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a1md  their 
stor:^ 


E.KEBLE  CHATTERTON 


Presented  to  the 

UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO 
LIBRARY 

by  the 

ONTARIO  LEGISLATIVE 
LIBRARY 


1980 


Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 


BOOKS    ON   THE   SEA   BY 
E.   KEBLE   CHATTERTON 

HISTORICAL 

SAILING  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

SHIPS  AND  WAYS  OF  OTHER  DAYS 

FORE  AND  AFT:  THE  STORY  OF  THE 
FORE  AND  AFT  RIG 

STEAMSHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

THE  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SHIP 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  BRITISH  NAVY 

KING'S  CUTTERS  AND  SMUGGLERS 

THE  ROMANCE  OF  PIRACY 

THE  OLD  EAST  INDIAMEN 

CRUISES 

DOWN  CHANNEL  IN  THE  "VIVETTE" 

THROUGH  HOLLAND  IN  THE 
"VIVETTE" 


0-SHIPS  AND  THEIR 

STORY 


_  ^  o  r*'^ 


t> 


BY 


E.    KEBLE    CHATTERTON 

AUTHOR   OF  "  SAILING  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY, ' 
LATE  LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER  R.N.V.R. 


P^ 


LONDON 

SIDGWICK  AND  JACKSON,  LTD. 

3.  ADAM  STREET.  ADELPHI,  W.C. 
1922 


i) 

^4f 


TO 
ADMIRAL  SIR  LEWIS  BAYLY, 

C.V.O.,  K.C.B.,  K.C.M.G., 

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF  OF  THE  IRISH  COAST  DURING 
THE  STRENUOUS  YEARS  OF  THE  SUBMARINE  CAMPAIGN, 
WHO  BY  HIS  ENCOURAGEMENT  AND  DEVELOPMENT 
OF  THE  ft-SHIP  SERVICE  DID  SO  MUCH  TO  THWART 
THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  ENEMY  AND  TO  PROTECT 
OUR    MERCANTILE    MARINE 


PREFACE 

The  wonderful  and  brave  story  of  ships  and  men  here  pre- 
sented needs  but  the  briefest  introduction.  The  deeds  will 
forever  remain  one  of  the  most  glorious  chapters  in  the  chronicles 
of  the  sea.  No  excuse  is  offered  for  adding  another  volume  to 
the  literature  of  the  war,  for  the  subject  is  deserving  of  greater 
attention  than  has  hitherto  been  possible.  Lord  Jellicoe  once 
remarked  that  he  did  not  think  English  people  realized  the 
wonderful  work  which  these  mystery  ships  had  done  in  the  war, 
and  that  in  these  vessels  there  had  been  displayed  a  spirit  of 
endurance,  discipline,  and  courage  the  like  of  which  the  world 
had  never  before  seen. 

To  few  naval  historians,  I  believe,  has  it  ever  been  permitted 
to  enjoy  such  complete  opportunities  for  acquiring  authentic 
information  as  is  here  presented.  Unquestionably  the  greatest 
sphere  of  Q-ship  operations  was  off"  the  south-west  coast  of 
Ireland,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  enemy  submarines  from  the 
summer  of  1915  to  1918  concentrated  their  attacks,  with  certain 
intervals,  on  the  shipping  in  the  western  approaches  to  the 
British  Isles.  It  was  my  good  fortune  during  most  of  this 
period  to  be  at  sea  patrolling  off"  that  part  of  Ireland.  These 
Q-ships  were  therefore  familiar  in  their  various  disguises  at  sea 
or  in  harbour  at  Berehaven  and  Queenstown  during  their  well- 
earned  rest.  Throughout  this  time  I  kept  a  diary,  and  noted 
down  much  that  would  otherwise  have  been  forgotten.  Many  of 
the  Q-ship  officers  were  my  personal  friends,  and  I  have  enjoyed 
the  hospitality  of  their  ships.  Valuable  data,  too,  were  obtained 
from  officers  of  merchant  ships  who  witnessed  Q-ships  engaging 
submarines. 

A  considerable  number  of  authentic  manuscripts  has  been 
examined.  By  the  courtesy  of  commanding  officers  I  have 
been  lent  documents  of  priceless  historical  value,  such  as  copies 
of  official  reports  and  private  diaries,  plans,  sketches,  photo- 
graphs,  and   so   on.      All    this   information    has    been  further 

vii 


Vlll 


PREFACE 


au<Tmented  by  personal  conversation,  correspondence,  and 
valuable  criticism.  I  submit,  therefore,  that  with  all  these 
sources  of  information  available,  and  with  knowledge  of  much 
that  has  been  published  from  the  German  side,  it  is  possible 
to  offer  a  monograph  that  is  at  once  accurate  in  detail  and 
coiTect  in  perspective. 

'  With  respect  to  single-ship  actions,'  wrote  James  in  his 
monumental  Naval  History  a  hundred  years  ago,  '  the  official 
documents  of  them  are  also  very  imperfect.  The  letters  are 
generally  written  an  hour  or  so  after  the  termination  of  the 
contest,  and,  of  course,  before  the  captain  has  well  recovered 
from  the  fatigue  and  flurry  it  occasioned.  Many  captains  are 
far  more  expert  at  the  sword  than  at  the  pen,  and  would  sooner 
fight  an  action  than  write  the  particulars  of  one.'  That  state- 
ment is  true  to-day  of  the  Q-ships,  and  it  would  have  been 
neffligent  not  to  have  availed  oneself  now  of  the  calm  and 
considered  version  of  the  chief  actors  in  the  great  mystery- 
ship  drama  while  they  are  still  alive.  Although  the  time  for 
secrecy  has  long  since  passed,  nothing  has  here  been  included  of 
a  confidential  nature  that  can  be  of  assistance  to  enemies  past 
or  potential.  In  one  instance,  for  political  reasons  and  in  the 
interests  of  the  service,  I  have  made  a  certain  omission.  Those 
concerned  will  recognize  this  and  understand  :  the  rest  will  not 
notice  it. 

Among  those  who  have  rendered  me  the  greatest  assistance 
in  regard  to  information,  advice,  criticism,  the  loan  of  manu- 
scripts, illustrations,  and  in  other  ways,  I  desire  especially  to 
return  thanks  to  Admiral  Sir  Lewis  Bayly,  C.V.O.,  K.C.B., 
K.C.M.G.,  and  Miss  Voysey,  C.B.E. ;  to  Captain  F.  H.  Grenfell, 
D.S.O.,  R.N.,  Captain  Gordon  Campbell,  V.C,  D.S.O.,  R.N., 
Captain  W.  C.  O'G.  Cochrane,  R.N.,  Commander  Godfrey 
Herbert,  D.S.O.,  R.N.,  Commander  Stopford  C.  Douglas,  R.N., 
and  to  Lieutenant  G.  H.  P.  Muhlhauser,  R.N.R. 

E.  KEBLE  CHATTERTON. 
March,  1922. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I.  The  Hour  and  the  Need    - 
II.  The  Beginning  of  Success    - 

III,  Q-Ship  Enterprise    - 

IV.  The  Story  of  the  '  Farnborough  ' 
V.  The  '  Mystery  '  Sailing  Ships 

VI.  The  'Mary  B.  Mitchell'    - 
VII.  More  Sailing  Ships  - 
VIII.  Submarines  and  Q-Ship  Tactics 
IX.  The  Splendid  '  Penshurst  '  - 

X.  Further  Developments 
XI.  The  Good  Ship  '  Prize  ' 
XII.  Ships  and  Adventures 

XIII.  More  Sailing-Ship  Fights    - 

XIV.  The  Summit  of  Q-Ship  Service 
XV.  Life  on  Board  a  Q-Ship 

XVI.  Q-Ships  Everywhere 
XVII.  Ships  of  all  Sizes    - 
XVIII.  The  Last  Phase 

Index 


PACK 
1 


26 

-  .39 
.52 

-  67 

-  77 

-  92 

-  109 

-  132 

-  143 

-  158 

-  177 

-  192 

-  213 

-  228 

-  242 

-  255 


273 


IX 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


Q-Sailing-Ship  Mitchell           ...  -  Frontispiece 

TO  FACE  PAGE 

An  Early  Q-Ship  [Antwerp)  -             -  -  •  -         6 
Q-Ship  Anttverp           ......         6 

Commander  S.  C.  Douglas,  R.N.       -  -  -  -         8 

Commander  G.  Herbert,  D.S.O.,  R.N.  ...         8 

Q-Ship  Antwerp          -             -             -  -  -  -        12 

Gun's  Crew  of  Q-Ship  Antiverj)          -  -  -  -       12 

Q-Ship  Redbreast        -             -             -  -  -  -       22 

Q-Ship  Baralong         -              -              -  -  -  -       22 

Q-Ship  Baralong  (Two  Illustrations)  -  -  -       28 

Officers  of  Q-Ship  Farnhorough          -  -  -  -        42 

Captain  Gordon  Campbell  and  Lieutenant  C.  G.  Bonner    -       42 

Q-Sailing-Ship  Mitchell          -             -  -  -  -       68 

Q-Ship  Penshiirst        -              -              -  -  -  -114 

Q-Ship  Penshurst  (Two  Illustrations)  -  -  -     ll6 

Q-Ship  Penshurst  (Two  Illustrations)  -  -  -     120 

Captain  and  Officers  of  Q-Ship  Penshurst  -  -  -      124 

Men  of  Q-Ship  Penshuist       -              -  -  -  -     124 

Q-Ship   Tulip               -              -              -  -  -  -     138 

Q-Ship   Tamarisk         -              -              -  -  -  -138 

Q-Ship  Cayidytuft        -             -              -  -  -  -     174 

Q-Ship  Candytuft        -             -             -  -  -  -     176 

Q-Sailing-Ship  Fresh  Hope    -             -  -  -  -     188 

Q-Ship  Record  Reign               -              -  -  -  -     188 

Q-Sailing-Ship  Rentoul            -              -  -  -  -     190 

Q-Sailing-Ship  Rentoul  (Gun  Crew)  -  -  -  -     190 

The  Master  of  the  Collier  Farnhorough  -  -  -     192 

Q-Ship  Famborough  -              -             -  -  -  -     192 

Q-Ship  Famborough  -              -              -  -  -  .194 

Q-Ship  Famborough  •              -              -  -  -  .196 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xi 

TO  PACE  PAGE 

S.S.   Lodorer  -------  196 

Q-Ship  Pargust           -              -              -              -              -              -  198 

Q-Ship  Sarah  Jones    -             -             -             -             -             -  198 

Q-Ship  Dunraven        ------  200 

Bridge  of  Q-Ship  Dunraven  -----  202 

After  the  Battle         ------  204 

Dunraven  Doomed      --.-_.  206 

Q-Ship  Dunraven        ------  2O8 

Q-Ship  Dunraven        -  -  -  -  -  -212 

Q-Ship  Dunraveii        -              -              -              -              -              -  214 

Officers  and  Crew  of  the  Q-Ship  Dunraven     -              -              -  2l6 

Q-Ship  Barra?ica  (Two  Illustrations)               -              _              -  22O 

Q-Shij)  Barranca  (Two  Illustrations)               -              -              -  222 

Q-Ship  Transformation            -----  234 

Q-Ship  Barranca  at  Sea         -              -              -              -              -  234 

DIAGRAMS,  ETC.,  IN  THE  TEXT. 

FIG.  PAGE 

1.  Action  of  Baralong  on  August  19,   1915            -              -  21 

2.  Action  of  Baralong  on  September  24,   1915     -              -  27 

3.  Action  of  Margit  on  January   17,   191 6              -              -  34 

4.  Action  of  Werribee  on  February  9,   1916           -              -  37 

5.  Action  of  Famborough  on  April   15,   1916         -              -  45 

6.  Action  of  Helgoland  on  October  24,   1916        -              -  63 

7.  Action  of  Salvia  on  October  20,   19 1 6               -              -  99 

8.  Action  of  Saros  on  November  3,   1916               -              -  103 

9.  Action  of  Penshurst  on  November  29,  I916     -              -  110 

10.  Action  of  Penshurst  on  November  30,   1916     -              -  113 

11.  Action  of  Penshurst  on  January   14,   1917          -              -  118 

12.  The  Humorous  Side  of  Q-Ship  Warfare           -             -  127 

13.  Famborough' s  Farewell  -              -              -              -              -  196 

14.  Action  of  Pargust  on  June  7,   1917       -              -              -  201 

15.  The  Great  Decision       -             _             -             .             .  2O8 

16.  Letter  from  the  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty  to  Captain 

Gordon  Campbell  -             -             -             -             -  210 


'  The  necessitie  of  a  Historie  is,  as  of  a  Sworne 
Witnesse,  to  say  the  truth  (in  just  discretion) 
and  nothing  but  the  truth.' 

Sariuel  Purchas  271  '  Purchas  His 
Pilgrimes^  1625. 


Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  HOUR  AND  THE  NEED 

All  warfare  is  merely  a  contest.  In  any  struggle 
you  see  the  clashing  of  will  and  will,  of  force  against 
force,  of  brain  against  brain.  For  the  impersonal 
reader  it  is  this  contest  which  has  a  never-ending  in- 
terest. A  neutral  is  just  as  keenly  entertained  as  the 
playgoer  who  sits  watching  the  swaying  fortunes  of 
the  hero  in  the  struggle  of  the  drama.  No  human 
being  endowed  with  sympathetic  interest,  who  him- 
self has  had  to  contend  with  difficulties,  fails  to  be 
moved  by  the  success  or  disaster  of  the  contestants  in 
a  struggle  of  which  the  spectator  has  no  part  or  lot. 
If  this  were  not  so,  neutral  newspapers  would  cease  to 
chronicle  the  wars  of  other  nations,  novels  would 
cease  to  be  published,  and  plays  to  be  produced. 

