Charles W. Domville-Fife

“ The submarine and the aeroplane are at present the only weapons against which there is no true means of defence, and yet one is being used as an antidote for the other without, however, any very striking success so far. The seaplane may be able to distinguish the dark patch in the sea caused by the hull of the submarine in clear water, but she cannot destroy it, neither can she signal the exact locality to an accompanying destroyer flotilla, owing to the speed with which seaplane and submarine pass over and under each other ”

“ When travelling submerged, with only the thin periscopic tube above the surface, it is almost impossible to detect the approach of a submarine before she gets within torpedo range; and when cruising on the surface she is equally as invisible at a distance of a few miles. These qualities enable the submarine in nearly all cases where her speed permits, to effect a surprise attack on a hostile battleship 143or cruiser when not closely screened by fast destroyers, whose duty it is to be ever on the watch for submarines. ”

“ Let us now examine briefly what practical methods of defence a modern warship has against submarine attacks. Great speed is undoubtedly a surface ship’s most reliable defence; and when combined with a frequent change of course, would greatly reduce the chances 149of a successful under-water attack. Should hostile submarines be on the line of advance they would not know whether to wait and chance the enemy approaching within torpedo range or whether to run to starboard or port. ”

“ The indiscriminate scattering of mines across the trade routes, as carried on by Germany immediately on the outbreak of war, and before hardly any of the ships at sea belonging to neutral countries could be warned to avoid the zone of operations, has never before been so ruthlessly resorted to by a big civilised power. ”

“ For a torpedo attack to be successful it is absolutely necessary for the vessel carrying the weapon to get within about 1,000 yards of the object of attack. The difficulty of accomplishing this manœuvre with an enemy on the alert is easily apparent, but if the attacking vessel can creep up 24to within torpedo range unobserved her chances of sinking the enemy are decidedly good, and it is the quality possessed by the submarine of making herself invisible by sinking beneath the surface and approaching her enemy “seeing but unseen” that makes this type of vessel the ideal torpedo-boat. ”

“ But as the laying of mines, speaking generally, is a defensive 21mode of warfare and the policy of the British Navy—owing to its supremacy—is attack and not defence, the mine-laying fleet is of second importance to the sweeping fleet, the work of which, although much augmented by additional small steamers pressed into service, was, during the first few weeks of the war, of a nature more arduous and dangerous than will ever be realised. ”

“ The torpedo, which is the principal arm of the submarine boat, is itself a submarine projectile. After being discharged from the firing tube it sinks a short distance below the surface and is propelled by its own engines at a high 27rate of speed in a straight line towards its object of attack. Great improvements have been made during the past ten years in the construction of these delicate weapons. The extreme effective range and speed has risen from 4,000 yards at 18 knots to 7,000 yards at 45 knots or 11,000 yards at 30 knots. ”

“ Quick-firing guns of the 3-inch and 6-inch type are certainly the best weapons for an attack on submarines. In combination with “sharp look-outs,” they could be used with effect from the elevated positions on the fore part of warships. The periscopic-tube of the submarine always proves a target for gun-fire; but a grey steel tube, 3 inches in diameter, at a distance of 1,000 yards requires “excellent” marksmanship to hit. That it can be done is proved by the sinking of the German submarine U.15 by the British Cruiser Birmingham in the North Sea. ”

“ The fact that at first the British light cruisers suffered rather heavily—though in total loss of ships and men less than the German Navy—does not point to any advantage derived either from the type of torpedo used or from skill in this mode of warfare possessed by the Germans, but clearly to the timidity of the German main fleet, which was at the very beginning of hostilities withdrawn from the zone of war and placed behind fortifications, where it was safe from torpedo attack. ”

“ Although submarines are known in the naval services as “daylight torpedo-boats,” for their greatest value lies in their ability to perform the same task in the “light” as the ordinary surface torpedo-boats and destroyers can do under 125cover of darkness or fog—that of creeping up close to an enemy, and launching a torpedo unobserved—they have been given, during recent years, so much greater speed, armament, and range of action, that they can no longer be looked upon as small boats just suitable for daylight torpedo attack in favourable circumstances. ”

“ At times an unscrupulous or demoralised enemy will simply throw a number of these mines overboard and allow them to float at the mercy of wind and tide. They then become a terrible danger to the shipping of all nations, as once they are left unwatched it is extremely difficult to tell with any degree of certainty where they will eventually proclaim their presence by devastating explosions. ”

“ For example, a number of hostile torpedo-boat destroyers are scouring the sea in advance of a fleet, and are discovered at daybreak by the submarines, which are waiting to attack the fleet behind, approaching at a speed of 30 knots an hour. A hurried dive beneath the surface is necessary if the waiting submarines would avoid detection, which would, in all probability, mean destruction by the quick-firing guns of the destroyers. ”

“ For over twenty years naval experts, marine engineers and scientists have been wrestling with the vast and complex problems of submarine construction, navigation and warfare, and have, at a cost of many lives and many millions sterling, produced submersible warships of steadily increasing size and power, until to-day 264 of these vessels, of over a dozen different and more or less secret designs, with displacements ranging from 100 to 1,000 tons are in 185the fighting line of the Fleets at war. Thousands of sailors have been trained to fight beneath the seas ”

