir re s pe c tive por t s
, .

They were not of c our s e the mobili s ing o ffi c er s but were

, , ,

to go to s e a i n c harge of t heir re s pe c tive group s of s weeper s .

In Ju l y of that year a further number were al s o s ele c ted

a s m obili s ing offi c er s at Aberdeen Hull Grim s by Mi l ford , , ,

Haven North S hield s Granton ( near L eith ) and F l ee t

, , ,

wood ; and i n order to leave no loophole for m i s u n d e r

,

s tanding s the s e o fli c e r s were required to undergo an

,

annual c our s e of three days at their appointed por t s with

a view to getting in tou c h with the R egi s trar s of t h e R oya l
Nava l Re s erve the lo c al harbo u r authoritie s and t raw ler
, ,

owner s and in order to be c ome a c quainted genera ll y wi t h

,

the do c k s and lo c ality Prior to the s e three days they .

,

were to vi s it the Admiralty for one day ea c h year

in order to c onfer with the In s pe c ting Captain of Mi ne
s weeping .
2 55 T HE AUXI LIARY PATRO L
[ v1 CH.

It will be s een with what meti culou s c are the Navy had
prepared again s t one parti c ular form of warfare whi c h it
wa s s u s pe c ted the enemy wou l d pur s ue For year s the s e .

preparation s had c ontinued but t hey were not c omplete ,

'
.

In September of 1 9 1 2 another s tage wa s rea c hed whe n ,

an allo c ation of mine s weeping trawler s wa s made right -

away down the c oa s t from S c otland along the North Sea ,

down the Channel up the Iri s h Sea to Mi l ford H aven and

, ,

even a s far we s t a s Q ueen s town In November there were .

s i x ty four trawler s on t h e Admira l t y li s t ea c h allo c ated to

-
,

one of the s e port s ea c h with i t s s kipper and c r ew trained

,

for s weeping and with a naval offi c er ready to tak e

,

c harge of a group whenever ordered to leave h i s reti re

ment and go to s e a The c rew wa s to c on s i s t of the .

s kipper s e c ond hand

, four de c k hand s two enginemen
-
,
-
, ,

and one trimmer i n addition to one naval petty o ffi c e r

, ,

who s e knowledge of s ignalling would be found not th e

lea s t u s eful of h i s qua li fi c ation s .

By Augu s t 1 9 1 4 the Trawler Se c tion had s o far a d

v an c e d that there were already eighty two trawler s u nde r -

the above arrangement to be ba s ed on Cromarty the Fi rth , ,

of Forth North Shield s the H umber Harwi c h the

, , , ,

N ore Dover Por t s mouth Portland and Devonport

, , , , .

In addition to the s e eighty two fi s hing trawler s the r e -

,

were of c our s e the S i x Admiralty owned trawler s already

, ,
-

menti oned a s well a s the s urveying t rawler s E sth e r and

,

D ai s y whi c h appeared i n the N avy L i s t for s ome year s ,

before the war a s s urveying ve s s el s It wa s intended

,
-
.

that on the outbreak of war the s e two S hould S weep at t h e

N ore but a s s oon a s they were re lieved by hired trawler s
,

they were to pro c eed the one to Harwi c h and the othe r ,

to the Humber Thu s the c ommanding o ffi c er s of both

.

the D ai s y and E sth e r were ea c h able to take c harge of a

unit of deta c hed trawler s .

The Admiralty a l s o owned the trawler s J ave li n J as pe r , ,

J anu s and had c hartered s ome ti me prior to the war the

,

trawler s A lnm ou th Xy lopi a D ani e l S tr ou d and Os borne

, , ,

S tr ou d The s e had been employed i n pea c e time i n tow

.
-

ing target s and were at that period c ommanded by war

, ”

rant o ffi c er s of t h e Royal Navy Nor wa s the Admiralty

- .

ignorant of the mining preparation s whi c h Germany had

been making s tealthily and determined l y during t h e
year s of pea c e It wa s known that pra cti c ally every
.
 CHAPTE R VII

T HE A P PE AR AN C E OF T HE S U B MA RIN E

T H E German s mu s t have reali s ed at an ear ly s tage i n the

war that they c ou l d not h Ope s eri ou s ly to interrupt Briti s h
s e a borne t r a fli c
-
i mmen s e in volume and wide l y d i s tri
,

buted with the c omparatively few men Of war and armed

,
- -

mer c hantmen whi c h they had O perating on the trade

route s The ulti m ate fate of tho s e enemy ve s s el s wa s al s o
.

c ertain in view of the large for c e s whi c h the Alli ed fleet s

were able to employ i n hunting them down The German s .

may a l s o have been i mpre s s ed by the c onfident s tatement s

i s s ued by the Briti s h Admiralty from ti me to time a s to
the flow of tra ffi c and mu s t have fore s een that mon th by
,

month the Allie s drawing from the ine x hau s tible re s our c e s
,

of the s e a would c ontinue to grow in s trength whi le Ge r

, ,

many and the Power s a s s o c iated with her would s u ffer

from in c rea s ing exhau s tion due to the s low but relentle s s
pre s s u re of s uperior s e a power Before ho s tilitie s had been
-
.

i n progre s s three month s there were indi c ation s that the

,

German naval authoritie s were s ear c hing for s ome mean s

by whi c h they c ould s trike an effe c tive blow at the mer
c hant s h i pping o f the Alli e s and the United Kingdom i n
,

parti c ular without endangering the e xi s ten c e of the High

,

Sea F leet .

The who l e c ivili s ed world wa s s ho ck ed toward s the end ,

of O c tober 1 9 1 4 by the s tory of the barbarou s atta c k by a

,

German s ub m arine upon the Fren c h s s A m i ral Gante au m e . .

,

c rowded with Be l gian refugee s about forty of whom were ,

ki ll ed 1
.A c haritable View wa s at fir s t taken of the
i n c ident it being a s s umed tha t thi s attempt to s ink a
,

ve s s el enga ged on an errand of mer c y wa s due to the ill

c on s idered a c t of an indivi dual naval O ffi c er That Opinion .

1
Sub s e qu e n t e x am i n ati on o f o n e o f th e d am ag e d li fe b o ats o f th e A m i r al
Ga n te au m e l e d t o th e di s c o ve r y o f th e fr agm e nt o f a Ge rm an to r pe d o .

268
CH VII
.
] THE FIR ST VICTIM
269

had however to b e abandoned s ub s equently in fa c e of

, ,

in c ident s whi c h indi c ated t hat the German s were d e fi n

i t e l y t e s ting t h e s uitability of the s ubmarine for cutting
the s e a c ommuni c ation s of t h e A llie s .

Six days before thi s in cident on O c tober 2 oth the Bri ti s h , ,

s team s hi p Gli tr a 8 6 6 t on s had been atta c ked in the North

, ,

Sea That s hip whi c h wa s old s low and of c our s e u n

.
, , , , ,

armed left Grangemout h at the head of the Firth of

, ,

Forth for Stavanger on O c tober 1 8 th with a general c argo ;

,

the c rew numbered s event een She fo l lowed the route l aid .

down by the Admira lty s teaming at about 8 knot s When , .

s ome fo u r t een m i le s we s t s outh we s t from Sk u d e s na e s on - -

the Norwe gi an c oa s t at noon on the 2 1 s t s h e un s u s pe c t

, ,

i ngl y hoi s ted the S ignal for a pilot for no s u s pi c iou s ve s s el ,

wa s in View The re s pon s e wa s in s tant

. But a s the .

motor pi lot boat approa c hed a low long O bje c t about

-
, ,

three mi le s to the s eaward wa s ob s erved by the Gli tr a s ,

’

ma s ter ( Mr L A John s ton ) and c hief o ffi c er who were

. . .
,

on the bridge It proved to be UI 7 ( Oberleutnant z S

.
’
. .

Fe l d ki r c h n e r ) The pi l ot boat turned ba c k evidently

.
-
,

fearing trouble and the ma s ter of the Gli tr a altered c our s e

,

more to the north i n order to in c rea s e the di s tan c e b e

,

tween him s elf and the s ubmarine He had no rea s on to .

anti c ipate mole s tation by the s ubmarine a thing unheard ,

of hi t herto The s ubmarine whi c h had 5 kno t s s uperior

.
,

s peed fo l lowe
, d the G li tr a s ub s equently de s c ribing a c o m
,

p l e t e c ir c le round the defen c e l e s s mer c hant s hip and ,

c arr y i ng out a lei s urely in s pe c tion A gun mounted abaft .

the c onni ng tower of the s ubmarine wa s then fired and

-
,

on the Gli tr a s topping the German s approa c hed wi t hin ,

a s hip s length and laun c hed a c ol lap s ible boat An o ffi c er

’
.

and two men forthwith boarded the mer c hantman They .

were fully armed and evidently in ruthle s s mood The .

ma s ter of the Gli tra wa s i mm ediate l y ordered o ff the

'

bridge the German O ffi c er p l a c ing the muzzle of a r e

,
'

volver again s t h i s ne c k and ex c i tedly warning h i m in

pa s s able Engli s h that he would be al l owed ten minute s
in whi c h to get h i s c rew away in the boat s and that then ,

h i s s hip wou l d be s unk .

Whi le preparation s were being made to leave the s hi p ,

the German s c overed the c rew with revolver s and two ,

gun s mounted in the s ubmarine were trained threaten

i ngl y on the ve s s el Captain John s ton and h i s men
.
2 70 APPEARANCE OF THE [ SUBMARINE CH.
“
VII

were refu s ed permi s s ion to c o lle c t their c lothe s and other

be l onging s and the German s having s ei zed the S hip s
, ,
’

paper s l owered t h e Briti s h flag whi c h wa s torn t o

, ,

pie c e s and tramp l ed underfoot with m ania c al rage .

The s e a c tion s were indi c ative of t h e s pirit of the enemy s ’

s eamen on ent ering upon the new c ampaign A s s oon a s .

the c rew had taken t o the boat s t h e German s t ran s ferred ,

t o the s ubmarine t h e c hart s and c ompa s s e s of t h e Gli tr a ,

withou t a word of apo l ogy for s u c h a c t s of theft In the .

meantime the c ommanding o ffi c er of the UI7 had s ent

,

an engi neer i nto the engine room evidently to open the

-
,

valve s for s hor t l y afterward s the s hip began to s ettle

,

down her l ate c rew being helple s s s pe c tator s The s u b

, .

marine towed the c rowded boat s for about a quarter of

an hour and havi ng then c a s t them loo s e with d i r e c
, ,

tion s to the men to row toward s the land returned ,

to c omplete the d e s tr u c ti o n o f the Gli tra Th e pilot boat .

-

s ub s equent l y c ame to the re s c ue of the abandoned s e a

men and towed the boat s until the Norwegian torpedo
boat H ai appeared Thi s c raft eventual l y landed Captain
.

J ohn s ton and h i s men at Sk u de s na e s fr om whi c h pla c e

”

they were taken on by a pa s s enger s teamer to Stavanger .

At t h e time thi s a c tion of the German s wa s regarded a s

merely an i s olated outrage of a de s pi c able c hara c ter but ,

lat er event s c ontradi cted that impres sion Tha t the .

o ffi c er c ommanding UI7 had a c ted on in s tru c tion s re c eived

from s uperior authority and that a definite poli c y of atta c k
,

wa s being te s ted before i ts adoption on a larger s c ale wa s ,

afterward s s ugge s ted by t h e fate of the s s M a lach i te ( 7 1 8 . .

ton s ) Thi s ve s s el left Liverpool on November 1 9 th for

.

Havre with a general c argo She wa s about four mile s .

north by we s t from Cape l a H eve on the afternoon of the

2 3 r d when s h e S ighted U2 I c ommanded by K api t an
,

L eutnant Otto He r s i ng about two mile s away on the s tar

,

board beam Warned by a S hot fired a c ro s s h i s bow the

.
,

Briti s h ma s ter ( Mr Stephen Ma s s on ) s topped h i s engine s

. .

The s ubm arine then c lo s ed in and parti c ular s of the ,

voyage and the c argo we re demanded i n Engli s h Q ue s tion .

and an s wer were s houted from de c k to de c k The German s .

,

reali s ing that they had the Briti s h s eamen at their mer cy ,

then hoi s ted their en s ign and dire c ted the ma s ter to
,

c arry all h i s paper s to the enemy s hi p When the c rew were .

ta ki ng to the boat s the o ffi cer remark ed as though

, ,
on .
]
vn U2 1 S TEST CRUIS E
’
2 71

a s hamed of h i s c ondu ct that he wa s s orry he c ou l d n o t

'

a c c ommodate the men on board the s ubmarine but war ,

”
i s war .Meantime the ma s ter had a s ked permi s sion to
retain the logbook and the s hip s arti c le s The reque s t wa s ’
.

refu s ed When the men were c lear of the s h i p t h e s u b

.
,

marine began firing at the M a lach i te at a range of about

2 0 0 yard s with a gun mounted abaft the c onning tower -
.
'

As t h e boat s were be ing rowed toward s Havre whi c h wa s ,

rea c hed the s ame evening the German s were s till firi ng ,

on the M alach i te and in c identally on the German flag

, ,

whi c h the doomed ve s s el c ontinued to fly It wa s after .

ward s a s c ertained that the s hip remained afloat and on

fire for twenty four hour s -
.

Three day s later the s ame s ubmarine en countered the

P ri m o ton s ) whi c h wa s on pa s s age from Jarrow o n
,
-

Tyne to Rouen wi t h c oal She wa s s i x mile s north we st by

.
-

north from Cape d Anti fe r when the s ubmarine flying no

’
,

flag appeared A S i n the c a s e of the Gli tr a and M al ach i te

, .
,

the att a c k wa s made by daylight the P ri m o fa l ling in with ,

t h e s ubmarine at about 8 a m The c ap tain of t h e s u b

. .

mari ne adopted the s ame pro c edure a s before apologi s ing ,

s hamefa c ed l y to the ma s ter ( Mr C A W h i n c o p ) for . . .

”
the trouble c au s ed remarki ng that Thi s i s war
, Th e .

ma s ter and c re w c a s t adrift in their boat s endeavour ed

, ,

to rea c h a s teamer whi c h they s a w at s ome di s tan c e but ,

on hearing the firi ng of the s ubmarine dire c ted on the

P ri m e that ve s s el s heered o ff i n order to avoi d s haring the
,

P ri m o s fate The s eamen then rowed t oward s Fec amp

’
.
,

and about two hour s later were pi c ked up by the s s . .

Cle rm i ston and put a s hore The c aptain of the U2 I e x

.

p e r i e n c e d c on s iderable di ffi c ulty in s inking t h e P ri m e .

Gun fi re failed to a ch i eve the purpo s e When Captain .

W h i n c o p and h i s men la s t s a w the ve s s el s h e wa s s ti l l ,

afloat with the s ubmarine s tanding by Two days later .

variou s ve s s el s reported her a s on fire and adrift .

The Fr en c h naval authoritie s at Boulogne l earning that ,

an abandoned s hi p wa s a fl oat a danger to tra ffi c d i s , ,

pat c hed a divi s ion of t orpedo boat s on t h e la s t day of the -

mont h to c arry out a s ear c h Ac c ording to a report fro m .

the Vi c e Con s ul at Tr eport the batt ered P ri m e wa s ,

ultimately s unk by a Fren c h torpedo boat -

.

The Si nk ing of t he s e two mer c hant s hip s was the re s ult

of the fir s t c rui s e for c ommer ce de stru cti on c arried o u t -

19
2 72 APPEARANCE OF T HE SUBMARINE [ cm m

i n the Channel by K apitan L eutnant He r s i ng -

. He wa s
di s pat c hed there i s every rea s on to be lieve to te s t
, ,

the adaptabi li t y of the s ubmarine to a c ampaign on m e r

c hant s hipping being c ho s en for t hi s mi s s ion by rea s on of
,

the s u c c e s s wh i c h he had a lready a c hieved in the North

Sea About the s ame time rumo u r s were c urrent of a
.

German plan to e s tabli s h s ubmarine ba s e s in F lander s ,

whi c h had re c ently pa s s ed i nto the enemy s po s s e s s ion ; ’

thi s i ntention however did not materiali s e until the fol

, ,

lowing s pring and no other mer c hant S h ip wa s de s troyed

,

before the c l o s e of the year though one ve s s el had a ,

narrow e s c ape O n De c ember 1 1 t h the Colch e ste r

.
,

ton s ) a pa s s enger ve s s el of the Great Ea s tern Rai lway

,

Company wi t h a s peed of about 1 3 knot s wa s c ro s s ing from

, ,

R otterdam to Parke s ton Q uay H arwi c h When s ome , .

twenty two mile s from the H ook of Holland at

-
a m ,
. .
,

S h e s a w a s ubmarine on the s tarbo ard bow s teering a x i

pp r o

mately s outh wes t by we s t The ma s ter ( Mr F L awren c e )

-
. . .
,

being at fir s t doubtful of the nationality of the s tranger

whi c h wa s c lo s ing on h i s s hip ported h i s he h n bringing , ,

the s ubmarine on the s tarbo a rd h o w The s ubmari ne .

then turned to s tarboard and s tea med d i re c t for the

Co lch e s te r at the s ame time ri s ing well out of the water
, .

The German s began to Signal but Captain L awren c e wa s ,

too bu s y wat c hing h i s pur s uer to pay attention to

S ignal s and i n any c a s e he wa s determi ned to s pare no
,

effort to e s c ape As the s ubmarine tur ned towar d s h i s

.

s hip , he ported h i s helm again s o a s to bring the enemy

a s tern of h i m Hi s s eaman s in s tin c t prompted hi m t o
.
’

turn out all the s toker s and the fire s were double banked
,
-

to O bt ain the utmo s t s peed In th e s e ex citi ng c ondition s .

'

t h e c ha s e c ontinued for about twenty m i nute s Fi nding .

the Briti s h ve s s el wa s drawi ng away from her the s u b ,

ma rine at la s t s teered away s outh we s t The Admiralty -

.

c ame to the c on c lu s ion tha t the s ubma rine wa s a German

ve s s el and c ommended the ma s ter of the Colch e ste r for h i s

,

s pirited a c ti on .

The s e in c ident s indi c ated the poli c y w h i c h the enemy

had determined to adopt The Hi gh Sea Fleet dared no t
.

fa c e a genera l a c tion again s t s uperior for c e s ; the who le

Au s tri an N avy wa s held firmly in the Adriati c ; the
—
enemy c ru i s er s armed mer c hantmen a s well a s men Of -

—
war had been n early all ro u nded up an d enemy c o m ,
2 74 APPEARANCE OF T HE SUBMARINE [ CH . m

th at the be li ef e xi s ted that the mere threat of a s u b

marine campaign s upported by a c omparatively few ru t h
,

le s s a c t s would inti midat e Briti s h s eamen with the re s u l t

, ,

that the s ea s would be c leared of Bri ti s h s hipping thu s ,

preparing the foundation s for the c on c lu s io n of a German

pea c e By that time i t had be c ome apparent to t h e
.
‘

German authoritie s that their military ma c hine had fai led

t o reali s e the hope s whi c h re s ted in it wit h in th e limit of
time laid down by the General Sta ff Germany had be c ome .

i nvolved not in a s hort c ampaign re s embling tho s e waged

n 1 8 6 4 in 1 8 6 6 and in 1 8 7 0 —
,
'

, , 1 but owing to the inter , ,

v e nti o n of Briti s h s e a power in a long and exhau s ting war

, ,

the i s s ue of whi c h wa s un c ertain They had under e s ti .

-

mated the influen c e o f s e a power and they hailed the ,

s ubmarine a s O ffering them an e s c ape from an e x c eedingly

embarra s s ing S ituation .

In the s e c ir c um s tan c e s the s ubmarine with all it i m

, ,

plied Of inhuman terrori s m wa s adopted a s giving t h e ,

promi s e of an early pea c e on Germany s own term s The ’

.

enemy s growing intention wa s revealed before the end

’

of the year i n an intervie w with Grand Admiral von -

Tirpitz then Naval Se c retary whi c h wa s publi shed in the

, ,

N e w York S u n o n De c ember 2 2 nd Referring to the .

po s s ibilitie s of a s ubmarine c ampaign he de c lared It , ,

i s di ffi c ult to draw c on c lu s ion s j u s t yet but it i s u n qu e s ,

ti o n a b l e that s ubmarine s are a new and powerful we apon

o f naval warfare ”
.
—
At the s ame ti me he c o nfe s s e d j and
t h e c onfe s s ion i ndi c ate s the re s tri c tion s whi c h it wa s then
beli eved limited the a c tivity of the s e c raft One mu s t
not forget that s ub m arine s do their be s t work a l ong the
c oa s t and i n S hall ow water s and that for thi s rea s on the
,

Channel i s parti c ularly s uita b l e for thi s c raft The s u c .

c e s s e s whi c h have been a c hi eved hitherto do not warrant

the c on c lu s ion that the day of large s hip s i s pa s t It i s .

s till que s tionab l e whether s ubmarine s would have made

s u c h a fine s how i n other water s We have learnt a good .

deal about s ubmarine s i n thi s war We thought t hat .

they wou l d not be able to remain mu c h longer than three

day s away from their ba s e a s the cr ew s wou l d then ne c e s
,

s a r i l y be exhau s ted But we s o o n lear nt that the larger

.

type of the s e boat s c an navigate round the whole of

England and c an remain ab s ent a s long a s a fortnight
, .

All that Is ne c e s s ary i s that the c re w get s an opportunity

 ‘

on
, ]
vn U1 9 AND T HE D URWARD 2 75

of re s ting and re c uperating and t hi s opportunity can be ,

afforded the men by ta ki ng the boat to the s ha llow and

s til l water s where it c an re s t on the bottom and remain
, ,

ing s till i n the water the c rew c an have a good s leep

, .

Thi s i s on l y po s s ible where the water i s c omparative l y

”
s hallow H e put the further query
. What wou l d ,

Ameri c a s a y i f Germany S hou l d de c lare a s ubmarine war

again s t all enemy trading ve s s el s
That thi s wa s s ometh ing more than a mere a c ademi c
expre s s ion of profe s s ional view s be c ame c lear in the light
of later event s Af ter the appearan c e of thi s interview
.
,

w h i c h wa s no doubt intended to te s t publi c opinion i n the

United State s and other neutral c ountrie s a period of ,

nearly a m onth o c c urred duri ng whi c h no Briti s h ve s s el

,

wa s atta c ked by a s ubmarine It wa s s oon apparent .

that the enemy had devoted attention to the s tudy of the

prob lem whi c h the new poli c y dire c tly fore s hadowed by ,

Grand Admiral von Tirpitz pre s ented

-
German s u b , .

marine s were provided with bomb s to be u s ed i n c ir cum

s tan c e s i n whi c h s u c h c omparatively c heap and li ght
weapon s c ould be employed thu s e c onomi s ing the e x pe n di ,

ture Of torpedoe s Of whi c h ea c h ve s s el c ould c arry only a

,

few At thi s s tage of the war therefore the German s u b

.
, ,

marine s parti c ularly s u s c eptib l e to s urfa c e atta c k owing

,

to the vulnerability of their hull s depended fo r o ffe n s i v e , ,

purpo s e s on the bomb and i n the la s t re s ort on the tor

,

pedo though s ome of t hem were provi ded with li ght gun s
, .

On January 2 1 s t 1 9 1 5 i n rainy but c lear weather the

, , ,

s s
. . D u r war d ton s ) wa s two day s out from L eith ,

on pa s s age to R otterdam whe n the C hief o ffi c er who , ,

wa s on t h e bridge reported to the ma s ter ( Mr John

, .

Wood ) that a s u s pi c iou s s ubmarine wa s about 1 5 point s

before the s teamer s s tarboard beam On going on de c k
’
.

and l ooking through h i s gl a s se s Captai n Wood s aw that the ,,

s trange s hip wa s flying the s ignal t o s top in s tant ly The .

s ubmarine wa s on l y about a mi l e and a half di s tant and

wa s S howing no c olour s ; s h e wa s s t eaming toward s the

Du rward on an oppo s ite c our s e The Briti s h s hi p wa s .

t ravelling at abou t 1 2 kno t s Captain Wood at on c e .

determined to ignore the s ignal and going into the , ,

engine room gave dire c tion s to put on all po s s ible s peed

-
, .

When he returned to the de c k h e s a w that the s ubm arine ,

had altered c our s e and wa s heading for the D u rward s ’

2 76 APPEARANCE OF THE SUBMARINE [ CH V I I .

s tarboard s ide at the s ame time flying the S ignal

, Stop ,
”
or I fire . Wit h i n half an hour of the fir s t s ighting of
the enemy c raft the s ubmarine in s pite of the be s t endea
, ,

v o u r s of t h e D u r war d s engine room s ta ff had managed to

’
-
,

get under the S hip s s tarboard quarter and s hortly after

’
,

ward s a warning ro c ket wa s fired Captai n Wood rea li s ed .

t h at fu rther effort to e s c ape wa s i mpo s s ible and s topped ,

h i s engine s The s ubmarine proved to be UI9 ( whi c h had

.

r e c ently been rammed by H M S B AD GE R ) and the c ondu c t. . .

,

of the c ommanding offi c er Oberleutnant K olbe toward s , ,

the Briti s h s eamen merit s being re c alled i n view of later

event s In reply to a s ignal the c hief O fli c e r of the Du r
.
,

ward and three men of the c rew c arried the S hip s paper s on
’

board the s ubmarine As s oon a s the boat got along s ide

.

the enemy ve s s el a group of German s eamen put o ff them

, ,

s elve s u s ing the D u r war d s boat and an o ffi c er s pea ki n g

’
’
, ,

i n good Engli s h ordered Captain Wood to get everyone

,

into the boat s a s qui c kly a s po s s ible After the c rew .

had left and while the Briti s h ma s ter wa s on board U1 9 ,

to whi c h he had been taken the boarding party pla c ed ,

-

’
two bomb s again s t the s hip s s ide About twenty minute s .

afterward s explo s ion s o c c urred the ve s s el beginning at ,

on c e to s ettle down i n the water to the g ri ef and c o n ,

s t e r n a ti o n of the Briti s h s eamen The German c ommander .

towed the two Briti s h boat s for about half an hour i n a

northerly dire c tion Ca s ting them adrift he went ba c k
.
,

to the D u rward s ub s equently returning to gi ve a further

,

tow until he wa s wi thin one mile nor t h of the Maa s light

s hi p a s though anxiou s to do what he c ould for member s
,

of the s ame great brotherhood of the s e a whi l e c onform

ing to the order s he had re c eived from h i s s uperior s From
fir s t to la s t the Briti s h s eamen had been we l l treated and , ,

havi ng been pla c ed i n a po s ition of c omparative s afety ,

they were left to their own re s our c e s Eventually a .

Dut c h pilot s teamer took them on board and towed the

two boat s a s far a s the Hook of Holland T h e c raft were .

returned later on to their owner s and apart from the , ,

lo s s of the S hip and the c rew s e ffe c t s the in c ident wa s ’

,

marked by no exhibition of Pru s siani s m .

On the la s t day of J anuary no fewer than s even S h i p s

were atta c ked an d only one the Gr aph i c
, ton s ) , ,

e s c aped Of the Si x ve s s el s whi c h were de s troyed three

.
,

were inter c epted by the enemy o u t s ide L iverpool point ,

2 78 APPEARANCE OF THE SUBMARINE [ CH . VI I

and the boarding party then left the Ki lcoan to retur n to

-

the s ubmarine Whi le they were on their way ba c k the

.
,

bomb e x ploded tearing a hole i n the port s ide of the

,

s teamer The member s of the c rew of the Briti s h s hi p

.
,

s till on board the s ubmarine and wondering W hat thei r

“

fate would be were ordered ba c k into their boat s Then

, .

o c c urred an u ne xpe c ted diver s ion In the di s tan c e the .

German O ffi c er di s c erned the s teamer Glady s from L iverpool

to Dougla s He made o ff toward s her and dire c ted her
.

c aptain to pi c k up the K i lcoan s men

’
H e then returned .

to the K i lco an and fired at that ve s s el i n order to ha s te n

her de s tru c tion The s ubmarine at length di s appeared
.
,
’
and late that night the Briti s h s e am e n s adventure ended
when they were landed at Fleetwood without further
mi s hap On the s ame day the Gr aph i c twenty two mile s
.
,
-

from Liverpool Bar light ve s s el wa s c ha s ed but thanks -

, , ,

to her s peed s u c c eeded in making her e s c ape

—
, .

In the meantime another s ubmarine U2 0 wa s bu s y ,

-

farther s outh pur s uing a poli c y of torpedoing s hip s at s ight

, ,

no warni ng of any kind being given T he Shaw Savill li ner .

T okom aru ton s ) wa s s unk s even mile s north we s t -

from Havre light ve s s el and the I kari a -

ton s ) nearly ,

twenty mile s farther away both on January 3 oth The , .

former ve s s el wa s on her way from Wellington New Z ea ,

’
land and Tenerife At ni ne o c lo c k on the morning of that
, .

day in fine c lear weather the s e a being s mooth S h e wa s

, , , ,

s lowly s tea m i ng toward s Havre loo king for a pilot The .

ma s ter ( Mr Fran c i s Greene ) had no s u s pi c ion of the mena c e

.

w h i c h thr eatened him H e wa s on the bridge with the .

,

s e c ond and third mate s an A B being on the lookout for , . .

ward Suddenly a n e x plo s ion o ccurred on the port s i de

.
,

s ending the wat e r up over the bridge and fi ll ing the s toke

hold The s hi p at on c e li s ted heavily and c ommen c ed t o

.

s ink . It wa s evident that the s ubmarine wa s wat chi ng the

effe c t of i ts torpedo for a peri s c ope wa s s een by Captain
,

Greene three c able s away The c ommander of the su b .

marine h i s a c t of s avagery c on s ummated then di s appeared

, , ,

c aring not h i ng a s to the fate of the Briti s h s a i lor s The .

expe rien c e of the T o kom aru s c rew wa s one wh i c h no s e a ’

man had h i therto s u ffered but neverthele s s di s c ipline wa s ,

maintained and all the hand s s u c c eeded i n getting into

—
the boat s the c aptain going over the s ide la s t in a c c ord
an c e with traditi on Within a n ho u r the men were .
CH . VII ] TORPED OED WITHOUT WARNING
s afely on board the Fr en c h mi ne s weeper S ai nt P i e rre -
.

Before being landed at H avr e Captain Greene and h i s ,

c ompanion s s aw their s h i p di s ap pe ar beneath the

water .

Shortly after noon o n the s ame day the L eyland liner

Ikari a whi c h left Santo s and o ther South Am eri c an ports for
,

Havr e s topped o ff Cape la H eve to pi c k up a pilot The

, .

s hi p s till had s light headway on her when the ma s ter ( Mr .

Matthew R obert s on ) who wa s on the bridge s aw the wake , ,

of a torpedo fired there i s no rea s on to doubt by U2 0

, , , .

There wa s no ti me to u s e the helm for almo s t i mmediately ,

afterward s the ve s s el wa s s tru c k on the port s ide abrea s t

of No 1 hat c h and began to s ink gradually by the head
. .

The boat s were ordered out an d the o ffi c er s and men

pro c eeded on board a tug whi c h happened fortunately , ,

to be c lo s e by About an ho u r later the I kari a being s till

.
,

afloat Captai n R obert s on with s ome of h i s men boarded

, , ,

her He c ame to the c on c lu sion that the s hip c ould be

.

s aved She wa s only about twenty fi ve mile s from

.
-

Havre the s e a wa s s mooth and there wa s no wind With

, .

the a s s i s tan c e of a tug the I kari a wa s got into H avre and ,

berthed along s ide Q uai d E s c al e where s h e remained ’

,

until mi dday on J anuary 3 l s t The port authoritie s .

,

be c o m i ng nervou s les t s h e s h ould s ink and thu s impede

tra ffi c removed her to the we s t of the Avant Port to
, ,

W ard s the breakwater where S h e s ank on February 2 n d , ,

leaving her afterpart s ho wing .

There i s no rea s on to doubt that the General Steam

Navigation Company s s teamer Ori ole ton s ) met
’

h er fate al s o at the hand s of U20 but her end wa s m y s te r i ,

ou s The Ori ole left L ondon for Havre on January 2 9 t h

.
,

and pa s s ed the s s Londo n T rade r O ff Dungene s s on the

. .

a fternoon of the following day The di s tan c e from Dunge .

n e s s to Havre be ing from ni nety to ni nety fi v e mile s the -

,

Ori ole s hould have rea c hed the latter port about ten o c lo c k
’

t h at eve ni ng She wa s never heard of again L ater in the

. .

‘
year Mr Ju s ti c e Bailha c he had to de c ide in the High
, .

Cour t the fate of t h e ve s s el In the c our s e of h i s j udg .

ment he told of two patheti c in c ident s On February 6 th

, .
,

two li febuoys were found on the c oa s t between Ha s ting s

and D ym c hur c h a little s eas ide pla c e to the north of
,

D u ngene s s The name Ori ole wa s painted upon them In

— —
. .

the follo wing month o u Mar c h 2 oth a Guern s ey fi s h e r

 APPEARANCE OF THE SUBMARINE [ CH V I I .

man pi cked out of th e s e a an ordinary beer bottle c o n -

taining a pie c e of paper On the bottle being broken

.
,

the pa pe r wa s found t o be an envelope embo s s ed with

the name of the General S team Navigati on Company ,

and written i n pen c il wa s the me s s age Ori ole tor

“

—
,

d d in king The widow of the hi p arpenter ’

p e o e s . s s c

identified the handwriting a s t hat of her hu s band Af ter .

c on s ideri ng all the evi den c e Mr Ju s ti c e Bailha c he c ame to

, .

the c on c lu sion tha t the only rea s onable explanation of t h e

di s appearan c e of the Ori ole wa s that S h e wa s torpe doed
by the enemy the ma s ter ( Mr Willi am G Dale ) and h i s
, . .

c rew of twenty men peri s h i ng The s to ry h a s an hi s tori c al

.

intere s t S in c e wherea s the Gli tr a wa s the fir s t ve s s el to

,
—
be s u nk by a s ubmarine o n O c tober 2 oth 1 9 1 4—the ,

T okom aru and the I kari a were the fir s t to be torpedoed

without warning w h i le the Ori ole de s troyed i n the s ame
, ,

barbarou s way wa s the fir s t Briti s h lo s s whi c h involved

,

the death of the c rew L ater event s were to over s hado w

.

thi s tragedy of the war pre s enting a pi c ture of s u c h large

, ,

dramati c and terrible propo rtion s that i n a few month s

,

the s tory of the fate of the s e defen c ele s s Briti s h s eame n

s hrank into c o m pa rative oblivi on .

Thes e fi rs t o utbu r s ts of terr ori s m by s e a tho ugh s u c ,

c e e d e d by a n inter val o f a fortnight dur ing whi c h no

Briti s h ve ss el wa s su nk and only two were atta cked pro ve d ,

mere l y the preli minary a c t s to the de c laration of a definite

poli c y on the part of the enemy Sin c e the s i nki ng of .

the Gli tra the pra c ti c ability of emplo y i ng s ubmarine s i n

atta c king c ommer c e had been te s ted u n d e n v a r y i ng c o n
d i ti o n s
. The report s re c eived h ad en c ouraged hope s that
at la s t a mean s had been di s c overed for bri nging the war
to a s peedy end A goo d deal had been written of t h e
.

s ubmarine and i t s p s y c hologi c al influen c e and the enemy ,

embarked upon the new poli c y i n full c onfiden c e tha t

the war wou ld be e nded by the s everan c e of the mariti me
c ommuni c ation s of the Briti s h people even i f the mere ,

announ c ement of the intention to employ s ubma rine s

on a lar ge s ca le i n an atta c k upon Bri ti s h s h i pping
di d no t brea k the c ourage of the o ffic er s and m e n .

A c c o r di ng ly o n Februar y 4 th 1 9 1 5 the followi ng memo

, , ,

r a n du m wa s i s s ued by the Ge rman Go vern ment :

Sin c e the co mm e nc eme nt of the pre s e nt War Gr eat

 APPEARANCE OF T HE
“

2 82 SUBMARINE
[ CH
. v n

they have not been s u cc e s s ful in s e curing the relea s e by the

Briti s h Government of the German s ubj e c t s and German
mer chandi s e illegally tak en from their ve s s el s To a c e r .

tain e xtent they have even c ontributed t oward s the

e xe c u tion of the mea s ure s adopted by England i n defian c e
o f the prin c iple of the freedom of the s ea s by prohibiting

the e xport and tran s it of good s de s tined for pea c eable

s s G s ,
—
purpo e in ermany thu evidently yielding to pre s s ure
by England .

The German Go vernment have i n vain c alled the

attention of the neutral Power s to the fa c t that Germany
mu s t s eriou s ly que s tion whether it c an any longer adhere
to the s tipulation s of the De c laration of L ondon hitherto ,

s tri c tly ob s erved by i t i n c a s e E ngland c ontinue s to

,

adhere to i ts pra c ti c e and the neutral Power s per s i s t i n

,

loo king with indulgen c e upon all the s e violation s of

neutrality to the detriment o f Germany Great B ritain .

i nvoke s the Vital i ntere s t of the Briti s h E mpire w h i c h

are at s take i n j u s tifi c ation o f i ts violation s of the law of
nati on s and the neutral Power s appear to b e s ati s fied
,

with theoreti c al prote s t s thu s a c tually admitting the

,

vital intere s t s of a belli gerent a s a s uffi cient e x cu s e for

method s of waging war of whatever de s c ription .

The ti me h a s now c ome for Germany al s o to I nvoke

s u c h vital intere s t s It therefore find s it s elf under the
.

ne c e s s ity to i t s regret of taking mili tary mea s ure s again s t

, ,

Engl and i n retaliation of the pra c ti c e fo ll owed by England .

J u s t a s England de c lared the whole Nor t h Sea between

S c otland and Norway to be c ompri s ed within t h e s eat of
war s o doe s Germany now de c lare the water s s urrounding
,

Great Britain and Ireland in c luding the whole Engli s h

,

Channel to be c ompri s ed withi n the s eat of war and will

, ,

prevent by all the military mean s at i t s di s po s al all navi

g a ti o n by the enemy i n tho s e water s .

To thi s end it will endeavour to de s troy after Feb '

,

r u ar y 1 8 th ne x t any mer c hant ve s s el s of the enemy

,

whi c h pre s ent them s elve s at the s eat of war above

i ndi c ated although it may not always be po s s ible to avert
,

the danger s wh i c h may mena c e per s on s and mer c handi s e .

Neutral Power s are a c c ordingly forewarned not to

c ontinue to entru s t their c rew s pa s s enger s or mer c handi s e
, ,

to s u c h ve s s el s Their attention i s fu rthermore c al led to

.

the fa c t that it i s of urgen c y to re c ommend to their own

CH . VII } THE WAR Z ONE
ve s s e l s to s teer c lear of the s e water s It i s true that the .

German Navy h a s re c eived in s tru c tion s to ab s tain from

a ll violen c e again s t neutral ve s s e l s re c ogni s able a s Su c h ;
but i n view of t h e ha zard s of war and of the mi s u s e of the ,

neutral fl ag ordered by the Briti s h Government it wi l l ,

not a l ways be po s s ible to prevent a neutral ve s s el from

be c oming t h e vi c tim of an atta c k intended to be dire c ted
again s t a ve s s el of the enemy It i s e xpre s s ly de c lared that
.

navi gation in water s north of the Shetland I s land s i s out

S ide the danger zone a s well a s navigation i n the ea s tern
,

part Of the North Sea and in a zone t h irty mile s wide

along the D ut c h c oa s t .

The German Government anno u n c e s thi s mea s ure at

a time permitting enemy and neutral s hi p s to make the
ne c e s s ary arrangement s to rea c h the port s s ituated at
the s e at o f war They hope that the neutral Power s will
’
.

a c c ord c on s ideration to the vital intere s ts of Ge rmany

equal ly with tho s e of England and will on their part a s s i s t ,

i n keeping their s ubj e c t s and their good s far from the

s eat of war the more s o Sin c e they likewi s e have a great
i ntere s t in s eeing the termination at an early day of th e
—
war now ragin g Berlin February 4 th 1 9 1 5 , , .

Thi s de c laration wa s epito m i s ed in a pro c lamation of

the s a m e date s igned by Admiral von Pohl Chief of the
, , .

Admiralty S ta ff of th e German Navy i n the following ,

term s

The water s s urrounding Great Britain and Ireland

1 .
,

in c luding t h e whole Engli s h Channel are hereby de c lared ,

to be a War Z one On and after Febru ary 1 8th 1 9 1 5 every

.
, ,

enemy mer c hant s hip found i n the s aid war zone wi l l be

de s troyed without i t being always po s sible to avert the
danger s threatening the c rews and pa ss enger s on tha t
a c c ount .

2 Even neutral s hip s are e x po s ed to danger i n the

.

war zone a s i n vi e w of t h e mi s u s e of neutral flag s ordered

, ,

on January 3 1 s t by th e Briti s h Government and of the ,

,

a c c ident s of naval war it c annot always be avoided to ,

s trike even neutral s h ip s in atta c k s that are dire c ted o n

enemy s hip s .

3 Northward navigation aro u nd the Shetland I s land s

.
,

in the ea s tern water s of the North Sea and i n a s trip o f ,

2 54 APPEARANCE [ OF T HE SUBMARINE CH . m

not le s s t han thirty mile s width from the nor thward c oa s t ,

i s i n no danger .

VON PO HL ,

Ch i e f f
o th e A dm i ra lty S ta fi o f th e N avy .

BE RLIN ,

F e b ru a ry 4 th ,

To thi s announ c ement the Briti s h Government i s s ued

the following reply on Mar c h 1 st, 1 9 1 5

Germany h a s de c lared that the Engli s h Channel the ,

north and we s t c oa s t s of Fran c e and t h e water s round ,

’
the Bri ti s h I s le s are a war area and h a s O ffi cially notified ,
’
that a l l enemy S hi ps found i n that area wi ll be de s troyed .

Thi s i s i n e ffe c t a c laim to torpedo at s ight without r e

, , ,

gard to the s afety of the c rew or pa s s enger s any mer c hant ,

ve s s el under any flag As i t i s not i n the power of the

.

Ger m an Admiralty to maintain any s urfa c e c raft i n the s e

water s thi s atta c k c an only be delivered by s ubmarine
,

agen c y The law and c u s tom of nati on s in regard to

.

a tta c k s on c ommer c e have always pre s umed that the fi r s t

duty of the c aptor of a mer c hant ve s s el i s to bring it
before a Pri ze Court where it may be tri ed where the
, ,

regu l arity of the c apture may be c hallenged and where ,

neutra l s may re c over their c argoe s .

The S inking of pri ze s i s i n it s elf a que s tionable a c t

, , ,

to be re s orted to on l y i n extraordinary c ir c um s tan c e s and ,

after provi s ion h a s been made for the s afety of a l l the

c rew or pa s s enger s ( if there are pa s s enger s on bo ard ) .

The re s pon s ibility for di s c riminating between neutral and

enemy ve s s el s and between neutral and enemy c argo
, ,

obviou s ly re s t s wi th the atta c king s hip who s e duty ,

it i s to verify the s tatu s and c ha ra cter of the ve s s el and

c argo and to pre s erve a ll paper s before s in ki ng or even

c ap t uring i t So al s o i s the humane duty of provi ding

.

for th e s afety of the c rew s of mer c hant ve s s el s whe t her ,

neutral or enemy an obli gation upon every belligerent

,
.

It i s upon t h i s ba s i s that a l l previou s di s cu s s ion s of the

law for regu lating warfare at s e a have pro c eeded .

A German s ubmarine however fulfi l s none of the s e , ,

1 A tr ans lati o n ac co m p an yi n g th e di sp atc h o f Am b assa d o r Ge r ar d t o

th e Se c r e t ar y o f State F e bru ar y 6 th 1 9 1 5 Thi s p r oclam a ti o n was p u b
, , .

l i sh e d i n t h e R e i ch s a nz e i ge r o f F e b ru ar y 4 th 1 9 1 5 ( N O , . .
 2 86 APPEARANCE OF THE SUBMARINE [ CH. VII

of s ubmarine s of s uitable type s to i n s ure the s u c c e s s of

’
Germany s poli c y Down to the end of April the lo s s of
.

Briti s h tonnage i n c ompari s on with t h e great volume

,

operating i n the water s s u rr oun di ng the Briti s h I s le s ,

proved a great di s appointment to the enemy who wa s ,

c ompelled t o readj u s t h i s e s timate of the c hara c ter of the

Bri ti s h s eamen and their s eamanlike qualitie s .

The s tory of the L ae rte s tons ) provi ded a c o n

s pi cu o u s illu s tration of the s pirit whi c h animated the

s ervi c e Thi s s hip ( ma s ter Mr William H Pr o pe r t ) left

.
, . .

L iverpool on S u nday February 7th with a general c argo , ,

for Java b eing under order s to c all at Am s terdam Captain

, .

Pr o p e r t had been i n c harge of the S hi p for two voyage s to

the Far Ea s t and had c ome to the c on c lu s ion t hat the
,

ve s s el s be s t s peed wa s 1 1 % knot s The ve s s el had a c rew

’
.

of fi f ty one o ffic er s and men in c luding twenty four Chine s e

-
,
-
.

By four o c lo c k on the l oth the L ae rte s rea c hed a point

,
’
,

about twelve mile s from the S c houwen Bank light s hip T h e .

ma s ter and the s e c ond o ffi c er were on the bridge a goo d ,

lookout wa s b eing kept by men s tationed on the poop

and i n the c row s ne s t on the forema s t and the S hip wa s
’
-
,
‘

maki ng her be s t s peed when a s ubma rine wa s s een about ,

three mile s away bearing two point s o n the s tarbo ard

M bow Ca ptain Pr o per t promptly ordered the helm to be
.

s t arboarded one point and almo s t at the s ame moment

,

the s ubmarine hoi s ted a Signal dire c ting the ve s s el t o

heave to and threatening t o fire i f the order wa s not
,

obeyed Captain Pr o pe r t ignored the s ign a l and deter

.

mined to make an effort to e s cape the enemy s ubmarin e

made s traight for the L ae rte s at top s peed What happened .

c an perhap s be s t be told in Captai n Pr o e r t s o wn word s :

’
, , p

My engine s were well opened out and I k ept s tar ,

b oarding my helm to avoid him but he gained s t eadily ,

’

and at p m whe n he wa s about one point an d a half

. .
,

on the s tar board quarter di s tant about three quarter s ,

-

of a mile he opened fire with a ma ch i n e g u n dire c ting h i s

,
-
,

fi r e on the bridge I then s tarboarded further and brought

.

him right a s tern keeping the s hip going at the highe s t

,

s peed S h e c ou l d make J u s t at thi s time four or five .

s hot s were heard indi c ating that we were al s o ,

s ubj e c ted to rifle fire ( Three bullet s of di fferent .

kind s were found l ater i n vario u s part s o f the s hi p ) .

CH .
]
VII HOW THE 2 87 LAERTES ESCAPED
Thi s wa s about 4 2 0 p m and the firing wa s kept up . . .
,

c ontinuou s l y u n ti l about p m t h e s ubmarine being . .

,

kep t all the time a s mu c h a s tern a s po s s ib le by t h e u s e of

our he l m In order to de c eive him I a l s o hoi s ted the
.
,

an s wering pennant indi c ating that I had read h i s s ignal s .

Thi s I did twi c e but he di d not appear to redu c e h i s

,

s peed ,and when he had c ome within l e s s than a quarter

of a mile from the L ae rte s at about he gave one ,

c ontinued di s c harge from t h e ma c hine gun and t hen fell -

a s tern About s i x minute s later when he wa s well a s tern

.
,

s light l y on our s tarboard quarter I ported the helm one ,

point and i mmediately noti c ed a torpedo c oming s traight

for the S hi p about two c able s o ff on the s tarboard quarter .

My helm wa s at on c e put hard aport and the t orped o ,

pa s s ed a s tern very c lo s e to the s hip .

The s ubmarine at thi s time wa s enveloped I n a c loud

of s team and appeared to be in d i fll cu l ti e s It wa s du s k ‘
.

by t h i s time and a s teamer whi c h c ame up on my port

, ,

s ide s teering dire c tly toward s the s ubmarine wa s give n ,

th e s ignal You are s teering i nto danger The o t he r ’

.
,

s hip altered her c our s e but appeared to r e s ume the forme r ,

c our s e a l ittle later I had no mean s of a s c ertaining the

.

name of the other ve s s el and s h e made no attempt to ,

s peak further with u s .

I now hauled the L ae rtes ro u nd and s teered in a

northerly di re c tion gradually s wi nging her in toward s,

t h e land and taking c ontinual s ounding s a s we approa c hed .

When we had rea c hed a point about s eventeen mile s o ff

Ymuiden a green light appeared on my port bow three
,

m i le s di s tant I put the hehn hard a s tarboard and th e

.
,

light s uddenly di s appeared and wa s not s een again As .

thi s was s u s pi ciou s I put the helm hard aport but n o, ,

further light s were Ob s erved I then took in the regu la .

tion light s and while they were kept ready at hand

, , ,

they were not again exhibited until we had c ome clo s e t o

Ymuiden whi c h port we rea ched at about
, p m . .

on F ebruary l oth No live s were lo st and no injury

.

re c eived by any per s on on board the L a e rte s The uppe r .

bridge th e c a s ing of the standard c ompa s s two boat s

, , ,

s evera l ventilator s the main funnel donkey funnel and

, , ,

exhau s t pipe were pierc ed by bullet s and there may b e

, ,

s ome furt her damage I c ann ot e stimate the am ount .

'

of thi s damage The Dutc h flag had been hoi sted at

.

20
2 88 APPEARANCE OF THE SUBMARINE [ CH . VII

about 4 p m on F ebruary 9 th and was kept co n

. .
,

t i nu al l y flying during daylight The name of the port .

of regi s try had al s o been ob s cured Two boat s had been .

s wu ng out ready for loading and two lifted from the c h e ck s

”
o n F ebruary 9 th .

That Is the mode s t re c ord of an e s c ape from the enemy

whi c h s ugge s ted in a s s o ciation with a hundred othe r
,

in cident s that Briti s h s eamen were not prepared to su r

,

render to the enemy without a s truggle The Admiralty .

marked their appre ciation of Captain Pr Ope rt S gallant ’

and s pirited c ondu c t by granting him a temporary

c ommi s s ion as lieutenant in the Royal N aval R e s erve ,

and awarding him the Di s tingui s hed Servi c e Cro s s ; a

gold wat c h with a letter of c ommendation wa s pre s ented
, ,

to ea c h of the Offi c ers and a c omplimentary grant of £3

,

was made to every member of the c rew

“

By thi s time it wa s evident that the enemy with limited

—
,

re s our c e s how limited wa s not known to t h e Briti s h

Government at the t i m e was determined to make a h

de s perate atta ck on the Brit i s h Merc antile Marine paying ,

no regard to the ordinary humanitie s whi c h in previou s

wars had re s tri cted the a ction of belligerent s The .

number of c a s e s in whi c h torpedoe s were fired again s t

s hip s unarmed and therefore in c ap able of re s i s ting
,

vi s it and s earc h s teadily in crea s ed , The M e m b land .

ton s ) wa s de s troyed in the N orth Sea either by

mine or by s ubmarine ; s h e di s appeared about Fe b ru
ary 1 5 t h together with her o ffi c ers and men numbering
, ,

twenty and the c au s e of the lo s s of thi s valuable c argo

,

c arrier and the de s tru c tion of s o many live s will probably

never be known N othing perhap s i s more remarkable

.
, ,

than the c omparatively s mal l lo s s of life whi c h in fa ct , ,

o cc urred during thi s early period of th e s ubmarine c am

p ga i . n That immunity mu s t be attributed to the high

s tandard of s eaman s hip maintained in the B riti s h Me r

c anti l e Marine and the Skill e xhibited by offi c er s a n

,
d men
in the management Of the s mall boat s to W hi c h they
were c ompelled to c onfide their fortune s after their s hip s
had s unk Typi c al illu s tration s of the hazardou s e x
.

r i e n c e s whi c h fell to the c rew s of S hip s de s troyed at

p e

s ight are s upplied by the s torie s of the D u l wi ch

ton s ) and Cam banh ton s ) the former attack e d,

2 90 APPEARANCE OF THE SUBMARINE [ CH . V II

afterward s the tra ck of a torpedo wa s noti c ed making for

the mer c hantman The Cam bank s helm wa s put hard
.
’

aport but before the s hi p c ould an s wer the torpedo

, , ,

s tru c k her near the engine room It w a s at on c e evi dent

-
.

t o Captain Pre s c ott that the ve s s el would s peedily s ink ,

and he ordered the c rew to take to the boat s Midnight .

,

th e enemy near at hand and their s hip s o fatal l y ,

damaged that Offi c ers and men had no c hoi c e but to c onfide
their l ive s t o frail boat s % The s tarboard lifeboat was
s u c c e s s ful l y lowered and into her s c ramb l ed twenty one
,
-

of the twenty fi v e men on board in cluding the pilot

-
, .

What happened to t h e other four men i s a matter of

s pe c u l at i on .F or a quarter of an ho h r the s urvivor s l ay
O ff the doomed s hip whi c h at la s t broke in two amid s hip s
,

and wa s s wallowed up in the water s E ventually the s e .

men having been buffeted in a hurri c ane and then at

,

ta cked by the enemy s u cc eeded i n rea c hing port , .

O n the evening of the s ame day the s team c ollier Down

s h i r e ( 3 3 7 ton s ) w as s teaming at about 1 0 knot s Off the Cal f

of Man when s h e s aw a s ubmarine s tanding to the north

,

ward o n the s tarboard bow being about one and a half ,

to two mile s di s tant The enemy gained rapidly on the .

Briti s h s hip and when about a quarter of a mile away

, ,

fired a s hot from a gun on the fore de c k The m as ter -

.

of the D owns h i r e ( Mr W H Connor ) ignored the warning

. . .
,

and then a s e c ond s hot was fired The c ollier whi c h .

,

w a s travelling at fu ll s peed s till s tood on her c our s e , .

A third S hot followed The s ubmarine wa s t hen clo s e .

up and a s it wa s apparent that e s c ape was impo s s ible the

,

engine s were s topped The c rew were ordered to the boat s

.
,

a bomb wa s pla c ed again s t the s ide of the ve s s el by the Ger

man s and the s hip wa s s unk F ortunately in thi s in s tan c e
, .

there wa s n o lo s s of life but that w a s due to no c on s idera

,

tion on the part of the c ommander of the s ubmarine

— —
.

Three day s later o n F ebruary 2 3 r d two ve s s el s were

s unk without warning the Oah by ton s ; ma s ter Mr
, , .

F J Bartlett ) o ff the R oy al S ove re i gn light ve s s el and the

. .
,
-
,

Br anks om e Ch i ne ton s ; ma st er Mr F J An s tey )

—
. . .
, ,

s i x mile s E by S 2 S from Bea c hy H ead evident l y by

. . .

the s ame s ubmarine Within five minute s of the torpedo

.

s triking the port s ide of the Oa kby the fore c a stle was level ,

with the water It s eemed as though the S hip mu s t

.

founder rapidly N everthele s s the s e c ond engineer went

.
,
CH . V II ] TORPED OED IN THE CHANNEL 291

below and s topped the engine s SO a s to enab l e the boat s

to be l owered The ve s s e l took s o l ong in s ett l ing
.
1

down that an attempt wa s made by the patrol boat I S L E -

O F MA N whi c h had c ome on the s c ene to t o w her to

, ,

Dover . The effort was un s u c c e s s ful the Oah by s inking ,

near the Varne Light s hip The l o s s of the Br a n lcs om e .

Ch i n e w a s marked by no noti c eab l e in c ident t h e c rew ,

managing to make their e s c ape in s afety .

On the fol l owing day undoubted e v iden c e w a s furni s hed

that an enemy s ubmarine c ommanded by an experien c ed ,

and dari ng if c all ou s Offi c er w a s operat ing in t hi s part

, , ,

of the Engli s h Channel the R i o P ar ana t on s ) and ,

t h e W e s ter n Co as t ton s ) being de s troyed off Bea c hy

Head . In th e firs t c a s e no s ubmarine wa s S ighted but ,

t h e S hip wa s s tru ck on the s tarboard s ide with the re s u l t ,

t hat port s and door s were s tove in j ammed or broken , , ,

and a great volume of water entered the s aloon In the s e .

c ondition s the ma ster ( Mr J Wi ll iam s ) and the c rew

, . .

prepared to abandon the s hip By the t ime their prepara .

tion s were c ompleted ; t h e S hip wa s c on s iderably down at

the head and the water w a s flu s h wi t h her de ck It w a s
, .

at fir s t s ugge sted that the c a s ualty w as due to a mine ,

but the Admiralty in V iew of al l th e c irc um stan c e s c ame , ,

to a c ontrary c on clu s ion Thi s w a s s upported by i n .

t e ll i ge n c e a s to the fate of the W e s te r n Coas t Thi s .

ve s s el w a s on her way from London to P l ymouth ,

where warning s of the pre s en c e of enemy s ubmarine s were

given by a de s troyer and s hortl y afterward s a S hip in ,

di st re s s w a s noti c ed The s e c ond o ffi c er of the W e s te r n .

Coa s t ( ma ster Mr J Rat c l i ffe ) w as on h i s way to report

, . .

the in c ident when an expl o s ion o c c urred a c o l umn of water ,

ri s ing forty or fift y feet The s hip immediately began t o .

s ett l e down but though s h e s ank in two or t hree minu t e s

, , ,

Captain Rat c l i ffe and h i s men managed to make t heir

’
e s c ape The month s lo s s e s c l o s ed wit h the s inking of
—
.

another s hip the H arp ali on ton s ; ma s ter Mr A

—
.
, .

Widders ) not far from the R oy a l S o ve re i gn light ve s s e l -

.

A violent explo s ion o ccurred whi c h ki ll ed three firemen ,

and t hen t h e s hip was enveloped in s team and water

poured over the port Side .

Though enemy s ubmarine s s e cured eight Briti s h S hip s

1
T h e se c n d n gi n M Stanle y R o bi n s on w as a war de d th B n e
o e e e r, r. , e ro z
Me dal for g al lan try in s av i n g li f e at s e a .
292 APPEARANCE OF THE SUBMARINE [ CH . V II

d uring the month of F ebru ary, ten s u cc e e d e d i n e s c aping

'

Of the s e , i n ad dition to the L a er te s , a notable experien c e w as

that of the ma ster and men of the T h or di s ( 5 0 1 ton s ) Her .

c a s e attra cted a good deal of attention at the time owing to

the fine s pirit exhibited by ma s ter and men The T h or di s .

( ma s ter M
, r J . W B e ll
.
) left Blyth
. on the afternoon of
F ebruary 2 4th with a c argo of c oal for Plymouth E very
, .

thi n g went well until the 2 8th when the s hip w as about ,

eight o r ten mile s o ff Beac hy H ead whi c h bore north ea s t ,

-

by east The T h or di s w as steaming at about 5 knot s

.
,

her maximum being 1 0 % knot s A heavy head s e a was ru n .

ning and Capt ai n Bell who w a s on the bridge noti c ed

, , ,

w hat he thought to b e a peri s c ope on the s tarboard bow ,

twenty or thirty yard s away Then began a c onte s t b e .

t ween t h e little s teamer and the enemy c raft whi c h ende d ,

i n the d i sc o m fi tu r e of the latter Captain Bell in stantly .

gave in struc tion s for full s peed and all hand s were o rdered
o n de c k . The s ubmarine c ro s s ed the bow of the T h or di s ,

taking u p a po s ition thirty or forty yard s on her port s ide .

S hortly afterward s Captain Bell noti c ed the wake of a

torpedo on the s tarboard beam He put the heh n .

hard o ver to s tarboard the engi ne s In the meantime ,

going full s peed The T h or di s re s ponded well and ran

.

’
over the s ubmarine s peri s c ope E veryone on board the .

merc hantman heard a c ra s h and an oily s ub s tan c e wa s ,

afterward s noti c ed on the s urfa c e of the water The su b .

marine was not s een again The s everity of the blow

.

whi c h the T h or di s had dealt the s ubmarine wa s s ugge s ted

by the damage to the keel and propel l er revealed when th e ,

ve ss el was do cked immediately afterward s at Devonport .

The German s s ub s equently a s s erted that the s ubmarin e ,

though put out of a c tion had managed to return to port If

, .

that was s o s h e mu s t have been badly damaged The

, .

Admiralty marked their high appre ciation of the ma ster s ’

c ondu c t by c onferring on him a c ommi s s ion in the

R oyal N aval R e s erve and awarding him the Di s tingui s hed
,

Servi c e Cro s s and £2 0 0 wa s di stributed among the o ffi c ers

,

a n d men of the s h i p Captain Bel l — o r rather Lieutenant

—
, , ,

Bel l , a s he had be c ome re c eiving half th at s u m .

1

The month of F ebruar y furni s hed another co n s pi c uou s

e xample o f Briti s h s eaman s h i p % On the 1 7th the Col
1 A re ward of £ 500 f
by T h e S y r e n a nd S h i pp i ng f o r th e de s tru cti on
o f e re d

o f an e ne m y s u bm ar i n e was al s o p ai d t o t h e o fli oe r s an d m e n o f th e T h or d i s .
294 APPEARANCE OF THE SUBMARINE [ CH . VII

s ubmarine poli cy had failed to intimidate Briti s h s eamen

that atta ck s by enemy air craft began The first s hip to .

be mole s ted w a s the B l on de ( 6 1 3 ton s ; ma s ter Mr A , . .

B Mil ne ) on her way from Cowe s to the Tyn e in balla s t

.
, . .

On the morning of Marc h 1 5 th the S hip was about three

mile s to the ea s tward of the N orth F oreland when ,

the s e c ond mate who wa s on the bridge noti c ed an

, ,

aeroplane approa c hing from the eas t The ma s ter at .

the time wa s down be l ow looki ng for a s crewdriver a s ,

wa s afterward s explained when he heard the s ound of ,

an exp l o s ion whi c h c au s ed him to run to the engine room -

door thinking that s omething was wr ong with the engine s

, .

The e ngineer had rea ched the s ame c on clu s ion and i m ,

mediate l y s topped the engine s Thi s Offi c er wa s engaged .

in s ear c hing for the damage when the s e c ond mate running ,

along the de ck c alled out that an aeroplane of enemy

,

nationality wa s dropping bomb s It w as a novel ex .

e r i e n c e for the s e s eamen who had c ertainly never given

p
—
,

a thought to s u c h a po s s ibility repre s enting a fre s h

mena c e to navigation Captain Milne at on c e gave order s
.

for full s peed The fir st two bomb s fell about twenty feet
.

a s tern exploding on rea c hing the water and the next

, ,

about the s ame di s tan c e ahead During thi s atta c k .

on the ve ss el the aeroplane circled about the s h i p e n

, ,

d e a v o u r i ng to get immediately above her The fifth .

bomb was dropped even clo s er on the starboard s ide .