Human  nature,  then,  being  what  it  is,  man  loves  to 
watch  his  fellow-man  fighting,  struggling  against  men 
or  fate  or  circumstances.  The  harder  the  fight  and 
the  nearer  he  is  to  losing,  so  much  the  more  is  the 
spectator  thrilled.  This  instinct  is  developed  most 
clearly  in  youth  :  hence  juvenile  fiction  is  one  mass  of 
struggles,  adventures,  and  narrow  escapes.  But  the 
instinct  never  dies,  and  how  few  of  us  can  resist  the 
temptation  to  read  the  exciting  experiences  of  some 


'^ 


2  Q  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

entirely   fictional    character   who    rushes    from    one 
perilous  situation  to  another  ?      Is  there   a  human 
being  who,  going  along  the  street,  would  not  stop  to 
watch  a  burglar  being  chased  over  roofs  and  chimney- 
pots by  police  ?     If  you  have  once  become  interested 
in  a  certain  trial  at  the  law  courts,  are  you  not  eager 
to  know  whether  the  prisoner  has  been  acquitted  or 
convicted  ?     You  despise  him  for  his  character,  yet 
you  are  fascinated  by  his  adventures,  his  struggles, 
his  share  in  the  particular  drama,  his  fight  against 
heavy  odds  ;  and,  contrary  to  your  own  inherent  sense 
of  justice,  you  almost  hope  he  will  be  acquitted.     In 
a  word,  then,  we  delight  in  having  before  us  the 
adventures    of  our  fellow  humanity,  partly  for  the 
exciting  pleasure  which  these  arouse  in  us,  but  partly 
also  because  they  make  us  wonder  what  we  should 
have  done  in  a  similar  set  of  circumstances.     In  such 
vital,  critical  moments  should  we  have  played  the 
hero,  or  should  we  have  fallen  somehow  a  little  short? 
The  following  pages  are  an  attempt  to  place  before 
the  reader  a  series  of  sea  struggles  which  are  unique, 
in  that  they  had  no  precedent  in  naval  history.     If 
you  consider  all  the  major  and  minor  sea  fights  from 
the  earliest  times  to  the  present  day  ;  if  you  think  of 
fleet   actions,  and   single-ship   contests,  you   cannot 
surpass  the  golden  story  of  the  Q-ships.     As  long  as 
people  take  any  interest  in  the  untamed  sea,  so  will 
these  exploits  live,  not  rivalling  but  surpassing  the 
greatest    deeds    of    even    the   Elizabethan    seamen. 
During  the  late  war  their  exploits  were,  for   very 
necessary  reasons,  withheld  from  the  knowledge  of  the 
public.     The  need  for  secrecy  has  long  since  passed, 
and  it  is  high  time  that  a  complete  account  of  these 
so-called  'mystery  ships'  should  be   published,  not 
merely  for  the  perpetuation  of  their  wonderful  achieve- 


THE  HOUR  AND  THE  NEED  3 

ments,  but  for  the  inspiration  of  the  new  race  of  sea- 
men whose  duty  it  will  be  to  hand  on  the  great 
tradition  of  the  sea.  For,  be  it  remembered,  the 
Q-ship  service  was  representative  of  every  species  of 
seamen.  There  were  officers  and  men  of  the  Royal 
Navy  both  active  and  retired,  of  the  Royal  Naval 
Reserve,  Royal  Naval  Volunteer  Reserve,  and  men 
from  the  Royal  Fleet  Reserve.  From  warship,  bar- 
racks, office,  colony,  pleasure  yacht,  fishing  vessel, 
liner,  sailing  ship,  tramp  steamer,  and  elsewhere  these 
seafarers  went  forth  in  unarmoured,  slow-moving, 
lightly-armed  vessels  to  perform  the  desperate  ad- 
venture of  acting  as  live-bait  for  a  merciless  enemy. 
It  was  an  exploit  calling  for  supreme  bravery,  com- 
bined with  great  fighting  skill,  sound  seamanship,  and 
a  highly  developed  imagination.  The  successes  which 
were  attained  were  brought  about  by  just  this  com- 
bination, so  that  the  officers,  especially  the  command- 
ing officers,  and  the  men  had  to  be  hand-picked.  The 
slow-reasoning,  hesitating  type  of  being  was  useless 
in  a  Q-ship ;  equally  out  of  place  would  have  been 
the  wild,  hare-brained,  dashing  individual  whose 
excess  of  gallantry  would  simply  mean  the  loss  of 
ship  and  lives.  In  the  ideal  Q-ship  captain  was  found 
something  of  the  virtues  of  the  cleverest  angler,  the 
most  patient  stalker,  the  most  enterprising  big-game 
hunter,  together  with  the  attributes  of  a  cool,  unper- 
turbed seaman,  the  imagination  of  a  sensational 
novelist,  and  the  plain  horse-sense  of  a  hard  business 
man.  In  two  words,  the  necessary  endowment  was 
brains  and  bravery.  It  was  easy  enough  to  find  at 
least  one  of  these  in  hundreds  of  officers,  but  it  was 
difficult  to  find  among  the  many  volunteers  a  plucky 
fighter  with  a  brilliant  intellect.  It  is,  of  course,  one 
of  the  happy  results  of  sea  training  that  officer  or  man 


4  Q  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

learns  to  think  and  act  quickly  without  doing  foolish 
things.  The  handling  of  a  ship  in  bad  weather,  or  in 
crowded  channels,  or  a  strong  tideway,  or  in  going 
alongside  a  quay  or  other  ship — all  this  practice 
makes  a  sailor  of  the  man,  makes  him  do  the  one  and 
only  right  thing  at  the  right  second.  But  it  needed 
'  something  plus  '  in  the  Q-ship  service.  For  six 
months,  for  a  year,  she  might  have  wandered  up  and 
down  the  Atlantic,  all  over  the  submarine  zone,  with 
never  a  sight  of  the  enemy,  and  then,  all  of  a  sudden, 
a  torpedo  is  seen  rushing  straight  for  the  ship.  The 
look-out  man  has  reported  it,  and  the  officer  of  the 
watch  has  caused  the  man  at  the  wheel  to  port  his 
helm  just  in  time  to  allow  the  torpedo  to  pass  harm- 
lessly under  the  ship's  counter.  It  was  the  never- 
ceasing  vigilance  and  the  cool  appreciation  of  the 
situation  which  had  saved  the  ship. 

But  the  incident  is  only  beginning.  The  next 
stage  is  to  lure  the  enemy  on,  to  entice  him,  using 
your  own  ship  as  the  bait.  It  may  be  one  hour  or 
one  day  later,  perhaps  at  dusk,  or  when  the  moon 
gets  up,  or  at  dawn,  but  it  is  very  probable  that  the 
submarine  will  invisibly  follow  you  and  attack  at  the 
most  awkward  time.  The  hours  of  suspense  are 
trying ;  watch  has  succeeded  M^atch,  yet  nothing 
happens.  The  weather  changes  from  good  to  bad  ; 
it  comes  on  thick,  it  clears  up  again,  and  the  clouds 
cease  to  obhterate  the  sun.  Then,  apparently  from 
nowhere,  shells  come  whizzing  by,  and  begin  to  hit. 
At  last  in  the  distance  you  see  the  low-lying  enemy 
engaging  you  with  both  his  guns,  firing  rapidly,  and 
keeping  discreetly  out  of  your  own  guns'  range. 
Already  some  of  your  men  have  been  knocked  out ; 
the  ship  has  a  couple  of  bad  holes  below  the  water- 
hne,  and  the    sea  is  pouring  through.      To  add  to 


THE  HOUR  AND  THE  NEED  5 

the  anxiety  a  fire  is  reported  in  the  forecastle,  and 
the  next  shell  has  made  rather  a  mess  of  the  funnel. 
What  are  you  going  to  do  ?  Are  you  going  to  keep 
on  the  bluff  of  pretending  you  are  an  innocent  mer- 
chantman, or  are  you  going  to  run  up  the  White 
Ensign,  let  down  the  bulwarks,  and  fire  your  guns 
the  moment  the  enemy  comes  within  range  and 
bearing  ?  How  much  longer  is  it  possible  to  play 
with  him  in  the  hope  that  he  will  be  fooled  into 
doing  just  what  you  would  like  him  to  do  ?  If  your 
ship  is  sinking,  will  she  keep  afloat  just  long  enough 
to  enable  you  to  give  the  knock-out  blow  as  the 
inquiring  enemy  comes  alongside  ?  These  are  the 
crucial  questions  which  have  to  be  answered  by  that 
one  man  in  command  of  the  ship,  who  all  the  time 
finds  his  bridge  being  steadily  smashed  to  pieces  by 
the  enemy's  fire. 

'  If  you  can  keep  your  head  when  all  about  you 
Ai-e  losing  theirs  and  blaming  it  on  you ; 
If  you  can  trust  yourself  when  all  men  doubt  you, 
But  make  allowance  for  their  doubting  too ; 
If  you  can  wait  and  not  be  tired  by  waiting  .   .  .' 

then,  one  may  definitely  assert,  you  have  in  you 
much  that  goes  to  the  making  of  an  ideal  Q-ship 
captain  and  a  brave  warrior.  As  such  you  might 
make  a  first-class  commanding  officer  of  a  destroyer, 
a  light  cruiser,  or  even  a  battleship  ;  but  something 
more  is  required.  The  enemy  is  artful ;  you  must 
be  super-artful.  You  must  be  able  to  look  across 
the  tumbling  sea  into  his  mind  behind  the  conning 
tower.  What  are  his  intentions  ?  What  will  be  his 
next  move  ?  Take  in  by  a  quick  mental  calculation 
the  conditions  of  wind,  wave,  and  sun.  Pretend  to 
run  away  from  him,  so  that  you  get  these  just  right. 
Put  your  ship  head  on  to   sea,   so  that  the  enemy 


6  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

with  his  sparse  freeboard  is  being  badly  washed  down 
and  his  guns'  crews  are  thinking  more  of  their  wet 
feet  and  legs  than  of  accurate  shooting.  Then,  when 
you  see  him  submerging,  alter  course  quickly,  reckon 
his  probable  position  by  the  time  you  have  steadied 
your  ship  on  her  course,  and  drop  a  series  of  depth- 
charges  over  his  track.  '  If  you  can  fill  the  unfor- 
giving minute  with  sixty  seconds'  worth  of  distance, 
run ' ;  if  you  have  acted  with  true  seamanship  and 
sound  imagination,  you  will  presently  see  bits  of 
broken  wreckage,  the  boil  of  water,  quantities  of  oil, 
perhaps  a  couple  of  corpses  ;  and  yours  is  the  U-boat 
below,  my  son,  and  a  D.S.O. ;  and  a  thousand  pounds 
in  cash  to  be  divided  amongst  the  crew ;  and  you're  a 
man,  my  son  ! 

That,  in  a  few  phrases,  is  the  kind  of  work,  and 
shows  the  circumstances  of  the  Q-ship  in  her  busiest 
period.  As  we  set  forth  her  wonderful  story,  so 
gallant,  so  sad,  so  victorious,  and  yet  so  nerve-trying, 
we  shall  see  all  manner  of  types  engaged  in  this  great 
adventure ;  but  we  cannot  appreciate  either  the 
successes  or  losses  until  we  have  seen  the  birth  and 
growth  of  the  Q-ship  idea.  As  this  volume  is  the 
first  effort  to  present  the  subject  historically,  we  shall 
begin  at  the  beginning  by  showing  the  causes  which 
created  the  Q-ship.  We  shall  see  the  consecutive 
stages  of  development  and  improvement,  the  evolu- 
tion of  new  methods,  and,  indeed  we  may  at  once  say 
it,  of  a  new  type  of  super-seamen.  How  did  it  all 
begin  ? 

Turn  your  attention  back  to  the  autumn  of  1914. 
It  was  the  sinking  of  the  three  Cressys  on  Septem- 
ber 22  by  U  9  that  taught  Germany  what  a 
wonderful  weapon  of  offence  she  had  in  the  sub- 
marine.    Five  days  later  the  first  German  submarine 


An  Early  Q-ship 
Q-ship  "Antwerp"  entering  Harwich  harbour. 


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Q-SHIP  •'Ax'nvEP.p" 

Commander  Herbert  is  on  the  port  side  of  the  bridge,  the  Mercantile  Chief 
Officer  and  Quartermaster  being  in  the  foreground. 


To  face  p.  6 


THE  HOUR  AND  THE  NEED  7 

penetrated  the  Dover  Straits.  This  was  U  18,  who 
actually  attacked  the  light  cruiser  Attentive.  But  it 
was  not  until  October  20  that  the  first  merchant  ship, 
the  British  S.S.  Gliti^a  in  the  North  Sea,  was  sunk  by 
a  submarine.  Six  days  later  the  French  S.S.  Amir  at 
Ganteaume,  with  Belgian  refugees,  was  attacked  by 
a  German  submarine.  A  month  passed,  and  on 
November  23  the  S.S.  Malacliite  was  attacked  by 
U  21,  and  after  being  on  fire  sank.  Three  days 
later  the  S.S.  Primo  was  sunk  also  by  U  21.  It  was 
thus  perfectly  clear  that  we  had  before  us  a  most 
difficult  submarine  campaign  to  contend  with,  and 
that  merchant  ships  would  not  be  immune.  On  the 
last  day  of  October  H.M.S.  Hermes  was  torpedoed 
off  Calais,  and  on  November  11  H.M.S.  Niger  had  a 
similar  fate  near  Deal. 

