The Crisis of the Naval War Part 15

The Chart D shows the respective areas at one period. No very important changes took place in the delimitation of the areas during the war, and the chart may therefore be considered generally representative of the organization. Chart E shows the zones into which the Mediterranean was divided.

[Transcriber's note: Charts D and E are maps of the waters around the United Kingdom, and the waters of the Mediterranean, respectively, with patrol zones marked.]

In December, 1917, the number of vessels of different cla.s.ses actually appropriated to various areas is given on the next page in Table D for the British Isles and Table E for the Mediterranean.

TABLE D: AUXILIARY PATROLS IN HOME WATERS.

------------------------------------------------------------+ Boom Defence Drifters, etc. | --------------------------------------------------------+ | Boom Defence Trawlers. | | ----------------------------------------------------+ | | Patrol Paddlers. | | | -------------------------------------------------+ | | | Paddle or Screw Minesweepers. | | | | ----------------------------------------------+ | | | | Motor Boats. | | | | | -------------------------------------------+ | | | | | Motor Drifters. | | | | | | ----------------------------------------+ | | | | | | Other Drifters. | | | | | | | ------------------------------------+ | | | | | | | Net Drifters. | | | | | | | | --------------------------------+ | | | | | | | | Motor Launches. | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------+ | | | | | | | | | Whalers. | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------+ | | | | | | | | | | Trawlers. | | | | | | | | | | | --------------------+ | | | | | | | | | | | Yachts. | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+---+---+ Area No. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | I | 5| 44| 4| 6| 22| 2|11| | 3| | | 6| II | 6|119| 7| 15| 72|112| 6| | 8| | 60| 83| IV | 1| 27| | 12| 10| 3| | | | | 15| 10| V | 1| 20| | 8| 12| 1| 7| | | | | | VI | 6| 51| 1| 24| 9| 14|14| |13| | 20| 23| VIII | 1| 51| | 16| 25| | 4| | 9| | | | IX | 1| 93| 3| 6| 25| 1| 4| | 8| | 7| 25| [ | 2| 16| | 6| 27| | | 2| | | | | X -[ | | 53| | 6| | 19| | | | | | | - | | 30| | 6| 28| | 2| | 7| | | 5| - | 1| 29| | 33| 42| | | | 9| | 3| 13| XI | 2| 70| | 31|101| | | |19| | | 2| | 1| | | | | 30| | | | | | | XII | 2| 35| | 26| 22| 10| | | 6| | | 10| | | 18| | 5| 18| | | | | | | | | | 14| | 2| 25| 2| | | | | | | | | 6| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4| 37| | | 1| | | | | XIII | 1| 27| | 19| 15| | | | 5| | | | XIIIA | | 54| | 21| 19| | | | | | | 1| XIV | 2| 44| | 14| 41| | | | | | | 2| | | 6| | 6| 6| | | | 5| | | | XV | 3| 46| | 8| 59| 2| | | | | 3| | XVI | 3| 19| | 12| 13| | | | | | | 1| | | 9| | 6| 16| | 5| | 5| | | | XVII | 3| 26| | 12| 68| 1| | | 4| | | 1| | 1| 10| | 6| 31| | | | | | 4| 2| XVIII | | 31| | | 11| 4| | | | | 4| | XIX | | 7| | 8| | | | | | | | | XX | | 8| | 6| 4| | | | | | | 1| XXI | 1| 15| | 16| 11| | 6| | 7| | 2| 3| XXII | 1| 10| | 6| 14| | | | | | | | ----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+---+---+

TABLE E: AUXILIARY PATROLS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN ZONES