The utmo s t endeavour s of the airmen however failed , , .

Captain Milne reali s ing h i s danger adopted a zigzag

, ,

c our s e and in the meantime kept h i s whi s tle blowing

, .

Hi s di s tre s s c all attrac ted the attention of a trawler a ,

s ingle s hot from whi c h c au s ed the aeroplane t o di s appear .

The E lfland ton s ) a Belgian relief s hip wa s at

, ,

ta c ked i n very s imilar c ir cums tan c e s Off the N orth Hinder

on the 2 1 st and the Le s tr i s
, ton s ) four teen mile s
ea st of the Galloper on the s ame day when the P an di on ,

tons ) wa s al s o bombed without re s ult On the two .

fo ll owi ng day s the Os ce ola ( 3 9 3 ton s ) and the T e al

( 7 6 4 ton s ) s hared the s ame experien c e The O u s e l .

ton s ) wa s atta cked on the 2 9 th and the S tafi a

'

ton s ) on the 3 oth .

O n April 1 l th the S e ru la ton s ) was expo s ed t o

a determ ined atta ck two machine s c on c entrating on
,

h e r The Ship was five mile s we s t of the N orth Hinder

.
CH .
]
VII ATTACKED B Y SEAPLANES 295

light ve ss el at
-
p m when a s eap l ane of large. S ize .
,

and one s maller ma c hine appeared The l arge one wa s .

firs t s een c oming down toward s the S hip from high up

on the s tarboard s id e abaft the beam and dropped a s ma l l ,

bomb s howing a white trail of s moke fol l owed by three ,

bomb s whi c h fell j us t before the bridge on the s tarboard

s ide The undi s mayed ma ster ( Mr J T Sharp ) ordered
. . . .

the helm to be put hard aport Short l y afterward s three .

more bomb s c ame down on the port Side al s o on the fore ,

s ide of the bridge di s tant about twenty fi v e feet The

,
-
.

s maller ma c hine fo l lowing the example of the larger one

, ,

s tarte d to c ome lower down to c c operate in the atta ck -

,

but being met with rifle fire from the s hip s h e s traightened
, ,

up and flew a cro s s dropping bomb s on ea c h s ide of the ,

ve s s el The two ma chine s then pro c eeded aft on the port

.
,

s ide turned
, and c ame ba c k together evidentl y with the
, ,

intention of dropping bomb s al l along the s teamer The .

s hip s c our s e w a s altered ba ckward s and forward s from

’

port to s tarboard s o a s to c onfu s e the airmen At la s t

, .

Captain Sharp got both ma chine s on the s tarboard s ide ,

and then the helm was put hard aport and the engine s
full a stern Both airmen dropped their bomb s on the
.

po r t s ide forward .

So far the enemy airmen had fail ed but they were not ,

di s c ouraged The ma chine s again went aft and atta cked

.

a t h i rd time On t h i s o cc a s ion they c ame s ingly and

.

dropped bomb s on ea c h Side of the bridge doing no damage ,

to the s hip On the la s t o cca s ion the s mal l er aeroplane

.
,

on pa s s ing over the ve s s el appeared to have been s tru ck ,

by the rifle fire whi ch was then being maintained from the
S er u la as s h e tilted up then re c overed hers elf and flew
, , ,

directly away to the s outh with par t of the left wing hang
ing down The larger s eaplane remained around the s hip
.

for about ten minute s longer and then pa s s ing over a , ,

Dut c h s hi p whi c h wa s clo s e by di s appeared to the s outh ,

ward The atta ck la s ted from

. to and twelve
s hot s were fired at the two ma chine s one ro cket di stre ss ,

s i gnal al s o being s ent up L ater event s s ugge sted that .

the German s regarded the s e attempt s with air craft a s

un s ati s fa ctory and thi s c on clu s ion rea cted on their poli c y
for s u c h atta ck s were in future s pa smodi c—mere c a sual
, ,

in cident s of the war in the N orth S ea .

To retu rn to the s ubmarine c ampaign the fa ct that s o ,

296 APPEARANCE OF THE SUBMARINE [ CH . VII .

large a proportion of the ve s s el s atta c ked made good

their e s c ape from under water c raft wa s evidentl y noted -

by the German N aval Staff Hitherto c rowded pa ss enger .

liners had not been interfered with but th e failure ,

of the c ampaign during Mar c h and April to reali s e the

expe ctation s formed in Berl in was to lead to a c hange Of
po l i c y in thi s re s pe ct During the firs t week of Marc h
.

—
the enemy s e c ured o nl y one ve s s e l the Be ngr ove
ton s ) whi c h w a s de s troyed five mi l e s north north ea s t
,
- -

from Ilfra c ombe on the 7 th During the s ame period

—
.

three other ve el u eeded in e aping the W re xh am

s s s s c c s c

ton s ) in the N o rth Sea on Mar c h 2 n d ; t h e N i ngch ow I

ton s ) in the Bri s tol Channel on the 4 th ; and the

L y di a ton s ) in the Engl i s h Channel on the 5 th .

The experien c e of the W r e a h am attra cted the attention

of the Admiralty owing to the Spirited manner in whi c h
the enemy was eluded The W r e wh a m ( ma ster Mr .
, .

Charle s A F ryatt ) wa s one of the Great E astern

.
1

’
R ailway Company s ve s s el s running between H arwi c h ,

and Rotterdam and thi s further att a c k on a s hip of thi s

,

line s upport s the belief that the enemy w a s endeavouring

to c u t c ommuni c ation s between Engl and and H olland .

The s ubmarine appeared at thirty fi v e minute s after noon -

on Mar c h 2 nd when the W re ah am w a s approximately

,
° ° ’
in lat 5 1 5 0 N long 3 0 E
.
’
The enemy c irc led . .

to the northward and then made toward s the Briti s h

,

s hip . Captain F ryatt immediately altered c our s e t o

s outh ea s t by s outh
-
and ordered the engineer to in c rea s e
,

s peed to the utmo s t De ck hand s were mu s tered and s ent

.

be l ow to a s s i s t the firemen everyone reali s ing that a c ha s e ,

for life had begun Under ordinary c ondition s the W re a

.

h am was c apable of about 1 4 knot s But in the fa c e of .

,

s u c h a per i l s h e w a s s oon trave ll ing at nearly 1 6 knot s

,

thr ough the heavy northerly s wel l In the s e c ir cum

,
.

s tan c e s the c h as e c ontinued the s ubmarine in the ,

meant ime flying imperative S ignal s Though the weather .

w a s fine and c lear Captain F ryatt kept h i s s hip s o far

,

away that the s ignal s c ould not be read N o doubt they .

were c all ing upon him to s top b u t thi s was t h e las t thing ,

he had in h i s mind a s the W r e a h am s lowly drew away ,

1 p
Ca p ta in F r y a tt ( w h o s e S i r i te d ac ti o n o n F e b ru a r y 1 7th h as al r e a dy
b e e n m e nti o ne d ) w as tak e n p ri s o ne r by th e e rm an s o n J u ne 2 3 r d, l 9 l 6 , G
w he n i n c o m m an d o f s e B r u s s e l s , an d a fte rwar d s s h o t
. . .
2 95 APPEARANCE [ OF T HE SUBMARINE CH . m

of midnight wa s j u s t s triking ; the light s went out All .

hand s ru s hed up on de ck to find the T a ngi s tan wa s rapidly ,

s ink i ng under their feet There w a s l ittle or no c onfu s ion

.

a s order s were s houted from the bridge for the boat s to

be lowered Before t h i s c oul d be done however the

.
, ,

tragedy wa s c ompleted ; the T angi s tan on an even keel , ,

di s appeared in the dark waters with all on board S everal , .

o f the men c ame to the s urfa c e and c rie s rang out in the
night but only one of them s urvived the night s horror—a
,
’
,

s eaman named J C Toole He managed to s e cure a

. . . .

Spar and he c lung to it in de s peration a s O ffering him the

,

only hope of life Benumbed with the c old he noti c ed

.
,

the other voi c e s around him were s oon Silen c ed and h e ,

’
remained the lonely s urvivor of the whole S hip s c ompany
All he c ould do wa s to s hout in the h Op e that he might
attra ct the attention of s ome pa s s ing s teamer and thi s ,

he did with all h i s remaining s trength One s hip had .

pas s ed in the night s oon after he had rea c hed the s urfa c e ,

and then he de s c ried yet another ve s s el but failed to ,

attr a ct her attention T hree time s hope of re s cue wa s

.

ex c ited but ea c h time the de sperate man wa s di s appointed

, .

H e had been in the water for two hours when at la s t th e

s s W o odvi lle pa ss ed near him heard h i s c rie s now faint
. .
, ,

with in creas ing exhau s tion and pi cked him up H e was , .

afterward s landed at We st Hart lepool Of the c rew of .

thirty nine c on s equent l y only one man s urvived to tell

-
, ,

the tale of the l o s s of the T angi s tan Whether the T an gi .

s tan was a s in the c a s e of the P r i n ce s s Vi ctori a and

,

B la ckwo od the vi ctim of a s ubmarine or whether s h e

, ,

exploded a mine wa s a matter of s ome doubt but it , ,

i s s ignifi c ant that Die Deut s c hen U Boote in ihrer -

—
Kr i e gs fii h ru ng 1 9 1 4 1 8 c laims the T an gi s tan a s a vi c tim
,

of U1 2 who s e de stru ction the following day i s de s c ribed

,

in a later c hapter ( p .

It wa s indubitably a s ubmarine whi c h wa s re s pon s ible

for the de s tru ction two days later of the F l or azan ‘

ton s ; ma s ter Mr E J Caw s ey ) when fi fty t hree mi l e s

, . . .
-

NE ]
. E 1 from the
. L ongs hip s the lighthou s e whi c h ,

s tand s on the ro ck s off L and s End In thi s in stan c e the ’

.

violen c e o f the explo s ion of the torpedo not onl y gave the
s hip a li s t to port but lifted the oil lamp s in the c abin s
,

from their s o cket s with the re su l t that the Ship wa s s oo n

,

abla ze am id s hi ps as s h e began to s ettle s lowly by the he ad .

 ] THE AD E NW E N S
’
AD VENTURE
”

CH . VII 299

Fortunatel y the s team drifter W e n lo ck then about two ,

mi l e s away noti c ed that the F l or azan wa s in di stre s s

, ,

and re s cued a ll t h e o ffi c ers and men who in the me antime ,

had take n to the boat s with the ex c eption of one fireman , ,

who wa s pre s umab l y ki ll ed by the explo sion The s urvivors .

s tood by the burn ing ve s s el for two or three hour s but it ,

wa s im po s s ible to board her on a cc ount of the flame s ,

and no s ign of life being ob s ervable the W e nh wlc c o n

, ,

ti nu e d on her c our s e On the following day t h e F l or azan

.

was s ti l l afloat and w a s taken in tow by eight d r ifters ,

but s h e s ank on the morning of the 1 8th .

On the s ame day the A de n we n ton s ) had a c uriou s

experien c e o ff the Ca s quet s In the early morning light .
,

s ubmarine U2 9 appeared and firing ro cket s ordered the ,

merc hantman to s top The ma ster ( Mr W H Ladd ) . . . .

paid no attention to what was intended to be a peremptory

inj un ction but on the c ontrary in crea s ed s peed and
, , ,

s teered varying c our s e s in order to k eep the s ubmarine

right a stern Again the S ignal s were made and agai n

.
,

they were ignored But the c ha s e was a hopele s s o ne

.
,

for the s ubmarine had the advantage of s peed and s oo n

overhauled the A de nwe n Speaking through a mega .

phone the c ommander o f U2 9 threatened to torpedo th e

,

s hip unle s s s h e w a s s topped There wa s no alternative .

but c omplian c e with thi s order In a few minute s the .

c rew had taken to the boat s and a German party pro ,

c e e d e d on board the A de nwe n and pla c ed bomb s In the hold ,

whi c h s ub s equently exploded The c rew were towed by .

the s ubmarine for s ome time and were then tran s ferred ,

to the N orwegian s s Both ni a whi c h landed them at . .

,

Brixham the s ame afte rnoon The enemy a s s umed that .

the Briti s h S hip would s ink but on the c ontrary s h e , , ,

remained a fl oat wa s noti c ed by the F ren c h de s troye r

,

CL A YM ORE later in the day and having been towed , ,

into Cherbourg and temporarily repaired arrived at ,

Cardi ff On April l st to be taken later on into the Admiralty

,

s ervi c e .

The c ampaign c ontinued on the 1 2 th when five s hip s ,

were att a cked four being s unk One the I nve rgy l e
, .
,

ton s ; ma s ter Mr D K Minto ) wa s torpedoed off t h e

, . . .
,

Tyn e and t h e other three i n the neighbourhood of the

,

S ci ll y I s l and s Thi s group c on si sted of the He a dl an ds

.

ton s ) the I ndi an Ci ty

,
ton s ; ma s ter Mr , .
3 00 APPEARANCE OF T HE [ m SUB MARINE CH .

John William s ) and the Andalu s i an , ton s ; ma s ter ,

Mr L Mal ley ) and they were al l s unk by the U2 9 under

. .
,

the redoubtable Otto W e ddi ge n As in the c a s e of th e .

three armoured c rui s ers AB O U K IR C RE S S Y and H OGUE , , ,

t hi s o ffi c er profited by the c ode of humanity whi c h

t h e s eamen of the great maritime Power s had alway s
hitherto ob s erved The s s He adl ands was entering
. . .

t h e Engli s h Channel from the we s t when the ma s te r

( Mr .H erbert L ugg ) s a w a burning s hip about five mile s

away to the ea s tward Without a thought ex c ept for the .

men of the ve s s el from whi c h the s moke wa s ri s ing he ,

a ltered c our s e in t h e hope that he might be able to s ave the

live s of brother s e amen H e had been s teaming toward s .

the m ass of s moke for a matter of twen ty minute s when ,

he ob s erved a s ubmarine approa ching him at ful l s peed .

In the tra c k of the s ubmarine wa s a patrol boat and inter -

,

m i tt e ntl y fla s he s of gunfire remind e d him that in obeying

the humane cu stom of the s e a he had ru n into danger .

When h i s own s hip had di s appeared he learnt that the U2 9 ,

had atta cked the I n di an Ci ty whi c h had been torpedoed ,

when the patrol boat c ame on the s c ene As the I ndi an

-
.

Ci ty whi c h did not Sink until the following day wa s in

, ,

no immediate danger the patrol ve s s el had given c ha s e ,

-

to the s ubmarine By keeping on the s urfa c e at the ri s k

.
,

of being hit by a S hell the German c ommander wa s able ,

to outdi stan c e h i s pursuer As s oon a s Captain L ugg .

reali s ed the danger he put h i s helm hard a starboard ,

in the hope of avoiding purs uit Owing to the He adl an ds .

’

s low s peed it wa s s oon apparent that h i s c a s e was hopele s s

, .

The merc hant s hip was sti ll h o l di ng to her c ours e when l

the s ubmarine c ommander drew up clo s e a stern and s houted

to the He adl ands to s top The c hallenge was unheeded . .

The s ubmarine then man oeuvred for po s ition and fired a

torpedo whi c h s tru ck the He adlands a baft the e ngine room
,
-
.

The s hip began to s ettle down a s the s ubmarin e with a group ,

of patrol ve s s el s in pursuit made off at high S peed Within , .

a few minute s everyone on board the He adl ands had taken

to the boat s whi c h were afterward s towed into port by
,

a patrol c raft 1
.

1
On M ar c h 1 8th 1 9 1 5 Ott o W e d di g e n wh o as a r e war d f o r h i s
, , , ,

s u cce s s e s h a d b e e n p r o m o te d f r o m U 9 t o U2 9 s i n c e h e b e g an h i s r ai ds
,

on c om m e r c e a t te m p t e d t o a t t ac k
,
o ne o f th e b ttle s qu a dr o ns o f a

t h e G r an d Fl e e t a n d w as a pp r o p ri a te ly r am m e d a n d su n k by H M S . . .

D RE ADN OU GHT P i ck e d u p o n h e r r am li k e a W i nkl e o n a p i n

”
as an ,
3 02 APPEARANCE OF T HE [ SUBMARINE CH . vn

he c alled on tho s e in the boat to go on board but tho s e ,

who had the oars wou l d not pull bac k Captain Ma c .

L ar no n then l eft the s hi p with the re s t of the hand s .

The c rew were eventually landed at Ini s h tu r k I s land .

In t h e meantime the enemy devoted attention to the s hip ,

whi c h wa s s oon we l l afi r e She wa s s ub s equently found.

adrift by the patrol boat Greta and towed into C l eggan

-

Bay about ten mi l e s to the s outhward where a l ready

, , ,

gut ted by the flame s s h e was b ea c hed , .

During the remainder of the month of Marc h the c am

p g
a i n w a s pre s s ed by the enemy with energy and e l eve n

s hip s were lo s t together wit h 1 1 5 live s Eighteen other

, .

ve s s el s were atta c ked but managed to e s c ape N one

, .

of the s e s hip s po s s e ss ed any armament but owed thei r ,

s afety in mo s t c a s e s to s peed and good s e aman s hip A .

typi c al illu stration of re s our c efu l ne s s under advers e c o n

d i ti o ns was furni s hed by the ma s ter ( Mr J ohn H orne ) .

of the Hy ndf or d ton s ) The Hy ndf or d was on h e r .

way home from Bahia with a c argo of wheat and oat s .

O n the afternoon of Mar c h 1 5 th s h e was s teaming u p

Channel at full s peed making for L ondon and when about
, ,

twelve mil e s s outh of Bea c hy H ead an e xplo s ion o c curred .

The weather was fine and there was a s mooth s e a T h e .

s hip s h o c k from end to end O n ru s hi ng out of the c hart

.

hou s e the ma s ter en c ountered a great volume of falling

,

water and d é bri s After a moment s delay he wa s how

.
’
,

ever able to reac h the bridge in time to s e e the wake of

,

a s ubmarine with i t s peri s c ope S howing The enemy ve s s el

, .

w as going away from the s hip in a s outh we s terly dire c tion -

,

and s oon di s appeared beneath the water The s e c ond .

Offi c er had al s o s een the peri s c ope and there was no doubt , ,

therefore that the ve s s el had been atta cked by a su b

,

marine without warning The outrage wa s s o unexpe cted.

that c on s iderable c onfu sion o cc urred on board the

Hy n df or d As the s hip s head wa s s inking fa st the
.
’
,

engineers left the engine room and the crew were hurrying
-
,

toward s the boat s wh i c h h a d already been s wung out

, ,

when the ma ster took c ommand of the s ituation H e .

immediately dire cted that the boat s were not to b e

lowered but owing to an a c cident the port lifeboat slipped
, , ,

and two hand s were thrown into the water Captain H orn e .

then endeavoured to c alm the men and ordered an engineer

to s top the engine s As s oon a s way was s u ffi c iently o ff
.
 ”
] THE LIZ Z IE S RESCUE WORK
’
CH . VII 3 03

th e hip a boat was put out to re sc ue the two men who

S ,

had fall en into t h e water and one of t hem w a s in fa ct , , ,

s aved Gradually m ore or le s s normal c ondition s wer e

.

e stabli s hed on board In the meantime i t had been found

.

that water in the fore ho l d was at s e a leve l but NO 2 ho l d -

, .

w a s dry s o firing two ro cket s of di s tre s s Captain Horne

, , ,

put h i s engine s half s peed ahead for ten m i nut e s a s a t e s t ,

and finding the bu lkhead s tood the s train he pro c eeded

, ,

at ful l s peed toward s the Down s fill ing the after ball a s t ,

tank s in order to trim t h e s hip The Hy n df or d arrived .

at the D own s hal f an hour after midnight on Marc h 1 6 t h ,

and eventuall y was towed to Gray s Flat s and bea c hed ’

for temporary repairs .

The atta c k on the D e lm i r a ton s ) on the 2 5 t h

attra cted the s pe c ia l attention of the Admiral ty owin g
to the p l u ck and re s our c e exhibited by Mr Jonathan .

Evan s the ma s ter of the s s L i zzi e ( 8 0 2 ton s ) The

, . . .

D e lm i ra had a c rew of thirty two hand s but on l y eight -

,

of t he s e were Engl i s h the re s t being Chine s e She was , .

pro c eeding from Bou l ogne to Port Tal bot and wa s twent y ,

three mi l e s north north ea s t from Cape d Anti fe r when t h e

- -
’
,

U3 7 appeared aft at a di s tan c e of about two mi l e s The .

ma s ter of t h e large Briti s h mer c hant s hip ( Mr Will iam .

L a n c e fi e ld ) took no noti c e of a s ignal dire cting him to

s top and the German s then began firing and gradual l y
,

gained on the D e lm i r a whi c h wa s making on l y about ,

9 knot s The u s ual pro c edure was fo llowed b u t in t hi s c a s e

.
,

the c ommander of the U boat s howed c on s ideration for -

the offi c ers and men He volunteered to tow their boat s .

until s ome ve s s el w a s met with to whi c h they c ould tran s fer .

For an hour and a hal f the l itt l e pro c e s s ion c on s i s ting ,

of the s ubmarine and t h e three boat s of the D e lm i r a ,

maint ained i ts c our s e toward s th e Engli s h c oa s t and t hen ,

the s s L i zzi e appeared t o t h e ea s tward The s ubmarine

. . .

immediate l y cu t the tow and began to dive in the dire ction of

the L i zzi e The ma ster of the l itt l e Briti s h ve s s el promptl y
.

s t eamed fu l l s peed toward s t h e s ubmarine with the intent ion

of ramming her The L i zzi e pa s s ed over the enemy ve s s el

.
,

but felt no s ho ck and it i s doubtful if even the peri s c ope

,

wa s s tru ck In S pite of the danger whi c h the pre s en c e

.

of t h e enemy boat mu st have s ugge s ted Captain Evan s ,

of the L i zzi e s topped h i s s hip and pi c ked up the men out

o f the three boat s who were eventually landed at Port s
,

21
304 APPEARANCE OF THE SUBMARINE [ CH, VII

mouth The De lm i r a grounded later on at Cape La Hogue

.
,

where temporary repair s were c arried out .

By thi s time eviden c e wa s a ccumulating of the deter

mination of the enemy to break if he c ou l d the s pirit of , ,

Brit i s h mer c hant s eamen whil e on the other hand t h e , , ,

s t orie s that rea c hed the Admira l ty bore te s timony to the

dogged c ourage with whi c h the s e men in fa c e Of u np aral ~ ,

lel ed dangers c ontinued to go about the nation s bu s ine s s

,
’
.

Almo s t eve r y in c ident sugge s ted that no amount of fright

ful ne s s on t h e part Of the enemy would s u cc eed in t e r r o r i s
ing the de s c endant s of the men who had thrown Open the
navigation of the s ea s freely to the nation s of the world .

The re c ord of the s e day s of heroi c re s i s tan c e to a c ruel

c ampaign mu s t be s tudied in the knowledge that the s e

men untrained for the violen c e Of war were al s o for the

, , ,

mo s t part unprovided with armament to enable them to

,

defend them s elve s and their ve s s el s again st c raft po s s e s sing ,

in addition to the power s of s ubmergen c e p owerful gun s , ,

deadly torpedoe s and eas ily portable bomb s It was an

, .

unequal c onte s t but Briti s h s eamen purs ued it with

,

high c ourage and tenac ity The o ffi cial re c ord s reveal .

the generous feeling of admiration excited in naval o ffi cers

s ervin g at the Admiralty as tale after tale c ame in fr om

the s e a .

A parti cu l arly noteworthy s tory i s that of the Vosges

ton s ) S he was on pas s age from Bordeau x to
.

L iverpool c arrying a general c argo with two fi r st cla s s

, ,
-

pa ss engers and five c on s ular pa s s engers when s h e wa s ,

atta cked on Marc h 2 7th 1 9 1 5 at a m ,

by a German , . .
,
° °
s ubmar ine in lat 50 long 6 W
. The mer c hant . .

man was unarmed Immediately the s ubmarine c ame

.

into view the ma ster ( Mr J ohn R Green ) ordered all . .

the firemen below and a sked the c on s ular pa s s engers t o

v o l unteer to a s s i s t in maintaining s team p r s s u re Thi s
g .

aid w a s wi llingly given A fight wa s in pro spe ct that made

.

the blood c ours e freely through the vein s of every man

on board The s ubmarine opened fire from a stern the
.
,

fir s t s hot being immediately followed by one whi c h h i t

the Briti s h ve s s e l aft In the meantime the Vosge s
.

w a s s teaming at her highe s t s peed Captain Green altering ,

c our s e as ne c e s s ary to keep the enemy behin d him and ,

with her head to the s c a so that s h e c ould not u s e her gu n

, \
.

On the other hand the s ubmarine was all th e time e n

,
306 APPEARANCE OF THE SUBMARINE [ CH . VII

s unk the s ubmarine The Vosge s di s appeared bow firs t

.

’
a t 2 o c l o c k aft er an exp l o s ion had o cc urred Gentl em en .
,
”
I did not give her away the c aptain c on cl uded in h i s ,

report to h i s owners The Admiralty on re c eiving i n .

,

formation a t on c e expre s s ed their appre c iation of t h e

,

c ondu c t of a ll c on c erned it being remarked that ,

the
c hief engineer bot h by h i s energy and h i s example was
, ,

largely i n st rumental i n enab l ing t h e ve s s el to s hake o ff

the s ubmarine O ffi c ia l appre c iation was afterward s
.

formall y expre s s ed of t h e gall antry of o ffi c ers and c rew

Captain Green w a s awarded a c ommi s s ion in the Royal
Naval Re s erve and re c eived the D S O for h i s gall ant . . .

and re s o l ute c ondu c t gold wat c he s were pre s ent ed

to the other o fli c e r s the widow of c hief engineer Harry
,

D avie s re c eiving the go l d wat c h whi c h wou l d have been

handed to her hu sband if he had lived ; and the members
of the c rew were paid a gratuity of £3 ea c h .

A duel la sting ninety minute s between an old Briti s h

merc hant s hip and a German s ubmarine o ccurred at thi s
period of the war refle cting the utmo s t c redit on Briti s h
,

s eaman s hip The Ci ty of Cam br i dge wa s a four ma s ted

.
-

s hip of ton s and her c ompound engine s gave her a

,

normal s peed when loaded of about 1 0 knot s She was .

thirty three year s old havi ng been built by Me ss r s Work

-
, .

men Clark
, Co at Belfa s t in 1 8 8 2 She left Alexandria
. .

for L iverpool on Mar ch l 6 th with a general c argo The .

ma ster ( Mr Alfred C F ry ) wa s determined not to be

. .

c aught unprepared for an emergen c y and on the 2 7th he ,

mu st ered all hand s at their re s pe ctive boat s tations in

order that every Ofli ce r and man s hould pra cti s e putting
”
on h i s life belt in i t s proper po s ition
-
for belie v e me , , ,

Captain Fry afterward s remarked familiarity breed s ,

c ontempt and there are numbers of pers on s on board

,

mo s t s h i p s who do not know how to put on life belt s -

”
properly .Strong north ea s t wind s were en c ountered in
c ro s s ing the Bay and at 4 3 0 on the fol l owing afternoon
,
.
,

the Ci ty of Cam br i dge pa s s ed Bi s hop Ro c k at a di stan c e

of about thirty eight mile s and c ours e wa s then a ltered
-
,

to pa s s about twenty mi l e s we st of the Smalls to the ,

we s t ward of Mi l ford Haven At noon Captain F ry had .

doubled the lookout and he kept h i s eye s kinned

,

for any s u s pi ciou s c raft or for the s ight of a peri s c ope .

.

At nothing being o b s ervable o n th e horizon h e ,

CH .
]
VI I BAFFLING A SUBMARINE 3 07

left the bridge to go down to dinner the third ,

o ffi c er with the lookout men and the man at the whee l

remaining on the bridge He had ju s t s a t down with
.

the c hief and s e c ond offi c ers when a S harp report wa s ,

heard on the s tarboard Side of the v e s s e l I ra c ed .

”
from th e tab l e to the bridge he s tated in h i s s ub s equent ,

narrative of event s and did it I t hink in re c ord time

, , ,

s a y fifteen s e c ond s I climbed the port ladder and ru s hed

.

to the wheel L ooking over the s ide I s a w cl o s e to u s

.
, ,

s ay half a s hip s lengt h away the c onning tower of a

’
,

Su lsm a r i n e with s evera l men in it She wa s heading the .

se x
J
l ‘e way a s our s e l ve s I at on c e mys elf pul l ed the wheel
.

over to the s tarboard s haking them up be l ow at the s ame

,

time ; then knowing that the bri dge would be fired at

, ,

I lay flat for a minute The c hief and s e c ond o ffi c er s

.

were with me b y t hi s t ime and the s e c ond o fli c e r took

'

the wheel and kept it for the re s t of the t ime of our trial .

After a s hort time I looked for the e n e m y a n d found that ,

’

he wa s a c ouple of point s or s o on the s tarboard quarter

and our own s hip s winging o ff good to port Thi s gave .

u s c ourage and the hope that he would not ha v e it al l

h i s own way ; if we c ould only keep her going and the

enemy a stern we had a good c han c e of getting away
, ,

unle s s ho l ed below the water line As s oon a s he under -

.

s tood we were goi ng to make a try for it he fired a s hel l , ,

and then for an hour and a ha l f it wa s very hot work .

H e would gain on u s till one c ould c ount the head s in

the c onning tower At one time I think he c ould not have
.

been 2 00 feet from u s a ma s s of foam wi th ju s t the top

,

of the tower S howing and then he wa s hard aport or s tar

,

board ( generally port ) til l he s tood at right angle s trying'

,

to ge t far enough out to s ma s h th e bridge a t the s ame ,

time he was s hepherding u s s o that we were before the

wind and s well whi c h although it wa s s mall probably up s et
, , ,

h i s s hooting platform We managed to baffle him at

.

ev ery move At one time I w a s afraid our s peed was

.

going down but with the be s t of firemen below and the

,

mighty effort s O f the engineer s we re c overed s peed and ,

worked her up to a litt l e over 1 3 knot s ( our top s peed ) .

At thi s time we were heading int o both wind and s e a

( he had for c ed u s to turn round the c ompa s s twi c e ) and
going s lowly away from him The light by n o w had .

s ettled into a bright moonlight night and as he got ,

3 08 APPEARANCE OF THE SUBMARINE [ CH . V II

farther a s tern we gradually lo s t s ight of h i m but he gave ,

u s one parting s hot whi c h did a lot of damage , .

That ninety minute s wa s s u c h a s I do not wi s h to

experien c e again Think n it po ss ible that s ome of our
.

a r med s hip s might be wi thin range I fired two di s tre s s ,

S ignal s one after anot h er to attra c t their attention Then .

he brought a Mor s e lamp on de c k and s tarted Mor sing ,

but known thi s wa s only a tri ck to divert our attention ,

”
I took no noti c e of it .

F or the c ourage and re s our c e exhibited in fa c e of the

enemy Captain Fr y wa s pre s ented with a gold wat c h
,

from the Admiralty a s well a s L l oyd s Meda l and wa s ’

,

c omm ended in t h e L on don Gaze tte be s ide s re c eiving a ,

reward from the War R i s k s A s s o ciation Though h i s .

s hip was entirely without armament he had oppo s ed h i s ,

s eaman s hip to all the O ffen s ive qualitie s po s s e s s ed by the

s ubmarine and s plendidly s upported by h i s Ofli c e rs and

, ,

the s taff in the engine room he had won The devotion -

, .

o f the ma s ter O ffi c er s ,
and engi neer s s aved the s hip and
,

i ts c argo but the Ci ty of Ca m br i dge did not e s c ape unin

,

j u red One German s hell c arried away a

. davit ,

de s troying the boat whi c h it helped to s upport Another .

penetrated the boat s wain s room and part of the lamp ’

lo cker one of the s e hole s being about 3 0 in c he s by 5 0 in che s

,
.

The after work s were injured and o n e s h e l l whi c h pa s s ed

-
,

over the bridge c arr ied away the s ignal halyard Thi s .

”
'

wa s a clo s e c all Captain F ry remarked , a s had it s tru ck , ,

any of the s hort awning s par s it would have exploded , ,

”
and that would have fini s hed u s E x c ept for a s light .

s plinter wound s u s tained by a fireman no one wa s t h e ,

wor s e for the en c ounter With a bit of lu c k and owi ng

.

to the hard determination of the Offi c er s and men above

”
and below de ck the ma s ter related afterward s
, we ,
” 1
managed to bring our s hip home .

Another in cident whi c h o ccurred in the c lo s i ng day s o f

Mar c h mu s t be noted be c au s e apart from the lo ss of life
, ,

involved it figured in the N ote s whi c h afterward s pa s s ed

,

between the Government of the United State s and German y ,

and was the s ubj e ct of a S pe cial inquiry by the Boar d

of Trade When approximately s ixty mile s W i N
. . .

1
T h e Ci ty f Ca m b r i d ge a f te r a s e co n d e s ca p e fr o m a s u b m ari n e i n
o ,

t h e s a m e y a r w s s u nk i n t h e M e d i t e rr a n e a n ( J ly 3 r d 1 9 1 7) w h e n
e , a u ,

u nd e r t h e c o m m an d o f an o th e r m as te r .
310 APPEARANCE OF THE SUBMARINE [ CH . V II

to be an enemy cr aft The s ubmarine wa s at thi s time .

making about 1 8 knot s and wa s rapid l y overhaul in g the

F a l a ba. Shortly before noon s h e fired a detonating s ignal
to c all attention and by flags s ignalled the F a l a ba to s to p
,

and abandon S hip The F alaba did not stop but s ti l l

.
’
,

manoe uvred to keep the s ubmarine a stern The s ubmarine .

’
then s ignalled Stop or I fire The c aptain and the c hief .

o fli ce r then c onferred and de c ided that it w a s impo s s ible

to e s c ape They a c c ordingl y rang to the engine room

.
-

to s te p t h e engine s The s ign al Stop or I fire was given

.

a minute or two before noon The s ubmarine then Si g .

n all e d
’
Abandon s hip immediately and hailed through a ,

meg aphone to the F a laba to take to the boat s a s they were ,

’
going to Sink the s hip in five minute s The c aptain .

an s wered that he w a s taking to the boat s The Marc oni .

operator heard the hail and s ent out a s e c ond me s s age , ,

Po s ition 5 1 3 2 N 6 3 6 W ; torpedo ; going boat s

° ’
.
,
° ’
. .
’

The warning that the s ubmarine was going to s ink the S hip
in five minute s was given as nearl y a s po s s ible at noon .

The F a l aba s topped at or and at the s u b .

marine fired a torpedo into her At thi s moment the su b .

marine wa s within about 1 0 0 yard s of the F a l aba The .

torpedo s tru c k the F a l aba on the s tarboard s ide by N o 3 .

hat c h aft of NO 1 lifeboat and j u s t along side the Mar

.

c oni hou s e The blow wa s fatal The F a l aba at on c e

. .

took a li s t to s tarboard and in eight minute s ( namely , ,

at sh e s ank Thi s was within twenty minute s

.

o f the noti c e from the s ubmarine of her intention to s ink

the s hip An affi davit by Mr Baxter the c hief o ffi c er

. .
, ,

whi c h had been put in h as s ati s fied me that no ro c ket s

o r other s ignal s were fi red or s hown from the F a l aba on

Marc h 2 8th ”
.

L ord Mers ey held that he was not required to find

whether the s ubmarine wa s within her right s a s an enemy
c raft in s inking the F a l ab a b u t he w a s c alled upon to a s ,

s ume that in any event s h e wa s bound to a fford the men

“

an d women on board a rea s onable Opportunity of getting

to the boat s and of s aving their live s Thi s tho s e in c harge .

o f the s ubmarine did not do And s o gro s sly i ns u fli ci e nt .

was the Opportunity in fa c t afforded that I am driven

to the c on clu s ion that the c aptain Of the s ubmarin e
d e sir e d and de s igned n o t merely to s ink th e s hip but , i n ,
CH . vn ] GERMAN BARBARITY
doing s o al s o to s ac rifi c e the live s of the pa s s engers and
,
”
c rew The Wre ck Commi s s ioner added t hat ev iden c e
.

wa s given by the witne s s e s of laughing and j eering from

t h e s ubmarine whi le the men and women from the F a l a ba
were s tru ggl ing in the water but L ord Mers ey stated ,

that he preferred to hope that the witne s s e s were m i s

taken Corporal Turnbu l l of the Royal Army Medi c al
.

Corp s one of the s urvivor s in a s tatement to the Pre s s

, , ,
1

s aid t hat the barbarity of the c rew of the s ubmarine

wa s frightful They waited to s e e the la s t of the F a l ab a
.

before t hey dived but of c our s e they made no attempt

, , ,

to s ave any of u s That was not the wors t part The mo s t

. .

maddening thing wa s to s e e the c rew of the s ubmarine

after they had torpedoed u s The F a l aba li s ted over .
,

and the pa s s engers and c rew were c linging like flie s trying
to get a grip of the de ck and dropping one by one into the ,

wat er while the c rew of the s ubmarine l aughed and j eered

,

at them The a s c ertained lo s s of life wa s 1 0 4

. .

C ontinuing h i s judgment Lo rd Mer s ey added that , ,

between the firs t s ignal of t h e s ubmarine to s top and the

a ctual s topping of the F a l aba the c hief offi c er dire cted ,

the firs t and s e c ond s teward s to a s s emble the pa s s engers

on de ck and to tel l them to pu t on t heir l ife be lt s The -
.

c aptain al s o s ent the fourth offi c er below to s e e that the s e

order s were c arried out Aft er the engine s were s topped .

,

the c hief engineer and the third engineer ordered all men
in the engi ne room and s tokehold on de c k and the order
-
,

wa s obeyed By the time the F a l aba w a s s topped a

.
,

large number of the pa s s enger s were already on t h e boat

de ck The c aptain wa s on the bridge He s ent the third
. .

o ffi c er and t h e quarterma s ter to s e e to the lowering and

fi ll ing of the boat s and the order to man the boat s w as
,

pa ss ed round the s hip The Wre c k Commi s s ioner the n

.

dealt with the s eriou s c omplaint s whi c h were made by

s ome of the witne s s e s a s to the c ondition of the boat s
”
and a s to the laun c hing of them After referring to the s e .

s tatement s and to the te c hni c al eviden c e gi v en before

him he s aid that he wa s s ati s fied

, that t h e witne s s e s
who de s c ribed the boat s as having been rotten are
mi staken and that in truth the b oat s were s ound and
, , ,

in good order up to the t ime of the att a c k by the s ubmarine .

W hat , howe ver the witne s s e s probably mean when they

, ,

T i m es , Mar ch 30 th ,
1915 ,
3 12 APPEARANCE OF THE SUBMARINE [ CH
. VII

s a y the boat s were rotten i s that when afloat s ome of them ,

were found to be un s eaworthy And thi s no doubt i s .

, ,

true But thi s c ondition of thin gs was in my opinion

.
, ,

wholly due to the dam age s u stained by the boat s after

the operation of laun c hing began and not to afi y previou s ,

defe ct Upon the s ubj e ct of the laun c hing it i s therefore

.
, , ,

ne c e s s ary to s ay a few word s It i s to be remembered .

that the s ubmarine had given the F a l aba only about

five minute s in whi c h to man to fi ll and to laun c h the s e , ,

boat s in whi c h in s hort to s ave the live s of 2 42 per s on s

, , .

Thi s was an operation quite in c apable of e ffi cient perfor

man c e in anything like that s hort s pa c e of time There .

wa s unavoidable hu r ry and di s order ; the fall s of one

of the boat s slipped the fall s of another j ammed ;
s ome boat s were da s hed again s t the s ide of the s hip and

damaged ; one ( N o 8 ) wa s s eriou s l y injured by the ex

.

plo s ion of the torpedo while still hanging from the davit s .

It i s in the s e c ircu m stan c e s that s ome of the witne s s e s

apparently de s ire me to find that the damage done to the
boat s wa s due to the negle ct of the offi c er s and c rew in
c onne c tion with the laun c hing I c annot do thi s I . .

have no doubt that had there been more time for the ,

work it might have been better c arried out but in my

—
, , ,

opinion all on board c aptain offi c ers c rew and pa ss engers

—did their very be st P eople were fighting for their lives
, , , ,

and for the live s of others about them and in the s truggl e ,

the c aptain half the c rew and a large nu mber of the p as

, ,

s e n g e rs were drowned It i s impo s s ible for me to fi x

.

any man on board the s hip with a failure of duty or with

in c ompeten c e The re s pon s ibility for the c on s equen c e s
.

of thi s c ata strophe mu st re s t ex clu s ively with the o ffi c e rs

”
and c rew of the German s ubmarine .

Two more s hip s were sunk on the la s t two day s o f

Marc h happily without lo s s of life The F l am i ni an
,
.

ton s ; ma s ter Mr David Cruiks hank ) was de stroyed

, .

on the 2 9 th by gunfire fifty mi l e s s outh we s t by we st from

,
-

the S cil l y I s le s and the Cr own of Cas ti le

,
ton s ;
ma s ter Mr T S F yfe ) on the 3 oth when thirty one mile s
, . . .
,
-

s outh we s t from the Bi s hop Ro c k

-
Submarine U2 8 wa s .

re s pon s ible for th e s inking of both ve s s el s .

By the end of Marc h the depredation s of enemy s urfa c e

c raft had c ea sed and no fu r ther lo s s e s on thi s a c c ount were
,

in curred until the following January ; the mine peril had

314 APPEARANCE OF THE SUBMARINE [ CH . vn

over the Hom e r and the German o ffi c er re s umed s hout ing

in Engli s h ordering Captain Gib s on to get into h i s boat
, .

The enemy c raft c on s idering the i s s ue pra cti c al l y de c ided

, .

c ame within a hundred yard s and t hen the H om e r ha ving , ,

c a s t loo s e the Gén ér a l de S an tos turned toward s her It , .

was a c riti c al moment As s oon a s the ene m y rea l i s ed

.

the intention of the ma ster of the H om e r he p u t h i s he l m ,

hard aport and Opened fire c ont inuing a de s perate atta c k ,

unt il the H om e r was almo st on top of him mi s s ing h i s ,

s tern by about t hree feet The H om e r s head was then .

’

revers ed and t h e s ubmarine s til l firing t h e ve s s el pro

, , ,

c e e d e d in the dire ction of the Ower s The s ubmarine .

fo llowed firing a torpedo w h i c h pa s s ed clo s e to the Briti s h

,

ve ss el s s tarboard quarter At thi s time the H om e r wa s

’
.

travelling at about 1 2 knot s The s ubmarine c ontinued .

to c ha s e her for half an hour but had fall en half a mile ,

a stern when s h e abandoned the pur suit and turned ba ck ,

evidently with the intention of deal ing with a Fren c h

barque whi c h was in s ight The tug with s even hole s as .
,
’
eviden c e of the enemy s pers i s ten c y rea c hed Bembridge ,

s ome time later The Admiralty marked their appre c iation

.

of the re s ourc e and c ourage of the ma s ter by pre s enting

him with a gold wat c h and a letter on vellum .

F ive other s hip s managed to make their e s c ape during

April L a R os ar i n a
, ton s ) experien c ing a narrow
e s c ape on the 1 7th when s h e wa s c ha s ed by a s ubmarine
, ,

and beat o ff the atta c k by gunfire But during the la s t .

twenty day s of April the Ha rp a ly ce ton s ) T h e ,

P r e s i de n t ( 6 4 7 ton s ; ma s ter Mr N eil Robert s on ) P ta r , .

,

m i gan ( 7 8 4 ton s ; ma s ter Mr W A W Hore ) M obi le , . . . .

,

ton s ; ma s ter Mr W C F ortune ) Ch e r bu r y , . . .

,

ton s ; ma s ter Mr Jame s David s on ) and F u lge n t

’

.
, ,

ton s ) were all s unk with lo s s of life in the c a s e of the

,

H a r pa ly ce P ta r m i gan and F u lge n t

,
The end of the
, .

Ha rp a ly ce ( ma s ter Mr Wawn ) w as m a r k e ct by s ome

, .

feature s whi c h appeared parti cularly revo l ting to s till

tender c on s c ien c e s at that early pe riod of the s truggle .

Thi s s hip was working for the Commi s s ion of Re l ief

in Be l gium When s h e left Rotterdam for N orfo l k
.
,

Virginia ,
in addition to her Red En s ign s h e
w a s flying the large flag of the Commi s s ion and painted ,

on her s ide s in large letters was the name of the Com

mi s s io n H er s tatu s had been re c ogni s ed by the German
.
CH . vn ] A RELIEF SHIP S FATE 315
’

Mini st er at The Hague who had i s s ued a s afe c ondu ct

,
-
,

c overing ri s k s from atta c k by German s ubmarine s during

her voyage Thi s permit wa s of t h e mo st s pe c ifi c c hara cter

.
,

but c ont ained a warning again st navigating th e waters

”
de cl ared by Germany to be a war zone e s pe cial ly through ,

t h e Engl i s h Channe l In tho s e cir cum st an c e s there s hould

.

have been no c au s e for anxiety The Harp a ly ce left Rot .

t e r d a m about a m on Saturday morning April l oth

. .
, ,

and all went we ll until the s hip was about s even mile s
s outh s ou t h ea s t
- -
from the North H inder light ve s s el -
,

when at 1 0 a m a loud report was heard on the starboard

. .

’
quarter An explo s ion had blown in the s hip s s ide
. .

In les s than two minutes the whole of the poop and after
well de ck were s ubmerged The s hip was doomed Ac . .

c ording to the s tatement s of the s e c ond o ffi c er ( Mr W J . . .

G e orge ) and the s e c ond engineer ( Mr J S Turnbu ll ) . . .

,

It wa s impo s s ible t o s wing out the boat s as by now the ,

top o f the funne l wa s nearl y in the water the engine ,

”
room being filled u p and the de ck s beginning to blow up .

Within a s hort time the s hip went down The c rew .

c on s i s ted of forty four offi c er s and men

-
in cluding thirty ,

three Chine s e hand s They wou l d all undoubted l y have

.

been drowned but for the fortunate appearan c e upon t h e

s c ene of the Netherland s s s E li zabe th and s s Con . . . .

s ta n ce Ca th e r i n e whi c h i n c ompany with the United State s

, ,

s c hooner R u b managed to ave all but fift een of the rew

y ,
s c .

The s e neutra l ve s s e l s not only exh i bited fine s eaman s hip

during thi s re s cue work but illu s trated that c hivalry of,
’
the s e a whi c h prior to Ge rmany s de c i s ion had united
, ,

the s eamen of the world Two po s sibilitie s c alled fo r .

inve s tigat ion In the firs t plac e it had to be s ettled

.
,

whether the s hip had been s unk by mine or torpedo As .

to that not on l y was it improbab l e that a mine would

,

s trike t h e ve s s el on the s tarboard quarter a s wa s the c a s e , ,

but the s e c ond mate di s tin ctly s aw t h e peri s c ope of a su b

marine and i ts wa s h a s i t made o ff to t h e northward s ;
c orroborative eviden c e on thi s point w as als o given by

the mas ter of the E li zabe th N or wa s there any la ck o f .

te s timony a s to the po s ition in whi c h the Harpa ly ce was

s unk we l l out s ide the s o c alled German war zone No
- -
.

doubt exi sted that thi s ve s s e l engaged on an errand of ,

”
merc y to the s uffering c ivil popu l ation of Be lg ium ,

to quot e from the German permit was torpedoed without ,

 316 A PP E ARANCE OF T HE ( SUBMARINE on . vn

warning and in broad daylight out side the area d e s ignated

by the enemy although s h e c arried every mark of her
,

di stin ctive mi ss ion .

The la s t day of April was marked by a tragedy whi ch ,

c on s pi c uou s at the moment w a s aft erward s to be co m ,

p l e t e l y over s hadowed by event s whi c h fo c u s ed the at

tention of the world on the enemy s inhuman c ampaign ’
.

The F u lge nt s ailed from Cardiff on the evening of April

2 8t h under Admiralty order s for S c apa Flow S he was .

taking a roundabout c our s e for s afe t y evidently under ,

order s and had pa s s ed the Bl a sk e t s Lighthou s e off the

, ,

c oa s t of Kerr y on the morning of April 3 ot h when

, ,

the s ilen c e wa s broken by the report of a gu n It .

wa s then noti c ed that unob s erved by anyone on board

, ,

a s ubmarine had c rept up within about 2 00 yard s of the

F u lge n t . The mas ter of the mer c hantman ( Mr C W . . .

Brown ) at on c e reali s ed the peril in whi c h he s tood and ,

began zigzagging in order to keep the enemy ve s s el

a s tern of him and thu s in an unfavourable po s itio n
for attack The c onte st however was an unequal o ne
.
, , ,

a s the s ubmarine s tat e d to be the U7 had the advantage

, ,

o f s peed .Captain Brown with dogged c ourage refu s ed

, ,

to believe that h i s po s ition was hope l e ss Even when th e .

s ubmarine had gained a po s ition about three point s on

the port quarter he c ontinued to handle h i s s hip with

,

c ourage and c ompeten c y A fla s h from the gu n mounted

.

on the de c k of the s ubmarine told him that a s hot had been

’
fired A few s e c ond s l ater the ve s s el s funnel and c hart
.

r oom had been s hattered an A B named Wil liam s , . .

,

who was at the wheel being killed and Captain Brown, ,

him s elf being mortally injured The s truggle was then .

over and all that c ould be done wa s to get out the boat s
,

with all s peed in order that the remaining offi c er s and men
,

migh t leave the doomed s hip Without a thought for .

the Bri ti s h s eamen the Offi c er c ommanding the su bmarine

,

t hen s ank the F u lge nt out of hand and di s appeared ,

leaving the s e unfortunate men to whatever fate might

overtake them During the remainder of the day the
.

two boat s managed to keep together and then night fell ,

and in the darkne s s they got s eparated The mo s t s lug .

gi s h imagination can fill in t h e broad detail s of th e s uffering s

of t he s e men a s hour after hour pa s s ed and hope of re s c ue
r o s e and fell a s s hip s appeared on the horizo n to di s appear ,
 CHA PTE R VIII

T HE AUX I L I A RY P AT ROL AT W ORK

IN tho s e fateful s ummer days whi c h immediately pre ceded

t h e Briti s h u ltimatum to Germany little information wa s
revealed a s t o the preparation s of the Royal N avy Of .

the step s whi c h were taken none was in fa ct more thorough , ,

than the pre c aution s again s t our fleet s being blo ckaded
by mean s of a potential enemy s mine fi e l d s But th e ’
-
.

vigilant work of the de stroyer flo ti ll as o ff the coa st doe s not

c ome within the s c ope of thi s hi s tory .

Al lu s ion h as already been made to the flotilla of old

gunboat s who s e duty wa s to attend on the Grand Fleet
, ,

while the trawlers were relied upon to keep the c hannel s

and harbour approa c he s s wept clear As far ba ck as .

July 2 8t h , 1914 Commander Lionel Pre s ton

, R N , . .
,

had re c eived h i s orders to take c harge of the s e gunboat s

and to a s s emble them at Dover On the firs t day of .

Augu s t they s teamed away from that great national harbou r

for Q ueen s ferry having been in s tru cted by Admiral Sir
,

George Callaghan then Commander i n Chief of the Gran d

,
- -

F leet to begin s weeping on their way north a s s oon a s

,

they go t to the Inner Do w sing near the Wa s h And , .

it w as on thi s s ame day that the in s pe cting Captain of

Mine s weeper s re c eived h i s orders in regard to the traw
-

ler s The Admiralty had de cided to c harter the s e fo r

.

mi ne s weeping and preparation s were to be made s o that

-
,

t hey c o u l d be s ent to their a s s igned port s a s s oon a s po s s ible .

There were then eight y two s u c h ves s el s on the Ad

-

m i r al ty l i s t and t h e ranks and rat i ng s of the trawler s e c tio n

,

numbered
On t h e next day the Admiralty c hartered trawlers -
,

whi c h had been u s ua lly employed in towing target s were ,

ordered to the N ore from their variou s port s where , ,

b eing c ompleted with m in e s weeping s tore s they w e r e

-
,

3 18
CH . VIII ] THE FIRST MINE FIELD -

ready for eventualitie s On the c oa st of S cotl and and at .

,

t h e fi s hing port s of the Nort h Sea and We s t of Engl and ,

s team traw l er s were being taken in hand as they c ame in

from t heir fi s hing though it had been fore s een that probably
,

2 5 per c ent of t he s e would not have s u c c eeded in getting

.

ba c k from I c el and and other fi s hing waters in time for

the c o m men c ement of ho s ti l itie s Meanwhi l e Germany .

w a s al s o avai l ing her s elf of her fi s hing fleet s and on ,

Augu s t 3 r d a tel egram from the Br1 t1 s h Am ba s s ador at Berlin

,

announ c ed t hat that c ountry had Obtained th irty trawlers

from Gee s temunde and wa s equipping them with a c ouple ,

of s ear c hlight s ea c h and fitting them out a s mine l ayers ,

-
.

The fir s t mine fi e l d to be di s c overed was that whi c h was

-

laid by the K ONI GIN L U I S E an auxiliary ve s s el of the ,

German N avy re s emb l ing one of the s teamers that had been
on the s er v i c e between Harwi c h and the Hook of Hol l and .

At ten o clo ck on the morning of Augu s t 5th s h e wa s s een

’

l aying mine s n o t far from Orf o r dn e s s and wa s hers elf s unk ,

by t h e Third D e s troyer Floti l la i s s uing from Harwi c h S h e , .

had not quite c ompleted her work when her c areer s o

s udden l y terminated for s urvivor s s tated that m any mine s
‘
,

were s til l aboard her They further a s s erted that s h e had .

l aid a l ong line of mine s from a po s i tion in lat 5 2 1 0 N .

° ’
.
,
°
long 2 2 5 E to the ea s tward Thi s po s ition i s about
.
’
.
, .

thirty mile s to the ea s tward of Or fo r dn e s s and it i s clear ,

enough that s u c h mine s were laid for the expre s s purpo s e

of s inking any Briti s h for c e s pro c eeding from Harwi c h
t oward s Germany In thi s intention they partiall y .

s u cc eeded for H M S , A MP HI ON foundered on one of them

. . .

the next day .

Meanwhil e the Senior N aval Offi c er at Harwi c h wa s

ordered to ha s ten the preparation of the mine sweeping -

t raw l er s On Au gu s t 6 th they put to s e a and pro c eeded

.

to s weep from Orfo r d ne s s to Sout hwo l d The Admiral .

of the patro l s was al s o dire cted to s end Grim s by trawlers

to s weep off Al deburgh as s o o n a s po s s ible Nothin g .

c ou l d have given a gr e a t er impetu s to t h e work of the t raw

lers than the di s c overy of a m ine fi e l d on the fir s t morning -

of th e war From the Fi r th of Forth Admira l L owr y

.
, ,

t h e Senior O ffi c er on the c oa s t of S c otland telegraphed ,

to s ay that the mine s weepers whi c h he had taken up -

had almo s t c omp l eted their equipment at Q ueen s ferry

and Invergordon and he had given orders that a s many ,

22
 AUXI LIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ CH . VIII

trawlers a s po ssible s h o u l d be c ommi s s ioned from the

northern S cotti s h port s for patrolling the Moray Firth .

Su c h was the c al l on the de s troyer flo ti l l as that there

w a s on l y one torpedo c raft patrolling that bi g bay To .

Devonport Port s mouth and Portland urgent tel egram s

, ,

were di s pat c hed by the Admiralty for the temporary loan

of trawlers for mine s weeping and meantime s hipping had
-
,

been warned that mine s had been laid o ff the Su ffo l k

c oa s t a s far s eaward a s the t h i rd meridian Ea s t and al l ,

V e s s e l s were ordered not to enter the N orth Sea without

c al l ing for order s at a South C oa s t port .

On the third day of the war Admiral Sir J ohn Je ll i co e

,

wa s informed that a permanent mine s weeping flotilla -

of trawlers was being e stabli s hed with a View to en s uring

%

a c l ear c hannel from the Outer Dow s ing to the South

Goodwin s Thi s ext en s ive lane would mean that mer
.

c hant s hip s c ould be gu aranteed a s afe j ourney from the

_

ea s tern entran c e of the Engli s h Channel almo s t a s far

north as the Humber The flotilla was to c on s i s t of
.

eighty trawlers t o be formed a s ve s s el s be came available

, .

Captain Elli s on was s ummoned to the Admiralty and ,

in s tru c ted to bring thi s huge flotilla into being He was .

a t the t ime c ommanding o ffi c er of the HAL C Y O N the ,

s enior s hip of the North Sea F i s herie s ba s ed on L owe s toft

, .

H e immediately began to get together s uitable fi s h i ng

c raft
, and in a s hort time the N orth Sea be c ame again
a s afe highway The trawler s got to work with s u c h
.

zeal that by Augu s t 1 1 th they had s wept a c hannel four

c able s wide from a s far s outh a s the North F oreland to

as far north as Southwold From that night al s o the

.
, ,

whole c hannel from the Outer Dow s ing light ve s s el to the -

Down s began to be patrolled by steam drifters manned by ,

Trawler Re s erve offi c ers and men and flying the White
En s ign Night and day without s o mu c h a s a gun with
.
,

whi c h to defend them s elve s the s e little c raft kept up

,

their patrol ever on the ale rt again st enemy mine laying

,
-

ve s s el s N o one who pa s s ed up the North Sea about thi s

.

time will ever forget the s ight of thi s c ontinuou s patrol

of litt l e ve s s el s engaged on a new s phere of work .

And whi l s t Lowe stoft wa s bu s ily getting c raft together ,

Chatham was al s o rapidly fitting out mine s weeping trawlers -

,

s o that in about a fortnight s eventy fo u r h i red and other -

trawlers had been equipped on the Medway Some of .

CH .
]
V II I D RIFTERS ON PATRO L 321

the s e were engaged in s weeping the Thame s E s tuary

others were di s pat c hed to L owe st oft ; s ome to Peterhead .

The s e trawler s had been provided with their mine s weeping -

’
gear given a month s c on s umable s tore s c oal and water
, , ,

a s we ll a s rifle s ammunition c h art s tide tab l e s Mor s e

, , ,
-
,

lamp s and s o on F re e kit s had been i s s ued to al l de ck

,
.

’
hand s and trimmers and a week s pay advan c ed Before , .

s ai l ing bo t h s kippers and c rews had been taken out i n

,

t h e Admiralty trawler s S e a m e w or S e aflower and in s tru cted

in s weeping reeving of gear and station keeping
, ,
-
.

By the midd l e of Augu st the s pe cial c hannel from the

Outer Dow s ing to the Down s was already bu o yed and ,

thirty s team drifter s equally s pa c ed were patrolling it , ,

from end to end Su c h duty e s s entially belonged to our

.

t orpedo flo t ill as and not to the s m alle s t type of fi s h ing

,

s teamer s but what did it matter s eeing that the de s troye rs

, ,

and torpedo boat s were wanted e l s ewhere and that drifters

-
,

were the fine st little s team s hi p s ever bui lt to with s tand

bad weather B ut be s ide s the s e L owe s toft drifters ,

other drift er s were being taken up on the north ea s t -

c orner of Sc otland From B anff Fra s erburgh Port .

, ,

Mah o m a ck and Wi ck they were being s peedily s ent to s e a

, ,

to look for mine layers and thu s a fford s ome prote ctio n
-
,

to Moray Firth The ta s k whi c h was impo s ed on s ome

.

of the s e S c ot c h c rew s was any t h i n g but s afe They wer e .

unarmed they were to perform no ho stile a ct and if

, ,

c aptured were to give no indi c ation of their being i n

the Government s ervi c e Their duty was s imply to po s e .

a s fi s hermen keeping their fi s hing gear on board and thei r

,

eye s open The moment they s ighted any s u 5 pi ci o u s

.

movement of s hip s they were to run into harbour as fas t ,

as they c ould and r eport the fa ct s .

At Lowe stoft great a ctivity c ontinued The Com .

mander i n Chief wa s c alling for more mine s weeping

- - -

trawlers for the North E ight he wanted to s weep round

‘

Kinnaird H ead in addition to tho s e already s ent to Cro

,

marty The s e were being fitted out at L owe stoft be side s

.
,

s ome more for the H umber and el s ewhere When o n .

Augu s t 1 5th the Grand Fleet made i t s s weep down the

N orth Se a the mine s weeping gunboat s went ahead of
,
-

the battl e c rui s ers and battle s hip s leaving th e trawlers

-
,

t o keep c lear of mines the approa c he s to the Gr and Fleet s

’

base and to s weep the Pentland s daily

,
,

.
322 AUXILIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ CH . VIII

Notwi th s tanding the large number of ve s s el s whi ch

had now been taken up and t h e s peed with w h i c h they ,

were being s ent forth on their dutie s the demand wa s ,

s ti l l far in ex c e s s of the s upp l y F or t oward s t h e end of .

’
Augu s t the enemy s mine layers had been v ery bu s y -
‘

On the 2 7t h t h e s team drift er Bar le y R i g had been b l own

up about thirty fi v e mile s E 5 S of B l yth and thu s
-
. .
,

the exi s ten c e of the Tyne mine fi e l d wa s di s c overed Two -

.

mine s weeping trawler s the T h om as W I rvi ne and the

-
, .

Cr ath i e were al s o b l own up whi l s t endeavouring to s weep

,

thi s new fie l d H M Torp edo boat No 1 3 found her

. . .
-
.

s elf s urrounded by mine s being unabl e to di s cover a way ,

ou t ,
and the s ame day a mine fi e l d was di s c overed al s o -

o ff the H umber On the top of thi s intel ligen c e c ame a

.

reque s t for four trawlers to be s ent to Admiral Chri st ian ,

who wa s flying h i s flag in the E UR YAL U S and wa s engaged ,

in operati on s o ff O s tend He urgently required s weepers .

,

a s the weather had re c ently been parti cularl y s uit abl e

for mine laying The s e trawl ers were therefore s ent t o
-
.

him ; they l eft L owe s toft in c harge of the navigating

o ffi c er of t h e H AL C Y O N but the next day Captain E ll i s on ,

w as c ompelled to reque s t their return a s it wa s impo s s ible ,

to c arry on without them On the day that thi s reque s t .

rea c hed O stend Admiral J e lli co e wa s al s o a sking for

,

twenty more traw l er s and two day s later he expre s s ed

,

a de s ire for a s c ore of drifters to a ct a s lookout s to

S c apa F low s in c e the enemy was now mining the s alient
,

point s of the c oa st .

The mine s weeping traw l ers were doing yeoman s ervic e

-
.