What  was  to  be  done  ?  The  creation  of  what 
eventually  became  known  as  the  Auxiliary  Patrol, 
with  its  ever  increasing  force  of  armed  yachts, 
trawlers,  drifters,  and  motor  craft ;  the  use  of  de- 
stroyers and  our  own  submarines  formed  part  of  the 
scheme.  But  even  at  this  early  stage  the  Q-ship 
idea  came  into  being,  though  not  actually  under 
that  name.  Officially  she  was  a  special-service  ship, 
whose  goings  and  comings  were  so  mysterious  that 
even  among  service  men  such  craft  were  spoken  of  in 
great  secrecy  as  mystery  ships.  This  first  mystery 
ship  was  the  S.S.  Vittoria,  who  was  commissioned  on 
November  29,  1914.  She  had  all  the  appearance  of 
an  ordinary  merchant  ship,  but  she  was  armed,  and 
went  on  patrol  in  the  area  where  submarines  had  been 
reported.  It  was  an  entirely  novel  idea,  and  very  few 
people  knew  anything  about  her.  She  never  had  any 
luck,  and  was  paid  off  early  in  January,  1915,  without 
ever  having  so  much  as  sighted  a  submarine.     The 


8  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

idea  of  decoy  ships  suggested  itself  to  various  naval 
officers  during  December,  1914,  and  their  suggestions 
reached  the  Admiralty.  The  basic  plan  was  for  the 
Admiralty  to  take  up  a  number  of  merchantmen  and 
fishing  craft,  arm  them  with  a  few  light  quick-firing 
guns,  and  then  send  them  forth  to  cruise  in  likely 
submarine  areas,  flying  neutral  colours.  This  was 
perfectly  legitimate  under  International  Law,  provided 
that  before  opening  fire  on  the  enemy  the  neutral 
colours  were  lowered  and  the  White  Ensign  was 
hoisted.  Seeing  that  the  enemy  was  determined  to 
sink  merchantmen,  the  obvious  reply  was  to  send 
against  them  armed  merchantmen,  properly  com- 
missioned and  armed,  but  outwardly  resembling  any- 
thing but  a  warship.  Thus  it  came  about  that  on 
January  27,  1915,  the  second  decoy  ship  was  com- 
missioned. This  was  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  S.S. 
Antwerp  (originally  called  Vienna),  which  operated  in 
the  English  Channel.  She  was  placed  under  the  com- 
mand of  Lieut. -Commander  Godfrey  Herbert,  R.N., 
one  of  the  most  experienced  and  able  officers  of  our 
submarine  service.  The  choice  was  a  happy  one,  for 
a  submarine  officer  would  naturally  in  his  stalking  be 
able  to  realize  at  once  the  limitations  and  possibilities 
of  his  opponent.  It  was  a  most  difficult  task,  for  the 
U-boats  at  this  time  were  still  very  shy,  and  only  took 
on  certainties.  Neither  in  boats  nor  in  personnel  had 
Germany  yet  any  to  spare,  and  there  were  periods 
when  the  submarine  campaign  fluctuated.  Thus,  day 
after  day,  week  after  week,  went  by,  and  Antwerp 
never  had  any  chance.  The  enemy  was  now  beginning 
to  operate  further  afield,  and  at  the  end  of  January, 
1915,  for  the  first  time,  a  U-boat  made  its  way  up  the 
Irish  Sea  as  far  as  off  Liverpool,  and  then,  on  Feb- 
ruary 18,  was  inaugurated  the  German  Submarine 


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THE  HOUR  AND  THE  NEED  9 

Blockade.  Shipping  began  to  be  sunk  in  various 
places,  but  the  western  end  of  the  English  Channel 
was  now  a  favourite  zone,  especially  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Scillies  ;  and  it  was  with  the  hope  of  being 
taken  for  a  merchant  ship  that  Antive7y  hsid  come  out 
from  Falmouth  and  made  her  way  westward.  Thus, 
on  March  12,  we  see  her,  about  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  twelve  miles  north  of  the  Bishop  Rock 
Lighthouse.  A  submarine^  was  sighted  steering  in 
a  northerly  direction  for  a  steamer  on  the  horizon. 
Here,  at  length,  was  a  chance.  Twenty  minutes 
later,  Antweiy  came  up  to  a  sailing  ship,  and  found 
she  had  on  board  the  officers  and  crew  of  the  Eller- 
man  liner  Andahman,  which  had  been  captured  and 
scuttled  25  miles  W.N.W.  of  the  Bishop  Rock. 
Antwerp  continued  her  chase,  and  got  within  four 
miles  of  the  Andalusian,  still  afloat,  but  then  the 
submarine  dived  and  was  never  sighted  again.  So 
Antweip  was  never  able  to  sink  a  submarine,  and  she 
was  paid  off  on  April  5,  1915. 

During  the  summer  of  1915  there  was  a  small 
steamer  called  the  Lyons,  which  one  used  to  see  in 
various  naval  ports,  and  under  various  disguises.  Her 
primary  object  was  to  carry  naval  stores  from  one 
port  to  another,  but  it  was  always  her  hope  to  fall  in 
with  a  submarine.  I  remember  seeing  her  one  day 
alongside  Pembroke  Naval  Dockyard,  painted  a  certain 
colour  and  with  one  funnel.  A  little  later  1  saw  her 
elsewhere  with  a  different  coat  of  paint  and  a  dummy 
funnel  added  to  her,  so  that  she  resembled  an  ocean- 
going tug.  Lyons  also  was  unable  to  entrap  the 
enemy,  and  terminated  her  decoy-ship  period  at  the 
beginning  of  November  of  the  same  year. 

1  This  was  U  29,  which  on   March   18  was  sunk  in  the  North 
Sea  by  H.M.S.  Dread?iought . 


10  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

Thus  the  war  had  gone  on  for  several  months,  and 
an  apparently  sound  idea  had  failed  to  produce  a 
single  good  result.  All  kinds  of  shipping  were  being 
sunk,  and  yet  the  German  submarines  somehow  could 
not  be  persuaded  to  attack  these  disguised  ships. 
How  was  it  ?  Was  there  something  in  the  disguise 
which  gave  the  steamers  away  ?  Was  it  purely  hard 
luck  {  We  cannot  say  definitely,  but  the  fact  remained, 
and  it  was  rather  disappointing.  Of  course  the  idea 
of  disguise  had  been  employed  almost  from  the  very 
first  days  of  the  war  ;  for,  in  August,  1914,  Admiral 
Jellicoe  had  requested  that  the  armed  trawlers,  though 
commissioned,  should  not  be  painted  grey  like  other 
warships,  but  retain  their  fishing  numbers  and  funnel 
markings  just  as  in  peace  time.  In  the  early  summer 
of  1915,  a  number  of  disguised  armed  trawlers  were 
also  sent  out  to  the  Dogger  Bank  in  the  hope  of 
catching  an  unsuspecting  submarine,  who  might  think 
they  were  fishing.  The  idea  had  been  further  de- 
veloped by  a  clever  scheme  involving  the  co-operation 
of  a  disguised  armed  trawler  towing  a  submerged 
British  submarine.  This  began  in  May ;  on  June  23 
it  was  the  means  of  sinking  U  40,  and  on  July  20  it 
brought  about  the  loss  of  U  23 ;  but  a  few  months 
later  this  idea  was  thought  to  be  played  out,  and  came 
to  an  end  in  October,  1915,  though  it  was  eventually 
revived  in  the  following  summer. 

Another  variation  of  the  decoy-ship  principle  at 
this  time  was  that  employed  by  Admiral  Startin,  who 
was  in  charge  of  the  naval  base  at  Granton.  In  view 
of  enemy  submarines  having  recently  held  up  neutral 
merchant  steamers  in  the  North  Sea,  he  disguised  two 
big  trawlers  so  as  to  resemble  small  neutral  merchant 
ships.  This  was  in  July,  1915.  So  successfully  was 
this  done  that  one  of  them  actually  deceived  British 


THE  HOUR  AND  THE  NEED    11 

destroyers,  who  took  her  for  a  Danish  cargo  steamer. 
The  next  development  was  further  to  disguise  them 
by  adding  a  false  deck  cargo  of  timber,  boats,  and 
other  details,  so  as  to  resemble  closely  a  Norwegian 
cargo  ship,  with  Norwegian  colours  hoisted  at  the 
mizzen,  two  derricks  placed  on  the  trawler's  foremast, 
and  Norwegian  colours  painted  on  prepared  slips  of 
canvas  placed  on  each  side  of  the  hull  amidships. 
Those  who  were  at  sea  in  those  days  will  recollect 
that  it  was  customary  for  neutral  ships  to  have  their 
national  colours  painted  on  each  side  of  the  hull  in 
the  hope  that  the  enemy  would  not  mistake  the  ships 
for  Allies'.  Thus  cleverly  disguised,  the  two  Granton 
trawlers  Quickly  and  Gimner  went  into  the  North 
Sea,  armed  with  nothing  more  powerful  than  a 
12-pounder,  Admiral  Startin  being  himself  aboard  one 
of  the  ships.  A  large  submarine  was  actually  sighted 
on  July  20,  and  at  1,000  yards  the  enemy  began  the 
action.  Quickly  thereupon  lowered  her  Norwegian 
flag,  ran  up  the  White  Ensign,  removed  the  painted 
canvas,  replied  with  her  12-pounder,  and  then  with 
her  6-pounder.  A  fine,  lucky  shot  was  seen  to  strike 
the  submarine,  and  much  smoke  was  seen  to  issue. 
Although  the  enemy  made  off  and  was  not  sunk,  yet 
it  showed  that  it  was  possible  to  fool  German  sub- 
marines by  this  disguise.  The  decoy-ship  idea  was 
not  merely  sound  in  principle,  but  it  was  practicable 
and  was  capable  of  being  used  as  a  valuable  offen- 
sive weapon.  IMost  of  a  year  had  passed  since  the 
beginning  of  war,  and  there  were  no  decoy  ship 
results  to  show  except  those  which  had  been  obtained 
by  British  submarines  working  in  conjunction  with 
disguised  trawlers.  However,  just  as  the  seaman 
often  finds  the  dawn  preceded  by  a  calm  and  followed 
by  a  breeze,  so  it  was  to  be  with  the  decoy  ships. 


12  Q  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

The  dawn  of  a  new  period  was  about  to  take  place, 
and  this  was  followed  by  such  a  wind  of  events  that  if 
anyone  had  dared  to  doubt  the  value  of  this  specialized 
naval  warfare  it  was  not  long  before  such  hesitation 
vanished.  Disguised  trawlers  had  in  the  meantime 
been  further  successful,  but  there  were  obviously 
greater  possibilities  for  the  disguised  merchant  ship, 
the  collier  and  tramp  types  especially.  But  this  all 
depended  on  three  things  :  First,  the  right  type  of 
ship  had  to  be  selected  very  carefully  and  with  regard 
to  the  trade  route  on  which  she  would  normally  in 
the  present  conditions  be  likely  to  be  found.  For 
instance,  it  would  have  been  utterly  foolish  to  have 
sent  a  P.  and  O.  liner  to  cruise  up  and  down  the 
waters  of  the  Irish  Channel  or  an  Atlantic  liner  up 
and  down  the  North  Sea.  Secondly,  having  once 
selected  the  right  ship,  much  depended  on  the  dock- 
yard authorities  responsible  for  seeing  that  she  was 
fitted  out  adequately  as  to  her  fighting  capabilities, 
yet  externally  never  losing  any  of  her  essential 
mercantile  appearance.  This  meant  much  clever 
designing,  much  engineering  and  constructive  skill, 
and  absolute  secrecy.  Thirdly,  the  right  type  of 
keen,  subtle,  patient,  tough  officer  had  to  be  found, 
full  of  initiative,  full  of  resource,  with  a  live,  eager 
crew.  Slackers,  'grousers,' and  'King's-hard-bargains' 
were  useless. 


Q-SHip  " Antwerp'' 
Showing  the  collapsible  dummy  life-raft  which  concealed  the  two  l-2-i)ouuders. 


Gun's  Crew  of  Q  ship  "Antwerp" 

Gun's  crew  of  "  Antwerp  "  ready  to  fire  on  a  submarine.      The  sides  of  the 
dummy  life-raft  have  been  collapsed  to  allow  gnn  to  come  into  action. 


To  face  p.  12 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  SUCCESS 

We  turn  now  to  the  northern  mists  of  the  Orkneys, 
where  the  comings  and  goings  of  the  Grand  Fleet 
were  wrapped  in  mystery  from  the  eyes  of  the  world. 
In  order  to  keep  the  fleet  in  stores — coal,  oil,  gear, 
and  hundreds  of  other  requisite  items — small  colliers 
and  tramp  steamers  brought  their  cargoes  northward 
to  Scapa  Flow.  In  order  to  avoid  the  North  Sea 
submarines,  these  coal  and  store  ships  used  the  west- 
coast  passage  as  much  as  possible.  Now,  for  that 
reason,  and  also  because  German  submarines  were 
already  proceeding  in  earnest,  via  the  north-west  of 
Scotland,  to  the  south-west  Irish  coast,  ever  since  the 
successful  sinking  of  the  Lusitania,  it  was  sound 
strategy  on  our  part  to  send  a  collier  to  operate  off 
the  north-western  Scottish  coast.  That  is  to  say, 
these  looked  the  kinds  of  ships  a  suspecting  U-boat 
officer  would  expect  to  meet  in  that  particular 
locality. 

