Several of the enemy's submarines are at sea, and have inflicted some
appreciable damage upon our merchant ships. The danger-spots upon
Monday and the greater part of Tuesday appear to have been the mouth
of the Thames and the western entrance to the Solent. On Monday,
between the Nore and Margate, there were sunk five large steamers, the
_Adela_, _Moldavia_, _Cusco_, _Cormorant_, and _Maid of Athens_,
particulars of which will be found below. Near Ventnor, on the same
day, was sunk the _Verulam_, from Bombay. On Tuesday the _Virginia_,
_Caesar_, _King of the East_, and _Pathfinder_ were destroyed between
the Foreland and Boulogne. The latter three were actually lying in
French waters, and the most energetic representations have been made
by the Government of the Republic. On the same day _The Queen of
Sheba_, _Orontes_, _Diana_, and _Atalanta_ were destroyed near the
Needles. Wireless messages have stopped all ingoing cargo-ships from
coming up Channel, but unfortunately there is evidence that at least
two of the enemy's submarines are in the West. Four cattle-ships from
Dublin to Liverpool were sunk yesterday evening, while three Bristol-
bound steamers, _The Hilda_, _Mercury_, and _Maria Toser_, were blown
up in the neighbourhood of Lundy Island. Commerce has, so far as
possible, been diverted into safer channels, but in the meantime,
however vexatious these incidents may be, and however grievous the
loss both to the owners and to Lloyd's, we may console ourselves by
the reflection that since a submarine cannot keep the sea for more
than ten days without refitting, and since the base has been captured,
there must come a speedy term to these depredations."
So much for the _Courier's_ account of our proceedings. Another small
paragraph was, however, more eloquent:--
"The price of wheat, which stood at thirty-five shillings a week
before the declaration of war, was quoted yesterday on the Baltic at
fifty-two. Maize has gone from twenty-one to thirty-seven, barley
from nineteen to thirty-five, sugar (foreign granulated) from eleven
shillings and threepence to nineteen shillings and sixpence."
"Good, my lads!" said I, when I read it to the crew. "I can assure you
that those few lines will prove to mean more than the whole page about
the Fall of Blankenberg. Now let us get down Channel and send those
prices up a little higher."
All traffic had stopped for London--not so bad for the little _Iota_--and
we did not see a steamer that was worth a torpedo between Dungeness and
the Isle of Wight. There I called Stephan up by wireless, and by seven
o'clock we were actually lying side by side in a smooth rolling
sea--Hengistbury Head bearing N.N.W. and about five miles distant. The
two crews clustered on the whale-backs and shouted their joy at seeing
friendly faces once more. Stephan had done extraordinarily well. I had,
of course, read in the London paper of his four ships on Tuesday, but he
had sunk no fewer than seven since, for many of those which should have
come to the Thames had tried to make Southampton. Of the seven, one was
of twenty thousand tons, a grain-ship from America, a second was a grain-
ship from the Black Sea, and two others were great liners from South
Africa. I congratulated Stephan with all my heart upon his splendid
achievement. Then as we had been seen by a destroyer which was
approaching at a great pace, we both dived, coming up again off the
Needles, where we spent the night in company. We could not visit each
other, since we had no boat, but we lay so nearly alongside that we were
able, Stephan and I, to talk from hatch to hatch and so make our plans.
He had shot away more than half his torpedoes, and so had I, and yet we
were very averse from returning to our base so long as our oil held out.
I told him of my experience with the Boston steamer, and we mutually
agreed to sink the ships by gun-fire in future so far as possible. I
remember old Horli saying, "What use is a gun aboard a submarine?" We
were about to show. I read the English paper to Stephan by the light of
my electric torch, and we both agreed that few ships would now come up
the Channel. That sentence about diverting commerce to safer routes
could only mean that the ships would go round the North of Ireland and
unload at Glasgow. Oh, for two more ships to stop that entrance!