Their draught of water whi c h was in many c a s e s a s mu c h ,

a s fifteen feet made them dangerou s to them s elve s in a

,

mine fi e ld but they went about their work with fine di s

-
,

regard o f their own peri l Al ready t h e Hu m b e r trawlers .

'

had been ab l e to s weep from Spurn Head to the Outer

Dow s ing and thu s c onne c t up with the s w e pt c hannel
,

running down to the N orth F oreland en s uring a s afe ,

pa s s age for the heavy traffi c from the Engli s h Channel

t o Hu ll In the north the trawl er s ba s ed on Granton
.
, ,

in the F irth of F or th had s wept fifteen mile s to th e ,

ea s tward of St Abb s H ead and the S c apa trawlers

.
’
,

had s wept a c hannel for the Third Battle Squadron into

S c apa .

It had been s ugge sted that the Opening pha se of the war
324 AUXILIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ OH . VIII

c ouple of 3 pounder s The s e trawlers were to be ba s ed on

-
.

S c apa an d to be u s ed for the s pe c ial s ervi c e of hunting s u b

,

marine s o ff the Ea stern Orkney s Orders were promptly .

s ent to L owe s toft where the c raft were fitted out and,

m anned by ratings of the Trawler Se ction Royal N aval ,

R e s erve It w a s a s ound s c heme and their pre s en c e

.
,

f u l fi l led a real need in the north for only the day previou s ,

the battle crui s er NE W Z E AL A N D had s ighted another su b

-

marine i n the N orth S ea with her de c k almo s t awa s h , .

Within ten day s the fir s t si x s hip s of thi s N orthern Trawle r

Flotilla were on their way to S c apa .

Thi s then wa s an entirely new r Ol e for the trawler s to

, ,

play and one that had not been c ontemplated prior to th e

,

W ar . It meant that a ctually they were to perform th e

dutie s of de s troyer s Inferior to the latter a s regard s
'

s peed they po s s e s s ed mu c h s uperior s e a keeping ability ;

,
-

and their hardy c rew s a ccu stomed to N orth Sea weather ,

and po s s e s s ing an ex c ellent fighting s pirit now found their ,

v e s s el s tran s formed into lightly armed men o f war Th e - - -

.

de ci s ion to employ fi s h i ng ve s s el s to hunt s ubmarine s was -

ju s tified by s ub s equent event s Within a W eek the Ad .

m i ral ty were c on s idering the advi s abi l ity of employing even

s team ya c ht s as patrol c raft and Admiral Sir J ohn J e l li c o e
-
,

favoured the s ugge s tion It w a s mo s t important that as .

many s mall c raft a s po s s ible s hould be taken up and u s ed

a s mine s weepers or a s s ubmarine C ha s er s
-
Before the end -
.

of Augu st the Commander i n Chief informed the Admiralty - -

that trawlers were mu c h required o ff the Orkney s a s t h e ,

danger of mine laying in that area w a s in c rea sing H e

-
.

wanted twenty more at on c e Al l that the Admiralty .

c ould inform Sir John J e l li c o e wa s that they were arming

trawlers for patrol dutie s a s qui ckly a s po s s ible ; and

meantime Lo we s toft was working at high pre s sure and
doing the be st to meet the heavy demand s .

Thu s for two purpo s e s the R oyal Navy wa s has tily taking
up trawlers firs t for mine s weeping s e co ndly for harrying
, ,

s ubmarine s and mine layer s But before the firs t month

-
.

of ho stilitie s had c ome to an end it wa s c lear enough that ,

thi s wa s to be in the main a war of s mall c raft The

, , .

Admiralty therefor e determined at the beginning of Sep

tember to utili s e all available s team ya c ht s trawlers and -
, ,

motor boat s and to form the s e into unit s ; ea c h unit

-
,

was to c on si s t of one ya c ht four trawler s and four m oto r ~

, ,
CH .
]
VIII STEAM YACHTS TAKEN UP -
3 25

boat s whi ch were to be s ent W here they were required

, .

The firs t p l a c e s wo u l d be S c apa Lo c h Ewe Ro s yth , , ,

Humber and Cromarty As more ve s s el s be c ame avai l

, .

able additional unit s were to be formed The ya c ht s

, .
’

’
and trawlers armament wo u l d be either 3 pounders or -

6 pounder s the ya c ht s having two gun s and the trawler s

-
,

one .

Forthwith the Admiralty began to take up al l the s team

ya c ht s fit for s ervi c e and to s e nd them to Port s mout h ,

and Devonport to have t heir gun mountings p l a c ed for

,
-

ward and aft Many of the s e ya c ht s had b u t re c ently

.

fini s hed their s ummer c rui s ing and a s s oon a s their gun s ,

were in po s ition their hu l l s painted grey and their wirele s s

, ,

gear in stalled they were di s pat c hed to the North Sea

, .

Prior to thi s de ci s ion two ya c ht s had a l ready been taken up

,

for other s ervi c e s The s y Ve n e ti a had been c ommi s

. . .

s i o n e d at the c ommen c ement of ho s ti l itie s and s ent to

S c apa Flow where under the c ommand of Lieutenant
, ,

Commander A T Wi l s on R N s h e wa s l ooking aft er

. .
, . .
,

the N orthern Traw l er F lotil l a The s y Z ar ef ah c o m . . .

,

m a nd e d by L ieutenant Commander Stuart Garnett and -

,

o ffi c e r e d and manned almo s t entirely by Cambridge rowing

men and Ratc l iffe s e a s c out s wa s at work in the N orth ,

Sea in c onne c tion with the s wept c hannel .

The s e additional ya c ht s whi c h were now to be taken up

were to work in s hore thu s enab l ing the de stroyer patrol ,

flo till a s to go farther out to s e a and they were to c apture ,

any ve s s el of whatever nationality s u s pe ct ed of laying

, ,

mine s At thi s time the amount of traffi c both merc hant

.
,

s hip s and fi s hing c raft u s ing the N orth Sea w as c on s ider ,

able The de s troyers and t orped o boat s were doing thei r

.
-

be st but they c oul d not board and examine more than a

,

s ma l l per c entage of s u s pi c iou s s hip s At firs t the s e ya c ht s .

were lent by their owners free of c harge the Admiralty ,

paying al l expen s e s of equipment and running At the .

end of thre e month s provided the ya cht s were found ,

suitab l e for s ervi c e they were c hartered at an agre ed rate

,

per ton per month Owners who po s s e s s ed the ne c e s s ary

.

qual ifi c ations were invited to take c ommand and a cc ept

c ommi s s ion s a s lieutenant s of the Roya l Nava l Volunteer

Re s erve though s ub s equently they were tran s ferred to the

,

Royal Naval Re s erve .

As to th e m otor b o at s there was already an organi s atio n

-
, ,
326 AUXI LIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ OH . VIII

in exi s ten c e It s origin dated ba ck a year or two before

.

t h e European c ri s i s deve l oped and a working s c heme wa s ,

j u st being c omp l eted when ho s til itie s began For a long .

time pa st ya c ht s men in Engl and and S c ot l and had been

anxiou s t o p l ace their s e a experien c e at the di s po s al of
the Royal Navy in the event of war The diffi culty wa s .

to %di s c over a way in whi c h their enthu s ia s m and ability

c ou l d be uti l i s ed Mo s t of t he s e ya c ht s men were expert s
.
,

in the art of handling s ailing c raft but the age of s ail ,

in the Roya l Navy had long s in c e pa s s ed A s ugge stion .

,

however c ame from the prin c ipal motor ya c ht club s that

,
-

in the event of war the Navy might find it u s eful t o have a

number of motor c raft at their di s po s al o ffi c e r e d by ya c ht s ,

men and that the s e c raft might prove of s ervi c e in variou s

,

c apa c i t ie s round our c oa s t s Already there were in e x i s

.

ten c e roughly three type s Firs t wa s the cr ui s er type of.

motor ya c ht able to keep the s e a in moderate w e ather

-
,

and c apable of being armed s o a s to act a s a s co ut again s t

s ubmarine s Se c ondly there was the s mall t ype of c raft
.
,

about the s ize of a pi cket boat whi c h would be u s eful for-

,

patro l ling harbour mouth s and e stuarie s F inally c ame the .

s mal l motor boat whi c h c oul d be u s ed in a dozen way s f o r

-

poli cing harbour s taking de s pat c he s to s hipping in the

,

road s and in other mi sc el l aneou s dutie s

, .

The Admiral ty were approa c hed on the matter and were ,

s o far intere s ted that they formed a Motor Boat Re s erve -

Committee under the pre s iden c y of Admiral Sir F rederi ck

,

S Ingl e fi e ld whi c h wa s in s tru ct ed to report on the motor

.
,

boat s in the United Kingdom and for what s ervi c e s in war ,

they c oul d be utili s ed T h i s was in N o v ember 1 9 1 2 and

.
,

in the following Marc h Admiral Ingl e fi e l d reported that

,

the boat s wou l d be c apab l e of patro lling and performing

examination s ervi c e in e s tuarie s and harbour s ; a s s i s ting
in c ontroll ing traffi c b erthing and detaining mer c hant
,

s hipping in port s dete cting ho s tile s ubmarine s that might

endeav our to enter a harbour ; a cting a s di s pat c h boat s -

to s hip s in road s tead s ; attending on air c raft ; and ,

finally augmenting the pre s ent torpedo flo ti llas

, Thi s .

c orp s , it wa s s ugge sted s hould c on s i s t of c ommanding

,

offi c ers of divi s ion s with the rank of C ommander own ers
,

of boat s with the rank of l ieutenant ; and their a s si s tant s

with the rank of s u b lieutenant The whole o r gani s ation
-
.

was to be a volunteer re s erve As a re s ult of the firs t .

328 AUXI LIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ CH . VIII

Humber the Tyne the Shetland s and at Cromarty T h e

, , , .

bigge s t and be s t s e a going motor ya c ht s were s ele cted and

- -

s ent to the s e s tation s The o ffi c er s had been given c o m

.

mi ss ion s in the Royal N aval Volunteer R e s erve the rating s ,

being known as motor boatmen -

.

Arrived at their ba s e s the s e motor c raft patrolled ,

the harbours e s tuarie s and c oa s t s in c onjun ction with

, ,

the s team ya cht s and trawlers There w as work enough

-
.

for every s ort and de s cription of ve s s el for the enemy was ,

engaged in exten s ive operation s with both s ubmarine s

and mine layers Before the end of Augu s t al ready three
-
.

known German mine fi e l d s had been laid There wa s th e -

.

Southwold mine fi e ld of whi c h the firs t mine s had been laid

-
,

by th e KON I GIN L UI S E ; then the Tyne mine fi e l d ; and -

,

la s tly the mine fi e ld s off Flamborough and the Humber

,
-
.

It i s true that a s wept and buoyed c hannel exi sted at th e

beginning of September from the Goodwin s a s far north
a s F lamborough and was being patrolled But out s id e
, .

thi s narrow lane four c able s wide the ri sk s to s hipping

, ,

were c on s iderable On September 3 r d the patrol drifter

.

Li ns de ll had s tru ck a mine near the Oute r Dow s ing ( that

i s to t h e ea s tward of the Humber ) and s u nk ; fiftee n
,

minute s later the gunboat S PE E D Y al s o s tru c k a min e ,

with fatal re s ult s R eport s were re c eived that thi s Humbe r

.

mine area w as an exten s ive one the mine s being withi n ,

three feet of the s urfa c e Similarly from N ew c a stle .

,

c ame the s ignifi c ant new s that four ve s s el s apparently ,

drift ers had been s een forty four mile s ea st s outh ea s t of

,
- - -

the Tyne and three more thirty fi v e mile s off Thi s was
,
-
.

on September 7th ; and ina s mu c h as there are no herrings

in that part of the N orth Sea at that s ea s on the lo c al ,

fi s hermen drew their o wn c on c l u s ion s Briti s h fi s hing .

s kipper s re c ogni s ed the m a s ve s s e l s whi c h three month s

before wer e German and were fi s hing in the N orth Sea ,

.

Now in the tra c k of mer c hant s hipping t hey were

, ,

laying mine s .

F our day s after the lo ss of the S P EE D Y and Li ns de ll th e ,

fi s h i ng ve s s el R e vi ga foundered on thi s Humber mine fi e l d

- -
,

and the s s Ru n o had ju s t been s unk on the Tyne mine fi e l d

. .
-
,

a di s a s ter that was followed next day by t h e lo s s of the

fi s h i ng ve s s el I m p e r i a li s t in the s ame manner forty mi l e s
-

ea st north ea s t of the Tyne Admiral Je l l i co e pointed out

- -
.

that the di ffi culty of keeping the N orth Sea clear of m i ne s

CH .
]
VIII THE FIRST U B OAT SUCCESSES -

wa s rendered more diffi cu l t be c au s e of the impo s s ibility

of boarding and examining the Ea st Coa s t s hippi ng Hi s .

opinion wa s that mine laying would never be s topped until -

the Eas t Coa s t traffi c was diminis hed .

The work of the armed unit s of the Auxiliary Patrol

be came now more s trenuou s than ever Up to thi s time
—
.

the s ubmarine had been a mena c e a mo s t s eriou s

mena c e—but nothing more But on September 5 th the .

firs t s ubm arine s u c c e s s by the enemy w as a c hieved when

H M S PATH FIN D E R was torpedoed t e n mile s s outh ea s t of
. . .
-

May I s l and o ff the entran c e to the Firth of F orth At

, .

firs t it wa s believed that the lo s s had been c au s ed by

a mine but the m ine s weeping trawler s s ent out by
,
-

Admiral Lowry from the F orth s wept fro m Inc h k e i t h

to May I s l and then on to Bell Ro ck and all round the
,

po sition W here the P ATHFI ND E R had s tru ck and not a s ingle ,

mine was fo u nd It was evident that a s ubmarine had been

.

lying in wait Off the F orth in the h Op e of c at ching a wars hi p

bound to or from Ro s yt h and it wa s afterward s e stabli s hed ,

that a torp edo from U2 I s ank the PATH FIN D E R Only a few .

days later a fi s h i ng V e s s el c alled the Def e nde r unmi s takab l y

,
-

s ighted a s u marine eleven mi l e s ea s t by s outh of the I s l e

b
of May in pra cti ca lly the s ame s pot where the PATH FIN D E R
,

had s unk ; and true to her name thi s trawler determined to

, ,

prote c t the N avy a s far as s h e c ould L eaving her fi s hing .

,

s h e at on c e hurried we s tward gave the information to ,

Torpedo Boat 3 2 and went up to the Forth to report the

-
,

fa ct al s o to H M S RIN GD OVE She thu s lo st her day s

. . . .
’

c at c h but s h e had done the right thing and the Admira l ty

, ,

awarded her the s u m of £6 2 fo r having s o promptly given

valuable intelligen c e
—
.

Thr ee day s later another s ubmarine o r perhap s the s ame

o n e —fi r e d a c ouple of torpedoe s at the de s troyer C H E E RFU L

three mile s we st of Fi dra in the Firth of F orth ; the ,

de s troyer S TA G had al s o repo rted that torpedoe s had been

aimed at her a few hour s before o ff the I s le of May But .

nothing brought home the s ubmarine peril more a cutely

than the lo s s of the three big c ru i s ers H OG UE AB O U K I R , ,

and C R E S S Y whi c h were s unk in the s outhern portion of

,

t h e N orth Sea by U9 o n Sept e mber 2 2 n d Thi s triple .

di s as ter s howed to W hat dangers Bri ti s h s hip s were expo s ed .

More than e ver the demand was for s mall armed c raft .

On the Humb e r a s pe cial anti submarin e trawler flotill a -

330 AUXI LIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ CH . VII I

w as being got ready F rom Grim s by too four more

.
, ,

trawlers s pe cially fitted with a modified exp l o s ive s weep

, ,

were s ent to the F orth to act a s s ub m arine hunter s The s e -

.

were additional to the armed patro l Rear Admiral .

-

George Bal l ard t h e Admiral of Patrol s w a s ordered to

1
, ,

have the entran c e to the Humber patro lled by traw l er s

with their modified s weep in addition to h i s armed trawler s ;
and fina l ly with a V iew to c he cking mine laying and t h e
,
-

di s s emination of information u s eful to the enemy the Ad ,

m i r al ty announ c ed on September 2 7th that a l l Ea s t Coa s t

port s would be clo s ed to neutral fi s hing c raft from O cto
ber 1 st Thi s wa s a s harp mea s ure but it was ab s olutely
.
,

ne c e ss ary if s u cc e s s wa s to attend the plan s for dealing with

mine layers and potential s upply s hip s a cting a s tender s
- -

to Germa n s ubmarine s .

When Sir J ohn Je ll i c o e informed the Admiralty that

h i s de s troyer s were all too few for s topping and examining
tra ffi c he advo c ated the emp l oyment of armed trawler s
, ,

fitted with wirele s s in c ertain area s He expre s s ed h i s

, .

belief in the free s t po s s ible u s e of the s e ve s s el s Some he .

,

urged s hould be arme d but a s their s tem s were a good

, ,

weapon for r amming i t w as not ne c e s s ary to arm al l and

, ,

there were not at the time s u fli ci e nt gun s to go round .

The German s h e r e m ar k e d were making the greate s t u s e

, ,

of trawlers and we s houl d do the s ame Mu c h the s ame

, .

opinion c ame from Admiral L owry at Ro s yth in who s e ,

area the s ubmarine a ctivity in the F irth of F ort h s till

c ontinued O n September 2 9 t h one s ubmarine had been
.

s een a s far up the F orth a s Burn t i s l and and owing to thi s , ,

and other in c ident s he had been c omp elled to s u s pend

,

in that neighbourhood a l l mine s weeping operation s -

.

Altogether no fewer than nine torpedoe s had within a

few day s been fired at Briti s h torpedo c raft in the F orth ,

and in V iew of the value of s u c h ve ss el s and th e i r_n u m e r o u s

c rew s ,he c on s idered it w as advi s able to rep l a c e them by
armed trawlers or drifter s a s far a s po s s ib l e N or w as the .

mena c e c onfined to the North Sea ; for on September 2 7th ,

H M S ATTE N TI VE had been atta cked by two s ubmarine s

. . . ,

in the Strait s of Dover .

Mine s were being reported frequently in the North Sea ,

and s teamers were s ti ll foundering on them But by thi s .

date the W hole organi s ation for dealing with mine s mine ,

1 N o w Vi ce
Adm i r al Ge o r ge B al lar d C B
-
, . .
CH .) V III ] THE MINE SWEEPING SERVICE -
331

l ayer s and ubmarine s was we l l in hand SO important

,
s .

h ad t h e m ine s weeping s ervi c e be c ome t hat i t had been

-

de c i ded t o appoint a flag Offi c er in c harge and Rear ,

Admira l E F B Charlton C B was s el e ct ed with t h e

. . .
, . .
,
Jl
,

t it l e ( Admira l of t h e Ea s t Coa s t Mine s weeper s ) -

.

Thi s w a s in t h e middle of September .

Under thi s s c heme the Mine s weeping Servi c e was t o -

c on s i st of gunboa t s drift er s trawl ers and othe r ve s s e l s

, , ,

emp l oyed in mine s weeping ; the s phere of operations -

ext ending from St Abb s Head to the South Goodwin s .

’
,

ex c lu s ive of the Nore and Harwi c h area s Under Admiral .

Charlton were t h e Port Mine s weeping O ffi c ers at L owe s -

toft Eyemouth Grim s by and N orth Shield s the In

, , , ,

s pe c ting Captain of Mine s weeper s c ontinuing h i s dutie s -

in c onne c tion wit h the c hart ering of trawlers a s before .

Thi s c on c entrat ion of the W ho l e of the mine s weeping -

on t h e Ea s t Coa s t under one s enior o fli c e r wa s e s s ential ,

owing to t h e v ery large in c rea s e in mine s weeping trawler s -

and o t her ve s s el s It w as a s erv i c e quite di s tin ct from

.

the armed patro l t rawler s ya c ht s and motor c raft It , , .

did however in clude the drifters and armed t rawlers

, ,

whi c h were engaged in wat c hing t h e s wept c hannel s .

D uring thi s fir s t autumn no s eamen more thoroughly

earned t h e grat itude of t heir nation than tho s e of the bu s y
mine s weeper s who s e work wa s never fini s hed F rom ea c h
-
, .

Ea s t Coas t port day after day s i x of them s teamed out in

, ,

line ahead j u st before dawn to their s tation s ; and then

t hey would get s weep s out and go ro l ling down the North
S ea unt il re l ieved a few days later by ano t her s i x all the
’
time they o ffered an ea s y target for the enemy s s ubmarine s ,

and were equal ly l i ab l e to be bl own up on an un s een mine .

From t h e North Fore l and t o Fl amborough Head t hey

were now hard at work keeping a c l ean highway a c oup l e ,

of hundred mi l e s long and eight hundred yard s wide .

Every day thi s l ong road w a s s wept twi c e In the ext reme .

north three pair s of traw l ers were s weeping two c hannel s

,

at ea c h end of the boi s terou s Pentl and Firth twi c e dai l y ,

ne c e s s itating an a ctual s t eaming di st an c e of eighty fi v e -

mi l e s for ea c h trawler d uring the daylight hour s of a s hort

autumn day The Cromarty and Peterhead trawl er s
.

were s weeping round t h e head l and s of their own area l e st ,

w
th e enemy s hou l d have l aid h i s s nare s ; and all do n t h e
N w Vi e Adm i al Si E dw ar d F B Ch arlt o n
1 o c -
r CB r . .
, . .
332 AUXI LIAR Y PATRO L AT WORK [ CH . VIII

c oa s t — from the Forth the Tyne the Humber Lowe stoft

, , , ,

Harwi c h the Nore D over Port sm outh Portland and

—
, , , , ,

Devonport t hey i s s ued forth on their monotonou s and

dangerou s routine .

The s e a was wit ne ss ing s ome s trange s ight s S c ar c el y .

had the exc urs ion paddle s teamer s whi c h u s ed to ply -

from s o many pier s been l aid up little expe cting to b e ,

brought int o u s e until the return of pea c e than they were ,

p l a c ed under the White En s ign What eart h l y good did .

t h e N avy expe ct to find in a Bank H oliday paddler .

When the firs t of the s e s hip s c ame c hurning up the muddy

water s of the Humber and bu mped into Grimsb y Do c ks
al ongside the s teel t rawlers every s eaman rubbed h i s eye s
,

and wondered And yet tho s e c raft drawing onl y about

.
,

s even and a half feet did s plendid work a s mine s weeper s

,
-
.

They c ould go into a mine fi e l d with half the r i s k of the

-

deep draught trawler and they c ould s t e am at good

-
,

s peed . The re sult was that two or three pairs s oo n

c l eared up any s u s pe cted area and s e t m e r ch ant s h i ps ‘

free to pro c eed to their de s tination s The firs t of thes e .

paddle s weepers to be taken up were the Br i gh ton Q u e en

and D e voni a They were s ent round from Bri s tol to
.

Devonport where they were fitted out and then c e they

, ,

s teamed up the Channel and N orth Sea en c ountering ,

very heavy weather on the way In thi s manner s till .

another type of s mall c raft was pre ss e d into the Servi c e .

Built for the purpo s e of giving plea sure they were no w ,

engaged in war Some of them ended their days on mine s

.
,

but not be fore they had been the mean s of thwarting

’
c ertain o f the enemy s be s t laid s c heme s -
.

By the end of September good progre s s had been mad e

in adding to the number of auxiliary c raft Already fif teen .

armed ya c ht s W ere in c ommi ss ion and about another ,

fift een were being fitted out There were roughl y 3 00 .

t rawler s and drifters and 1 0 0 motor c raft at work b u t %

all the while the enemy was in c re as ing h i s a ctivitie s .

It was impo s s ible to e stimate exa ctly the inten sity of t h e ,

s ubmarine warfare owing to the fa ct that the s ubmarin e s

,

were mo s tly invi s ible The only ab s olute eviden c e of

.

their a ctivitie s was foun d in the number of s h i p s s unk ,

the number of time s s u c h c raft were s ighted or in t h e ,

number of torpedoe s who s e wake might momentarily b e

s een . It was equally impo s s ible t o s ay whether i n a
334 AUXI LIARY PATRO L [ AT WORK OH . v m

we s t c oa s t of S c otland in the neighbourhood of Lo c h Ewe

and L o c h She ll Finally on the 3 l st the s eap l ane c arrier
.
,
-

H E R M E S wa s torpedoed and s unk not far from D unkirk .

Su c h then w as the enemy with whom the Briti s h N avy

, ,

had to c ontend He s howed re s pe ct neither f o r a refugee

.

s hip nor for a mer c hant s hip What were the s tep s taken .

to meet t hi s vi o l en c e A l l that c ould be d o ne be side s ,

laying a Briti s h mine fi e l d a cro s s the Strait s of Dover -

a t the beginning of the month and ext ingui s hing all light s

on the Ea s t Coa s t at the end of the month from Orfo r dne s s ,

to Wi ck wa s to s trengthen t h e armed auxi liary patro l

,

—
in every way po s s ib l e i n numbers in organi s ation and , ,

in o ffen s ive devi c e s More and more gun s were wanted fo r .

the s e c raft but unfortunately they were n o t available

, , , .

The R oyal N avy had never c ounted on s o many demand s

being made upon it and the Army in F ran c e c alled fo r ,

every gun that c ould be turned out But a s an anti .

s ubmarine devi c e the Admiralty atta c h ed great importan c e

,

to the explo s ive s weep The s e s weep s were being made .

in large numbers and fitted to patrol trawler s At Port s , .

mouth alone fift y trawl er s were thu s being fitted two ,

dozen more were prepared at L owe stoft and Commander ,

L A B Donald s on R N
. . . was s pe cially appointed t o , . .
,

the Admiralty to look after thi s devi c e h i s title being ,

”
Commander Superintendent of Modified Sweeping .

Similarly an improvement w a s made in juri sdi c tion

, ,

the D over and the Ea s t Coa s t being divided into two s epa
rate c ommand s O n O c tober 1 2 th R ear Admiral the Hon
.
-
.

H L A H ood was appointed in c ommand of the Dove r

. . .

Patrol a s Senior N ava l Offi c er at Dover In addition .

to a de stroyer flotilla and two s ubmarine flo till as he had ,

s ome trawler s and drifter s pla c ed in h i s c ommand and t h e ,

latter were pre s ently to in c rea s e to c on siderable numbers .

Rear Admi ral George Ballard the Admira l of Patrol s

-
, ,

now be c ame re s pon s ible for the area extending from the
Naze to St Abb s Head an area in whi c h were working
.
’
,

many t rawlers fitted wit h exp l o s ive s weep s .

Admiral J e ll i c o e c ontinued to a sk for more trawlers fo r

S c apa Fl ow P entland F irth Lo c h Ewe and Moray
, , ,

F irth Submarine s were s till reported o ff the Grand

.

F l eet s northern ba s e and in the Min c h

’
De stroyers he . ,

s aid were un s uitable for s ear c hi ng o u t the lo c h s and c reek s

, ,

and only got badly kno cked abou t he al so wanted trawler s

CH .
]
V I II A NEW NAVY FORMIN G 3 35

for examining neutral s hip s in th e l Mi n Ch and vi c i nity of

Pentl and Firth a s t h e s ubmarine s prevented s u c h work
,

being done by c rui s ers Sma l l flo till a s of t rawlers working .

under a ya c ht were required and s o on O c tober 2 3 r d a , , ,

ya c ht and t h e trawlers were s ent to h i m .

Three trawl er s s pe c ia l ly fitted with the explo s ive s weep

were a l s o s ent to the Strait s of D over under Lieutenant
Commander George E Till ard R N to hunt s ubmarine s .
, . .
, .

More motor boat s were being fitted out and s ent to

-

the Ea st Coa s t t o examine the e s tuarie s harbour s , ,

and in l et s b u t the demand s ti l l exc eeded the s upp l y

,
.

Seven were working at S c apa Flow in c onne c tion wit h the

lo c a l defen c e s and t h e R ear Admiral at Cromarty w a s
,
-

a sking for eight t o p erform the dutie s of t h e Auxiliary

Patro l Before the end of the month the Admira l ty were
.
,

ab l e to inform Sir J ohn J e lli c o e that they were in c rea s ing

th e number of armed trawler s at Cromarty Peterhead , ,

Me t hil ( Fir t h of Fort h ) S c apa Ro s yth Lo c h Ewe Great , , , ,

Yarmouth and D over The geographi c al po s ition of

, .

the s e p l a c e s i s a s uffi c ient indi c ation of their s trategi c a l

val ue in regard to s ubmarine s As more trawler s be c ame .

avail ab l e t hey were armed wit h one or more gun s and an

,

exp l o s ive s weep and organi s ed into divi s ion s of s i x

,

traw l er s to the unit F rom ea c h unit one t rawler wa s t o

.

be s ele c ted a s divi s ional leader She wa s to be fitted .

’
up wi t h a s uitable offi c er s c abin then p l a c ed u nder the ,

c ommand of a lieu t enan t or su b lieutenant of the Royal -

N aval Re s erve and t o be given a l s o wire l e s s t e l egraphy

, .

In addit ion an armed ya c ht wa s to be att a c hed t o ea c h

,

unit a nd at c ertain important ba s e s c ap t ain s i n c harge

,
- -

were t o be appointed .

Granton on t h e F orth was be c oming an important

, ,

war ba s e for traw l ers and ya c ht s and w a s de s tined s oon ,

to be i l i a r y s t ation s on the c oa s t .

Sixty traw l ers were now taken up a s armed

patro l There were a hundred of the s e already
in the Servi c e or being fitted out and the full 1 6 0 were ,

being organi s ed into t wenty s i x divi s ion s of s i x ve s s e l s -

eac h and one of four ve s s e l s The s e of c our s e were quite

, .
, ,

apart from the mine s weeping trawlers and the wat c hing -

drif ers In fa ct before O c t ober wa s ended that i s t o

t .
,
—
s ay within le s s t han three month s of t h e de c l aration
o f war—there we r e 1 3 0 armed trawler s either i n c o m mi ss io
,

n
 AUXI LIARY PATRO L AT W ORK [ CH . v m

or nearly ready ; and thirty s even armed ya c ht s either -

patrol l ing or fitting out in addition to 2 4 6 mine s weeping

,
-

t rawler s two padd l e mine s weeper s and forty two drift er s

,
-
,
-
.

With admirab l e zeal and energy a new navy had been

c reated in a few week s whi c h a l ready ex c eeded in number s

t h e navy that flew t h e White En s ign at the beginning of

Augu s t In s pite of the ha s te with whi c h the s hip s and
.

men had been a s s embled and s ent out to their s trang e

dut ie s in s pite of the dangers from weather fogs s u b
, , ,

marine s and mine s on l y half a dozen trawler s and drifter s

, ,

had been lo s t during the period The de ci s ion to u s e for .

warl ike purpo s e s under modern c ondition s s hip s whi c h

, ,

were never intended for the c onte s t Of organi s ed violen c e ,

and men without war training had abundantly j u s tified ,

i t s elf to the great advantage of the c ountry and the

,

we l fare of Briti s h s hipping .

Warfare by mean s of the mine and warfare by mean s ,

of the s ubmarine are pra cti c ally identi c al The aim in

, .

ea c h c a s e i s to s ink the s hip atta c ked by a violent explo s ive

without the vi c tim having s o mu c h a s a c han c e of e s c aping .

The only di fferen c e between the torpedo and the mine

i s t hat the former goe s to meet the s hip and the latter ,
’
wait s for the s hip s c oming The re s ult in the two c a s e s
.

i s the s ame .

There were only two c our s e s Open to the Admiralty .

The fir s t wa s to make mine laying for the enemy a s -

di ffi c ult a s po s s ible and the s e c ond wa s to c ontinue i n

,

c rea s ing the re s our c e s o f mine s weeping The s e obviou s

-
.

mea s ure s were c arried out To begi n with not only had
.
,

all the Ea s t Coa s t port s been c lo s ed to neutral fi s h i ng

ve s s el s from O ct ober l s t but any neutral fi s h i ng V e s s el
,
-

found fi s hing we s t of a c ertain line in the N orth Sea was

regarded a s under s u s pi cion of mine laying The Briti s h -
.

Government were determined to take no half mea s ure s -

,

and gave warning t hat any trawlers not in the ex c lu s ive

emp l oyment of t h e German Government found illi c itly
laying mine s would be s unk while their c rew s would be ,

liable to be treated a s war c riminal s and s hot after trial

by c ourt martial .

It wi ll be re c olle cted that when di s cu s s ing the pre war -

arrangement s the Admiralty had e s tabli s hed the prin c iple

that trawler s were s uitable for s weeping fairways and
the entran c e s to harbour s but not for s weeping ahead ,
338 AUXILIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ OH . VII I

be c on s idered s eparately in s o far a s they c on c ern thi s

Hi s tory b u t for t h e moment attention mu s t be devo t ed
,

t o ano t her lo c a l ity .

Germany now developed on fre s h line s her c ampaign

again s t o c ean traffi c From the Dominion of Canada a
.

number of tran s port s wou l d s oon be c ro s s ing the Atlanti c

on their way to England bringing troop s to aid Briti s h ,

arm s If Germany c ou l d lay a mine fi e l d in the path of

.
-

t he s e ve s s el s and blow any of them up that wou l d be s ound

, ,

s trategy .It was on October 3 r d that t h e firs t Canadian

c onvoy left Canadian water s and on the very day that thi s ,

c onvoy began t o arrive in Plymou t h Sound an ex c eption

a ll y l arge mine layer wa s leaving Germany T h i s auxiliary

-
.

ve s s el wa s the N o r dd e u t s ch e r Lloyd liner B E RLI N o f ,

over 1 7 0 0 0 regi s tered tonnage and a s peed of about

, ,

1 7 knot s In pea c e time s h e had been well known on the

.
-

N ew York s ervi c e and the rea s on s for employing her in

,

mine laying were twofold If s h e were s een in t h e t ra c k

-
.

of Atlanti c s h i pping s h e wou l d not ex c ite mu c h s u s pi cion

—
. ,

for s h e looked what s h e wa s a n At l anti c liner More .

over s h e had ample c apa c ity for c arrying many hundred s

,

of mine s and a long after de c k from whi c h to lay them

,
-
.

She was however a little u nfort unate at fir s t for s h e a cted

, , ,

on faulty information She arrived too late to interfere .

with the big c onvoy of thirty one tran s port s and s h e -

,

had erroneou s l y a s s umed that the tran sport s would c ome

to Liverpool via the N orth of Ireland .

She had already made one attempt to pa ss through the

N orth Sea at the end of September when having got , ,

up toward s the N orwegian c oa s t s h e s ighted a numbe r ,

of Briti s h men o f war and therefore put ba c k to Germany

- -
.
,

O n O c tober 1 4 th however s h e s teamed away from Wil

, ,

h e l m s h a v e n with mine s on board being e s c orted ,

by a c ouple of s ubmarine s P a ss ing ro u nd t h e north .

and we s t of S cotland s h e arrived o ff th e N orth of Ire l and

and laid a big mine fi eld O ff Tory I s land on O c tober 2 2 nd
,

and 2 3 r d It happened that there s teamed out of the

.

Man c he st er Ship Cana l on O ctober 2 4 th a 5 0 0 0 ton , , ,

s t eam s hip c all ed the M a n ch e s te r Com m e r ce bound for the ,

River St L awren c e when c e the Canadian c onvoy had

.
,

s t ar t ed and on t h e afternoon of the 2 7t h s h e s tru c k one

,

of t h e mine s o ff Tory I s land and s an k ; the explo s ion

o c curr ed between Nos 2 and 3 holds the s hip drawing .
,
CH. VIII ] THE TORY IS LAND MINE -
FIE LD

at the time 1 9 feet 5 in c he s forward and 2 2 5 fee t a ft »

.

Next day a t 9 a m whi l s t the Se c ond Battl e Squadron

. .
,

w a s s t eaming in t hi s l o c a l i t y the t h ird s hip in t h e ,

line H M S A U DA C I O U S s tr u c k a mine and eventual l y

,
. . .
,

foundered .

Thi s event s ugge s ted more work for the trawler s in an

unexpe cted quarter It happened t hat at t hi s time .

part of the Grand F lee t wi t h Admiral J e ll i c o e s flags hip ,

’
,

had an c hored in L ough Swi ll y and until t hi s mine fi e l d ,

-

—
wa s c leared t h e s hip s were pra c i c a lly b l o c kaded the very
t
t hing a s h a s been explained a l ready that w a s feared would
, ,

happen when war broke out Admiral Je l li c oe the s ame .

day telegraphed to the Admiralt y a sking for eight mine

s weeping traw l er s to be s ent to L ough Swi l l y at on c e .

No t hing wa s then known abou t the B e r li n having bee n

there ; t h e on l y information wa s that a mine fi e l d wa s in -

exi s t en c e about eighteen to twenty mile s N } E of Tory .

4
.

I s l and To what extent and in what dire ction it s pread

.
,

ab s o l utely no information wa s avai l able In re s pon s e to .

the Commander i n Chief s reque s t four mine s weeping

- -
’
,
-

t rawler s were at on c e ordered to leave Milford Haven for

Lough Swi l l y F or an enemy wi s hing to mine t h e s hipping
.

trac k to Liverpool and t h e At l anti c the obviou s s trategi c

point s are fir s t l y t hat s trip of s e a c al l ed the North Channel
between the north ea s t c oa s t of Ireland and the Mu l l of
-

As
’
Canty r e ; and s e c ond l y the St George s Channel
, , . .

it wa s s u s pe c ted that the enemy might have fouled the s e

approa c he s orders were s ent t h e day after the di s a s ter
,

to the A U DA C I O U S that two group s of s i x trawlers ea c h ,

attended by an armed ve s s e l were to be di s pat c hed from ,

Lowe s toft to t h e we s tward Of the s e two group s one .

,

was to pro c eed to L arne in order to s weep the N orth

Channe l t h e o t her wa s to go to Mi lford to s weep the St
, .

George s Channel Nor w a s t hi s a l l The Admiralty

’
. .

de c ided at on c e t hat energeti c a c tion wa s e s s en tial

in order to C ope wi t h t hi s mine l aying on the We s t Coa s t -

and on the trade approa c he s Two addi tional s quadro ns .

of about twenty t raw l ers ea c h wit h a proport ion of mine ,

s weeper s were t o be formed without de l ay for t h e purpo s e

,

of s ear ch i ng and pi c ke ting t he s e area s .

As t hi s dram at i c reve l ation of t h e Tory I s l and deat h

trap s ugge s ted that other new mine fi e l ds might be laid -

o ff t h e an c horage s u s ed by the Grand Fleet Sir John ,

3 40 AUXI LIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ VII I CH .

Jel l i c oe on O c tober 2 8th ordered the Vi c e Admiral

, ,
-

c ommanding the Orkney s and She t l and s to s end t raw l er s

t o s weep for mine s up t o wi t hin t hirty mi l e s of the b a s e s .

The s ame day a l s o s pe c ial in s t r u c tion s were s ent to t h e

, ,

Senior Naval O ffi c er at L iverpoo l to pro c e ed with the

utmo s t di s pat c h with the organi s ation of a s pe c ia l
auxi l iary patro l for the prevention of mine l aying Thu s -
.

yet ano t her type of mer c hant v e s s e l c ame to be pre s s ed

s uddenly into t h e war Who i s there familiar with s hip s
.

and s eafaring matters t hat h a s not heard of the wonderful

a c hie v e m ent s of the famou s Liverp ool tug s whi c h c an go ,

anywhere and do almo s t anyt hing % The s e powerful

l it tl e c raft have made s ome wonderfu l voyage s a c ro s s the
world towing floating do ck s di s ab l ed liner s or di s ma s ted
, ,

s ai l ing s hip s
-
The war w a s c ertain l y be c oming far r ea c h
.
-

ing when it needed t he s e c raft However two days after .

,

the AU D A CIOU s had foundered a dozen of the s e Liverpoo l ,

tug s were c ommandeered s i x of them to patrol the N orth

,

Channel board s u s pi c iou s s hip s and pre v ent mine laying

,
-
,

whi l e the o t her s i x were to be s ent to Mi l ford t o patro l the

s outhern part of the Iri s h Sea Thi s wa s on l y a temporary
.

mea sure unt il more trawler s c ould be c hartered and before ,

the end of the year the tug s were s ent ba ck to Liverpoo l .

Meanwhile in addi tion t o th e tug s the armed ya c ht

, ,

Or i ana and a number of drifter s were ordered to patrol

the vi cinity of the Mu ll of Can ty r e and to s earc h s u c h ,

p l a c e s a s L o c h In d ail the we s t c oa s t of I s l ay and i t s

, ,

northern s ide .

Within three day s of the A U DA C I O U S di s a s ter , s i x mine

s weeping trawler s were hard at work s weeping from
L ough Swi l l y en t ran c e to the we s t and s outh of Tory
I s l and but found no mine s ; they had yet to l earn t hat
,

t h e mine s were farther to the nor t hward but t heir firs t ,

duty wa s t o in s ure a s afe c hannel c l o s e to the c oa s t .

Whi l e the Grand Fl eet w a s unab l e t o l eave i t s an c horage ,

the entran c e to L ough Swi l l y wa s being pat ro ll ed by the

armed ya c ht L or na and s i x traw l er s more drifter s
were al s o t aken up at King s t own and s ent to s we ll the
li s t of s ma ll c raft The experien c e of war had up s et
.

many pre c on c eived idea s b u t i t wa s a s trange fa ct that

, ,

whi l e ya c ht s t ug s t raw l er s and drifter s c ou l d u s e the

, , ,

s e a i t wa s not s afe for batt l e s hip s and c rui s er s to venture

'

for th .
 3 42 AUXI LIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ CH . VI II

treat thi s area a s almo s t negl igib l e ; it needed p l enty of

patrol c raft and proper organi s ation So Commander H . .

Berkeley R N w a s s ele cted and s ent t o L arne t o a c t

,
. .
,

a s Senior Naval O ffi c er and to organi s e for the North

,

Channel the patrol for c e now being di sp at c hed At .

firs t he had on l y the Or i an a and her four drifter s and

s i x L iverpool tug s until other ve s s el s c ou l d be obtained
, .

While ea c h drifter c arried a 3 pounder gun the tug s had -

,

no t hing beyond ri fl e s for weapon s but they had been ,

provided with explo s ive s igna l s and flare s s o that if a , ,

mine layer or other s u s pi c iou s s hip wa s s ighted they c ou l d

-
,

in s tant l y warn the other pat rol s .

Meanwhile the greate s t a c tivity wa s be i ng manife s ted

,

to in crea s e the patrol s at the mo s t important point s .

F our more ya c ht s and forty eight addit ional trawler s -

were o r dered to S c apa from variou s port s within a week

of the M anch es te r Com m e r ce s s inking and the do ckyard s ’
,

were being a s ked how many traw l ers they c ou l d fit out

for s ervi c e It wa s no ea s y problem for the Admiralty
.
,

a s already the re s our c e s of our fi s hing fleet s had been

c alled upon to an extraordinary extent More patrol .

ve s s el s the D ire c tor of Opera tion s pointed out were

, ,

required for the We s t but he c onfe s s ed that it wa s d i ffi

,

c ult to s e e where they c ou l d be obtained Con s iderab l e .

progre s s w a s being made with the manufa cture of the

modified s weep explo s ive c harge s for dealing with the
s ubmarine s The s e s weep s were being prepared for
.

another s eventy trawler s and orders had been pla c ed ,

for a s till further s upply of s ixty ; but the manufa cture

took time and Woolwi c h c ould not turn out more than
,

a hundred a week .

The Admiralty needed nearly a c ouple of hundred more

trawler s de s pite the large number of the little s hip s they
,

had already c hartered It wa s a s t range experien c e .

for the s e fi s hing c raft s uddenly to find t hem s e l v e s every

where i n s o mu c h demand Off the North Iri s h c oa s t .

they were having a s trenuou s time s weeping for mine s

in the heavy Atlanti c s wel l it wa s c ertainl y no ya c hting
trip and pre s ent l y a long s erie s of gale s interfered c o n
,

s i d e r ab l y with their Operation s Some of Commander .

Pre s ton s Ol d mine s weeper s had been s ent down from

’
-

S c apa to a s s i s t The C I RC E and L E DA c ame fir s t and by

.
,

O ctober 2 9 th they had been j oined at Lough Sw i ll y by the

 CH . VIII ] L OCATING THE MINE FIE LD -
3 43

JA S O N the S P E E D W E LL and the S K I P J A C K whi c h s wept

‘

, , ,

th e c hannel a l ong t h e s hore t o t h e ea s t and we s t of the

entran c e Of Lough Swi l l y Thu s a t l engt h a s afe pa s s age .

in s hore of Tory I s l and and Ini s h tr a h u l l c ou l d be guaran

t eed and the Grand Fl eet was freed to put to s e a on c e
,

more .

On November 2 n d s i x trawlers again endeavoured to find

where the BE R L IN s mine fi e l d began and ended ’
They -
.

made an exp l orat ory s weep from P anad Point the we s tern ,

head l and of L ough Swi ll y we ll o u t into th e At l anti c but , ,

found nothing ; and then having s wep t out a s far north a s ,

the fifty fathom l ine t hey s wep t in t hree dire ction s from
—
,

Tory I s l and north north we s t north and north north

,
-
, ,
-

e a s t but s t i ll withou t re s u l t
,
Six drift er s whi c h had been .
,

s ent with t hei r net s to s ear c h for mine s had no be tter ,

fortune In the la s t week of No v ember another s 1 x m i ne

.
:

p t
Sw e e i n ra w l e r s under t h e c om m and of L ieu t enant Sir

Jam e s D o m v i l l e Bart R N arri v ed The s e c raft had

,
. .
, .

c ome from S c apa Fl ow to l o c ate t h e mine fi e l d It wa s

‘

-
.

i mportant that no time s hou l d be lo s t but ex c eptional l y ,

heavy weather s e t in and it wa s not ti ll late in De c ember ,

that th e traw l er s c ou l d get to work again A s pe c ial s weep .

wa s c arried out from Sk e r r y v o r e to t h e Mu l l of Ca n ty r e ,

a route likely to have been fou l ed be c au s e it w as that

traver s ed by Grand Fl ee t s hip s bound for Liverpool for
d o ck i n g20 r repair s NO mine s were found . Then on .
,

De c ember 1 9 th another di s a s ter o c curred when the

, ,

Donal d s on liner T r i toni a foundered on a mine in a lmo s t

the s ame s pot where the A U DA C I O U S and M an ch e s te r Com
m e r ce had been s unk .

F ortunate l y during the next three day s th e traw l er s .

at l a s t s u c c eeded in finding the dangerou s area a ta s k ,

that i s far harder than may be rea l i s ed by tho s e unfami l iar

wit h s u c h work Sear c h for mine s in the At l anti c in
.

the winter and never finding t hem unti l t hey s udden l y

,

appear in the s weep or b l ow the traw l er to de s tru c tion i s ,

an Operation not to be undertaken either lightly or inad

v i s e dl
y It need .s determ ination to s t i c k it o u t enduring ,

the mono tonou s routine and boi s terou s weather ; but i t

a l s o need s p lu c k to go b l ind l y where mine s may be found ,

and a s pe c ial kind of intuition to gue s s where the enemy

may hav e l aid t hem Be tween D e c ember 2 0 th and 2 2 md
.
,

Sir Jame s D o m v il l e s trawlers managed to sweep up and

’
3 44 AUXI LIAR Y PATRO L AT WORK [ CH . v m

explode no fewer than a dozen of the B e r li n s mine s ’

.

F ive of them were di s c overed s ixteen mi l e s north ea s t -

by north of Tory I s l and and t hree more eighteen mi l e s ,

north north ea s t of the s ame i sland It w a s many week s

- -
.

before t h e whole mine fi e ld w a s c omple t ely cl eared up but

-
,

a good beginning had been made and the trawlers kept ,

doggedly at work The danger wa s in c rea s ed by the

.

heavy weather whi c h had c au s ed many of the mine s to drift

,

in roughly a north ea s terly dire c tion On De cember 2 n d

-
.

one wa s even found by the b attl e s hip NE P TU NE on the

dire ct l ine between Or o n say and Sk e r r y v o r e and wa s ,

s unk by her but other s drifted up the we s t c oa s t of S c ot

,

land .

And whil s t all thi s in c rea s ed a ctivity in regard to patrol s

and mine sweeper s wa s pro c eeding in the North of Ire l and
-
,

a s imilar impetu s had been c reat ed al s o in the s outh of

the Iri s h Sea About the time when Commander Berkeley
.

w a s appointed to L arne the Admiralty in s tituted another

,

ba s e for auxiliary c raft Thi s wa s at Milford and.

,

thither Captain K C Gibbon s R N wa s sent to take

. .
, . .
,

c harge of t h e patrol ve s s e l s working the St George s ’

.

Channel and the outer part of the Bri s tol Channel .

Milford began (to [deve l op into a mo s t important ba s e ,

and before V ery long i t s s pa c iou s haven w a s alive with

a l l s ort s of auxiliary c raft As a beginning twenty .
,

armed trawlers i n addition to s ome mine s weeper s and

,

armed ya c ht s were ordered there as well a s s i x Liverpool

, ,

tug s . The armed ya c ht s A s te r and Greta both s mall ,

enough for the work and typi c al fi n e weather plea s ure

,
-

ve s s el s were ba s ed on Milford temporari l y But the

,
.

mine s weeping trawler s had an equal ly important o ffi c e

-

to perform a s s oon a s they c ould get t o s e a It wa s e s s en .

:

tia l that they sh ou l d a s c ertain whether the enemy had laid

a mine h eld in the s outh of the Iri s h Sea a s he had in the
-
,

north They were a cc ordingl y ordered to s weep the

.

Iri s h c oa s t from the Tu s kar and Co n i ngb e g again s t the tide ,

’
and then work a c ro s s the St George s Channel in about .

s i x tide s Thi s exploratory s weep wa s duly c arried out

.
,

but happily no mine s had been laid the r e .

Referen c e h a s been made to the in c rea s ing diffi c ulty

whi c h the enemy w a s finding in laying mine fi e l d s in the -

N orth Sea c on s equent on t h e improvement of the Briti s h

,

patrol s The line of demarc ation whi c h the Admiralty

.
3 46 AUXI LIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ OH . VII I

A few mi l e s off Yarmouth i s the Smith s Knoll s hoa l ’

,

whi c h run s para l lel W ith the s h Or e It w a s marked by

.

a light ed buoy at i ts s ou t hern end From t hi s buoy a .

s hort c hanne l had been kept s wept s o t hat i t formed a ,

s afe highway for s hip s from t h e Nor t h Sea i nt o the o t her

s wep t c hanne l whi c h ran from t h e North F oreland t o

Fl amborough It w a s evident from what s ub s equently
.
,

o c curred t hat the enemy had obtained information of thi s

,

s e c ret c hanne l and he c er tain l y w a s about to make u s e

,

of it in c onne ct ion wit h the Gorl e s ton raid It i s s i gn i .

fi c ant of bo t h the raid on Gor l e s t on and that whi c h o c .

c urred a few week s la t er on the Y ork s hire c oa s t that the ,

a ctua l bombardment w a s of s e c ondary import an c e and ,

the laying of mine s w a s t h e main obj e c t for the enemy ,

reali s ed t hat a s s oon a s he opened fire on t h e s hore the

Briti s h naval for c e s would be s en t t o atta c k the German s .

In other word s i t w a s an obviou s invit at ion to battle

, ,

but without any intention on the part of t h e enemy to

fight ; s in c e before the two for c e s c ould engage t h e Ger ,

man s quadron wou l d have s c attered plenty of mine s

a c ro s s the line of pur s uit t hu s i m perilling valuable war
,

s hip s who s e lo s s we c ou l d not a fford .

The s c h eme a l s o in cluded t h e l aying of additiona l

mine fi e l d s j u s t before the raid took p l a c e with the s ame
-
,

intent ion of entrapping H i s Maj e s ty s s hip s Thu s the ’

.

enemy hoped to in fl i c t on u s lo s s e s from t hree s eparate

trap s He rea s oned t hat a s s oon a s the new s of h i s bom
.
,

b a r d m e nt wa s telegraphed up and down the c ountry ,

s ome of the Grand F l eet s quadron s and flo t ill a s wou l d

c ome s teaming down from t h e North a c ro s s t h e Dogger

Bank ; l o c a l patrol S hip s would emerge in ha s te from

-

Yarmouth ; and s ome of Com m odore T y r wh i tt s de s troyer ’

forc e wou l d s team north fro m Harwi c h up t h e Suffo l k

c oa s t t o the s c ene of t h e bombardment For ea c h of .

t he s e t hree for c e s a mine fi e ld w a s to be laid and t here

-
,

i s c ir c um s tantial eviden c e that t hi s proj e c t w as c arried

ou t .

The s u s pi c iou s s hip s s een by the Ram s gate trawler

had a l mo s t c ert ain l y been l aying s ome of t h e mine s It .

w a s t h e definite O pinion of Admira l Charlton in c harge ,

of the Ea s t Coa s t mine s weeper s that the mine s on whi c h

-
, ,

l at er on t h e Bri ti s h s ubmarine D 5 foundered had been l aid ,

j u s t prior to the raid with the intention of trapping

,
CH . VII I ] A SUSPICIOUS D RIFTER 3 47

any of our V e s s e l s leaving Y armouth in purs uit Be .

t hat a s it may on November 2 n d t h e Smi t h s Knoll L ight

’
, ,

Buoy w a s found to have my s teriou s ly di s appeared and ,

”
t hat s ame afternoon a s o c a ll ed neutral fi s h i ng V e s s e l
- “ -

wa s report ed in c ir c um s t an c e s whi c h were at lea st

s u s pi c iou s The s po t was s ixty fi v e mi l e s no rth ea s t of
.
'
- -

t h e Spurn a t t h e s outh we s t c orner of the Dogger Bank

,
-
.

It wa s j u s t in s ide the Imag i nary line drawn by th e

Admiralt y s o neutral fi s h i ng ve s s el s s ighted were not
,
-

ne c e s s ari l y s u s pe c t ed a s mine l ayer s -

.

About three o c lo c k t h e Hul l s team trawler A l ons o

’

wa s in that neighbourhood S he w a s not a patrol ve s s el

.
,

but had c ome o u t there to fi sh and a s s h e wa s s teaming , ,

her s kipper Mr Charle s Read who wa s on the bridge

, .
, ,

noti c ed anot her V e s s el about four mile s away to the s outh

ward with her main s ail and mizzen s e t She appeared .

t o be a foreign s ailing drifter It wa s a hazy afternoon .

and there were no o t her ve s s el s in s ight b u t when hal f ,

an hour l at er he got nearer he noti c ed that the s trange s hip

had s team a s we ll as s ail and that s h e had white bow s .

She had lowered her main s ail and hoi s ted a flag on h e r
mizzen Skipper Read having been all h i s life fami l iar
.
,

wit h t h e ways of trawler s and drifters de c ided in h i s ,

own mind that s h e wa s a cting s u s pi ciou s ly He there .

fore s teamed u p to her and found t hat s h e w a s riding t o a

fl oating an c hor She had no net s o u t nor were there any
.
,

buoys or pel l et s vi s ible s u c h a s one wou l d expe c t to find

on a drifter s de ck ’
The A l on s o pa s s ed right under her
.

s te m , and her s kipper noti c ed that t h e drifter h ad a derri ck

s wun g out from her bridge with a ta ck l e from the end of

t h e derri c k to the mizzenma s t he ad Thi s derr i ck .

,

whi c h rea c hed out from the s hip s rail about eight feet ’
,

was made eit her o f iron or s tee l and c au s ed the ve s s el

'

to appear s till more s u s pi c iou s .

What wa s the obviou s inferenc e to be drawn from a

drif ter with no net s l ying pra cti c ally s tationary and with
, ,

a heavy derri ck a l ready s wung out for u s e % Appearan c e s

s ugge s t ed to Skipper Read t hat s h e wa s there for t h e
purpo s e of layi ng mine s duri ng the haze F or twenty .

fi v e year s he had been fi s hi ng but he had never before ,

”
is
“
s een a dri ft er wi t h a derri ck ; Nor he remarked , ,
”
a derri c k u s ed by drifters in their fi s hing He exp re s s ed .

h i s su s pi c ion s to h i s c rew and s ugge s ted that th e b e s t

,
 3 48 AUXILIARY PATRO L AT [ WORK cm vm

thing to do would be to ru n h e r do wn The e vide nc e .

,

however was in s uffi c ient to warrant h i s taking s u c h a

,

dra s ti c s tep s o to quote h i s own word s

, ,
As I c ould no t ,

s e e any mine s I de c ided not to do thi s but to break my , .

voyage by c ea s ing fi s hing operation s and make fo r th e

H umber a s qui ck l y a s po ss ible to give the informatio n ,
”
to one of the Admiralty ve s s el s H e s teamed ba ck t o
.

the Spurn and c ame up the Humber where H M S VIC , . . .

T O R I O U s wa s lying a s guard s hip and gave her the inform a ,

tion He had done the right thing had patrioti cally

.
,

s a c rifi c ed h i s fi s hing and wa s ted no time , The Admiralty .

s howed their appre c iation of h i s devotion to duty by

making a pre s ent of £2 5 to the s kipper and c re w i n ,

additi on to another £2 5 to the own ers .

The next morning the Gorle s ton raid o ccurred l

Briefly, .

the fa ct s are a s follow s Ju s t after s even o clo ck i n the ’

morning of N ovember 3 rd H M S HAL C YO N whi c h had , . . .

,

j u s t left Yarmouth to look for mine s s ighted a four ,

funnelled c ru i s er s teering s outh s outh we s t toward s the - -

s hore and two minute s later there appeared four German

,

Dreadnought ve s s el s a s well Thi s wa s an enemy s quadron .

,

whi c h i s s uppo s ed to have left Heligoland Bight the pre

vio n s evening Within a quarte r of an hour of being
.

s ighted the enemy O pened fire and it wa s s een that there ,

were two c rui s ers fo llowing a s tern of the Dreadnought s .

About the s ame time two Briti s h de stroyers the LIVE L Y ,

and LE O P A R D al s o c ame under fire but the former made

, ,

a s moke s c reen to windward of HAL C Y O N and thu s s hielded

-

her At twenty minute s to eight by whi c h time the

.
,

HAL C Y O N S s t eering c ompa s s had been s hot away but

’
,

pra cti c ally no other damage done the enemy c ea s ed fire , ,

and wa s s een to be s teering to the s outh ea stward Shortly -

.

afte rward s the s quadron wa s lo s t s ight of The enemy had .

c ome down from Smith s Kn oll

’
and havin g pro c eeded
,

t hen c e toward s the S hore had begun to lay mine s from th e

,

rearmo s t s hip j u st before altering c ours e to the s o u th ea st -

.

The LE OPA R D endeavoured to keep in tou c h with the

enemy but he wa s s oon lo s t to s ight
, Pre s ently the .

s ubmarine D 5 c ame out from Yarmouth in pu rs uit but ,

s h e had on l y c overed a c ouple o f mile s s outh ea s t of the -

So u th Cro s s Sand when s h e s tru ck a mine and was lo s t .

1 F ll e r a n d la te
u i n f o r m ati o n s u pp o rt e d th e c o n c l s i o n t h a t a ll th e
r u

m i n e s d i s c o v e r e d a f te th e Go r le s to n r ai d W e r e la i d by e n e m y m e n o i w ar
r - -
.
3 50 AUXI LIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ OH . VIII

in the Min c h and between Cape Wrath and Pentl and

F irt h tho s e wi ld boi s terou s water s where s eaworthy
, , ,

well b u i l t c raft are thoroughl y tried The Shet l and s

-
.

Pat rol had been further s trengthened by s i x trawler s ,

b u t ano t her dozen traw l er s were required for the Moray

Firt h t o provide for t h e s afety of the battle c rui s ers
, .

N or wa s t hi s a ll The Admira lty began to take up a

.

number of s tout l y built S c ot c h motor fi s h i n g boat s for

- -

patro l work They are wonderful s e a boat s doub l e ended

.
-
, ,

t hough ra t her s l ow Sixteen of them were s oon put int o

.

s ervi c e by t h e Mo t or Boat Re s erve ea c h manned by a

-
,

c rew of five hardy S c ot c h fi s hermen with two offi c er s ,

of t h e Roya l Naval Volunteer Re s erve The s e boat s .

were about s ixty feet long and were s ent to L erwi c k , ,

S c apa Cromarty and the F irth of F orth but pre s ent l y

, , ,

t here were a l s o to be ba s ed on Cromarty t h r ee armed

ya c ht s wit h wirele s s and eighteen trawlers fitted with
,

t h e exp l o s ive s weep in addition to ten motor boats for

,
-

pat rolling narrow water s Granton too now be c ame .

, ,

a very important nava l ba s e for trawlers under Captain ,

Ce c il Fox and having regard to the extent to whi c h ,

s ubmarine s had frequented the vi c inity of the F irth of

F orth i ts development wa s undertaken none too s oon

, .

Within eight weeks eighteen enemy s ubmarine s had been

s ighted in s ide the limi t s of R o s yth Naval Centre apart ,

from t ho s e whi c h had been s een up the F orth it s elf At

-
.

lea s t s i x s ubmarine s had been identified near the L ong

s tone and i t s eemed probable that they wer e u s ing thi s
,

s pot for making the land Though the Long st one light
.

had been extingui s hed in the fir s t week of September ,

s ubmarine s c on t inued to be s ighted o ff there during the

next two month s .

Before attention i s devoted to the North s omethin g ,

mu st be s aid of what was happeni ng in the Engli s h Channel .

It wa s expe c ted that s ubmarine s were about to operate

o ff t h e Sou t h Coa s t and with t h e limited avai l able auxi l iary
,
%
patro l s effort s were made to c o p e with thi s a c tivity
The ta s k w a s mo s t di ffi cult Prior to the war there had
.

been a di s po s ition to underrate the c apa c ity of the su b

marine and when i ts o ffen s ive abi l ity wa s demon s trated
,

o n l y too for c ibly it wa s painful ly reali s ed that our c ounter

,

mea s ure s were by no mean s adequate The .

CH .
]
VIIIINCREASE D NEE D FOR AUXI L IARIES 3 5 1

that the final c onte s t i s de c ided by the c apital s hip Con .

s equent l y nearl y all the de s troyers and a great part of

, ,

the armed auxi liary patrols were att ra cted to nort hern ,

l atitude s Sma l l s hip s on the South C oa s t were few i n

.

nu mbers and t h e problem to be s olved wa s rendered no

,

ea s ier by the fa c t that the enemy had developed a type

of mine l aying s ubmarine whi c h c ould do i t s work without
-

breaking the s urfa c e .