Under  the  direction  of  Admiral  Sir  Stanley  Col- 
ville,  a  handful  of  these  little  ships  was,  during  the 
summer  of  1915,  being  fitted  out  for  decoy  work. 
One  of  these  was  the  collier  S.S.  Prince  Charles^  a 
little  vessel  of  only  373  tons.  In  peace-time  she  was 
commanded  by  her  master,  Mr.  F.  N.  Maxwell,  and 
manned  by  five  deckhands,  two  engineers,  and  two 
firemen.     These  men  all  volunteered  for  what  was 

13 


14  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

known  to  be  a  hazardous  job,  and  were  accepted.  In 
command  was  placed  Lieutenant  Mark  Wardlaw, 
R.N.,  and  with  him  went  Lieutenant  J.  G.  Spencer, 
R.N.R.,  and  nine  active-service  ratings  to  man  the 
guns  and  use  the  rifles.  She  carried  the  weakest 
of  armament — only  a  3-pounder  and  a  6-pound er, 
with  rifles  forward  and  aft.  Having  completed  her 
fitting  out  with  great  secrecy,  the  Prince  Charles  left 
Longhope  in  the  evening  of  July  21  with  orders  to 
cruise  on  routes  where  submarines  had  recently  been 
seen.  Proceeding  to  the  westward  at  her  slow  gait, 
she  saw  very  few  vessels  until  July  24.  It  was  just 
6.20  p.m.  when,  about  ten  miles  W.N.W.  of  North 
Rona  Island,  she  sighted  a  three-masted  vessel  with 
one  funnel,  apparently  stopped.  A  quarter  of  an 
hour  later  she  observed  a  submarine  lying  close  to  the 
steamer.  Here  was  the  steel  fish  Prince  Charles  was 
hoping  to  bait. 

Pretending  not  to  see  the  submarine,  and  keeping 
on  her  course  like  a  real  collier.  Lieutenant  Wardlaw's 
ship  jogged  quietly  along,  but  he  was  closing  up  his 
gun's  crews  behind  their  screens  and  the  mercantile 
crew  were  standing  by  ready  to  hoist  out  the  ship's 
boats  when  required.  The  German  now  started  up 
his  oil-engines  and  came  on  at  full  speed  towards  the 
Prince  Charles.  It  had  just  gone  seven  o'clock  and 
the  submarine  was  3  miles  off.  The  collier  had 
hoisted  her  colours  and  the  enemy  was  about  five 
points  on  the  bow  when  a  German  shell  came  whizz- 
ing across.  This  fell  1,000  yards  over.  Lieutenant 
Wardlaw  now  stopped  his  engines,  put  his  ship  head 
on  to  the  Atlantic  swell,  blew  three  blasts,  and  then 
ordered  the  crew  to  get  the  boats  out,  in  order  to 
simulate  the  movements  of  an  ordinary  merchant  ship 
in  the  presence  of  an  attacking  submarine. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  SUCCESS         15 

In  the  meantime  the  enemy  was  approaching 
rapidly  and  fired  a  second  shot,  which  fell  between 
the  funnel  and  the  foremast,  but  landed  50  yards 
over.  When  the  range  was  down  to  600  yards 
the  enemy  turned  her  broadside  on  to  the  collier  and 
continued  firing  ;  and  this  was  now  the  time  for  the 
Q-ship's  captain  to  make  the  big  decision.  Should 
he  maintain  his  pretence  and  continue  to  receive 
punishment,  with  the  possibility  of  losing  ship  and 
lives  in  the  hope  that  the  submarine  would  come 
nearer  ?  Or  should  he  reveal  his  identity  and  risk 
everything  on  the  chance  of  winning  all  ?  This  was 
always  the  critical  moment  when  the  Q-ship  captain 
held  in  his  judgment  the  whole  fate  of  the  fight,  of 
the  ship,  and  his  men. 

Lieutenant  Wardlaw,  seeing  that  the  enemy  could 
not  be  enticed  to  come  any  nearer,  took  the  second 
alternative,  and  opened  fire  with  his  port  guns.  The 
effect  of  this  on  the  German  was  remarkable  and 
instantaneous  ;  for  her  gun's  crew  at  once  deserted 
the  gun  and  darted  down  into  the  conning-tower. 
But  whilst  they  were  so  doing,  one  of  Prince 
Charles's  shells  struck  the  submarine  20  feet  abaft  the 
conning-tower.  The  enemy  then  came  round  and 
showed  her  opposite  broadside,  having  attempted  to 
dive.  She  now  began  to  rise  again  as  the  collier 
closed  to  300  yards,  and  frequent  hits  were  being 
scored  by  the  British  guns.  By  this  time  the  surprised 
Germans  had  had  more  than  enough,  and  were 
observed  to  be  coming  out  of  the  conning-tower,  whilst 
the  submarine  was  settling  down  by  the  stern.  Still 
the  British  fire  continued,  and  when  the  submarine's 
bows  were  a  long  way  out  of  the  water,  she  took 
a  sudden  plunge  and  disappeared.  A  large  number  of 
men  were  then  seen  swimming  about,  and  the  Prince 


16  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

Charles  at  once  made  every  effort  to  pick  them  up, 
fifteen  officers  and  men  being  thus  saved  out  of 
thirty-three. 

So  ended  the  career  of  U  36.  She  had  left  Heligo- 
land on  July  19  for  a  cruise  of  several  weeks  via  the 
North  Sea,  and,  up  till  the  day  of  meeting  with 
Prince  Charles,  had  had  a  most  successful  time ;  for 
she  had  sunk  eight  trawlers  and  one  steamer,  and 
had  stopped  the  Danish  S.S.  Louise  when  the  Prince 
Charles  came  up.  It  was  not  until  the  submarine 
closed  the  latter  that  U  36  saw  the  Englishmen 
clearing  away  some  tarpaulins  on  deck,  and  the  next 
moment  the  Germans  were  under  fire,  and  the 
captain  gave  orders  to  dive.  By  this  time  the 
submarine  had  been  hit  several  times,  and  as  she 
could  not  be  saved,  she  was  brought  to  the  surface 
by  blowing  out  her  tanks.  The  crew  then  took  to 
the  sea,  and  the  engineer  officer  opened  the  valves  to 
sink  her,  and  was  the  last  to  leave.  Inside,  the 
submarine  was  wrecked  by  Prince  Charles's  shells  and 
three  men  were  killed,  the  accurate  and  rapid  fire  having 
immensely  impressed  the  Germans.  Thus  the  first 
Q-ship  engagement  had  been  everything  that  could  be 
desired,  and  in  spite  of  the  submarine  being  armed 
with  a  14-pounder  and  carrying  seven  torpedoes,  the 
U-boat  had  been  beaten  in  a  fair  fight.  Lieutenant 
Mark  Wardlaw  received  a  D.S.O.,  two  of  the  crew 
the  D.S.M.,  and  the  sum  of  £1,000  was  awarded  to 
be  divided  among  the  mercantile  crew. 

Another  of  the  ships  fitted  out  under  similar 
auspices  was  the  Vala,  who  commissioned  on  August  7, 
1915.  She  was  of  609  tons,  and  could  steam  at 
nothing  better  than  8  knots.  In  March  of  the 
following  year  she  was  transferred  from  Scapa  to 
Pembroke,  and  her  career   was   long  and   eventful. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  SUCCESS         17 

In  April  of  1917  she  was  in  action  with  a  submarine, 
and  she  beheved  that  one  shell  hit  the  enemy,  but 
the  latter  then  submerged.  One  day  in  the  middle 
of  August  Fala  left  Milford  Haven  to  cruise  between 
the  Fastnet  and  the  Scillies,  and  was  last  heard  of  in 
the  early  hours  of  the  following  day.  She  was  due 
to  arrive  at  Queenstown,  but,  as  she  did  not  return,  the 
Q-ship  Heather  was  ordered  to  search  for  her  in  the 
Bay  of  Biscay.  For  a  whole  week  there  had  been  a 
series  of  gales,  and  it  was  thought  that  the  little 
steamer  had  foundered  in  the  bad  weather,  but  on 
September  7  the  German  Government  wireless 
announced  that  '  the  U-boat  trap,  the  former  English 
steamer  Fala,'  had  been  sunk  by  a  U-boat. 

Besides  the  Fa/a  and  Prince  Charles,  three  other 
Q-ships  were  fitted  out  in  the  north.  These  were 
the  Gle7i  Ida,  of  786  tons  ;  the  Duncombe,  830  tons  ; 
and  the  Fenshurst,  740  tons,  and  they  all  performed 
excellent  work.  But  before  we  go  any  further  we 
have  to  consider  still  another  novelty  in  naval  warfare, 
or  rather  a  strange  revival.  Who  would  have  thought 
that  the  sailing-ship  would,  in  these  days  of  steam, 
steel,  and  motor,  come  back  in  the  service  as  a  man- 
of-war  ?  At  first  it  seems  almost  ludicrous  to  send 
sail-driven  craft  to  fight  against  steel,  mechanically 
propelled  vessels.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  this  sub- 
marine warfare  was  not  so  much  a  matter  of  force 
as  of  cleverness.  It  was  the  enemy's  unimaginative 
policy  which  brought  about  this  reintroduction  of 
sail  into  our  Navy,  and  this  is  how  it  all  happened. 

During  the  summer  of  191.5  German  submarines 
in  the  North  Sea  had  either  attacked  or  destroyed  a 
number  of  neutral  schooners  which  used  to  come 
across  with  cargoes  of  pit-props.  One  used  to  see 
these  fine  little  ships  by  the  dozen  arriving  in  the 


18  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

Forth,  for  the  neutral  was  getting  an  excellent  return 
for  his  trading.  It  annoyed  the  enemy  that  this 
timber  should  be  able  to  enter  a  British  port,  and  so 
the  submarines  endeavoured  to  terrorize  the  neutral 
by  burning  or  sinking  the  ships  on  voyage.  It  was 
therefore  decided  to  take  up  the  179-ton  schooner 
Thirza,  which  was  lying  in  the  Tyne.  Her  purchase 
had  to  be  carried  out  with  great  secrecy,  lest  the 
enemy  should  be  able  to  recognize  her  at  sea.  She 
was  an  old  vessel,  having  been  built  as  far  back  as 
1865  at  Prince  Edward  Island,  but  registered  at 
Whitstable.  She  changed  her  name  to  Ready,  and 
began  her  Q-ship  service  at  the  end  of  August,  1915, 
when  soon  after  midnight  she  sailed  down  the  Forth. 
Armed  with  a  couple  of  12-pounders,  having  also 
a  motor,  carrying  a  small  deck  cargo  of  pit-props,  and 
suitably  disguised  to  resemble  a  neutral,  this  schooner, 
manned  by  a  hardy  volunteer  crew,  used  to  pretend 
she  was  coming  across  the  North  Sea,  though  at  first 
she  never  went  many  miles  away  from  the  land. 
Under  the  various  aliases  of  Thirza,  Ready,  Probus, 
Eliocir,  and  Q  30,  this  old  ship  did  splendid  work, 
w^hich  did  not  end  until  Armistice.  We  shall  have 
occasion  to  refer  to  her  again. 

Who  can  avoid  a  feeling  of  intense  admiration  for 
the  men  who,  year  after  year,  were  willing  and  eager 
to  roll  about  the  sea  in  a  small  sailing  ship  looking 
for  the  enemy,  well  knowing  that  the  enemy  had  all 
the  advantage  of  speed,  handiness,  and  armament  ? 
Even  the  motor  was  not  powerful,  and  would  give  her 
not  much  more  than  steerage  way  in  a  calm.  The 
submarine  could  always  creep  up  submerged,  using 
his  periscope  but  now  and  then  :  the  schooner,  how- 
ever, was  a  conspicuous  target  all  the  time,  and  her 
masts   and   sails   advertised   her  presence   from   the 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  SUCCESS         19 

horizon.  These  Q-ship  saihng  men  deserve  much  for 
what  they  voluntarily  endured.  Quite  apart  from  the 
bad  weather,  the  uncomfortable  quarters  on  board, 
the  constant  trimming  of  sheets  and  alteration  of 
course  off  an  unlit  coast,  there  was  always  the  possi- 
bility that  some  U-boat's  crew  would,  after  sinking 
the  schooner,  cut  the  throats  of  these  British  seamen. 
The  Q-ship  crews  knew  this,  and  on  certain  occasions 
when  U-boat  prisoners  were  taken  by  our  ships  the 
Germans  did  not  conceal  this  fact.  Life  in  these 
sailing  craft  was  something  quite  different  from  that 
in  a  battleship  with  its  wardroom,  its  cheery  society, 
and  a  comfortable  cabin  to  turn  into.  In  the  latter, 
with  powerful  turbines  and  all  the  latest  navigational 
instruments,  bad  weather  meant  little  inconvenience. 
After  all  it  is  the  human  element  which  is  the  decid- 
ing factor,  and  the  Q-ship  service  certainly  wore  out 
officers  and  men  at  a  great  pace.  It  is  indeed  difficult 
to  imagine  any  kind  of  seafaring  more  exacting  both 
physically  and  nervously. 

But  the  Navy  pressed  into  its  use  also  sailing 
smacks,  and  sent  them  out  to  sea.  This  began  at 
Lowestoft  in  August,  1915.  In  that  neighbourhood 
submarines  had  been  doing  a  great  deal  of  damage  to 
the  local  fishing  ketches,  so  it  was  decided  to  com- 
mission four  of  these  smacks,  arm  them,  strengthen 
their  fishing  crew  with  a  few  active  service  ratings  for 
working  the  gun,  and  let  the  craft  resume  their 
fishing  among  the  other  smacks.  With  any  luck  at 
all  a  German  submarine  should  come  along,  and  then 
would  follow  the  surprise.  The  original  fishermen 
crews  w^ere  only  too  delighted  to  have  an  opportunity 
of  getting  their  own  back,  and  these  excellent  fellows 
certainly  were  afforded  some  good  sport.  So  well 
did  the  idea  work  that  within  a  very  few  days  the 


20  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

smack  G.  and  E.  engaged  one  submarine,  and  the 
Inverbjon  sank  UB  4.  During  the  same  month 
the  smack  Pet  fought  a  submarine,  and  on  Septem- 
ber 7  InvcrUjon  had  a  fight  with  another. 