Heavens, what _would_ England have done against a foe with thirty or
forty submarines, since we only needed six instead of four to complete
her destruction! After much talk we decided that the best plan would be
that I should dispatch a cipher telegram next morning from a French port
to tell them to send the four second-rate boats to cruise off the North
of Ireland and West of Scotland. Then when I had done this I should move
down Channel with Stephan and operate at the mouth, while the other two
boats could work in the Irish Sea. Having made these plans, I set off
across the Channel in the early morning, reaching the small village of
Etretat, in Brittany. There I got off my telegram and then laid my
course for Falmouth, passing under the keels of two British cruisers
which were making eagerly for Etretat, having heard by wireless that we
were there.
Half-way down Channel we had trouble with a short circuit in our electric
engines, and were compelled to run on the surface for several hours while
we replaced one of the cam-shafts and renewed some washers. It was a
ticklish time, for had a torpedo-boat come upon us we could not have
dived. The perfect submarine of the future will surely have some
alternative engines for such an emergency. However by the skill of
Engineer Morro, we got things going once more. All the time we lay there
I saw a hydroplane floating between us and the British coast. I can
understand how a mouse feels when it is in a tuft of grass and sees a
hawk high up in the heavens. However, all went well; the mouse became a
water-rat, it wagged its tail in derision at the poor blind old hawk, and
it dived down into a nice safe green, quiet world where there was nothing
to injure it.
It was on the Wednesday night that the _Iota_ crossed to Etretat. It was
Friday afternoon before we had reached our new cruising ground. Only one
large steamer did I see upon our way. The terror we had caused had
cleared the Channel. This big boat had a clever captain on board. His
tactics were excellent and took him in safety to the Thames. He came
zigzagging up Channel at twenty-five knots, shooting off from his course
at all sorts of unexpected angles. With our slow pace we could not catch
him, nor could we calculate his line so as to cut him off. Of course, he
had never seen us, but he judged, and judged rightly, that wherever we
were those were the tactics by which he had the best chance of getting
past. He deserved his success.
But, of course, it is only in a wide Channel that such things can be
done. Had I met him in the mouth of the Thames there would have been a
different story to tell. As I approached Falmouth I destroyed a three-
thousand-ton boat from Cork, laden with butter and cheese. It was my
only success for three days.
That night (Friday, April 16th) I called up Stephan, but received no
reply. As I was within a few miles of our rendezvous, and as he would
not be cruising after dark, I was puzzled to account for his silence. I
could only imagine that his wireless was deranged. But, alas!
I was soon to find the true reason from a copy of the _Western Morning
News_, which I obtained from a Brixham trawler. The _Kappa_, with her
gallant commander and crew, were at the bottom of the English Channel.
It appeared from this account that after I had parted from him he had met
and sunk no fewer than five vessels. I gathered these to be his work,
since all of them were by gun-fire, and all were on the south coast of
Dorset or Devon. How he met his fate was stated in a short telegram
which was headed "Sinking of a Hostile Submarine." It was marked
"Falmouth," and ran thus:--
The P. and O. mail steamer _Macedonia_ came into this port last night
with five shell holes between wind and water. She reports having been
attacked by a hostile submarine ten miles to the south-east of the
Lizard. Instead of using her torpedoes, the submarine for some reason
approached from the surface and fired five shots from a semi-automatic
twelve-pounder gun. She was evidently under the impression that the
_Macedonia_ was unarmed. As a matter of fact, being warned of the
presence of submarines in the Channel, the _Macedonia_ had mounted her
armament as an auxiliary cruiser. She opened fire with two
quick-firers and blew away the conning-tower of the submarine. It is
probable that the shells went right through her, as she sank at once
with her hatches open. The _Macedonia_ was only kept afloat by her
pumps.
Such was the end of the _Kappa_, and my gallant friend, Commander
Stephan. His best epitaph was in a corner of the same paper, and was
headed "Mark Lane." It ran:--
"Wheat (average) 66, maize 48, barley 50."
Well, if Stephan was gone there was the more need for me to show energy.