----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+---+---+ I | 7| 9| | 19| | | | | | | | | VI | 1| 12| | 42|116| | | | | | | | VIII | 2| 61| | 21| 25| | | | | | 2| 2| V | 1| 51| | 18| | | | | | 5| | | X | 1| 47| | 17| 6| | | | | 5| | | | 2| | | 12| | | | | | | | | | 2| 22| | | 4| | | | | | 2| | | 1| 4| | 11| | | | 7| | | | | ----------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+---+---+ It will be seen that the total number of British patrol and minesweeping craft, exclusive of the stationary boom defence vessels, was at this time 3,084. Of this number 473 were in the Mediterranean, 824 were in the English Channel between The Nore and Falmouth, 557 were in Irish waters or on the west coast of England, and the remaining 1,230 were on the east coast of England and the east and west coasts of Scotland and the Orkneys and Shetlands.

The work of these vessels was almost entirely of an anti-submarine or minesweeping nature.

The trawlers were engaged in patrol duty, convoy escort service, and minesweeping. The drifters worked drifting nets fitted with mines as an anti-submarine weapon, and also in the case of the Dover area they laid and kept efficient a barrage of mine nets off the Belgian coast. Some were also fitted with hydrophones and formed hunting flotillas, and some were engaged in minesweeping duties, or in patrolling swept channels. At Fleet bases a small number were required to attend on the ships of the Fleet, and to a.s.sist in the work of the base. The whalers, being faster vessels than the trawlers, were mostly engaged on escort duty or on patrol. The motor launches were employed for anti-submarine work, fitted with hydrophones, and worked in company with drifters and torpedo-boat destroyers, or in minesweeping in areas in which their light draught rendered it advantageous and safer to employ them instead of heavier draught vessels to locate minefields, and in the Dover area they were largely used to work smoke screens for operations on the Belgian coast.

As the convoy system became more general, so the work of the small craft in certain areas altered from patrol and escort work to convoy duty. These areas were those on the East Coast and north-west of Scotland through which the Scandinavian and East Coast trade pa.s.sed, and those in the Channel frequented by the vessels employed in the French coal trade. The majority of these ships were of comparatively slow speed, and trawlers possessed sufficient speed to accompany them, but a few destroyers of the older type formed a part of the escorting force, both for the purpose of protection and also for offensive action against submarines attacking the convoys, the slow speed of trawlers handicapping them greatly in this respect.

The difficulty of dealing with submarines may be gauged by the enormous number of small craft thus employed, but a consideration of the characteristics of a submarine and of the great volume of traffic pa.s.sing up and down our coasts will a.s.sist in a realization of the varied and difficult problems set to the British Navy.

For instance, the total number of vessels pa.s.sing Lowestoft during the month of April, 1917, was 1,837 British and Allied and 208 neutral, giving a daily average of 62 British and Allied and 7 neutral ships; and as Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon has mentioned in his book, "The Dover Patrol, 1915-17" (page 51), an average of between 80 to 100 merchant vessels pa.s.sed Dover daily during 1917. A study of these figures gives some idea of the number of targets offered daily to ordinary submarines and minelaying submarines in two of the areas off our coasts. When it is borne in mind that the Germans had similar chances of inflicting heavy losses on our mercantile marine all round the coasts of the United Kingdom, and that it was obviously impossible to tell where an underwater attack would take place, it will be realized that once submarines reached our coasts, nothing short of an immense number of small craft could deal satisfactorily with the situation, and afford any degree of protection to trade. Minelaying by submarines was a particularly difficult problem with which to deal; the enemy frequently changed his methods, and such changes when discovered involved alterations in our own procedure. Thus for some time after the commencement of minelaying by submarines, the whole of the mines of one submarine would be laid in a comparatively small area. It was fairly easy to deal with this method as a dangerous area was proclaimed round the spot where a mine was discovered, and experience soon showed the necessary extent of area to proclaim. Later the submarines laid mines in groups of about six. This necessitated the proclamation of more than one area, and was naturally a more difficult problem. At a further stage the submarines scattered their mines in even smaller numbers, and the task of ensuring a safe channel was still further increased. The most difficult artifice to deal with, however, was the introduction by the Germans of a delay action device in their mines, which caused them to remain at the bottom for varying periods after being laid. The ordinary mine-sweep, the function of which was to catch the mooring rope of the mine and drag the mine clear of the channel, was, of course, ineffective against the mine on the bottom, and there was no guarantee that mines might not be released from the bottom and rise to a depth at which they were dangerous, after the channel had been swept and reported clear. To deal with this danger a chain-sweep to work on the bottom was introduced, but its use presented many difficulties, especially over a rocky bottom.

