They maintained these positions sometimes for hours, never lifting a finger in defence, while the submarine, at a safe distance, showered hundreds of sh.e.l.ls upon the ship. These horrible missiles would shriek above their heads; they would land on the decks, constantly wounding the men, sometimes killing whole gun crews--yet, although the ship might become a ma.s.s of blood and broken fragments of human bodies, the survivors would lie low, waiting, with infinite patience, until the critical moment arrived. This was the way they took to persuade the submarine that their ship was what it pretended to be, a tramp, that there was nothing alive on board, and that it could safely come near.
The still cautious German, after an hour or so of this kind of execution, would submerge and approach within a few hundred yards. All that the watchful eye at the peephole could see, however, was the periscope; this would sail all around the vessel, sometimes at a distance of fifty or a hundred feet. Clearly the German was taking no chances; he was examining his victim inch by inch, looking for the slightest sign that the vessel was a decoy. All this time the captain and crew were lying taut, holding their breath, not moving a muscle, hardly winking an eyelid, the captain with his mouth at the voice pipe ready to give the order to let the false works drop the moment the submarine emerged, the gun crews ready to fire at a second"s warning.
But the cautious periscope, having completed the inspection of the ship, would start in the direction of the drifting lifeboats. This ugly eye would stick itself up almost in the faces of the anxious crew, evidently making a microscopical examination of the clothes, faces, and general personnel, to see if it could detect under their tramp steamer clothes any traces of naval officers and men.
Still the anxious question was, would the submarine emerge? Until it should do so the ship"s crew was absolutely helpless. There was no use in shooting at the submerged boat, as shots do not penetrate the water but bounce off the surface as they do off solid ice. Everybody knew that the German under the water was debating that same question. To come up to the surface so near a mystery ship he knew meant instant death and the loss of his submarine; yet to go away under water meant that the sinking ship, if a merchantman, might float long enough to be salvaged, and it meant also that he would never be able to prove that he had accomplished anything with his valuable torpedo. Had he not sh.e.l.led the derelict so completely that nothing could possibly survive? Had he not examined the thing minutely and discovered nothing amiss? It must be remembered that in 1917 a submarine went through this same procedure with every ship that did not sink very soon after being torpedoed, and that, in nearly every case, it discovered, after emerging, that it had been dealing with a real merchantman. Already this same submarine had wasted hours and immense stores of ammunition on vessels that were not mystery ships, but harmless tramps, and all these false alarms had made it impatient and careless. In most cases, therefore, the crew had only to bide its time. The captain knew that his hidden enemy would finally rise.
"Stand by!"
This command would come softly through the speaking tubes to the men at the guns. The captain on the bridge had noticed the preliminary disturbance on the water that preceded the emergence of the submarine.
In a few seconds the whole boat would be floating on top, and the officers and crews would climb out on the deck, eager for booty. And this within a hundred yards of four or five guns!
"Let go!"
This command came at the top of the voice, for concealment was now no longer necessary. In a twinkling up went the battle flag, bulwarks fell down, lifeboats on decks collapsed, revealing guns, sides dropped from deckhouses, hen-coops, and other innocent-looking structures. The apparently sinking merchantman became a volcano of smoke and fire; scores of sh.e.l.ls dropped upon the submarine, punching holes in her frail hull, hurling German sailors high into the air, sometimes decapitating them or blowing off their arms or legs. The whole horrible scene lasted only a few seconds before the helpless vessel would take its final plunge to the depths, leaving perhaps two or three survivors, a ma.s.s of oil and wood, and still more ghastly wreckage, to mark the spot where another German submarine had paid the penalty of its crimes.
IV
It was entirely characteristic of this strange war that the greatest exploit of any of the mystery ships was in one sense a failure--that is, it did not succeed in destroying the submarine which attacked it.
