KEEPING THE SEAS

Hokitika Guardian, 22 June 1929, Page 8

KEEPING THE SEAS

BRITAIN'S MERCHANT NAVY ITS PART IN THE GREAT WAR HOW THE SUBMARINE WAS MASTERED 'Ey ft'.W., in the •' Dominion.”) Who won Liu* war? .Many luu v ; replied In that question, but no one Inn ever answered it. The writings of statesmen, politic*’ans, admirals,, and soldiers, notwith standing, the host reply and the complotcst approach to an answer to th - question is to he found in two section, of the British Oflioial History of the War— ‘‘ Seaborne Trade ” in three vol umes, by Mr C. Ernest Fayle, and “The Merchant Navy,” also in three volumes, by Sir Archibald Hurd. Th 1 Hornier shows clearly how seaborn • trade was affected during the war by naval operations and conditions having their origin in the naval situation. The latter records how British merchant seamen, confronted by a ruthless foe, maintained the stream of ocean traffic vital to the naval and military efforts of the Allies and the economic life of the nation. These important works, complementary to each other, and to that section of the Official History ol the War known as “Naval Operations,” amply demonstrate that ii the Hritish Merchant Navy did not of itsell “ win the war,” at all events it pro vented Hie Allies from losing it. MERCHANT NAVY’S JOB.

It is impossible to exaggerate the immense importance (.If the part played by th(> British Merchant Nav.v daring the lour years of the Great War. It is a fact that every British soldier whether from the Homeland or the overseas Dominions, was carried to the conflict hv British merchant ships which kept him supplied with munitions and food in every theatre of war. The British Merchant Navy, too. carried three-quarters of America’s troops "cross the Atlantic; it transported many thousands of the soldiers oj Britain’s other Allies, thousands of black, 1 rown, and yellow men of the labour battalions, and tens ol thousands of refugees of various countries overrun by the enemy. The British Merchant Navy carried all the stores and supplies of the Boyal navy, whose ships would otherwise have been immobile and impotent; it maintained millions Of soldiers in the field, and provided all the hospital ships for the sick and wounded ; it fed and clothed the civilian population of .Britain and other countries who otherwise would have been starved into submission by lb' enemv ; in tliG last two veals of tin Win- the Hritish merchant marina and fishing fleets furnished* 1900 ships and nearly (30,000 officers and men for tin fully-commissioned auxiliary patrol <1 the Royal Navy. All these and many other contributions to the winning ol the war were made by British • •merchant seamen, untrained in warlike duties, in defiance of the worst that a desperate and merciless foe could do. GERMANY’S GREAT GAMBLE.

How vital to the Allied cause was the work of the British merchant navy is' shown by the fact that Geiuiuux concentrated practically the whole of her naval effort during the last two years of the war in her ruthless submarine campaign. By the end ol 191 b the war had become to a great extent a contest of endurance, remarks Mr C. E. Faylc, in “Seaborne Trade.” The Central Powers were thrown hack almost entirely on their own last-dwind-ling resources. To the Allies the sea routes had hitherto been open, but the effects of the war on their export trade rendered the financing erf future imports a problem of the grayest difficulty, and the progressive diminution of the available tonnage threatened to render it impossible at once to fulfil the demands of the fighting services and to maintain the stream of supplies, “The story .of the years 11)17 and 1918 is the record of a -.rent gamble. In deciding on unrestricted, submarine warfare the German Government deliberately risked and actually brought about the intervention of the United Stales, by which, apart from its military results, the Miles’ immediate financial problem was solved ami their grip tightened on every source of supplies yet remaining open to the Central Powers. The enemy staked everything on the chance that, before the exhaustion of Germany had reached the point of collapse, the destruction of Allied and neutral .shipping would render Great Britain no longer able to feed her own people, and at the same time to perform hor functions m the alliance.”

MERCHANT NAVY LOSSES. The gamble very nearly succeeded, and was ultimately foiled only at a terrible cost. By the middle of 1917 the ruthless submarine campaign against merchant shipping appeared likely to exercise a decisive influence. During the five months Febiuarv-Jime. <;ir> Hritish merchant ships totalling 1X82,160 tons, and 112 fishing vessels of 18,510 tons, were sunk, with the loss oif 3297 lives. The losses of British shipping during 1917 were practically lmlf of the total Hor the whole war period. In that “black year” 1197 purely merchants ships ol 3,i29,.. > tiis, 213 fishing vessels ol 2L,i-U tons, and 6521 lives were lost by enemy action. the total for the war period being 217!. merchant ships of 7, 1 59,090 tons. (575 fishing vessels ol il,io-> tons. am. 1t,721 lives.

Till*: PRINCE’S TRIBUTE. How the confident prediction oi the German Naval Stall’ that Great Britain would he brought to lu-r knees in five months was completely upset is told by Sir Archibald Hurd in the third and

final volume of “T he Merchant Navy,” just published. In a special foreword contributed by linn as Master ol tin .Merchant, Navy, and Fishing Fleets, the Prince of Wales remarks that the British morciiant seaman “found himself faced by hazards and perils-such as lie Had never before experienced, or indeed had ever conceived as possible . , . . Let us who are land-dwellers not mince words u\cr this thing, it is the glory of our merchant navy, and w,., ~e so acclaimed n.v generations to come, that they faced without hesitation the tremendous odds and the irequenL hazard of death, undaunted in spirit to the hitter end. J.et us not forget, also, that had it been otherwise this country of ours must lnue perished.”