When a regular swept and buoyed channel was in use the enemy had little difficulty in deciding on the positions in which to lay mines by reason of the presence of the buoys. This fact const.i.tuted the princ.i.p.al disadvantage in the use of a buoyed channel, but in certain places where the traffic was heavy the procedure was inevitable, and it greatly simplified the work of the patrol craft and minesweepers; the only precautions possible lay in the use of alternative marked channels, and in the laying of defensive deep minefields outside the channel in which enemy submarines might compa.s.s their own destruction. As rapidly as our supply of mines admitted, this latter device was adopted in positions where the minefields could not const.i.tute a danger to our own submarines. False buoyed channels with mined areas round them could also be laid in which to catch the submarine. Another device was that of altering the position of light vessels and buoys with the object of putting a submarine on to a shoal.

The situation with which our patrol and minesweeping craft had to deal having now been stated, it remains to speak of the magnificent manner in which they accomplished their task.

I regret very deeply that, in spite of a strong desire to undertake the task, I have neither the information nor the literary ability to do justice to the many deeds of individual gallantry, self-sacrifice and resource performed by the splendid officers and men who manned the small craft. No words of mine can adequately convey the intense admiration which I felt, and which I know was shared by the whole Navy, for the manner in which their arduous and perilous work was carried out. These fine seamen, though quite strange to the hazardous work which they were called upon to undertake, quickly accustomed themselves to their new duties, and the nation should ever be full of grat.i.tude that it bred such a race of hardy, skilful and courageous men as those who took so great a part in defeating the greatest menace with which the Empire has ever been faced.

There are, however, just two cases in 1917, typical of many others, which I cannot forbear from mentioning. The first occurred off the East Coast of England.

On August 15 the armed fishing craft Nelson and Ethel and Millie were attacked by gunfire by a German submarine on the surface at a range of four to five miles.

The submarine first concentrated her fire on the Nelson, which immediately slipped her trawl and went to action stations. The third shot from the submarine pierced the trawler's bows, and, having established the range, the submarine poured a well-directed fire into the Nelson, under which she rapidly began to settle down.

The seventh shot struck the skipper, Thomas Crisp, D.S.C., R.N.R., taking off both his legs and partly disembowelling him.

In spite of the terrible nature of his injuries he retained consciousness and gave instructions to the mate, who was his son, to send a message by carrier pigeon to the senior officer of his base reporting that he was engaged with the enemy; he then bade him fight to the last.

The Nelson, armed with one small gun, replied to the enemy's fire until the heavy heel which she had a.s.sumed made it impossible to bring the gun to bear. As she was then on the point of sinking the mate decided to abandon her and take to the boat, and begged his father to give them leave to carry him. This, however, the old man sternly refused to do, and ordered his son to throw him overboard.

The nature of his wounds being such that he would have died if he had been moved, they deemed it best, after consultation, to leave him where he lay. Accordingly, yielding to his reiterated order to abandon the ship, they left this most gallant seaman lying in his blood, and embarked in the boat as the Nelson sank.

The submarine in the meanwhile concentrated her fire on the Ethel and Millie, and having eventually sunk her, made the survivors of the crew prisoners, and steamed away.

The crew of the Nelson were rescued by a man-of-war after being in their boat for forty-four hours.