On an August day in 1917 the British "merchant steamer" _Dunraven_ was zigzagging across the Bay of Biscay. Even to the expert eye she was a heavily laden cargo vessel bound for Gibraltar and the Mediterranean, probably carrying supplies to the severely pressed Allies in Italy and the East. On her stern a 2- pounder gun, clearly visible to all observers, helped to emphasize this impression. Yet the apparently innocent _Dunraven_ was a far more serious enemy to the submarine than appeared on the surface. The mere fact that the commander was not an experienced merchant salt, but Captain Gordon Campbell, of the Royal Navy, in itself would have made the _Dunraven_ an object of terror to any lurking submarine, for Captain Campbell"s name was a familiar one to the Germans by this time. Yet it would have taken a careful investigation to detect in the rough and unkempt figure of Captain Campbell any resemblance to an officer of the British navy, or to identify the untidy seamen as regularly enrolled British sailors. The armament of the _Dunraven_, could one have detected it, would have provided the greatest surprises. This vessel represented the final perfection of the mystery ship. Though seemingly a harmless tramp she carried a number of guns, also two torpedo tubes, and several depth charges; but even from her deck nothing was visible except the usual merchant gun aft. The stern of the _Dunraven_ was a veritable a.r.s.enal.
Besides the guns and depth charges, the magazine and sh.e.l.l-rooms were concealed there; on each side of the ship a masked torpedo tube held its missile ready for a chance shot at a submarine; and the forward deck contained other armament. Such was the _Dunraven_, ploughing her way along, quietly and indifferently, even when, as on this August morning, a submarine was lying on the horizon, planning to make her its prey.
As soon as the disguised merchantman spotted this enemy she began to behave in character. When an armed merchant ship got within range of a submarine on the surface she frequently let fly a shot on the chance of a hit. That was therefore the proper thing for the _Dunraven_ to do; it was really all a part of the game of false pretence in which she was engaged. However, she took pains that the sh.e.l.l should not reach the submarine; this was her means of persuading the U-boat that it outranged the _Dunraven"s_ gun and could safely give chase. The decoy merchantman apparently put on extra steam when the submarine started in her direction at top speed; here, again, however, the proper manoeuvre was not to run too fast, for her real mission was to get caught. On the other hand, had she slowed down perceptibly, that in itself would have aroused suspicion; her game, therefore, was to decrease speed gradually so that the U-boat would think that it was overtaking its enemy by its own exertions. All during this queer kind of a chase the submarine and the cargo ship were peppering each other with sh.e.l.ls, one seriously, the other merely in pretence. The fact that a naval crew, with such a fine target as an exposed submarine, could shoot with a conscious effort not to hit, but merely to lure the enemy to a better position, in itself is an eloquent evidence of the perfect discipline which prevailed in the mystery ship service. Not to aim a fair shot upon the detested vessel, when there was a possibility of hitting it, was almost too much to ask of human nature. But it was essential to success with these vessels never to fire with the intention of hitting unless there was a practical certainty of sinking the submarine; all energies were focussed upon the supreme task of inducing the enemy to expose itself completely within three or four hundred yards of the disguised freighter.
In an hour or two the submarine landed a shot that seemed to have done serious damage. At least huge clouds of steam arose from the engine-room, furnishing external evidence that the engines or boilers had been disabled. The submarine commander did not know that this was a trick; that the vessel was fitted with a specially arranged pipe around the engine-room hatch which could emit these bursts of steam at a moment"s notice, all for the purpose of making him believe that the vitals of the ship had been irreparably damaged. The stopping of the ship, the blowing off of the safety valve, and the appearance of the "panic party" immediately after this ostensible hit made the illusion complete. This "panic party" was particularly panicky; one of the lifeboats was let go with a run, one fall at a time, thus dumping its occupants into the sea. Ultimately, however, the struggling swimmers were picked up and the boat rowed away, taking up a position where a number of the _Dunraven"s_ guns could get a good shot at the submarine should the Germans follow their usual plan of inspecting the lifeboats before visiting the sinking merchantman.