A .MOVING STORY. Sir Archibald Hurd lias done his work well. He spares us little of the horrors of the ruthless submarine campaign against more or less defenceless merchant ships. Chapters are filled with officially authenticated accounts of the sinkings of hundreds of ships by ciu) or gun lire, and the incredibly brutal and callous treatment, in many eases, of their crews,,who were left to drown when their lifeboats have been smashed, or to make their way to the nearest land in lion is. Not all German submarine commanders behaved thus; a. proportion of them did what they could to mitigate the circumstances of their victims. The grim tale of sinkings is relieved throughout by numberless instances of the bravery and devotion to duty of the merchant seamen. Again and again they refused to stop when ordered to do so, and succeeded by masterly seamanship in dodging torpedoes. For hours at a time they endured heavy shellfire and braved wounds and death while zigzagging their ships at full speed until they succeeded in escaping. Those who had guns, though often outranged, returned the enemy’s lire and often drove him off in a damaged state.

It is not possible in this article to do more than hardy hint at the many successes achieved by merchant ships in defeating the submarines, or to give any adequate account of the terrible, experiences of the brave men who manned them. TV hen Lord Jellieoe (then Firsjjjj Sea LonD inspected the school at the Crystal Palace where merchant seamen went through a short course of anti-submarine training, commonly called “ Up-and-at-’em drill,’ lie went down the ranks of one class and asked them how many times they had been torpedoed. Some ol the an swers were: “Seven times, sir”"Twice, sir,”; “Four times, sir”:

and “None, sir; I’ve only been mined.” An interesting record among the crew of the torpedoed steamer Donegal was that of a firemen, aged 20. who hail had four of the ships in which he had sailed sunk under him and three damaged. He was in the Titanic when that liner was lost on her n;i den voyage. He was in the' Olympic at the time she was rammed by the opniser Hawke. He had been wounded in the fight between the armed liner Alcantara and the German raider Orcif. He was in the. Britannic when she was sunk by mines, and he was jyrjiin wounded when the Donegal wa.sunk.

now THE TAINUI WAS SAVED. New Zealand traders figure in the story. The Shaw, SaviH and Albion liner Tainui was torpedoed on April 8. 1918, and seemed about to sink immediately, going down TO icet by the head. Her passengers were transferred to a destroyer, hut her master, the late Cantain B. A. Kelly, succeeded in navigating the' ship 130 miles stern Iforeincst and getting her to Falmouth. His feat was the more remarkable, as the ship’s compasses were deranged hv the explosion and there was - great difheultv in keeping a right course. He was'splendidly backed by his engineers and crew, who ran great risk by remaining on hoard at all.

INTENSIVE WARFARE AT SEA. A chapter is devoted to the enemy s war on hospital sliijxs, of which eleven were sunk by torpedoes or mines, with heavy loss of life. Another dreadful story is the chapter dealing with the ill-1 ro'M.meiit of merchant seamen prisoners in Germany. The work ol the famous Tenth Cruiser Squadron, coinprised of big merchant- ships, armed nnil commissioned as warships, which maintained the blockade ol Geiniuni. is fully described. Incidentally an account is given of the sinking df the 11.M.5. Avenger,-which was to have been the Union Company’s Vancouver liner Aotea-roa. Intensely interesting, too. are the chapters dealing with the organisation and work of the gpeat force of merchant ships and fishing .r7.ss.ds which, as the Auxiliary Patrol of the Roval Navy, plaved a tremenpart in defeating the submarine

oainnaign. Ol' great historical importance is Sir Archibald Hurd’s account of the defensivo arming of merchant ships, aiul the rrainin'' of their seamen to fight the submarine and mine menace with guns, bomb-throwers, depth (barges, smoke screens', and paravanes. What was known as the “submarine menace” course was, , early in 1918, made emnindsorv ('•■ all masters and chief officers e.f ships of over 1600 tons. Tim innovation of the “dazzle painting” of ships as a device to confuse the submarine range-finder is the subject ol a very interesting discussion. “The on T c the war left dazzle painting .still m the experimental stage, with results ii'o meager lor luturo guidance. Many conflicting opinions won* exrressed regarding its value, bid '• dazzle painting was undoubtedly la* - on red hv officers and men of the mcieantile marine, and contributed in some degree to support to morale ol the service" during the most critical phase of the submarine campaign.”

, The submarine was finally mastered, 'ami “ though millions <Ji tons ol j shipping were sunk and thousands ol j seamen made the great sacrifice, the j , merchant navy survived, and the Al-j ■ lied cause, which it had supported for • | more than four years, was at length | saved.” As Sir Archibald Hurd well says; “The men of the merchant navy, in the ordeal by sea in the years ol the Ureal War, created new and lofty traditions of national service, which they have handed on to their suevos-1 sors as a rich heritage. The history of the part which British merchant seamen took in the' world-wide struggle of 1914-18 may well be the chart and compass of the men who in future years will lie caleld upon to man British ships in war or in peace.” ' I