OUR MERCHANT SHIPS AND THE WAR
_She walks the water like a thing of life
And seems to dare the elements to strife._
--Byron.
The active part taken by our merchant ships in the War, and the brave
deeds of our seamen are perhaps too recent to be considered
"reminiscent," yet we cannot but feel that any story of the doings of
our merchant navy during the past fifty years would be very incomplete
without some reference to the noble part it played in the stirring
events of the last five years, and how largely it contributed to the
glorious and victorious result. The task of giving even a fragmentary
account of the part which the Mercantile Marine took in the mighty
conflict is rendered difficult in consequence of the lack of
authoritative information, owing to the severe (but very proper)
censorship exercised over the press during the War, and we shall have
to await the official accounts to enable us to appreciate fully its
work. But we know, however, sufficient of the arduous work of our
seamen during this period, their courage and endurance in times of
stress and peril, and their indomitable pluck in going to sea without
any hesitation, knowing by experience the dangers they would
encounter, to rank their services among the most valorous in the
history of our Country.
War was declared on the 4th August, 1914. This country was slow in
realising the gravity of the situation. "Business as usual" expressed
the light heart with which we entered upon a campaign which was
destined to become a world war, involving us in immense sacrifices,
and in responsibilities of which even now we cannot see the end.
Warlike operations during the first few months were mostly on land.
The seas appeared to be well under the control of the Navy, and
therefore when sailing from Liverpool early in December for the
Canaries, on the "Anchises" we did not take seriously into account any
danger from a submarine attack, and the only special precaution taken
during the voyage out was to summon all hands to their boat-stations
with their lifebelts on. When we arrived at Las Palmas, we saw
fourteen German steamers anchored within territorial waters, while
their crews had been interned, a British cruiser paying an occasional
visit to see that the ships were all still there.
[Illustration: SS. "Aquitania," with Convoy, 1918]
The sympathy of the people of the Canary Islands was entirely with
Germany, which for some time had been carrying on a carefully prepared
propaganda. When the time arrived to return home, in April, 1915, the
conditions had changed. The Germans had declared a submarine blockade
on the 18th February. The submarine warfare had become active, and
special precautions had to be taken. When passing Ushant a destroyer
dashed up alongside, and gave the sailing directions upon which we
were to proceed going up channel; but even these would not have
protected us if we had been a few hours earlier, for a steamer
preceding us had been attacked and sunk while following the course we
were sailing upon.
Our ship, the White Star steamer "Corinthic," was bound from New
Zealand to London, with a cargo of frozen meat, and also carried many
passengers. She was armed with two four-inch guns, manned by a
complement of naval gunners.
At Dover we had to pass through a narrow passage protected by mines on
either side; off Margate we brought up for the night guarded by a
destroyer, while ships of war were continually dashing past. There
were evident signs of anxiety and activity, and we began to realise
that we were at war, and to consider what could be done to counter the
attack of a U boat. We had guns, but when a U boat showed herself, it
would be almost too late to fire with effect. We remembered when on
board the "Mauretania" on a voyage to New York, hearing at a distance
of fourteen miles a fog bell ringing under water at the Nantucket
lightship, and we thought the same principle might be utilized to
detect a submarine at some distance by the thud made by the
propeller. We also thought of the long distance coming up the Channel
which our ship had sailed without any protection, and the idea of
reverting to the old system of "convoys" suggested itself, and we
ventured, on reaching London, to write a letter to the _Times_,
embodying these ideas, but they were censored by the Admiralty,
although both were subsequently, after the lapse of three years,
introduced, the "convoy" being found the best means of protecting our
merchant fleet.
When the war broke out suddenly, like a bolt from the blue, we were
probably better prepared by sea than by land to meet the onslaught
which had been so cunningly devised to take us unawares, for it was
undoubtedly the intention of Germany to crush us and bring us under
her heel within a few months.
The fleet had been summoned for a review by His Majesty the King, it
was, therefore, practically mobilized, and ready at once to take up
such positions as would paralyze the movements of the German fleet,
but much more than this had to be done, our army had to be transported
across the Channel, with all its stores and equipment; the forces so
nobly supplied by our Dominions beyond the seas had to be brought
over, and this had to be done by our merchant ships. The seas had to
be policed, our commerce had to be carried on and to be protected, and
all this with the knowledge that German fleets still existed in the
Pacific and South Atlantic, and also that many armed raiders were
about. The rapidity with which all this was organised and carried out
reflects the greatest credit upon our Navy and Merchant Service.
We managed to land our "contemptible" little army (as the Kaiser was
pleased to term it) of 170,000 men, and place it in battle array on
the Belgian soil without our enemy knowing when it arrived or where it
was placed, and it was this ignorance of the whereabouts of our forces
which we are now told enabled us to turn the defeat of the Marne into
a victory.
On the seas our fleet was able to dispose of the German Pacific fleet
by sinking it in the battle off the Falkland Islands. The raiders
were, however, successful in destroying much shipping before they were
run to earth by our navy, which in the end destroyed or captured them.