So far everything was taking place according to programme; but presently the submarine reopened fire and scored a shot which gave the enemy all the advantages of the situation. I have described in some detail the stern of the ship--a variegated a.s.sortment of depth charges, sh.e.l.l, guns, and human beings. The danger of such an unavoidable concentration of armament and men was that a lucky shot might land in the midst of it.
And this is precisely what now happened. Not only one, but three sh.e.l.ls from the submarine one after the other struck this hidden ma.s.s of men and ammunition. The first one exploded a depth charge--300 pounds of high explosive--which blew one of the officers out of the after-control station where he lay concealed and landed him on the deck several yards distant. Here he remained a few moments unconscious; then his a.s.sociates saw him, wounded as he was, creeping inch by inch back into his control position, fortunately out of sight of the Germans. The seaman who was stationed at the depth charges was also wounded by this shot, but, despite all efforts to remove him to a more comfortable place, he insisted on keeping at his post.
""Ere I was put in charge of these things," he said, "and "ere I stays."
Two more sh.e.l.ls, one immediately after the other, now landed on the stern. Clouds of black smoke began to rise, and below tongues of flame presently appeared, licking their way in the direction of a large quant.i.ty of ammunition, cordite, and other high explosives. It was not decoy smoke and decoy flame this time. Captain Campbell, watching the whole proceeding from the bridge, perhaps felt something in the nature of a chill creeping up his spine when he realized that the after-part of the ship, where men, explosives, and guns lay concealed in close proximity, was on fire. Just at this moment he observed that the submarine was rapidly approaching; and in a few minutes it lay within 400 yards of his guns. Captain Campbell was just about to give the orders to open fire when the wind took up the dense smoke of the fire and wafted it between his ship and the submarine. This precipitated one of the crises which tested to the utmost the discipline of the mystery ship. The captain had two alternatives: he could fire at the submarine through the smoke, taking his chances of hitting an unseen and moving target, or he could wait until the enemy pa.s.sed around the ship and came up on the other side, where there would be no smoke to interfere with his view. It was the part of wisdom to choose the latter course; but under existing conditions such a decision involved not only great nerve, but absolute confidence in his men. For all this time the fire at the stern was increasing in fierceness; in a brief period, Captain Campbell knew, a ma.s.s of ammunition and depth charges would explode, probably killing or frightfully wounding every one of the men who were stationed there. If he should wait until the U-boat made the tour of the ship and reached the side that was free of smoke the chances were that this explosion would take place before a gun could be fired. On the other hand, if he should fire through the smoke, there was little likelihood of hitting the submarine.
Those who are acquainted with the practical philosophy which directed operations in this war will readily foresee the choice which was now made. The business of mystery ships, as of all anti-submarine craft, was to sink the enemy. All other considerations amounted to nothing when this supreme object was involved. The lives of officers and men, precious as they were under ordinary circ.u.mstances, were to be immediately sacrificed if such a sacrifice would give an opportunity of destroying the submarine. It was therefore Captain Campbell"s duty to wait for the under-water boat to sail slowly around his ship and appear in clear view on the starboard side, leaving his brave men at the stern exposed to the fire, every minute raging more fiercely, and to the likelihood of a terrific explosion. That he was able to make this decision, relying confidently upon the spirit of his crew and their loyal devotion to their leader, again ill.u.s.trates the iron discipline which was maintained on the mystery ships. The first explosion had destroyed the voice tube by means of which Captain Campbell communicated with this gun crew. He therefore had to make his decision without keeping his men informed of the progress of events--information very helpful to men under such a strain; but he well knew that these men would understand his action and cheerfully accept their role in the game. Yet the agony of their position tested their self-control to the utmost. The deck on which they lay every moment became hotter; the leather of their shoes began to smoke, but they refused to budge--for to flee to a safer place meant revealing themselves to the submarine and thereby betraying their secret. They took the boxes of cordite sh.e.l.ls in their arms and held them up as high as possible above the smouldering deck in the hope of preventing an explosion which seemed inevitable.
Never did Christian martyrs, stretched upon a gridiron, suffer with greater heroism.