My plans were quickly taken, but they were comprehensive. All that day
(Saturday) I passed down the Cornish coast and round Land's End, getting
two steamers on the way. I had learned from Stephan's fate that it was
better to torpedo the large craft, but I was aware that the auxiliary
cruisers of the British Government were all over ten thousand tons, so
that for all ships under that size it was safe to use my gun. Both these
craft, the _Yelland_ and the _Playboy_--the latter an American ship--were
perfectly harmless, so I came up within a hundred yards of them and
speedily sank them, after allowing their people to get into boats. Some
other steamers lay farther out, but I was so eager to make my new
arrangements that I did not go out of my course to molest them. Just
before sunset, however, so magnificent a prey came within my radius of
action that I could not possibly refuse her. No sailor could fail to
recognize that glorious monarch of the sea, with her four cream funnels
tipped with black, her huge black sides, her red bilges, and her high
white top-hamper, roaring up Channel at twenty-three knots, and carrying
her forty-five thousand tons as lightly as if she were a five-ton motor-
boat. It was the queenly _Olympic_, of the White Star--once the largest
and still the comeliest of liners. What a picture she made, with the
blue Cornish sea creaming round her giant fore-foot, and the pink western
sky with one evening star forming the background to her noble lines.
She was about five miles off when we dived to cut her off. My
calculation was exact. As we came abreast we loosed our torpedo and
struck her fair. We swirled round with the concussion of the water. I
saw her in my periscope list over on her side, and I knew that she had
her death-blow. She settled down slowly, and there was plenty of time to
save her people. The sea was dotted with her boats. When I got about
three miles off I rose to the surface, and the whole crew clustered up to
see the wonderful sight. She dived bows foremost, and there was a
terrific explosion, which sent one of the funnels into the air. I
suppose we should have cheered--somehow, none of us felt like cheering.
We were all keen sailors, and it went to our hearts to see such a ship go
down like a broken eggshell. I gave a gruff order, and all were at their
posts again while we headed north-west. Once round the Land's End I
called up my two consorts, and we met next day at Hartland Point, the
south end of Bideford Bay. For the moment the Channel was clear, but the
English could not know it, and I reckoned that the loss of the _Olympic_
would stop all ships for a day or two at least.
Having assembled the _Delta_ and _Epsilon_, one on each side of me, I
received the report from Miriam and Var, the respective commanders. Each
had expended twelve torpedoes, and between them they had sunk twenty-two
steamers. One man had been killed by the machinery on board of the
_Delta_, and two had been burned by the ignition of some oil on the
_Epsilon_. I took these injured men on board, and I gave each of the
boats one of my crew. I also divided my spare oil, my provisions, and my
torpedoes among them, though we had the greatest possible difficulty in
those crank vessels in transferring them from one to the other. However,
by ten o'clock it was done, and the two vessels were in condition to keep
the sea for another ten days. For my part, with only two torpedoes left,
I headed north up the Irish Sea. One of my torpedoes I expended that
evening upon a cattle-ship making for Milford Haven. Late at night,
being abreast of Holyhead, I called upon my four northern boats, but
without reply. Their Marconi range is very limited. About three in the
afternoon of the next day I had a feeble answer. It was a great relief
to me to find that my telegraphic instructions had reached them and that
they were on their station. Before evening we all assembled in the lee
of Sanda Island, in the Mull of Kintyre. I felt an admiral indeed when I
saw my five whale-backs all in a row. Panza's report was excellent. They
had come round by the Pentland Firth and reached their cruising ground on
the fourth day. Already they had destroyed twenty vessels without any
mishap. I ordered the _Beta_ to divide her oil and torpedoes among the
other three, so that they were in good condition to continue their
cruise. Then the _Beta_ and I headed for home, reaching our base upon
Sunday, April 25th. Off Cape Wrath I picked up a paper from a small
schooner.
"Wheat, 84; Maize, 60; Barley, 62." What were battles and bombardments
compared to that!