Port s mouth wa s a sking for eight drifter s to patrol

outside the Solent Portland r e quired trawler patrol s
for the Dor s et c oa s t ; and we were compelled to invite
the Fren c h to organi s e a trawler patrol in order to purs u e
s ubmarine s by day and night in the area between the line s
— —
Dungene ss Bo u l ogne and Bea c hy H ead Dieppe The s u b .

’
marine c ame and went like a will o the wi s p On - - -
.

November 6 th three torpedoe s were fired at E M . .

To rpedo boat 9 1 while patrolling Off the Girdle r in th e

-

Thame s E s tuary ; the s ame day H M S D RAK E s ighted a . . .

peri s c ope o ff Hoy Sound at the we s tern entran c e to S c apa

Flow F ive day s later H M S NIGE R a n old fa s hioned
. . . .
,
-

gunboat was torpedoed clo s e to Deal Pier On the 1 8 th

, .

H M S S K IPJA C K c ha s ed a s ubmarine north of the Orkn eys

. . . .

Submarine s c ontinued to be reported o ff the Hebride s and

Cape Wrath H M S AJ AX al s o s ighted a peris c ope ab o ut
. . . .

midway between the Far Oe I slan d s an d Cape Wrath .

The s e in cident s in no wi s e le s sened the demand fo r

au x iliary c raft Yet again the Commander i n Chief a s ked - -

fo r more and more trawle rs —twelve to be ba s ed on Storn

.

patrolling the ea s t co as t of the Hebride s and t h e

t of Skye and Mull ; si x to be ba s ed on We s t Lo ch
c oa s t of the H ebride s ; and twelve to

the outer c oa st of S c otland H e als o .

the we s t c oa s t of the H ebride s one at ,

at Lo ch Ewe But already the Ad

‘

out a bold and c o m prehen s ive sc heme

t h ing po s s ible was done by improvi s ation to s trengthe n

o u r defen s ive mea s ure s again s t t h e mine an d s ubmarine .

In s tru ction s were i s s ued to a ccelerate the fitting out o f

trawlers with modified explo s ive s weep s Admiral Si r .

Percy S cott who j u s t prior to the war had s ugge sted i n

, , ,

t h e fac e of s ome c riti c i s m the great p os s ibilitie s of the s u b

m ari ne was i n the middle of No vember app ointed t o th e
,

24
 AUXI LIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ OH . VIII

Admir alty to inve stigate the be s t method s for c o u nter

acting thi s invi s ible ve s s el As a further s tep , the Ad .

m i r al ty elaborated a s c heme for modifying t h e l ighting

and buoyage from Great Yarmouth t o the I s le of Wight ,

and thi s c ame into forc e early i n De c embe r .

Meanwhile the ta s k of the mine s weeping trawler s grew -

no lighter F or be s ide s keeping clear that long lane from

.
,

the N orth F oreland to F lamborough H ead they had to ,

meet many demand s made upon them Toward s the .

end of N ovember R ear Adm i ral Stuart N i c hol s on had bee n

-

dire cted to bombard Z eebrugge with the battle s hip s

R U S S E L L and E XM O U TH To s weep ahead of h i s s hip s
.

he required eight trawlers an d s o at a time when they , ,

c ould ill be s pared four had to b e s ent from Lowe s toft

,

and another four from Great Yarmouth They pro c eeded .

to Dover and then c e to Dunkirk s weeping a c lear way fo r ,

the battle s hip s but s u c h c raft were hardly s uited for thi s
,

kind of work a s they were wanting in s peed Pre s ently

, .

trawler s were s ent from Dunk irk to s weep the We s t Deep ,

o ff N i e u p o rt c lear o f floating mine s work whi c h they c ould

, ,

perform admirably But the s train put upon the Ea s t

.

Coa s t mine s weeper s be came intolerably heavy Many of

-
.

them had been taken away to Lough Swi l l y to Milford , ,

and now to the Belgian c oa st with the re s ult that it was

—
,

po s s ible to s weep the N orth F oreland Flamborough lane

o nly on c e a day in s tead of twi c e Thi s of c ours e in c reas ed.
, ,

the ri s k s to our c oa s twi s e tra ffi c but in V iew of the limited ,

n u mber of trawler s an d the demand s made upon their

s ervi c e s ,s u c h ri s k s c o u l d not be avoided .

O n N ovember 1 7th 1 9 1 4 there c ame out from He li go

, ,

l and a s ubmarine with the number U1 8 painted o n

the hull N ever did a craft leave port with s o mu c h
.

hatred of her enemy nor with greater a ss uran c e of ach i e v

,

ing s u c c e ss She was a ves s el of about 2 0 0 feet length

.
,

with s urfa c e s peed of 2 0 knot s and radiu s of mi l e s .

H er c rew c on s i s ted of a K apit an L eutnant a Le utn ant -

,

zur Z ee and a Marine Oberingenieur as o ffi c ers and

, ,

twenty four ratings All were a nimated with the fi rm

-
.

intent ion of s eeking out the Grand Fleet and atta cking
it no matter at what c o s t Pro c eeding a c ro s s the No rth
, .

Sea the s ubmarine arr ived o ff the s outhe rn end of the

,

Dogger Bank at night ru nning on the s u rfa c e but when a

, ,

Briti s h de s troyer app r oa ched at hi gh s peed s oo n afte r

3 54 AUXI LIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ CH . VIII

the Grand Fleet had c oaled dur ing the night of the 2 l s t
a nd put to s e a early on the following morning to ,

make a s weep down the North Sea toward s Heligoland .

The helm of the U1 8 wa s no w put hard over and s h e ,

c ame out again i n tending to get to the Moray Firth S he

’

, .

h a d not r u n more than abo u t a m ile and a quarte r fro m

Ho xa Head whi c h i s o n the ea s tern s ide of the entran c e
,

t o S c apa Flo w when s u dde nly a violent blow wa s felt

, .

The c aptain and fir s t lieutenant reali s ed the s ituatio n

when the s ubmarine took a li s t of fif teen degree s What .

wa s wor s t the mo s t e ffe c tive peri s c ope h ad b een c arrie d

,

a way . The fa c t wa s that a bove them o n the s urfa c e , ,

thank s to a good lookout and s ki l ful han dling the S c a pa ,

mine s weeper Doroth y Gr ay had b een a ble to r a m t h e

-

peri s c ope bending it over a nd to s tri k e the su bmari ne s

, ,
’

h ull af t c au s ing c on s iderable da m age

, Anothe r tr a wle r .
,

the T oki o h a d b ee n the fir s t to s e e the pe r i s c o pe T h e

’

, .

Doroth y Gr ay being ne arer a c ted promptly and e ffe c ti vely

, , .

The ramming happe ned at p m and the s ub m arin e . .

,

wa s not s ee n agai n for another ho u r duri ng whi c h ti m e ,

twenty s eve n German o ffi c er s and m e n s pent s o m e of th e

-

m o s t anxio u s and e x c iting mome nt s of their li ve s .

After the blow s truc k by the Doroth y Gray the lowe r ,

tube of the damaged peri s c o pe at on c e filled with wate r ,

but the s ubmar ine went o n i n a mad endeavo u r to e s c ape .

S he s ubmerged to eleve n fathom s H alf an ho u r later .

s h e managed to fi x her po s itio n and the n getting o n to , ,

h e r c our s e s ubmerged a gai n to the previo u s depth

, L i fe .

thereafter to tho s e c onfined i n U1 8 be c ame an u n c ea s ing

s tr u ggle t o e s c ape from the mo s t horrible o f death s The .

traw ler s atta c k had put mu c h o f h e r me c hani s m o u t of

’

gear Fir s t the hydroplan e moto r gave o u t and s u ddenly

.
,

j ammed The re s ult wa s that the c raft c o u ld no t b e c o n

.

t rolled to a normal depth S he r o s e a nd .

at alarming angle s s o that at one ti me ,

u pward s and abo u t to break s u rfa c e whil s t the ne xt ,

moment the ve s s el no s e dived t o ward s the bed o f the s e a

- .

Tank s were emptied and a gai n flooded ; the s ub m a rine

—
de s c ended to 2 7 fatho m s 1 6 5 feet 1 The n twi c e i n qui c k
s u c c e s s ion there c ame a b u mp i n di c ati ng t h at the hul l had,

tou c hed the hard b o ttom of the s e a Up the s u bmarine .

c ame to the s urfa c e a nd the n f o l lo wed anothe r c ra s h

,
.

T hi s time s h e had bee n r am m ed by the de s tr oye r GARR Y .

an .
] vm THE D OOMED U BOAT -

What happened dur ing the en s uing pe riod i s be s t de

s cribe d i n the word s of Ob erleutnant Neuerburg s e c ond ,

in c ommand : The boat s hot u pward s and down~

war d s ; the m e n r u s hed forward and aft ; the flooring
be came s lippery with the o i l c arri ed out o f the engine
”
room by the me n s feet ; the m e n s li p ped ’
Down the .

c raft went agai n s tri ki ng the s e a bo ttom then r o s e

, an d , ,

de s c ended on c e more thi s time to over 2 3 0 feet ,T he n .

,

de c lared Oberleutnant Neuerburg i n h i s narrative we ,

s hot upward s s o Violently that I gave u p all hope .

Fr om the c o nning tower c ame the report Steeri ng ge ar

-

—
,

ja m me d man the hand wheel And t hen from the

’
.

engine room : Th e motor s have broken down

-
The
boat eventually began to r i s e and then s u ddenly the c a p ,

tain pu s hed o pen the c onning tower hat c h S he had a -

.

heavy li s t a hole torn i n her s tarboard tank s rudde r

, ,

gone propeller s badly damaged

, As I c ame on de c k .

I s aw how the peri s c ope wa s almo s t broken o ff s hort .

Suddenly there wa s a s mell of burning Someone s houted .

,

The battery i s on fi re 1 The c aptain gave order s that

the boat wa s to be s unk We drifted helple s s ly in the .

c urrent s of Pentland S k err ie s No 2 fired s tar s ign al s . .

-

to draw the attention of the s ignal s tation tw o -

de stroyer s were approa c hing at f u ll s peed Th e c aptai n .

fired o ff the s tern tor pedoe s i n order to allow the water

to enter through the tube s Spr e u ge r ( the enginee r .

offi c er ) tore open the flooding valve s then the bo a t

s ank .

It wa s at p m that the s ubmarine had for the la s t

. .

time c ome to the s urfa c e and the c rew were s een on de c k ,

with a white flag flying She had foun dered about five .

mi le s ea s t by s outh of Mu c kle Skerry the large s t of the ,

group o f r o cks whi c h lie at the eas tern e ntran ce to the

Pentland F irth The two de s troyer s whi c h c ame up were
.

the E RN E with Admiral Sir Stanley Colville on board

, ,

and the GAR R Y The latte r pi c k ed up all the o ffi c er s

.

and men with the e xc eption o f one man a s toker who , ,

wa s drowne d So e nded the c ar eer of th e c r aft whi c h

.

had propo se d to s ink Admiral J e lli c o e s flag s h i p 1

Up ’
.

Di e De u ts ch U-Be e to i n i h re r Kri e g sffi h r u ng 1 9 1 4

“
1
‘

en , s ta te s

( v ol i , p 1 6 ) th
. . at U1 8w as r e tu rni n fr o m S c apa Fl o w , w as si gh te d
, a s sh e g
an d ch as e d , an d th at s h e s t ru ck th e r oc k s wh i l s t
p r o c e e di ng s u b m e r g e d ,
and w as co m
pe lle d t o c o m e t o th e s u r f ac e an d s u r r e n de r o wi n g t o t h e
dam age s u s tai ne d .
3 56 AUXI LIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ CH . vm

to thi s date though the Auxiliary P atrol had been

,

doing mo s t e x c ellent work no c han c e had c ome t heir way ,

of s inking a s ubmarine and to trawler D oroth y Gr ay , ,

No 9 6 belonged the honour of being t h e fi r s t au xi liary

.
,

ve s s el i n naval h i s tory to a ch i eve s u c h a feat Thi s i n .

eident wa s mo s t who le s ome i n i ts effe c t ; it c onvin c ed

the Admiralty that the s e s mall s hip s and fi s hermen c rew s
c ould do all that might be a s ked of them and to the c r e w s ,

them s elve s it i mparted an i n c rea s ed c onfiden c e i n thei r

ability A healthy s pirit of riva lry wa s ex c ited and
.
,

amid s t the depre s s ing monotony of the patrol there wa s

no man who wa s not c heered by the be li ef that s ome day
he might help to s end a s ubmarine to the bottom .

”
I wi s h wrote Admiral Colville t o the Admiralty
, ,
’
to draw their lord s hip s attention t o the ex c e l lent work
done by Trawler No 9 6 the s kipper of whi c h worked h i s .
,

c raft mo s t s u c c e s s fully i n c ha sing and ramming the

s ubmarine Hearty c ongratulation s to Trawler
.

telegraphed the Fir s t L ord for brilliant s er vi c e whi c h , ,

”
their lord s hip s will mar k by a s ub s tantial reward In due .

time c ame the reward £ 5 0 0 to the s kipper ( Ch i ef Skipper A .

Yo u ngs o n and c rew of the Do r oth y Gr ay and £ 1 0 0

, ,

to T o ki o But apart from any pe c uniary pri ze there wa s the

.
, ,

k nowledge that a fi s h i ng ve s s el manned by a fi s hing c rew -

, ,

had performed di s tingui s hed s ervi c e in ri dding the s e a of

a dangerou s enemy and had c reated a mo s t en c ouraging
,

pre c edent That the enemy wa s determined to pene trate

.

into the area known to be frequented by the Grand Fleet

wa s made evi dent by the per s i s ten c e with whi c h s ubmarine s
c ru i s ed off the Orkney s On the day after U1 8 wa s .

rammed and s unk another of the s e c raft wa s s een by

H M S D R YAD o ff the ea s t s ide of the Orkney s and again
’

. . .
,

on the following day the trawler s won the prai s e of the

Royal Navy That day o ff the s ame part of the c o as t
.
, ,

a s u b m ar i ne wa s netted though s h e wa s not de s troyed , .

As s oon a s s h e wa s s ighted trawler s gave c ha s e whi lst ,

an outlying trawler got the i ntelligen c e through to H M S . . .

S KI PJA C K whi c h followed the s ubmarine ti l l a s s h e was

, ,

approa c hing gun range the c raft d i ved and wa s not s een ,
”
a g ain .I c on s ider mo s t prai s eworthy reporte d Com ,

mander Pre s ton of the in c ident the way the s e two ,

:

t ra wler s 79 and 8 0 , ,

gave i nformation .
 AUXI LIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ OH. vn r

minute s later the two S c arborough raider s appeared o ff

,

Whitby and al s o bombarded that pla c e after whi c h the ,

whole of the for c e made i t s e s c ape It had co me via .

the open pa s s age e xi st ing between the Tyne and Humber

mine fi e l d s and the s hip s whi c h had gone no rth to Whi tby
-
,

and Hartlepool had k ept s horeward of the Tyn e mine

area But on their return j ourney between the s e two
.
,
’
old mine area s the enemy s light c ru i s er s and de s troyer s
, ,

form ing the German s c ree n were s ighted and fired on by ,

the Briti s h light c rui s er s about a m Owing to the . .

mi s t they e scaped About midday the Se c ond Battle

‘

S quadron al s o s ighted enemy c ru i s er s and de s troyer s

s teering ea s t by s outh at fu ll s pe ed ; and again the raider s

eluded pur s uit It wa s a very fortunate adventure for

.

the German s ; but for the bad lu ck i n regard to the mi s t

’

and rain they would have been s everely handled

, .

Thi s rai d i s of i mme diate i ntere s t a s illu s trating the

part whi c h the Auxiliary Patrol had i n the affair There .

was afterward s rea s on t o a s sume that the for c e whi c h

had en c oun tered Briti s h de s troyer s i n the morning
had s teamed up to the north we s t c orner of the -

Dogger Bank and there lai d s ome mine s to entrap the

,

Grand F leet At any rate a quarter pa s t nine that morn

.
,
-

i ng the fi s h i ng trawler B lanch e whi ch had c ome to the

, ,

Dogge r Bank to fi s h s ighted a m ine the po sition be ing , ,

about s eventy mile s N E 1 E o f Flambo rough lHe a d . . . .

The skipper Mr J ohn Wil s on took h i s s hip c lo s e up to

, .
,

it and a s he had no weapon s for s inking it he dropped

,

a dan b u oy to mark it lay alongs ide it for an hour and

-
, ,

de fi nitely a s c erta ined that it was a moored mine and that

it had fi ve horn s The trawler then s teamed half a doze n
.

mile s whe n s h e s ighted a de s troyer ; there i s a rea s on

,

to think that thi s wa s a Ger m an de s tr oyer whi c h had

a c c ompanied the fi r s t s quadron en c ountered at fi ve o c loc k ,
’

farther to the s outh ea s t an d had j u s t fi nished layi ng-

,

mine s As we a ltered o u r c o u r s e to go to h i m
. s tated ,

Ski pper Wil s o n he s te am ed away in the ea s t by no r th

,

dire c tion Whe n we fi r s t s aw h i m he had h i s head o n

.

the ea s t s o u th e a s t c o u r se and the wind wa s north north

- -
,
-

we s t fi ne br ee ze and rai n
, I s aw it wa s no good s tea m ing .

afte r him s o pro ce eded h o m e war d s a s I t h i nk he wa s th e

, ,

one that lai d th e mi ne If he had bee n E ngli s h he wo u ld .

have waited a s h e c ould se e we altered our c our s e to ward s

,
 A UXILIA RY PAT R O L [ vm AT WO RK '

on .

whi s tli ng o verhead and s e e them falling all r ound u s .

As the German s were pa s s ing u s the big c rui s er fired a ,

s hot whi c h pa s s ed between our bridge and funnel and h i t

the water about fifty yard s away from u s Simultaneou sly .

I s aw two s hell s hit one of their de s troyers and all I s aw ,

w a s a tremendou s upheaval of water and then n othing

”
more Thi s all la s ted about fifteen minute s
. By thi s .

’
time the trawler s s kippe r had got in h i s gear and was
“
s teaming toward s the land About 3 p m no wars hip s
. . .
,

then being m s ight I s aw what looked l i ke a ma st s ti ck ing

,

Up out of the water about s outh we s t of u s and i m m e d i

,
-
,

ately bore away toward s it Getting a better V iew I .

,

made it out to be a s ubmarine with two ma st s the fore ,

one longer than the after one and having a c ro s s tre e

, ,
-

to it ( the fore o ne ) Thi s I s urmi s ed mu s t be a Ge rman

.
,

and we kept afte r him for about a quarter of an hour ,

but he outdi s tan ced our s hip ea s ily L a s t s een he wa s .

,
”
going about s outh by ea s t to s outh time being p m , . .

It was not long before the mine fi e ld laid by the raiders -

o ff S c arborough began to bring forth di s a s te r upon d i s

a s ter H appily the battle s hip s battle c rui s er s c rui s ers

.
, , ,

and de stroyers in s pite of the ri sk s they ran in the c ha s e

, ,

had e s c aped the danger Thu s one portion of the enemy s

.
’

plan had mi sc arried but the lo s s e s to merc hant s hipping

were t o be alarming and the toll of human life wa s great
, .

The e nemy had barely fini s hed layin g h i s mine s when th e

N orwegi an s s Vaa re n s tru c k a mine about three and a half
. .

mile s north ea st by north of Filey and foundered her c rew

-
,

being pic ked up by the trawler Cl on at a m Twelve . .

hours late r the Briti s h s s E lte r wate r al s o ran on a mine and

. .

foundered three mile s ea s t of S c arborough and the s ame

evening the P r i nce ss Olga went down five mile s ea s t north -

ea st of S c arborough Still further to in c rea s e the peril to

.

o u r s hippin g three German torpedo boat s at s un s et laid

,
-

more mine s o n the Dogger Bank s eventy mile s nort h

“

e a s t by e as t of t h e Spurn N ext day the Ci ty whi c h

.
,

h a d o n boa rd s everal of the dead s eamen from the c ollier

E lte r water re p o rt e d tha t the s e a o ff S c arborough wa s s trewn
,

with min e s The extent and dire ction of thi s late st

.

mine fi e l d w as then of c our s e unkn own but the day after

-
, , ,

the raid all traffi c between Flamborough and the Tyne

wa s s to ppe d e x ce pt
,

D o wn to th e d ay
CH . vm ] THE FOU LED SEA ROAD-
361

t ted a s wept c hannel exi s ted from the N orth Foreland

s a ,

to Flamborough Up and down thi s c hannel s tream s of

.

s hip s pa s s ed m g to the
. exi s ten c e of other mine fi e l ds -

a lready mentioned ve ss el s were pra cti c ally re s tri c ted to

,

thi s lan e It h a d bee n s wept daily and patrolled daily

.

a nd wa s u s ed with co nfiden c e But now the enemy had .

laid s nare s along thi s s e a r oa d and the re s ult s were s eriou s , .

Until the Cl an had pi cked up the Vaar e n s c rew it wa s not ’

known that a new min e fi e l d had been laid and on l y the -

,

di s appearan c e of the other mer chant s hip s that day gave

even a vague indi c ation of the mine fi e l d s a ctual po s ition -
’
.

It was no w the duty of the mine s weeper s to a s c ertain

the limit s of thi s danger are a and to get rid of the mine s ,

as qui ckly a s po s s ible Or ders were s ent by Admiral .

Charlton in stru c ting the min e s weeper s t o work from -

Flamborough H ead to Hartlepool with a pai r of Fleet ,

s weepers and de s troyers from the Ninth F lotilla were

,

s ent to s e a s o as t o s top all s outh going s hip s from enterin -

g
the mine fi e ld -
.

Although arrangement s were made to extend the

s wept c hannel northward from Fl amborough and the ,

pa ss age of merc hant s hipping wa s s topped the s ituation ,

wa s embarra s s ing A hold u p of c argo ve s s el s th rottled

.
-

trade be s ide s ca u s ing an in c onvenient c onge s tion of

,

traffi c at fo c al point s On the other hand i f they were .

,

al l owed to pro c eed they r an c on s iderable ri s k It wa s , .

therefore de c ided to make a c ompromi s e and to allow ,

s hip s to pa s s by daylight warning them to keep within ,

two mi le s of the s hore The a ctual mine s weeping c o m .

-

m e nc e d on De c ember 1 9 th F rom Gri m s by c ame group s .

of trawlers whi c h not many week s ago had been fi s hing

for food There c ame too the padd l e s teamer Br i gh ton
.
, ,
-

Q u e e n w h i c h had ear ly that s ummer been running exc ur s ion

,

trip s o n the South C oa s t F rom L owe s toft were s ent eight .

s tur dy drifter s t o a s s i s t in keeping mer c hant s hip s o ff

the mine fi e ld ; and a s if to c omplete the repre s e ntative

-
,

c hara c ter o f the auxi liary c r aft from the northward c ame ,

a m o tor ve s s e l u s ually engaged in s ummer c rui s ing whi c h

-

at the beginning of t h e war h a d b e e n tran s ferred to the

White En s i gn H M S S KI PJ A C K un der Co mmander L
. . . .
, .

G Pre s ton R N a l s o arrive d to a s s i s t the trawler s

.
,
. .
, .

T h e pe r s onnel e ng a ged o n thi s b i g s c hem e h ad c o m e from

m o s t p ar ts o f th e wo rld No rth Se a fi s he rme n who h a d .
 362 AUXI LIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ CH vn r .

b e e n trawli ng o ff I c eland s port s men fre s h from fi s hing

,
,

i n C a n adian water s s eamen working in c ro s s Chan nel ,

-

pa cket s o r liner s whe n the war broke out others again , , ,

wh o we r e y achting a s re c ently a s the pre c eding July as ,

well a s naval o ffi c ers were s oon bu s y all bearin g te s timony

, ,

to the great bro therh o od of the s e a .

In o rder to a sc ertain how the mine s lay it was e s s ential ,

to s weep at all s tate s of the tide N one ex c ept tho s e wh o .

have s erved O ff thi s inho s pitable c oa s t during the fe w

daylight hour s of a De c embe r day can reali s e the anx ietie s
a n d di ffi c ultie s o f the ta s k Gale s s pri ng up at s hort .

warning and a s Bridlington and S c arborough the o nly

, ,

a dj a c ent harbou rs c o u l d not be entered at all s tate s o f

the tide Grim s by—involving a long pa s s age for s mall c raft

,

—
,

along an nlighted c oa s t was the neare s t port available

u .

Trawler s k eep the s e a i n al mo s t an y weather but they ,

draw a good deal o f water e s pe cially aft and thu s at , ,

any moment they were in peril of falling vi ctim s to the

hidden mine s .

Thu s the o peration s began Commander R H , . .

Walte r s R N in the Br i gh ton Q u e e n being the o ffi c e r i n

, . .
, ,

c harge . The trawler s pa s s ed out with their s weep s to

c lear the s ea s o f h i dde n death It wa s not long before .

the inevitable happened The mine s weeping trawl e r .

-

P as s i ng c o m m an ded by Lieutenant G C P ar s on s R N
, . .
, .

r an int o a mine whi c h blew a hole int o her bow s o large

,

that a s mal l motor car c ould have bee n drive n th ro ugh it

-
.

S he was a magn ifi c ent type of trawler s toutly built and , ,

fortunately her bulk hea d s held The Br i gh ton Q u e e n was .

a ble to take h e r i n tow and bea c hed her on the S c arborough

s and s
, whenc e s h e returned later o n to Grim s by to be
r epair e d But immed i ately after the a c c ident to th e
.

P as si ng th e mine s weeping trawler Or i an da ( Lieutenant

,
-

H B o othby
.
, h i t a m i ne a mile a nd a half s outh
e a s t o f S c arborough Ca s tle and blew up One o f the c rew .
'

wa s k illed but L ieute n ant B o ot h by got the re s t of h i s

,

m e n away s afely The n e xt trawler to s u ffer mi s for tu ne

.

was th e S tar of Bri tai n ( Li e ute nant C V Cro s s ley . .

,

thre e vi ol e nt e xpl os ions r e ve ali ng th e ca us e of the inj u rie s

s h e h ad r ec e i ve d
’
On t h e fi rs t day s s w e e ping and within
.
,

te n m i nu te s th re e tr awl er s h ad st ru c k Ger man m i n e s

, .

Co m m ande r Pres to n to o k th e S K I PJ A C K ve r y gallan tly to

th e m iddl e o f t h e min e fi e l d whe r e e xplo s ion s had tak e n
-
3 64 AUXILIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ CH . vm

as wa s uggested by the further report that the Norwegian

s

s s B os ton had s tru c k a m i ne t h r ee miles ea s t s outh eas t

. .
- -

of S carborough S he was bea c hed on the north s ide of .

Filey Brig .

A l ready a flotilla of fourteen trawler s was s weepin g

o ff S c arborough in additi on to the drifters and the motor
,

boat E u an M ar a N O fewer than t h i rty fi v e mine s had .

-

s o far been de s troyed and it wa s impo s sible to tell how ,

many more might be hidden Chri stma s Day 1 9 1 4 .

, ,

will long be remembered by Eas t Coa s t fi s hermen a s a day

of trib u lation but a day o n whi c h the s e fi s hermen made
,

her oi c hi story At 1 1 a m whilst s weeping s outh from

. . .
,

Whitby the trawler Ni gh t H awk s tru c k a mine and fou n

,

dered about five and a half mile s ea s t of S carbor ough .

Only s even of her crew of thi rteen were s ave d in cludi ng ,

the c o m mandi ng offi cer S ub Lieutenant W A S eni or ,

-
. .
,

R N R Th e s s Gem came alo ng s tr u ck a m i ne and blew

'

. . . . .
,

up s even and a half miles s outh e as t Of S car borough R o ck -

,

with the lo s s of ten live s including h e r ma ster The , .

s s E li
. . under the N orwegian flag als o s tru ck a mine and
, ,

eventually s ank three m i le s s outh ea s t of S carborough -

.

The day was marked by a fine e xh i bition of plu ck on the

part of the s e L owes toft drifter s The Co mmodore .

wa s S kipper E V S nowli ne of the Trawle r Re s erve . .

,
.

A lthough a gale wa s blo wi ng thi s s eaman in s tead of , ,

running for s helter s tu ck it out an d kept h i s s tation i n ,

order to prevent other ve s s el s getting int o the mined area .

In s pite of the heavy s eas h i s dri fter the Hi lda an d E rne s t , , ,

fa c ed the weather and the ri sk of being mined and s tood

by the Ga lli e r a Briti s h s teamer w h i c h had al s o s tru ck
,

a mine Skipper Al ler to n i n the dr ifter E ager s howing

,

the s ame hardihood N ot to be o utdone by the drifters .

,

Skipper T W T r e nda ll i n the min e s weep i ng tr awl er

. .
,
-

S o l on on h i s own re s pon s ibility went t o the a ssi stan c e o f

,

t h i s s h i p It was low water ; it wa s dark the Ga lli er

.

was s howi ng no light s The S olo n had to s ear c h for her .

during the gale in the middle of the mine fi e l d yet in -

,

the end s h e wa s s afely brought int o S c arborough N ever .

did Briti s h s ailors in pea c e or war perform a more un s elfi s h

and heroi c a ct o n C h r i s t m a s ni ght F or their galla ntry .

the Kin g awarded the D S O to b o th Skipper S nowlin e . . .

and S kipper T r e ndall .

The followin g day a c hanne l h ad b e e n cl e ar ed a nd traffi c ,

on .
]
v1 11 CLEARED AT LAST .

wa s permitted to pa s s but only in daylight The s s

, . . .

Li nar i a next foundered two and a half mile s north north -

ea s t o f Filey Brig Des troyer s were s ent from the s eventh

.

and Ninth Fl oti ll a s to patro l the extre m i ty of the S c ar

borough mine fi e l d until the c hannel had been c ompletel y
-

s wept and buoyed to prevent c ommer cial traffi c from pa s

,

s ing through at night or by any unauthori s ed routes and ,

to c he ck fur ther mine laying But on the la s t day of the

-
.

year 1 9 1 4 s ti l l another s teamer wa s blown up four mile s

,

north nort h ea s t of Filey Brig By that da t e however

- -
.
, ,

a c hannel had been s wept and the principal buoys laid ;

mo st of the work had been done and the paddle steamer s ,
-
,

whi c h drew le s s water than trawlers were pre ss ed into ,

the Servi c e The trawlers were indeed wanted every

.
, ,

where They were required to s weep up the Tory I s land

.

mine fi e l d and s till more were needed for s ervi c e in the

-
,

North S ea in order to prevent mi ning a ctivity being

res umed The s weep o ff S ca rborough c ontinued and
.
,

on J anuary 6 th the Banger s s tru ck a m i ne o ff that port

and s an k Her c ommanding offi c er L ieutenant H
.
, .

Boothby , had already been blown up on De cember

1 9 th in the Or i an da but again he e s c aped death and
, ,

afterward s he wa s awarded the D S C Next day the s s ,

. . . . .

E lfri da al s o hit a m i ne and went down two m i l e s north

north ea st of S carborough
-
But at la st in s pite of the .
,

hindr an c es thr ough heavy weather t h i s dangerou s mine ,

field wa s s o far s wept up that a buoyed c hannel wa s

esta bli s hed right up to a point abreas t of Ha r tlepool ,

and the merchant traffi c tha nk s to the vigilan c e of our ,

patrol s and the daily diligen c e of the mine s weeper s -

,

wa s able again to ca rry on right away do wn the N orth

Sea to the Engli s h Chann el .

Su ch i s the narrative of the S carborough mine fi e l d -

.

Although it brought about the lo s s of valuable lives a s ,

well a s of a few trawlers and mer c hant s hip s it did not ,

di mi ni s h the s trength of the Grand Fleet by a s ingle unit .

Undoubtedl y the laying of mine s on the Dogger Bank ,

just before and on the day of the raid was part of the ,

s c heme to entrap the Grand F l eet On De c ember 1 1 t h .

and the t wo fo ll owing day s Skipper W Pear c e of the , .

,

fis hing s team traw ler D ane s ighted s even floating mine s ,

in variou s po s ition s appro ximate l y between s event y and

ninety eight mile s nor t h ea s t by ea s t of S c ar b orough
- -
,
3 66 AUXI LIARY PATRO L AT WORK [ CH
. V III

and a s h as already been mentioned the trawler Blanch e

, ,

found a mine on the day of the raid and a German de s troyer

near b y m a po sition rough l y s event y fi v e mile s nor t h
- -

ea s t by ea s t of Flamborough where o n De c embe r 2 8 r d

,

the trawler Ocana foundered on a mine On De c ember

.

1 s th the B lanch e ob s erved an other mine i n m u c h the s ame

po s i tion On J anuary 3 1 s t mine s were al s o reported
.

between eighty fi v e and 1 0 0 mile s north ea s t of the Spurn

- -
.

The s e may or may not have b een laid in c onne ction

wi t h the S c arborough raid . At any rate the Dogger
,

Bank mine fi e l d wa s in e xi s ten c e i n addition to the o t her

-
,

area s and thu s the lot of the fi sh erman wa s rende r ed

,

s till more dangerou s .

3 68 GROWTH OF THE SUBMARINE MENACE [ OH Ix .

E ngli s h Channel The immediate need s of the Grand

.

F leet s o far a s enemy mining operations were c on c erned

, ,

wa s met by di s pat c hi ng further railway s teamer s to a ct

a s F leet s weeper s and in the meantime attention w a s a l s o
,

dire cted to the prote ction of the main base of the Fleet
agains t s ubmarine s .

An in cident on November 2 3 r d c on c entrated attention

on the Engl i s h Channel On the afternoon of that day .

s ubmarine U2 I s ank by gunfire the s s M a la ch i te near . .

,

Havre Two days later t hree t rawler s Cle op atr a J a ckdaw

.
, , ,

and W arte r P r i or y were ordered from Yarmouth to Port s

,

mouth with three R N R o ffi c ers in c ommand Twelve

,
. . . .

armed trawlers fitted wi th gun s and the modified exp l o s iv e

s weep were al s o s ent Thi s floti ll a was intended to
.

operate in the Engli s h Channel again s t s ubmarine s to ,

s ink dr i fting mine s and to board any s u s pi c iou s s mall

,

c raft whi c h might be s upp l ying s ubmarine s The s e .

trawler s were dire cted to patro l the tran s port route between
Spithead and Havre Thu s began a new s ys tem of c oa s tal
.

patrol s whi c h was to make for in c rea s ed e ffi c ien c y in

c ombating the s ubmarine .

By the fir s t week of De c ember about s ixty l ieutenant s

and s u b lieutenant s R N R trained in the Mer c hant
-
. .

Servi c e had been drafted to ba s e s of the Aux i liary Patrol

,

for the c ommand of armed trawler s and a s leader s of

unit s ; another fifty offi c er s of the s ame for c e were al s o
undergoing ins tru ction in Torpedo S c hool s hip s prepara
tory to being s ent to trawler s In ve s s el s where there wa s .

no s uitable c abin a temporary c abin wa s being

and one in every s i x trawler s wa s fitted with
telegraphy although the s upp
,

be c ome temporarily exhau s ted .

were s ent to Q ueens town though 5 ,

pa s s before s ubmarine s penetrated Iri s h wat er s .

Prior to the war there exi s ted ,

Committee w h i c h dealt with the

but for s ome rea s on thi s had been
t i l i t i e s broke out .

m ena c e had to b e
E arly in D e
s e t up at t h e

R N
.
CH . Ix ] IND ICATOR NETS 3 69

known method s of dealing with the s ubmarine A patro l .

ve s s e l c oul d s ink it by ramming ; s h e c ou l d b l ow i t up

with the explo s ive s weep ; s h e c ould s ink it by gunfire ;
or s h e c oul d entrap it by mean s of net s w h i c h were ,

then being evo l ved O wi ng to the s hortage of gun s

.
,

many patrol ve s s e l s were s til l unarmed and thu s their ,

onl y weapon wa s their stem But ramming as every .

,

s tudent of pa s t naval hi s tory i s aware i s a far more ,

difficul t operation than appear s at fir s t s ight Modified .

s weep s for the purpo s e of exploding over a s ubmarine

, ,

were being s upplied a s fa s t a s po s s ible but before an ,

enemy c an be b l own up it mu s t be known where he i s .

It wa s on the development of the net that attent ion wa s

now c entred Preliminary experiment s had been going
.

on for s ome time As far ba c k a s O c tober a s c heme

.

had been s ugge s ted by Captain H M D oughty the . .

,

c ommanding offi c er of the D evonport Gunnery S c hoo l ,

for the emp l oyment of net s and fl oating buoys with or

wit hout explo s ive s and experiment s with net s were
made at Harwi c h and L owe s toft under Captain E ll i s on
and L ieutenant Menzie s the original idea being to emp l oy
,

fi s h i n g net s s u c h a s are u s ed by d rifter s

-
The s e s oon .

developed into what were te c hni c a l ly known a s indi

”
c ator net s the purpo s e of the buoys being to indi c ate or
,
”
“
wat c h a s s oon a s the s ubmarine g o t into the net .

The idea wa s that when a s ubmarine be c ame entangl ed ,

the s e ction of the me s h would be broken O ff and thu s the

propel ler would be fouled Simu l taneou s ly the s u b .
,

marine wo u l d announ c e i t s pre s en c e by c au s ing the buoys

to wat c h Net s are emp l oyed in pea c e time by
.
‘
-

drifter s whi c h put to s e a for the herring fi s hery Drift net .

-

fis hing i s quite different from trawling along the s e a bed -

.

Ju st as the t r awl e r m e n s experien c e had s o happi l y fitt ed

’

them for s weeping up mine s s o the dr i fte r m e n with their

,

s hip s were the expert s at hand t o go out and entrap s u b

—
marine s During the wint er of 1 9 1 4 1 5 the Admiral ty
.

took up a c ons iderab l e number of drifter s from the ea s t

c oa s t fort y four being hired from the l ittle port of L o s s ie
,
-

mouth alone Ins tru ct ion s were s ent to L owe s toft that
.

t he s e c raft were to be fitted out with t h e ut m o s t di s pat c h .

Thi s ta s k w a s to go on day and night a ll o t her work being,

deferred if ne c e s s ary Thu s by January t h e Admira lt y

.

had quite a l arge flotill a of the s e ve s s el s ready for s ervi c e .

3 70 GROWT H OF THE SUBMARINE MENACE [ cm 1x
The in c rea s ing e ffi cienc y of the ya c ht and trawler
patrol s had already impre s s ed the Board of Admiral ty ,

and a s c heme wa s planned for the arm e d patrol of the

ent ire c oa s t s of Great Britain and Ireland by auxiliary
c raft .It had been drawn up by the Ad mira l ty in c o n
j un ction with the War Staff and was modified s lightly in ,

detail to meet the c riti c i s m s of Admira l J e l l i c o e In the .

fewe s t word s the s c heme divided the Briti s h I s le s into

,

twenty one area s plu s the C l yde and the N ore area s
-
, .

The s e di fferent area s were to be patrolled by 7 4 ya c ht s

and 4 6 2 trawlers and drifter s Their duty wa s to pre .

vent mine laying and c apture or de s troy mine layers ;

-
,
-

prevent the operation s of s ubmarine s and de s troy s u c h

c raft ; prevent s pying and c apture s pie s Motor boat s .
-

were to a s s i s t in the s e dutie s in s he ltered water s The .

need s of ea c h area s trategi ca l ly were c arefull y c on s idered ,

regard being paid to the indented nature of the c oa st l ine ,

the proximity of trade route s and the opportunitie s for ,

s ubmarine a ctivity and s u c c e s s ful mine l aying Under -

.

the s c heme every part of the Briti s h I s l e s would be s y s

t e m ati c al l y patrol l ed thu s making the work of the enemy
,

more diffi cult With thi s improved organi s ation wa s

.

in s tituted a general revi s ion of the all o c ation of auxiliary

s hip s .S ome s tation s had their number s in c rea s ed others ,

had ve s s el s taken away a c c ording to the s trategi c al n e ce s ,

s i ty . The N orthern Trawler Fl otilla c ame under the s ame

c ontrol a s the S c apa F low F lotilla thu s making it po s s ib l e ,

for trawler s to be deta c hed in c a s e the Grand Fleet left

the S c apa bas e The following were the area s now c o n
.

s tituted provi s ion being made to en s ure rapid tran s

,

mi s s ion o f the intelligen c e gained by the ya c ht s and

trawlers

I . Loch Ewe and Stor X Yarmouth and H ar

.

noway . W i Ch .
‘

S hetland I s l and s . Dover .

Orkney I s land s . Port s mouth .

Cromarty . Portland .

Peterhead . D evonport .

Ro s yth . Milford ( with ba s e

Granton . Ro s s l are ) .

Tyne . L iverpoo l Kin ,

Humber .
3 72 GROWT H OF THE SUBMARINE MENACE [ CH 1 x .

the Au xi l iary P atrol in wat c h i ng wherever s ubmarine s

were likely to operate In the twenty thr ee area s men .
-

t i o n e d patro l ve s s el s maintained c on s tant vigilan c e and ,

in addition to the s e the mine s weeper s c arried on their -

routine dutie s wherever required Thu s by the end of .

,

the year 1 9 1 4 there were in al l 7 5 0 ya c ht s patrol trawler s , ,

mine s weeping trawlers drifter s paddle s weeper s motor

-
, , ,

drifters and motor boat s in whi c h 1 9 0 Offi c er s of the

,
-
,

Royal N avy and Royal Naval R e s erve and 2 5 0 offi c er s of

the Royal N aval Volunteer R e s erve were s erving O ffi c er s .

and men were keen and needed o nl y improved devi c e s

for the arduou s work entru s ted to them and the s e gradually ,

were perfe cted .

On J anuary 2 nd 1 9 1 5 the Fir s t L ord of the Admiralty

, ,

( Mr . Win s ton Chur c h i ll ) made a reque s t for four drifter s

to be s ent to Dover They were to c arry o u t a number .

of experiment s under Captain E C Carver R N in the . .

, . .
,

laying of net s under a s ys tem devi s ed by Admiral of the

Fleet Sir A Wil s on F our drifter s were a c c ordingly ordered
. .

next day from L owe s toft and formed the nu cleu s of a huge ,

fleet whi c h wa s pre s ently to be tran s ferred to the White

En s ign for the s pe cial s ervi c e of entrapping s ubmarine s .

To t ho s e unfami l iar with s hip s the di ff eren c e between

a trawler and a drifter may not be evident They are .

bui l t for entirely different purpo s e s and have di s tin ctive ,

feature s in s ize c on s tru ct ion de s ign and per s onnel The

, , , .

dr ifter i s s mall er than t h e trawler and u s ually i s built of ,

wood though a few are of s teel ; s h e h a s no powerful

,

win c he s and but one c ap s tan ; in line s s h e i s but s light l y

mo di fied from the old s ailing drifter s ; and unlike the ,

s team trawler s s h e relie s very mu c h on her mizzen

,
not ,

for s peed b u t for s e a keeping ability in bad weather and

,
-

for riding to her net s H er engine s peed i s rarely .

than 9 knot s and s h e put s to s e a for only a few

,
.

at a time returning to port to land her fi sh and ta

,
’
c oal and water before going out again The drifter s .

c rew i s s mal l u s ual ly numbering not more than eight or

,

nine all told and s h e i s more often than not manned by

member s of one fami l y F requently the s kipper i s t .

father or father i n law of the mate The engine man i s

- -
.
-

likely a s not the latter s c ou s in and the re s t of the c r e’

,

if not hav ing s o m e s ort of relation s hip to the s kipper ,

lea s t c ome from the s ame fi s h i ng vi llage The re s u l t -

.
CH . Ix ] DRIFTERS AND THEIR CREWS 3 73

working i s that the drifter w h i l e no m inall y in c ommand of ,

the s kipper i s a ct uall y run by a kind of c ommittee To

, .

s p l it up t hi s c o operat ion wo u l d ha v e impaired t h e effi c ienc y

-

of the s hip Con s equently when the Ad m iralty took o v er

.
,

hundred s of drifter s t hey u s ual l y a c c epted the cr e ws e n bloc ,

and the men s erved in mo s t c a s e s ti ll the end of t h e war .

Not h i ng afloat i s more c l anni s h than a drifter c rew ,

e s pe cia ll y if the men happen t o c ome from the s ame

village on the north ea s t c oa s t of S c otland The very -
.

name s of the drifter s are typi c al of the c rew s — a c uriou s

mixture of O l d Te s tament piety blended with modern
am bitions and fami l y pride Su c h name s a s I n te gr i ty .
,

Bre a dwi nn e r Cou r a ge Di li ge n ce Di r e ct M e E fi or t E n ter

, , , , ,

ri s e F a i thf u l F r i e n d F r i e n dly S tar Gi r l M ar ga r e t B oy

p , , , ,

B ob Go l de n E fi or t Good T i di n gs H op e P e ace m ake r

, , , , ,

P r e s e n t H e lp P r ote ct M e S tar of F a i th S u b li m e s ugge s t

, , , ,

the s imple s traightforward plu c ky homely men u s ual ly

, , ,

found in the s e c raft The four drifter s s ent to D over a s .

the forerunner s of the great fleet that wa s to fo l low were

the You ng F i s h e r m an S e du l ou s N i n e S i s te rs and Oce an , , ,

Com r a de D over be c ame t h e c radle of t h e indi c ator net

.
-

me t hod of anti s ubmarine warfare L arge number s of -

.

drift er s were t aken up at L owe s toft and Yarmouth t h i rty ,

of whi c h were s en t t o D o v er a l one .

Their arrival fre s h from their fi s hing o c c upation c ame

, ,

rather a s a s urpri s e to nav al m e n at D o v er a c c u s tomed to ,

s m ar t ne s s and we ll found gear The s e were an ordinary

-
.

group of fi s hermen in t heir warm j umper s wi t hout nav a l ,

kit una c c u s tomed t o di s c ip l ine and banded together in

, ,

s hip s that obviou s ly needed a refit for they had defe c t s ,

in hull and ma c hinery and were i ll found in re s pe c t of -

lamp s warp s and other gear of the s e a But the main

, ,
.

thing wa s to get the s hip s to Dover and then a s s oon a s ,

po ss ib l e t o train the c rew s s o that with no avoidab l e ,

del ay net s might be s trung a c ro s s the D over Strait s and

s ubmarine s prevented from entering the Channel to s ink

our s hipping Captain Humphrey W Bowring R N . .

, . .
,

wa s appointed to take c harge of thi s new drifter organi s a

tion and the fir s t trial at s hooting indi c ator net s from
,

the s e c raft w as m ade on January 1 5 th 1 9 1 5 under the , ,

s uperintenden c e of Rear Admiral the Hon Ho ra c e Hood -

.
,
1

1 R e ar -
Adm i r al th e H o n H o r ac e . L . A . Ho o d, C B . .
,

l os t h i s li fe i n th e B attle o f Ju tlan d .
 3 74 GROWTH OF THE SUBMARINE MENACE [ OH Ix .

c ommanding the D over Patro l D ay after day the .

drift ers wen t o u t into th e Channe l to l earn their le s s on ,

and a s if t o s how the urgent need for net s s ubmarine s were ,

being reported from al l part s of the Engli s h Channel

from Chri s t c hur c h B ay t h e Channe l I s l and s We s t Bay
, , ,

Berry Head and e l s ewhere

, .

A hundred mile s of net s were s ent to Dover More and .

more drifters kept arriving together with s inkers with ,

whi c h to moor the ne t s dan buoys with whi c h to mark

,
-

them c l ip s with whi c h to s e cure them There were all

, .

s ort s of di ffi c ultie s to over c ome The c lip s for in s tan c e .

, ,

were a c on s tant s our c e of trouble They had to be s trong .

to s tand the s train when the net s were being hauled in ;

at t h e s ame time it wa s ne c e s s ary that they s hou l d be
weak enough to c arry away a s s oon a s the s train of the
s ubmarine in the net s c ame Then there were the s trong
.

tide s in the D over S trait s to c ontend with Net s d i s .

appeared under the water and were c arried away other s

c augh t on wre c kage F or a time the who l e s c heme
.

s eemed doomed to fai l ure H owever by dint of dogged

.
,

per s everan c e the c o operation of many brain s and t h e

,
-
,

adaptabi l ity of the fi s hing c rew s one after another of the ,

prob l em s approa c hed s o l ution By the midd l e of January .

net s had been moored j u s t N N E of t h e Varne Buoy . . .

,

and it w a s found t hat a drifter c ou l d s hoot 3 0 0 yard s

of net s in a heav y s e a within half an hour t hough even ,

tu a ll y thi s time w a s very c on s iderab l y s hortened By .

t h e end of January D over Harbour w a s be c oming pretty

ful l of the s e s ma ll c raft ; for t h e re were already fift y o r
s ixty drifter s and more were arriving .

A real l y s ati s fa c tory net s hip had yet t o be de s igned

-
,

but with improvement s in apparatu s and training it had

be c ome po s s ib l e to s hoot 80 0 yard s of net s in eight minu t e s .

At that S peed a s ubmarine c oul d qui c kl y be s urrounded

by an awkward me s h Preparation s were soon on foot
.

t o s end a few of the s e drift er s to lay their net s o ff t h e

B elgian c oa s t O n F ebruary 3 r d the S e du lou s and four
.

o t her drifter s e s c orted by de s troyers l eft Dover in c harge

, ,

of Captain B owring for a rendez v ou s two mi l e s s outh of

the N orth Hinder L ight s hip where t hey arri v ed early next
,

morning The drifters s hot their net s in the neighbour

.

hood Of Thornton Ridge the de s troyer s meanwhi l e

,

patrol l ing O n t h e 5 th t h e drifter s returned to Dover ;

.
 Ix ] NETS ACROSS THE STRAITS 3 75

s ubmarines had been t rapped but va l uab l e experien c e ,

had been gained Next day a c onferen c e took p l a c e at

.

t h e Admira l ty on the l aying of indi c ator net s at whi c h ,

Admira l Hood w a s pre s ent and a week l ater th e Do v e r ,

Net D rifter Fl oti ll a wa s in fu l l working order endeav our ,

ing to c l o s e the Strait s to ho s ti l e s ubmarine s Thirt y .

littl e drifters s tret c hed a c ro s s the Channe l riding to their ,

nets and formi n g a curtain between Engl and and F ran c e

in the s trong tideway that goe s ru s hing by E v ery .

e v ening the drifter s took their net s aboard and at day ,

light s hot them again Hav ing regard to the forc e of the .

tide s the bad weat her and the di ffi cultie s of working the
, ,

net s the Admira l ty c on s idered the progre s s made to be

,

en c ouraging It w a s determined to employ drifter s and

.

indi c ator net s in other area s a s well Preparation s were .

made for e s tab l i s hing net ba s e s at Cromarty P eterhead -

, ,

Firth o f Fort h Yarmout h Harwi c h the Nore Port s mouth

-

, , , , ,

Port l and Poo l e F al mout h and D evonport The net s u s ed

, , , .

were of two t ype s one 3 0 feet deep and the other 6 0 feet
,

deep ea c h n e t being 1 0 0 yard s in l ength SO qui c kl y did

, .

t h e organi s ation s grow t hat by the t hird week in January

there were s ixty three drift er s s tationed at Poo l e twen t y
-
,

a t Fa l mou t h fi fty four a t D over a dozen at S c apa and

,
-
, ,

four ea c h at Port s mou t h Firt h of F orth and Cromarty , , .

Sixteen drift er s were al s o s ent to Harwi c h t o l ay eight

mi l e s of indi c at or net s tw o m i l e s on ei ther s ide of t h e
Cork L ight s hip in c a s e a s ubmarine were to be s ighted
in s ide the Cork an d tw o mi l e s on ei t her s ide of the Ship
,

wa s h in c a s e t h e U boat s were s een in s ide the Sunk-

.

It appeared for a time a s if the Navy had in the indi c ator

net the s olution of the main s ubmarine problem The .

Admiralty wa s ted not a moment in equipping every s uit

abl e ba s e And t hen o c curred a s erie s o f e v ent s s udden
.
,

and ominou s whi c h gave a s til l further impetu s to thi s

,

newl y adopted devi c e Hitherto s ubmarine s had pene

-
.

tr at e d to t h e north of S c otl and and W ell down the Engl i s h

Channe l but at l a s t a s ubmarine appeared in the Iri s h
,

Sea and a cted pretty mu c h as s h e l iked On J anuary 2 8 th .

the armed drifter when about three mi l e s north

we s t of Bard s ey I s l and s ighted what s h e be l ie v ed to be ,

two s ubmarine s Next day at .

p m W a l n e y I s l and , . .
,

Battery Barrow s ighted a s ubmarine about

, ,
yard s
out at s e a The enemy c raft opened fire but a l l her
.
,
,
3 76 GROWTH OF THE SUBMARINE MENACE [ OH Ix .

s hot s fell s hort The battery returned t h e fire with e l even

.

round s and the s ubmarine di s appeared

, .

It proved to hav e been the U2 1 c ommanded by that ,

enterpri s ing offi c er Kapit an L eutnant H e r s i ng who s e

,
-
,

de s tru c tion of the Ma la ch i te and P ri m o in the Engli s h

Channel h as already been de s c ribed She had trave ll ed .

mu c h fart her to the we s twar d t han a s ubmarine had

attemp t ed before U2 I wa s not long in the Iri s h Sea
.
,

but during her s tay s h e c au s ed havo c and c on sternation .

F rom W a l n e y I s l and s h e c rui s ed about for a whi l e ,

and on the next day January 3 oth hovered o ff the , ,

approa c he s to Liverpool and s ank three mer c hant s hip s ,

the B e n Cru ach an the L i nda B lan ch e and K i lcoan , , ,

in pra c ti c ally the s ame po sition F rom there s h e may .

have taken a ta c k over toward s the Iri s h c oa s t for on ,

January S l s t the Holyhead King s town pa cke t L e i ns te r -

,

whi c h wa s at l a s t torpedoed and s unk in the autumn of

1 9 1 8 s ighted a s ubmarine twenty mile s ea s t of t h e Ki s h
,

L ight s hip Then c e the U2 I probab l y c rui s ed s outh for

.
,

at a m on F ebruary l s t s h e had an un s u c c e s s ful

. .

en c ounter with a ve s s el of the Auxi liary Patro l The .

ya c ht Vand u ar a w a s on pa s s age from th e C l yde to Port s

mouth and when we ll down the Iri s h Sea about t hirt y
, , ,

t hree mi l e s north we s t of Fi s hguard s h e s ight ed a su b

-
,

marine o n the s urfa c e trying to head her o ff The s e a , .

at the time wa s fairl y s moo t h The Vand u a ra al t ered .

c our s e s o a s t o bring t h e ya c ht s bow on t o t h e enemy

’
,

and t h e s ubmarine be gan to s ubmerge The ya c ht opened .

fire at yard s and finall y c lo s ed at , yard s her ,

la s t four s hot s fal ling extremely clo s e The s ub m arine .

,

however wa s not hit and got ba c k s afe l y to Germany to

, , ,
”
s pread a fal s e repo r t that the auxi l iary war ve s s e l did
”
not hoi s t the Briti s h war flag Thi s wa s denied by .

the Briti s h Admiralty on the s trength of a s tatement by

t h e Vand u a r a s c aptain : I wa s flying n o c olour s
’
,
”
hoi sted the White En s ign before opening fire .

It was reported that a l l the c rew of U2 1

the Kai s er the Iron Cro s s a s a reward for
t h e Father l and Thi s c rui s e undoubted l y
.

s timu l u s to the enemy and s ugge s ted e n dl e

for the o v er s ea s s ubmarine The i m m e di .

twofold All s hipping wa s

.
3 78 GROWTH OF THE SUBMAR INE MENACE [ CH Ix .

had been originally ba s ed on Aultbea an out o f the way ,

- - -

p l a c e fort y mi l e s from the neare s t rai l way s tat ion wa s -

,

now ba s ed on Stornoway and Admiral Sir Reginal d Tupper ,

wa s appointed in c harge there Alteration s were a l s o .

made In Area s IV V and VI it being real i s ed that enemy

, , ,

s ubmarine s de s iring to atta c k Briti s h war s hip s In Cromarty

or S c apa Flow would probably s eek the very c onveni ent

landfall in the vi c inity of Bu c han N e s s Rattray Head , ,

and Kinnaird H ead after the voyage a cro s s t h e North

,

S ea from Heligol and or the Skaw By pla c ing the variou s .

unit s of Auxi l iary Patrol c raft in the modified Area s V

and VII an o ff s hore s quadron was avail ab l e to pre v ent
,
-

s ubmarine s making a landfa l l or entering Area s IV and VI .

The Admiral of Patrol s wa s reliev ed of the c ontro l of a l l

auxi l iary ve s s el s in Area X the s e being p l a c ed under ,

Commodore George C Cayley at Harwi c h whi l s t the

1
.
,

northern portion was al lotted to Captain Al fred A E l li s on .

,

C B at L owe s toft
. .
, .

Simultaneou s ly with a c areful re c on s ideration of anti

s ubmarine patrol s the ever pre s ent mine que s tion had
,
-

to be s tudied afre s h In order to s afeguard s hip s e s p e ci

.
,

al l y mine s weeper s variou s mine c at c hing devi c e s were

-
,
-

tried affixed to the s hip s bows but they were c lum s y

,
’
,

and in bad weather s oon c arried away Mine s were being .

found in unexpe cted pl ac e s s ome of them having drifted ,

from their original area s From the Tory I s l and fie l d .

mine s had been c arried up the we s t c oa s t of S c ot l and

and had be c ome a mena c e to the Tenth Crui s er Squ adron ,

emp l oyed on important patrol dutie s ; s everal s hip s had

s ighted and s unk s ome of them ; and the armed mer c hant

c rui s er C L A N MA C N AU GH T O N of thi s s quadron whi c h ,

mys teriou s l y di s appeared on the night of F ebruary 2 n d ,

1 9 1 5 a l mo s t c ertain l y s tru c k one of the s e mine s off the

,

H ebride s Mine s were reported off Whitby Some had

. .

exploded in fi s h e r m e n s net s out in the No rt l Se a twenty

’
r

four mile s ea s t north ea s t of Smith s Kno l l The s ail ing

- -
’
.

trawler F le u r e tte c aught mine s in her trawl whil s t fi s hing

forty mile s ea s t of L owe s toft .

Early in F ebruary the Admiralty c ommi s s ioned at

Barrow two padd l e s teamer s the Q u e e n Vi ctor i a and P ri n ce ,

E dwar d and fi tte d them to lay net s on a v ery exten s i v e

,
-

s c ale .Ea c h c o u ld c arry no le s s t han feet of net

Afte w ds R
1 r arAdm i l G g C C y l y C B
e ar - ra e or e . a e , . .
CH . Ix ] ORGANISATION OF PATRO LS
of a s pe cially de s igned heavy me s h with s inkers and ,

buoys c omp l ete The intention w as to l ay t h e net in

.

t h e qui c ke s t po ss ib l e time wi thout s topping The s e c ret .

of qui c k net l aying i s to arrange t hat t h e net s hall run

-

out freely without any c he c k F or thi s purpo s e the s e .

two ve s s el s had all s upers tru c ture s re moved and s pe c ia l ,

troughs were fitted from whi c h the net s c ou l d run out

over the s tern W hi l s t under way A c etylene lamp s c are .
,

full y s c reened were provided as the net laying was to

, ,
-

be done at night .

After s i x mont hs of war Germany s naval po s ition wa s ’

”
al ready determined and t hen c ame the , war zone
de c l aration of F ebruary 1 9 1 5 The Briti s h Admira lty .

was not unprepared for thi s development All r ound the .

c oa s t s of the Briti s h I s l e s t h e variou s patro l s were a c tive ,

hav ing had t h e advant age of s e v eral mont h s experien c e ’

in their dutie s Two route s were po s s ible for enemy

.

s ubmarine s s eeking to get far afield They woul d penetrate .

either v i a the Nort h o f S c otland or through the D over

S trait s The organi s ation at the time was as fo l lows
.

Ass uming the enemy s hou l d pro c eed north of the Shet
lands t h e S hetland s Patro l c on s i s ting of three ya c ht s
, .
,

and eighteen trawler s wa s on duty It wa s c ons idered

, .

more l ikely that a s ubmarine would pas s through the F air

I s l and Channel the north s ide of whi c h formed part of
,

the Shetland s Patrol area the s outhern part being c o n,

trolled by the Orkneys Auxi l iary Patrol The duty in .

thi s area w as divided among three patrol s the Northern ,

the We s tern and the Southern Patro l s ba s ed on Kirk

, ,

wall Stromne s s and L onghope re s pe c tively The s e three

, , .

patrol s c ompri s ed betwee n them no fe we n t h an ten ya c ht s

and s event y two traw l er s Drifter s with indi c ator ne t s
-
.

were al s o emp l oyed in the northern portion of the Orkney s

and at t h e entran c e to S c apa F low As it w a s known that .

enemy s ubmarine s were a c c u s tomed to di v e to about

el even fathom s when hara s s ed by s mal l c raft t h e patrol ,

ve s s e l s fitted with t h e s ingl e s weep were ordered t o tow

it at thi s depth .

Simi l arly in th e S outh of Engl and t here wa s a detailed

organi s ation Be s ide s t h e Bri t i s h mine fi e l d a c ro s s the
.
-

D over S trai ts whi c h a ctua ll y pro v ed of l i t tl e pra cti c a l or

,

moral e ffe c t for t h e rea s on that mo s t o f the mine s dri f ted

,

away there were a number of armed drifter s guarding

,
3 80 GROW T H OF THE SUBMARINE MENACE [ CH 1x .

the no r thern approa c h to the Down s patrolling north ,

and s outh in l ine abrea s t The s e c raft under Captain .

,

H E Gra c e R N were ba s ed on Ram s gate They were

. .
, . .
, .

worked in three divi s ion s ea c h under i t s own l eader and , ,

two divi s ion s were a l way s on patrol the third re s ting in ,

harbour They patrolled four day s and night s s pending

.
,

the two next in port A few mi l e s be l ow t hem w a s the .

D over Net F lotilla riding to t heir net s a c ro s s the Strait s

, .

Having re c ei v ed intel ligen c e of impending a ctivi ty in

the Engli s h Channel the Admiralty i s s ued in s tru c tion s ,

on F ebruary 1 l t h warning the ba s e s t hat s ubmarine s were

expe cted to pa s s through t h e Strait s on the next and
fo l lowing day s and that they had been lately making
,

t h e Varne L ight s hip and Buoy when s o pa s s ing into the

Channe l Captain E C Carver R N wa s gi v en order s
. . .
, . .
,

to keep a s many a s po s s ib l e of h i s Poo l e drifter s c rui s ing

on F ebruary 1 2 th and t h e fol l owing days between St .

A l ban s Head and St Catherine s and twenty mi l e s to

’
.
’

s eaward The Commodore at Port land wa s s imi l arl y

.

advi s ed that h i s trawler s s hou l d c rui s e between Port l and

Bi ll and St A l ban s H ead and twenty mi l e s to s eaward
.
’
.