And  still  the  Admiralty  were  not  over  optimistic 
as  to  the  capabilities  of '  the  decoy  ship,  and  had 
to  be  convinced  of  the  real  worth  of  this  novel  idea. 
However,  an  incident  happened  on  August  19  which 
was  so  successful  and  so  significant  that  it  entirely 
changed  the  official  mind,  and  all  kinds  of  craft  were 
suggested  as  suitable  decoys.  Some  thought  that  oil- 
tankers  would  have  made  ideal  bait :  so  they  would, 
but  such  ships  were  few  in  number  and  too  valuable. 
Others  suggested  yachts,  and  actually  these  were  used 
for  intelligence  work  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  Many 
other  schemes,  too,  were  brought  forward,  but  they 
were  not  always  practicable,  or  had  to  be  discarded  for 
particular  reasons. 

In  March,  1915,  the  Admiralty  had  taken  up  the 
S.S.  Bar  along,  a  typical  'three-island'  tramp,  as  a 
decoy.  For  nearly  six  months  she  had  been  cruising 
about  and  had  already  steamed  12,000  miles,  but 
during  the  afternoon  of  August  19  she  was  at  last  to 
have  her  chance.  This  was  an  historic  day  in  the 
submarine  campaign,  for  in  that  area  between  the 
south-west  coast  of  Ireland  and  the  western  end  of 
the  English  Channel  eight  British  steamers  were  sunk, 
including  the  15,801 -ton  White  Star  liner  Ai^ahic. 
It  is  quite  certain  that  there  was  more  than  one  sub- 
marine operating,  and  they  had  reaped  a  good  harvest 
on  the  17th.  In  the  hope  of  falling  in  with  one  of 
these  U-boats,  the  Baralong  found  herself  in 
Lat.  50.22  N.,  Long.  8.7  W.  (that  is,  about  a  hundred 
miles  south  of  Queenstown),  steering  on  an  easterly 
course.     She  was  disguised  as  a  United  States  cargo 


mL^Ai  shelling  'Nicosian  ' 


•■•...A-5_ 


S.S.  NICOSIAN 


,- '\-'^^BARALONG' 

ftnncfats/M  range  600 yds. 


% 


Baraiong  sighted  h" 
s/M  7 miles  off.    /* 


s/m  sank 

%     ^^^  NICOSIAN s 

•^  ^  Boats 


^^^-  1- — Diagram  to  Illustrate  Approximate  Movements  of  '  Eara- 

LONG  '  WHEN    SHE    SANK    U    27    ON    AUGUST    19,  1915.     ThE    NUMERALS 

indicate  Simultaneous  Positions  of  Decuy  and  Submarine. 


22  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

ship  with  American  colours  painted  on  boards  on  her 
sides.  These  boards  were  made  so  that  they  could 
be  hauled  in,  and  the  ensign  staff  would  fall  away  as 
soon  as  the  ship  should  go  into  action  with  the  White 
Ensign  hoisted.  At  three  in  the  afternoon  Baralon^ 
sighted  a  steamer  manoeuvring  rather  strangely,  and 
almost  immediately  picked  up  a  wireless  'S.O.S.' 
sio-nal  from  her.  Baralong  therefore  now  altered 
course  towards  her,  and  the  two  ships  were  soon 
steering  so  that  they  would  presently  meet.  Then  a 
submarine  was  sighted  about  seven  miles  off  heading 
towards  the  steamer,  whom  she  was  shelling.  By  this 
time  the  crew  of  the  steamer,  which  was  the  Leyland 
liner  Nicosian,  were  rowing  about  in  the  ship's 
boats,  and  towards  these  the  Baralong  was  seen  to  be 
approaching,  but  the  submarine  U  27,  which  had  a 
22-pounder  forward  of  the  high  conning-tower,  and  a 
similar  gun  aft,  steered  so  as  to  come  along  Nicosians 
port  side  and  towards  the  latter's  boats,  apparently  to 
prevent  Baralong  rescuing  the  men.  One  who  was 
present  told  me  the  full  story,  and  I  made  notes  and  a 
sketch  at  the  time.     This  is  what  happened  : 

As  soon  as  the  submarine  was  blanketed  by 
Nicosian,  the  Baralong,  who  was  now  roughly 
parallel  with  the  other  two  craft,  struck  her  American 
colours,  hoisted  the  White  Ensign,  and  trained  her 
guns  ready  for  the  moment  when  the  submarine 
should  show  herself  ahead  of  Nicosiaris  bows.  In 
a  few  seconds  U  27  came  along,  and  had  the  greatest 
of  all  surprises.  The  range  was  only  600  yards,  and 
12 -pounder  shells,  accompanied  by  rifle  fire,  came 
hurtling  along,  penetrating  the  craft  on  the  water- 
line  below  the  conning-tower  before  the  enemy  could 
reply.  The  conning-tower  went  up  in  the  air,  panic- 
stricken  Germans  jumped  into  the  sea,  the  submarine 


Q-SHiP  "Baralong" 

Heroine  of  two  famous  victories  over  submarines.     Photofiraph  taken  in  ]\Ialta 
harbour  after  the  ship  had  been  transferred  to  the  Mediterranean. 


Q-SHip  "  Kedbreast  " 

This  vessel  was  commissioned  as  a  (^-ship  at  the  end  of  Maicli,  J',)16,  but  six 
months  later  had  concluded  her  service  in  this  capacity. 


To  fate  p.  22 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  SUCCESS         23 

heeled  over,  and  in  about  another  minute  sank  for 
good  and  all.  The  whole  incident  had  happened  so 
quickly  that  Nicosians  people  were  as  surprised  as 
they  were  amused.  The  whole  of  Bar  along' s  tactics 
had  been  so  simple  yet  so  clever  and  effective ;  de- 
liverance from  the  enemy  had  followed  the  sudden 
attack  so  dramatically,  that  it  was  not  easy  to  realize 
quite  all  that  had  happened.  Nicosiaii  had  been 
holed  by  the  German  shells,  but  Baralong  took  her 
in  tow  and  headed  for  Avonmouth.  She  was  down 
by  the  head  and  the  tow-rope  parted  during  the  night, 
but  she  managed  to  get  to  port  all  right. 

The  sinking  of  this  U  27  was  a  most  useful  piece 
of  work,  for  her  captain,  Lieut.-Commander  Wegener, 
was  one  of  Germany's  best  submarine  commanders ; 
she  had  left  Germany  a  fortnight  before.  This  in- 
cident, with  many  of  its  details,  reached  Germany 
via  the  U.S.A.;  for  Nicosian  was  carrying  a  cargo 
of  mules  from  across  the  Atlantic  to  be  used  by  our 
army,  and  some  of  the  muleteers  were  American 
citizens.  On  their  arrival  back  home  the  news  came 
out,  and  was  published  in  the  newspapers,  causing 
considerable  sensation.  The  German  nation  was 
furious  and  made  some  bitter  accusations,  forgetting 
all  the  time  that  on  this  very  day  they  had  fired  on 
and  killed  fourteen  of  the  crew  of  the  British  sub- 
marine E  13,  which  had  grounded  on  the  Danish 
island  of  Saltholm.  All  the  officers,  with  one  excep- 
tion, and  most  of  the  crew  of  Baralong  were  of  the 
Royal  Naval  Reserve.  A  number  of  decorations  was 
made  and  the  sum  of  £1,000  was  awarded. 

This  great  success  in  the  midst  of  a  terrible  tale 
of  shipping  losses  finally  convinced  the  authorities 
of  the  value  of  the  Q-ship.  There  was  a  great 
shortage  of  tonnage  at  this  time,  for  ships  were  being 


24  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

required  for  carrying  mules  and  munitions  from 
America,  munitions  to  Russia,  and  every  kind  of 
stores  across  to  our  armies.  However,  it  was  decided 
to  take  up  some  more  steamers  as  decoys  and  fit  them 
out  in  a  similar  manner.  Thus  the  two  tramp  steamers 
Zijlpha  (2,917  tons)  and  the  Lodorer  (3,207  tons)  were 
assigned  to  Queenstown.  The  former,  after  doing 
excellent  work,  was  sunk  on  June  15,  1917 ;  the 
latter,  commanded  by  the  officer  who  eventually 
became  Captain  Gordon  Campbell,  V.C.,  D.S.O., 
made  history.  Under  the  aliases  of  Farnhorough 
and  Q  5  she  became  the  most  famous  of  all  the  decoy 
ships.  Tramp  steamer  though  she  may  be,  she  has  a 
career  which,  for  adventurous  fights,  honourable 
wounds,  and  imperishable  glory  cannot  be  approached 
by  any  ship  in  the  world,  with  the  solitary  exception, 
perhaps,  of  the  Vindictive,  for,  in  spite  of  everything, 
Lodorer  was  able  at  the  end  of  the  war  to  resume 
her  work  in  the  Merchant  Service.  In  another  place 
we  shall  soon  see  her  exploits  as  a  warship. 

In  addition  to  these  two  a  few  small  coasting 
steamers  were  taken  up  and  a  couple  of  transports, 
and  the  work  of  selecting  officers  of  dash  and  enter- 
prise had  to  be  undertaken  with  great  secrecy  and 
discretion.  Unquestionably  the  most  suitable  type 
of  Q-ship  was  the  tramp,  and  the  worst  was  the  cross- 
Channel  railway  steamer.  The  first  was  slow,  but 
could  keep  at  sea  a  long  time  without  coaling ;  the 
latter  was  fast,  but  wasteful  of  coal  and  had  limited 
bunker  space.  Of  these  railway  steamers  we  have 
already  mentioned  the  G.E.R.  Co.'s  S.S.  Vienna 
(alias  Antnoevp).  Another  decoy  ship  was  the  L.  & 
S.W.R.  Co.'s  S.S.  Princess  Ena,  which  was  built  to 
run  between  the  Channel  Islands  and  Southampton. 
She  had   been  commissioned  in  May,   1915,  armed 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  SUCCESS         25 

with  three  12-pounders,  and  could  steam  at  15  knots, 
but  she  ceased  her  decoy  work  in  the  following  August. 
The  Lyons,  already  referred  to,  was  really  a  salvage 
steamer,  but  much  resembled  a  tug,  especially  when 
she  hoisted  her  dummy  funnel.  She  was  of  537  tons, 
could  steam  at  11  knots,  and  was  armed  with  four 
12-pounders.  But  it  was  the  'three-island'  tramp 
type  of  the  Bar  along  breed,  which  was  so  ordinary 
and  seen  at  any  time  in  any  sea,  that  made  the  ideal 
Q-ship.  She  was  of  4,192  tons,  built  in  1901,  speed 
10  knots,  armed  with  three  12-pounders,  and  fitted 
with  a  single  wireless  aerial  which  could  excite  no 
suspicion.  So  skilfully  was  the  armament  of  these 
ships  concealed  that  they  frequently  lay  in  harbour 
close  to  foreign  ships  without  revealing  their  true 
nature.  1  have  myself  been  all  over  such  a  ship, 
commanded  by  one  of  the  greatest  Q-ship  officers, 
and  entirely  failed  to  find  w^here  he  mounted  his  guns, 
and  yet  they  were  on  board  ready  for  immediate  use. 
How  much  more  likely  would  the  German  submarine, 
lying  lower  down  to  the  water,  be  deceived !  As 
time  went  on  and  these  much-feared  '  trap-ships ' 
were  scrutinized  more  closely,  several  minor  but  fatal 
characteristics  had  to  be  remembered ;  for  instance, 
the  crew  sometimes  would  be  too  smart  or  the  signal- 
man was  too  good  with  his  semaphore.  But  these 
and  similar  points  were  rectified  as  soon  as  they  were 
realized. 


CHAPTER  III 

Q-SHIP  ENTERPRISE 

Within  five  weeks  of  her  victorious  fight  Baralong 
had  done  it  again.  After  the  war  it  was  definitely- 
announced  in  the  pubUc  Press  that  U  27  had  been 
sunk  by  H.M.S.  Wyandra  on  August  19.  Under  this 
name  the  ship's  crew  were  awarded  the  sum  of  £185 
as  prize  bounty,  and  in  the  same  court  Wyandra,  her 
commanding  officer  this  time  being  Lieut. -Commander 
A.  Wilmot-Smith,  R.N.,  was  awarded  £170  prize 
bounty  for  sinking  U  41  on  September  24, 1915.  It  was 
an  open  secret  that  Baralong  and  Wyandra  were  one 
and  the  same  ship,  so  we  may  as  well  get  this  matter 
quite  clear.  Already  we  have  seen  the  manner  in 
which  this  decoy  sank  U  27,  and  we  shall  now  be 
able  to  note  very  similar  tactics  in  almost  the  same 
locality  attaining  a  like  result  under  her  new  captain. 
U  41  had  left  Wilhelmshaven  on  September  12, 
this  being  her  fourth  trip.  She  was  under  the  com- 
mand of  Lieut. -Commander  Hansen,  and  on  the  23rd 
had  sunk  three  British  steamers,  each  of  about  4,000 
tons,  in  a  position  roughly  eighty  miles  south-east  of 
the  Fastnet.  The  first  of  these  ships  was  the  Anglo- 
Columbian,  which  was  sunk  at  9.45  a.m.,  followed  by 
the  Chancellor  at  3  p.m.,  and  the  Hesione  about  four 
hours  later.  The  news  of  the  first  sinking  reached 
Baralong  (henceforth  officially  known  as  Wyandra) 
in   Falmouth,  so   this   decoy  put   to   sea,  and  after 

26 


URBINO 


Opened  fire  E,?'"  ^/ 
(Ship stopped)\     rf  ■ 


s/m  shelling  ship 


D7  Helm  put  hard 


'Commenced 
lowering  boat 

/stopped^  ordered  to 
^  ^end  papers  to  s/m 

gy^>f  hoisted  signal 
to  stop 

position  when^Afdimf^A 


I  Position  of  'BARALONG 
^  on  sighting  s/M. 