The second case occurred in the Adriatic. On the night in question our drifter patrol in the Straits of Otranto was attacked by a force of Austrian light cruisers. The drifters were each armed with a 3-pounder gun, and the light cruisers with 4-inch and 6-inch guns. The drifters were, of course, quite unable to defend themselves. Nevertheless the indomitable skipper, I. Watt, of the drifter Gowan Lea, when summoned to surrender by an Austrian light cruiser which was firing at his craft, shouted defiance, waved his hat to his men, and ordered them to open fire with the 3-pounder gun. His orders were obeyed, and, surprising to relate, the light cruiser sheered off, and this fine seaman with his gallant ship's company brought the Gowan Lea into port in safety.

Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon, in his most interesting narrative of the work of the Dover Patrol, has brought to light many individual instances of work gallantly performed; it is much to be hoped that before recollection fades, those who can speak of the actions of individuals in other areas will tell their countrymen something of the great deeds performed.

A feature of the patrol service of much interest was the manner in which a large number of retired officers, including many of flag rank-who had reached mature age-volunteered for service in the yachts and other small craft engaged in the work. The late Admiral Sir Alfred Paget was one of the first, if not the first, to come forward, and in order to avoid any difficulty in the matter of rank, this fine veteran proposed to sink his Naval status and to accept a commission as captain of the Royal Naval Reserve. Sir Alfred, in common with many other officers who took up this work, was over sixty, but age did not deter these gallant seamen from facing the hardship and discomfort of service in small craft in the North Sea and elsewhere. To name all the officers who undertook this duty, or who were in charge of patrol areas, would be impossible, and it may seem invidious to mention names at all; but I cannot forbear to speak of some of those with whom I came most frequently into contact during 1917. Sir James Startin, K.C.B., who was the life and soul of the patrols and minesweepers working from Granton, was frequently at sea in decoy ships fitted out there, as well as in minesweepers, etc., and together with his son won the Albert Medal for saving life during the war; Admiral J.L. Marx, C.B., D.S.O., served also in a decoy ship; Admiral John Denison, D.S.O., was in charge first at Falmouth and later at Kingstown; Admiral T.P. Walker, D.S.O., had his yacht sunk under him; Admiral Sir Charles Dare, K.C.M.G., C.B., won great distinction in command of the patrols, etc., working from Milford Haven; and Rear-Admiral C.H. Simpson's Peterhead trawlers, splendidly manned, took a heavy toll of enemy submarines. A large number of retired Naval officers below the rank of admiral served in minesweepers and patrol craft, and in command of various areas, and their work was of the greatest possible value. A few of those with whom I came into personal contact during the year 1917 were the late Captain F. Bird, C.M.G., D.S.O., who was most conspicuous in command of the drifters of the Dover Patrol; Captain W. Vansittart Howard, D.S.O., who commanded the Dover Trawler Patrol with such ability; Commander Sir George Armstrong, Bart., who so successfully inspired the minesweeping force working from Havre; and Commander H.F. Cayley, D.S.O., whose services in the Harwich minesweeping force, working under his brother, Rear-Admiral C.G. Cayley, were invaluable.

So much for the patrol craft. The great work carried out by the minesweepers can be best judged by quoting a few figures for 1917, during which year the mine menace attained its maximum intensity, owing to the large increase in the number of German submarine minelayers.

During the year 1916 the average number of mines swept up per month was 178.

Statistics for 1917 show the following numbers of mines swept up per month:

January 250 February 380 March 473 April 515 May 360 June 470 July 404 August 352 September 418 October 237 November 184 December 188 making the average per month in 1917 355 mines.

It will be noticed how rapidly the figures rose in the early part of the year, and how great was the diminution in the figures for the later months. This decrease was due to the fact that the extension of anti-submarine measures was beginning to take effect, and the destruction of German submarines, and especially of submarine minelayers of the U.C. type, was becoming considerable.

The heavy work involved a great strain on the minesweeping service, and the greatest possible credit is due to the personnel of that service for the fine response made to the call for additional exertions and heavier risks.