The Commander i n Chief at Devonport wa s dire cted to - -

have h i s trawler s patrolling between the Eddy s t one and

Start and twenty mi l e s to the s eaward But in s pite .
,

of thi s vi gilan c e s ubmarine s pa ss ed through the patro l s

, .

O n the 1 3 th one was s ighted o ff St Valery e n Caux and .

- -
,

another twenty fi v e mi l e s we s t s outh we st of Cape Gri s

- - -

N ez O n the 1 5 th U1 6 while on her way s outh from

.
,

H eligoland c ha s ed t h e s s L ae rte s between the S c houwen

, . .

B ank and the Maa s after having been c ompel l ed to ,

remain s ubmerged for s ome hours owing to fog o ff Calai s ,

afterward s torpedoing the Briti s h c o l lier D u lwi ch s i x

mi l e s north of Cape d Anti fe r On the s ame day H M S ’
. . . .

U N DA U N TE D and eight de s troyers had a torpedo fired at

them when o ff Dungene s s N ext day at 2 p m UI 6 .
,
. . .
,

s ank the F ren c h s team s hip Vi l le de L i l le c lo s e to Cape

B a rfl e u r O n F ebruary 1 8 th s h e torpedoed t h e Fren c h

.

s s
. D i no r a h north of Dieppe and then returned to
.
,

H e l igoland .

A l ready twenty fi v e net drifters were on their way -

from F al mouth to L arne where they were t o operate in ,

the North Channe l a s s ugge s t ed by Admira l J e l li c o e , ,

and to deny that pas s age to s ubmarine s They s tarted .

3 82 GROW TH OF T HE
SUBMARINE MENACE [ OH 1x .

trawlers , and fifty drifter s ten of the latter were

armed .

Strategi c al ly the Nort h Channe l between Antrim and

the Mu ll of Ca nt y r e re s emb l e s the Strait s of D over between
Engl and and F ran c e The in s tru c tion s to Admiral B ar l ow .

were to deny the N orth Channel to enemy s ubmarine s and

mine l ayers F or t h i s purpo s e he wa s to have a ya c ht
-
.
,

eighty drifters and eighteen armed trawl er s and from , ,

F ebruar y 2 2 nd a l l mer c hant s hip s were forbidden to u s e

the c hannel The s e drifter s were to be di s po s ed about
.

a paral l e l ogram thirty m i l e s l ong and twenty two mile s -

wide towing their net s a cro s s the c hannel thu s making it

, ,

a very unhealthy pla c e for a U boat A fi v e mile s pa c e at -

.
-

ea c h end of the area wa s to be o ccupied by advan c ed

patrol line s Thu s it was hoped a s ubmarine woul d
.
, ,

either have to pa s s through the c hannel s outh of R ath li n

I s land or el s e having dived to a depth of 9 0 feet wou l d
, , ,

rea c h the vi c inity of L ough L arne almo s t at the end of

her diving power s Orders were given that the pa s s age .

s outh of R at h l i n I s land s hould be thoroughly patro ll ed

and denied ab s olutely to the enemy Eac h drifter c arried .

at lea s t 8 0 0 yard s of net whi c h when l aid out would be ,

almo s t invi sible to a s ubmarine at a di s tan c e of three

c ab l e s .

The in s tru ction s to Admiral L e Mar c hant were that h i s

prin cipal duty was to wat c h the mai l route from H o lyhead
to Kings town again s t s ubmarine s and mine l ayers -
.

Admira l Dare wa s to hold the s outhern end of the Iri s h

Sea and the Bri s tol Channel and alway s to have nets ,

down in po s ition s where s ub m arine s might be expe cted to

make landfall s When opportuni ty o ffered the St .
,
.

George s Channe l wa s to be netted and he wa s to be ready

’
,

to s end out al l h i s drifter s to s hoot their net s a c ro s s thi s

c hanne l O n Mar c h 1 5 t h it was de c ided to e s t abl i s h a
.

s u b ba s e for the Auxi l iary Patro l s at R os s l are

-
L arne .

and D over be c au s e of their s trategi c al s imi l arity n o w

, ,

be c ame t h e two greate s t net ba s e s In both area s net -

.

drifter s were at work in a s trong t ideway at the en tran ce ,

to a region where s ubmarine s had proved ex c ep tionally

dangerou s The ta cti c a l prin c ip l e wa s identi c a l in th e
.

two area s If t h e s ubmarine s hou l d get in t o t h e ne ts

. ,

ea c h s e c tion of net wa s s o ea s i l y deta c hed t hat th e one in

whi c h th e c raft was entoiled would c ome away from th e
 THE D RIFTERS AT WORK 3 83

d foul the propel l er s c au s ing t h e enemy c raft to

,

ri s e to the s urfa c e For thi s purpo s e two thing s were

.

ne c e s s ary : s ati s fa ctory c l ip s that wou l d a ll ow the ne t s

t o be deta c hed at the right amount of s train and indi c ator ,

buoy s to announ c e t hat the net w a s about the U boat -

.

It wa s on l y after week s and month s of experien c e and

mu c h experimenting that the s e two e s s ential s were

week of February the net s were in operation .

Strai t s t hey were kept in po s ition by

bad weather E a c h drifter .

and a l toget her t here were

ro s s the North Channel the
l y ex c ept that the kapok
,

gg e d Thi s diffi c u
. l ty wa s
many other area s s o graduall y kapok gave
,

gl a s s gl obe s whi c h an s wered the purpo s e

,
“

of the indi c ator net s wa s a ta s k entirely

'

of the Royal Navy ; the on l y people who

were the drift er c rew s t hem s e l v e s and ,

u s and s ki ll the s u c c e s s a c hieved w a s

hout the fi s herman and h i s drifter it ,

impo s s ible to c arry o u t thi s parti c u l ar

e fo r e F ebruary w a s

way up and down

n gli s h Channe l and North Sea s aw the s e wooden
ship s wi t h mizzen s e t looking aft er their net s near the

a s h L ight s hip the D own s Dover S t rait s St A l ban s

’
, , , .

Start B ay and in t h e vi c inity of Fal mou t h a s we l l

, ,

the Iri s h Sea o ff t h e Small s and Nort h Channe l .

ere were many di ffi c u ltie s to c ont end with apart from

e cu r i n g of e ffi c ient c l ip s and indi c ator buoy s Net s .

frequently lo s t in bad weat her ; a t D over no fewer

ninety ne t s were l o s t in a three days gal e : Anothe r ’

s ixt y eight net s were lo s t W i t hin two day s and night s of

-

fine weat her owing to v ariou s c au s e s e s pe c ia ll y by fou l ing

,

submerged obj e c t s . There w as moreover a s hortage of

, ,

o fli c e r s
, mo s t of whom were j unior Royal Nav al R es erve
offi cer s to take c harge of drifter divi s ion s The drift er
, .

s kipper s t hem s elve s were found general l y s peaking to be

, ,

good c ompetent men keen and enthu s ia s ti c In their work

, , .

They s tu c k to their j ob in all s ort s of weather ri s king ,

26
3 84 GROWTH OF THE SUBMAR INE MENACE [ OH . Ix

de s tru c ti on from mine s and s ubmarine s , and keeping a

vigilant wat c h for the enemy .

The outlook w a s promi s ing at thi s peri od O n F eb .

r u ar y 2 ot h a s ub m arine w as reported by H M D e s troyer . .

VI K I N G to be in the ne t s near the Varne It i s .

”
quite c ertain s tated Admira l Hood
, that a s ubmarine ,

w a s in the net when it moved away from the VI K I N G .

I be l ieve the net tore away and when the buoy s topped , ,
”
the s ubmarine got away N or w as t hi s the on l y in c ident
.

of the kind a t thi s early s tage Information c ame to .

hand that a s ubmarine had been s ighted fifteen mi l e s

’
s outh of St Alban s Head and on F ebruary 1 9 th a
.
,

Roya l N ava l Re s erve s u b lieutenant was s ent from Poo l e

-

wi t h three drifter s to l ie to their net s near thi s s pot for

twenty four hour s They s hot t h e net s about 2 3 0 p m
-
. . . .

N othing o c c urred unti l about twelve hours l ater when ,

the s kipper of the drifter W h i te Oa k s aw a bright w h i te

light to the northward c ro s s ing h i s bow s to the we st
north we s t It wa s vi sib l e for a quarter of an hour
-
.
,

and then di s appeared Twenty minute s later he s aw a

.

dark obj e c t moving toward s him and c al l ed the ,

boy to c onfirm h i s o pl nl o n The indi c ating bu .

the net next to the drift er then fla s hed thu s s h ,

there wa s s omet h i ng foul of the net s The s kipper .

the s u b lieutenant F or five minute s the

-
.

and then di s appeared and the net s s e e ,

toward s the W h i te Oak the engine s of whi c h were moved

,

s lowly a s tern for a c o u ple of minute s to keep c lear Shortly .

after thi s the warp began to tauten and in order to ,

prevent i ts parting three bladder s were bent on to the

,

warp and the end let go While t hi s w as being done . ,

s evera l more light s were s een fla s hing in the dire c tion of

the net s but the s e and the buoyed end of the warp di s
,

appeared almo s t at on c e The drifter w as then turned .

to the ea s tward and when daylight c ame s h e s teamed

,

round about but nothing more wa s s een of the buoys or

,

net s Next day the s ame o ffi c er was again s ent to the
.

s pot , and repeated the pro c edure at 7 3 0 a m on the . . .

fo ll owing morni ng H e s hot h i s net s and they again

.
,

fouled s ome ob s tru ction T h i s in cident though not c o n

.
,

cl u si v e made it hi ghly probable that a s ubmarine had got

,

entangl ed in t h e net s At the lea st it afforded s ome

.
,

en c ouragement to the drifter s Thi s was by no means .

3 86 GROWTH o r T HE
SUBMARINE ME NACE [ CH 1x .

c ap s ized their c ontent s and before l ong the s hip s c ompany

’
,

mu s t have been a s phyxiated The A le x Has ti e c ame into .

port a proud s hip havi ng by good fortune perform ed a

,

mo s t va l uab l e s erv i c e and t h e Admiral ty divided £ 1 0 0

,

betwe en t h e owners and c rew .

Thi s experien c e wa s fo ll owed by another c uriou s in cident .

On the la s t day of F ebruary 1 9 1 5 a number of drift ers , ,

ba s ed on Port l and s hot t heir net s at day light in a po s ition

,

between the Skerrie s Buoy and Combe Point Start B ay , .

Thi s w as an area whi c h it was believed wa s being u s ed

by s ubmarine s The s e drifter s were under the c ommand
.

of Sub L ieutenant E L Owen R N R About 4 o c l o ck

-
. .
, . . .
’

in the afternoon of Mar c h l s t when twent y net s were ,

down a s e ction of them wa s s een to s ink form a bight

, , ,

and then trave l in a s outh we s t dire c tion Thi s was an -

.

extraordinary phenomenon be c au s e the W ind wa s b l owing ,

from the we s t a n d the we s t going tide had

,
-

the
if p l aying a fi s h Vibration a l s o w a s no ti c eab l e
. A .

taken with t h e lead s howed on l y s i x fathom s wherea s ,

c har t gave nine and a ha l f fathom s at that s po t It .

noti c ed moreover that the l ead s t ru c k s omething h

, ,

T h i s wa s fol l owed by a s harp pul l

thirty yard s being s udden l y dragged
dan buoy wa s made fa s t to the net
-
,

go The net s c ontinued to travel t o t h e s outh we s t

.
-

the Skerrie s until abou t p m when t hey . .

,

made fa s t to the s tem of the drifter S are pta an ,

an c hored .

E ar l y on the morning of Mar c h 2 nd Sub L -

Owen pro c eeded into D artmouth in the drift er ,

to make h i s report and then re turned ,

finding her s ti l l at an c hor wi t h the s train on the net s He .

pre s ent l y ordered her to l et t h e net s go At one end of .

the net s the armed trawler S H E L O M I had been patro lling .

An exp l o s i v e c harge w a s made fa s t to her s weep wire ,

wi t h a l g c wt s inker T h i s wa s towed over the po s i tion

-
. .

marked by the dan buoy About noon the wire fouled

-
.

twenty yard s s out h s ou t h we s t of the buoy and th e

- -
,

c harge was exp l oded A bla c k pat c h of oi l then c ame

.
on . Ix ] T HE STORY OF U8

to t h urfa c e and widened to an area of over a hundred

e s ,

yard s in diamet er Two more S hip s al s o fired t heir e xpl o

.

s i v e s weep s over t h e s pot A diver w a s s ent down on the .

foll owing day and wa s unab l e to find anything ; y e t it

,

s eem s extreme l y l ike l y that a s ubmarine had been in t h e

net s and w a s b l own up for oi l w a s ob s erved two day s ,

after the e xp l o s ion in thi ck pat c he s about a mi l e away

from t h e s pot and l arge bubb l e s about a foot in diameter
,

ros e and bur s t s preading oil on the s urfa c e Sweeping

, .

operation s c ontinued throughout the day but no o b s tr u c ,

tion w a s found Thi s w as one in s t an c e in a l ong li s t of

.

highl y probab l e s inking s of s ubmarine s t hough t h e fate ,

of the c raft c oul d not be a s c ert ained with c e r tainty .

On the day that t he s e operat ion s c l o s ed another enemy ,

s ubmarine farther up the Channel met with c ertain

de s tru c tion t h e be s t po s s ible eviden c e b eing forth c oming
,

in th e s hape of German pri s oner s The c raft wa s U8 .

,

c ommanded by K apit an L eutnant S t o s s t h e s e c ond i n

-
,

c o m m and being L eutnant Morgenroth The c ap t ain .

was a v ery experien c ed s ubmarine offi c er ha v ing been ,

in t hat bran c h of the s ervi c e for s even year s U8 wa s a .

v e ss e l of abou t 8 0 0 ton s fitted with four torpedo tube s , ,

and at variou s time s s h e had been in mo s t of t h e water s

of the Bri ti s h I s le s She had c ome out of O s tend in c o m
.

pany with another s ubmarine and the s equen c e of event s ,

was in t ere s ting Mar c h 4 th wa s a day s u c h a s i s often

.

experien c ed in t h e Engl i s h Channel during the earl y s pring .

Periodi c all y fog s ett l ed down About 1 p m during a . . .

,

sudden lift a s ubmarine w a s s ighted five mi l e s ea s t nor t h

,
-

eas t o f t h e north ea s t Varne Buoy by the offi c er of the

-
,

wat c h in t h e de s t royer VI K I N G who s e c aptain at the time ,

was Commander E R G R E v an s s e c ond in c ommand . . . .

,

of S c ott s l as t Ant arc ti c Expedition who wa s de s tined

’
,

to add to h i s laurel s in the famou s B R O K E and S W IF T

de stroyer a c tion in 1 9 1 7 A s s oon a s the VI K I N G s aw
.

th e s ubmarine out of the fog s h e a ttemp t ed to ram her , ,

and promp tl y opened fire wi t h t h e foremo s t gun It wa s .

to o l at e however a s t h e U boat dived immediately

, , The -
.

de s troyer c ir c l ed round pas s ed over the s ubmarine s ,

’

was h and began t o fo ll ow a s erie s of s wirling p o Ol s w h i c h

m o v ed nort h —
,

we s t s l owl y for hal f an hour The poo l s .

then turned t o t h e we s tward and were fo ll owed for fiftee n ,

m inute s when they t urned we s t s outh W e s t until abo u t

,
- -
3 88 GROWTH OF THE SUBMARINE MENACE [ CH 1 x .

4 p m . The s e a was c alm and the tra c k of the under

.
,

water c raft wa s quite c l ear s o the modified exp l o s i v e s weep ,

w a s fired by the fir s t lieutenant The s wirl c ontinued .

for about 1 5 0 yard s and then c ea s ed Although the , .

VI K I N G waited near the s pot for fort y minute s not h i ng ,

more was s een ex c ept s ome pat c he s of oil Thi s may .

have been the c ompanion ve s s el of the U8 as Admiral ,

Hood s ugge s ted on examination of all t

N o c orroborative eviden c e however , ,

s inking of any U boat as a re s u l t of thi s operation

-
.

As t o the U8 her s e l f the fir s t in c ident in ,

i s that the drifter R o bu r n got s eparated fro

t h e drifter s When found s h e w a s four mi l
.
,

of D o v er and s h e reported that abou t

,
'
a l ine of five pe ll et s p r o c e e d i ng i n a W
again s t the tide at about four knot s The s kipper .

formed the de s troyer C O S S A C K giving th e bearing of ,

obj e c t when l a s t s ight ed Undoubted l y there mu s t h .

been a s ubmarine in the net s for t h e movement s of the ,

pe ll et s indi c at ed the s truggle made by a U boat to g e t -

c l ear by going ahead and a s tern At p m wire l e s s . . .

s igna l s fro m the VI K I N G c on c erning her s ubmarine rea c hed

D over and the s tand by de s troyers of th e Sixth Fl oti l la

,
-

at on c e pro c eeded to s ea .

The information to the C O S S AC K wa s that a drifter had

c aught s omething in her net s s i x mi l e s north ea s t from -

the north ea s t Varne Buoy When Captain C D John s on

-
. . .
,

in the de s troyer M A O RI with the s tand b y de s troyer s l eft

,
-

D over he found the VIK IN G getting out her s weep At

, .

the de s troyer KA N GA R O O s ighted a buoy moving

fa s t to the ea s tward An hour later a peri s c ope was .

s ighted one mile north of the north ea s t Varne Buoy and -

,

at the VI K I N G exp l oded her s weep four and a half

mi l e s N 3 0 E of the north ea s t Varne Buoy
. .
-
.

m inu t e s later a peri s c ope w a s again s i gh ted one

N 2 0 E of the c entre Varne Buoy The de s troyer s were
. . .

now ordered to c l o s e on thi s po s ition and at a peri ,

s c ope w a s s een a mi l e from the c entre Varne Buoy The .

de s t royer GH U R K A got out her explo s ive s weep and ran

on a l ine of bearing north we s t from the Varne L ightshi p -

a t right ang l e s to t h e s ub m arine s c ours e whi c h was ’

,

s igna ll ed a s S 6 5 W s peed about s i x kno t s

. .
, At th e .

MA O RI again s ighted a peri s c ope pro ceeding in the s am e

3 90 GROW TH SUBMARINE MENACE [ e xa m
or THE
’
of the greate s t value The Admira l ty right l y c on s idered
.

that the c rew s of the trawler s and drift ers whi c h t ook
part in the hunt had c ontribu t ed t o the de s tru c tion of
the s ubmarine and they awarded £ 5 0 0 to be di s t ribu t ed
,
.

among them .

A day or two later Admiral Hood reported t hat eleven

mile s of net had been laid a c ro s s the S trait s I am qu i te .

”
c onfident he s tated
,
that they form a real o b s ta cle for
,

the enemy s s ubmarine s in the Strait s I w as s ure of thi s

’
.

before the de s tru ction of U8 and I am quite c ertain now , .

One of the mo s t c ertain r eport s re c eived from pri s oner s

of U8 wa s that s h e had been harried for a c on s iderable
tim e ; s h e can only have been harried by the drifter fl eet
and t heir de s troyer s upport The de s tru c tion of U8 h a s
.

c au s ed a real en c ouragement to the offi c er s and men of

”
the floti l la .

Six day s after the s inking of U8 another enemy su b ,

marine Ul 2 met with a like fate Again the Auxiliary

, , .

Patrol c o operated with the de s troyer s F or the be s t

-
.

pa rt of four day s the patrol ya c ht s and trawlers hunted

thi s c raft the c ha s e extending over 1 2 0 mile s unti l at
, ,

la s t on Mar c h l oth UI 2 was rammed by the de s troyer

, ,

A RIE L out s ide the Firth Of F orth and s unk Great .

“

”
pers everan c e and s kill wrote Admiral L owry to the ,

Admiralty were di s played by the offi c er s and men of

,

the ya c ht s and trawlers c on c erned The ya c ht s and .

trawlers by their s ki l l and s teady pers i s ten c e in anti c i

,

pating the probable movement s of the s ubmarine and ,

s ighting her when s h e again c ame to the s urfa c e materially ,

”
c on t ributed to her de s t ru c tion N ot on l y the Auxi l iary .

Patro l ve s s e l s but private fi s hing t rawl er s a s we ll he l ped

, ,

in bringing about thi s s ati s fa c tory re s ult of a l ong c ha s e .

It was dire ctly owing to information given by the private

trawler M ay I s l an d that the s ubmarine wa s s unk and ,

t o her owner s and c rew the Admira l t y awarded £ 5 00 .

To ea c h of the three private trawler s S tr ath i s la B e n ,

S tr o m e and Oli ve B r a n ch they s ent £ 6 2

, In addition .
,

five ve s s e l s of t h e Auxiliary Patro l re c eived award s The .

armed t raw l ers Du s te r Coote Ch e s te r and Marti n were , , ,

ea c h paid £ 6 2 and a s imilar amount went to the armed

,

ya c ht P orti a .

There i s rea s on to be l ieve t hat on the day when the

A RIE L s an k the UI 2 s till another s ubm a rine was de s troyed
,
CH . 1x ] A DRIFTER SKIPPER S DARING ’
391

in th e D over S t rait s On t h e pre v iou s day a s ubmarine

.

had s he ll ed and s unk the F ren c h s team fi s h i n g v e s s e l -

Gri s ne z be l onging to B oulogne at a s pot twenty mi l e s

, ,

we s t s outh we s t of Bea c hy Head

- -
O n the s ame day .
,

a l s o the s s B la ckwoo d w a s t orpedoed eighteen mi l e s

, . .

s outh we s t by s outh of D ungene s s and fi v e minute s later

-
,

a s e c ond s ubmarine w a s s ighted There wa s therefore .

, ,

p l enty of eviden c e that the enemy wa s s till ab l e to u s e

t h e Strait s Commander Evan s of the VIK IN G ob s erved
.
, ,

a c hain of s wirl ing pool s one mile north ea s t of the north -

ea s t Varne Buoy and he pro c eeded to follow them Thi s

, .

w a s at 1 p m At p m the de
. s troyer G H U R K A c ame . .

a l ong t o a s s i s t and the s wirl s eventual l y s ettled down to

,

a c our s e N 7 5 E B oth s hip s got out modified exp l o s ive

. .

s weep s and a t , p m the GH U R K A fired her s. right .in

line of t h e tra c k three mi l e s from the Varne Buoy The .

tra c k i m mediate l y c ea s ed A ll the c ir cum s tan c e s were .

thu s s imi l ar to t ho s e of the s e c ond s ubmarine en c ounter

of Mar c h 4 th Again the drifter s gav e he l p They were
. .

with their net s to the ea s t of the Varne and the pe c uliar ,

t ra c k of the s ubmarine s ugge s ted that s h e was trying to

av oid them on the we s t s ide of the Buoy .

The fighting s pirit of the fi s hermen c ould s c ar c ely have

been be tt er in any age of our c ountry s hi s tory There ’
.

i s s omething s ugge s tive of E l izabethan s e a hardihood in -

s ome of the s e fight s again s t heavy odd s N othing i s more .

typi c al of their daring than the c ool auda c ity of the u n

armed drifter R i va l In t h e month o f Mar c h s ubmarine s
.

were again infe s ting the Iri s h Sea and in order to thwar t ,

them drift er s were operating o ff t h e Small s One of the s e

, .

wa s the R i va l O n Mar c h l 6 th report s were re c eived of a

.

s ubmarine whi c h ob v iou s l y wa s l ying in wai t for a l arge

s t eamer t hat was making u

p Channe l The R i va l though -
.
,

s h e had no gun determined to atta c k the enemy with her

,

s tem and t h e s kipper did h i s be s t to ram with s u c h deter

,

mination that twi c e s h e n arrowly mi s s ed hi tting the s u b

marine whi c h aft er a pur s uit la s ting a quarter of an hour
, , ,

dived and was not s een again The Admiral ty s o highly .

regarded thi s prompt a c tion that they s ent the s kipper

an expre s s ion of their appre ciation .

By the end of Mar c h the i s s ue wa s made to Auxi l iary

Patro l v e s s e l s of bomb lan c e s intended to be thrown at -

s ubmarine s whenever the latter c ame near enough Me an .

3 92 GROWTH OF THE SUBMARINE ME NACE [ CH Ix .

while an improved type of indi c ator buoy w as required ,

and experiment s were being made a t variou s ba s e s The .

d i fli c u l ty wa s to devi s e a buoy that wou l d not s trip i t s

pie c e of tin in a tideway and s o expo s e i t s c al cium pho s
h i d thu s c au s ing a l ight and y e t would s trip and S how
p e , ,

the l ight at the s low Speed of a s ubmarine dragging on

the net s .

There are no fi s hermen more hardy than tho s e who

earn their livelihood in drifter s ; they are una c quainted
wi t h fear and their s h i p s with their bold s heer and
, ,

plea s ing l ine s and ea s y behaviour in a s eaway are exa c t l y ,

s uited for the c rew s who s ail in them April 3 r d s upp l ied .

an i ll u s tration of c ourage and re s our c e on the par t of

one of the s e c rew s The drift er B oy W i lli e wa s pro c eeding
.

down the Engl i s h Channe l bound for Mi l ford where a ,

very l arge floti ll a of the s e c raft were c ol l e cting to s er v e

under Admira l D are It wa s a W i l d day with a we s terly .
,

gal e b l owing s hower s of heavy rain and thi c k weather

, ,

generall y At . a m the B oy W i l li e when fi v e mi l e s

. .
, ,

we s t north we s t of the L iz ard s ighted a s ubmarine Near

- -
, .

the enemy ve s s e l w a s a neutra l s teamer who s e c ondu c t ,

s eemed s u s pi c iou s to the s kipper of the drifter The .

s ubmarine wa s trave l ling at s u c h a pa c e that c has e w a s

u s ele s s the d rifter too had 11 0 gun s o the on l y t h ing to

, , ,

do was to pa s s the new s on The B o y W i lli e put her .

he l m hard over and ha s tened to inform the F a l mouth

,

net drifter s whi c h were operating o ff the L izard They s e t

-
.

to work to look for the enemy in s pite of the na s ty s e a

that w a s running At p m a s ubmarine
. w a s reported . .

off the R u n ne l st o n e F our hours later s h e was again .

s ighted the ve s s el s of the Auxiliary Patrol keeping her

,

bu s y Order s were s ent for ten drifters to lay net s from

.

L a m o r n a Cove to the s outh we s t before daylight in c a s e -

,

the enemy c raft s hou l d go into Penzan c e B ay N othing .

w a s a c tua ll y found but one of the drifter s t h e Li ly Oa k

, , ,

on returning from p at rol the n e xt day brought c onvin cing ,

eviden c e t hat a s ubmarine had gone through her net s on

Apri l 4 t h c au s ing damage , .

’
It w a s known at the Admira l ty that in c on s equen c e of
o u r u s e of indi c ator net s t h e German s ubmarine s were

being fitted wi t h a net c utting devi c e at the bow s by -

,

mean s of whi c h it wa s hoped to cu t a way through t he s e

entanglement s O n more than one o cc a s ion a U boat
.
-
on . 1x ] A NARROW ESCAPE 3 93

made her e s c ape by thi s mean s aft er hav ing been well ,

c aught in t h e net s In other in s tan c e s t h e s ubmarine

.

s eem s t o ha v e g o t away with the net s about her ei t her ,

‘

t o s ink or with good fortune to man oeuvre her s e l f free

, , .

Some s u c h e s c ape s were narrowly s eparated from t ota l

de s tru c tion Three days before the s ubmarine had got
.

ent angl ed in th e L i ly Oak s net s the drifter J e anni e s ’

, ,

ba s ed on Yarmouth I s le of Wight wa s operating o ff , ,

Chri s t c hurc h Head in c ompany with Torpedo boat N o 0 2 7 -

. .

At p m s h e had s ho t her net s

. . Two hour s later the .

J e a n ni e s s kipper w as s t anding by when he noti c ed a

’
,

v io l ent tug on the net wire Thi s c ou l d on l y mean a .

s ubmarine The fa s t re v o l ving prope ll ers were at t h e

.
-

s a m e t i m e di s tin c t l y heard a s if a s ubmarine were right ,

underneat h t h e drifter Everyone fami liar with the s e a .

knows t hat down in the hu ll of a S hip s ound s c an be heard

mu c h more di s tin c t l y than on de c k Wooden S hip s hav e .
‘

b een kn own t o pi c k up warning s ignal s in foggy weather

by s ending a man be l ow when no th i ng w a s audibl e abo v e , .

In t hi s c a s e s o c l earl y were t h e noi s e s heard in the drifter s ’

hull t hat t h e engineer c am e running up on de ck expe c ting ,

t h e s hip every moment to be rammed by an approa c hing

ve s s e l The s kipper fired a c ouple of green ro c ket s to
.

inform the torpedo boat that a s ubmarine was in the -

net s The s ear c hlight wa s s wit c hed on whereupon t h e

.
,

s ubmarine s engine s s topped immediate l y and were not

’

heard again It wa s found that the s train on the wire

.

warp had gone and when it was hau l ed in the net s were
,

gone a l s o Unfort unate l y at thi s earl y period in the war

.

t h e depth c harge w a s not in u s e or another would c e r

-
,

t a i nl y have been added to the long li s t of de s troyed

s ubmarine s .

Att en tion mu s t now be turned to another a s pe c t of

the enemy s offens ive German s eamen were never favour
’
.

”
ite s with Briti s h s ailor s Among the s quare head s
.
-
,

to u s e s e a language there were undoubted l y s ome fi r s t

,

rate s ai l or s prin c ip al l y t o be found in full rigged s hip s

,
-

t rading a c ro s s t h e At l an ti c round t h e Horn and up t h e , ,

we s t c oa s t of South Am eri c a Bu t the s e men were the .

ex c eption The out rage s and horror s c ommi tt ed by

.

t h e German Army in i t s ad v an c e toward s Pari s the s ink ,

ing of pea c efu l c raft wi t h their pa s s engers and c rew s by

, ,

s ubmarine s an d the l o s s e s ca u s ed by the German raider s

,
3 94 GROWTH OF THE SUBMARINE MENACE [ CH Ix .

—
on the high s ea s al l the s e in cident s s erved to in c rea s e the
di s l ike o f Briti s h s eamen of e v eryone and everything of
German origin In proportion a s t h e s ubm arine s s ank
.

Briti s h traw l ers engaged in fi s hing s o the ra c ia l antipathy ,

deepened The flame of re s en tment burnt not on l y among

.

t h e fi s hermen c rew s ; it w a s not l e s s s trong with the

traw l er owners One firm wrote to the Admiral ty : We
-
.

beg re s pe c tfull y to s ugge s t that an Admiralty repre s entati v e

at the prin c ipa l fi s h i n g port s might hav e the traw l er -

s kipper s before them and in s tru ct t hem a s to how they

,

s hou l d a c t on s ighting a s ubmarine Thi s wa s a p r a c .

ti c a l s ugge s tion and t h e Admira l ty at on c e a c ted on it

, .

Arrangement s were made to gi v e in s tru c tion to s kipper s

of fi s h i ng v e s s e l s in anti s ubmarine ta cti c s
-
They were -
.

advi s ed not to work a l one but to nav igate and fi s h in ,

c lo s e c ompany for mutual s upport They were warned .

to keep a s harp lookout and maint ain a good head of

s team al way s being prepared to c u t away their gear ;
,

if a peri s c ope were s ighted the trawler w a s to be headed ,

s traight for the s ubmarine Where ramming w a s i m .

pra cti c able the s kipper o f a traw l er wa s advi s ed to b l ow

,

h i s whi s t l e fire a r o c k e t s te e r t o windward of the enemy

, , '
,

a nd s toke the furna c e s s o as to p l a c e a den s e cloud of

s moke between the s ubmarine and traw l er thu s in c rea s ing ,

the c han c e s of e s c ape .

The s inking of our fi s hing c raft during the s pring and

s ummer of 1 9 1 5 be c ame a mo s t s eriou s mena c e not on l y ,

be c au s e of the l o s s of s hip s often a cc ompanied by va l uab l e ,

live s but for the rea s on that it might c ripp l e the fi s hing
,

indu s try already redu c ed by the requi s itioning of s o

,

many hu ndred s of fi s h i ng ve s s e l s for Admira l ty s ervi c e - .

B etween April 1 8th and May 4 th eighteen fi s h i ng ve s s el s -

had been l o s t in the N orth Sea by the a c tion of s ubmarine s .

How to prote c t the indu s try wa s not an ea s y prob l em to

s olve .There were two alternati v e s either a ll the
fi s h i n g ve s s el s mu s t be c on c entrated into a y ery few
-

fleets with an Auxiliary Patrol operating c lo s e to hand

, ,

or e l s e in order to prevent further di s a s ter s they mu s t be

, ,

kept in port T h i s s e c ond al ternati v e if adop t ed wou l d

.
, ,

hav e depri v ed th e c ountry of a valuab l e food c ommodity ,

c au s ed di s t re s s a l ong the c oa s t and ruined t rade s depen ,

dent o n fi s h i ng ; in S hort i t wou l d hav e brought about the

,

very c ondition s whi c h the enemy was anxiou s to produ c e .

396 GROWTH OF THE SUBMARINE MENACE [ OH Ix .

ve s s el headed s traight for t h e t raw l er and brought up ,

qui ck l y on the Co qu e t s port beam wi t h engine s going

’
,

a s t ern and de c k awa s h O n t h e s ubmarine s de c k were

.
’

s even men holding on to the wire life l ine s whi c h ran

,

from the top and on the c onning tower to ea c h end of -

the c raft In the c onning tower were fi ve o t her s

.
-
,

who were peering t hrough Z ei s s gl a s s e s The s ubmarine .

c aptain hai l ed Skipper Odel l s aying in good Engl i s h

, I ,

wi ll give you five minute s to leave your s hip and c ome

”
on board here The s kipper s topped h i s engine s and
.

the c rew of nine got the trawler s boat o v er the s ide amid ’
,

repeated s hout s to them t o hurry up and rowed ,

a l ong s ide the s ubmarine the men being then hauled up ,

on her de c k F ive of the s ubmarine s c rew th e reupon

.
’

j umped into the boat with an explo s ive c harge and a

c oil of time fu s e Meanwhile the s ubmarine headed for
.

the traw l er P r ogr e s s who had taken her for a Briti s h

,

s ubmarine The P r ogre s s now reali s ed her mi s take and

.
,

getting in her trawl s teamed away as hard a s s h e c ou l d

go F or a w h i le it wa s a keen c ha s e b u t the s ubmarine
.
,

s oon ove rhau l ed her Skipper Ode l l and h i s men were

.

c l eared from forward of the c onning tower to aft a s th e -

,

s ubmarine w as about to u s e her gun D uring t hi s c ha s e .

the water wa s wa s hing the Co qu e t s men up to t heir ’

wai s t s their hold on the lifeline s alone preventing them

,

from being was hed overboard .

When at effe c tive range of a quarter of a mi l e the ,

s ubmarine fired four s hot s at the P r o r e s s whereupon

g ,

the latter s topped her engine s and the s ubmarine ,

brought up about twenty feet Off the traw l er s s tarboard ’

s ide . Again the s ubmarine gave t h e trawler s men five ’

minute s in whi c h to l eave their s hi p and removed the m ,

t o the U boat from whi c h a demo lition par ty s e t off

-
,
.

After the German s had returned to the s ubmarine the ,

P r ogr e s s s c rew pu ll ed away in their own boat and when

’
,

3 0 0 yard s away they s a w the port s ide of their s h i p blown

right out and s h e s ank like a s tone The s ubmarine
, .

re turned to the Co gu e t havi ng been away ha l f an hour

,
.

The demo l ition party had rummaged the s hip and brought ,

off al l the c hart s in cluding one of the North Sea whi c h

,

had marked upon it a ll mine fi e l d s bo th German and -

,

Briti s h a s we ll a s the fi s h i ng are as T h i s c hart the s u b

,
-
.

marine c aptain opened and s c anned with great intere s t .

CH . Ix ] SARNIA S ’
GALLANT FIGHT 3 97

Then hav ing taken the t rawl er s provi s ion s and other
,
’

ar ti c l e s the German s gave the men a few bi s c uit s and

,

s ome bu tt er a n d mi l k in addition to the binna c l e c o m pa s s

, ,

and c a s t them off in their own boat The Co qu e t s ank .

,

and the s ubmarine s taying only to s end the He ctor to ,

the bottom with twenty round s of gunfire made away ,

to c has e two more c raft to the north we s t Thi s i n -

.

eiden t furni s he s a typi c al in s tan c e of t h e way the enemy

s ank fi s hing c raft and c a s t their c rew s adrift Su c h .

c ondu c t fired the s e fi s h e r m e n s patrioti c endeavour s to

’

c o operate with the N a v y

-
.

Enthu s ia s m in t h e work was exhibited a s mu c h by

the Brixham s ma c k s a s by the Humber s team traw l er s .

Information given by the Brixham s ma ck A dda cv when ,

fi s hing in the Eng l i s h Channe l to the armed boarding ,

s teamer S ar ni a brought about a s pirited engagement

wi t h under water c raft The s ubmarine wa s n o t s unk
-
.
,

b u t thank s to the promp t inte ll igen c e gi v en a valuab l e

, ,

s hip w as s av ed The s ma c k reported at 7 o c l o c k on the

.
’

morning of Apri l 1 l th t hat ha l f an hour previou s l y s h e

had s een a s ubmarine fo ll owing a s team s hip going s outh
ea s t The S ar ni a made o ff at fu ll s peed to s ear c h for
.

the enemy and s oon after , s ighted the F ren c h s s . .

F r eder i c F ran ck bound for L ondon The c rew had

, .

al ready left her and were in the boat s and a s ubmarine

, , ,

U2 4 w as s een along s ide the s teamer t hen about three

, ,

and a hal f mi l e s o ff A s s oon as the S ar ni a approa c hed

.
,

the enemy s ubmerged The S ar ni a then c ommen c ed to

.

cir c l e round the s t eamer at 2 0 knot s At the peri .

s c ope w as s een about 8 0 0 yard s away tw o i n t s abaft

p o
'

the port beam Fire wa s opened on the U boat and the

.
-
,

S ar ni a ma de toward s her but the peri s c ope di s appeared , .

At the peri s c ope again appeared 7 0 0 yard s di s tant

s i x point s on the S ar n i a s
’
port beam and a torpedo ,

was fired w h i c h the ve s s el avoided by s ki l fu l u s e of t h e

helm The wake of a s e c ond torpedo wa s re c ogni s ed and
.
,

thi s torpedo w a s a l s o avoided by the u s e of the he h n

and engine s Thi s torpedo the S arni a s c aptain reported
.
,
’
,

wou l d have been a c ertain hit had t here been one

moment s de l ay in c arrying out my order s either with
’

”
he lm or engine s The S arni a then made a s ignal by
.

wirele s s for de s t royers to c ome to her a s s i s tan c e and ,

pro ceeded to zigzag at full s peed c lo s e to the F rederi c

39 8 GROWTH OF THE SUBMARINE MENACE [ OH Ix .

F ranck s o a s to prevent the enemy from c omp l eting the

de s tru c tion of the F ren c h s hip and to keep him from ,

atta c king other s teamer s whi c h were pa s sing within a

.

s hort di s t an c e one of them being a Donald s on l iner bound

,

down Channe l
-
.

Every time the c aptain of the S ar ni a s ighted a peri

s c ope he did h i s be s t to ram but without s u c c e s s
, At .

it be c ame c ert ain that two s ubmarine s were operating a s ,

the peri s c ope s of both were s een s imu l taneou s l y one four ,

point s on the port bow and t h e other t wo point s on the

port quarter F ire wa s opened and the S ar ni a turned
.
,

to s tarboard to avoid expo s ing her beam to either enemy .

A s hot from the after gun s tru c k the peri s c ope of one of
-

the s ubmarine s and a few s e c ond s later t h e c onning tower

,
-

wa s j u s t awa s h The s e c ond s hot fe ll a l i ttl e s hort Nothing

. .

e l s e o ccurred unti l a m when the S arni a mi s s ed

. .
,

ramming one peri s c ope by only a few s e c ond s The .

S ar ni a s c aptain c on cluded that the s ubmarine with t h e

’

damaged peri s c ope then hea ded away and the s e c ond a l s o ,

broke off the a ction for after , a m no tra c e w a s . .

s een of either of t hem The de s troyer s pre s ent l y arriv e d

.

and took the c rew of the F ren c h s hip on board The .

de s troyer B I TTE R N towed the F r ede ri c F r an ck unti l a ’

c oup l e of tug s c ame out and brought her s afely into

P l ymouth T h e S ar ni a s c aptain Commander H G

’
. .
.
,

Muir ,
had fought h i s s hip with great s ki l l and
‘

determination and re c ei v ed an expre s s ion of appre c iat ion

,

from the L ord s of the Admira l ty The A dda w hav ing gi v en .

a c curate information whi c h enabled the F r ede ri c F r an ck to

’

be s alved the Admiralty awarded the Brixham men £ 1 2 0

,
.

The s e in c ident s i l lu s trate the manner in whi c h every

bran c h of the nation s s e a s ervi c e s c ontributed to hara s s
’

and defeat the enemy F i s hermen with their w o nderfu l

.
,

eye s ight c ombi ned with alertne s s of movement and

,

qui c kne s s of de ci s ion s upported with fine loyalty the

,

Royal Naval Re s erve offi c er s them s elve s po s s e s s ed of an

,

intimate knowledge of mer c hant s h i pping and i ts way s

de s troyer offi c ers and men s howed a de v otion beyond
prai s e ; the ma s ter s and men of handy tugs mar s hall ed
a l l t heir pe c ul iar know l edge and experien c e in c oaxing
into port s h i p s whi c h c ou l d s c ar c e l y float ; and final l y ,

o ffi c ers and c rew s of mer c hant s hip s threading their way ,

among unfore s een peri l s p l ayed their part nob l y in the

,
49 9 GROWTH OF THE SU BMARINE MENACE [CH . 1x

S ci l ly I s land s To ea c h of the s e s e c tion s w a s all otted a

.

s t eam ya c ht and one and a ha l f traw l er uni t s

-
ex c epting ,

the S ci llie s whi c h had tw o and a hal f traw l er uni t s A

,
.

wirele s s s tation w a s in s tall ed at St Mary s S ci ll y .

’
, .

Simi l arly the B ea c hy Head vi c inity in Area XII wa s

,

reorgani s ed Thi s s e ction extended from S t A l ban s

. .
’

Head to D ungene s s In order t o s trengt hen it the ya c ht

.
,

Co n qu e r o r and two divi s ion s of trawler s were s ent from

Great Y armou t h to Newhaven F rom St A l ban s Head . .
’

to St Catherine s the patro l of the area was maint ained by

.
’

patro l drifter s ; from St Cathe r ine s to ”Bea c hy Head by .

’

a divi s ion of s i x trawlers ; from B ea c hy Head to D unge

ne s s by two di v i s ion s of eight traw l er s In addition t h e .
,

northern s e c tion of the tran s port route from Spi t head t o

F ran c e wa s wat c hed by a di v i s ion of s i x t raw l er s and an ,

a nt i s ubmarine boom a c ro s s the Channel from F o l ke s tone

-

to Gri s Nez wa s being c on s tru c ted to be wat c hed by the ,

ya c ht D i a ne and her armed trawlers F rom Dover nearl y .

2 0 0 traw l er s and drift er s were working in t h e Strait s by

the beginning of Apri l But though the impro v ement in .

t h e working of t h e net s there c au s ed enemy s ubmarine s

to get c aught and run away wi t h the net s al mo s t every
day yet as no s ati s fa c tory type of indi c ator buoy had been
, ,

evolved it was almo s t impo s s ib l e to t e l l when the s u b

,

marine had fou l ed the net s However i n the c our s e of .

,

time the right kind of buoy wa s devi s ed .

The Admira l ty c on c l uded that s in c e the s inking s o ff ,

B ea c hy H ead had be c ome s o numerou s s ubmarine s were ,

a c cu s tomed to go to ground for the night in an e l even

fathom hole two mi l e s we s t of the H or s e of Wi llingdon
S hoal B efore Apri l was out they l aid a number of s u b
.

m erged mine s o ff B ea c hy Head hoping thereby to de s troy ,

the enemy The s e mine s were s afe for ve s s e l s trave ll ing

.

on the s urfa c e but dangerou s for any s ubmerged v e s s e l

,

or for one an c horing or fi s hing The area was c on s equentl y .

forbidden for the la s t named purpo s e s At th e s ame tim e -

.

s ti ll more fi s h i n g ve s s el s were being taken up for the

-

patrol s A hundred were ordered to in c rea s e t h e D o v er

.

F l eet It wa s e s timated that t h e to t al av ai l ab l e number

.

of s t eam trawler s in the Uni t ed Kingdom wa s about

-

Of the s e t h e Admira l t y had al ready taken up 9 7 5 .

In s ome port s a s mu c h a s 9 0 per c ent of the fi s hery fleet s .

had thu s been requi sitioned in other s prac ti c ally t h e ,

on . 1x ] LAY ING NETS OFF OSTEND
who l e number Admiral J e ll i c o e again te l egraphed that
.

t h e apparent in c rea s e in t h e number of enemy s ubmarine s

pa s s ing north about rendered the O rkney s Shet l and and , ,

Stornoway patro l s pe cia ll y important and he a s ked for ,

more traw l er s The vi cinity of the Butt of L ewi s and

.

Cape Wrath required s trong for c e s to prote c t the c ol lier s

and other S hip s whi c h s upplied the Grand F leet O n .

April 2 9 th the c o ll ier M o bi le had been s unk by a s ubmarine

o ff the Butt of L ewi s a l though a s pe c ial patrol had been
,

e stab l i s hed in that vi c inity .

Wi t h the de s ign of entrapping enemy s ubmarine s a s

t hey emerged from their own water s the two paddle ,

s teamer s t h e Q u e e n Vi ctori a and P ri n ce E dwar d already

, ,

ment ioned were emp l oyed in April in a s pe cial operation

, .

On the e v ening of Apri l 7th they left Harwi c h under Com

mander Mauri c e E v an s R N e s c orted by the de s troyer s
, . .
,

L AE RTE S and L Y S A N D E R wi t h order s to lay their net s o ff

,

the B e l gi an c oa s t F or thi s operation they had long been

.

rehear s ing During the night they rea c hed the B elgian
.

c oa s t but it w as not po s s ible to begin work unti l dawn

, ,

as a ll the s e a mark s had been removed

-
At e m a . . .

mi l e and a ha l f of net s were laid o ff O s tend in twelve

minute s the net s being 2 4 feet deep Then j u s t a s the
, .
,

padd l ers were fini s hing their ta s k the enemy s fort s opened ,
’

fire and got o ff a hundred round s at the Q u e e n Vi ctor i a

and P r i n ce E dwar d and the de stroyers a s it happened ,

without c au si ng damage The intended s urpri s e fai l ed .

,

but the padd l e s teamer s and their e s c ort made home

-

”
s afe l y On April 1 2 th the P ri nce E dwar d laid a trot
.
“

a mi l e long ea s t of t h e South Goodwin s to wh i c h i n ,

d i c ato r ne ts were pre s ent l y moored .

Wh i l e deve l oping their s ubmarine atta c k s upon the

Bri ti s h m er c hant s hip s the German s in no way relaxed
,

their a c ti v i tie s in mine laying and to meet the mena c e-

,

the Briti s h Ad m iralty by the s ummer of 1 9 1 5 had five

, ,

s eparate c l a s s e s of mine s weeper s in the S er v i c e They

-
.

were ( 1 ) t h e F l ee t s weeper s in cluding t h e o l d gunboat s ,

S KI P JA C K and JA S O N ; ( 2 ) eight auxi liary s weeper s c har

te r e d from t h e rai l way c ompanie s for the Grand F leet
( ) h e padd l e s teamer s whi c h had been t aken up for
3 t -

rapid s weeping near t h e c oa s t ; ( 4 ) t h e mine — s weeping

t rawl er s ; and 5 another c l a s s l ately introdu c ed beari ng
( ) ”
the o l d hi s tori c name of s loop .
40 2 GROWTH OF THE SUBMARINE MENACE [ CH Ix .

‘
It being known to Germany that the armed mer c hant
c rui s er s of the Tenth Crui s er Squadron engaged upon i t s ,

a s s igned mi s s ion to the north of S c otl and in inter c ep ti ng

s hip s, were u s ing L iverpool for c oal ing and refitting it ,

was deemed like l y that mine s wou l d be laid on the route

to thi s ba s e The duty a c c ordingl y fe ll to the L ough
.

Swi ll y s weeper s from B arra Head t o In i s tr a h u ll periodi

c a l ly to S weep thi s area There w a s al s o rea s on to s u s pe c t
.

t hat mine s had been laid between t h e Humber and

Southwo l d mine fi e l d s and on Apri l 1 7 th the s u s pe c ted
-
,

area wa s s wept No mine s were di s c overed though on

.
,

the way o u t from Grim s by whi l s t c ro s s ing t h e c ent re of

,

the Humber area the paddle s hip s de s troyed five moored

,
-

mine s A c uriou s in cident o c c urred on the day fo ll owing

.

the exp l oratory s weep N ear the s pot where the five .

mine s were found two Briti s h trawlers the Vani lla and
, ,

F e r m o were fi s hing
, Three mile s s outh we s t of the Swa r t e
.
-

B ank a s ubmarine torpedoed the Va ni lla The F e r m o w as .

only 3 0 0 yard s o ff and s h e immediately went to pi c k

,

up s urv ivor s ; w h ereupon the s ubmarine fired a torpedo

a l s o at her forc ing her to abandon the re s c ue and
,

e s c ape The explanation of t h i s in cident was that the

.

Va ni l la wa s s u s pe c ted to have witne s s ed the laying of the

mine s and for thi s rea s on the enemy w a s determined
,

that none of her c rew s hould live to tell the tale F rom .

quarter s far and near the enemy s a ctivitie s in mine ’

laying were c ontinually being reported O n April 2 6 th .

the Briti s h fi s hing trawler R e co lo foundered on a mine

s outh of the Dogger B ank .

In preparation for an intended bombardment of the

Be l gian c oa s t from the s e a four Grim s by paddle s teamer s
,
-

were s ent t o s weep from April 2 6 th to 2 8t h and on their ,

way ba c k a c ro s s t h e North Sea they c o m men c ed a s weep

four c ab l e s wide in an area where the S u tte r to n had found
a mine in her t raw l a few day s before ; Whi l s t the S agi tta
and W e s twa r d Ho were turning s outh a mine exp l oded ,

in t heir s we e p f A few minute s l ater another mine ro s e

to t h e s urfa c e in the s ame s weep It w a s v ery de s irab l e .

that a s pe cimen of the s e mine s s hou l d be s a l v ed for

e x am inat ion by B riti s h naval e xper t s The c o m manding .

offi c er of t h e S agi tta wa s L ieut enant Commander W H S -

. . .

Garnett , a Cambridge wr angl er and an e n th u

s i a s t i c ya c ht s man who had volunteered and re c eived a
,
40 4 GROWTH OF THE SUBMARINE MENACE [ OH Ix .

Head ; and a F almouth drifter pur s ued one for two

hour s a torpedo being fired at her whi c h pa s s ed under her
,

forefoot O n the s ame day a traw l er report ed havin g

.

s een and run over a s ubmarine o ff L and s E nd It w a s ’

.

even reported with s ome S how of c redibi l i ty that two

, ,

German o ffi c er s had c ome a s hore in a c ol l ap s ible boat

and landed at Cairn Ryan near Stranraer Ship s were , .

being atta c ked or s unk near the N orth Hinder and other
part s of the North Sea Auxi l iary Patrol ve s s el s were in .

a c tion with s ubmarine s o ff F air I s land and Anv i l Point ;

and o ff St Abb s H ead the trawler B e n L awe rs fired forty
.
’

round s at an enemy c raft and c l aimed to have hit her .

Den s e bla c k s moke wa s ob s erved and the s ubmarine , ,

apparently damaged made o ff being c ha s ed by the , ,

trawler until lo s t to s ight She w as unab l e to di v e and .

,

only her fa s t s urfa c e s peed s aved her At the end of April .

the enemy s ank a c ouple of s hi ps off the we s t c oa s t of

Ireland near the Bl ask e ts s upp l ying further eviden c e of
, ,

the radiu s of a c tion of the s e c raft The Auxi l iary Patro l

( .

in the s e embarra s s ing c ondition s had to maintain i t s

operation s with vi gilan c e and a l ertne s s Surpri s e fol l owed .

s urpri s e but it w a s never long before ea c h new deve l op

,

ment w a s c ountered by fre s h s trategy novel ta c ti c s or , ,

improved weapon s S c ar c ely had the patro l s be c ome

.

a c c u s tomed to mine and s ubmari ne warfare than they

had to prepare for offen c e and defen c e again s t aeroplane s
and Z eppe l in s Harwi c h and L owe s toft trawler s in c o n
.
,

s equen c e o f re p eated flight s of Z eppelin s over L owe s toft

and the neighbourhood of Or fo r d n e s s were fitted wi t h ,

anti air c raft gun s By night and by day below the s u r

-
.
,

fa c e and on the s urfa c e there wa s litt l e re s t for the already

,

overwork ed p atrol c raft and to their routine dutie s wa s ,

added thi s month of Apri l 1 9 1 5 and in the firs t day s of

, ,

May that of prote cting the line s of c ommuni c ation when

,

the l oth Divi s ion of the Briti s h Army c ro s s ed the Iri s h

Sea from K ing s town to H olyhead The who le of thi s .

route w as c arefully patrolled by auxiliary s hip s in the

following manner
At interval s a c hain of trawler s wa s pla c ed j u s t out s ide
K ing s town pa s t the Ki s h L ight s hip right a c ro s s unti l
,

near Ho l yhead In addition five s t eam ya c ht s guarded

.
,
-

the rout e while a divi s ion of drifters with their indi c ator
, ,

net s were stationed to the W e s t of the South Sta c k ( at the

,
CH . Ix ] TROOPS SAFELY TRANSPORTED 405

approa c h t o Ho l yhead ) and o ff t h e Cod ling Bank t o t h e ,

s ou t hward of t h e Ki s h A ctuall y no t ran s port w a s t o r

.

d o e d b u t on t h e day when t h e l a s t of the t roop s c ro s s ed

p e , ,

a s ubmarine w a s s een by t h e t raw l er Ga r u t hree m i l e s

we s t nort h we s t of t h e Sou t h Sta c k t hat i s c l o s e to the
- -
,

rout e of pa s s enger s hip s The trawler gav e c ha s e but

.
,

the ene m y di v ed .

That the s e troop s were moved without the l o s s of a

s ingl e l ife furni s hed further proof of the in c rea s ing
e ffi c ien c y of t h e patro l s and of t h e re s pe c t in whi c h the s e
c raft were he l d by t h e enemy The keenne s s exhibi t ed
.

by t h e c rews w a s all the more notab l e in view of t h e

exa c ting c ondition s of s erv i c e whi c h war impo s ed upon
th em in a s s o c iation wi t h many day s on end un v aried by
,

any in c ident to re l ieve the c reeping fee l ing of boredom .

But the imagination of the s e fi s hermen had been s tirred

by event s at s e a s in c e the opening of ho s ti l i tie s and t hey ,

did not fai l t o real i s e t h e po s s ibi l it ie s of di s a s ter a s s o c iated

with the pa s s age of t hi s divi s ion of the Briti s h Army ,

who s e s afe c ro s s ing from Ireland to Engl and c on s ti tu t ed .

a furt her c on s pi c uou s s u c c e s s to the c redit of t hi s i m p r o

v i s ed for c e whi c h had a l ready s hown i t s va l ue a s an

exten s ion of t h e l ong arm of the Bri ti s h F l eet From the .

out break of war down t o the end of Apri l 1 9 1 5 twenty s ev en ,

-

t raw l er s and three drift er s of the great fl eet of auxi l iary

c raft engaged in figh t ing the enemy had be c o m e t ota l

lo sses Having regard t o t h e ri s k s of mine s weepin g in

.
-

dangerou s area s at ta c k s by s ubmarine s and lo s s e s in c i

, ,

dent a l to nav igation during winter mont h s o ff un l ighted

c oa s t s t h e Auxi l iary Patro l had been fortunate in s u ff ering
,

s o light l y The immunity whi c h the v a s t maj ority of

.

the s e ve s s el s had experien c ed wa s due not to any want of

daring and re s ourc e on t h e part of the enemy but to the ,

s eaman s hip c ourage and adaptabi l ity whi c h the offi c er s

, ,

and men of the s e Bri ti s h auxi l iary c raft had e xhibited in

c ondi t ion s of uninterrupted danger and di ffi c ulty .

Wi t h the pa s s ing of the long night s of the winter of

1 9 1 4 —1 5 and an improve m ent in weather c ondition s at
se a ,i t w a s expe c t ed t hat the enemy wou l d redoub l e h i s
atta c k upon s e a borne c ommer c e The c on s tru ction of
-
.

bett er t ype s of s ubmarine s and the manufa c ture of thou

s and s o f additiona l mine s h a d kep t the German s hipyard s

and engineering s hop s bu s y s in c e the outbreak of war .

 40 6 GROWTH OF THE SUBMARINE MENACE [ CH Ix .

Simultaneou s ly the s trength of the B riti s h patrol s had

in c rea s ed a s fa s t a s s hip s gun s and men were availab l e , , .

In the s ummer of 1 9 1 5 a new type of Briti s h mine— the

Crui s er mine whi c h was the dire ct an c e s tor of the
,

depth c harge— w a s being di s tributed among trawlers and

-

drifters the idea being that when c ir cum s tan c e s were

, ,

favourable it s hou l d be dropped upon s ubmarine s from

,

s hoot s s pe c ia l ly fitted for the purpo s e In the N orth .

Channel a dozen s e ction s of net drifter s were denying the

pa s s age to the enemy ea c h s e ction c on s i s ting of ten or
,

e l even drifters c ommanded by a s u b lieutenant R oyal

,
-

N aval Re s erve who s e s hip wa s armed with a gun a bomb

, , ,

a mine and later with the depth c harge ; s o that the

, , , ,
-

c han c e s of e s c ape of any s ubmarine whi c h found it s elf

entangled in the net s be c ame fewer .

The whole organi s ation was improving and in c rea s ing .

At the end of the fir s t nine month s of war there were

either at their s tation s or fi tti n g out 6 3 armed ya c ht s -

and 5 2 4 traw l ers and drifters arrangement s were in hand

to in c rea s e the number to 8 3 and 6 3 1 re s pe ctively Apart .

from the s e about 3 5 0 trawler s and drifters were employed

,

in mine s weeping and wat c hing the c leared c hanne l s the

-
,

auxi l iary c raft were c o operating in the Dardanelle s opera

-

tion s and there were the motor boat s

,
-
.

At Dover Rear Admiral Hood had been s u c ceeded by

-

R ear Admiral R H S B a c on
-
. who had di s po s ed
. .
,

h i s drifter s in a four s ided area in the Strait s where -

s ubmarine s were very likely to be c aught The limit s .

of thi s area were

° ° ’ ”
( ) a L at . 51 3
’
long 1 . 19 E 0 .

° ” ’
b
( ) 5 L at
1 8 .
° ’
long 1 . 29 10 E .

”
L at 51 3 0 E
° '

( )
c 5 1 5 .
° '
long 1 . .

° ”
d
( ) 5 L at
0 5 4 .
° ’
long 1 . 3 1 20 E
’
.

The S c arborough area after being mo s t c arefu l ly s wept , ,

wa s by the end of April de clared free of mine s The c l ear .

ing u p had been a long and arduou s ta s k but it wa s a s ati s

-
,

fa c tion to know that the pa s s age of thi s York s hire c oa s t

w a s a t l engt h freed from the mine peri l Almo s t s imul .

t an e o u s l y wi t h the e l imination of thi s mine fi e l d i t be c ame -

known t hat ano t her had been l aid in t h e Swar t e area the ,

beginning of whi c h h a s already been not i c ed It w a s .

1 Af t e r war d s A dm i r a l
Si r R e g i n ald H B a c o n D S O .
, . . .
4 08 GROWTH SUBMARINE MENACE [ CH Ix OF T HE .

s u s pi c ion right in the middle of the North Sea bounded ,

by lat 5 4 4 0 and
.
°
and long 2 3 0 E and 5 E and
’
.
° ’
.
°
.
,

c overing a s pa c e of s quare mi l e s F rom t hi s it

’

may be s een with what thoroughne s s and s ound s trat egy

the enemy had l aid h i s mine s L ine s j oining t h e point s .

gi v en bring out a four s ided area embra cing that t hrough ,

-

whi c h t h e Grand Fl ee t mu s t have pa s s ed in making a

s weep toward s He l igo l and down the N orth Sea Had the .

H igh Sea F l eet c ome out a s far a s the s outhern boundary

of t hi s area refu s ed ac tion and then run ba c k home t h e
, , ,

mine fi e l d it w a s c a l c ul ated wou l d have c au s ed heavy

-
, ,

lo s s e s to the Grand F leet engaged in the pur s ui t .

L arge number s of mine s were found In addition to .

forty one mine s whi c h qui t e earl y had been s wept up and
-

exp l oded t h e trawler R e ve rto on May 1 8th fi s hed up a

,

new l y painted mine in her traw l

-
The gear wa s cu t .

away and the mine s ank without exp l oding Two day s .

later the s s M ari co p a s tru c k a mine in the fie l d but

. .
,

did not s ink The S agi tta and her group of traw l er s pro
.

c e e d e d to s weep from c lo s e to where the M a r i co a had

p
s t ru c k and promptly de s troyed forty three mine s Thi s
,
-
.

w a s on May 2 3 r d Next day t e n more mine s were .

a cc ounted for Two were a c tuall y brought into port .

by the S agi tta having been found fl oating on l y j u s t , ,

awa s h and near l y fu ll of water They had been s e t to a .

depth of 5 4 metre s Mine s weeping gunboat s whi c h

(
.
-
,

a l s o were engaged in the s ear c h de s troyed a number of ,

mine s On c e more the new N avy wa s in the happy po s i

.

tion of having s av ed the o l d from po s s ible di s a s ter F or .

s ome day s the S agi tta and her paddler s c ontinued to s ear c h

the fie l d e s c orted by de s troyer s and s upported by light

,

c rui s er s the de s troyer s being of great s ervi c e in examining

,

and warning pa s s ing ve s s e l s By the end of May eighty .

s i x mine s had been s wept up between lat 54 lat .

°
.

°
55 and long 3 E to 3 2 0 E The line s of mine s .
°
.
° ’
.

had been laid j u s t in s ide the 2 0 fathom line with a very -

,

pronoun c ed tongue running diagonal l y a c ro ss the great

area throughout i t s whole breadth .