“ The carrying of large quantities of petrol, or heavy oil, is under all circumstances attended with a certain amount of risk, and when many tons 50have to be carried in a confined space, as in a submarine, this risk is more than doubled, as the slightest leakage when the vessel is submerged would mean that a powerful explosive mixture of petrol and air would be made. ”

“ Both Germany and Austria have converted a large number of their merchantmen into mine-layers. England, in reply, has converted a large number of small steamers into mine-sweepers. Russia is a strong believer in explosive mines, and has strewn the gulfs of Finland and Riga with them. Japan, being on the offensive, is employing more mine-sweepers 175than layers. France has an elaborate system of submarine mine defence for all her important harbours, and maintains a small fleet at each base, known as the “defence mobile.” These vessels are all capable of both mine-laying and sweeping. ”

“ In addition to these, nine large and powerful vessels were in various stages of construction. The flotillas of the French Navy are composed of two different types of vessels: Submarines Defensive and Submersibles. The former are intended, as their name implies, solely for coast and harbour defence; their radii of action is very small, and they are incapable of action independent of a naval base. The submersibles are like the large sea-going submarines of England and Germany, and have a wide radius of action, high speed, and great offensive power. ”

“ But while all these operations were in progress the British Fleet was more or less exposed to torpedo 162attack by any hostile submarines or fast surface craft which might succeed in getting past the cordon of protecting destroyers, while the German Fleet was safe, but ignominiously impotent. That the naval losses of Great Britain, with all her fleets at sea, have not been far greater than they have is in itself a victory of the greatest magnitude—a victory due entirely to consummate naval skill. ”

“ They explode immediately on being struck by a passing vessel, and, of course, do not discriminate between friend and foe. The systems of destroying hostile mine-fields consist of counter-mining, or placing other mines in the enemy’s field and destroying it by 170their explosion, and by sweeping. The latter method is the one mostly employed in modern warfare. The boats taking part in the sweep place themselves one on each side of the mine-field, and between them hangs a long wire rope, weighted in the centre to keep it well submerged. ”

“ Submerged wire entanglements in conjunction with boom-defences and observation and contact submarine mines protect the seaward approaches to harbours in the same way as similar appliances are used to protect the approaches to land fortifications; and every harbour, waterway and channel of strategic importance is protected by elaborate submarine mine defences. ”

“ But the conduct of submarine warfare on the grand scale requires far more than flotillas of submergible warships and their daring crews. This new branch of naval science is ever widening in its scope, its means of offence, and in its attendant ramifications. Every important naval base has its curious submarine 10floating docks, ready for crippled members of its attached flotilla; every naval construction department has its corps of submarine experts ”

“ In the 129latest British, French and German vessels proper sleeping and messing accommodation is provided, and supplies of all kinds and in sufficient quantity to last a month are carried. Although work on these craft is still very cramping for the crew, the increase in the deck space and in the surface buoyancy has greatly minimised the discomforts of service in the submarine flotilla.
With regard to safety, it has already been shown that a submarine is only held below the surface by the power of her engines and the action of the water on her diving-rudders. ”

“ Method of Submergence It may sound ridiculous, in face of the many accidents which have occurred, to say that one of the greatest difficulties is to make a submarine sink sufficiently quickly, and one of the easiest of operations to make her rise, and yet such is undeniably the case. ”

“ When night covers the sea, however, the chances of the fast grey-painted surface torpedo-boat or destroyer being able to approach the enemy unseen are more than doubled, and in this way fleets become exposed to submarine torpedo attack by day and surface torpedo attack by night. Further, a submarine will often attack while a seaplane hovers over the enemy in order to draw attention. ”

“ A torpedo always proceeds towards its object of attack at a depth of a few feet below the surface. This, combined with speed, renders it almost impossible to destroy an approaching torpedo by gun-fire. ”

“ The wide range of action of modern submarines enables them to operate several hundred miles from any base or depôt, and consequently Chatham becomes merely the general store, or head-depôt, of what should be termed the North Sea Flotillas, which not only patrol the whole East, North-East and South-East Coasts of England and Scotland, but also have their floating secondary bases in the form of Depôt Ships, which, with their attached submarines, are often at Harwich, Newcastle, Rosyth, etc. ”

“ Service in the Heligoland Bight is keenly sought after by the Commanding Officers of the Eighth Submarine Flotilla, and they have all shown daring and enterprise in the execution of their duties. These Officers have unanimously expressed to me their admiration of the cool and gallant behaviour of the Officers and men under their command. They are however, of the opinion that it is impossible to single out individuals when all have performed their duties so admirably, and in this I concur. ”

“ Therefore, if each boat was not previously instructed how to act, there would not only be the likelihood of the greater portion of an attacking flotilla firing their torpedoes at one or two vessels of the hostile fleet and allowing the remainder either to escape or to keep up a heavy and dangerous fire unmolested, but also of collision and of torpedoeing each other 141by accident. There is no means of inter-communication between submarines when submerged, and a battle between submarines is almost impossible. ”

“ From this brief resumé of the growth of the submarine fleets of the six great naval Powers at war, it will be seen that in point of numbers as well as in priority, bringing with it practical experience, Great Britain and France have a very appreciable superiority. ”

“ About steam and compressed air little need be said, for although given a good trial, especially by the French naval authorities, they were abandoned some years ago in favour of a combination of petrol and electric engines, which in turn have given place to more powerful machines using heavy oil and electricity. Steam is, however, again being used in conjunction with turbine engines for surface propulsion. ”