The whole coast of Norland was closely blockaded by cordon within cordon,
and every port, even the smallest, held by the British. But why should
they suspect my modest confectioner's villa more than any other of the
ten thousand houses that face the sea? I was glad when I picked up its
homely white front in my periscope. That night I landed and found my
stores intact. Before morning the _Beta_ reported itself, for we had the
windows lit as a guide.
It is not for me to recount the messages which I found waiting for me at
my humble headquarters. They shall ever remain as the patents of
nobility of my family. Among others was that never-to-be-forgotten
salutation from my King. He desired me to present myself at Hauptville,
but for once I took it upon myself to disobey his commands. It took me
two days--or rather two nights, for we sank ourselves during the daylight
hours--to get all our stores on board, but my presence was needful every
minute of the time. On the third morning, at four o'clock, the _Beta_
and my own little flagship were at sea once more, bound for our original
station off the mouth of the Thames.
I had no time to read our papers whilst I was refitting, but I gathered
the news after we got under way. The British occupied all our ports, but
otherwise we had not suffered at all, since we have excellent railway
communications with Europe. Prices had altered little, and our
industries continued as before. There was talk of a British invasion,
but this I knew to be absolute nonsense, for the British must have
learned by this time that it would be sheer murder to send transports
full of soldiers to sea in the face of submarines. When they have a
tunnel they can use their fine expeditionary force upon the Continent,
but until then it might just as well not exist so far as Europe is
concerned. My own country, therefore, was in good case and had nothing
to fear. Great Britain, however, was already feeling my grip upon her
throat. As in normal times four-fifths of her food is imported, prices
were rising by leaps and bounds. The supplies in the country were
beginning to show signs of depletion, while little was coming in to
replace it. The insurances at Lloyd's had risen to a figure which made
the price of the food prohibitive to the mass of the people by the time
it had reached the market. The loaf, which, under ordinary circumstances
stood at fivepence, was already at one and twopence. Beef was three
shillings and fourpence a pound, and mutton two shillings and ninepence.
Everything else was in proportion. The Government had acted with energy
and offered a big bounty for corn to be planted at once. It could only
be reaped five months hence, however, and long before then, as the papers
pointed out, half the island would be dead from starvation. Strong
appeals had been made to the patriotism of the people, and they were
assured that the interference with trade was temporary, and that with a
little patience all would be well. But already there was a marked rise
in the death-rate, especially among children, who suffered from want of
milk, the cattle being slaughtered for food. There was serious rioting
in the Lanarkshire coalfields and in the Midlands, together with a
Socialistic upheaval in the East of London, which had assumed the
proportions of a civil war. Already there were responsible papers which
declared that England was in an impossible position, and that an
immediate peace was necessary to prevent one of the greatest tragedies in
history. It was my task now to prove to them that they were right.
It was May 2nd when I found myself back at the Maplin Sands to the north
of the estuary of the Thames. The _Beta_ was sent on to the Solent to
block it and take the place of the lamented _Kappa_. And now I was
throttling Britain indeed--London, Southampton, the Bristol Channel,
Liverpool, the North Channel, the Glasgow approaches, each was guarded by
my boats. Great liners were, as we learned afterwards, pouring their
supplies into Galway and the West of Ireland, where provisions were
cheaper than has ever been known. Tens of thousands were embarking from
Britain for Ireland in order to save themselves from starvation. But you
cannot transplant a whole dense population. The main body of the people,
by the middle of May, were actually starving. At that date wheat was at
a hundred, maize and barley at eighty. Even the most obstinate had begun
to see that the situation could not possibly continue.
In the great towns starving crowds clamoured for bread before the
municipal offices, and public officials everywhere were attacked and
often murdered by frantic mobs, composed largely of desperate women who
had seen their infants perish before their eyes. In the country, roots,
bark, and weeds of every sort were used as food. In London the private
mansions of Ministers were guarded by strong pickets of soldiers, while a
battalion of Guards was camped permanently round the Houses of
Parliament. The lives of the Prime Minister and of the Foreign Secretary
were continually threatened and occasionally attempted. Yet the
Government had entered upon the war with the full assent of every party
in the State. The true culprits were those, be they politicians or
journalists, who had not the foresight to understand that unless Britain
grew her own supplies, or unless by means of a tunnel she had some way of
conveying them into the island, all her mighty expenditure upon her army
and her fleet was a mere waste of money so long as her antagonists had a
few submarines and men who could use them. England has often been
stupid, but has got off scot-free. This time she was stupid and had to
pay the price. You can't expect Luck to be your saviour always.