V
It was probably something of a relief when the expected explosion took place. The submarine had to go only 200 yards more to be under the fire of three guns at a range of 400 yards, but just as it was rounding the stern the German officers and men, standing on the deck, were greeted with a terrific roar. Suddenly a conglomeration of men, guns, and unexploded sh.e.l.ls was hurled into the air. The German crew, of course, had believed that the vessel was a deserted hulk, and this sudden manifestation of life on board not only tremendously startled them, but threw them into a panic. The four-inch gun and its crew were blown high into the air, the gun landing forward on the well deck, and the crew in various places. One man fell into the water; he was picked up, not materially the worse for his experience, by the _Dunraven"s_ lifeboat, which, all this time, had been drifting in the neighbourhood. It is one of the miracles of this war that not one of the members of that crew was killed. The gashed and bleeding bodies of several were thrown back upon the deck; but there were none so seriously wounded that they did not recover. In the minds of these men, however, their own sufferings were not the most distressing consequences of the explosion; the really unfortunate fact was that the sudden appearance of men and guns in the air informed the Germans that they had to deal with one of the ships which they so greatly dreaded. The game, so far as the _Dunraven_ was concerned, was apparently up. The submarine vanished under the water; and the Englishmen well knew that the next move would be the firing of the torpedo which could confidently be expected to end the Q-boat"s career. Some of the crew who were not incapacitated got a hose and attempted to put out the fire, while others removed their wounded comrades to as comfortable quarters as could be found. Presently the wake of the torpedo could be seen approaching the ship; the explosion that followed was a terrible one. The concussion of the previous explosion had set off the "open-fire" buzzers at the gun positions--these buzzers being the usual signals for dropping the false work that concealed the guns and beginning the fight. The result was that, before the torpedo had apparently given the _Dunraven_ its quietus, all the remaining guns were exposed with their crews. Captain Campbell now decided to fight to the death. He sent out a message notifying all destroyers and other anti-submarine craft, as well as all merchant ships, not to approach within thirty miles. A destroyer, should she appear, would force the German to keep under water, and thus prevent the _Dunraven_ from getting a shot. Another merchant ship on the horizon might prove such a tempting bait to the submarine that it would abandon the _Dunraven_, now nearly done for--all on fire at one end as she was and also sinking from her torpedo wound--and so prevent any further combat. For the resourceful Captain Campbell had already formulated another final plan by which he might entice the submarine to rise within range of his guns. To carry out this plan, he wanted plenty of sea room and no interference; so he drew a circle in the water, with a radius of thirty miles, inclosing the s.p.a.ce which was to serve as the "prize ring"
for the impending contest.
His idea was to fall in with the German belief that the _Dunraven_ had reached the end of her tether. A hastily organized second "panic party"
jumped into a remaining lifeboat and a raft and rowed away from the sinking, burning ship. Here was visible evidence to the Germans that their enemies had finally abandoned the fight after nearly four hours of as frightful gruelling as any ship had ever received. But there were still two guns that were concealed and workable; there were, as already said, two torpedo tubes, one on each beam; and a handful of men were kept on board to man these. Meanwhile, Captain Campbell lay p.r.o.ne on the bridge, looking through a peephole for the appearance of the submarine, constantly talking to his men through the tubes, even joking them on their painful vigil.
"If you know a better "ole," he would say, quoting Bairnsfather, "go to it!"
"Remember, lads," he would call at another time, "that the King has given this ship the V.C."
Every situation has its humorous aspects. Thus one gun crew could hardly restrain its laughter when a blue-jacket called up to Captain Campbell and asked if he could not take his boots off. He came of a respectable family, he explained, and did not think it becoming to die with his boots on. But the roar of the fire, which had now engulfed the larger part of the ship, and the constantly booming sh.e.l.ls, which were exploding, one after another, like mammoth fire-crackers, interfered with much conversation. For twenty minutes everybody lay there, hoping and praying that the U-boat would emerge.