The L ough Swi l l y s weeper s pro c eeded to c lear the area

we s t of Tory I s l and before c ontinuing to s weep the northern
part in order to en s ure a pa s s age a c ro s s the fie l d on an
,

ea s t and we s t c our s e p as s ing within thirteen mile s of the

i s land Thi s work was de s irable it being s even months
.
,
CH . Ix ] FISHING VESSEL S D ES TR OYE D
-

sin c e thi s fie l d had been laid s e v eral s h i p s had foundered

upon it and t h e mine fi e l d wa s p l a c ed in a mo s t important
,
-

po s ition Bad weather during the winter month s had

.

interrupted operation s .

Simu ltaneou s ly with more inten s ified mine laying the -

,

enemy s s ubm arine a ctivitie s be c ame more pronoun c ed

’
.

D uring May s ubmarine s s ank fi s h i n g ve s s el s in the North -

Sea and mer c hant s hip s in area s a s wide l y Sc attered a s

,

the Nort h Sea o ff the S c i l lie s the s outh of Ireland the

, , ,

Iri s h Sea Bri s tol Channel and the we s tern end of the
, ,

Engli s h Channel Six fi s h i ng ve s s el s were s unk on

.
-

May 2 nd o ff Aberdeen and May I s land ; eight more the

next day o ff the D ogger B ank and ea s t S c otti s h c oa s t all ,

by s ubmarine s B etween May 1 3 th and May 1 8 th four

.

more trawler s met the s ame fate near t h e north we s t -

c orner of the Dogger B ank the c rew s being taken ,

pri s oners A l together there were no fewer than twenty

.

two fi s h i ng ve s s el s de s troyed in the N orth Sea in the

-

month of May .
 T HE S IN K IN G OF T HE
“
L US ITAN I A

T HE month of April 1 9 1 5 had proved an u n s ati s fa c tory

month for the enemy ; on l y s eventeen merc hant s hip s
had been atta c ked and of the s e s i x had e s c aped It
, .

mu s t have been apparent to the German authori tie s that

neither the threat s nor the a c t s in whi c h they had indu lged
had produ c ed the de s ired e ffe c t on Briti s h mer c han t
s eamen Hitherto the farthe s t the de c lared poli c y of
.

Germany had gone wa s the announ c ement t hat on and ,

after February 1 8t h 1 9 1 5 every enemy mer c hant s hip

, ,

found i n the s ai d War Z one will be de s troyed without it

being a l way s po s s ible to avoi d the danger s threatening
the c re ws and pa s s enger s on that a c c ount The s u g .

ge s tion wa s tha t lo s s of l ife would be due to a c c idental

c au s e s and would not be de l iberately pur s ued a s a feature
,

of German s ubmarine poli c y But toward s the end of .

”
April a demon s tration of frightfu ln e s s ex c eeding any ,

thing hither to re c orded wa s de termined upon and on

, ,

May 7t h the great Cunard li ner L u s i tani a wa s s unk

without warning by U2 0 c ommanded by K apit an ,

L eutnant S c hwieger re s ulting i n the lo s s of

, l ive s .

During the s i x pre c eding day s the enemy had de s troyed s i x

s hip s of whi c h t h r ee went do wn on the 6 t h
, In on l y one .

c a s e did lo s s of life re s ult two of the c rew of the M i nte r ne

,

ton s ) being dro wned on the 3 r d of the month .

There wa s evi den c e however that enemy su bmarine s

, ,

were working o ff the Iri s h c oa s t for the s v E arl of L ath o m , . .

( 1 3 2 ton s ) wa s s unk eight mile s s outh by we s t from O l d

Head of Kin s ale where two day s la ter wa s ena c ted t h e
, , ,

greate s t mari time c rime i n hi s tory reveali ng t h e fu l l ,

S ignifi c an c e of Germany s new poli c y

’
It wou l d s c ar c e l y .

be an exaggeration t o s a y that no s ing l e event o f the who l e

war whether by s e a by l and or i n the air produ c ed
, , , ,

410
41 9 SINKI NG OF T HE LUSITANIA [ CH . x
Ameri c an liner s were making a s trong bi d for the c o m
m e r c i a l ma s t ery of the At l anti c ; and though s h e wa s not ,

i n the a c utal event emp l oyed on war s ervi c e s h e had

, ,

been definitely s ub s idi s ed a s a re s erve mer c hant c rui s er ,

the Government having pla c ed at th e di s po s al of t h e Cu

nard Company at a moderate rate of i ntere s t the s u m of
,
%

£2 , for her c on s tru c tion and that of the M a u retani a .

The L u s i tani a s tood t herefore for s omewhat more than

, ,

a mere l y u p to date Atlanti c liner i n that by her mean s

- -
,

the Briti s h Mer c antile Marine had regained what wa s

known at the ti me a s the b l ue ribbon of the At l anti c .

Though l ittle heed was paid to the matter either by the

general pub li c or even by re s pon s ib l e per s on s rumour s ,

had been very wi dely s pread i n New York that t h e L u s i

tania wa s to be atta c ked and indeed an adverti s ement ,

had appeared i n s everal Am eri c an new s paper s on May l s t

i n the following term s
—
NO TI C E Traveller s intending to embark on Atlanti c
voyage s are reminded that the s tate of war exi s t s be tween
Germany and her Al lie s and Great Britain and her A llie s
that the zone of war i n c lude s the water s adj a c ent to the
Briti s h I s le s ; that in a c c ordan c e wi t h formal no ti c e given
by the Imperial German Government ve s s el s fly i ng the
flag of Great Britain or of any of her Allie s are liable to
de s tru ction i n tho s e water s ; and t hat traveller s s ailing
i n the war zone in s hip s of Great Britain or her A l lie s
do s o at their o wn ri s k —Imperial German Emba s s y ,

Wa s hington D C April 2 2 nd 1 9 1 5
, . .
, , , .

No dire c t warning wa s given either to the Cunard

Company or to the c aptain of the Lu s i tani a Judge .

Mayer of the Federal D i s tri c t Court of New York w a s

, ,

sub s equently c alled upon to inve s tigate the cir c um s tan c e s

of the s ai ling of the L u s i tani a a petition having been ,

lodged by the Cunard Steam s hip Company; Lt d for .

,

limi t ation of liabi lity In the c our s e of h i s j udgment on

.

Augu s t 2 4th 1 9 1 8 Judge Mayer s tated that the c aptain

, ,

wa s fu ll y j u s tified i n s ailing on the appointed day from

a neutral por t with many neutral a nd non c o m bat ant -

pa s s enger s unle s s he and h i s c ompany were wi lling to

,

yield t o the attempt of the German Government to terrify

Briti s h s hipping No one familiar with the Briti s h c har
.
CH . x] GERMANY S FAL SE CHARGES ’
41 3 .

a c ter wou l d e x pe c t that s u c h a thr eat wou l d a c c omp li s h

more t han to empha s i s e t h e ne c e s s ity of t ak ing every
pre c aution to pro te c t life and property whi c h the e xer c i s e
of j udgment wou l d invite And s o the L u s i tani a s ai led
.

undi s gui s ed wi t h her four funne l s and a figure s o fami liar

, ,

as to be readi ly di s c ernible not on l y by nava l offi c er s

”
and mariner s but by the o c ean going publi c genera l ly
,
-
.

Few intending pa s s enger s of any nationa l i t y b elieved

that s u c h a threat a s had been made by the German s
c ou l d be mean t s eriou s l y or wou l d ever be carried out .

When t h e L u si tani a s ai led it wa s with a tota l of ,

peop l e on board in c luding 4 4 0 women and c hildren The

, .

c rew o n t hi s voyage numbered 7 0 2 in s tead of 7 5 0 .

Wi t h regard to the c argo thi s wa s a general one of ,

t h e u s ua l kind but a s wa s entered on the s hip s manife s t

’
, , ,

a c ertain number of c artridge s were c arried The s e were .

s towed we l l forward i n the s hip on t h e or l op and lower

de c k s and about fifty yard s away from where the torpedo

s t ru c k the ve s s el There wa s no other e xplo s ive on
.

boar d .

It wa s afterward s alleged by the German Government

that the L u s i tani a wa s equipped with gun s trained gunner s , ,

and S pe c ial ammunition that s h e wa s tran s porting Cana

,

dian troop s and that s h e wa s vio l ating the law s of the

,

United S tate s The inve s tigation s ub s equently held by

.

L ord Mer s ey proved that a l l the s e s tatement s were untrue .

The L u s i tani a i n fa c t c arried neither gun s nor gunner s and

, , ,

no troop s and i n no wi s e violated the law s of the Uni ted

,

State s In re s pon s e to the s ugge s tion of the German

.

Government the United State s in a s ub s equent note

,

s tated

Fortunate l y the s e are matter s on c erning whi c h the c

Government of t h e United S tate s i s in a po s ition to give

the Imperial German Government o ffi c ia l information .

Of the fa c t s a lleged in Your Ex c e l len c y s Note if true ’

, ,

th e Government of t h e United State s wou l d have been

bound t o take o fli c i a l c ogni zan c e Performing i t s re c og .

ni s e d duty a s a neutra l Power and enfor c ing i t s national

laws it wa s i t s dut y t o s e e to it that the L u s i tani a wa s not

,

armed for offen s ive a c tion t hat s h e wa s not s erving a s a

,

tran s port t hat s h e did not c arry c argo prohibited by the

,

s tatute s of the United State s and that if in fa c t s h e wa s , , ,

 SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA .

a naval ve s s e l of Great Bri tain s h e s hou l d not re c eive ,

a c learan c e a s a mer c hant man It performed t hat duty . .

It enfor c ed i t s s tat ute s with s c rupu l ou s vigi l an c e t hr ough

i t s regu l ar l y c on s ti t u t ed o ffi c ia l s and it i s ab l e t here ,

fore t o a s s ure t h e Imperia l German Governmen t t hat it

h a s been mi s informed If t h e Imperial German Govern
.

ment s hou l d deem i t s e l f to be in po s s e s s ion of c onvin c ing

eviden c e t hat t h e offi c ia l s of the Government of the Uni ted
State s did n o t perform t he s e dutie s with t horoughne s s ,

the Government of the United S t ate s s in c ere l y hope s ’

that i t wi ll s ubmit t hat evi den c e fo r c on s ideration .

What ever may be t h e c ontention s of t h e Im pe ri a l German

Government regard i ng the c arriage of c ontraband of war
on board the L u s i tani a or regarding the explo s ion of t hat
materia l by a t orpedo it need on l y be s ai d that i n the
,

view of t hi s Government the s e c ontention s are irre l evant

to the que s tion of the l ega lity of the method s u s ed by the
”
German naval authoritie s i n s inking the ve ss el .

J udge Mayer of the Federal Di s tri c t Court of New

,

York referring to thi s a l legation by the German s de c lared

, ,

that the L u s i tani a did c arry s ome eighteen fu s e c a s e s and

1 2 5 s hrapnel c a s e s c on s i s ting merely of emp t y s hell s
without any powder c harge s c a s e s of s afety c art
,

ridge s and 1 89 c a s e s of infantry equipment s u c h a s l eather

, ,

fitting s pou c he s and the like A l l the s e were for delivery

, , .

abroad but none of the s e munition s c ould be exploded

,

by s etting them on fi r e i n ma s s or in bu l k nor by s u b ,

j e c ti n g t hem to i mpa c t He learnt in .eviden c e that the

s hip had been du ly in s pe c ted on Mar c h 1 7t h April 1 5 th , ,

l 6 t h and 1 7 th a ll in 1 9 1 5 and before s h e l eft New York

, , ,

the boat gear and boat s were e x amined overhau led , ,

”
c he c ked up and defe c tive ar ti c le s properly rep l a c ed
,
.

The great liner s e t out from New York on May 1 s t under ,

t h e c ommand of Captain W T Turner an old and t ru s ted . .

,

s ervan t of t h e Cunard Company The voyage a c ro s s the .

Atl anti c wa s uneventfu l and wa s a c c ompanied by s mooth

,

s ea s and fi ne weather The name of the s hip and port of

.

regi s try were painted o u t in a c c ordan c e wi t h Admiralt y

advi c e to mer c hant s hipping genera lly ; no flag no t ,

even the hou s e flag wa s flown , An average s peed of .

about 2 1 kno t s wa s maintained throughout the At lanti c

c r o s s ing Thi s wa s lower than the u sual pre war s peed
.
-
41 6 SINKING OF THE [ LUSITANIA OH . x
s peed of a s ubmarine i s very low and it i s ex c eedingl y ,

diffi c ult for her to get into po s ition t o de li ver an at t a c k

unle s s s h e c an ob s erve and predi c t the c our s e of t h e s hip
atta cked It i s be l ieved that t h e regul at i on s of many
.

s team s hip l ine s pre s c ribe t ha t t h e ma s t er s ha ll be on de c k

whenever c our s e i s a lt ered It i s for t h e c on sideration of .

owner s whether in t h e pre s ent c ir c um s tan c e s s ome r e

, ,

laxation of ru l e s of t hi s c hara cter i s not advi s ab l e in the

c a s e of fa s t s hip s in order to admit zigzagging being c arried
,
”
out without throwing an undue s train upon t h e ma s ter .

At the s ame time i t h a s to be borne in mind that the s e

notifi c ation s were in the nature of genera l advi c e rat her
than imperative order s and were n o t intended to c ramp ,

the initiative of re s pon s ible ma s ter s .

By May 6 th the L u s i tani a wa s approa c hing dangerou s

water s and at , a m on that day al l the l ifeboat s
. .

under davit s were s wung out A l l bu l k head door s were .

-

s ub s equen tly c lo s ed ex c ept s u c h a s were required to

,

be kept open in order to work the s hip S cu ttl e s were .

c lo s ed The lookout on the s hip wa s doub l ed t w o men

.

’
being s ent to the c row s ne s t and two men to the eye s of -

the s hip Two offi c er s were alway s on the bridge and a

.
,

quarterma s ter on either s ide with in s tru ction s to wat c h ,

for s ubmarine s That the s e were indeed to be feared

.

be c ame c lear ju s t before 8 o c lo ck on the evening of th at ’

day the Admira l c ommanding at Q ueen s town having

,

s ignalled to the L u s i tan i a that s ubmarine s were a c tive

o ff the s outh c oa s t of Ireland and had been report ed

four mile s to the s outh —
,

we s t of Copper Point near Ca s t l e ,

haven A l itt l e later on the s ame night a s e c ond wire l e s s

.

me s s age w a s re c eived by the L u s i tan i a in t h e fo ll owing

term s Take Liverpool pi l ot at Bar and avoid head l and s .

Pa s s harbour s at full s peed s teer mid c hanne l c ours e ; ,

-

”
s ubmarine s at Fa s tn e t .

°
From lat 40 1 0 N and long 4 9 W the L u s i tani a
.
’
. .
°
.
,

was navigated on a great c ir c le in the dire c tio n of Fa s tne t ,

and upon a c our s e that when approa c hing Ireland would , ,

take her s ome twent y mi l e s di s tant from thi s point At .

8 a m on May 7t h for rea s on s that will be referred t o later

. .
, ,

her s peed wa s redu c ed to 1 8 knot s ; and s hortl y after

thi s owing to the pre s en c e of fog her s peed w a s further
, ,

redu c ed for awhi l e to 1 5 kno ts About 1 1 o c l o ck t h e .

’

fog began to clear and s peed was again in crea s ed to 1 8

,
41 8 SINKING OF THE [ LUSITANIA CH . x
Be s ti c being on the bridge
, The latter who wa s engaged .
,

in taking the four point bearing wa s re l ieved at 2 p m -

, . .

by another o fli c e r Mr Stephen s al s o afterward s drowned

, .
, ,

and it wa s whi l e the four point bearing wa s s ti ll being -

taken approximate l y at a quarter pa s t two that the

,
-
,

s hip w a s torpedoed .

The fir s t t orpedo s tru c k the s hip on the s tarboard s ide ,

s omewhere between the third and fourth funnel s breaking , ,

a s it did s o one of the l ifeboat s to pie c e s The s e c ond

, .

torpedo s tru c k the s hip almo s t immediate l y afterward s ,

apparent l y about 1 0 0 feet aft of the fi rs t Both torpedoe s .

1

exp l oded with terrible e fi e ct the engine room s being a l mo s t ,

-

immediately flooded thu s making it impo s s ib l e to take ,

way off t h e s hip and thereby c on s iderab l y adding to t h e

,

great d i fli cu l ti e s of laun ching the lifeboat s Thi s wa s .

further in crea s ed by the li s ting of the s h i p to the s tarboard

s ide thu s c au s ing all the po r t s ide lifeboat s to s wing i n
,

boa rd and tho s e on the s tarboar d s ide to s wing outward s

,

to di s tan c e s that made it very diffi cult for pa s s engers to

be pla c ed in them Wirele s s me s s age s for help were at .

on c e di s pat c hed re c eived and an s wered but no ve s s e l

, , ,

of any s ort a s it happened wa s near the s c ene of t h e d i s

, ,

a s ter and within twenty minute s the great liner had d i s

,

appeared ben e ath the wave s .

One of the mo s t graphi c narrative s of the c our s e of

event s wa s that of Mr Jame s Brook s of Bridgeport .
, ,

Conne c ti cut an Ameri c an bu s ine s s man who w a s a s a l oon

, ,

pa s s enger and who de s cribed h i s experien c e s a s follow s :

,

N one of my fellow pa s s enger s

aid Mr Brook s re -
, s .
,

garded a s ubmarine atta c k a s a s eriou s po s s ibi l ity and we ,

had a very c omfortable voyage favoured by plea s ant ,

1 W h av e a G e r m an de n i al o f th e f act t h a t a s e c o n d t o r p e do w a s fir e d
e .

In a p bli c a ti o n e n t i tle d
u D i e d e u t s c h e n U B o o t e i n i h e r K r i e g s fu h u n g r r

1 9 1 4—
s ,

18 by K a pi t an L e u tn a n t A G a y e r i t i s s tat e d : On May 7th

,
-
. , ,

b e tw e e n 2 an d 3 p m S chwi e g e r s i ghte d i n fi n e cle ar w e at he r o n th e s o u th

. .
,

c o as t o f I e l an d n e ar th e Ol d H e a d o f K i n s a le s o m a n y m a s t s a n d f u n n e ls
r , ,

t h a t h e t h o u gh t a t fir s t h e h a d b e f o r e h i m a fi r s t r a t e d e s tr o y e r fl o ti l l a -

p r o ce e di n g i n l i n e a he a d B u t i t s o o n a pp e a r e d t h a t a l l b e lo n g e d t o o ne
.

s t e a m e r o n ly B u t th e c o m m a n de r w a s n o t a ble to m a k e s u r e t h a t I t w a s
.

t h e L u s i ta n i a b e f o r e th e s h o t h a d a l r e a dy h i t Alth o u gh th e Sink i n g o f th e .

s h i p w as d o u b t f u l a t fir s t S c h w i e g e r di d n o t a l l o w t h e s e c o n d t o r p e d o
,
,

w h i c h w a s a l l r e a d y t o b e fir e d a s h e s a w t h a t t h e e w e r e a n i m m e ns e c r o w d
, ,
r

o f p as s e n g e r s t o b e s a v e d A s th o gh h e h a d a f o r e b o di n g o f th e t r a g e dy
. u

wh i c h l a y i n h i s s u c c e s s h e w e n t wi th h i s b o a t t o a d e p t h o f twe n t y m e tr e s
,
,

m o v e d by m i xe d f e e li n gs
”
.
 CH . x] A PASSENGER S NARRATIVE ’
41 9

weather A good many pa s s enger s were s ti ll at lun c h

.

when on Friday afternoon the atta ck c ame in real ity

, , .

I had ju s t fini s hed a run on de c k and had rea c hed t h e ,

Mar c oni de ck when I gl an c ed out over the water It

, .

wa s perfe c tly s mooth My eye s a l ighted on a white

.

s treak making i t s way with lightning like rapidity toward s -

the s hip I wa s so high in that po s ition above the s urfa c e

.
, ,

of the wat er that I c ould make out the out l ine of the
torpedo It appeared to be about twelve feet long and
.
,

c ame a l ong po s s ib l y three feet below the s urfa c e i t s s ide s ,

white wit h bubb l e s of foam I wat c hed i t s pa s s age .

,

fa s c inated unti l it pa s s ed out of s ight behind the bridge

, ,

and in another moment c ame the explo s ion

,
The s hi p .
,

re c oi l ing under the for c e of the b l ow wa s j arred and l ifted , ,

a s if i t had s tru c k an i m movable obj e c t A c olumn of .

water s hot up to the bridge de ck c arrying wit h it a lot ,

of d é bri s and de s pite the fa ct that I mu s t have been

, ,

twenty yard s from the s pot at whi c h the torpedo s tru c k ,

I w a s kno c ked o ff my feet Before I c ould re c o v er m y .

s e l f the iron forepar t of the s hip w a s enve l oped in a b l ind

,

ing cloud of s team due not I think to the exp l o s ion of

, , , ,

a s e c ond torpedo a s s ome thought but to the fa ct that the

, ,

t wo foreho l d boi l ers had been j ammed c lo s e toge t her

/
and j a c k knifed upward s Thi s I wa s told by a s toker
-
.

afterward s We had been in s ight of land for s ome t ime

.
,

and the head of the s hip whi c h had a l ready begun to ,

s et tle w as turned toward s the Old Head of Kin s a l e

,
All .

t h e boat s on the s hip had been s wung out the day previou s ,

and the work of l aun c hing them was at on c e c ommen c ed .

The attempt in the c a s e of the fir s t boat wa s a tragi c failure .

The women and c hi l dren were taken fir s t and the boat ,

was pra cti c ally fi l led wit h them t here being only a few ,

men The boat w a s l owered until within i ts own length

.

of the water when the forward t a ckl e j ammed and t h e

, ,

who l e of i t s o c cupant s wi t h the ex c eption of three were

, ,

thrown into the water The L u s i tani a wa s then on an .

e v en keel On the de ck s of the doomed ve s s el ab s olut e

.

c oo l ne s s prev ai l ed There wa s no ru s hing about and

.
,

nothing remotely re s embling a pani c In j u s t a few .

i s ol ated c a s e s there were s ign s of hy s teria on the pa rt of

”
the women but that wa s al l ,
.

Capta in Ander s on the s e cond ,

-
i n -c omman d , wh o was lo s t ,
42 0 SINKING OF THE [ LUSITANIA CH . x
and who s e body wa s afterward s re c overed appeared on ,

the bridge de c k a s s oon a s he c ou l d rea c h i t and informed ,

t h e s a l oon pa s s enger s that there w a s no immediate danger ,

for everyone wa s c onfident t hat the s hip would remain

afloat in s pit e of the damage re c eived Everybody had of
,
.
,

c our s e ru s hed on de c k and thi s s tatement wa s rea s s uring

, , .

Meanwhile s aid Mr Brook s ,

the s hip had taken a .
,

de c ided li s t and wa s s inking rapid l y by t h e head The

, .

efforts made to lower the boat s had apparent l y not met

wi t h mu c h s u cc e s s Tho s e on the port s ide had s wung
.

i nboard and c ou l d not be u s ed whi l e the c o ll ap s ib l e ,

boat s whi c h were la s hed beneat h th em c ou l d not be got

, ,

at The ladie s were s tanding quite c oo lly wait ing on board

. ,

to enter the boat s when they c ould be re l ea s ed by the men

,

from t h e davit s The davit s by thi s time were t hem

.
, ,

s elve s t ou c hing the wa t er the s hip having s unk s o low t ha t ,

the bridge de c k w a s only four feet or s o from the s urfa c e

of t h e s e a L o s ing no time the men pa s s ed the women
.
,

rapidly into the boat s and pla c e s had been found by now ,

for all the people about the mid s hip s e c tion I s tepped .

into one of the l ifeboat s and attempted to a s s i s t in ge tt ing

it c l ear I s aw the li s t w a s s o great t hat the davit s pin c hed
.

t h e gear rendering it improbable that they c ould be got

,

away when the s hip went down s o I s tepped on to the gun ,

wale and dived into the water I had no l ifebe l t and am .

no t a good s wimmer but I de c ided to take the ri s k , I .

had been wetted right through when the explo s ion o c

c urre d and I be l ieve that had I gone in dry I s hou l d
, , ,

have s wa l lowed s o mu c h water that I s hou l d not have

la s ted long I s wam a s hard a s I c ou l d away from the
.

ve s s el and noti c ed with feelings of apprehen s ion the men

,

a cing bulk of the huge funne l s a s they loomed up over

my head I expe cted them momentarily to fall on me
.

and c ru s h me a s I s wam but at la s t I j udged my s e l f to be ,

c l ear,
and I turned around and trod t h e wat e r in order
to wat c h the great hu l l heel over The mon s ter took a .

s udden p l unge and noting the c rowd s til l on her de ck s

, , ,

and the heav ily laden boat s fil l ing wit h help l e s s women
-

and c hi l dren yet gl ued to her s ide I s i ckened wit h horror ,

at the s ight The liner s st ern ro s e high o u t of the water

.
’

there wa s a thunderou s roar a s of th e c o llap s e of a great

bui lding during a fire ; and then Is he di s appeared drag ,
42 2 SINKING or T HE LUSITANIA [ OH . x
F rom thi s a c count given by an Ameri c an and then ,

neutral eyewitne s s it i s c lear that t here wa s neit her

, ,

any warning from th e s ubmarine nor any op portunit y

a fforded either to the pa s s enger s or c rew of th e Lu s i tan i a
to s e cure their per s onal s afet y before t h e s h i p wa s s unk ; ,

and the s e fa ct s were further c onfirmed a t t h e o ffi c ial

inve s tigation by L ord Mer s ey in the fo l lowing June .

Material witne s s e s t o thi s apart from Captain Turner , ,

who was on the bridge at the time were of c our s e the , , ,

s eamen on the lookou t a l l of whom a cted wi t h admirable ,

c ourage and promptitude and of whom one e s pe c ia l ly , ,

L e s l ie N Morton an able s eaman on l y eighteen year s of

.
, ,

age wa s s ingled out in the Commi s s ioner s Report for the

,
’

highe s t c ommendation .

Morton who s e firs t voyage it was on the L u s i tani a

,

he had previou s ly been an apprenti c e for four year s on

the s ailing s hip J B W a lm s l e y — wa s an extra l ookout
-
. .

on the fore c a s tle head s tarboard s ide during t h e two to , ,

four wat c h and s eem s to have been the fir s t per s on a ctua ll y

,

to ob s erve the approa c h of the two torpedoe s Thi s .

began a s he de scribed it with a big burs t of foam about

, ,
”
5 0 0 yard s away Thi s wa s followed by a thin s t reak
.

”
of foam a s he s aid
, making for the s hip at a rapid ,
”
s peed , followed by another going parallel wit h the fir s t ,
”
one and a little behind it Having report ed thi s to the .

bridge with a megaphone Morton then made for the fore ,

c a s t l e to go down be l ow to c al l h i s brother who wa s a s l eep ,

at the time and on the way there he s aw what appeared

to him to be the c onning tower of the s ubmarine j u s t -

s ubmerging .

Having c alled h i s brother Morton returned to the de c k ,

to give a s s i s tan c e in lowering the boat s and re s c uing the

pa s s enger s Having hel ped t o fi ll No 1 1 boat he t hen
. .
,

went to another boat i nto whi c h he s c ramb led after , ,

pa s s enger s had taken their pla c e s and whi c h he endeavoured ,

t o l aun c h Unfortunately owing to the we l l i ntentioned

.
,
-

b u t i ll dire c ted e ffort s of s ome of the pa s s enger s thi s boat

-
,

wa s c ap s ized and j u s t before s h e turned over Morton

, , , ,
”
i n h i s own word s s wam for it Af ter s wimming for
, .

s o me l itt l e t ime he s a w an emp ty c o llap s ibl e boat and

, , ,

with a s ai l or named Parry he c li mbed into it Having ,

.

done s o he ripped part of the c over o ff and pi c ked up

, ,

about fifty per s on s With the s e on board he then made .

,
CH . x] FIRST OFFICER S SPLEND ID WORK ’
42 3

for a fi s h i ng ket c h , about five mi le s away, whi c h he s u c

-

c e s s fu l l y rea c hed , and in whi c h he p l a c ed h i s pa s s enger s .

He then dropped a s tern from thi s s ma c k and t ook ano t her ,

twenty or thirty peop le from a lifeboat t hat wa s s inking ,

Parry and him s elf and h i s s e c ond boat l oad of pa s s enger s -

bei ng then pi c ked up by a mine s weeper whi ch had arrived-

on the s c ene a s t h e re s ult of the wirele s s me s s age s In .

al l the s e two boy s s aved nearly 1 0 0 l ives

, .

Equal l y noteworthy for c ourage j udgment and a fine , ,

di s p l ay of s eaman s hip w a s the c ondu c t of Mr Arthur

, .

Rowland Jone s the L u s i tani a s fir s t o ffi c er Thi s o fli c e r

,
’
.
,
’
who had been in the Cunard Company s s ervi c e for s even
year s wa s in the fi r s t c la s s dining s a l oon at the ti me of
,
- -

the e x plo s ion Going i mmediate ly on de c k he found that

.
,

the s hip wa s a lready s evere l y li s ting and he wa s on l y ,

able to make h i s way to h i s boat s ta tion hanging on to -

the rail and with great d i fli cu lty He l oaded two boat s .

,

one with eighty and one with about s ixty fi v e pa s s enger s

,
-
,

and s u c c e s s fu lly lowered both of them enteri ng t h e latter ,

him s e lf j u s t a s the boat de c k of the L u s i tani a wa s level

,

wi t h the water and on l y about fifteen s e c ond s before s h e

,

a c tua lly went down Wi t h very great s ki ll he enabled

.
,

h i s boat to keep afloat i n s pite of the tremendou s s u c tion

and turmoil c au s ed by t h e s inking liner and the fa c t ,

that the Mar c oni aerial wire c ame down a c ro s s the top
of h i s boat and very near l y s ank it Af ter t hat having .
,

ob s erved near him an a l mo s t empty boat he s e c ured t hi s , ,

’
and manning her with the boat s wain s mate a s eaman
, , ,

the a s si s tant pur ser and a b out ten s teward s he c ounted

, ,

out about thirty pa s s enger s from h i s own over c rowded

boat and put them in it He then ordered t hem to go
.

ba c k to the wre c k in order to pi c k up a s many peop l e

a s po s s ib l e and thi s they did s avi ng a go od many live s
, , .

Taking h i s own boat ba c k again he on c e more fi lled her ,

up and t hen pu s hed o ff to the B lu e be l l a little fi s h i ng

, ,

s ma c k about five mi le s away in whi c h he p l ac ed h i s

’

pa s s enger s .

Having thu s emptied h i s boat of pa s s enger s he again ,

pulled ba c k toward s the wre c k and after havi ng made , ,

about two and a half mile s he fe l l In with a broken c o l

,

l apsibl e boat in a bad c ondition with about thirty fi v e ,

-

inj ured and e x hau s ted peop le lying in i ts bottom Al l .

the s e he took on board h i s own boat the c ollap s ible boat ,

424 SINKING OF THE LUSITANIA [ CH . x
then drifting away in a s inking s tate S hort l y after thi s he .

wa s overhau l ed by a traw ler in whi c h he p l a c ed a ll the s e ,

peop l e Thi s traw ler took him in t o w Mr Jone s him s e l f

.
, .

remaining in the lifeboat un ti l t h e S po t was rea c hed where

the L u s i tani a had s unk He t hen pu lled o ff and s aved
.

another ten peop l e two of whom however d ied before

, , ,
-

he c ou l d g e t them a s hore The s e he pla c ed on board .

the F ly i ng F o w a Q ueen s town tender By thi s time

, .
,

near l y eight o c l o c k in the evening h i s c rew wa s at the

’
,

la s t point of exhau s tion and s in c e a large number of , ,

c rui s er s de s troyer s and patro l boat s had in t h e mean

, ,
-

time arrived o n t h e s c ene Mr Jone s took h i s men on board, .

t h e F ly i ng Fo w u ltimate l y rea c hing Q ueen s town about

,

e l even o c l o c k at night
’
.

Fr om the foregoing narrative s whi c h are typi c al of ,

the behaviour of the who l e c rew it wil l be s een that the ,

high s tandard of c ourage of the Briti s h Mer c antile Marine

wa s never more s igna ll y i ll u s trat ed than in t h e c a s e of
the L u s i tani a ; and thi s wa s a ll the more admirab l e when
it i s remembered that at the c ommen c ement of the war
, ,

t h e Cunard Company had lo s t a ll i t s R oya l Nava l Re s erve

and F leet Re s erve men and the manager s had had t o ,

engage the be s t men they c ould get and to train them a s ,

we ll a s po s s ible i n the time at t heir di s po s a l .

With regard to Captain Turner c ertain c riti c i s m s , ,

a s already s tated were afterward s made a s to h i s j udg

,

men t i n hand li ng h i s ve s s e l before th e di s a s ter o c curred .

The s e were mainly ba s ed upon four c on s idera tion s that -

he had approa c hed s omewhat near to the neighbouring

headland s that he had r e du c ed s peed to 1 8 kno t s t hat he
, ,

wa s not pur s uing a mid c hanne l c our s e and t hat he had -

,

n o t a s t h e Admiralty had advi s ed

,
zigzagged h i s ve s s el , .

In rep l y to the s e c ri ti c i s m s Cap tain Turner a s s erted that

he had redu c ed s peed in orde r t hat he s hould not have to
de lay outs ide the Bar at L iverpoo l in a po s i tion where ,

he had rea s on to be lieve he might be e s pe c i a l l y v u h l e r

ab le t o enemy s ubmarine s ; t hat he had remained at
what he be lieved t o be a s afe di s tan c e from head land s
c on s i s tent wi t h ob t aining an a c c urate know l edge of h i s

v ess el s
’
po s ition and t hat in V iew of t h e Admira lty
, ,

me s s age a s to the s ubmarine s t hat had been s ighted

t went y mi le s o ff Co n i n g b e g he wa s fu ll y j u s tified in r e ,

s ol ving upon a c our s e tha t would bring him c l o s e to the

426 SINKING OF THE [ L US ITANIA CH. x
s c a l e of m u rder than any o l d ti me pirate ever pra c ti s ed -
.

Thi s wa s the verdi c t of pra c ti c a ll y every neutral nation ,

vivi d ly refle c ted in the a l mo s t u n i v er s a l c ondemnatio n

of their repre s entative Pre s s organ s Thu s t h e well known .

D ut c h new s paper the H ande ls B lad s tated Thi s a c t i s ,

oppo s ed to every law and every s entiment of humanity ,

and we rai s e our voi c e however powerle s s it may be , ,

in prote s t A s eafaring peop le whi c h h a s any s e l f re s pe c t

.
-

doe s not make war of annihi lation again s t defen c e le s s

”
peop l e . The Swedi s h paper the N y a D agli gt A lle h and a , ,

c ondemned i t a s an unpardonable c rime again s t human

i ty ,
and a Norwegian paper the A fle n P o ste n s poke , ,
“
for them a l l in s ayi ng T he mad and re c kle s s a c tion of
,

the German s ubmarine h a s now rea c hed i t s c u l minating

point The whole world look s wi th horror and dete s tation
.

”
on the event .

In Germany on the other hand the s inking of the

, ,

L u s i tani a wa s re c eived with pra c ti c a ll y unanimou s a p

prova l In t h e word s of Mr J W Gerard then Ameri c an
. . . .
,
“
Amba s s ador In Berlin A great wave of exu ltation s wept
,

over Germany It wa s felt that thi s wa s a ma s ter s troke

.
-
,

that vi c tory wa s appre c iab l y nearer and that no power ,

”
on earth c ou l d with s t and the brute power of the Empire .

The K olni s ch e Vo lksze i tu ng of May l oth 1 9 1 5 s aid

’

, ,

The s inking of the L u s i tani a i s a s u c c e s s for our s u b

marine s whi c h mu s t be pla c ed be s ide the greate s t
a c hievement s of the naval war The s inking of the .

great Briti s h s teamer i s a s u c c e s s the moral s ignifi c an c e of

whi c h i s s ti l l greater than the material s u c c e s s Wi t h .

j oyfu l pride we c ontemp l ate thi s late s t deed of our Navy ,

”
and it wi l l not be the la s t Five days later t h e K olni s ch e
' '

.
,

Z ei tu ng endor s ed thi s s tatement by pro c laiming that

t h e new s will be re c eived by the German peop l e with
unani mou s s ati s fa c tion s in c e it prove s t o England and
,

the whole world that German y i s quite i n earne s t with

”
regard to her s ubmarine warfare .

N ot onl y did the c ity of Magdeburg propo s e to honour

the o ffi c er s and men who had c ommitted t hi s murder ,

but a c ommittee wa s a c tua lly formed there for the purpo s e

of c o lle cting money a s a nationa l gift for t ho s e who had
thu s s l aughtered s o many hundred s of he l p le s s men ,

women and c hildren and infli c ted the angui s h of bereave

, ,

ment on s o many hun dred s more Nor wa s that al l . ,

 ”
42 8 S INKING OF T HE “
LUSITANIA [ OH . x
l eft them both t h e s ubmers ible ve s s e l s were trave lling
,

s ubmerged . What happened t o t h e U8 8 i s un c er t ain ,

b u t t h e c ommander of t h e o t her s ubmarine afterward s

repor ted t ha t he found h i s ve s s e l embarra s s ed by a heavy
c hain s ugge s ting t o him t hat he had invaded a re c en t ly
,

l aid Briti s h mine fi e l d He wa s about to ri s e to t h e s urfa c e

-
.
,

h i s on l y c han c e of s afety when he fe lt a heavy exp l o s ion

, .

On rea c hing t h e s urfa c e he tried to c o m muni c ate by wire

,

l e s s and o t her s igna l s with U88 but got no rep lie s

, No t h.

ing wa s ever heard of the ve s s e l Pre s umably Kapi tan

.

L eu tnant S c hwieger in c ompany with h i s c rew pai d t h e

, ,

fu l l penalty for t h e o c ean c ri me s whi c h wi t h unexamp le d

,

fero c ity and c allou s ne s s h e had c ommitted

, .
 CHAPTE R X I
T HE AD VE N T OF T HE O C E AN -
G OI N G S U B MAR IN E
D URIN G the winter of 1 9 1 4— 1 5 Germany had bui lt a number
of o c ean going s ubmarine s ab le to keep at s e a for longer
-
,

period s and more formidab l y armed than tho s e with whi c h

s h e c ommen c e d the war By th e end of Apri l the s e improved
.

c raft had begun to pa s s down t h e we s t c oa s t of Ireland ;

‘

wi t h re s u lt s on Briti s h s hipping whi c h have already been

indi c ated Submarine s were a l s o s een o ff the approa c he s
.

to Q ueen s town and the River Shannon Bu t a ll t h e .

embarra ss ing in c ident s of t he s e days wi t h whi c h t h e

Au xiliary Patrol grapp led manfu lly were t o be over
s hadowed by the work whi c h t h e s inking of the Cunard

liner L u s i tani a t hrew on the s e c raft .

There wa s ample eviden c e that s ubmarine s were hovering

about the s outh c oa s t of Ire land As early a s a m
—
. . .

on t h e day of the di s a s ter a U boat wa s s een near D un

,

more Wa terford ; a s e c o n d a t t h e entran c e t o Ga s c anan e

,

Sound j u s t to the ea s t of Cape Clear where s u c h l ow lyi ng

, ,
-

c raft c ou l d ea s ily hide behind ro c k s ; and a t a m . .

—
a s ubmarine wa s s ighte d probably the one t ha t wa s near
—
Ga s c ana n e Sound eight mi le s nor t h we s t of Brow Head -

going north we s t po s s ibly t o m eet the Lu s i tani a a s s h e

-
,

approa c hed t h e l ati t ude of Mizen Head Sti ll another wa s .

s een a t a m near Ca s tlehaven pro c eeding s l owly

. .
, ,

thi s probably being the one whi c h wa s reported five hour s

later by the Au xi liary Patro l Motor boat No 4 7 off Cape -
.

Clear . At p m a s ubmarine wa s s een o ff the entran c e

. .

to G l andore Harbour Meanwhi l e t h e great Cunarder wa s

.

appro ac hing l and and before ano t her hour had pa s s ed the
,

L u s i tani a had been torpedoed and s unk probab l y by t h e ,

U boat whi c h wa s c rui s ing off G landore whi c h lie s between

-
,

Gall ey Head and Ca s t l ehaven

, .

The di s po s ition of the Auxi liary Patrol ve s s el s in thi s

4 29
43 0 THE OCEAN GOING SUBMARINE -
[ CH . x1

area wa s fo l low s the Q ueen s town trawler s S ar ba B lu e

as ,

b e l l and He r on under t h e order s of Admiral Coke Vi c e

, , ,

Admiral c ommanding t h e c oa s t of Ire l and pat ro ll ing ,

between Kin s ale and Ba llyc ott in and the t rawler s I n di an ,

E m p i r e Cl if ton M ani m u s and R e li ance between Ba ll y

, , ,

c o tt i n and Ca r n s o r e Poin t The area t hrough whi c h the .

L u s i tani a pa s s ed Mizen Head t o Kin s a l e w a s patro ll ed by

, ,

the trawlers F r e e s i a Ve r be n a and R e s tango Motor boat

, , .
-

N o 4 7 S e agu ll had at
.
, a m , c ha s ed a s ubmarine for ten . .

minute s five mile s s out h of Cape C l ear and then gone into ,

Ba ltimore to report thi s fa c t Thi s information was s ent by .

wirele s s to the L u s i tani a at 1 p m but wa s n o t a cknow f

. .
,

ledged by her In addition to the above c raft the trawler

.
,

L u n e da ba s ed on Berehaven w a s patrolling off the Mizen

, , .

With the ex c eption of the above ve s s e l s and the motor boat

‘

Ap te r a whi c h w a s s omewhere near Kin s ale there were no

, ,

other patrol s in the neighbourhood a s at the time the , , ,

ya c ht s Gr e ta and A s te r were undergoing repairs the

trawler s Br ock M argate and Br adf or d were c oaling ; and the
, ,

trawler s Congo E br o R e i n de er I I and L u ci da were a l s o

, , ,

in port owing to defe c t s .

At e l even minute s pa s t two o c lo ck the Valentia wirele s s ’

’
s ta t ion pi c ked up the L u s i tani a s
’
s igna l and ,

a few minute s later Q ueen s t own re c eived the me s s age .

All tug s and s mall c raft and the Q ueen s town traw l er s
on patrol were ordered to pro c eed immediately to the
re s c ue The Admiralty tug s S tor m cock and W ar r i or were
.

the firs t to get out of Q ueen s town but t h e trawler B r ock ,

( L ieutenant Commander -
T B H W h y t e h e a d . . .
,

whi c h wa s c oaling at the time got away very s martly , ,

and t h e Q ueen s t own drifter Gol de n Eff or t ( Commander

Bir c h e n , w a s a l s o s oon under way In addition .

t h e traw l er B r a df or d the tug F ly i ng F or the examination

, ,

s hip J u l i a and t hree torpedo boat s pro c eeded to the s pot

,
-
.

Some time wa s taken in informing the trawler s at s e a the ,

I n di an E m p i r e being the only ve s s el of thi s c la s s near ”

Q ueen s town whi c h wa s fitted with wire l e s s .

No time wa s lo s t in get ting to the s c ene of t h e di s a s ter

and pi cking up s urvivors At m t h e S tor m co ck
p . . .

arrived ba ck with her c o m plement fol l owed by th e In di an ,

E m p i r e ( L ieutenant W H Wood whi c h had on

. .
,

board 1 70 s ou l s the l arge s t number of s urvivors brought

,

in by any one ve s s el In thi s party were only t h r ee of .

43 2 THE OCEAN GOING
-
SUBMARINE [ CH . x1

sh e
‘

arrived well down by the head Probably it wa s t h e .

s ame s ubmarine whi c h fourteen hour s l at er torpedoed

t h e s s M or we nn a when 1 6 0 mi l e s we s t by s outh of St
. . .

Ann s Head at t h e entran c e to Mi l ford Haven

’
, .

The in c iden t h a s s ignifi c an c e a s on c e again an unarmed

‘
,

fi s h i ng ve s s el wa s ab l e t o render magnifi c ent s er vi c e

-
The .

M or we nn a w a s bound from Cardiff to Sydney Cape Bre t on , ,

Canada when s h e s ight ed th e c onning t ower of a s ubmarine

,
-
.

Cour s e wa s immediat e l y a ltered to get th e s ubmarine

right a s tern extra firemen were s ent be l ow and the engineer
, ,

w a s ordered t o get a fu ll pre s s ure of s t eam In s pite of .

t he s e effort s t h e s ubmarine gained upon the mer c hant

,

man and fired s ho t s at a range of about three quarter s of

,
-

a mi l e s igna ll ing the s teamer to s top A lready one man

,
.

h a d been ki ll ed and two o t h e r s w o u n d e d when a V e s s el ,

w a s s ight ed on t h e s t arboard bow making s traight for ,

t h e M or we nn a Thereupon t h e enemy fired a c oup l e of

.

s hel l s at t h e approa c hing s hip whi c h turned out to be the ,

Be l gian fi s h i ng t rawler J a cqu e l i ne of O s t end whi c h had , ,

been fi s hing o u t of Milford Bo t h t h e s ubmarine and the .

M or we nn a t ook her to be a pat rol traw l er Whi l st the .

s ubmarine c on t inued to fire the M or we nn a wa s able to ,

e t o u t her boa t s and thu s s ave her c rew After having

g , .

t orpedoed t h e M or we nn a t h e s ubmarine made o ff s ti l l ,

firing a t the Be l gian and t hen s ubmerged The s kipper

, .

of t h e t rawler Eug ene B l onde had performed a mo s t

, ,

p l u c ky a c t in c oming to t h e re s cue having no other weapon ,

t han t h e s t em of h i s s hip A lt hough pro v ided wi t h neut ral

.

flag s by h i s agent at Mi l ford t o di s p l ay in t h e pre s en c e of

an enemy s ubmarine he proud l y hoi s ted h i s nat iona l ,

c olour s and advan c ed to a tt a ck wi t h t h e greate s t de

,

termination and c ourage a s Admiral Dare bore te s ti ,

mony . I c on s ider the a c tion of Captain Blonde of t h e

J a cqu e li n e wa s mo s t c redi t ab l e
”
wro t e t h e M or we nna s ,
’

c ap t ain h i s intention being t o ram the s ubmarine if

,

po s s ibl e ; and the c ourageou s manner in wh i ch he kept

running evident l y gave t h e German c ommander the i m
pre s s ion t hat the traw l er wa s armed a s when t hey were ,

about 2 0 0 yard s from ea c h other th e s ubmarine made o ff ,

w i t h a l l s peed and s hort l y aft er dived o u t of s ight

, Then .

t h e t raw l er pi c ked up t h e boat s and aft er ge tt in g a ll on ,

board in c luding th e body of one s ailor ki lled pro c eeded

, ,

to Milford H aven
”
F or thi s gallant a ct in life s aving
.
-
,‘
an . x1 ] SUBMARIN E R OUT E S 43 3

skipper B londe wa s awarded t h e s i l ver medal of t h e Royal

Humane So c ie t y and the s u m of £2 wa s s en t to ea c h of h i s
,
”
c rew . I regre t wrote t hi s Be l gian s kipper
,
t hat I had ,

no gun on board of my s hip ; o t herwi s e t h e s ubmarine had

been s unk without doub t our s peed being in s uffi c ient t o,

ram her I beg to s ubmit to the c ompetent authority the

.

”
propo s a l to pu t a gun on board of my ve s s el o ne more ,

proof that fi s hermen are mu c h the s ame a ll t h e worl d over .

It wa s j u s t s u c h a petit ion t hat our own fi s hermen were

a lways pre s enting and they s howed them s e l ve s ready
,

enough t o atta c k th e enemy even t hough no gun c ould be ,

a fforded them The s c hoo l of t h e s e a i s the fine s t of al l

.

for the development of c hara c ter and c ourage .

And now we may pau s e to take a s urvey of the a cti

v i t i e s of t h e Auxi l iary Pa t ro l at thi s period of t h e war .

Two rou te s on l y were avai l ab l e to the enemy by whi c h

t o get o u t to the At l anti c approa c h — either by way of t h e
D over S t rait s or by a c our s e round the nor th of S c o tl and
,
.

In th e latter c a s e t here was a c hoi c e of c oming down the

we s t c oa s t of Ire l and and c ontinuing to the latitude of
t h e Fa s tn e t and s o t o the S c i ll ie s
, or alternative l y after ,

l eav ing S c o tt i s h water s of negotiating the Nor th Channel

, ,
’
t hen c e pa s s ing down the Iri s h Sea and St George s Channe l .

an d on t o the S c i ll ie s .

Many di ffi cu lt ie s be s et the s ubmarine on the s e route s .

Lo c al de s troyer and torpedo b oat pat rol s might at any -

time be met i s s uing from variou s ba s e s and apart from ,

a ll atta ck s on t h e way by t he s e c raft t h e pene t ra t ion of ,

the D over S trait s when rea c hed wa s a mo s t peri l ou s

, ,

undertaking Off t h e Ea st Goodwin s were armed drifter s

.

another div i s ion patro ll ed near the R u y ti nge n s hoal '

a third divi s ion guarded a boom in the D own s whi l s t y e t

a fourt h di v i s ion wa s on patrol at th e nort hern end of the
D own s A Briti s h mine fi e l d lay a c ro s s the Strait s and
.
-
,

the D over drifter s wit h their net s s tret c hed t oward s

the Fren c h c oa st the ne t s at thi s time being made more
,

dangerou s by the atta c h m ent of explo s ive mine s The .

German Inte lligen c e Serv i c e wa s good ; the genera l po si ti on

of the net area no doub t was known to th e ene m y and ,

tho s e s ubmarine s whi c h Operated wel l up t h e Eng li s h

Channel mo s t l ikely fe l t their way through the ob s ta cle
by night travelling s em i s ubmerged taking a c c ou nt of
,
-
,
43 4 THE O CEAN GOING S UBMARINE
-
[ CH . x1

the period of t h e moon and the s tate of the tide when c hoo s
ing th e mo s t s uitable Oppor tuni t y It w a s an ex c eedingl y .

diffi cult ta s k to dete ct a s ubmarine a t night i n thi s trim .

A s a mean s of a s s i s t ing t h e pat rol s i n s t rument s k nown ,

a s hydrophone s were ear l y in May i n s t a l led in the Gul l ,

Sou t h Goodwin and Varne L ight s hip s The s e hydro

, .

phone s were a s c ien t ifi c c ontrivan c e by mean s of whi c h the

movemen t s of a s ubmarine c ou l d be heard A long s erie s .

of exp eriment s had been c arried out in t h e F irth of

Forth t h e in s trument s were n o t yet thorough l y effi cient ,

and it wa s not unti l a l ater dat e that they be c ame of

importan c e for trapping the U boat -
.

A s the s ubmarine c ame down the Engli s h Channel

we s tward bound there were armed ya c ht s and trawler s
,

ba s ed on Dover N ewhav en and Port s mouth to be evaded

, , .

If a c our s e were taken pa s t the Wight ; drifter net s lay o u t

in Chri st c hur c h Bay where the c raft might be tempted
,

t o re s t at night In s hore toward s Anvil Point o ff Poo l e

.
, , ,

two motor boat s made a night l y patrol in c a s e a s ubmarine

-

s hould b e on the s urfa c e c harging batterie s or c ommuni

c ating with t h e l and To s eaward toward s Port l and t h e

.

Poole drifter s worked their net s ; over a hun dred of the s e

ve s s el s O perated in re l ay s one s e c tion re l ieving the other
,

for return t o harbour t o repleni s h and refit Beyond .

thi s area were the Port l and drifter s and trawler s The .

former c a s t their net s a c ro s s the Channel from Portland

t o the Ca s quet s and at th e c entre of t h e Channel —that
i s t o s ay about twenty mi l e s s outh of the line j oining S t art
,

t .
—
Poin t o St Catherine s Point whi c h w a s known to be fr e
’

q u e n t e d by s ubmarine s the Por t l and trawler

,
s patrolled .

Simil ar l y whi l e prote c ting t heir part of the trade route

, ,

Port s mouth c raft were wat c hi ng t h e route between twenty

’
mi l e s s outh of St Catherine s and twenty mile s s outh 0
.

Bea c hy Head .

Off Plymouth were the lo c al auxiliary c raft and farther ,

we s t the F a l mouth trawler s s l ow l y beat up a nd down t h e

Channel The s e F a l mouth ve s s el s worked in pair s a nd
.
,

a s far a s po s s ible s t e ered the s ame c our s e ( or i ts c o n

t r a r y ) a s the mer c hant s teamer s s o a s to be i n any neigh ,

b o u r h o o d where an atta c k by s ubmarine s wa s l ikely to

o c cur Between the Lizard and Gribbin Head the c oa s t
.
,

wa s patrolled by the F a lmouth drifter s to a di s tan c e Of

five mile s from the s hore trawler s operating out s ide ,
s
43 6 T HE OCEAN GOING SUBMARINE
-
[ OH . xr

s e ction s of twelve drifter s guarded thi s area s om e of them ,

having been fitted with c rui s er mine s ready to be dropped ,

on any s ubmarine whi c h might get foul of th e net s The .

drifter s now u s ing the gl a s s ba ll s in s tead of the kapok

, ,

s teamed c ontinuou s l y towing t heir net s a c ro s s s o a s to ,

form a perpetual double l ine by day and by night By .

t he s e mean s the who l e of the Engl i s h Channel and the

Iri s h Sea wa s rendered a s dangerou s for s ubmarine s a s
wa s po s s ible a l though it proved diffi c ult in pra c t i c e to
,

s hut out a foe that c ould render him s elf in v i s ible by

s ubmer s ion A l ong the s outh and we s t c oa s t s of Ire l and

.
,

from Ca rn s o r e Point away to Sybil Point there were only ,

four unit s ; the leader Of ea c h unit di s po s ed h i s s hip s

,
,

a cc ording to the number available by s e c tion s of three , ,

ea c h s e c tion c rui s ing in line abrea s t t w o mi le s apar t in

fine weather The genera l prin c iple ob s erved wa s t o keep
.

o u t duri n g the dayti me on a line of traffi c averagi ng

from ten to fifteen mi le s o ff the c oa s t and to c lo s e the ,

land and patrol the c oa s t and bay s during the night .

In the Nort h Sea whi l s t the trawler mine s weeper s

,
-

c ontinued to keep c lear the c hannel s a l ong the s hore and ,

the paddler s and other c raft s wept up mine fi e l d s lai d farther -

out patrol ve s s e l s navigating the water s from the Down s to

,
-

the Orkney s maintained in c e s s ant wat c h for t h e appearan c e

of U boat s In order to avoid s u c h patrol s the enemy
'
-
.
, ,

bound via the Nor t h of S c o t l and for h i s c rui s ing ground O ff -

Ire l and wa s for c ed to keep we l l away from t h e S c o tti s h

,

s hore until he made the land about Rattra y Head From .

there northwa rd to L erwi c k t h e s ubmarine s operated ,

and they were able not wi t hout diffi c ulty t o pu s h through

, ,

the Fa i r I s le Channe l and s o round the north of S c otland

and pa s t the Hebri de s to Ireland To c ountera c t t hi s .

movement trawler s were s ent to c rui s e wel l ea s tward

,

of Rattray Head in the expe c ta tion that they m ight pi c k

,

up the enemy before he altered c our s e for the northward ;

and in order to in c rea s e the e ffi c ien c y of t h e patrol s i n
the F air I s le Channel and s trengthen the Shetland s Patrol ,

drifter s were s ent with indi c ator net s into the s e water s .

In s hort wh erever t h e enemy went whether pro c eeding

, ,

north or s outh he wa s be s et by ve s s el s of an enormou s

,

new n avy manned by o ffi c er s and men po s s e s s ing the

,

Briti s h fighting s piri t though not yet s upp lied with the
,

a pe r fe c te d
p paratu s whi ch thr ee
y ear s later
proved t h e
CH . xx ] TRAWLER S SUCCESSFUL ACTION
’

mo st effe ctua l mean s of c ombating the s ubmarine The .

Royal Navy had been prepared by long year s of s tudy

and exp e rien c e for fi e e t a c tion s and for de s troyer engage
ment s but for a long s ubmarine war it po s s e s s ed nei t her
,

the data from whi c h to dedu c e prin c ip le s nor t h e mean s

to put s u c h prin c iple s in to pra cti c e Mu c h s hipping wa s .

lo s t many valuabl e l ive s were s a c rifi c ed b e fore a rea ll y

, ,

s ati s fa c tory method of atta c king t h e s ubmarine w a s

evolved Cir c um s tan c e s ne c e s s itated that the Na v y
.

s hou l d c arry on a new form of s e a warfare with i t s old

weapon s u ntil new and more effe c tive one s c ould be

devi s ed .

In s pite of all the s e drawba c k s the Auxiliary Patrol ,

did remarkab l y we ll and maintained the be s t trad i tion s

of the older Navy whenever oppor tuni t y pre s ented it s elf .

Su c h o c ca s ion s were frequent The s piri t ani m ating t h e .

S ervi c e of determination to make the be s t u s e of i t s

,

available re s our c e s and to mi s s no oppor t uni t y for batt l e ,

W ha t ever the odd s wa s we ll di s p l ayed in an engagement

,

i n whi c h the armed trawler Li m e wold figured On .

May 8t h s h e wa s patro lling twent y mi le s ea s t of Peter

head Her own c ommanding offi c er being on s hore s i c k
.
,

the traw ler wa s in c harge of A c ting Skipper C C Bond . . .

At in the morning Mr Bon d when on du ty i n the , .

,

W heel hou s e wa s s tar t l ed by t h e bur s ti ng of a s hel l c lo s e t o

-
,

h i s bows c au s ing water to s p l a s h aboard

, He t hen s a w a .

s ubmarine abou t a mile and a ha l f away righ t a s t ern ,

overhau ling him fa s t The s ki pper at on c e manned h i s .

6 pound er brought h i s s hip three point s to por t s o that

-
,

t h e gun would h e ar and pro c eeded to engage t h e enemy

, .

Before t h e trawler wa s able t o get into a c tion the s u b ,

mari ne fired her s e c ond s ho t whi c h again pa s s ed ve ry ,

near A third s hot from the German wa s we ll dire c ted

.
,

pa s sing b e tween t h e Li m e wold s bridge and ma s t The ’

.

t rawler s fir s t two or t hree s hot s fe ll j u s t over her o p

’

ponent By thi s time the alteration of t h e patrol ve s s e l s

.
-
’

po s ition and the s heering about of t h e s ubmarine t o s t ar

board i n order to keep her s elf a s tern of t h e trawler
, ,

expo s ed t h e German s port s i de The traw ler s fift h s hot

’
.
’

h i t t h e s ubmarine s quare on the water line abr e a s t of -

,

the c on ning tower t h e s hel l bur s ting with a c loud of

-
,

flame and b l a c k s moke The di stan c e wa s 6 0 0 yard s an .

,

e ffe cti ve range fo r a 6

p oun d e r A few s e c on d s l ate r
-
.
,
43 8 THE OCEAN GOING SUBMARINE -
[ CH . x1

a s the trawler fired her s ixth s ho t t h e s ubmarine s u b ,

merged her s tern having ri s en fifteen feet into t h e air

, ,

an d wa s not s een again The Li m e wold s ounded her.

s tea m whi s tle t o attra c t o t her ve s s e l s and pro c eeded to ,

t h e s pot where the enemy had been l a s t s een t hen making ,

fo r Peterhead The c ir c um s t an c e s were inve s tigated

.
,

and were not deemed to a fford c on c l u s ive e vi den c e that

the s ubmarine had been s unk The Admira lt y s ent an .

e xpre s s ion of their appre c iation to A c ting Skipper Bond

and t h e c rew together with a s u m of £ 1 0 0 to be divided
.
,

a m ong them .

A fortnight later the trawler Ontar i o ( S kipper G Gar .

land ) patro lling i n t h e neighbourhoo d o f Fair I s le Channe l

, ,

s ight ed a s ubmarine s teering t o t h e s ou t h we s t about -

,

four mi le s o ff The trawler put on ful l s peed and at a

.
,

range of yard s opened fire with her s tarboard gun .

It c ou l d be s een t hat t h e s ubmarine wa s a Ve s s el of a

large t yp e painted a s l ate grey wi t h a gun abaft the c o n
, ,

ning tower
-
The Ontar i o s s hot s fell al l round the enemy
.
’

s hip , and t h e eighth and eleventh appeared to s trike the

hul l and exp l ode there though there wa s doubt about ,

the matter No fewer t han t wenty one round s in all were

.
-

fired by the trawler Final l y the s ubmarine made away

.

on t h e s urfa c e a t high s peed .

On the evening of May 2 5 t h net drifter Uni ty left ,

-

Yarmouth I s le of Wight for her s tation and at

, , p m , . .

s hot her mine net s t hree mi l e s s outh s ou t h we s t of t h e - -

Needle s and drift ed wi t h them through t h e night

, Next .

morni ng s h e c ommen c ed t o haul the ne t s aboard but when ,

mo s t of them were got in a vio l ent pu l l wa s felt , ,

t h e for c e being s o great t hat t h e Uni ty wa s towed s tern

fir s t through t h e water unti l th e 2 § in c h s trop to whi c h -
,

the net s were s e c ured parted Three net s then ran o u t

, .

rapid ly ba c k into t h e s e a but they were c u t adrift , .

Before the s trop had parted the warp and foot rope ,
-
,

whi c h had been s e c ured toge t her were s een to be tau t ,

on the top of t h e water and a s wir l ing eddy s u c h a s would

,

be c au s ed by a revo lving prope ller wa s a l s o ob s erved .

Furthermore a dan buoy whi c h had been made fa s t t o

,
-

the end of t h e n e t wa s towed under water for a s hort

di s tan c e and then reappeared and remained s tationary .

In order to mark the s pot t h e s kipper dropped ano t h er ,

d an buo y with i t s s ink er a n d b e i ng q u ite certai n t h at a

-
, .
cu .
]
x1 AN E SCAPE FROM
43 9 T HE NETS
s ubmarine wa s fou l of t h e net s fired s even ro c ket s and two ,

s ound ro c ke t s Unfor tunate l y t he s e were n o t ob s erved

. .

The drifter N e w D awn bei n g s ighted t w o mi l e s o ff t h e ,

s k i pper s t eam e d u p t o her and reque s t ed her t o repor t the

i n c ident t o the s igna l s tation The Uni ty then re turned

-
.

t o her ne t s and remained s teaming round them a s s i s ted ,

l ater by the N e w D awn Sub s equentl y t h e s enior naval .

o ffi c er from Yarmout h arrived and s even torpedo boa t s ,

-

and three de s troyer s made s ear c h for s ome mile s around ,

b u t no t hing wa s di s c overed .

