Admiral Sims on “Victory at‘Sea.”

Hokitika Guardian, 11 June 1921, Page 4

Admiral Sims on “Victory at‘Sea.”

Britons the wide world over will ever have a kindly remembrance of the name of Admiral Sims, of the United States Navy, for in him they must recognise at once a gallant naval officer and an American gentleman, who, in season, and according to the anti-British section of the American Press, sometimes out of season, has warmly eulogised the part played by Britain during the war. What were Admiral Sira’s pre-war feelings towards Croat Britain was made manifest in the memorable speech he delivered at tht London Guildhall in 1910 when he declared that were Britain to bo attacked by those who would fain destroy her liberties the American Navy would lie found on her side. The Hearst journals made much of the famous “indiscretion,” but, however that speech may have been viewed at Washington—in 1910 —it was to Admiral Sims that the United States Government turned in March, 191", "'hen, war with Germany being then considered certain, it was held desirable that America should have special and expert naval representation in London. From thence forward to the end of the war the Admiral played a very active and important part in advising upon and directing the operations of the American war vessels, and more particularly in arranging a system of concerted action with' the British naval commanders. In a substantial volume entitled “The Victory at Sea, Admiral Sims now gives the world a ong hut stirring narrative in which is set forth, for flic first tiimf in print, a full account of the American naval effort, much new and most interesting information being also, incidentally, given as to the part played by the British Navv during the- later war period. Admiral Sims tells us how, upon arming in London, he .interviewed Loul .jellicoe at the Admiralty, and learnt the actual facts about the submarine campaign. It was just at the time that the German submarine campaign against British mercantile shipping and the hospital ships was at its height. The truth, confesses the Admiral, ‘ bully astounded” him. I had never imagined anything so terrible. . . . “It looks as though the Germans were winning the war,” 1 ie,narked. “They will win, unless we can stop these losses—and stop them soon,” the Admiral replied. “Is there no solution for the problem I” I asked. “Absolutely none that we can see now,” Jellicoe announced. The result was the dispatch of a cablegram to Washington, asking tor the largest possible number of destroyers and anti-submarine craft generally to bo sent to the assistance of the. British. The American naval authorities lost no time, for on May 1 the first squadron of American destroyers reached Queenstown, a second squadron billowing a week later. Tin- situation was serious enough to demand the utmost promptitude in increasing the strength of the defensive force, lor tin same week the American vessels arrived the U-boats- disposed of no less than •2-10,0(10 tons of Allied shipping. r L' continue at that rate would, writes tin

Admiral, have “meant losses of a mi lion tons a month and an early Genua victory.”

An interesting account is given ot t'c American “sub-chasers,’ which, like the British “motor patrols,” wind performed similar duties, were ottcii ilia lined by voting fellows, college students and others; bandy and not always out of their ’teens. Admiral Sims pays an eloquent tii Imtc to the British Navy, which had keen called upon to conduct a campaign the extent and difficulties of which not even the cleverest naval experts had hcen able -to foresee and provide

ngiiinst.—He says: 1 think that history records few spcc- ■ fades more heroic than that of the ■Treat British Navy lighting this hideous ami cowardly form, of warfare in half a dozen places with pitifully inadequate forces, hut with an undaunted spirit which remained firm even against the fearful odds which I have described. The author describes in detail the operations of the famous “mystery ships,” in connection with which he tells some curious, and in certain instances, very amusing anecdotes. He explains how successfully the commanders pitted their wit's against the Herman rivals. To the latter he is scrupulously fair. The hook is one which invites quotation in every chapter, hut space will only permit of a few extracts. The awful fate which the Hun submarine crews had always before them is exemplified in an account given by the author of what befell one of the U-boats some lot) miles west of Land’s lend in September, IMS. Three sub-chaser units on the morning of the Gth, “fixed” an enemy. A number of depth charges were dropped, and in about half an hour the “listeners” heard “a slight grating and squeaking ; such as might have been made by damaged machinery.” Finally, there was ! fairly conclusive evidence that the ! U-boat had sunk to the bottom. Often ’ this was done on purpose, the Huns j “playing dead,” hoping that the I chasers, with their accursed “listening” devices, would tire of the vigil and i return to port. Hut in this case there i were several noises which indicated I that the sinking to the bottom was not j voluntary. f The listeners clearly heard a scraping I and a, straining as though the boat was ! making terrific attempts to rise. There • was a lumbering noise, such as might | he made%y a heavy object trying to I drag its bulk along the muddy bottom ; ! this was followed by silence, showing . that the wounded vessel could advance j only a few yards. A terrible tragedy j was c learly beginning down there in ! the slime of the ocean floor; a boat, ! with twenty-live or thirty human beings ' on hoard, was hopelessly caught, with J nothing in sight except the most lmgerj ing death. The listeners on the chasers could follow events almost as clearly as though the inside of the U-boat could J be seen, for every motion the vessel I made, every effort that the crew put } forth to save itself from this living hell, was registered on the delicate wires i which reached the oars of the men on the surface. Tile sub-chasers had no more depth j : charges or the poor wretches imprisoned below could have been put out of j their misery. A new supply of bombs j was sent for to Penzance. The spot j where the submarine lay was marked by the buoy, and two units of chasers, J

six boats in all, prepared to stand guard, for at any moment the struggling U-boat might come to the surface, and it was necessary to have forces near by to fight or to accept surrender, i Early morning brought with it a British destroyer, and she went for bombs. . But a fog had settled down, the buoy had been pulled under by the tide, and . for several hours the precise bearing of the submarine was lost. The tragedy which followed the lifting of the log is thus described by Admiral Sims: When daylight returned and the weather calmed down, the chaseis again put over their tubes and attempted to “fix” the. U-boat. They listened for hours without hearing a sound; but about five o’clock in the afternoon a sharp, piercing sound came ringing ovei the wires. It was it sound which made the listeners’ blood run cold. Only one j thing in the world could make a sound like that: It was the crack of a re- i volver. The first report ‘ had hardly J stilled when another shot was heard; . ;l nd then there were more in rapid sue- j cession. The listeners on two different chasers heard these pistol cracks, and counted them ; the reports which these two men .independently made agreed in every detail. In all, twenty-five shots came from the bottom of’the sea. As I there were from twenty-five to thirty . men in a submarine crew, the meaning | was all too evident. The larger part „f officers and men. finding themselves shut tightly in their coffin of steel, had resorted to that escape which was' not uncommonly availed of hv German submarine crews in this hideous war. Nearly all of them had committed suicide!' In his final chapter Admiral Suns describes the carrying out of the gigantic task of “transporting two million American soldiers to France.” The appendices contain some valuable statistical information, and the book has been provided with an excellent index. It is safe to say that “The \ ictor.v at Sea” is one of the most deeply-interest-ing and permanently valuable books for which the Great War has been responsible.