The German ultimately came up, but he arose cautiously at the stern of the ship, at a point from which the guns of the _Dunraven_ could not bear. On the slim chance that a few men might be left aboard, the submarine sh.e.l.led it for several minutes, fore and aft, then, to the agony of the watching Englishmen, it again sank beneath the waves.
Presently the periscope shot up, and began moving slowly around the blazing derelict, its eye apparently taking in every detail; he was so cautious, that submarine commander, he did not propose to be outwitted again! Captain Campbell now saw that he had only one chance; the conflagration was rapidly destroying his vessel, and he could spend no more time waiting for the submarine to rise. But he had two torpedoes and he determined to use these against the submerged submarine. As the periscope appeared abeam, one of the _Dunraven"s_ torpedoes started in its direction; the watching gunners almost wept when it missed by a few inches. But the submarine did not see it, and the periscope calmly appeared on the other side of the ship. The second torpedo was fired; this also pa.s.sed just about a foot astern, and the submarine saw it. The game was up. What was left of the _Dunraven_ was rapidly sinking, and Captain Campbell sent out a wireless for help. In a few minutes the U.S.
armed yacht _Noma_ and the British destroyers _Alc.o.c.k_ and _Christopher_, which had been waiting outside the "prize ring," arrived and took off the crew. The tension of the situation was somewhat relieved when a "jackie" in one of the "panic" boats caught sight of his beloved captain, entirely uninjured, jumping on one of the destroyers.
"Gawd!" he shouted, in a delighted tone, "if there ain"t the skipper still alive!"
"We deeply regret the loss of His Majesty"s ship," said Captain Campbell, in his report, "and still more the escape of the enemy. We did our best, not only to destroy the enemy and save the ship, but also to show ourselves worthy of the Victoria Cross which the King recently bestowed on the ship."
They did indeed. My own opinion of this performance I expressed in a letter which I could not refrain from writing to Captain Campbell:
MY DEAR CAPTAIN:
I have just read your report of the action between the Dunraven and a submarine on August 8th last.
I have had the benefit of reading the reports of some of your former exploits, and Admiral Bayly has told me about them all; but in my opinion this of the _Dunraven_ is the finest of all as a military action and the most deserving of complete success.
It was purely incidental that the sub escaped. That was due, moreover, to an unfortunate piece of bad luck. The engagement, judged as a skilful fight, and not measured by its material results, seems to me to have been perfectly successful, because I do not think that even you, with all your experience in such affairs, could conceive of any feature of the action that you would alter if you had to do it over again. According to my idea about such matters, the standard set by you and your crew is worth infinitely more than the destruction of a submarine. Long after we both are dust and ashes, the story of this last fight will be a valuable inspiration to British (and American) naval officers and men--a demonstration of the extraordinary degree to which the patriotism, loyalty, personal devotion, and bravery of a crew may be inspired. I know nothing finer in naval history than the conduct of the after-gun"s crew--in fact, the entire crew of the _Dunraven_. It goes without saying that the credit of this behaviour is chiefly yours....
With my best wishes for your future success, believe me, my dear Captain,
Faithfully yours, WM. S. SIMS.
The records show that the mystery ships sank twelve submarines, of which Captain Campbell accounted for four; yet this was perhaps not their most important achievement. From the German standpoint they were a terribly disturbing element in the general submarine situation. Externally a mystery ship, as already described, was indistinguishable from the most harmless merchantman. The cleverness with which the Allied officers took advantage of the vicious practices of the submarine commanders bewildered them still further. Nothing afloat was sacred to the Hun; and he seemed to take particular pride in destroying small vessels, even little sailing vessels. The Navy decided to turn this amiable trait to good account, and fitted out the _Prize_, a topsail schooner of 200 tons, and placed her under the command of Lieut. William Sanders, R.N.R.