E xamination of t h e ne t s revealed the fa c t t ha t fifty

yard s of the lower ha l f of t h e end n e t had been c omp le te l y
torn away the foo t rope had been broken away from t h e
,
-

warp and near l y a ll t h e broken par t s of t h e n e t s howed

,

di s tin c t s ign s of having been c u t by a s harp in s trument ,

the towing rope being marked i n s evera l p la c e s There

-
.

wa s no que s tion what ever t hat a s ubmarine had pa s s ed

t hrough t h e net s t ha t the net s had he l d him for a few
,

minu te s and that t h e c utting of the wire s of t h e net had

,

been done by a s harp n e t cu tte r fitted for t hi s purpo s e ~

to the s ubmarine .
—
It had s aved the U boat on t hi s
o c ca s ion and when near l y four year s l ater t h e grea t s u r
render o f the German Navy t ook p la c e a s wan like ,
-

ere c tion wa s no ti c ed on s ome of the U boat s s e c urely -

,

fa s tened at t h e bow s on de c k wi t h a s erie s of k ni fe l ike ,

-

c utter s Thi s wa s the German s antidote t o one of our

.
’

mo s t exa s perating trap s Had dep t h c harge s been in u s e

.

at t hi s time c er tain l y one more German s ubmarine would

,

have fai led to return to i t s ba s e .

Experien c e had proved the va lue of light draught -

padd le ex cur s ion s teamer s for mine s weeping t heir s peed -

,

enabling them t o make a s weep of 4 9 5 mi le s on t h e D ogger

Bank area in four day s and four m ore of the s e c raft were
,

t aken u p and fi tted out at the Roya l A l ber t D o c k s L ondon

-
, ,

and manned by rating s of the Traw ler Re s erve The .

s hip s were s ent s ub s equent l y to D over L ater one of .

the padd le s te amer s wa s s weeping when a mine exp loded

-

under her s te m wi t h s u c h for c e that her hu ll wa s damaged

and the remain s of her kite were s ent up in to the air to ,

c ome c ra s hing down over t h e engine room ju s t above the -

head of the a s s i s tant engineer Roya l Naval Re s erve ,

'
,

maki ng a hole s i x feet by fo u r Th e a s s i s tant enginee r .

fortunately e s c aped .
44 0 T HE OCEAN GOING SUBMARINE[ x1 -
CH .

Thr oughout thi s peri od when the enemy wa s waging ,

war with mine and s ubmarine with ruth le s s per s i s ten c y ,

fi s hermen i n the North Sea s ti ll c o nti nu e d to bring ba c k ‘

the fi s h whi c h the nation s o badly needed Every voyage .

wa s a c c ompanie d by ri s k for many trawler s had foundered ,

on mine s or were taken unaware s by s ubmarine s a s we

, ,

have already re c orded The danger wa s redu c ed a s far .

a s po s s ible by t h e plan s whi c h t h e Admira lty reali s ing ,

the need had made Armed ya c ht s and armed trawler s

,
.
,

the latter di s gui s ed to re s emble fi s hing c raft operated on ,

the D ogger Bank with s u c h a ler tne s s that the enemy

c on s idered di s c retion the better part of valour and rarely

atta c ked . Farther north in S c otti s h water s where ,

fi s hing c ontinued a Peterhead trawler wa s detailed to

,

s team o ff the c oa s t between Aberdeen and Bu c h a n e s s ,

and to u s e her trawl o c c a s ionally in order to enti c e a

s ubmarine Two other trawler s were s tationed among
.

the Aberdeen fi s hing fleet making them s elve s unit s of ,

the fleet for the s ame p u rpo s e For during May s ubmarine s .

had been s inking ve s s el s from fourteen to s eventy mile s

ea s t of Aberdeen and forty mile s to the s outh ea s t of
,
-

Peterhead .

May D ay 1 9 1 5 wa s marked by a c ertain liveline s s

—the phra s e of the Fir s t L ord—i n the s outhern portion
, ,

of the North Sea During the forenoon the Briti s h de

.

s troyer R E CRU IT wa s torpedoed and s unk by a s ubmarine

two mile s ea s t s outh ea s t of the Gal l oper L ight s hip but

- -
,

re s cuing trawler s s aved many of the c rew The s ame .

afternoon another lo s s o c c urred thi s ti me a trawler and ,

her gallant c rew farther a c ro s s the North Sea

, Four .

trawler s were on patrol : the M i u ra ( S ub L ieutenant L -

.

W Ke r s l e y R N R ) wa s on a c our s e a little to t h e north

.
, . . .

ea s t o f the North Hinder Light s hip ; the Ch i rs i t ( S ub

L ieutenant A Sta b l e fo l d . a little fart her to the ,

s outh ea s t of t h e light s hip

-
and t h e Co lu m bi a ( Lieutenant
”
Commander W H Hawthorne . abou t four mi l e s
.
,

t o the we s t north we s t of the po s ition

-
Beyond the
-
.

Co lu m bi a s till farther to the we s t nor t h we s t wa s the - -

trawler Bar ba dos c ommanded by L ieutenant Sir Ja me s

,

Do m v i ll e Bart R N the s enior s hip of t h e four The ‘

.
, . .
,

divi s ion wa s s ear c hing for a German s ubmarine whi c h had

fired a torpedo at the Colu m bi a that morni n g o ff Thornton
A out 3 p m a c ou ple of tor pedo b oat s we re
b -
. .
442 THE OCEAN GOING SUBMARINE -
[ OH .
’

x1

c ame qui c kly In a c c ordan c e with Briti s h idea s of t h e

.

c hiva lry of the s e a e ffort s were a t on c e made to s ave

,

human life L ieutenant Har tno l l him s e l f went into the

.

water t o re s cue a German .

Two o ffi c er s and for ty four men of t h e German torpedo -

boa t s o u t of a tota l of fi fty ni ne were pi c ked up and

,
-
, ,

from the s e pri s oner s wa s learnt s ome t hing of t h e c a ll ou s

ne s s of the German s t o the s en s e of honour re s pe c ted by
s eamen They admitted that from t h e Colu m bi a they
.

”
had pi c ked up a t w o s triped offi c er and two men -
.

Thi s O ffi c er mu s t have been L ieutenant Commander Haw -

thorne but when a s ked what had be c ome of him they

,

c a s ua ll y remarked that t heir pri s oner s were below and time

wa s s hor t ; s o whi l s t they took the fir s t oppor tuni t y to

s ave them s elve s t hey left three Briti s h s ailor s to their
,

fate .

An other member of the German c rew s s aved had had

an e x traordinary experien c e A s the G erman t orpedo .

boat s were altering c our s e thi s man wa s s wep t overboard ,

”
by the wa s h A lifebuoy marked . A6 w a s t hrown
to him and pi c ked up
, He wa s then re s c ued by t h e
.

Norwegian s s Vari ld whi c h happened to be pa s s ing and

. .
, ,

from her he wa s handed over to the M i u r a Thi s .

pri s oner s tated that the torpedo c raft had c ome o u t from -

Z e e brugge at noon t hat day It wa s learnt from t h e .

s oli t ary Bri t i s h s urvivor that when s tru c k t h e Co lu m bi a

i mmediate l y broke i n ha l f and s ank i n le s s than a ,

minute whi l s t the enemy all the time kept up fire from
,

h i s ma c hine gun s and s i x gun s and did not neg l e c t t o ,

fire even on a few men in the water who were endeavouring

t o s ave t hem s e l ve s .

The death of L ieutenant Commander H aw t horne wa s -

a great lo s s to the Auxiliary Patrol Servi c e At the ~

.

beginning of the war he had c ome to Engl and from Canada

at h i s own expen s e a s a vo l unteer and he had been c o n ,
'

s t a n tl
y emp l oyed in mo s t dangerou s work e ver s in c e .

The t raw l er s had fought mo s t gal l antly In t h e Bar ba dos .

the l i ttl e 3 pounder wa s fired with ex c e l lent dire ction and

-

rapidit y by Pett y O ffi c er A H Hal l ett ; the de ck hand s . .

-

and engine room s ta ff s howed c on s pi c uou s c ourage The

-
.

J lIi u r a and Ch i r s i t by their effe c t ive long range gunnery

,
-
,

had undoubtedly helped t o s ave t h e B ar ba dos and t o

c au s e th e e nemy t o reti re Th e Admiralty expre ss ed
“
‘
.
“
.
CH I x1 ] A COWARD LY F OE 4 43

t heir appre c iation of the way in whi c h t h e t raw l er s had

fought a s uperior for c e and s ent a l ett er on ve llum t o ,

Lieut enant Sir Jame s D o m v i ll e a t the s ame t ime awarding ,

Petty O ffi c er Hallett the D S M It remain s on ly t o . . .

ob s erve that thi s in c ident was intended a s another of

t ho s e tip and run expedition s favoured by th e enemy
- -
.

D uring the forenoon c o ns i d erable a ctivity by ho s ti l e

air craft had been noti ced and undoubted l y the latter ,

had informed Z eebrugge from when c e had been di s pat ched ,

t h e two torpedo boat s with the intention of de s troying

-

al l four t raw l ers .

In order to c onfu s e the enemy when endeavouring to

de c ide what c raft w a s a fi s hing tra wl er and w h at an armed ,

trawler variou s method s were adopted for c on c ea l ing t h e

,

gun In s ome c a s e s th i s wa s done by the addit ion of a

.

fore s ai l Some of the Port s mouth traw l er s thu s added

.

to their di s gui s e and they a l s o painted the gun with an

,

ingeniou s pat c hwork a c c ording to primitive idea s of ,

c amou fl age whi c h later were s o mu c h developed

, There .

wa s a l way s a hope that by hiding th e gun a t rawler migh t

l ure the s ubmarine on ti ll the latter was within range of
gun fi r e
-
.

The enemy proved often enough the truth of the axiom

that the bu ll y i s genera ll y a c oward What for in stan c e .
, ,

c ould be more c oward l y than the fo l lowing in c ident

The s team traw l er Vi ctor i a had left Milford Haven on

-

May 2 5 th bound for the L abadie Bank where s h e wa s ,

going to trawl About five in the evening Of June l s t

.

the s ound of firing wa s heard a s tern and a s ubmarine ,

wa s ob s erved a l ong di s tan ce away The Vi ctor i a was a t .

t h e time about 1 3 0 mi l e s we s t by s outh of St Ann s

’
.

Head The s ubmarine wa s painted grey and a s s h e had

.
,

a mizzen s e t s h e had the appearan c e of a drift er Wi t hout .

giving th e t raw l er s c rew time to leave the s hip the Ger

’
,

man s s hel l ed h er Even after the Vi ctor i a had s topped

'

. ,

th e s ubmarine from a range of a mi l e and a half main t ained

, ,

a rapid fire By thi s time the s c ene on board the fi s h i ng

.

ve s s e l was heartrending A boy named Jone s who had .

,

come wi t h the s kipper for the p l ea s ure of t h e t rip and ,

had been s ent on to the bridge w a s ki ll ed The s kipper ,

.

and ch ief engineer were a l s o ki ll ed both by one s hel l ,

.

In addit ion an o th e r s hel l s t ru c k the mate and th e

s

trimmer who were al s o killed a de ck hand being wounded

, ,
-
.
4 44. THE O CEAN GOING -
[ xi SUBMARINE cm

Tho s e who survived found them s elve s c augh t in a t rap ,

a s they c ould not get away from the s hip their boat having ,

been s ma s hed by t h e enemy s s hel l s They t herefore ’

.

jumped overboard wi t h p l ank s to s ave t hem s e l ve s .

The s ub m arine went al ong s ide t h e t rawler p l a ced ,

,
—
explo s ive c harge s aboard re moved th e wounded de ck hand ,

and pi cked up t h e o t her s urvivor s aft er t hey had been an

hour and a ha lf in the water Havi n g been c ro s s examined .
-

a s t o whether they were in the Navy whether t here were ,

any arm s on board and whether they had s een any patrol
,

boat s the s e unhappy men were s ent below During the

, .

night they were given c o ffee and a bi s cuit e a c h and the ,

de ck hand had h i s wound s dre s s e d All night they re

-
.

’
mained aft near the s ubmarine s engine s and next morning ,

t o their s urpri s e were j oined by s ome more Briti s h fi s h e r

men from ano t her We s t Country trawler whi c h h a d s teamed ,

out of Cardiff the previou s day Thi s was t h e H i r ose a

when about 1 3 0
.
,

ve s s el built only t hat year At a m . . .

,

mile s we s t by s outh of Lundy I s land bound fo r her fi s h i ng

ground s her c areer was brought to a qui c k end She wa s
,
.

pro c eeding at a s teady 9 knot s the t hird hand and the ,

boat s wain being on wat c h Her sk ipper Mr F ran ci s Ward

.
,
.
,

was below and w a s c a l led by the boat s wain who s houted ,

Come up skipper There are s hell s flyi ng all roun d

, . .

H e immediately c ame on de c k ordered a ll hand s t o be ,

c alled and rang down for the engine s to be s topped

,
.

The s he lling then c ea s ed The skipper rang down again .

for fu l l s peed ahead b u t again the enemy put him under

,
’
a heavy fire On c e more the trawler s engine s were s topped
.
,

and the boat was ordered o u t The s ubmarine c ame up .

a s tern and a man in the c onning tower c alled out to the

,
-

men to leave t h e s hip withi n five minute s The c rew got .

into their boat and were or d ered to the s ubmarine where ,

t hey found t h e four men from the t raw l er Vi ctor i a .

Three of the s ubmarine s c rew were s ent with bomb s t o

’

de s troy t h e trawler and brought ba c k wit h t he m the c hart

,

room c lo ck and bino cu l ar s Then about 6 a m th e ten .

, . .
,

men from the Hi r o s e with four from th e Vi ctor i a were p u t

, ,

into the boat O f t h e Hi r os e and c a s t adrift t o manage a s

be s t t hey c ou l d They rigged up a s ail with t h e boa t s
.
’

c over and hoi s ted an oar for a ma s t Under this rig t hey .

ran all day before a s trong we s t s outh we s t wind and a

,
- -

heavy s e a Twenty four hour s later they were s igh ted by

.
-
44 6 THE OCEAN GOING SUBMARI NE -
[ CH . XI

The c aptain of th e s ubmarine s ang o u t Hurry up % C lear ,

’
out % I m going to s ink you
’
We a l l g o t int o t h e boat .

and pu ll ed t oward s him and he s aid I don t want you , ,

’

here Clear o u t %
.
’
Can I go ba c k and ge t s ome s ai l s ‘

NO he an s wered ;’ ‘ ’
or s ome food % I a s ked c l ear
‘
.
,

to o u t of i t He wa s about 2 0 0 yard s from th e s hip ,

and fired two s hot s whi c h bo t h mi s s ed The t hird one , .

went t hrough t h e c abin and th e next one went t hrough ,

the boi l er S he s ank at twenty fi v e minut e s pa s t e l even

.
-
.

On the fo ll owing day H M S A C A C IA pi cked up the . . .

J a p oni ca s c rew and took them into port That s ame day
’
.

U1 4 wa s s unk o ff Peterhead L ater the five Pete r head .

patrol t rawler s L i m e wol d H a wk Oce an i c II Vi gi lan t , , , ,

and Gu ll re c eived the s u m of £ 9 3 2 to be divided be tween

them for their s u c c e s s in bringing about her de s tru c t ion .

Al s o on June 5t h another patrol traw l er whi c h wa s , ,

de s tined to perform magnifi c ent work during t h e war

until s h e foundered on a mine many month s l ater ,

did c on s pi c uou s s ervi c e There i s rea s on to belie v e .

,

that the enemy a s s umed at fir s t that thi s ve s s el w a s a

fi s h i n g boat wherea s s h e had a 1 2 pounder mounted
-
,
-

forward The in c ident o cc urred at 7 p m about e l even

. . .

mile s we s t of Mizen Head The t raw l er In a W i l li am s .

wa s s teaming toward s t h e Ca h i r m o r e Signal Station -

,

whi c h i s per c hed on a high hill a few mile s to the we s t

of Berehaven A large s ubmari n e c ame to the s urfa c e
.

about a c oup l e of mil e s away on t h e port beam The .

trawler s c ommanding o ffi c er Sub Lieu t enant N ettl e

’
,
-

ingham ,
at on c e mu s tered h i s c rew a n d headed
for t h e enemy wit h al l po s s ib l e s peed whereupon t h e U ,

boat qui ckl y fired four or five s ho t s A ll the s e fell s hort .

o n the s tarboard s ide She n ext fired a torpedo whi c h .

,

wa s s een to pa s s wit hin ten feet of the I n a W i lli am s

’

s tarboard quarter The traw l er fired s i x s hot s in rapid

.

s u c c e s s ion Of the s e t h e fir s t three fe ll a s tern of th e

.

s ubmarine but ea c h s hot g o t nearer The enemy b e

, .
,
’
c oming nervou s c a ll ed h i s gun s c rew s i n but t h e t rawler s
’
, ,

fourt h s hot s tru c k t h e s ubmarine s quare l y at t h e wat er l ine -

about ha l f way between t h e c onning tower and the s tern

- -
.

The fift h s ho t a l s o appeared to s t rike ju st abaft t h e ,

c onning tower The s ubmarine wa s going down when the

-
.

s ixth s ho t hit her again at the water line by the c onning -

CH . XI] U BOAT PUT TO FL I GHT
-

to wer the de ck s being awa s h Thi s la s t s hot was fired at

,
.

yard s the engagement having la sted about fifteen

,

minute s The trawl er t hen st eamed over t h e po s ition

.
,

and bubb l e s of air and a l arge quantity of Oi l were

s een to ri s e F or an hour the In a W i lli am s c ontinued
.

to c rui s e round the s pot ; and at the end of that time

there were s ti ll bubble s c oming up and the oil had s pread ,

over about 50 0 yard s The fight s hort and s harp was .

, ,

mu c h appre c iated by the Admiralty who c on s idered the ,

s hooting remarkab l e a lthough there wa s aft erward s rea s on

,

to believe that t h e s ubmarine wa s not s unk Mr Ne ttle . .

ingham re c eived the D S C and was promo ted L ieutenant . . .

,

and the s eaman gunner wa s a l s o de c orated with a D S M . . .

and promoted .

On June l oth at afternoon the armed trawler

, ,

Yokoh a m a c ommanded by Sub Lieutenant C C Hum

,
-
. .

p h re y s R
,
N R and
. ba s ed on S t ornoway
. w a s on pa t rol ,

we s t of the Butt of L ewi s Submarine s had been fre .

u e nti n g the s e water s lying in wait for s upp l y s hip s

q ,

bound for the Grand F lee t or pa s s ing to or from t h e We s t ,

of Ireland The Yokoh am a s ighted a s ubmarine on

.
.

the s tarboard bow three mi l e s toward s the land Bo t h .

ve s s el s opened fire at t h e s ame time the t raw l er hav ing ,

nothing bet ter than a 3 pounder The enemy had partial l y -

.

s ubmerged s o a s to de c rea s e the t arget The firing wa s .

the extreme range for t h e 3 p ounder and the fir s t few -

,

s hot s s eemed to fal l c l o s e Thi s annoyed t h e enemy .

,

who ro s e fu ll y out of the water di s c harging a tor pedo ,

whi c h pa s s ed s ome ten feet ahead of the t rawler A .

s e c ond torpedo wa s a l s o fired and went under the hull ,

aft It was the narrowe s t po s s ib l e e s c ape for the tra ck

.
,

was s een by two of the c rew aft making s t raight for

the s hip and t h e engineer who was on wat c h heard
, , ,

th e torpedo s c rape the bottom of the traw l er There .

afte r the enemy made away to the we s tward a t high s peed ,

firing as he went Altogether the German s had fired about

.

t h ir ty round s not one of whi c h had h i t ; her gun wa s of

,

a s ize c orre s ponding to our 1 2 pounder Some of the s he ll s -

.
,

however had pa s s ed near the t rawler ; one went be tween

,

t h e trawler 5 bridge and the funne l and another pa ss ed

’
,

j u s t under t h e mi zzen whi c h happened t o be s e t at the time

, .

As s oon a s the U boat mad e o ff t h e Yokoh am a gave c has e

-
, ,

but owing to her inferior s peed was s oon left behind

‘ .

30
44 8 THE O CEAN GOING SUBMARINE
[ - CH . X I

The Yokoh am a s c ondu c t wa s c on s idered by the Ad

’

m i ra l t y t o meri t a mone t ary reward .

L ike the t raw ler s t h e ga ll an t l i tt l e drifter s never s howed

,

he s i tati on i n doing t heir ut mo s t t o defeat t h e enemy .

An examp l e may be c i t ed of t h e way t hey s aved a va l uab l e

s hip and s t i ll more va l uab l e c argo .

On June 1 2 t h t h e U3 5 w a s operat ing about s eventy

mi le s we s t s out h we s t of St Ann s Head in whi c h neigh
- -
.
’
,

b o u r h o o d were two fine barque s t h e Cr o wn of I ndi a and ,

t h e B e llgl ade The former wa s Bri ti s h She had l eft

. .

Barry D o c k on the previou s day bound for Pernambu c o

wi t h t on s of c oa l Unfor t unat e l y light s out her l y .

wi nd s had prevai led wi t h mi s t y weat her Owing t o the s e , .

c ir c u m s t an c e s and t h e s t rong s e t t o t h e nor t hward her ,

ma s t er Cap t ain C Bran c h had end e avoured t o keep

, .
,

we ll o ff t h e I s land ; o t herwi s e he wou l d have hugg e d the

s hore and evaded att a ck A s ubmarine Opened fire .

upon the Cr own of I n di a from ha l f a mi l e di s t ant The .

s ai l ing s hip w a s defen c e l e s s

-
and the c rew hoi s t ed out ,

t heir t w o boat s in whi c h a ll twen t y t hree men t ook refuge

,
-
,

and abandoning their ve s s e l rowed away t oward s a Nor

, ,

we g i a n barque the B e llgl a de whi c h w a s lying pra c t i c ally

, ,

be c al med abou t t hree mi l e s away The s ubmarine fired .

again at the Cr own of I n di a whi c h s h e s ank wit hin half ,

an hour No t c on t en t wit h t hi s de s tru c t ion U3 5 t hen

.
,

approa c hed the Norwegian a ve s s e l whi c h w a s bound ,

from Halifax No v ia S c o tia for Sharpne s s wi t h a c argo

, ,

of t i m ber and her ma s t er w a s ordered t o c ome aboard

,

and bring h i s paper s Thi s w a s done and t h e Norwegian .

,

ma s ter wa s examined He wa s t hen ordered to abandon .

h i s s hip and t h e s ubmarine pro c eeded to fire t hree s hot s

,

amid s hip s and then one at t h e s t ern As t h e German .

w a s s o engaged a s t eam fi s hing drifter th e Q u e e n A l e xa n dr a , ,

wa s s een approa c hing The s ub m arine mi s t aking her for .

,

a pat rol v e s s e l abandoned the B e l lgla de and dis appeared

-
,
.

The drift er pi cked up t h e c rew s of b o th s a i li n g s hip s '

-

and brought t hem into Mi l ford leaving t h e B e l lgl a de s ti ll ,

a fl oat About
. t h e s ame morning s h e w a s s ighted
by Mi l ford patro l ve s s e l s who boarded her and found-
,

her s tern s ub m erged t o a depth of four feet Three Mi l ford .

drifters th e Cr om or n a ( Sub Lieu tenant Pre s tridge

,
-
,

I by Gr e e n and M ar y s a ll ve s s e l s whi c h had been taken up

, , ,

from S c ot ti s h fi s hing port s determined to try and s ave ,

 IND E X

Ab e r de e n , cou rse of tr a i ni n g , 262, A n d e s , t h e t r aw l e r , e x p e r i m e n t s

2 65 ; v e sse s l at, 395 w i t h m i n e s w e e p i n g , 2 5 8 ; s i ze -

AB OUKIR , s u n k , 2 4 1 , 2 54 , a n d s pe e d, 2 5 8 ; cr e w, 2 59

2 73 , 3 2 9 A n gl e , t h e t r a w l e r 3 1 7 ,

A CACIA ,
445 , 4 4 6 An s t e y , F J , m a st e r o f th e s e
. . . .

A CT E ON ,
2 60 B r a n ks om e Ch i n e , 2 9 0
A dd a x , t h e B
r i x h am s m a ck , 3 9 7, A n te l op e , t h e F alm o u t h p ac k e t ,
398 a cti o n , 6 0

G
Ade n , u l f o f , 1 3 7 An t i fe r Ca p e d , 2 7 1 , 3 0 3
,
’

A de n we n , th e s e , e xp e r i e n c e o f, . . AN T RIM , a tt a c k e d by a
299 s u b m ar i n e 333 ,

Adm i r alty , r e lati o n s w i t h th e Me r Antw e rp 1 6 ; f all o f 1 9 8

, ,

c h an t N av y 227 d i r e ct i o n s t o
, An v i l P o i n t 4 0 4 ,

s h i pp i n g , 2 3 9 , 4 1 5 ; p o li c y , 2 4 1 , Appr e nt i c e s r e gi s te r o f 1 0 5 , ,

2 45 ; d i s p e r s al o f s h i p s , 2 4 3 ; A p te a t h e m o t o r b o at 4 3 0
r ,
-
,

c h a r t e r s t r aw l e r s f o r m i n e s w e e p A r a go n th e s e a rm e d 120
-
, . .
, ,

i n g , 2 60 2 6 5 , 3 1 8 ; c o n f e r e n c e s ,
, Ar a Mr G o v e r n o r o f Ch ath a m
z, .
,

3 75 , 3 9 5 Is l a n d 1 8 3 ,

Ae r o pl a n e s , G
e rm an , b o m b r i ti s h B Ar c h a n g e l 2 2
s hi p s , 2 9 3 —
,

5, 4 0 4 Ar c hde ac o n L N m a ste r o f th e , . .
,

AJ AX , 323, 351 s s
. . Ch i l ka na , 1 9 8 n o te
A la ba m a t h e s s , 8 2 , 1 8 0 , 2 1 3
, . . A RI E L , th e d
e s tr o y e r , s i n k s U I2 ,

ALARM , th e d e s tr o y e r , 3 3 3 3 90
Alde b u r gh 3 1 9 ,
A r l a n za , th e s s . .
, re e as el 151 d ,

A l e x Ha s ti e , t h e t r awle r , s i n k s a A d
rm a a , S p an i s h d f , e e at o f t h e , 3 8

s u b m ar i n e , 3 85 A r t hu r G e o g e
, r , m as t e r o f t h e s s . .

A l g om a , t h e t r a w l e r , e x p e r i m e n t s Gla n to n , 1 6 6
wi t h m i n e s w e e p i n g , 2 5 8 ; s i z e
-
A r u ca s , t h e G e rm a n te n de r , 1 52
an d s p e e d , 2 5 8 ; cre w, 2 59 n o te
Alle rt o n , s k i pp e r o f t h e d r i f t e r A s te r , t h e ar m e d y ac ht , 3 44 , 4 3 0
E dga r , 3 6 4 A s tu r i a s , th e h o s p i t al s h i p , a t
Alle y n e , G
T , m a s t e r o f th e s s
. . . . t ac k e d b y a s u b m ar i n e , 3 77
F a r n , 1 6 2 n o te A s u n ci o n , t h e e rm a n s s , 1 5 4 , 1 5 9 ,G . .

A l nm o u th , t h e t r aw e r , 2 6 6 l 1 60 , 1 6 7
A l o ns o , th e , 3 47 A ta la n ta , t h e s e , a tt a c k e d b y a . .

Al v a, D u k e o f , m a s s ac r e s , 2 4 s u b m ari n e 301 b e ac he d 3 0 2
, ,

Am a z o n R i v e r , 1 40 , 1 5 3 Athe lst an , K i n g , n av a l p o li cy , 8 ,
Am e ri ca , d
i s c o v e ry o f , 1 9 10
A m e r i ka , t h e G
e rm a n s s , 1 2 5 . . A tla n te , th e F r e n c h p ri v ate e r , 60
Am i e n s , P e ac e o f , 4 6 K
AT T A C , t h e e s tr o y d e r , a tt ac k e d by
A m i r a l Ga n tea u m e , th e s s., s u nk , . a su b
m ar i n e , 3 3 3
2 6 8, 3 3 3 , 3 7 1 ATT E N TI VE , a tt ac k e d by
P
AM HI ON ,
‘

ou n e rs , 3 1 9 f d s u b m ar i n e s 3 30 ,

A nd a l u si a n , t h e s e , s u n k , 3 00 . . Att e rn av e Is l an d , 1 82
d
An e rs o n , a s s i s tan t m a s te r o f AUD A CI O US , f o u n de r s , 339,
th e s e L u si ta ni a , r o wn e , 4 1 9
. . d d 34 1
45 2 IND EX
Au lt b e a 3 78 , Co m m i tt e e o n i n su r an c e o f s h i ps
Au s tri a H u n g ar y m an o f w ar i n
-
,
- -
i n w ar , 2 2 8
f o r e i gn w at e s 1 2 7 n o te r , B e lf a s t , p a t r o l , 3 41 , 4 3 5

Au x i li a r y P a t o l v i i ; o r g an i s a r B e ll , J W , m a s t e r o f t h e T h o r di s ,
2 5 5—
. .
,

ti o n 6 , 7 40 6 ;
, wo k , r , d a m a g e s a s u b m ar m e , 2 9 2
3 2 9 40 4 ; c h a n g s 3 8 1 ; i s su e
, e , a w ar de d t h e D S O a n d m ade . . .

O f b o m b l an c e s 391 p r o t e c ti o n
-
, L i e u te n an t 292
o f fi s hi n g fl e e t s 395 e ffi c i e n c y , , B e ll R o c k , 3 2 9 , 3 9 5
40 5 ; d i s p o s i ti o n o f v e s s e l s 4 3 0 , , B e l l e vu e , t h e s e , c a pt u r e o f , 1 73 ;
4 3 3—
. .

6 ; m e asu e s agai n t th e r s s u n k , 1 74

s bm a i n e
u 433 6 ; r s pi i t , of -
r B e l l gl a d e , t h e N o rw e g i an b ar qu e ,
th 43 7
e , att a c k e d b y a s u b m ar i n e , 4 4 8 ;

Ay e sh a , th e s v . .
, ca p tu r e o f, 2 0 8, f at e o f 4 4 9 ,

2 0 9 n o te B e m b i dge 3 1 4 r ,

z
A o r e s , th e , 2 8 B e n Cr u a ch a n , t h e s s , s u nk , 2 77, . .

3 76
B e n L a we r s , t h e t r aw e r , a tt acks a l
B3 , B r i ti s h su b m ar i n e , a t t a ck e d , su b
m ar i n e , 4 0 4
3 33 B e n S tr om e , th e t r a w e r , 3 9 0 l
B ac o n , Adm i r al Si r R e gi n ald , 4 0 6 g l
B e n a , B ay o f , 1 87
Ba de n , th e G e rm an s e , 1 42 , 1 4 3 ; . . B e ngr o ve , t h e s s , s u n k , 2 9 6 . .

s u n k , 1 85 Be n i s a , 2 9 7
-
f
B G
AD ER , t h e e s t r o y e r , r a m s a s u b d B e n m oh r , th e s s , s u n k , 1 9 8 . .

m ar i n e , 2 7 6 , 3 3 3 B e nn e t t , H e nr y m a s t e r o f th e J
B lh h
ai ac e , Mr Ju s ti c e , o n th e a te
. f s e
. P o ta r o , 1 7 4
.

o f th e s s Or i ol e , 2 79
. . B e re h
av e n , 4 3 0 , 4 4 6
B ll d
a ar , R e ar m i ra e o r e , Ad
-
Ad lG g B e re s o r , f d Ad l
m i r a L o r , 1 2 3 Co m d
l
m i r a o f P at r o s , 3 2 7, 3 3 0 l d
m an e r i n C i e h f o f th e
- -
C a nn e h l
B a l la te r , th e s e , 4 4 5 . . F l e e t, 2 5 7
B ll
a y c o t ti n , 4 3 0 B e rk e e , l y
Co m m a n e r H , R N , d . . .

B l
a ti c F e e t , 1 1 0 l 3 42
B l
a ti c , t h e , 1 0 ; tra e wi t , 2 3 d h B l
e r i n a n d M 1 an D e c r e e s , 5 8, 6 7 l
B anfi , 3 2 1 B e r li n , th e e rm an s s , Gay s m i n e s , . . l
B a n kfi e l ds , t h e s s , s u nk , 1 8 4 . . 3 3 8 ; e sc a e s , 3 4 1 p
B a n y e r s , t h e t r aw e r , s u n k , 3 6 5 l B e r n a y s , L i e u t e n a n t Co m m a n e r , -
d
B a r b a d os , t h e t r a w e r , 4 4 0 l R N . 363 .

B a r b a r os sa , t h e e r m an s s , 1 2 5 G . . B e r n s d o rff , Co u n t v o n , o n t h e
B d
ar s e y I s a n , 3 75 l d s i n ki n g
o f t h e s e L u s i ta ni a , 4 2 7 . .

B a r fl e u r , Ca e , 3 8 0 p B e r r y H e a , 3 74 d
B a r l e y R i g, t h e ri te r , o wn u p , d f bl B ERW I C , K 1 2 6 , 1 71
322 B e s ti c , l e rt Ab
rt u r , t i r o A h
ce r h d ffi
B l
ar o w , m i ra C J Ad i n c o m m an l . d o f th e s s L u s i ta n i a , 4 1 8
. .

o f t h e s t e a m y a c t Va l i a n t, 3 6 3 h B e th a ni a , t h e e r m an s s , 1 2 6 G . .

i n c o m m a n o f L ar n e d
r e a, 3 81 A h
Be t ke , J m a ste r of th e s s . .

i n s t r u ct i o n s t o , 3 8 2 Co r n i s h Ci ty , d I ar y o n o ar t h e b d
B ar n e s , m as t e r o f t h e S e ve n s s . R i o N e gr o , 1 5 5 —
. 6 6 ; t r an s
S ea s , 3 1 3 fe rr e t o th e d e r m an s s G
Cr e fe l d , . .

B ar r , H , m as t e r o f th e s e S t
. . . . 1 65
E gb e r t, 2 0 0 , 2 0 1 B b
i e e rste i n , B
ar o n M ar s c a l v o n , , h l
B ar r a H e a , 4 0 2 d a t T h e H a u e Co n e r e n c e , 1 1 8 g f
B ar r y D
o ck , 448 B h
i r c au , Co m m an e r , d
B l
ar t e t t , F J m a st e r o f t h e s e
. . . 430
Oa kb y , 2 9 0 B I RMI N H A M , G r am s Ul 5
B b g
att e n e r , P r i n c e L o u i s o f , 2 1 1 ; su b
m ar i n e , 3 2 2
s e e M i lf o d H a v e n r B i s c ay , B ay o f, 1 0
B attle s hi p s a n d s u b m ar i n e s 2 56 , Bi s o h p R o ck , 3 1 2
B e a c hy H e a d 4 7 6 4 2 9 0 3 0 2 3 85 ,
0
, , , , , B I T T ERN , t h e e s t r o y e r, 3 9 8 d
40 3 p atr o l a e a 4 0 0 r , B ACL K P RI N CE , 126
B e ck Si r R aym o n d m e m b e r o f th e
, , Bl ac k S e a F e e t , 1 1 0 l
 4 54 INDEX
P r e s i d e nt o f th e Mi n i n g Co m 21 Ar c ti c vo 21 ya g e , at Arch
m i tt e e , 2 59 ; Co m m a n d e r i n -
an ge l , 22 M o sc o w, 2 2 wr e ck e d,
Ch i e f o f t h e G
r a n d Fl e e t , 3 1 8 22
Call ao , 1 4 6 C ha nn e l Fl e e t , 4 7
Ca m ba n k , t h e 2 88 ; a tt ac k e
s s . .
, d C h nn e l
a Is l a n d s , su bm ari n e s i n,
by a sub m ar i n e , 2 8 9 ; s u n k , 2 9 0 3 74
Ca m pb lle , R e a r -
m i ra He nry , Ad l Ch a p r a , t h e s e , 1 9 4 . .

a pp d
o i nte t o th e ra e i vi s i o n ,T d D p
Ch a r ca s , t h e s e , c a tu r e o f , 1 78
. .

2 2 4 ; m e m o r an u m , 1 2 0 , 2 2 5 d h l
C a r e s I , n a v a l o i c , 44p l y
d p
Can a a , t r a n s o r t s r o m , 3 3 8 f h l
C a r t o n , V i ce Ad l
m i r a Si r E F B ,
-
. . .

l d
Ca n a r y Is a n s , 2 7, 2 44 , 2 4 6 app o i nte d Ad
m ira lo f t h e E as t

Ca n di s h , Th
o m as , v o y a e s , 3 9 g Co as t M p
i n e Sw e e e r s , 3 3 1 , 3 46
-

ll
Ca n y n g e s , W i i a m , e e t, 1 8 fl p
Ch a s e h i ll , t h e a s , c a t u r e o f , 1 7 6
. .

Ca p F i ni s te r r e , t h e e r m an s e , G . . h h
C at a m e qu i s p m i n e -swe e i n p g
124 l
t r a w e rs , 3 2 0
Ca p P o l o n i , th e e r m an s s , 1 2 4 G . . CH AT H A M , 1 98
Ca p T r a fa l ga r , th e e r m an s s , G . . h h
C at a m Is an , 1 8 2 , 1 8 3 l d
127 CH EERF U , t h e L e str o e r , 3 2 9 d y
p
Ca e o f G d
oo p
H o e , 3 7, 4 0 h b
C e r o u r , 47 g
p d
Ca e Ve r e I s a n s , 2 8 l d Ch e r b u r y , t h e s s , s u n k , 3 1 4 . .

f
Ca p r i vi , t h e s s , o u n e r s , 4 03
. . d Ch e s te r , t h e t r aw e r , 3 90 l
d f
Ca r i f , 1 3 hl
C i i, 37
dg
Car i a n B a y , 43 5 Ch i l ka na , t h e s s , c a t u r e , 1 9 8 . . p d
g
Car o e s , i n s u r a n ce o f , 2 3 6 ; t o t a l su nk , 2 0 1

l
v a u e o f, 2 3 6 h
C i na, 3 9
Ca r m a n i a , t h e é s , 1 2 7 . . Ch i r s i t, th e t r aw e r , 44 0 ; t l figh
Ca r n s o r e P o i n t , 4 3 0 , 4 3 5 , 4 3 6 h
wi t a s u m ar i n e , 44 1 b
l l d
Car o i n e I s a n s , 2 0 4 h
C r i stc u r c h h
B ay , s u m ar i n e s i n , b
h g
Ca rt a e n a , 3 0 , 3 5 3 74
p
Carv e r , Ca t a i n E C , R N , 3 72 , . . . . h
C r i s ti a n , m i ra AdA H , r e u e st l . . q
3 80 f o r t r aw e r s , 3 2 2 l
Cas pi an S e a , 2 3 h
C r i s t i a n i a , th e N o r s k e Ve r i t as , 9 5
Ca s s a ndr a , t h e t r aw l e r 3 5 9 , n o te
Ca s tl e of Com fo r t ( H a w k i n s s s h i ) ,
’
p Ch u r c h i ll , R t H o n W i n s to n , Fi r s t
. .

28 L o r d o f t h e Adm i r alt y, N a v y
Ca stl e h av e n , 4 2 9 E s t i m at e s , 1 2 1 4 ; r e qu e s t f o r —
Ca s tr o , t h e s s , c a s e o f 1 3 1
. .
, dr i ft e r s , 3 72
Caw d o r , L o r d , Fi r s t L o r d o f t h e Ci nci n na ti , t h e e rm a n s s , 1 2 5 G . .

Adm i r alty , St at e m e nt o f Ad Ci n qu e P o r t s Fl e e t , 9 ; d e f e at o f
m i r a l t y P o li c y th e Fr e n c h M ad a , 9 c o nti n u al
”
113 ,

Caw s e y , E J . m a s t e r o f th e s e
.
, . . f e u ds , 1 0
F l or a za n , 2 9 8 CIRCE , 2 6 2 , 3 42
Ca y le y R e a r Adm i r a l e o r g e C 3 78
,
-
G . Ci ty o f B r e m e n , t h e s s , s u n k , 3 1 3 . .

Ce r a m i c , t h e s s , 1 2 1 Ci ty of Ca m b r i dge , t h e s s , a tt a ck e d
—
. . . .

Ce r va n te s , th e s s , s u n k , 1 6 4
. . b y a s u b m ar i n e , 3 0 6 8 ; s u n k ,
Ce y l o n , 1 9 4 3 0 8 n o te
Ch a g o s Is l an d s , 1 9 7 Ci ty of R a ng oo n , t h e s s , 1 9 2 no te . .

Ch a i r , R e ar Adm i r a l Si r D u dle y d e ,
-
Ci ty of W i n ch es te r , t h e s e , c ap . .

i n c o m m a n d o f t h e T e n t h Cr u i s e r tu r e d, 1 3 7 ; su n k 1 3 9 .

S qu adr o n , 1 2 5 Cl a c to n , th e s s , 3 3 7 . .
'

Ch al ch e fo r d o r Cal s h o t Cas tle , 1 5 Cla n Gr a n t, t h e s e , s u n k , 1 9 8 . .

n o te CL AN MA C NAU GH T O N , t h e a rm e d
Ch all i s , Ca pt a i n H J R N 1 1 2 . . m e r c h an t c r u i s e r , f o u n d e rs , 3 7 8
Ch a m b e rl a i n , R t Ho n Au s t e n , . . Cla n M a th e s o n , t h e s e , c a p t u r e d , . .

Co m m i tt e e o n W ar In su r an c e o f 1 9 2 ; su nk, 1 9 3
Sh i ppi n g , 2 2 8 Cl ar k H a ll , J o hn , R e gi s tr ar e n e r a l
- -
G
Ch a m b e r l a i n , R t Ho n J o s e ph, . . o f Se am e n , 1 1 1
Sh i ppi n g B
i ll , 78 CLAY M ORE , th e Fre n ch de s tr o ye r ,
Ch an ce llo r , R i c h ar d , Pi lo t-M aj o r , 2 99
 IND EX 455

Cle ar , Ca p e , 4 1 7, 4 2 9 co ndi ti o n o f th e Me r c han t Nav y

100—
,

Cl e gg , R o b e r t, m as te r of th e s e . . 103
L o va t, 1 89 Co n v o y A c t s 5 2 ,

Ce l gg an B a y , 3 0 2 Co n v o y s B i t i s h s y st e m o f 5 2
, r , , ,

Cl e op a tr a , th e t r a w e r , 3 6 8 l 2 1 5 , 2 2 6 , 2 4 1 , 2 42
Cl e r m i s to n , t h e s e , 2 7 1 . . Co nwa y Ca s tl e , t h e s s , 1 4 5 ; c a p . .

Cl e ve la n d , t h e e rm an s e , 1 2 4G . . tu r e d by
th e e rm a n G
cru i se r

Cli fton , t h e t r a w e r , 4 30 l D RE S D E N , 1 4 6 ; s u n k , 1 4 7
Cl o n , t h e t r a w e r , 3 6 0 l Co o te , t h e t r aw e r , 3 9 0 l
Cl o p e t , A , m as t e r o f th e s s S o u th
. . . Co pp e r P o i nt , 4 1 6

p o r t, 2 0 4 Coqu e t, th e t r aw e r , 3 9 5 ; l s u nk ,
l d
C y e , t h e , 75 ; ar m e a tr o at , d p l 397
3 70 , 3 7 1 CO Q UE TT E , t h e d
e st r o e r , c as e s y h
Co as t a l p
atr o s , ne w l
s y s te m o f, su bm a ri n e s , 3 3 3
368 b l
Co r e tt , Si r Ju i an S , v i ; D r a ke a nd .

Co a s t a s i l h pp g l
i n , o s s e s i n Fr e n c h th e T u d or N a vy , 2 9 no te , 3 1
w ar s , 6 2 N a va l Op e r a ti o ns , 2 10 n o te ;
Co a s t e r s , s i ze o f , 5 5 Ofi l ci a l M e m or a nd u m , 6 6 n o te
‘

g
Co a s t i n t r a e , 8 0 d Co r cova d o , t h e G
e r m an s s , 1 2 6 . .

Co a s t s , a n c i e n t s y s t e m o f p r o te c d ll
Co r i e r as , t h e , 3 5
ti o n byc o n t r ac t , 1 7 CO R M O R AN , t h e e rm an G u n o at, g b
h
Co c i n , 2 0 1 1 2 8 , 1 7 7, 1 8 8
l d
Co c o s Is a n s , 1 9 5 no te , 2 03 Cor n i s h Ci ty , t h e s s , c a tu r e , 1 5 4 ;
. . p d
dl g B
Co i n an k , 4 0 5 s u nk , 1 5 6

hp
Co ffi n s i s ,
-
”
78 CO RN W A , LL 1 52
Ad
Co k e , l m i r a Si r C ar e s H 4 30 h l Co r n w a i s , ll Ad
m i ra , 48 l
Col ch e s te r , t h e s s , e s c a e s r o m a . . p f Co r r e n ti n a , L a , t h e s s , s u n k , 1 72 . .

su bm a r i n e , 2 72 , 2 9 3 CO S S A C , t h eK d
e s t r o y e r , 3 88

Col e b y , th e s s , c a t u r e , 1 7 6 s u n k ,
. . p d Co u r a ge , t h e dr i t e r , 3 7 3 f
1 7 7, 2 5 2 d
Cr a o ck , Ad
m ira l
Si r C r i s t o e r, h ph
ll g
Co i n w o o , d Ad m i ra Lor , 59 l d 1 5 3 , 1 70
l b
Co o m , S i r J o h n C R , 2 1 0 . . Cr a i gfor th , th e s s , 1 3 5 . .

l b
Co o m , Vi ce A
dm i r a P H , E s sa y s
-
l . Cr a th i e , t h e t r a w e r , l
o wn u p , 3 2 2 bl
Cr e fe l d , t h e Ge rm a n s s , 1 54—
.

o n N a va l D e fe n ce , 6 8 n o te 65 . .

l
Co o n i a lD e fe n ce Co m m i tt e e , o ic , p l y CRE S S Y , s u n k , 2 4 1 , 2 54 , 2 73 ,

2 17 19 — 329
Co l u m bi a , t h e t r aw e r , 3 4 9 , 4 4 0 ; l Cr i gh ll
t o n , W i i a m , m as t e r o f th e s e . .

a tt ac k e d by a su m ar i n e , 4 4 1 ; b Co l e b y , 1 7 7
s u n k , 4 4 1 , 44 2 Cr o m art y , arm e at r od p at , 2 6 6, l
Co l u s a , t h e s s , 1 7 7 . . 3 2 8, 3 3 5 , 3 70 ; n e t a s e s a t , 3 75 -
b
Co l va , t h e G
e rm an s e , 1 2 4 . . Cr o m o r n a , th e d f
r i te r, 44 8

l ll A
Co vi e , dm i r a H o n Si r St an e , l . l y ll l
Cr o m w e , O i v e r , n av a o i c , 43 , lp l y
3 55 44
Co m m e r c e , i n t e r n ati o n a , e x p an l l y
Cr o s s e , Li e u te n a n t C V R N R . . .

s i o n o f , 89 , 1 0 0 3 62
p
Co m o r i n , Ca e , 1 9 5 , 2 0 1 Cr own o f Ca s ti l e , t h e s s , s u n k , 3 1 2 . .

Co m o r o Is an s , 40 l d Cr own of I n di a , t h e ar u e , s u n k , b q
Co nd or , t h e s s , c a t u r e , 1 6 5
. . p d 448
Co ngo, th e t r aw e r , 4 3 0 l h
Cru i k s an k , D av i , m a st e r o f t h e d
Co n i n gb e g , 4 1 7, 4 3 5 s s. . F la m i n i a n , 3 1 2
Co nn o r , W H , m as t e r o f t e s s
. . h ’

. . Cru i s e r m i n e , 40 6
Downs h i r e , 2 9 0 q d
Cru i s e r S u a r o n , t h e e nt , 1 2 5 T h
Co nqu e r or , th e a rm e ac t, 40 0 dy h b
Cr u i s e r s a n d s u m ar i n e s , 2 56
p
Co ns cri ti o n , r e s u l t o f , 4 Cr u i se r s o n s e r v i c e , 1 80 4 — 1 4 , 59
Cons ta nce Ca th e r i n e , t h e s s , 3 1 5 . . Gu bb h
i n , J o n , m a s te r o f th e s s . .

pl
Co ns t a nt i n o e , r e o rt o f t h e B r i p P r i n ce s s Vi c to r i a , 2 9 7
ti s h Co n s u onl th e m e r c ant h B
CUM E R AN D , L 1 2 7, 1 5 2
s e am e n , 1 0 2 y
Cu rr e , Ca t a i n p e r n ar , B R N , d . .

l
Co nsu s , B r i t i s , r e o rt s o n th e h p D i r e ct o r o f N a v a l ‘Or d n a nc e , 2 5 9
456 IND EX
Cu s t o m s a n d E x c i s e , o ar d o f , 2 4 2 B D i n or a h , t h e s s , t o r p e d o e d , 3 80
. .

Cu t t e r s i n t h e R e v o lu t i o n a r y a n d D i p l o m a t, t h e s s , c a pt u r e d , 1 8 7,
'

. .

N a p o le o n i c W a r s , 6 4 1 9 0 ; su nk , 1 9 1
x
Cu h av e n , m i n e fie ld , 1 3 5 D i e c t i o n Is l a n d 2 0 3
r ,

D o bbi n g A E m as t e r , . .
, of th e s s
. .

D5 , B r i ti s h su b m ar i n e f o u n d e r s , , M a r y A da Sh o r t, 1 78
3 46 , 3 48 D o dd J C , . .
, c hi e f en gi n e e r of th e
Da i s y , t h e s u r v e y i n t r a w e r , 2 6 6 g l s e . S o u th/p o r t, 2 0 6
.

l ll
D a e , W i i am G , m a s t e r o f t h e s s . . . D gg
o e r B a n k , 3 4 5 , 3 5 2 , 3 57, 3 9 5 ;

Or i ol e , 2 79 ; t o r e o e , 2 80 p d d lc e ar rom fm i ne s , 40 7
D a n e , th e t r a w e r , 3 6 5 l D o m v i ll e , L i e u t e n a n t Si r J a m e s ,
D a ni e l S tr o u d , t h e t r a w e r , 2 6 6 l R N . i n c o m m an of m i ne d
D a n u b e , t h e s e , 1 8 4 n o te . . s we e i n p g
t r aw e r s , 3 4 3 ; o f t h e l
g p
D a n z i r e o r t o f t h e B r i t i s Co n s u l
, h t r a w l e r B a r bad o s , 4 4 0
o n t h e m e r c ant s e a m e n , 1 0 1 h D o n , t h e t r aw e r , s u n k , 4 0 7 l
D ar e , A l
d m i r a Si r C a r e s H , i n h l . D ona ld
s o n , Ca t ai n L p B , R N A . . . .

c o m m an of i or d M lf d
H av e n r e a , A ap p o m t e d Co m m an e r S u e r d p
3 8 1 , 4 3 5 ; i n s t r u ct i o n s t o , 3 8 2 i nt e n d e nt o f M o e Sw e e difi d p
D a r i e n , Gu lf
o f, 3 2 , 3 5
”
i ng, 3 3 4 P r e s i e n t o f t h e Su b d
D ar t m o u t , 1 3 , 3 9 9 h m ar i n e A
tt a ck Co m m i tt e e , 3 6 8
D au n t R o c k L i t s i , s u m ar i n e gh h p b D o n o v an , W C , m a st e r o f th e s s
. . . .

at , 43 1 E xfo r d , 2 0 0
d
D av i s o n , J a m e s , m a s t e r o f t h e D o r o th y Gr a y , t h e m i n e s w e e e r , -
p
s s
. Ch e r b u r y , 3 1 4
. r am s U 1 8 s u b
m ar i n e , 3 5 4 , 3 5 6 ;
D avi e s , F J , m a s t e r o f th e s s
. . . . r e w ar e , d d
3 56
F a l a ba , 3 0 9 Dou t y , Ca t a i n H M , R N , i n
gh p . . . .

D av i e s , H ar r y , c i e e n i ne e r of h f g c o m m an o f th e d e v o n o rt Gu n D p
t h e s s Vos ge s , k i e , 3 0 5
. . ll d n e r y Sc o o , 3 6 9 h l
h
D a v i s , J o n , v o y ag e s , 3 9 , 4 1 D ou gh
ty , Th
o m as , e x e c u t e , 36 d
D ay , E M , m as t e r o f t h e s e
. . . . D o v e r Ci n qu e P o r t , 9 , 1 3 ; a rm e d
Ga l i ci a n , r e o rt o n t h e c a tu r e p p p l
a t r o a t , 2 6 5 , 2 6 6 , 3 2 7, 3 3 5 , 3 70

by th e G
e r m an a r m e m e r c an t d h d f
r i te r s at, 3 73 ; n e t a s e s a t , -
b
cr u i s e r K AI S ER W I H E M D ER L L 3 82
G R O S S E , 1 4 8— 51 D o v e r Ne t D f
ri te r F o ti a , 3 75 l ll
l
D e c ar at i o n o f L o n o n , 1 1 9 , 2 8 1 , d D over St r a i t s , B r i t i s m ine e , h fi ld
2 82 3 79 , 4 3 3 ; n e t t n t h e , 3 7 3 , 3 83 i g
f p
D e e n c e , Im e r i a , Co m m i tt e e o f , l D o vr e , t h e N o r w e i a n s s , 1 9 3 g . .

2 1 7, 2 1 9 — 2 3, 2 2 8 re o rt , 2 30 p D o w n , Co m m a n e r C E , R N R d . . . .

37 ; W ar B o o k , 22 1 -
m a s t e r o f t h e s s A r l a nza , 1 5 1 . .

D E FI AN CE , H M S 2 6 0 . . D o w n s , t h e , 4 7, 3 83
D e l m i r a , t h e s e , a tt ac k e . a . d by D o w n s h i r e , t h e s s , s u nk , 2 9 0 . .

su b
m ar i n e , 3 0 3 ; ro u n e , 304 g d d D RA E , K 351
D e l ta B , t h e t r aw e r , s u n k , 4 4 5 l D r ak e , Si r F r a n c i s , 1 1 ; i n c o m
D E N V ER , t h e c r u i s e r 1 82 m an d of th e J u di th , Y 2 9 ;
32—
’

D pf d N av a r s e n al a t , 2 1 lA g d d
.

e t or , 42 v oy a e s, 6 ; wou n e , 34 ;
ph h g
D e t c ar e , 4 0 6
-
kn i gh d
t e , 3 7 ; r e ri s a l s o n t h e p
D e r fi l i n ge r , t h e e rm an s s , 1 2 7, G . . p h d
S a n i s In i e s , 3 8
3 57 D RE AD N O U H T , G 3 2 3 ; s i nk s
D e s tr o y e r s , s o r t a e , 2 56 h g b
U 2 9 s u m ar i n e , 3 0 0 n o te
D e vo ni a , t h e s e , 3 3 2 . . D RE S D E N , t h e Ge rri i a n c r u i s e r , 1 2 8,
p
D e v o n o rt , ar m e a tr o a t , 2 6 5, d p l 2 49 p
c a t u r e s an d s i n k s r i ti s B h
2 6 6 , 3 70 ; n e t a s e s a t , 3 7 5 -
b hp
s i s, —
1 3 9 4 7, 2 0 8, 2 44 ; s u nk ,
D e w ar , Ca t a i n K p R N , 6 6, . G B . . . 1 47
68 f
Dr i te r s , 2 5 5, 3 6 9 ; at r o , 3 20 , p l
Di a n e , th e a r m e y a c t , 40 0 d h 3 2 1 ; c o n s t ru c t i o n , 3 72 ; s e e p d
D g
i e o , a r u n aw a y s av e , 3 5 l and cr e w, 3 72 ; n am e s , 3 73 ;
D g G
ie o ar c i a , 1 9 7 nu m er, b
3 80 ; ski e rs , 3 83 ; pp .

D pp
ie e , 64 w o rk , 4 3 5
Di li ge nce , t h e r i t e r , 3 73 d f f
D ri t n e t s i n , 3 6 9
-
fih g
45 8 IND EX
F e d e r a l St e a m S CO , s h i s tte d p fi p e d i t i o ns , 17 ; de pre dati o n s o f
—
. .

w i t h gu n s , 1 2 4 p r i v ate e r s , 63 6
F e l dk i r c h n e r , Ob e r le u tn ant z S . F r i e d r i ch d e r Gr os s e , th e e rm an G
2 69 s s , 125
. .

F e nn e r , Th o m a s , tr a d i n g e x e di p F r i o , Ca e , 1 73 p
ti o n , 2 8 Fr o i s e r , b h Si r a rt i n , 3 7, 38 M
F e r i a , S p a n i s h Am b as s a d o r , 2 4 v oy a e s, 39 g
F e r m o , t h e t r a w le r , e s c a p e s f r o m a F r o i s s ar t , J e an , o h t h e at t e of b l
s u b m ar i n e , 40 2 l
S u y s, 1 3
Fi dr a , 3 2 9 Fr y , re Alf d
C , m a st e r o f t h e s s . . .

F i le y , 3 6 0 Ci ty o f Ca m br i dge , o n t h e att a ck
F i le y B r i g , 3 6 3 , 3 6 5 of a su m ar i n e , 3 0 6 —8 ; pre b
F i s h e r , Adm i r a l Si r J o h n ( L o r d s e n te wi t d
a w at c , 3 0 8 h h
F i s h e r ) , F i r s t Se a L o r d , 2 5 9 F r y a t t , C ar e s A , m as t e r o f t h e h l .

F i s h e r m e n , c h ar a c t e r i s t i c s , 3 9 8 s s .Co l ch e s te r , 2 9 3 ; o f t h e s e
. . .

fl
F i s hi n g e e t a t w o r k , 4 40 W r e xh a m , 2 9 6 ; t a k e n ri so ne r p
F i s h i n g v e s s e l s , p a t r o l du t y , 2 5 6 ;
-
a n d s o t , 2 9 6 n o te h
su n k , 3 49 , 3 9 4 , 40 9 , 4 45 F u l ge n t, t h e s s , s u n k , 3 1 4 , 3 1 6 . .

Fl a m b o r o u gh H e a d , 2 9 7, 3 3 1 , 3 3 7 Fy e , f T
S , m a s t e r o f th e s s
. . . .

m i n e fi e ld , 3 2 8 , 3 5 7 Cr own o f Ca s ti l e , 3 1 2
F la m i n i a n , t h e s s , s u n k , 3 1 2 . .

Fl an d e rs , w o o l t r a d e , 1 0 ; s u b
m ar i n e b a s e s i n , 2 72 G l p g
a a a os Isl a n d s , 1 8 1
Fl e e t w o o d , 2 6 3 , 2 6 5 Ga li ci a n , t h e s s . .
, ca p tu r e d , 1 48 re

F l e u r e tte , t h e t r awl e r , c a t c h e s m i n e s , le a s e d 1 4 9 ,

3 78 G alle y t h e o ar e d , , 24
F I RT , t h e d e s t r o y e r , 3 1 3
L G a l le y H e a d 4 1 7 , , 42 9

F l or a za n , th e s e , s u n k , 2 9 8 . . Ga l l i e r , t h e s s . .
, s tr i k e s i ne , 3 64
a m

F l y i ng F ox, th e Q u e e n s t o wn t e n d e r , G lw y B
a a ay , a rm e dp at r o l
at , 3 7 1
42 4 , 4 30 G m V
a a, as co d a, r ou d
n s t h e Ca e , p
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F O RMIDA B E , L s u n k , 3 71 G ar e , E . G .
, m a s t e r o f th e dr e dge r
F o rt h , Fi rt h o f , m i n e s w e e p i n g -
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t r a wl e r s a t , 2 6 5 , 2 6 6 ; n e t b a s e s -
G l d
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. pp l
a t , 3 75 On ta r i o , 4 3 8
F o rt u n e , W C , m a s te r o f t h e s s
. . . . Ga r m o , t h e tr a w e r , s u n k , 3 6 3 l
M obi l e , 3 1 4 Gar n e tt , L i e u t e n a n t Co m m a n e r -
d
F o w e y , i m p o r t an c e , 1 3 St u a r t W H i n co m m an
. d
o x , Ca p t a i n Ce c i l , R N , 3 5 0 . . of s y Z a r e fa h , 3 2 5, 4 0 2
. . u ck pl y
F oy l e , t h e s s , s u n k , 1 9 6
. . a ct , 4 0 3

Fr a n ce , i n v as i o n o f , i n 1 4 1 5 , 1 4 ; GARRY , t h e e s tr o y e r , a tt a c k s a d
r e v o lu ti o n , 44 ; c a p tu r e o f B r i su b
m ari n e , 3 5 4 , 3 6 7
t i s h m e r c h an t s h i p s , 44 ; g u e r r e Ga r u , t h e t r a w e r , 4 0 5 l
d e co u r s e , 4 5 , 5 8 ; t o n n a g e o f Ga s c a n an e S o u n , 4 2 9 d
s h i p s , 8 2 , 8 5 , 87 Gay e r , K a pi t a n L e u t n a nt A , 4 1 8 o
.

F r an c o P r u s s i an W ar , 4
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F r as e r b u r gh , 3 2 1 c a p t u r e s B r i ti s h s h i p s 204 , , 208
F r at e r n i t y o f t h e H o ly T r i n i t y , Ge m t h e s s bl o w n u p 3 6 4
, . .
, ,

21 Gé n e r a l de
’

S a n tos , t h e Fr e n c h
F r a u M i n na P e te r s e n , e r m an s v G . b q ar u e , 3 1 3

c a pt u r e d , 2 0 9 no te G g
e o r e V , K i n , t r i u t e t o th e Me r g b
F r ed e r i c F r a n ck, t h e s s , 3 9 7, 3 9 8
’

. . hc an t N av y , 2
F r ee s i a , t h e t r a wl e r , 4 30 G g
e or e , W J , s e c o n o f c e r o f th e
. . d fi
Fr e n c h Ar m a d a , d e f e a t , 9 ; b u c c a s s . Ha r p a l y ce , 3 1 5
.

n e e rs i n f e s t th e Ch a nn e l , 2 0 ; Ge o r ge W a s h i ng to n, t h e e r m an s e , G . .

r i v alr y o n t h e s e as , 4 3 co r s a i rs , 125
46 ; fl
e e t, 58 ; m ar au d i n ex g Ge r ar , J W , d
m e r i c a n Am ass a
. . A b
 INDE X
do r i n B
e rl i n , o n th e s i nk i n g o f G 0 E1 EN th Ge rm an b attle i se r,
8
’ e -
c ru
th e s s L u s i ta ni a , 4 2 6 ;
. . F ou r 12
Yea r s i n Ge r m a ny , 4 2 7 Goe b e n , t h e G
e rm a n s s , 1 2 6 . .

