ANOTHER SUBMARINE DISASTER
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In the last issue of the Spectator a paragraph headed "Another Submarine Disaster" occurs amongst the "News of the Week." As a submarine officer, now unhappily retired, I am much interested in the mental process which evolved the concluding sentence of the paragraph, which runs : "And when we add the weightier objection—that the submarine weapon is unnecessary and liable to be used unfairly—the case for its abolition is irresistible." I hold no brief for the militarists, but, assuming that some weapons are necessary, why should the submarine be less necessary than others ?
Secondly, what is " fair " about war ? Does the writer mean us to assume that our blockade of the Central Powers— which had a more far-reaching effect on their civil populations than the German submarine campaign had on ours—was justifiable, whilst the enemy action was not Such an assumption would be illogicaL Passengers in merchant vessels during the War were free agents and knew well the risks they ran, while the crews of ships which brought food and munitions to this country were as much in the fighting line as the infantry in Flanders.
Our present attitude to submarines is a superficial gesture, made in the knowledge that this country alone of all the Powers would be more secure in the very unlikely event of abolition. The Submarine Service has to remain dumb in the face of all criticism, but the enthusiasm, almost amounting to fanatical obsession, of the officers and men in this branch, is well known throughout the Navy. Why should the Press and the public make a fuss if these young men voluntarily risk their lives ? "Dum spiro, spero" is the motto of the Submarine Service, but, if the worst comes to the worst, death in a disaster is cleaner than death of some loathsome disease in a hospital bed, in which manner more than half of each generation must perish before reaching the age of fifty. To Hell with Safety First ! that is the true meaning of the Sermon on the Mount.
Lieut.-Comdr., R.N. (retired). 11 Belsize Park Gardens, N.W.8.
[Submarines in the late War were used contrary to all international agreements and the laws of humanity. The danger is that in the stress of war they will be so used again.— En. Spectator.]
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