Fig.  2. — Diagram  to  Illustrate  Approximate  Movements  of  '  Bara- 

LONG  '  when  she  SANK  U   41  ON  SEPTEMBER  24,  1915.      ThE  LETTERS 

indicate  Simultaneous  Positions  of  Decoy  and  Submarine. 


28  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

rounding  the  Lizard  steered  a  course  that  would, 
with  luck,  intercept  the  submarine  if  she  were  operat- 
ing towards  Ushant,  as  seemed  probable.  So  the 
night  passed.  About  9  o'clock  next  morning  the 
British  S.S.  Ui'bino  (6,651  tons),  of  the  Wilson  Line, 
was  attacked  by  this  U  41  in  a  position  roughly 
sixty-seven  miles  S.W.  by  W.  of  the  Bishop  rock. 
At  9.45  a.m.  up  came  the  Bar  along,  and  sighted  the 
Urbino  about  eight  miles  ahead,  on  fire,  stopped, 
with  a  heavy  list,  and  blowing  off  steam.  It  was  a 
fine,  clear  morning  ;  a  steady  course  was  maintained, 
and  the  Q-ship  made  ready  for  action.  Already  the 
Urbino's  crew  had  been  compelled  to  take  to  their 
boats,  and  the  submarine,  at  a  range  of  200  yards, 
had  put  five  shells  into  her, 

Baralong  now  sighted  the  submarine's  conning- 
tower,  and  when  about  five  miles  away  the  submarine 
dived,  so  Baralong  altered  course  to  the  southward, 
so  as  to  compel  the  enemy,  if  she  meant  to  attack,  to 
rise  to  the  surface  and  use  her  oil-engines.  This  ruse 
succeeded,  for  presently  U  41  came  to  the  surface 
and  proceeded  at  full  speed  to  head  the  Englishman 
off.  Baralong  now  hoisted  United  States  colours, 
M'hereupon  the  German  hoisted  '  Stop  instantly !' 
The  former  obeyed,  but  by  using  the  engines  now 
and  again  cleverly  manoeuvred  so  as  to  close  the 
range.  The  next  order  from  the  enemy  was  for  the 
EngUshman  to  send  his  papers  aboard  the  submarine, 
the  two  craft  being  now  about  two  and  a  half  miles 
apart.  Baralong  answered  the  signal,  steamed 
slowly  ahead,  altering  very  gradually  towards  the 
enemy,  and  pretended  to  be  hoisting  out  a  boat  on 
the  side  visible  to  the  submarine.  On  board  the 
latter  the  forward  gun  was  already  manned,  Ober- 
Leutnant  Crompton  being  on  deck  in  charge  of  the 


Q-SHip  "  Baralong  " 
Showiug  guu  on  port  side  of  the  poop  and  disguised  crew. 


Q-SHIP  "Baralong" 
Showing  disguised  marines  and  method  of  concealing  the  gun. 


To  face  p.  28 


Q-SHIP  ENTERPRISE  29 

firing.  But  Hansen  had  already  been  outmanoeuvred 
by  Wilmot-Smith,  just  as  in  the  olden  days  the 
sailing  man-of-war  sought  to  win  the  weather-gage. 
For,  having  got  the  submarine  2  points  on  the 
starboard  bow,  Baralong  so  steered  as  to  keep  her  in 
that  position,  and  the  two  approached  until  the  range 
was  down  to  700  yards. 

All  this  time,  though  every  man  in  BaraloJig  was 
at  his  station,  there  was  not  a  movement  that  in  any 
way  caused  the  enemy  to  suspect.  The  latter  was 
concerned  rather  with  the  details  of  making  quite 
sure  she  was  a  neutral.  It  was  then  that  Baralong 
starboarded  her  helm  so  that  it  might  appear  as  if  she 
were  just  swinging  in  order  to  give  the  ship's  boat  a 
lee  while  being  lowered,  a  perfectly  natural  and  sea- 
manlike piece  of  tactics.  But  when  she  had  swung 
sufficiently  for  the  starboard  and  stern  guns  to  bear, 
down  came  the  disguise,  up  went  the  fluttering  White 
Ensign,  and  a  heavy  fire  at  only  500  yards  came 
pouring  forth,  accompanied  by  rifle  fire  from  the 
marines  in  the  well- deck  aft.  The  enemy  was  taken 
so  completely  by  surprise  that  he  got  off  only  one 
round,  and  this  was  a  long  way  out.  So  smartly  had 
Baralongs  men  begun  the  attack  that  the  second 
round  scored  a  direct  hit  at  the  base  of  the  conning- 
tower,  and  several  other  shells  got  home  with  deadly 
precision.  The  Germans  on  deck  became  panic- 
stricken,  left  their  guns,  and  made  for  the  conning- 
tower  hatch,  but  whilst  they  were  doing  this  another 
direct  hit  struck  the  conning-tower,  blowing  Hansen 
and  six  men  to  pieces.  After  several  more  hits,  U  41 
Hsted  to  port  with  a  heavy  inclination  and  dived. 
This  submersion  was  useless,  as  she  was  leaking  very 
badly,  and  the  main  bilge-pump  ceased  to  function. 
Down  she  dropped  to  a  terrible  depth,  the  diving 


30  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

tanks  were  blown  by  the  compressed  air,  and  with  a 
great  sense  of  rehef  the  Germans  who  were  still  alive 
found  their  craft  coming  to  the  surface.  First  came 
the  bows,  and  then  the  top  of  the  conning- tower 
showed  above  water,  a  large  volume  of  smoke  and 
steam  escaping,  and  then  she  disappeared  for  the 
last  time  very  rapidly,  stern  first,  Ober-Leutnant 
Crompton  and  the  helmsman  escaping  through  an 
open  hatchway. 

After  she  had  sunk  finally  a  large  burst  of  air  and 
oil-fuel  rose  to  the  surface,  the  submarine's  bulkheads 
having  apparently  burst  owing  to  the  pressure  due 
to  the  deep  water,  which  here  was  75  fathoms. 
Only  Crompton  and  the  helmsman  were  saved,  the 
former  having  been  badly  wounded  whilst  entering 
the  conning-tower.  All  the  others,  consisting  of  five 
officers  and  twenty-five  men,  were  lost.  In  the  mean- 
time Urbino  had  sunk,  too,  from  her  shell-holes,  and 
Baralong  picked  the  whole  crew  up  from  their  boats 
to  the  number  of  forty-two  officers  and  men,  her 
master.  Captain  Allanson  Hick,  stating  that  his  ship 
was  on  her  way  from  New  York  to  Hull.  Baralong, 
conscious  of  having  obtained  another  brilliant  and 
brave  victory,  now  proceeded  with  her  survivors  to 
Falmouth,  where  she  arrived  in  the  early  hours  of 
the  following  morning.  Lieut. -Commander  Wilmot- 
Smith  was  awarded  the  D.S.O.,  and  Temporary 
Engineer  J.  M.  Dowie,  R.N.R.,  received  a  D.S.C.,  a 
well-deserved  decoration  ;  for  much  depended  on 
the  engineers  in  these  ships,  and  they  had  much  to 
suffisr.  Two  of  the  crew  received  a  D.S.M.  each,  and 
the  sum  of  £1,000  was  also  awarded,  this  being 
additional  to  the  bounty  subsequently  awarded  in  the 
Prize  Court. 

At  this  stage  in  the  world's  history  there  is  no  in- 


Q-SHIP  ENTERPRISE  31 

tention  of  exulting  in  the  discomfiture  and  pain  of 
the  enemy.  Day  after  day  during  this  period  the 
writer  used  to  see  the  sad  sight  of  our  survivors  with- 
out ship  or  belongings  other  than  the  clothes  on  their 
backs.  It  is  difficult  altogether  to  forget  these  inci- 
dents or  the  unchivalrous  behaviour  of  the  enemy. 
Without  wishing  to  be  vindictive,  it  is  well  to  place 
on  record  that  the  nineteen  German  sailors  on  the 
deck  of  U  41  all  jeered  at  Captain  Hick  in  his  dis- 
tress, and  yet  although  a  callous  enemy  had  been 
sunk  in  a  fair  fight,  this  second  Baralong  incident 
aroused  in  Germany  a  wave  of  horrified  indignation 
akin  to  the  decoy's  former  exploit.  The  German 
Press  referred  to  the  sinking  of  U  41  as  a  murderous 
act,  but  if  this  were  so  there  were  to  be  plenty  more 
to  follow.  Happily,  at  last,  we  had  found  a  real, 
effective  means  of  grappling  with  the  submarine 
problem.  Against  us  were  contending  the  finest 
brains  of  the  German  Navy,  and  these  determined 
officers  were  not  over  anxious  to  save  life,  as  we  knew 
from  their  behaviour  at  the  sinking  of  Falaba  and 
Lusitania.  Such  craft  as  U  41,  over  200  feet  long, 
with  a  maximum  surface  speed  of  14  knots,  but 
an  endurance  of  5,500  miles  at  10  knots,  armed  with 
a  couple  of  guns  and  eight  torpedoes,  w^ere  formidable 
foes,  and  any  clever  stratagem  that  could  be  used 
against  them,  without  infringing  International  Law, 
was  surely  entirely  justified.  Thus,  very  wisely,  four 
colliers  were  fitted  out  that  same  autumn  as  Q- ships, 
these  being  the  Thornhill  (alias  Weriibee,  WelUiobiie, 
and  WoiigaiieUa) ;  the  Remembrance  (alias  Lam- 
meroo) ;  Bradford  City  (alias  Saros) ;  and  the 
Penhallow  (alias  Century).  These,  together  with 
Baralong,  were  sent  to  operate  in  the  Mediterranean, 
for    here     the    submarine    campaign    became    very 


32  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

serious  just  at  the  time  when  it  temporarily  died 
down  in  North  European  waters.  Diplomatic  rela- 
tions between  Germany  and  the  United  States,  con- 
sequent on  the  sinking  of  the  lAtsitania  and  then 
Arabic,  were  becoming  strained,  so  that  Germany  had 
to  accept  the  American  demands  for  the  limitation 
of  submarine  activity.  The  result  was  that  from 
September  24,  1915,  up  to  December  20,  1915,  no 
ships  were  sunk  by  German  submarines  in  North 
European  waters,  though  the  Mediterranean  had  a 
different  story  to  tell.  At  the  end  of  December  a 
short,  sharp  submarine  campaign  was  carried  out  off 
Ireland  by  U-boats,  and  then  there  was  quiet  again 
until  Germany  began  her  extended  submarine  cam- 
paign on  March  1,  1916.  This  in  turn  lasted  only  to 
May  8,  and  was  not  resumed  until  July  5,  1916. 

It  is  as  well  to  bear  these  periods  in  mind,  for 
otherwise  we  cannot  appreciate  the  dull,  monotonous 
weeks  and  months  of  cruising  spent  by  the  Q- ships 
when  they  saw  no  submarine,  received  nothing  but 
vague,  inaccurate  reports,  and  had  to  keep  their  crews 
from  getting  disappointed  or  eventually  wondering 
whether  they  were  really  doing  any  good  in  this 
particular  service.  But  as  the  winter  passed  and  the 
U-boats  displayed  their  usual  spring  activity,  the 
Q-ships  had  their  opportunities  again.  Before  we 
come  to  see  these,  let  us  take  a  glance  at  the  work 
which  they  were  performing  during  the  winter  in  the 
Mediterranean,  where  the  enemy  sought  to  cut  our 
lines  of  communication  to  the  Dardanelles. 

In  December,  1915,  the  steamship  3Iargit  had 
been  fitted  out  as  a  decoy,  and  on  January  17,  1916, 
in  Lat.  35.34  N.,  Long.  17.38  E.,  she  was  steering 
west  for  Malta,  when  she  received  S.O.S.  signals  on 
her  wireless.     The  time  was  9.30  a.m.,  and  presentlj^ 


Q-SHIP  ENTERPRISE  33 

shots  were  seen  falling  close  to  the  S.S.  Baron  Napier, 
who  was  about  five  miles  to  the  southward.  The 
captain  of  the  Mar^it  was  Lieut.-Commander  G.  L. 
Hodson,  R.N.,  who  then  hoisted  the  Dutch  ensign 
and  altered  course  towards  the  Baroii  Napier.  The 
latter  kept  making  signals  that  she  was  being  shelled 
and  that  the  submarine  was  approaching ;  but  when 
Margit  got  within  a  couple  of  miles  the  submarine 
transferred  the  shelling  to  her.  Margifs  captain 
conned  his  ship,  lying  prone  on  the  bridge  and  peering 
through  the  chinks  in  the  bridge  screen.  In  order  to 
lure  the  enemy  on  he  pretended  to  abandon  ship, 
hoisted  the  international  signal  '  I  am  stopped,'  and 
sent  away  the  ship's  lifeboat  with  Sub-Lieutenant 
McClure,  R.N.R.,  in  charge.  The  ship  now  had 
every  appearance  of  having  been  abandoned,  but  in 
addition  to  the  captain  lying  unseen  on  the  bridge, 
the  guns'  crews,  under  Lieutenant  Tweedie,  R.N.R., 
and  a  sub-lieutenant,  were  remaining  hidden  at 
their  stations.  Riflemen  were  similarly  placed  on 
the  foredeck  and  aft. 