It would be a mere repetition of what I have already described if I were
to recount all our proceedings during that first ten days after I resumed
my station. During my absence the ships had taken heart and had begun to
come up again. In the first day I got four. After that I had to go
farther afield, and again I picked up several in French waters. Once I
had a narrow escape through one of my kingston valves getting some grit
into it and refusing to act when I was below the surface. Our margin of
buoyancy just carried us through. By the end of that week the Channel
was clear again, and both _Beta_ and my own boat were down West once
more. There we had encouraging messages from our Bristol consort, who in
turn had heard from _Delta_ at Liverpool. Our task was completely done.
We could not prevent all food from passing into the British Islands, but
at least we had raised what did get in to a price which put it far beyond
the means of the penniless, workless multitudes. In vain Government
commandeered it all and doled it out as a general feeds the garrison of a
fortress. The task was too great--the responsibility too horrible. Even
the proud and stubborn English could not face it any longer.
I remember well how the news came to me. I was lying at the time off
Selsey Bill when I saw a small war-vessel coming down Channel. It had
never been my policy to attack any vessel coming _down_. My torpedoes
and even my shells were too precious for that. I could not help being
attracted, however, by the movements of this ship, which came slowly
zigzagging in my direction.
"Looking for me," thought I. "What on earth does the foolish thing hope
to do if she could find me?"
I was lying awash at the time and got ready to go below in case she
should come for me. But at that moment--she was about half a mile
away--she turned her quarter, and there to my amazement was the red flag
with the blue circle, our own beloved flag, flying from her peak. For a
moment I thought that this was some clever dodge of the enemy to tempt me
within range. I snatched up my glasses and called on Vornal. Then we
both recognized the vessel. It was the _Juno_, the only one left intact
of our own cruisers. What could she be doing flying the flag in the
enemy's waters? Then I understood it, and turning to Vornal, we threw
ourselves into each other's arms. It could only mean an armistice--or
peace!
And it was peace. We learned the glad news when we had risen alongside
the _Juno_, and the ringing cheers which greeted us had at last died
away. Our orders were to report ourselves at once at Blankenberg. Then
she passed on down Channel to collect the others. We returned to port
upon the surface, steaming through the whole British fleet as we passed
up the North Sea. The crews clustered thick along the sides of the
vessels to watch us. I can see now their sullen, angry faces. Many
shook their fists and cursed us as we went by. It was not that we had
damaged them--I will do them the justice to say that the English, as the
old Boer War has proved, bear no resentment against a brave enemy--but
that they thought us cowardly to attack merchant ships and avoid the
warships. It is like the Arabs who think that a flank attack is a mean,
unmanly device. War is not a big game, my English friends. It is a
desperate business to gain the upper hand, and one must use one's brain
in order to find the weak spot of one's enemy. It is not fair to blame
me if I have found yours. It was my duty. Perhaps those officers and
sailors who scowled at the little _Iota_ that May morning have by this
time done me justice when the first bitterness of undeserved defeat was
passed.
Let others describe my entrance into Blankenberg; the mad enthusiasm of
the crowds, and the magnificent public reception of each successive boat
as it arrived. Surely the men deserved the grant made them by the State
which has enabled each of them to be independent for life. As a feat of
endurance, that long residence in such a state of mental tension in
cramped quarters, breathing an unnatural atmosphere, will long remain as
a record. The country may well be proud of such sailors.