The credit of destroying the "Cap Trafalgar" after a severe fight
belongs to a Liverpool merchant ship, the "Carmania."
The war, however, developed new engines of maritime warfare--the
submarine, the mine, and the seaplane--and our enemies speedily let it
be known that they intended to carry out the traditions of their Hun
forbears, and pursue a ruthless war, in which they would slay every
man, woman and child, however peaceful might be their occupations, if
they stood in their way--a policy which they carried out with the
greatest cruelty, outraging every dictate of humanity.
The U boats, whose legitimate sphere was only to attack warships or
those carrying troops or munitions, broke the laws of nations, and
attacked Hospital ships, sinking them with their freight of suffering
humanity, passenger steamers, and merchantmen of every kind, not
merely sinking them, leaving their people to drown or perish, but in
many cases adding to their death struggles by firing upon them while
in the water, or turning them adrift in their boats hundreds of miles
away from the land.
Germany had realised at an early date in the war that she had no
chance of defeating our Navy in regular warfare, and that the
submarine was not a very effective weapon against a battleship; and
therefore, after declaring a submarine blockade of British commerce,
entered upon a submarine campaign against our merchant shipping, in
which she met with varying success. Between the 24th February and the
13th October, 1916, she sank 183 ships and 144 fishing vessels, the
highest number in one week being 35; and in the following year,
between February 26th and November 18th (in nine months) the German
submarine sank 661 vessels of over 1,600 tons, 247 under 1,600 tons,
and 161 fishing craft; the number of ships unsuccessfully attacked
being 550. During the war upwards of 8,000 British sailors lost
their lives through submarine attacks.
[Illustration: SS. "Oceanic," No. 2, 1899]
Submarines which at first were limited in the range of their
operations by the amount of fuel they could carry, and could only
conduct their nefarious warfare within the waters immediately
surrounding Great Britain, were eventually built of sufficient size to
be able to destroy our shipping when two or three hundred miles to the
west of Ireland, and two or three U boats were constructed large
enough to cross the Atlantic and destroy some shipping on the American
coast; they were also armed with guns, which they freely used. Various
estimates were put out as to the number of submarines afloat. They
seemed to ever increase in numbers, and in their boldness and
unscrupulous mode of warfare. Sometimes their attacks slacked off, as
we are now told, while the Kaiser had passing qualms of conscience.
Their movements were directed by wireless, and there is little doubt
that they had sympathizers on the British coast, from whom they
received information. The sinking of our shipping became alarming,
sometimes, at the week-ends, the total reaching twenty and more
steamers for the two days.
This was the condition of things with which our merchant fleet had to
contend. Traversing day by day and hour by hour waters reeking with
death and destruction, they knew that a submarine attack probably
meant death to a large number of the people on board, perhaps all; but
the British sailors heeded it not, their country's call sounded in
their ears, and without hesitation they went to sea, not only in ships
engaged in commerce, but also in vessels acting as armed cruisers and
as patrol ships, sweeping the seas in search of the enemy's raiders;
or as transports, in which they conveyed nearly a million of British
troops from the most distant parts of the world, and two millions of
American troops across the Atlantic, with all their munitions of war
and all their impedimenta. Such a brilliant performance must for all
time stand forth as one of the greatest achievements in the world's
history. Nor was the great and heroic work of our sailors limited to
merchant ships. Our fishing fleets, fitted as minesweepers, carried on
without flinching, the highly dangerous task of sweeping the seas to
find and destroy the mines which the enemy had strewn in all its
pathways. Even their mines were diabolically constructed to destroy
innocent life, for contrary to international law, they remained active
even after they were detached from their moorings, and were floating
about. They were also sown by night, in the busy channels frequented
by cross channel steamers and our fishing fleets. That all this was
carefully thought out and "according to plan," is proved by the fact
they could and did discriminate where and what their submarines
attacked, for the Isle of Man boats were immune from attack, because
it was known that they regularly carried large numbers of German
prisoners of war. The patrol and mine-sweeping services conducted by
our fishermen and many yachtsmen were most arduous, exposed not only
to submarines and mines, but to the cruel, cold winter weather and
heavy seas; yet they never faltered in their duty.
The sea along the east coast of England is sown with wreckage of
steamers and fishing craft destroyed while pursuing their ordinary and
innocent trades. The Irish Sea and the North Channel are also strewn
with the remains of British shipping. For four years or more British
ships followed their calling, passing through seas bristling with
dangers, and the people of this country, which depends upon its
overseas traffic for their daily bread, went about as usual, and
suffered no actual privation from the shortage of food.
Such was the position of things--the dangers which our merchant ships
had to encounter, and the problems which our Navy had to attack and to
conquer. The versatility of our Navy is proverbial. It has been well
said "A sailor is a jack of all trades."
A distinguished officer recently stated that when he retired from the
Navy, he bought a brewery, which he worked for some years, and brewed
the best beer in the district. He then laid a submarine cable for the
American Government, and ended up by managing a foreign coal-mine.