At the same time the organizing work achieved at Headquarters by the minesweeping section of the Naval Staff should not be forgotten. At the head of this section was Captain Lionel G. Preston, C.B.; he had succeeded to the post of Head of the Minesweeping Service early in 1917, after two and a half years of strenuous and most successful minesweeping work in the Grand Fleet flotillas, and he at once grappled with the task of dealing with the large number of mines then being laid by German submarines.

Instructions were issued to fit all patrol craft round the coast for minesweeping work in addition to their patrol duties, and they were used for sweeping as required. Many drifters were also fitted for minesweeping in addition to the trawlers. .h.i.therto employed; and although there was some prejudice against these vessels on account of their slower speed, they proved to be of great a.s.sistance. Every available small craft that could be fitted for the work was pressed into the service, including a considerable number of motor launches.

There was unfortunately great delay in the building of the "Hunt" cla.s.s of minesweeper, which was the type ordered in 1916 and repeated in 1917, and in spite of very large additional orders for this cla.s.s of vessel having been placed early in 1917 (a total of 100 extra vessels being ordered), the number completed during that year was only sixteen, together with a single paddle sweeper. Consequently we were dependent for the largely increased work on improvised craft, and the very greatest credit is due to all who were concerned in this arduous and dangerous duty that the waters were kept comparatively clear of mines, and that our losses from this cause were so small when the immense number of mines swept up is considered.

Fortunately the enemy lost very heavily in submarines of the U.C., or minelaying type, largely because they were working of necessity in waters near our coast, so that our anti-submarine measures had a better chance, since they were easier to locate and destroy than submarines working farther afield. By the commencement of 1918 the average number of mines swept up monthly showed a very remarkable decrease, the average for the first two months of that year being only 159 per month, eloquent testimony to the efficiency of the anti-submarine measures in operation during 1917. I have no information as to the figures for the remaining months of 1918.

The record of minesweeping work would not be complete without figures showing the damage caused by mines to minesweeping vessels.

During the last six months of 1916 the average number of these craft sunk or damaged by mines per month was 5.7, while for the first six months of 1917 the figures rose to ten per month. For the second six months of 1917 the figures fell to four per month, a reduction even on the losses towards the end of 1916, in spite of the fact that more mines were being dealt with. This reduction may have been due to improvements effected in organization as the result of experience.

Similarly the total number of merchant ships sunk or damaged by mines, which during the first six months of 1917 totalled 90, dropped in the second six months to 49.

By far the greater proportion of mines swept up were laid in Area 10-i.e. the Nore, Harwich and Lowestoft area. This part of the coast was nearest to the German submarine base at Zeebrugge, and as the greater part of the east coast traffic pa.s.sed through the area it naturally came in for a great deal of minelaying attention. Out of some 2,400 mines swept up in the first half of 1917, over 800 came from Area 10 alone. The greatest number of casualties to merchant ships from mines during this same period also occurred in Area 10, which in this respect was, however, rivalled by Area 8-the Tyne. Many ships also struck mines in Areas 11 and 12 in the English Channel, and in both of these areas a considerable number of mines were swept up.

In addition to the daily risks of being themselves blown up which were run by the vessels engaged in this work, many very gallant deeds were performed by individual officers and men of the minesweeping force, who were one and all imbued with the idea that their first duty was to keep a clear channel for traffic regardless of the consequence to themselves. I must leave to abler pens than mine the task of recording in fitting phrase some of the courageous actions of our small craft which will be looked upon as amongst the most glorious episodes of the Naval part of the Great War, and content myself to mention only one case, that of the trawler Grand Duke, working in the Milford area in May, 1917. In this instance a flotilla of minesweepers was employed in sweeping when two mines exploded in the sweep towed by the second pair of minesweeping trawlers in the flotilla. The wire parted and one of the two trawlers proceeded to heave in the "kite," the contrivance employed to keep the sweep at the required depth. When hove short up it was discovered that a mine was foul of the wire and that it had been hauled up against the ship's side. Just beneath the surface the circular outline of a second mine could also be detected entangled in the wire and swirling round in the current beneath the trawler's counter. In the circ.u.mstances, since any roll of the ship might suffice to strike one of the horns of either mine and detonate the charges, the officer in charge of the trawler chose the best course open to him in view of his responsibility for the lives of those under his command, and ordered the trawler to be abandoned.

