Among fighters, only the fool will underrate his adversary. Per contra,
it is only the fool who overestimates his own strength. The Germans of
Germany made both those blunders.
The German navy is a strange mixture, of brave men and cowards, of
gallant gentlemen and murderous curs; and all of them are directed by
asses. No sooner is a gallant feat of seamanship recorded and acclaimed
than it is completely beclouded and besmirched by some act of dirty
cruelty which turns admiration into loathing. The history of German
naval doings in this war is like a checkerboard of black and white
squares; but the few remaining white squares are rapidly turning black.
In commerce-raiding the Germans are great; and the U-boat is a wonder.
The more humble the prey, the better for the boat. But the U-boat is
mighty careful not to tackle a destroyer, and take a sporting chance;
and when he finds that his tramp-freighter prey is armed, he feels
that he is indeed in hard luck. His favorite warfare is fighting, with
torpedoes and guns galore, unarmed fishing smacks and rusty tramp
steamers. His favorite order is: "Fire when you see them spit on the
bait!"
And now he has taken on the habit of shelling life-boats loaded to
the gunwales with helpless crews, and sending them all to the bottom.
Sometimes the gallant U-boat captain comes close up, and he and his
crew come out and jeer at drowning men and women as they struggle in
icy waters.
The German High Seas Fleet is grand--at running for cover whenever the
British get a chance at it. The manner in which the _Bluecher_ was left
to its fate while all the other gallant battleships of the German fleet
madly scuttled for the Kiel Canal, had its comical side; but it was
truly typical of the Kaiser's navy. It is said that after that event
Tirpitz provided his naval code with a new signal, reading, "Every man
for himself, and England take the hindmost."
Germany's bid for the supremacy of the seas was far too low; and it has
cost her heavily.