After  the  '  panic  party '  had  been  sent  away  in 
the  boat  the  enemy  seemed  fairly  satisfied,  ceased 
shelling,  dived,  and  then  reappeared  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  later  800  yards  away,  with  a  couple  of  feet  of 
his  periscope  showing.  He  was  now  going  to  make 
quite  sure  this  was  no  trap,  so,  still  submerged,  he 
came  within  50  yards  of  Margifs  port  side  and 
then  right  round  the  ship,  scrutinizing  her  carefully. 
At  length,  being  apparently  quite  convinced  that  all 
was  well,  he  steered  for  Margifs  boat  about  a 
thousand  yards  away  and  came  to  the  surface.  Three 
men  then  appeared  on  the  submarine's  deck,  the 
German  ensign  was  hoisted,  and  one  of  them  waved 
Majgit's  boat  to  come  alongside.     This  was  as  far  as 

3 


34  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

Lieut. -Commander  Hodson  deemed  it  advisable  to 
let  matters  go.  Giving  the  orders  to  down  screens, 
open  fire,  and  hoist  the  White  Ensign,  the  enemy 
now  came  under  attack.  One  shot  seemed  to  hit 
abaft  the  conning -tower,  and  the  submarine  sub- 
merged, so  fire  was  ceased  and  Mar  git  proceeded  to 
pick  up  her  boat.  The  davit-falls  had  only  just 
been  hooked  on  when  the  submarine  showed  her 
conning-tower  70  yards  off,  apparently  in  difficulties. 
The  Q-ship  therefore   opened   fire   once   more,  but 


,  s/M  rose 

^^,  opened  fire  on  ■Vm 


.ji/'  J,  "^^  s/m  disappeared 

-SW.  Y  •-,  apparentluaamagea. 

A'J>       J  -<- -\ -*       ^     ^ 

^■''<^  i/y^     J^'^^/m  approached  ship  shading 

y   '  K^y' ^■^'^ all  of  periscope  Stofi of connJfig  tower 

Fig.  3. — Diagram  to  Illustrate  Approximate  Movements  of  '  Margit  ' 
IN  HER  Engagement  with  Submarine  on  January  17,  1916. 

the  enemy  again  submerged.  Unfortunately  the 
submarine  had  not  been  sunk,  although  no  effort  had 
been  neglected.  From  9.30  a.m.  to  about  midday 
officers  and  crew  had  been  compelled  to  keep  in 
cramped,  tiring  attitudes,  with  very  little  knowledge 
of  what  was  going  on ;  and  after  he  had  finally  dis- 
appeared Margit  had  remained  for  about  three  hours 
in  the  hope  that  he  might  return.  By  a  curious 
coincidence,  at  the  time  when  Baron  Napier  was 
being  attacked,  another  steamer,  the Baf^on  Ardrossan^ 
belonging  to  the  same  owners,  happened  to  be  passing 


Q-SHIP  ENTERPRISE  35 

and  saw  the  shells  dropping  around,  but  as  she  could 
steam  nothing  better  than  3  knots  slower  than 
Baron  Napier  she  could  not  go  to  her  assistance. 
However,  if  the  submarine  had  not  been  destroyed, 
Margit  had  saved  the  Baron  Napier  and  caused  the 
enemy  to  break  off  the  engagement. 

Mention  was  made  just  now  of  the  Werribee  (alias 
Wonganella,  etc.).  On  February  3,  1916,  this  ship, 
which  had  been  fitted  out  at  Gibraltar,  under  the 
command  of  Lieut. -Commander  B.  J.  D.  Guy,  R.N., 
left  Port  Said  to  cruise  on  the  Malta  to  Egypt  trade 
route.  She  was  a  steamer  of  3,848  tons,  and  had 
taken  in  2,600  tons  of  sand  as  ballast.  About  9  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  February  9,  Werribee  was  steaming 
along  when  she  picked  up  a  signal  on  her  wireless  to 
the  effect  that  the  S.S.  Springwell,  of  5,593  tons,  was 
torpedoed  and  sinking  by  the  head.  The  vessel  was 
soon  sighted,  and  the  last  boats  could  be  seen  already 
leaving  the  ship,  the  position  being  about  sixty  miles 
from  Crete.  The  weather  was  perfect,  with  a  flat, 
calm  sea  and  extreme  visibility — an  ideal  day,  in  fact, 
for  good  gunnery. 

But  it  was  to  be  a  most  difficult  experience,  and 
the  incident  well  illustrates  the  problems  which  had 
to  be  dealt  with.  About  10.15  a.m.,  as  no  submarine 
could  be  seen,  Werribee  turned  towards  the  four 
boats  already  in  the  water,  and  hailed  them  for  infor- 
mation, then  examined  the  condition  of  Springwell, 
and  presently  turned  again.  All  of  a  sudden,  a  great 
submarine,  painted  like  the  Mediterranean  pirate-ships 
of  ancient  times,  a  brownish  green,  emerged  from 
the  sea  about  5,000  yards  away  on  Werribee's  star- 
board bow,  and  came  close  up  to  Springwell,  possibly 
to  prevent  Wei^ribee  from  salving  her.  Alarm  stations 
were  sounded  in  the  Q-ship,  but  the  submarine's  men 


36  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

were  already  running  to  their  two  guns,  and  opened 
fire.  Werribee  then  decided  to  haul  round  and 
pretend  to  run  away.  The  third  shot  from  the  enemy 
hit,  and  it  was  at  first  feared  that  the  explosion  had  dis- 
abled one  gun's  crew,  but  fortunately  the  hit  was  a 
little  further  aft.  It  was  immediately  evident  to 
Wei^iibee's  captain  that  to-day  the  enemy  was  not 
going  to  allow  him  to  play  the  abandon-ship  game, 
but  was  intending  to  sink  him  straight  away.  The 
submarine's  accurate  and  rapid  fire  was  clearly  aimed 
at  Werribee's  boats,  and  two  of  them  were  soon 
riddled.  It  was  for  Lieut.-Commander  Guy  to  make 
up  his  mind  quickly  what  tactics  now  to  pursue,  and 
he  decided  to  reveal  the  ship's  true  character  and  open 
lire.  This  was  done,  and  within  ten  seconds  his  4-inch 
quick-firer  was  in  action,  range  4,000  yards.  After 
six  rounds  from  the  Q-ship  the  enemy  ceased  firing, 
and  the  eighth  seemed  to  hit  abaft  the  conning-tower. 
Then  she  submerged  in  a  cloud  of  smoke,  about  11.10 
a.m.,  this  smoke  screen  being  a  favourite  ruse  for 
escaping,  and  she  was  never  seen  again  that  day. 
Werribee  now  turned  her  attention  to  the  torpedoed 
ship,  but  the  latter  was  too  far  gone,  and  foundered 
at  5.45  that  afternoon.  The  men  in  SpringivelVs 
boats  were  then  picked  up,  and  about  6  o'clock  the 
ship  made  for  Malta.  It  was  again  sheer  bad  luck  ;  a 
combination  of  difficult  circumstances,  and  the  tactics 
of  an  astute  German  captain,  had  now  prevented 
success  coming  to  the  decoy.  There  was  no  question 
about  her  disguise,  and  the  captain  of  a  merchantman 
who  witnessed  the  fight  accurately  spoke  of  Werribee 
as  '  an  old  tramp  with  a  few  patches  of  paint,  firing 
at  the  submarine.'  Before  the  war  we  should  have 
thought  no  ship  in  His  Majesty's  Service  could 
possibly  merit  such  a  description  as  this,  but  strange 


Fig.  4.— Diagram  to  Illustrate  Approximatk  Movements  of  '  Werri- 
BEB '  IN  Action  with  Submarinb  on  February  9,  1916. 


38  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

things  were  happening  on  the  seas  at  this  time,  and 
it  was  the  highest  compHment  so  to  be  described. 

With  the  experience  which  had  been  gained  from 
all  these  engagements  in  various  areas  it  was  possible 
to  form  some  idea  of  the  requisite  standardized  equip- 
ment with  which  Q-ships  should  be  supplied.  First 
of  all,  inasmuch  as  the  enemy  was  being  better  armed, 
at  least  one  modern  4-inch  gun  was  necessary,  in 
addition  to  any  12 -pounder.  Long-range  action, 
especially  in  the  Mediterranean,  was  probable  at 
times,  for  the  enemy  would  not  always  consent  to 
engage  close  to.  Secondly,  it  was  highly  important 
that  the  ship  should  remain  afloat,  even  though 
seriously  holed.  It  might  happen — and  later  on  it 
actually  did  occur — that  the  enemy  might  suppose  the 
ship  was  just  about  to  founder,  thus  making  it  quite 
safe  to  close  her  in  order  to  read  her  name.  Then 
would  come  the  one  great  chance  for  the  Q-ship  to 
destroy  the  enemy.  Therefore,  to  this  end,  it  became 
certain  that  these  ships  should  be  given  cargoes  of 
barrels,  or  timber,  carefully  stowed,  so  that  it  would 
be  no  easy  task  to  sink  her,  and  she  might  perhaps 
even  be  salved. 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  '  FARNBOROUGH' 

Two  days  before  the  end  of  February,  1916, 1  happened 
to  be  returning  from  leave  in  England  to  my  ship, 
which  was  in  Queenstown  for  boiler-cleaning.  In  the 
Holyhead-Kingstown  steamer  I  found  myself  in  con- 
versation with  a  junior  lieutenant-commander,  R.N., 
who  also  was  returning  to  his  ship  at  Queenstown.  We 
talked  of  many  things  all  the  way  down  across  Ireland, 
but  this  quiet,  taciturn  officer  impressed  me  less  by 
what  he  said  than  by  what  he  left  unsaid,  and  it  took 
me  a  long  time  to  guess  the  name  of  his  ship.  I 
thought  1  knew  most  of  the  commanding  officers  of 
sloops  and  trawlers  and  drifters,  and  so  on,  at  work 
off  the  south  and  south-west  coasts  of  Ireland,  but  I 
had  neither  seen  this  officer  nor  heard  his  name 
before.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  he  was  unknown 
to  the  public  ;  in  fact,  not  until  three  weeks  after  the 
end  of  this  February  did  he  win  distinction,  but  to- 
day his  name  is  known  and  respected  in  every  navy 
of  the  world,  and  his  career  as  a  naval  officer  is  different 
from  anything  ever  recorded  in  the  pages  of  history. 

This  was  Lieut.-Commander  Gordon  Camp- 
bell, who  just  before  the  war  was  a  lieutenant  in 
command  of  an  old-fashioned  destroyer  based  on 
Devonport.  On  October  21,  1915 — the  date  is  par- 
ticularly fortunate  as  having  been  the  110th  anni- 
versary   of    the    Battle    of    Trafalgar —Lieutenant 


40  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

Campbell  commissioned  the  tramp  steamer  Lodorer 
at  Devonport  as  a  Q-ship,  but  on  passage  thence  to 
Queenstown  changed  her  name  to  Farnhorougli^  as  it 
had  become  gossip  that  she  had  been  armed  for  special 
service.  Through  that  trying  winter  the  little  Farn- 
borough  endured  gale  after  gale,  and  her  young  captain, 
attired  in  the  rig  of  a  typical  tramp  skipper,  with  his 
smart  crew  trained  now  to  look  slovenly  yet  be 
mentally  alert  all  the  time,  never  for  a  moment 
wavered  in  the  belief  that  one  day  would  come  his 
opportunity.  He  had  organized  his  ship  to  a  pitch  of 
perfection,  and  nothing  was  lacking  except  the  appear- 
ance of  a  U-boat. 

On  March  1,1916,  the  enemy  renewed  its  submarine 
campaign  after  lying  dormant  since  the  day  when 
Baralong  had  sunk  her  U41,  except  for  the  Christmas- 
time temporary  outburst.  During  the  first  three 
weeks  of  March  one,  or  more,  submarine  had  sunk 
shipping  off  the  Irish  coast  to  the  extent  of  three 
steamers  and  one  sailing  craft.  On  the  morning  of 
March  22,  Farnborough,  who  had  come  from 
Queenstown,  was  now  cruising  up  the  w^est  coast  of 
Ireland,  the  exact  position  being  Lat.  51.54  N.,  Long. 
10.53  W.,  and  the  time  0.40  a.m.  Steaming  along  at 
8  knots,  a  submarine  awash  was  suddenly  sighted 
by  one  of  the  crew  named  Kaye,  an  A.B.  of  the  Royal 
Naval  Reserve,  about  five  miles  away  on  the  port 
bow.  After  a  few  minutes  it  dived,  and  Farnborough 
coolly  took  no  notice  but  kept  jogging  along  the 
same  course.  The  submarine  had  evidently  deter- 
mined to  sink  the  old  tramp,  for  twenty  minutes  later 
she  fired  a  torpedo  which  passed  so  close  ahead  of 
Farnborough  that  bubbles  were  seen  under  the  fore- 
castle. Still  she  pretended  to  take  no  notice,  and  a 
few  minutes  later  the  submarine  broke  surface  about 


STORY  OF  THE  '  FARNBOROUGH  '     41 

1,000  yards  astern,  passing  from  starboard  to 
port,  then,  having  got  on  the  Q- ship's  port  quarter, 
fired  a  shell  across  the  latter 's  bows  and  partly  sub- 
merged. 

