Page:EB1922 - Volume 32.djvu/635

Rh

The reports of destruction in 1918 gradually began to fall into four categories. Either a mine demolished the boat wholesale, or an aeroplane swooped down on it with 3oo-lb. bombs, or a volley of depth charges forced it to the surface, or a torpedo from a British submarine brought its career to a sudden end. Depth charges competed with mines as the principal instrument of destruction (destroyers and patrols 39%, mines 30%); then came the submarine 8%, with aircraft a bad last.

It is impossible to narrate the long story of destruction. UB8i may be mentioned as an example of the unenviable career of a German submarine. On her way down Channel on Dec. 2 1917 she struck a mine off the Owers (near Portsmouth) and water began to enter by the stern. An attempt was made to bring her to the surface, but the after-tanks would not blow and her stern sank to the bottom in 90 feet. The gauges showed the bows to be out of water, and with the boat lying at an angle of about 60 a torpedo was lowered from the bow tube, and a man rammed up its narrow length. The sea cap was opened cautiously and it was found that the mouth of the tube was a couple of feet above water. Men were rammed carefully up and seven men had dragged themselves painfully out, only to find the cold so bitter and the strain so great that most of them elected to go back and join those who were seeking oblivion and death in the oxygen flasks. ?32 patrolling in the vicinity saw the bows above water, but in the endeavour to get alongside the wind and waves bumped her against the submarine, which went to the bottom, leaving only a solitary survivor. Two little drifters contributed their quota to the tale. On April 17 1918 a little drifter, the " Pilot Me," whose jolly name was in itself an omen of success, working in the North Channel, suddenly sighted the periscope of UB82, 150 ft. off, and turning quickly dropped four depth charges on it. The submarine came up at an angle of 45, and three other drifters, the " Young Fred," " Look Sharp " and " Light," all opened fire on her. She went down and the " Young Fred " dropped four depth charges on her, bringing her to a final end.

Statistics of Submarine Warfare. The dreary dreadful tale of ships sunk and attacked is too long to give (for dates and names see Admiralty Return of British Merchant and Fishing Vessels Captured or Destroyed, Aug. 1919, H.C. 199). It includes the names of nine hospital ships, all, with one exception, large ships whose character was unmistakable (" Asturias " March 20 1917, Channel, beached, 44 lives lost; " Gloucester Castle " March 30 1917, Channel, towed in; " Donegal " April 17 1917, Channel, sunk, 41 lost; " Guildford Castle" April 10 1917, Bristol Channel, hit by dud torpedo; " Lanfranc " April 17 1917, off Havre, with 167 wounded Germans, sunk, 34 lost; " Dover Castle " May 26 1917, Mediterranean, sunk, 7 lost; " Rewa " Jan. 4 1918, Bristol Channel, sunk, 4 lost; " Glenart Castle " Feb. 26 1918, Bristol Channel, sunk, 95 lost; " Llandovery Castle " June 27 1918, Atlantic). Of these the attack on the " Llandovery Castle " by U86 (Patrig) was probably the most flagrant breach of the principles of humanity. She was homeward bound from Canada 116 m. from the Fastnets (S.W. point of Ireland). The enormous red cross of a hospital ship was lit on her side, glowing in the twilight like a lustrous jewel, when she was attacked and sunk; of the 258 persons on board, including 14 nurses, all except a boatload of 20 perished.

Allied and Neutral Merchant Ships Sunk, 1914-8.

1914

(5 mths.)

1915

1916

1917

1918

(10

mths.)

By Surface Craft ' Submarines 1 Mines.

55 3 42

23 396 97

32 964 161

64

2,439 170

3 1,035 27

Total. . . Total Tonnage (in ooo's) German Submarines

sunk

IOO

303

5

5i6 1,277 JQ

1,157 2,348

25

2,673' 6,184 66

1,0652 2,627 74'

1 Also three by aircraft.
 * Also one by aircraft.

s Not including 14 blown up on evacuating Flanders and the Adriatic.

Allied and Neutral Merchant Ships Sunk, 1917-8. A. Allied and neutral merchant ships sunk by submarine. B. Gross tonnage of merchant shipping sunk by submarines, in

ooo's. C. Submarines sunk.

1917

1918

A

B

C

A

B

C

Jan.

H5

291

2

121

298

9

Feb. March April

209 246

354

464 57 834

4 4

2

114 I6 3 107

315 231 261

4 5 6.

May

264

549

6

110

290

17

June

272

631

4

95

240

3

July

210

492

6

95

259

6

Aug.

I 7 8

489

4

102

270

6

Sept.

149

315

10

78

1 86

9

Oct.

ISO

429

8

5

106

5

Nov.

H3

259

9

4

Dec.

149

353

7

Total. Total*

2,439 2,673

5,6i3 6,184

66

1,035 1.065

2,556 2,627

74

In Oct. 1918 Flanders was evacuated and the remains of the flotilla blown up. It was a Flanders boat UBn6 (Lt. Emsmann) which made a last desperate effort to enter Scapa on Oct. 28. It was heard on the hydrophones, and seen for a moment in the search-light beam. Then came the heavy shock of an explosion and the last of the Flanders flotilla found a fitting end in the very gates of the enemy.
 * (Including losses by surface craft and mines.)

When the Armistice was under discussion, Scheer, who was now chief of the German naval staff, recalled all the submarines, intending to make use of them in a last desperate sortie with the fleet, but he found himself suddenly confronted with mutiny, and the fleet never sailed, though the submarines remained true. Meanwhile in the British navy the evolution of the submarine had followed a different path. Here there was a tendency to produce a type useful in reconnaissance work and able to act in tactical conjunction with the fleet. Of E class, which did yeoman service, 49 were built and 27 lost. They were vessels of 180 ft. long with three to five i8-in. tubes and a speed of 15 knots on the surface and 10 submerged. They were followed by G class (10 built in 1916, 4 lost) with better seagoing qualities and double hulls, armed with one 3-in. anti-aircraft gun and 5 tubes (four 8-in. and one 2i-in. astern); their speed was 14 and 10 knots. Of J class 7 were built in 1916-7 and i lost. They were 270 ft. long, carried one 4-in. and six i8-in. tubes and could do 18 knots on the surface. K class were designed for fleet work, and were completed in 1917-8 (16 -built, 3 lost). They were steam-driven on the surface, attaining a speed of 22 knots, 334 ft. long, and carried one 4-in., one 3-in. A.A. gun and eight i8-in. tubes. L class car- ried one 3-in. A.A. and six 2i-in. tubes. They were 222 ft. long with a surface speed of 17 knots. Some 25 were complete in 1918 (2 lost). Of M class only 4 were ordered. They were about 200 ft. long and carried a single i2-in. 35 calibres gun which could be fired only in the direction of the bow. The design was " freakish " and displayed a lack of tactical, strategical sense. Only one was completed. R class, of which 1 2 were completed (none lost), was specially designed for anti-submarine work. They were short and built for quick diving and rapid manoeuvring. They carried one 3-in. gun and four i8-in. tubes. Of British submarines 54 were lost during the war:

By enemy destroyers

By mines.

By enemy submarines

Unknown (probably by enemy)

Aircraft

Sunk in error by British craft

Wrecked

Scuttled.

Accident (collision)

3 4 4

21 I

3 4 10

4 54

The question arises, How nearly did the German submarine campaign attain its aim? The increase in submarine destruction and the decrease in shipping losses possess h'ttle meaning apart from the figures of output in either case. In spite of strenuous