Such is the remarkable adaptability of our naval men. It is not,
therefore, surprising that when the submarine menace developed itself
our navy was not slow in devising means of counter-attack, and of
destroying the U boats. Destroyers and even submarines chased them,
dropping depth charges containing high explosives, which were fatal if
they struck the submarine, and even the concussion of the explosion at
a considerable distance placed their electric batteries _hors de
combat_. Wire netting protected our ships while at anchor, and was
used to form a barrier across the Channel and to protect our ports.
It was found that U boats could be seen from an aeroplane when they
were some depth under the water. Aeroplanes were, therefore, used to
hunt the submarine, and indicate its position to an accompanying
destroyer, or the aeroplane itself dropped a depth charge.
Underwater listening apparatus was invented, by which the thud of the
propeller of a submarine could be distinctly heard, and the position
of the submarine approximately ascertained.
Mystery-ships, fully armed, but having the appearance of an innocent
coasting vessel, traversed the adjacent seas, but the most successful
protection afforded to our transports and to our commerce was the
adoption of the old system of "convoys." Convoys were seldom very
successfully attacked, and ships lost while being convoyed did not
exceed 3 per cent. The convoy system required very careful
organisation. Ships have different speeds and different destinations,
so we had convoys for ships of varying swiftness. We had not
sufficient war ships or destroyers to act as convoys from shore to
shore in the Atlantic, therefore the convoys crossing the ocean were
only under the protection of a ship of war, and only met their escort
fleet of destroyers when they reached the danger zone. At a given
point the convoy broke up, some ships going up the St. George's
Channel to Liverpool, the others proceeding to London and the Channel
ports. The convoy system in the later stages of the war became very
perfect, and although some enemy submarines boldly penetrated the
protecting line of destroyers, and sank a few ships, they seldom got
away again, and the knowledge of this had a very wholesome and a very
deterrent effect. The valuable services performed by both English and
American destroyers to our Mercantile Marine deserves the highest
praise.
The appearance of the River Mersey upon the arrival of a convoy was
something to be remembered. Sometimes a convoy would consist of twenty
or thirty large merchantmen, all dazzle-painted, stretching out in a
long line from New Brighton to the Sloyne, while their escort of
British and American destroyers made their rendezvous at the
Birkenhead floating stage.
Admiral Scheer, in his book, allows that the Germans lost half of
their submarines, a considerable number he says were always under
repair, and the difficulty of obtaining crews was an increasing one.
Therefore, we think that it can be claimed that our navy had already
mastered the U boat menace when the war ended.
To make it difficult for a submarine to find the range at which to
fire their torpedos, our ships were carefully camouflaged or
dazzle-painted, and presented a very grotesque and strange appearance,
no two ships being alike. The painting was carefully designed, in many
cases by an artist of eminence, the object being to confuse the eyes
of a spectator at a distance. In some cases the ship was made to
appear as if going the opposite way to that upon which she was
actually proceeding. In others the ship gave the appearance of going
at a much greater speed than that at which she was actually steaming.
In others the ship at a distance had the appearance of being much
shorter than she really was. In all these cases the submarine would
have difficulty in ascertaining how far his quarry was away from him,
which way she was proceeding, and how fast she was going. In order to
render a submarine attack still more ineffective, our ships during the
day time followed a zig-zag course, proceeding for a given period
on a certain course, then suddenly changing it by several degrees,
thus rendering it difficult for a submarine to get into a position to
fire a torpedo.
[Illustration: SS. "Mauretania," Camouflaged, 1918
Built 1907]
Another device adopted by our ships when pursued by a submarine was to
throw out a smoke screen, which for some minutes entirely hid them
from the enemy, enabling them to alter their course and steal away
from their pursuers.
The promiscuous mine-laying was a source of many disasters, but
fortunately the invention of the "paravane" by a naval officer, proved
an excellent protection. It consisted of two long steel bars, one on
either side of the ship, attached at one end to the bows a few feet
below the water, and at the other to an "otter," which, as the ship
proceeded, spread the bars out and kept them away from the ship's
side. When a mine was struck, the buoy-rope of the mine slid down and
along the bar, and when it reached the "otter" the rope was caught and
cut by a steel knife, and the mine was sunk.
Sufficient has been said to prove the very active and noble part taken
by our Mercantile Marine during the war. Although we do not claim that
they won the war, we can, at least, say that the war could not have
been won without them.
We would also wish to bear testimony to the excellent spirit displayed
by the Royal Navy to the Merchant Navy. They were in the highest and
best sense "comrades-in-arms," and we in Liverpool also gratefully
recognize our debt to the United States. American destroyers were
continually in the Mersey. We admired their seamanlike trim, and the
smartness of the officers and crews, and we appreciate the excellent
and arduous work they did in safeguarding our convoys, which not only
demanded the exercise of great skill, but called forth courage and
endurance.