This little schooner, as was expected, proved an irresistible bait. A certain submarine, commanded by one of the most experienced U-boat captains, attacked her by gun fire from a safe distance and, after her panic party had left, sh.e.l.led her until she was in a sinking condition; many of her crew had been killed and wounded, when, confident that she could not be a Q-ship, the enemy came within less than 100 yards. It was promptly fired on and disappeared beneath the surface. The panic party picked up the German captain and two men, apparently the only survivors, who expressed their high admiration for the bravery of the crew and a.s.sisted them to get their battered craft into port. The captain said to Lieutenant Sanders: "I take off my hat to you and your men. I would not have believed that any men could stand such gun fire." For this exploit Lieutenant Sanders was awarded the Victoria Cross. Within about four days from the time of this action the Admiralty received an inquiry via Sweden through the Red Cross asking the whereabouts of the captain of this submarine. This showed that the vessel had reached her home port, and ill.u.s.trated once more the necessity for caution in claiming the destruction of U-boats and the wisdom of declining to publish the figures of sinkings. Unfortunately, the plucky little _Prize_ was subsequently lost with her gallant captain and crew.
So great was the desire of our people to take some part in the mystery ship campaign that I took steps to satisfy their legitimate ambition. As the Navy had fitted out no mystery ships of our own, I requested the Admiralty to a.s.sign one for our use. This was immediately agreed to by Admiral Jellicoe and, with the approval of the Navy Department, the vessel was delivered and named the _Santee_, after our old sailing man-of-war of that name. We called for volunteers, and practically all the officers and men of the forces based on Queenstown clamoured for this highly interesting though hazardous service. Commander David C.
Hanrahan was a.s.signed as her commander, and two specially selected men were taken from each of our vessels, thus forming an exceedingly capable crew. The ship was disguised with great skill and, with the invaluable advice of Captain Campbell, the crew was thoroughly trained in all the fine points of the game.
One December evening the _Santee_ sailed from Queenstown for Bantry Bay to carry out intensive training. A short time after she left port she was struck by a torpedo which caused great damage, but so solidly was her hull packed with wood that she remained afloat. The panic party got off in most approved style, and for several hours the _Santee_ awaited developments, hoping for a glimpse of the submarine. But the under-water boat never disclosed its presence; not even the tip of a periscope showed itself; and the _Santee_ was towed back to Queenstown.
The _Santee"s_ experience was that of many mystery ships of 1918. The Germans had learned their lesson.
For this reason it is desirable to repeat and emphasize that the most important accomplishment of the mystery ships was not the actual sinking of submarines, but their profound influence upon the tactics of the U-boats. It was manifest in the beginning that the first information reaching Germany concerning the mystery ships would greatly diminish the chances of sinking submarines by this means, for it would cause all submarines to be wary of all mercantile craft. They were therefore obliged largely to abandon the easy, safe, and cheap methods of sinking ships by bombs or gun fire, and were consequently forced to incur the danger of attacking with the scarce and expensive torpedo. Moreover, barring the very few vessels that could be sunk by long-range gun fire, they were practically restricted to this method of attack on pain of abandoning the submarine campaign altogether.
CHAPTER VI
AMERICAN COLLEGE BOYS AND SUBCHASERS
I
Who would ever have thought that a little wooden vessel, displacing only sixty tons, measuring only 110 feet from bow to stern, and manned by officers and crew very few of whom had ever made an ocean voyage, could have crossed more than three thousand miles of wintry sea, even with the help of the efficient naval officers and men who, after training there, convoyed and guided them across, and could have done excellent work in hunting the submarines? We built nearly 400 of these little vessels in eighteen months; and we sent 170 to such widely scattered places as Plymouth, Queenstown, Brest, Gibraltar, and Corfu. Several enemy submarines now lie at the bottom of the sea as trophies of their offensive power; and on the day that hostilities ceased, the Allies generally recognized that this tiny vessel, with the "listening devices"
which made it so efficient, represented one of the most satisfactory direct "answers" to the submarine which had been developed by the war.
Had it not been that the war ended before enough destroyers could be spared from convoy duty to a.s.sist, with their greater speed and offensive power, hunting groups of these tiny craft, it is certain that they would soon have become a still more important factor in destroying submarines and interfering with their operations.