The senior officer of the division of minesweepers thereupon called for a volunteer, and accompanied by the engineman, boarded the abandoned trawler, and disregarding the imminent probability of an explosion caused by the contact of the ship and the mine, cut the sweep and kite wires. The mines fell clear without detonating, and by means of a rope pa.s.sed to another trawler they were towed clear of the spot.

It is appropriate to close this chapter by giving a synopsis of the losses amongst our patrol escort and minesweeping vessels between the commencement of the war and the end of 1917 due (1) to enemy action, and (2) to the increased navigational dangers incidental to service afloat under war conditions.

Under the first heading-enemy action-the losses were 8 yachts, 6 motor launches, 3 motor boats, 150 trawlers, 59 drifters, and 10 paddle minesweepers; and the losses due to navigational risks were 5 yachts, 55 trawlers, 7 motor launches, 3 motor boats, 30 drifters, and 1 paddle minesweeper, whilst the total loss of life was 197 officers and 1,782 men.

CHAPTER VIII

THE DOVER PATROL AND THE HARWICH FORCES Vice-Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon has given ("The Dover Patrol, 1915-1917," Hutchinson & Co., 1919.) a most valuable record of the varied work carried out in the Straits of Dover and on the Belgian coast during the period of his command. There is little to be added to this great record, but it may be of interest to mention the general Admiralty policy which governed the Naval operations in southern waters during the year 1917, and the methods by which that policy was carried out.

The policy which was adopted in southern waters, and especially in the Straits of Dover, was that, so far as the means at our disposal admitted, the Straits should be rendered impa.s.sable for enemy ships of all kinds, from battleships to submarines, with a view to protecting the cross-Channel communications of our Army in France, of affording protection to trade in the Channel, and preventing a military landing by the Germans either in the south of England or on the left flank of the Allied Army in France. So long as the Belgian coast ports remained in German possession, the Naval force that could be based there const.i.tuted a very serious menace to the cross-Channel traffic. This really applied more to destroyers than to submarines, and for this reason: submarines have an infinitely larger radius of action than destroyers, and if the Belgian coast ports had not been in German occupation, the additional 210 miles from the Ems would not have been a matter of serious moment to them, and if sighted on the longer pa.s.sage they could submerge. The case was quite different with destroyers or other surface vessels; in the first place they were open to attack by our vessels during the pa.s.sage to and from the Ems, and in the second the additional distance to be traversed was a matter for consideration, since they carried only limited supplies of fuel.

A fact to which the Admiralty frequently directed attention was that, although annoyance and even serious inconvenience might be caused to the enemy by sea and air operations against Ostend and Zeebrugge, no permanent result could be achieved by the Navy alone unless backed up by an advance on land. The Admiralty was heart and soul for an audacious policy, providing the form of attack and the occasion offered a reasonable prospect of success. Owing to the preoccupations of the Army, we had to be satisfied with bombardments of the ports by unprotected monitors, which had necessarily to be carried out at very long ranges, exceeding 25,000 yards, and necessitating direction of the fire by aircraft.

Bruges, about eight miles from the sea, was the real base of enemy submarines and destroyers, Zeebrugge and Ostend being merely exits from Bruges, and the use of the latter could only be denied to the enemy by land attack or by effective blocking operations at Ostend and Zeebrugge, for, if only one port was closed, the other could be used.