The Merchant Seamen and The Submarine.
The Merchant Navy. Vol. III. By Sir Archibald Hurd. ' (John Murray. 21s.) To this, the third and last, volume of Sir Archibald Hurd's -Iiistory of the Merchant Navy in the War the Prince of Wales . has written a moving " foreword." His Royal Highness says that the Red Ensign now gives him a special thrill, for that
• `; familiar piece of bunting " never fails to remind him of the wonderful record of British merchantmen. This volume • describes what the Prince of Wales calls " the final test of a „heroism and endPrance unparalleled in history."
.} A final test indeed ! The narrative opens at February, 1917—the date at which the 'unrestricted submarine warfare began. At least, it was then that Germany declared unre- stricted
war on the world, though British ships did not notice much difference, because for months the Germans had been sinking them at sight. Sir Archibald Hurd tells us that in his judgment there was " only one way in which to treat this left strategy to others and has confined
• _hinaieff to",teleati4 episodeSeharaeteristic of his main- theme, which-is-the life lived by the merchant crews, their disasters, their escapes, and their expedients for-defending_themselves. In February, 1-617, the Admiralty seriously set about arming all merchant ships with guns. That meant-that the crews had to be regularly instructed in the use of-them. It was hoped that submarines would be wary of attacking on the high seas ships armed with a useful weapon, but a. much fuller scheme of defence was provided. for inshore waters. Here, and at the approaches Of harbetirS,• fleets Of small' craft Were provided as regular patrols. '-Later merchant vessels were equipped with the otter contrivance for protection against mines and the materials for :smoke screens, and they Were painted with dazzle schemes, so that it -would •be difficult for submarine commanders to knOW exactly -What course they were steering. Finally, they were, required to sail in convoys under the protection of the Navy.. The convoy system turned out to be by far the best defence, - bid it must-not be supposed that its adoption was one of those obvious remedies which ought to have been applied at once.
Very little has been heard outside the Merchant Navy itself of the- otter contrivance. It resembled the parairane, which was used in the Navy and enabled ships of war to steam through minefields. - The paravanes were towed in pairs one on each quarter of the ship ; the towing wires which were fixed in the hows of the ship under water shepherded the mine and its mooring chain -away froiii the side of the ship to the point where powerful cutters cut the chain. The otter system was the same in theory but was simpler in construction. The otter trawl has long been familiar to every fisherman. The principle of it is that a board flies out at an angle from the vessel which tows it just as a kite flies at an angle to the wind which supports it. Water pressure is substituted for air pressure. A. merchant ship with otters and cutters was generally safe against any mine which did not actually strike her stem, and this risk was almost negligible, because the :nine was almost always.d,eflected by the ship's bow-wave.
As regards the cenvox,,method, few persons outside the gerchanirrNavOlaveztini idtx,e;of. tbe.inteasity-Ao(4.146:.inis- givings..with which the-_proposal was received. Ships of war which- keep msition when zigzagging without losing their....A relative distances -from 'One another arc • helped by accurate instruments and appliances. The masters of tramp steamers with their rude equipment thought that they simply could not 'do what was requIred 'of thent without gteat 'danger to one another. There were many naval officers who heartily agreed with them. The Admiralty, however, insisted and were justified.- There is a remarkable photograph in this volume
of a convoy zigzagging in the danger zone. •
Looking back on the unrestricted submarine warfare, we can hardly believe even now that the Merchant Navy came through it. April, 1917, was the most disastrous to British ShiPping in the War.- No feWer- thin 997 liVes were lost and 516,394 tons of shipping were destroyed or captured in that black month alone. The total loss of this month to Allied and neutral shipping combined was 881,027 tons. Howeveir-much Englishmen may read about what the merchant seamen did in those days, they can never know the full sum of the patience, the skill and the silent bravery which won through. Take the case of the armed fishing smack Nelson.' She was shelled by a submarine. The master was mortally wounded. As he was dying—and knew that he was dying—he ordered a Carrier pigeon to be sent with a message. He himself dictated
the message " ' Nelson ' being attacked by submarine. Skipper killed. Send assistance at once." When he heard that the smack was sinking he gave the order : " Throw the books overboard." The crew wanted to lift him into the boat, but he replied : " Throw me overboard." He was too shattered to be moved. The crew rowed away, and in a quarter-of an hour the ' Nelson ' went down with her heroic master. He received a posthumous Victoria Cross.
Previous page