The terms of peace were not made onerous, for we were in no condition to
make Great Britain our permanent enemy. We knew well that we had won the
war by circumstances which would never be allowed to occur again, and
that in a few years the Island Power would be as strong as ever--stronger,
perhaps--for the lesson that she had learned. It would be madness to
provoke such an antagonist. A mutual salute of flags was arranged, the
Colonial boundary was adjusted by arbitration, and we claimed no
indemnity beyond an undertaking on the part of Britain that she would pay
any damages which an International Court might award to France or to the
United States for injury received through the operations of our
submarines. So ended the war!
Of course, England will not be caught napping in such a fashion again!
Her foolish blindness is partly explained by her delusion that her enemy
would not torpedo merchant vessels. Common sense should have told her
that her enemy will play the game that suits them best--that they will
not inquire what they may do, but they will do it first and talk about it
afterwards. The opinion of the whole world now is that if a blockade
were proclaimed one may do what one can with those who try to break it,
and that it was as reasonable to prevent food from reaching England in
war time as it is for a besieger to prevent the victualling of a
beleaguered fortress.
I cannot end this account better than by quoting the first few paragraphs
of a leader in the _Times_, which appeared shortly after the declaration
of peace. It may be taken to epitomize the saner public opinion of
England upon the meaning and lessons of the episode.
"In all this miserable business," said the writer, "which has cost us
the loss of a considerable portion of our merchant fleet and more than
fifty thousand civilian lives, there is just one consolation to be
found. It lies in the fact that our temporary conqueror is a Power
which is not strong enough to reap the fruits of her victory. Had we
endured this humiliation at the hands of any of the first-class Powers
it would certainly have entailed the loss of all our Crown Colonies
and tropical possessions, besides the payment of a huge indemnity. We
were absolutely at the feet of our conqueror and had no possible
alternative but to submit to her terms, however onerous. Norland has
had the good sense to understand that she must not abuse her temporary
advantage, and has been generous in her dealings. In the grip of any
other Power we should have ceased to exist as an Empire.
"Even now we are not out of the wood. Some one may maliciously pick a
quarrel with us before we get our house in order, and use the easy
weapon which has been demonstrated. It is to meet such a contingency
that the Government has rushed enormous stores of food at the public
expense into the country. In a very few months the new harvest will
have appeared. On the whole we can face the immediate future without
undue depression, though there remain some causes for anxiety. These
will no doubt be energetically handled by this new and efficient
Government, which has taken the place of those discredited politicians
who led us into a war without having foreseen how helpless we were
against an obvious form of attack.
"Already the lines of our reconstruction are evident. The first and
most important is that our Party men realize that there is something
more vital than their academic disputes about Free Trade or
Protection, and that all theory must give way to the fact that a
country is in an artificial and dangerous condition if she does not
produce within her own borders sufficient food to at least keep life
in her population. Whether this should be brought about by a tax upon
foreign foodstuffs, or by a bounty upon home products, or by a
combination of the two, is now under discussion. But all Parties are
combined upon the principle, and, though it will undoubtedly entail
either a rise in prices or a deterioration in quality in the food of
the working-classes, they will at least be insured against so terrible
a visitation as that which is fresh in our memories. At any rate, we
have got past the stage of argument. It _must_ be so. The increased
prosperity of the farming interest, and, as we will hope, the
cessation of agricultural emigration, will be benefits to be counted
against the obvious disadvantages.
"The second lesson is the immediate construction of not one but two
double-lined railways under the Channel. We stand in a white sheet
over the matter, since the project has always been discouraged in
these columns, but we are prepared to admit that had such railway
communication been combined with adequate arrangements for forwarding
supplies from Marseilles, we should have avoided our recent surrender.
We still insist that we cannot trust entirely to a tunnel, since our
enemy might have allies in the Mediterranean; but in a single contest
with any Power of the North of Europe it would certainly be of
inestimable benefit. There may be dangers attendant upon the
existence of a tunnel, but it must now be admitted that they are
trivial compared to those which come from its absence. As to the
building of large fleets of merchant submarines for the carriage of
food, that is a new departure which will be an additional insurance
against the danger which has left so dark a page in the history of our
country."