Ge r m a ni a , t h e e rm a n s e , 2 0 5 G . . Gol d e n E fi or t, t h e r i te r , 3 73 ,d f
Ge rm an i s c h e r L lo yd o f e rl i n , 9 5 B 4 30
no te Gol d e n H i n d , t h e , 3 7
Ge rm any su b m ar i n e p o li c y v —Vi i Gol d e n fe l s , t h e Ge r m an s e , 1 3 9
2 6 8—
.
, , , .

3 99, 4 10 ; , w ar f a r e
, 54 , 80 d b
Go o w i n s , s u m ar i n e s i n t h e , 4 0 3
2 85 9 3 , 2 9 6- 3 1 7, 3 2 9 , 3 3 2 , 3 7 1 ,
-
G l
o r e s to n , r a i d
o n , 3 3 7, 3 4 6 , 3 48
3 7 6 , 3 80 , 3 85 , 3 9 5 7, 4 0 2 — 5, — G h
o s c e n , Si r E , 1 3 0
43 1—
.

40 9 , 3, 4 40 , 4 43 9 -
GO S H AW , K
th e d
e s tr o y e r , att ack e d
g
t o n n a e o f s i s , 85 , 87, 8 9 ; hp b
b y a s u m ar i n e , 3 3 3
p p
re ar ati o n s f o r w ar , 1 2 1 ar m e d G h b g
o t e n u r , r e o rt o f t h e B r i ti s p h
m e r c an t h s i s, 1 2 5— 8 ; hp
in l
Co n s u on th e m e r c an t se a h
s t ru c t i o n s t o , 1 2 9 t r e at m e n t o f m e n, 101
B h hp
r i ti s s i s, 1 30 ; n av a o r e r , l d G p
r ac e , Ca t a i n H E , R N , i n c o m . . . .

134 ; d l e c ar e s w a r , 1 3 5 ; n av a l m an do f ar m e dd f
r i t e r s , 3 80

p l y
o i c , 2 22 , 2 56, 3 23, 3 67 ; su b G h
r a a m , Si r J a m e s , F i r s t L o r of d
m a r i n e s , 2 5 4 , 2 73 ; n e t c u tt i n -
g th e Ad m i ra t , ly M
e r c an t Se r h
de vi c e , 3 9 2 m e as u r e s a a i n s t , g v i c e B i l , 9 8, 1 0 5 l
433 7 — c o n s tr u ct i o n of m i ne Gr a n d Fl e e t , t h e , 2 2 2 , 2 5 6 ; m o i b
l
ay e rs , 261, 266 ; Hi Se a gh l i s e d , 6 ; s we e p d
o wn t h e N o r t h
l
F e e t , 2 72 , 3 5 7 ; m e m o r a n u m d Se a, 3 2 1, 357 anc o r e in h d
2 80 — Z gh
”
o n th e W ar 83 , S wi l l y , 3 3 9 a t s e a , 3 5 4
“
one , L ou
3 79 , 4 1 0 ; e qu i s t r aw e r s f o r p l G g
r an e m o u t , 2 6 9 h
m i ne ay i n , -
l 3 19 ; g
m i ne fi e l ds , Gr an to n , 2 6 5 ; b
as e f o r t r aw e r s , l
3 2 8, 3 3 7, 3 4 6 9 ; r e ce ti o n o f — p 3 3 5, 3 50 ; arm e at r o dp
a t , 3 70 l
t h e n e ws o f t h e s i n k i n o f th e g Gr a p h i c, t h e s s , e s c a e s r o m a . . p f
s s . L u s i ta ni a , 4 2 6
. su b m a r i n e , 2 76 , 2 7 8
GH U R K A , t h e d
e s t r o y e r , 3 8 8, 3 9 1 G l
r av e i n e s , 3 8

Gi a co p o l o , m as t e r o f t h e s s . . Gr a v e s e n , 2 0 d
L or e da n o , 1 9 1 ; w ar n i n s t o B r i t i s g h G r ay , J R , m as t e r o f t h e s s
. . . .

s i h pp g i n , 1 9 2 n o te I n di a n P r i n c e , 1 7 1
Gl b b o n s , Ca t a i n K C , R N , i n p . . . . G r ay , Tho m a s ( B o ar of ra e ), d T d
h g
c ar e o f atr o p
v e s s e s , 3 44 l l d
o n t h e c o n i t i o n o f th e M e r c a n
Gb
i son , H J m as t e r o f t h e t u g
. l
t i e M ar i n e , 75 n o te
H om e r , 3 1 3 ; r e se nte wi t a p d h Gr e at B r i t a i n , t o n n a e o f s te am g
w a tc , 3 1 4 h v e s s e s , 8 5 , 8 7, 8 8—
l 94 ; e c ar e s d l
Gb
i son , W H , m as t e r o f th e s s
. . . . g
wa r a a i n s t Ge rm an y , 1 3 5
F o y l e , 1 9 6 n o te G r e at Or m e s H e a , 4 3 5
’
d
G lb
i e rt , Si r H u m r e y , e x e i ti o n ph p d Gr e e n , J o h n R , m a s t e r o f t h e s s
. . .

to Ne w ou n f
an , 3 9 dl d Vo s ge s , a tt a ck e b y a s u m a r i n e , d b
G lb
i e r t Is a n s , 2 0 4 l d 3 0 4— 6 ; a w ar e th e d d
Gi l g al l o n , P ri v at e , 3 0 1 30 6
Gl a dy s , t h e s s , 2 7 8 . . Gr e e n B o ok , t h e , 9 4
l d
G an o r e H ar o u r , 4 2 9 b G r e e n e , F r a n c i s , m a s t e r o f th e s s . .

Gla n to n , t h e s s , s u n k , 1 6 6 . . T o ko m a r u , 2 7 8
L G
G AS OW , H M S 1 42 , 1 5 3 . . G h
r e s a m , Si r o m as , Th m as s a o r A b d
Gl e n tu r re t, t h e s s , 2 0 2 c a tu r e .
, . p d at A ntwe r , 2 5 p
209 Gr e ta , t h e a rm e y ac t , 3 4 4 , 4 3 0 d h
Gli tra , t h e s s , 2 4 1 c a tu r e , 2 6 9
. . p d y d
Gr e , Si r E w a r , i s at c e s r o m , d d p h f
s u n k , 2 70 , 3 3 3 1 30 , 1 3 1
Gl p
o ss o , Ca t a i n J p
C T , R N , of . . . . . G b
ri m s y , 2 6 5 ; r e c ru i ti n f o r th e g
SYD N EY , 2 0 4 T ra w l e r R e s e r v e , 2 6 2
G NEIS ENAU, t h e e rm an c ru i s e r , G Gr i s N e z , Ca e , 3 80 p
1 2 8, 1 77 Gr i s nez , t h e fi s h i n g-v e sse , s u nk , l
Gne i s e na u , t h e e rm a n s s , 1 2 7 G . . 39 1
Go d d i s o n , F A , c i e e n i n e e r o f
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th e s e W r exh a m , 2 9 7
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Gr y fe va l e , th e s s
. .
, ca pt u r e d , 195 ; H e m i s p h e r e th e s s , c a pt u r e d 1 74
, . .
,

l
r e e as e d
1 9 7, 2 4 7 , H e n r y IV, 1 8
Gu a da l o u p e , t h e F r e n c s s , c ap h . . H e n r y V, 1 7 i nv as i o n o f F r an c e ,

t u r e d , 1 76 14
G y q l G f
u a a u i , ul o f , 1 84 H e n r y VI 1 7 ,

p h A b
Gu e r an , S a n i s m as s a do r , 2 5 H e n r y VIII e s t abl i s hm , e nt of th e

G ll
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Li ts i , y r o o n e i n R oy a l 20 ; N av y
th e , Gr e a t
ll d
sta e , 434 Ha r r y , 2 0 ; e et , 2 0 , 2 5 ; fl m ea
l
Gu l l , t h e t r aw e r , 4 4 6 su r e s o f e e nce , 2 0 d f
H ERME S , tor p e do e d , 3 34,
H addo ck Capt a i n H J R N R 2
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H a gu e T h e Co n f e r e n ce s 1 1 8 1 2 0
, , , , , H e r o n th e t r a w l e r 4 3 0
, ,

122 H e r s i l i a t h e a r m e d y ac ht 3 4 1
, ,

H aklu yt R i c h ar d 2 1 2 7 n o te 4 0
, , , , H e rs i n g K a pi t an L e u t n a n t Ott o ,
,
-

H AL C Y O N , 3 2 0 3 48 , i n c o m m an d o f U2 I, 2 70 , 2 77,
H a l l an i y a B a y o f 1 3 8 , , 3 76
H alle tt P e tt y Offi c e r A H , 44 2
, . .
; p
H av e , Ca e l a , 2 70 , 2 89
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H a m b u r g B ri t i s h , m e rc han t s h i p s 1 75
de t ai n e d 1 3 0 , H i gh l a nd H op e , th e s s , s u n k , 1 5 4 . .

H AM P S HI RE 1 9 8, 2 0 1
, Hi l da a nd E r ne s t, t h e r i t e r , 3 6 4 d f
H a n k e y L i e u t Co l
, Si r M P A , .
-
. . . . ll
H i , Si r M au r i c e , 2 3 8
S e c r e t ar o f th e y
Co m m i tt e e o n ll
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i n s u r an c e o f s i s i n w ar , 2 2 8 hp Co m m i tt e e o n i n s u r a n c e o f s i s hp
H a n nan , F S , m ast e r o f t h e s s. . . . i n w ar , 2 2 8, 2 3 1 , 2 3 8
T a m a r , 1 76 ll
H i , R H , m a st e r o f th e s s
. . . .

H a n s e ati c L e a u e , 1 6 ; g
e c ine , 1 9 d l H olm wo od , 1 4 3
b
H a r o u r s , 74 , 7 6 H i r os e , t h e t r aw e r , att a c k e a l d by
H a r p a li o n , t h e s s , su n k , 2 9 1 . . su b
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H ar ri s , av i D
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H arr i s , W i l i a m , m as t e r o f t h e s s . . 2 73 , 3 2 9
Cla n M a th e s o n , o n h i s c a t u r e , p H ol g e r , t h e s s , 1 74 , 1 7 6 . .

1 92 ll d
H o an , H o o k o f , 2 72 , 2 76
H a r tda l e , t h e s s , s u n k , 3 0 1 . . ll d
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l d
H a rt a n P o i n t , 4 3 5 g
t o n n a e o f s i s , 8 2 ; m e r c ant hp h
l p l b
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t r a fi c w i t , s u s e n e , 4 0 7 h p d d
H ar t n o ll , L i e u t e n an t H J 4 42 . H o l m wo od , t h e s s , s u n k , 1 4 3 . .

h
H arw i c , m i n e s we e i n t r aw e r at , -
p g l l
H o t o n , E J , m aste r o f th e s s
. . . .

2 6 6 ; n e t - a s e s a t , 3 75 b Ce r va n te s , 1 6 4 n o te
H av an a , s ac k e , 2 6 d l h d
Ho y e a , 40 4 ; to K i n s to wn g
H a v r e , 4 7, 2 70 , 2 79 , 2 89 s e rvi ce , s u s e n e , 3 76 p d d
H a wk, t h e t r aw e r , 4 4 6 l H om e r , t h e t u g , a tt a c k e a su b d by
H AW E , K s u n k , 2 73 , 3 3 3 m a ri n e , 3 1 3
H aw k i n s , J o n , v o y a e s , 2 6 —3 2 ; h g d
H o o Is a n , 1 8 2 l d
figh t a t S a n Ju a n d e u a, 3 0 — 32 Ul d
H o o , R e ar m ira th e Hon -
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h
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, 4 42
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e x e r i m e nt s on i n i c at o r n e ts , d
b d
He r i e s , t h e , 3 5 1 3 73 ; on th e s ink i n of U8 g
H e c tor , t h e t r aw e r , 3 9 5 s u nk , 3 9 7 l su b
m ar i n e , 3 89
H e ff o r d , s e co n o ffi c e r o f th e d p
H o k in s , Ad
m i r a Si r J o n O , 2 1 1 l h .

s s. .L u s i ta n i a , r o wn e , 417 d d Ho re , W . A
W , m a s t e r o f th e s s
. . . .

gg
He i e , D W , m a ste r o f t h e s s
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H o rn e , J o n , m a s t e r o f t h e s s . .

lg l
H e i o an , 3 5 2 d H y ndfo r d , 3 0 2
H e ll e ni c , t h e t r aw e r , o wn u p , 4 0 7 l bl p l
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Jo n e s H m ast e r o f t h e s e Gl e n K o ni g F r i e d ri ch A u g u s t, th Ge r
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, .
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J o n e s J am e s m a s te r o f th
, , e s s . . la y e r 1 2 4 ; l ay S m i n e s , 1 3 6 ,
,
'

3 1 9,
H os ti li u s , 141 3 2 8 ; su n k , 3 1 9
J o n e s R i c h ar d
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K ONI S ER , t h e G
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He m i sph e re 1 74 126, 128 ; c a tu r e s an d s i n ks p
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,

J o u r na l of R o y a l Un i te d S e r vi ce B r i ti s h hp 9 , 2 0 8, 2 4 4
I ns ti tu ti o n , 5 8 n o te , 6 6 n o te , 6 8 P
K R O N R I N Z W I H E M , t h e e rm a n L L G
J u an F e rn a n e Is an , 1 45 d z l d ar m e d
m e r c ant cru i s e r , 1 2 6, h
J u li a , t h e , 4 30 1 70 , 2 4 9 ; s i nks r i ti s s i s, B h hp
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, ca p tu r e d , 1 8 8, z
K r o np r i n e s s i n , t h e e rm a n s s , 1 2 5 G . .

F 1 9 0 ; r e e ase , 1 9 2
“
l d K u s a i e I s an , 2 0 4 l d
K a i p a r a , th e s s , s u nk , 1 5 1 . .

KAI S ER W I H E M D ER RO S S E , t h e L L G
Ge r m a n ar m e m e r c an t c r u i s e r , d h b d B
La a ie ank , 44 3

1 2 6 ; c a tu r e s a n d s i nk s p r i ti s B h b d
L a ra o r, 1 9
hp
s i s , 1 47 , 1 5 1 , 1 5 2 , 2 0 8, 2 4 4 ; La dd , W H , m ast e r o f th e s s
. . . .

l
r e e as e s t h e s s Ga l i ci a n , 1 4 9 . . A de n we n , 2 9 9
51 L a e r te s , t h e s s , 4 0 1 c as e . . a h d by
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m ar i n e , 2 8 6 8, 2 9 2 , 3 80 -

1 2 5 ; gu n m o u n ti n s , 1 2 1 g g
L a H o u e , Ca e , 3 0 4 p
K a i s e r i n A u g u s te Vi c tor i a , t h e Ge r L am o n t , A , m as t e r o f t h e s s
. . .

m an s s , 1 2 4 . . Ol i vi ne , 3 1 3
K AI S ERIN E I Z A E T H , t h e L
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g
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G
K AN AR O O , t h e e s tr o y e r , 3 88 d L a n c e fi e l d , W i l i am , m as t e r o f t h e l
L
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1 2 6 , 1 2 8, 1 5 2 ; c a tu r e s and p d
L an s E n d , 2 9 8, 40 4
’

s i nk s r i ti s B
s i s , 1 5 3 6 9 , 1 70 , h hp -
La m e , 3 3 9
2 0 8, 2 44 , 2 4 6 , 2 4 8 h l
L au r i a t , C ar e s E , 4 2 1 .

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Ki dd R H , m a st e r o f t h e s s P G
L EI ZI , th e G
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—
.
, . . .

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s u n k , 2 78, 3 76 L e m v i n , Ca e , 1 9 7 p
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L E O AR D , t h e e s tr o e r , 3 4 8 d y
G
K I N E D W A R D V II , 2 57 p
L e ant o , B ay o f, 2 4
K i ng L u d , t h e s s , s u n k , 1 9 6 . . L e r wi ck , 4 3 6
Ki n , W g J , m as t e r o f t h e s v
. . . . l
L es i e , N , m a s t e r o f t h e s s Cla n
. . .

I n ve r coe , 1 7 8 Gr a n t, 1 9 8
g
K i n s t o wn , 4 0 4 L e s tr i s , t h e s e , o m e . a n ae r o
. b b d by v

d
K i n n a i r H e a , 3 2 1 , 3 7 1 , 3 78 d pl an e , 2 9 4
Ki nne i r , ou D
a s R , m as t e r o f t h e gl . L e tt e r s o f m ar u e , 1 4 1 6 q —
s e . Or te ga , 1 4 4 ; s k i , 1 4 5
. ll L e v ant , th e , 1 0
Ki ns a e , 4 3 0 l Le v e s o n , Vi ce - m ir a Si r C, Ad l A . .
 IND EX 46 3

h ea d of O e r a t i o n s D i vi s i o n
th e p L i i d e c k e , Capt a i n ( DRE S DE N ) , 1 40
o f t h e W a r S t a ff , 2 50 Lu gg , He r b
e rt , m a s t e r o f s s H e a d . .

Li ghth o u s e s a n d T r i m t y H o u s e , 7 6 l a n ds , 3 0 0
’

Li l y Oa k, t h e dr i f t e r , 3 9 2 d l d
L u n y Is a n , 4 3 5 , 4 4 4
I/ i m e wol d , t h e t r a wle r , fight W i t h a L u n e da , t h e t r a w e r , 4 3 0 l
s u b m a r i n e , 4 3 7, 4 4 6 L u s i ta ni a , t h e s s , 1 2 3 ; s u nk ,
4 1 0—
. .

L i na r i a , t h e s s , f o u n d e r s , 3 6 5
. . 2 7 ; c o n s tr u cti o n a n d c o s t ,
L i nd a B la nch e , t h e s s , s u n k , 2 77, . . 4 1 1 ; ru m o u r s o f a tt ac k , 4 1 2 ;
3 76 g
c ar o , 41 3, 414 voy a e , g
L i n dle y, Ar t hu r , m e m b e r o f t h e 4 1 4— 18 tor e o e , p d d 4 1 8— 21
Co m m i tt e e o n i n s u r an c e o f s h 1 p s S O S
. . s i na , 430 ;
. g l r e s cu e o f

i n w ar , 2 2 8 p a s s e n ge r s , 4 3 0

L i n e r s a n d t r a m s , i n th e ri ti s p B h L y di a , t h e s e , c a tu r e ,
. . 163 ; p d
M e r c a n t ile M ar i n e ,
87 su nk , 1 6 4
L i ns de l l , t h e d f
r i te r , s u nk , 3 2 8 L y n n s P o i n t , 2 89
b
Li s o n , t h e c o m m e r c i a e o t fo r l d p L y n to n Gr a ng e , t h e s s , 1 3 9 , 1 4 0 . .

W e s te r n E u r o e , 1 9 p L YN X , t h e d
e str o y e r , 3 3 3 , 3 3 7

L I V E LY , t h e d
e s tr o y e r , 3 48 L YS AND ER, t h e e s tr o e r , 4 0 1 d y
p l
Li v e r o o , 1 3 , 2 8 9 ; nu m er of b
p r i v at e e r s , 45 ; n e r w r i te r s
’
U d M a as l i ght s h i p 2 76 ,

g
R e i st r y
f o r Ir o n Ve s s e s , 9 5 l Mc K e n n a R t H o n R e gi n ald
, . Fi r s t .
,

n o te ; w o r k o f t h e tu s , 3 4 0 ; g Lor d
o f th e Ad
m i r a ty , 1 1 5, 2 6 0 l
a rm e dp at r o l a t , 3 70 M ac k e y , fi
r s t m at e o f t h e s s . .

d
L i z ar , t h e , A ta la n ta , 3 0 1
Li zzi e , t h e s s , 3 0 3 MacL arn o n , J
m a s te r o f t h e s s
h a
. . . .

l d
L o y s R e i st e r o f
’
g r i ti s nd B A ta l a n ta , 3 0 1
Fo r e i n S i g h pp g
in , 94 7 ; — “
s i s
’
hp d b
M a r a s H ar o u r , at t ack o n o i l
li sts ,
”
94 t an k s , 1 9 3
h
L o c E we , 3 2 2 , 3 3 3 ar m e at r o dp l g ll
M a e a n St r a i t s , 3 6 , 3 9 , 1 44
a t , 3 2 7, 3 3 5 , 3 4 1 , 3 5 1 , 3 70 h
M a an , A dm i r a , N a va l S tr a te gy , l
h
L o c In d a i l , 3 4 0 e x t r ac t s f
rom , 3, 4, 5 I n flu e nc e
Loc h h ll
S e , 341 o f S e a P o we r o n th e F r e nc h R e vo

L o ckwoo d , t h e s s , s u n k , 3 1 3 . . l a ti o n , 5 1 , 6 5 n ote , 6 6 n o te , 6 7
d
L o n o n , m e as u r e s o f e e n c e , 2 0 ; d f n o te
th e t r a i n d g c e nt r e o f t h e w o r , ld M a k a l l a p o rt, o f, 138
6 3 ; N av a l Co n e r e n c e i n , 1 1 8, f M ak e p e ac e H , .
, m as t e r o f t h e s s . .

122 K a i p a ra , 1 5 1
L ond o n T r a de r , th e s s , 2 79 . . M al a cc a St r a i t s , 40
Lo n , g m as t e r o f t h e s s T r oi l u s , . . M a la ch i te t h e s , . s .
, ca pt u r e d , 2 70
199 s u nk , 2 7 1 , 3 6 8, 3 7 1 , 3 76
L o n g c r a i g Pi e r , 3 8 1 ld
M a i v e I s an d s , 1 9 7l
Lon gh p o e , 3 79 l l
M a e k u a , 1 77
Loo e , 1 3, 3 9 9 M ll y
a e , L , m a s t e r o f t h e s e A nda ~
. . .

L or e da n o , t h e It a i an s s , 1 9 1 l . . l u si a n , 3 0 0
L or na , t h e a r m e ac t , 3 4 0 dy h M a nch e s te r Com m e r ce , -t h e s s , . .

L or to n , t h e P e r u vi an b q
ar u e , 1 4 7 s u n k , 3 3 8, 3 4 1

Lo ss i e m o u t , 3 6 9 h Mane e l y , J a m e s , m as t e r o f t h e s s . .

L otu s m e r e , t h e s s 1 9 2 n o te . . K i l c oa n , 2 77
Lo u gh L arn e , ar m e at r o a t , 3 70 dp l Man i s ty , P ay m a s t e r - Ca t a i n H p .

ne t b -
a s e s a t , 3 82 ld
E e n , R N , O r g an i s m g M a n a e r
. . g
L ou gh S wi l l y , m ine e , 339 fi ld o f Co n v o y s 2 2 6
arm e d p a t r o l a t , 3 70 d
M A O RI , t h e e s t r o e r , 3 8 8 y
h
L ova t, t e s s , s u n k , 1 8 8 , 1 89
. . M a p l e B r a nc h , t h e s s , s u n k , 1 5 4 . .

f
L o we s t o t , 3 2 0 M ar ac a Is an , 1 5 3 l d
L o wr , y Ad m i ra l
S i r R o e rt , 3 1 9 , b M a r ga r e t, t h e t r aw e r , 2 77 l
M a r gu te , t h e t r aw e r , 4 3 0 l
L Uc R s , t h e G e r m an gu nb o at , 1 2 8, M a r i a , th e u tc D
s s , c a tu re , h . . p d
l 77 1 55
L u ci da , th e t r aw le r , 430 M ari an a Is lan ds , 1 77

31
46 4 INDEX
M a r i cop a , th e s s . .
, s t ri k e s a m ine , wi t h p r i v at e e s 4 8 ; p e r i l o f r ,

40 8 c a pt u r e 54 s e i ze d b y t h e p r e s s
,

M ari e , th e Ge rm an s s . .
, 1 80 su nk, g a n g 5 5 Ge n e a l R e g i s t e r Office
, r

181 of 105
, 107 ; r gi s t e
, t i ck t e r e ,

Mar i n e i n s u r an c e , s y s te m o f, c r i ti 107 ; a b o l s he d 108 ; t ak e n

i ,

ci se d 79 p i s o n e r s 1 3 1 ; a n ti p a t h y t o
r ,

M a r ko m a nn i a an s s , t h e Ge r m . .
, 1 88 Ge r m an s , 393
M a r l vo t h e s s s tr an de d 2 0 8
, . .
, , M e r c h an t S e a m an s Ac t o f 1 83 5 ,
’

M ar s h all Is l a n ds 1 7 7 ,
9 8, 1 0 5 ; F u n , 1 0 4 , 1 0 6 w o u n d d
M a rti n ,
h d
R i c ar , m a s t e r o f th e s s . . u
p , 1 0 4 n o te , 1 0 8
Ci ty of B r e m e n , 3 1 3 h
M e r c a n t S i i n Ac t O f 1 8 5 4 , h pp g
M ar t i n , Th
o m a s , m a s t e r o f th e s s . . 1 1 1 ; o f 1 8 73 , 7 8
H a r tda l e , 3 0 1 y d
Me r s e , L o r , W r e ck Co m m i s s i o n e r ,
M a r ti n , t h e t r aw e r , 3 90 l j u dg
m e n t o n t h e s s F a l a ba ,

3 0 9—
. .

M a r y A da S h o r t, th e s e , s u n k , 1 78 . . 1 2 ; o n t h e s s L u s i ta n i a , . .

M a r y , t h e t r awl e r , s t r i k e s a m i n e , 42 2 ; on t h e c o n u ct o f th e d
3 49 m as t e r , 4 2 5
M a r y nth e a , t h e a r m e y ac t , 3 8 1 , d h hl d
M e t i , arm e t r a w e r s at , 3 3 5 l
43 5 M ddl b gh
i e s rou , 297
M a r y s , th e r i t e r , 4 4 8d f dd J h
M i l e t o n , o n , Vi c e m i ra , 4 1 -
Ad l
Mas o n , J m ast e r of th e s s . . lf d
Mi o r H av e n , 2 6 3 , 2 6 6 ; arm e d
S tr a th r o y , 1 53 p l
a tr o a t , 2 6 5 , 3 4 4 , 3 70
ph
M a s s o n , St e e n , m a s t e r o f t h e s s . . f d A
Mi l o r H av e n , dm i r a l t h e M ar qu i s
M a la ch i te , 2 70 D
o f, i r e ct o r o f N av a In t e l l i l
M as t e r ( L aw s o f O e r o n ) , qu al i fi c a l g e n ce , 2 1 1
ti o n s , 1 0 ; u ti e s , 1 1 ; d r e l at i o n s A
Mi l n e , B , m a s t e r o f th e s s
. . . .

h
wi t t h e c r e w , 1 1 B l o nd e , 2 9 4
h
M a tt e w s , J R , m a s t e r o f t h e s s
. . . . h
Mi n c , t h e , 3 3 4 , 3 50
N e wb u r n , 2 0 3 Mi n e , t h e Cr u i s e r , 4 0 6
M a u r e ta ni a , t h e s s , 1 2 3 , 4 1 1 . . Mi n e fi e l d s , 2 6 7, 3 1 9 , 3 2 2 , 3 2 8, 3 3 7,
M a x B r o ck, th e e rm an s s , 1 2 7 G . . 3 3 8, 3 3 9 , 3 4 4 , 3 4 5 , 3 5 7, 3 6 0 ,
M a xi m u s , th e t r a w e r , 4 3 0 l 40 2 , 4 0 6— 9 ; m et o of de h d
Ma y Is an , 3 2 9 l d str o y i n , 2 5 9 g
M a y I s la n d , t h e t r aw e r , 3 9 0 l l y g
Mi n e s , a i n O f , 1 1 8, 1 3 5 ; d e
dg
M a y e r , Ju e , j u m e n t o n t h e s s dg . . s t r u c t i o n o f , 3 6 4 , 4 0 3 , 4 0 7, 4 0 8
L u s i ta n i a , 4 1 2 , 4 1 4 p
Mi n e s w e e e r s , B r i t i s , 3 2 0 ; w o r k
-
h
M e d u s a , t h e ar m e ac t, 3 8 1 , 43 5 dy h O f th e , 3 3 1 , 3 4 3 , 3 6 1 fi v e c as s e s l
d y
Me w a , th e , 3 2 0 o f, 40 1
M e m bla nd , t h e s s , a t e o f , 2 88 . . f p g
Mm e s w e e i n , e x e ri m e n t s wi t ,
-
p h
M l
e r c a n ti e M ar i n e A c t o f 1 5 4 0 , 2 1 2 5 8 ; i n s t ru cti o n , 2 6 0
o f 1 850 , 1 1 1 l d
Mi n i k 0 1 Is an , 1 9 4 , 1 9 6 , 2 0 1
M e r c an th Ad
v e n t u r e rs , ss o ci at i o n A M i ni n g
Co m m i tt e e , 2 5 9
O f , 1 8, 2 1 , 2 2 M i nte r n e , t h e s s , s u n k , 4 1 0 . .

M h
e r c a n t N a v y , B r i ti s , o re ru n n e r h f M i nt o , D K , m a s t e r o f t h e s s
. . . .

o f t h e R o y a N av y , V i i l i st o r , h y I n ve r gy l e , 2 9 9
b
1 , 8 ; t ri u te s t o , 2 ; r e s o n s i p pp
Mi s s i s s i i , t h e , 8 1
b i l i ti e s o n t h e o u t r e a k o f w a r , b M i u r a , th e t r aw e r , 4 4 0 ; tl figh
6 ; g r o wt , 7 1 ; h re o rt o n th e p h
wi t a s u m ar i n e , 44 1 b
d
c o n i ti o n , 7 3 —8, 1 0 0 — 103 re d
Mi z e n H e a , 4 1 7, 42 9 , 4 4 6
fo rm s , 79 r o re ss, 80 p g p e r M o bi l e , t h e s e , s u n k , 3 1 4 , 4 0 1
. .

s on n e l , 1 0 0 , 1 1 6
; m e as u r e s f o r K
M OH A W , t h e e s t r o e r , c a s e o f d y h
p r o t e ct i n , 2 1 0—
g 16 ; e e n ce d f su b m ar i n e s , 3 3 3
p l
o i cy , 2 1 6— 23 r e at i o n s W it l h l
M o t k e , Co u n t v o n , o n w ar s , 4
th e Ad
m i ra t , 2 2 7 ly W a r In M L K
O T E , th e e rm a n G
att e -c r u i s e r , b l
s u r a n c e S c e m e s , 2 2 8— h 39 3 57
h
M e r c a n t s e a m e n , c a m p a i gn a a i n s t, g M o l tke , t h e e rm an s s , 1 2 6 G . .

v ; p
atr i o ti s m , v i , 1 , 2
; c ar a c h M O NARC H , 323
t e r i s ti c s , Vi i , l , 2 , 3 0 4 ; r e c o r d Mo r ay F i rt , at r o h p
O f th e , 3 20, l
o f s e rv i c e s i n w ar s , 7 ; a c ti o n s 3 50
466

N or th W a le s , th e s s . .
, 1 45 ; s u nk , Pa g e t Adm i r al Si r Al f r e d i n c o m
, ,

146 m an d o f t h e s t e a m y a c ht E i l e e n -
,

N o rt he r n P atr o l , 125 3 63
N or th la nd s , t h e s s , s u n k , 3 1 3 . . P a nd i o n , t h e s s , om . e . anb b d by
N o r wa y , t o nn ag e o f s hi p s , 8 2 , 8 5 , 8 7 p
a e r o l an e , 2 9 4

N U B IAN , t h e d e s t r o y e r , 3 89 P ar a , 1 5 8, 1 6 8
N UBN B E R G, t h e e rm a n c ru i se r , G P ark e r , Ad
m i r al l Si r W i l i am ,
,
l
128 d p
e s cr i t i o n o f a co n v o , 5 2 y
N y a nga , th e s s . .
, s u nk , 1 52 ar k s , C .W , m as t e r o f t h e s v
. . .

d e s t r o ye r W i lfr i d M , 1 75
p

NY MI HE , t h
’
e , s tr i k e s a .

su bm ar i n e , 333 P ar s o n s , L i e u t e n a n t C , R N , in G . . . .

co m m an do f t h e t r aw e r P a s s i ng , l
Oa kby , th e s s , 1 3 6 ; su n k , 2 9 1
. . 3 62
Oca n a , t h e fi sh i n g - v e ss e , o u n e rs , l f d P as co e , J o h n , 6 1
3 59 , 3 6 6 P a s s i ng, t h e t r aw e r , st ri k e s a l
Oc e an Is an , 2 0 4 l d m i ne , 362
Ocea ni c I I t h e t r aw e r , 4 4 6 l P a ta go ni a , t h e s s , 1 5 3 . .

d l
O el , s ki e r o f th e pp t raw e r l P at e r s o n , H , m as t e r o f th e s s
. . .

Coqu e t, 3 9 6 K a th a r i n e P a r k, 1 4 3
d
Ol d H e a o f K i ns a e , 4 1 0 , 4 1 7 l P AT H FIN D E R , s u nk , 2 73 ,
l
O e r o n , L a ws o f , 1 0 329
Ol i ve B r a nch , t h e t r aw e r , 3 9 0 l P e ar c e , W sk i pp
e r o f t h e t r aw e r l
Oli vi ne , t h e s s , s u n k , 3 1 3. . D a ne , 3 6 5
On ta r i o, t h e t r aw e r , t wi th a l figh P e e l 1 2 , th e , 4 2 1
su b
m arin e , 4 3 8 Pe gg , H , s ki
. pp
e r o f t h e t r aw e r l
Orf o r dn e ss , 6 3 , 3 1 9 Cas s a ndr a , i n a n av al e ng a e g
Or i a na , t h e arm e ach t , 3 40 , 3 4 1 , dy m e nt , 3 5 9
3 42 P e ll e w, R e ar - A m i r al Si r E war ,d d d
Ori a nda , t h e t r aw e r , o wn u p, l bl 5 1 ; s e e H M S E X M OU T H
. . .

3 62 , 3 65 g
P e n an , 2 0 2
Or i ol e , t h e s s , at e o f , 2 79
. . f g y
Pe n i l l , t i r h d o c e r o f th e s s ffi . .

ORI O N , 323 F a la ba , 3 0 9
y
Or k n e Is l a n s , 3 2 3 d
a rm e at r o dp l P e nns y l va ni a , t h e e rm an s s , 1 2 5 G . .

a t , 3 70 , 3 79 l d h
P e n t an F i rt , 3 3 1 , 3 50 , 3 5 3
Or o n s a y , 3 4 4 P e n z an c e B a y , 3 9 2
Or te ga , t h e s s , e s c a e s c a tu r e , 1 4 4
. . p p b
P e rn a m u c o , 1 4 2 , 4 48 r e o rt o f p
Os b or ne S tr o u d , t h e t r aw e r , 2 6 6 l th e B
ri t i s h
Co n s u l o n t h e t r e at
Os ce ola , t h e s s , om e . . an b b d by m e nt o f t h e m e r c ant s e am e n , h
a e ro pl
an e , 2 9 4 103
d
Os t e n , 3 2 2 ; n e t s a i Off, 4 0 1 l d P e ru , 3 7
Os tm a r k, t h e G
e r m an s s , 1 3 8 . . h d
P e t e r e a , ar m e d p
at r o l s at , 3 2 1 ,

OTT E R , t h e G
e rm an r i v e r - u n o at , g b 3 3 5 , 3 70 ; r e w ar e , 44 6 ; n e t d d
128 b a s e s a t , 3 75
y
Ottl e , R e ar - Ad
m i r a Si r C ar e s 0 l h l hlp
P i i of p
S ai n , m ar ri a e , 2 4 ; g
Di r e ct o r o f N av al Int e i e n c e , ll g s e i ze s E n gl h
is v e ss e s , 2 7 l
224 h pp
P ili s , Si r Ow e n , C a i rm an o f h
Ou s e l , t h e s s , o m e . . b
an a e r o b d by th e R o a y l M a il St e am P ack e t
p
l an e , 2 9 4 Co , 1 2 0
.

Ou t e r D o ws i n g
l i gh t v e s s e l , 3 2 0 , d
P h illi m o r e , A m i ra Si r Au u st u s , l g
32 1, 322 1 1 2 no te
Owe n , Si r D o u a s , 2 3 9 gl P h i ll i m o r e , A , Li fe of A dm i ra l S i r
.

Ow e n , S u b Li e u t e n an t-
E L . W i l li a m P a r ke r , 5 3 n o te , 5 5 no te
i n c o m m an of r i te r s , d d f P h i ll i m o r e , Ca t a i n R F p 2 58 . ,

3 86 P h i l l i m o r e , Ca ta i n V E B , i n p . . .

Ow e n , G , m as t e r o f t h e s s N or th
. . . c h ar g e of p at rol at Falm ou t h ,

W a le s , 1 4 5 3 99
P i ct o n Is l an d , 1 84
P a ddl e -st e am e r s as m i n e -s we e p e rs , Pi lc h e r , N B , m ast e r
. . of th e s .e .
2 55 , 3 3 2 , 4 0 1 , 4 3 9 I ndr a ni , 1 5 5
 IND EX 46 7

Pi lo t , a de f au lti ng pu n i sh m e nt , o f, P RIN Z E IT E L FRI ED RI CH th e Ge r ,

12 m an a r m e d m e ch an t c r i s 1 26
r u er,

1 77—
,

Pi n e Is an s , 3 3 l d 2 49 ; s i n k s B i ti s h s h i p s r 9 , ,

y p
Pi r ac , r ac t i c e o f , i n o m e w a te r s , h 208 i n t e r n e d 1 79 ,

10 , 1 4, 2 6 P r i n z H e i n r i ck , t h e e r m an s e , G . .

fi
P i s a , r st E n i s Co n s u at , 1 9 gl h l 127
l ll
P i m s o , S am u e , o n c o ffi n s i s , l -
hp z
P r i n L u dwi g , t h e e rm a n s s , 1 2 4 G . .

z
P r i n Os ka r , t h e e rm a n s s , 1 2 6 G . .

l h
P y m o u t , 1 3 , 2 9 ; p at r o a t , 4 3 4 l g
P ri v at e e ri n , s y s t e m o f , e a i s e , l g l d
Po h , l Ad
m i r a v o n , C i e o f th e A d l h f 14
m i ra l t y St a f o f th e e rm a n f G P r i v at e e rs , F r e n c , ac ti o n s a a i n st h g
y p
N av , r o c am at i o n , 2 8 3 l B r i ti s s i s , 4 8—
h hp 50
Po n , R d R , m ast e r O f th e s s
. . . . Pr i z e Co e , 1 32—
d 4 r o ce u r e , p d
Hi gh la nd B r a e , 1 75 133
P o n r a bb e l , t h e re e r, su nk , 1 9 8 d dg P r o gr e s s , t h e t r a w e r , 3 9 5 ; c a s e l h d
P o n tOp or o s , t h e re e k s s , ca
p G . . b
b y a s u m ari n e , 3 9 6 ; s u n k , 3 9 6
t u r e d , 1 89 , 1 9 4 ll
P r o p e rt , W i i am H , m as t e r o f t h e .

l
P o o e , n e t a s e s a t , 3 75 -
b at r o at , p l s s L a e r te s 2 8 6 ; a cc o u n t o f t h e
m ar i n e , 2 86 —
. .
,

43 4 e sc a e p f
r o m a su 8 b
P o ne , th e , arti t i o n o f t h e p Ne w a w ar e d d
th e D S C an d m a e . d
W or , 2 3 ld L i e u te n ant R N R 2 88 . .

P o rt Mah o m ac k , 3 2 1 P ru s s i a , t o n n a e o f s i s , 8 2 g hp
P or ti a , t h e arm e ac t , 3 9 0 dy h P r u s s i a , t h e Ge r m a n s s , 1 4 2 . .

l d
P o r t an , 6 4 ; e x e r i m e nt s wi t p h P r u th , t h e s e , c a t u r e , 1 6 4 . . p d
m i n e sw e e e r s a t , 2 5 8 ;
- p
ar m e d su nk , 1 6 5
p l
at r o , 2 6 5 , 2 6 6 , 3 70 , 4 3 4 ; de P ta r m i ga n , t h e s s , s u n k , 3 1 4 . .

m an d
f o r t r aw e r s , 3 5 1 ; net l d
P u r y , S , m a s t e r o f t h e s s Co nde r ,
. . .

b a s e s a t , 3 75 1 6 5 n o te
P o rt o R i c o , 4 1
‘

P o rtsm o u t , 4 7 arm e h at r o at , dp l Q u e e n A l e xa nd r a th e dr i ft e r 44 8 , ,

2 6 5, 2 66, 3 70 ; e m an fo r d d Q u e e n Vi c tor i a t h e p a ddle s t e am e r

,
-
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d f
ri t e r s , 3 5 1 net a s e s a t , 3 75 -
b 3 78 lay s n e ts o fi Os t e n d , 4 0 1
g l
P o rt u a , th e r s t m ar i ti m e P o w e r , fi Qu e e n st o wn , ar m e d p at r o l a t , 2 6 6 ,
3 4 1 , 3 71
'

P o ta r o , th e 1 74 ;
s s . .
, ca pt u r e d ,

l o o te ,
d
1 75 , 1 7 6 ; s u n k , 2 0 8 R A C O ON , H M S 66 . .

P r a to n i a , t h e e rm a n s s , 1 2 4 G . . R a i p u t t h e s s , 1 9 2 n o te
, . .

P r e s co t t , T
R , m a st e r o f t h e s s
. . . . R a ei l gh Si r W a t e r , 3 9
, l
Ca m ba n k, 2 89 g
R a m s at e , 6 3
P r e s i de n t, T h e , t h e s s , s u n k , 3 1 4 . . g
R an o o n , 1 9 3
P r e s i de n t Gr a n t, t h e s s , 1 2 5 . . l f
R at c i f e , J , m a st e r o f t h e s s
. . .

P r e s i de n t Li nco l n , t h e s s , 1 2 5 . . W e s te r n Coa s t, 2 9 1
g g
P r e s s an , m e t o s o f , 5 5
- a o i h d b l R ath l i n I s a n , 3 8 2 l d
ti o n , 9 8 d
R att r a y H e a , 3 7 1 , 3 78 , 4 3 6
Pr e s t o n , Co m m an e r L i o n e d l G Rea , d C ar e s , h l
ski er of th e pp
R N , i n c ar e o f
. . u n o at s ,h g g b l
t r a w e r A l o ns o , 3 4 7 i t to , 3 48 gf
3 1 8, 3 6 1 R e col o , t h e t r aw e r , o u n e r s , 4 0 2 l f d
Pr e s t r i dg e , Su b - L i e u t e n ant , R N R . . . R ecor dof A m e ri c an a n d F o r e i n g
448 S i h pp g
i n , 9 5 n o te
P r i m o , th e s s , s u n k , 2 7 1 , 3 7 1 , 3 76
. . R ECRU IT , t h e d
e str o e r , t o r e o e , y p d d
l ay s n e ts o fi Os te n d , 40 1 R e d B oo k, 9 4
A l i ce , th e G e r m an s s , 1 2 7 . . f
R e o rm B ll
i o f 1 83 2 , 9 8
Ol ga , t h e s s . .
, f o u n de r s , R e i nd e e r , t h e s s , 3 3 7, 4 3 0 . .

R e l i a n ce , t h e t r a w e r , 4 3 0 l
Vi c tor i a , t h e s s
. .
, s u nk , R e s ta ng o , t h e t r aw e r , 4 3 0 l
R e ve r to , t h e t r aw e r , 4 0 8 l
Ge rm an s e . .
, R e vi g a, t h e fi sh i ng v e s s e , o u n — l f d e rs ,

328
46 8 IND EX
R h a ko ti s , th e s e , 1 4 6 . . t i ck e t s ,
10 9 o r m at i o n of f a
R I AS A N , t h e R u s s i a n v o u n t e e r s s , l . . l
v o u nt ar , y
1 10, 1 1 1 i st o r h y ,

p
c a tu r e d
a n d r e n am e CO RMO R AN , d 112 s y st e m o f t r ai n i n , 1 1 4 g
1 88 R i b e r a , t h e s s , s u n k , 1 9 6 . . l
R o y a N a v ; s e e N avy y
R i c arh d p d
I , e x e i ti o n t o t h e H o ly R o y a l S ce p tr e , t h e s e , 1 6 9 . .

d
L an , 9 ; l
a s t c ru s a e , 1 0 d R o y a l S o ve r e i gn , t h e l i gh tv e s s e l ,
G
R IN D O V E , H M S 329 . . 2 90 , 2 9 1
R i o d e l a H ac a , 2 9 , 3 0 h R u b y , t h e s c o o ne r h 315
R i o I g u a s s u , t h e s s , c a tu r e , 1 5 4 , . . p d R u n n e l st o n e , 3 9 2
1 56 ; s u n k , 1 5 7 R u no, th e s s , s u n k , 3 2 8
. .

R i o N e gr o , t h e s s , 1 5 4 , 1 5 5 , 1 5 6 . . R US S E , LL 3 52
R i o P a r a na , t h e s s , s u n k , 2 9 1 . . l
R u s s i a , i s o at i o n , 7 ; t o n n a e o f g
R i va l , t h e d f
r i t e r , att ac k s a s u b hp
s i s, 87
m ar i n e , 3 9 1 R u s s o J a p an e s e
-
W ar , va u e of l
b
R o e ck , Ad
m ir a Si r J o n M d e , l h . m ine s, 2 6 1
h
sc em e o f o r a n i s a ti o n f o r t h e g R y e , 41 Ci n qu e P o rt , 9 , 1 3
M o tor B
o at R e s e r v e , 3 2 7
-
r av a e g d bya Fr e n c e e t, 1 7 hfl
b
R o e r t s , J , o f t h e s s E l s i nor e ,
. . .

t ak e n p
ri son e r th e e rm a n by G
cr u i se r L E I ZI , 1 80 ;P G tr an s S 90, ”
th e G e rm a n d e s t r o y e r, 128
fe rre d
t o th e e rm an s s G M a ri e , b
S a an , 1 3 9 g
—
. .

1 81 3 at C at a m Is an , h h l d S a gi tta , th e arm e dy h
ac t , 40 2 , 4 0 8
1 83 ; G
u a y a qu i , 1 8 4 l l g l
S a i i n v e ss e s , cr e w s , 5 3 ; t o n
-

b
R o e rt s o n , M at t e w , m a s t e r o f th e h g
n a e , 88 ; nu m er Of t r a i n , b d g
2 79 92 ; s ee , 1 17 p d
b
R o e rt s o n , N e i , m a s t e r o f t h e s sl . . l p
S a i o r s , i m r e s s m e nt o f , 1 2
T h e P r e s i d e n t, 3 1 4 St . Abb ’
d
s He a , 3 2 2 , 3 3 1 , 3 34
b
R o i n s o n , St a n e y , o f th e s s Oa kby ,l . . . lb
St A an s H e a , 3 80 , 3 8 3 , 4 0 0
’
d
a w ar e d d th e r o n ze M e a , 291B d l S t A nd r e w, t h e
. o s i ta h p
s i , at l hp
b
R o i nso n , Th
o m a s , m a st e r o f t h e t a ck e d
b y a s u m ar i n e , 3 85 b
s s K a bi nga , 1 9 0 , 1 9 2 no te
. . S t An n s H e a , 3 0 9 , 4 4 3 , 4 48
.
’
d
R ob u r n , t h e d f
r i t e r , 3 88 St . B d
ri e s B ay , 44 9
’

R o d j e s t v e n sk y , A m i r a , c o a i n d l l g h
St Cat e r i n e s P o i nt , 3 1 3 , 3 80 , 4 0 0
.
’

d ffi l
i cu t i e s , 5 S t E gb e r t, th e s s , c a t u r e , 1 9 8,
. . . p d
R o e b u ck , t h e s s , 3 3 7 . . l
2 0 0 ; r e e a s e , 1 9 8, 2 0 2 d
R om ne y
Ci n qu e P o rt , 9 St . G g h
e o r e s C ann e , 3 3 9 ; n e tt e ,
’
l d
R o o s e v e t, l Th d
e o o r e , o n th e s i n k 3 82
i n g o f th e s s L u s i ta n i a , 4 2 5
. . St Go v an s Li
.
’
gh h p
ts i , 4 3 5
R os a r i na , L a , th e s s , c as e . . h d by St J e a n d e L u z , 4 6
.

a su b
m ari n e , 1 73 n o te , 3 1 4 St J o h n s P o i n t , 4 3 5
.
’

R o s e , t h e t r aw e r , 2 6 2 l St Ju l i an , o r t , 3 6
. p
R o s e s , W a r s o f t h e , 1 3 , 8 2 n o te St M a o , 4 7
. l s i e e o f , 1 7, 1 8 g
R o s s , Si r J o n , M e m o i r s a nd Cor r e
h h l
St N i c o a s , B ay o f , 2 2
.

s p o nd e nce of A dm i r a l L o r d d e S a i n t P i e rr e , F r e n c m i n e s we e e r , h -
p
S a u m a r e , 5 3 no tez 2 79
R o ss , W H , m ast e r o f th e s e
. . . . . l y
St V a e r e n Cau x , 3 80
- -

T r a bb och , 1 9 1
l
R o s s ar e , s u m ar i n e
R osy t , 3 2 9 h ar m e
l b y
S a i s u r , E ar o f , a l o i nt e Co m pp d
b a s e at , 3 8 2 b m i ssi o ne r, 1 7
at r o a t , 3 3 5 , dp l A
S an n t o n i o , 1 8
”

3 70 h
S an C r i st o v a , 2 0 7 l
R o w , Si r Th om as , m as s a o r t o A b d S a n Ju a n d e Ul u a , 3 0
th e G d
r an Mo u l , 43 g S a n P a u l o , th e B
r a zi i a n s s 1 68 l . .

R o w e , J a m e s , H i s tor y of F l u s h i ng , .
S a n W i lfr i do , t h e s s 1 35 . .

6 1 n o te d
S an wi c h q
Ci n u e P o rt , 9 , 13
l l
R o y a F e e t R e s e rv e , 1 1 3 , 1 1 5 b at t e , 9 l
l l
R o y a M a i St e a m P a c k e t Co , 1 2 0 . d
S a n y Ca e , 2 0 7 p
hp fi d
s i s tt e wi t u n s, 1 2 4 hg S a n ta I s a b e l , th e e rm an s s , 1G . .

l l
R o y a N a v a Co a st V o u n t e e r s , 1 1 2 l s u nk , 1 85
y
R o al N av a l R e s e rv e , i ssu e o f S a p p h i r e , th e a r m e y ac t, 3 8 1 , d h
4 70 IND EX
hp h
S i w as L i gh h p
t s i , 3 83 SP EED Y , th e gu n b o at s u nk , , 328
h b
S r e w s u r y , E ar l
o f, a o i nte pp d S p i de r , t h e t r a w le r 2 6 0
,

Co m m i s s i o n e r , 1 7 p h d
S i t e a , 4 7, 4 0 0 ; e e t at , 2 0 fl
Sh r o v d e r , L i e u t e n a n t , o f t h e Ge r S p r e e wa l d , t h e Ge r m a n s s , 1 2 6 . .

m a n c r u i s e r K AR S RUH E , 1 5 4 L p d
S u r n H e a , 3 2 2 , 3 4 7, 3 6 0 , 3 9 5
S i a m e s e P r i n ce , th e s s , 1 4 3 . . St a a l b i e r gh u k , 1 4 7
d d d f
S i o n i a , M e i n a , e e at o f , 3 8 St ab l e f o l d , S u b - Li e u te n a n t A , .

g l Ad
Si e a , l m i r a ( Ge r m a n ) , 1 1 8 4 40
S i e r r a Co r do b a , t h e e r m an s s , G . . S ta d t S ch l e s wi g, th e e r m an s s , G . .

1 72 n o te 1 53
Si e rr a L e o n e , 2 7 S ta fi a , t h e s s , o m e . . b b d by
a n ae r o
p
S i m s o n , H L , m a s t e r o f th e s e
. . . . pl an e , 2 9 4

L y n to n Gr a nge , 1 4 0 G
ST A , th e d
e s tr o e r , 3 2 9 y
S k e rr y v o r e , 3 4 3 , 3 4 4 S ta r of B r i ta i n , t h e t r aw l e r , s tr i k e s
KP
S I J AC , K 3 4 3 , 3 5 1 , 3 56 , a m ine , 3 62

3 6 1 , 3 6 2 , 40 1 S t a rt B a y , 3 8 3
Sk u d e sn ae s , 2 6 9 , 3 3 3 l d
S t at e n I s a n , 1 8 4
l d Ad
S a e, m i r a S i r E dm o n l J W , d . . g
St a v a n e r , 2 6 9
D i r e c t o r o f N a v a In t e i e n c e , l ll g g
St e a m e n i n e , 2 , 4 , 9 5 ; i nv e nt i o n ,
-

2 2 4 , 2 59 72
l y
S av e r , c u s t o m o f , 2 6 l
St e am v e s s e s , t o n n a e , 8 1 , 8 5 7,
-
g -

l p
S o o s , 6 4 ; m in e swe e e rs , 40 1 -
p 9 0 9 4 , 2 3 6 ; a v e r a e s i z e , 87 ;
-
g
l y B
S u s, l
att e o f , 1 3 nu m e r o f tr a i n , 9 2 —
b d g
4
S m ari d g e , H S , m ast e r o f th e s s
. . . . St e am y ac t s , 2 5 5
-
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I n du s , 1 89 St e e , l m as t e r of th e s s . .

h h l
Sm i t , C ar e s , s ki er of th e pp Gr y fe va l e , ac co u n t o f h i s c a t u r e , p
l
t r aw e r T u ba l Ca i n , 1 4 7 195
h
Sm i t , Si r H L e w e y n , S e cr e t ar
. l l y S te e l s N a vy Di s t, 5 6 n o te
’

o f th e B
o ar of d
ra e , 2 38 T d Ste ph e ns, of th e s s L u si . .

h ll
S m i t s K n o , 3 4 5 , 3 4 6 , 3 48, 3 49
’
ta n i a , d
r o wn e , 41 8 d
yh
S m t s C ann e , 1 4 5
’
h l l
S ti e m a n , R e a r Ad
m i r a Si r H H ,
-
l . .

l
S n o w i n e , E V , s ki . er of. th e pp i n c o m m an d
o f Li ve r o o r e a, p l A
d f
ri te r H i ld a a nd E r nes t, 3 81
g ll
a antr , y 3 64 ; a w ar e th e d d St o r e s i s , 6 hp
364 S tor m c ock , t h e A m i r a t t u g , 4 3 0d ly
d l
S o a Is a n , 1 3 9 d St o r n o w a , y b
a s e a t , 3 5 1 , 3 78

l
S o e nt , t h e , 2 5 5 , 3 5 1 p
S to s s , K a i t an L e u tn a n t , o f th e
-

l l d
S o o m o n Is an s , 2 0 7 U8 , 3 8 7
l
S ol o n , t h e t r a w e r , 3 6 4 S tr a th i s la , t h e t r a w e r , 3 9 0 l
h
S o u t e r , J o n , m a st e r o f t h e s s . . S tr a th r o y , t h e s e , c a tu r e , 1 5 3 ;
. . p d
Bl a ckwoo d, 2 9 7 s u nk , 1 54 , 1 5 9

h p hp
S o u t am t o n , s i s a t , 1 7 Str o m n e s s , 3 79
h d
S o u t Cr o s s S a n , 3 4 8 d
St u r e e , Ad
m ira l
Si r D o v e t o n ,
Sou t h G d gh h p hyd
o o wi n L i ts i , ro d
P r e s i e nt o f t h e C ann e F e e t h l l
ph ll d
o n e i n sta e , 43 4 Co m m i t t e e , 2 5 8
So u t h G d o o wi ns , 3 2 0 , 3 3 1 St u r t o n , L o r , a d
o i nt e ppCo m m i s d
p
S o u th p o r t, t h e s s , e s c a e o f t h e , s i one r, 1 7
—
. .

204 9 St y n e H e a , 3 0 1 d
h
S o u t Se a , 3 6 b
Su m ar i n e A
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%
Sou t h St ac k , 4 0 4 3 68
h ld
Sou t wo , 3 1 9 , 3 2 0 ; fi ld m i ne e , b
Su m ar i n e s , e r m an ,G 2 12, 2 1 6,
328 b
2 5 4 ; n u m e r o f , 2 73 ; w ar ar e , f
p
S an i s h A d rm a a , d f
e e at o f th e , 3 8 v, 54, 2 85 , 2 9 3 , 2 9 6
p h d
S an i s In i e s , r e ri s a s o n , 3 8 p l 3 1 7, 3 2 9 , 3 3 2 , 3 7 1 , 3 7 6 , 3 80 , 3 85,
S p a r r ow, th e t r aw e r , 2 6 0 l 3 9 5— 7, 40 2 —5 , 4 09 , 4 3 1 — 3 , 4 40 ,
p
S ee , A l
dm i r a v o n , i n c o m m an d 4 43 9 ; — su n k , 3 85 9 1 , 441 , -

o f th e G
e r m an P a c i c S qu a r o n , fi d 4 4 6 ; n e t c u tt i n -
g d
e v i ce , 3 92 ;
1 40 a t t h e M ar s a Is a n s , 1 77 h ll l d m e as u r e s a ai n st , 4 3 3 —
g 7
P
S E EDW E , LL 3 43 S u dm a r k, t h e G
e r m an s s , 1 2 6 . .
 IND EX 4 71

S u ff o lk c o as t , m i n e fi e ld , 2 6 7, 3 2 0 T o ki o , th e t r aw e r , 3 5 4 r e w ar el ,
d d
S U FF O K , H M S
L 1 70 . . 3 56
u
pp y l o f F o o d a n d R aw M at e r i a l T o ko m a r u , t h e s s , s u n k , 2 7 8 . .

i n Ti m e o f W ar , R e p o r t o n , 2 1 0 T l
oo e , J C , s o e s u r v i v o r o f th e
. . l
1 6 , 2 2 4 , 2 2 7, 2 2 8 s s
. . T a ng i s ta n , 2 9 8
S u r c o u f , R o b e rt , 4 8 T b
o r a y , 4 7, 5 2

S u tte r to n , t h e t r awl e r , 4 0 2 , 40 7 T d b
o rp e o o at
-
N o 1 3 , su r r o u n e . d d
S w an s e a , 1 3 b y m i n e s , 3 2 2 ; N O 0 2 7, 3 9 9 .

S w art e a r e a , m i n e fi e ld , 4 0 3 , 4 0 6 N o 9 1 , a tt ack e b y t o r e o e s , 3 5 1
. d p d
S w e d e n , t o nn a g e o f s h i p s , 8 2 , 8 5 , T ory l d
I s an , 4 6 m ine e , 3 3 8, fi ld
87 3 78 , 4 0 3 , 4 0 8
SW I FT , a tt a ck e d by a s u b T o s to , t h e s s , 3 1 7 . .

m ar i n e , 3 3 3 T r a bb o ch , t h e s s , s u n k , 1 9 1 . .

Sy bi l P O i n t , 4 3 6 T d d d
r a e , B o ar o f , a m i n i str ati o n o f

S YD N E Y , 2 0 4 ; s i n k s th e M h
th e e r c an t N av y , 1 , 2 2 7
E MD E N , 1 9 5 n o te D p
M ar i n e e art m e n t , 7 8 , 8 4 , 2 3 8
p re h pp g
o rt o n s i i n , 82
T able B ay , 40 T d D
ra e i v i s i o n o f t h e W a r St a f , f
T a b or a , t h e G
e r m an s s , 1 2 6 . . c r e a ti o n o f t h e , 2 2 4 ; a o is e , b l h d
T g a u s Co v e , 1 8 2 225 ; r e o rm e f, 2 2 5, 2 2 6 ; i n d
T a i n u i , th e s e , ar m e , 1 2 1 . . d s tr u cti o n s t o s i o wn e r s , 2 4 3 , hp
T K G
A U , t h e e r m an e s t r o y e r , 1 2 8 d 2 4 6 , 2 48 ; m e m o r a n u m o n t h e d
T a m a r , t h e s s , s u n k , 1 76 , 2 5 2
. . sa et f y o f B r i ti s s i i n , 2 47 h h pp g
T a ngi s ta n , t h e s s , s u n k , 2 9 7 . . d l
i s s u e o f a i y v o y a e n o ti c e s , 2 5 0 g
T a r a , th e s s , 3 4 1 . . T f lg
ra a ar , v i c t o r at , 4 4 , 5 7 y
T ar aw a , 2 0 4 T p
r am s, 87 ; va u e o f, 8 8 ; r at e l
T a sm a n , th e u tc D
s s , 208 h . . o f s t e am i n , 1 1 7 g
T yl
a or, A . S , m a st e r o f th e s s
. . . T l
r a w e r F o ti l ll
a , t h e N o rt e r n , 3 2 3 , h
N or th la n ds , 3 1 3 3 70
T lay o r , F . G , m a s t e r o f th e s s
. . . T l
r a w e r R e s e rv e , r e c r u i t i n , 2 6 2 g
B u r e s k, a c c o u n t O f t h e E MD E N , T l
r a w e r S e c t i o n , r e u l ati o n s , 2 6 1 g
1 9 6— 8 T l
r aw e r s , 2 55, 2 5 7 ; e x e ri m e nts p
T e e s , th e , 7 5 h
w i t , 2 5 8 ; c art e r e fo r m i n e h d
T lA
e rr i to r i a rm y , 2 s we e i n , p g 2 6 0 , 2 6 5 , 3 1 8, 3 2 0
Th am e s , t h e , 6 3 , 3 2 1 h
sc e m e of m o i i s at i on , 2 64 bl
T H E S EU S , a tt ack e by a d nu m b
e r o f , 2 6 0 , 3 3 5 , 3 72 , 40 0 ;
sub m ar i n e , 3 3 3 w o r k o f th e , 3 2 0 , 3 2 2 , 3 5 2 , 3 6 1 ,
T h i e r f e l d e r , Li e u t e n an t Co m m an e r , -
d 3 6 2 , 40 1 e m an d
fo r , 3 2 2 , 3 2 4 , d
o f th e G e r m an a rm e m e r c an t d h 3 3 4 , 3 42 , 3 5 1 ar m e , 3 30 , 3 3 5, d
c ru i s e r K R O N RIN Z W I H E M , 1 7 1 P L L 3 68 fi d
tt e wi t e x o s i v e s w e e s , h pl p
T h o m a s W I r vi n e , t h e s s ,
. o wn . . bl 3 34, 3 51 ; s tr i k e m i ne s, 362 ;
u
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