Farnhorough  now  stopped  her  engines,  blew  off 
steam,  and  the  panic  party,  consisting  of  stokers  and 
spare  men,  were  ordered  to  abandon  ship ;  so  away 
they  rowed  under  Temporary  Engineer  Sub- 
Eieutenant  J.  S.  Smith,  R.N.R.  The  enemy  then 
came  closer  until  he  was  but  800  yards  off.  Not  a 
human  being  w^as  visible  aboard  the  '  abandoned ' 
ship,  but  everyone  was  lying  concealed  in  expectant 
readiness,  yet  Lieut.-Commander  Campbell  was 
quietly  watching  every  move  of  the  enemy.  A  few 
minutes  later  the  latter,  intending  to  sink  the  deserted 
ship,  fired  a  shell,  but  this  fell  50  yards  short. 
Here  was  Farnhorouglis  big  opportunity  that  had 
been  awaited  and  longed  for  ever  since  last  Trafalgar 
Day  ;  now  was  the  time — or  never.  Thus  the  collier 
tramp  declared  herself  a  man-of-war,  armed  as  she 
was  with  five  12-pounders,  two  6-pounders,  and  one 
Maxim  gun.  One  of  the  two  ships  must  certainly  go 
to  her  doom,  and  her  fate  would  be  settled  in  a  few 
terrible  moments :  there  would  be  no  drawn-out 
engagement,  but  just  a  \'iolent  blow,  and  then  finish. 
Lieut.-Commander  Campbell,  in  his  place  of  conceal- 
ment, knew  that  his  men  could  be  trusted  to  do  the 
right  thing,  knew  that  they  were  waiting  only  for 
the  word  from  him.  True,  the  guns'  crews  were  not 
the  kind  of  expert  men  you  find  in  battleship  or 
cruiser.  They  had  joined  the  Service  after  the 
declaration  of  war,  but  had  been  trained  up  splendidly 
by  one  of  the  ship's  officers,  Lieutenant  W.  Beswick, 
R.N.R.  On  them  much  depended.  If  they  fired 
too   soon,    became   excited,    made   a   movement,    or 


' 


42  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

bungled  their  work,  they  would  give  the  whole  show 
away,  and  the  sinking  ship  would  not  be  the  sub- 
marine. 

'  Open  fire !'  came  the  order  as  the  White  Ensign 
was  hoisted,  and  then  from  the  three  12-pounders 
which  could  bear  came  a  hail  of  shells,  whilst  Maxim 
and  rifle  fire  also  rained  down.  The  light  this  morn- 
ing was  bad,  but  the  shooting  from  these  newly 
trained  men  was  so  good  that  the  submarine  was 
badly  holed  by  the  rapid  fire  ;  thus,  slowly  the  enemy 
began  to  sink.  Observing  this,  Campbell  then  en- 
deavoured to  give  her  the  knock-out  blow,  so  steamed 
full  speed  over  the  spot  and  dropped  a  depth  charge. 
This  fairly  shook  the  submarine,  who  next  appeared 
about  ten  yards  away  in  an  almost  perpendicular 
position,  that  portion  of  the  craft  from  the  bows  to 
the  conning-tower  being  out  of  the  water.  A  large 
rent  was  discerned  in  her  bow ;  she  was  certainly 
doomed,  and  one  periscope  had  been  hit.  Wasting 
none  of  the  golden  opportunity,  Farnhorougfi  re- 
opened fire  with  her  after  gun,  which  put  five  rounds 
into  the  base  of  the  conning-tower  at  point-blank 
range,  so  that  the  German  sank  for  the  last  time. 
Again  Fariiborough  steamed  over  the  spot,  and  let  go 
two  more  depth  charges,  and  presently  up  came  a 
large  quantity  of  oil  and  bits  of  wood  which  covered 
the  sea  for  some  distance  around.  So  quickly  perished 
U  68,  one  of  the  latest  submarines — a  17-knot  boat, 
armed  with  one  4*1 -inch,  one  22-pounder,  a  machine 
gun,  eleven  torpedoes,  and  with  a  cruising  radius  of 
11,000  miles. 

This  brilliant  success  had  a  most  cheering  effect  on 
all  the  patrol  vessels  working  off  the  Irish  coast. 
With  careful  reserve  the  story  was  breathed  in  ward- 
rooms, and  it  percolated  through  to  other  stations, 


Officers  of  Q-suip  "  Faenbouough  " 
Captain  Campbell  with  his  officers,  disguised  as  a  mercantile  captain. 


Q-SHiP  Heroes 

Captain  Gordon  Cami^bell.  V.C  .  D.S.O.,  R.X  .  and  Lieutenant  C.  G.  Bonner, 

Y. C. ,  D.S. C  of  Q-ship  ■•Duuraven,"  each  wearing  the  Victoria  Cross,  at  the 

King's  Garden  Party  for  V.C."s.  (see  Cha]3ter  XIV. ). 


To  face  p.  42 


STORY  OF  THE  '  FAR^^  BOROUGH  '     43 

inspiring  even  the  most  bored  officer  to  go  forth  and 
do  likewise.  This  victory  had  a  most  important 
bearing  on  the  future  of  the  Q-ship  service,  and 
officers  and  men  were  eager  to  take  on  a  job 
which  affiarded  them  so  much  sport.  It  meant 
something  more,  too.  For,  junior  though  he  was, 
Lieutenant-Commander  became  Commander  Gordon 
Campbell,  D.S.O. ;  Lieutenant  W.  Beswick,  R.N.R., 
who  had  trained  the  guns'  crew  so  well,  and  the 
Engineer-I^ieutenant  Loveless  received  each  a  D.S.C., 
and  three  of  the  crew  the  coveted  D.S.M.  There 
followed  also  the  usual  £1,000  in  addition  to  prize 
bounty.  Of  the  ship's  complement  seven  of  the 
officers  belonged  to  the  Royal  Naval  Reserve,  and 
many  of  the  ratings  were  either  of  that  service  or  the 
Royal  Naval  Volunteer  Reserve. 

Adventures  are  to  the  adventurous.  In  less  than 
a  month  from  this  event  Farnborough  was  again 
engaged  with  a  submarine,  under  circumstances  more 
difficult  than  the  last.  One  who  was  present  at  the 
engagement  described  it  to  me,  and  though  the 
submarine  managed  afterwards  to  reach  Germany, 
she  was  wounded,  and  only  just  escaped  total 
destruction.  However,  this  in  no  way  detracts  from 
the  merits  of  the  story,  which  is  as  follows:  The 
scene  was  similar  to  that  of  the  previous  incident, 
the  exact  position  being  Lat.  51.57  N.,  Long.  11.2  W. 
— that  is  to  say,  off  the  west  coast  of  Ireland.  The 
time  was  6.30  in  the  afternoon  of  April  15,  1916, 
and  Farnborough  was  proceeding  northward,  doing 
5  knots,  for  Commander  Campbell  was  hoping 
to  intercept  a  German  submarine  which  had  been 
reported  off  the  Orkneys  on  the  13th,  and  was 
probably  coming  down  the  west  Irish  coast. 

At  the  time  mentioned  the  sea  was  calm  and  it 


44  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

was  misty,  but  about  two  miles  off  on  the  starboard 
quarter  could  be  seen  a  steamer.  Suddenly,  without 
warning,  between  the  two  ships  a  submarine  broke 
surface,  but  Commander  Campbell  pretended  to 
ignore  her  until  she  hoisted  the  international  signal 
TAF  ('  Bring  your  papers  on  board ').  Owing  to 
the  mist  it  was  impossible  to  distinguish  the  flags 
clearly  enough  to  read  them.  However,  Commander 
Campbell  stopped  his  ship  Hke  a  terrified  tramp, 
blew  off  steam,  but  quietly  kept  her  jogging  ahead 
so  as  to  edge  towards  the  enemy  and  avoid  falling  into 
the  trough  of  the  heavy  Atlantic  swell.  There  was 
the  submarine  lying  full  length  on  the  surface,  about 
300  feet  long,  with  a  very  large  conning- tower  amid- 
ships, one  gun  forward,  one  aft,  and  most  of  the  hull 
painted  a  light  grey.  In  reply  to  the  German's 
signal  Farnborough  now  kept  her  answering  pennant 
at  the  dip  and  hoisted  '  Cannot  understand  your 
signal.'  All  this  delay  was  valuable  to  the  Q-ship, 
for  it  allowed  her  to  close  the  range  stealthily  ;  and 
now  the  submarine  also  came  closer,  with  her  fore- 
most gun  already  manned.  In  the  meantime,  the 
*  tramp '  did  what  she  was  expected  to  do — hoisted  the 
signal  '  I  am  sending  boat  with  ship's  papers,'  and  at 
the  same  time  the  bridge  boat  was  turned  out  (again 
in  command  of  Sub -Lieutenant  J.  S.  Smith,  R.N.R.), 
and  Commander  Campbell  was  seen  to  hand  his 
papers  to  this  officer  to  take  over  to  the  submarine. 
It  was  now  6.40  p.m.,  and  the  German  fired  a  shot 
which  passed  over  the  ship,  doing  no  direct  harm,  but 
incidentally  spoiling  the  whole  affair.  The  best  laid 
schemes  of  Q-ship  captains,  and  the  most  efficient 
crews,  occasionally  go  astray.  One  of  Farnborough' s 
people,  hearing  this  gun,  thought  that  Farnborough 
had  opened  fire,  so  accordingly  fired  also.     It  was 


STORY  OF  THE  '  FARNBOROUGH  '     45 

unfortunate,  but  there  it  was.  This  mistake  forced 
Commander  Campbell's  hand  ;  he  at  once  hoisted 
the  White  Ensign  and  gave  the  general  order  to  fire. 
The  range  was  now  about  1,000  yards,  and  he  pro- 
ceeded at  full  speed  so  as  to  bring  his  after  gun 
to  bear,  the  ships  becoming  about  in  this  position  : 


O  s/m  submerged 
ddmdged 


2iord'?'-^.^ '^•^■^'^•-  /.00^'y^^'  -q:;-. 


"-o-. 


.  I  FARNBOROUGH 


o  h ^<5.  . 


Duh:h  SS. 

'30ERAHARTA ' 


Fig.  5. — Diagram  to  Illustrate  Approximate  Positions   of  '  Farn- 

BOKOUGH'    and    SUBilAEINE   IN    THE   ACTION    OF   ApKIL    15,    1916. 

The  enemy  had  been  about  a  point  before  the 
FarnborougJis  starboard  beam,  but  when  the  action 
commenced  the  former  had  been  brought  successfully 
on  the  beam.  The  Q- ship's  12-pounders  quickly  got 
off  a  score  of  rounds,  accompanied  by  the  6-pounder 
and  the  JNIaxim  and  rifles.  Quite  early  the  enemy 
became  damaged,  and  eventually  she  submerged 
under  the  screen  of  smoke,  a  remarkably  near  escape 
which  must  have  made  a  great  impression  on  her 
crew.  After  dropping  depth  charges,  Farnborough 
closed  the  strange  steamer  which  had  been  stopped 
about  500  yards  off,  and  found  her  to  be  the 
Dutch  S.S.  Soerakarta.  With  true  seamanlike 
chivalry  the  Dutch  captain,  pitying  the  shabby-look- 


46  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

ing  tramp  steamship,  actually  offered  Commander 
Campbell  assistance.  This  neutral  was  bound  from 
the  Dutch  East  Indies  to  Rotterdam,  via  Falmouth 
and  Kirkwall,  and  on  sighting  him  the  submarine 
had  hoisted  the  usual  '  Bring  your  papers  on  board.' 
The  Dutchman  had  just  lowered  his  boat,  and  was 
about  to  row  off  to  the  German,  when  up  came  the 
unkempt  collier  Farnborough  with  a  white  band  on 
her  funnel,  and  then,  to  the  amazement  of  all 
beholders,  from  her  blazed  shell  after  shell.  It  was  a 
splendid  free  show,  and  one  shell  was  distinctly  seen 
to  hit  the  conning-tower.  Two  miles  away  from  the 
scene  was  the  armed  trawler  hia  Williams  on  patrol, 
and  as  soon  as  she  heard  the  firing  she  went  to  action 
stations  and  came  along  at  full  speed.  Ten  minutes 
later  she  felt  a  couple  of  shocks,  so  that  her  captain 
thought  she  had  struck  something.  These  were,  in 
fact,  the  concussions  of  the  two  depth  charges  which 
Farnborough  had  dropped. 

If  the  submarine  had  escaped,  at  least  he  would  be 
able  to  warn  his  superiors  at  home  that  they  could 
never  tell  the  difference  between  a  '  trap-ship '  and  a 
genuine  merchantman,  and  it  would  be  safer  not  to 
attack  steamers  unless  they  were  perfectly  sure. 
During  the  rest  of  that  year  Commander  Campbell 
continued  to  cruise  in  Farnborough,  but  the  summer 
and  autumn  passed  and  no  further  luck  offered 
itself. 

Winter  followed  and  was  almost  merging  into 
spring,  and  then  again  this  ship  made  history.  In 
another  chapter  this  thrilling  episode  will  be  told. 
In  the  meantime  much  else  had  happened. 

One  of  the  greatest  enthusiasts  of  the  Q-ship  idea 
was  Vice- Admiral  Sir  Lewis  Bayly,  who  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  Irish  coast.     No  Q-ship  officer  serving 


STORY  OF  THE  '  FARNBOROUGH  '     47 

under  this  admiral  could  ever  complain  that  anything 
was  left  undone  by  assistance  that  could  have  been 
performed  by  the  sagacity  or  advice  of  this  Com- 
mander-in-Chief. It  was  he  who  made  repeated 
visits  to  the  Q-ships  as  they  lay  in  Haulbowline 
Dockyard,  in  order  to  see  that  not  the  smallest 
important  detail  for  efficiency  was  lacking.  The 
positions  of  the  guns,  the  collapsing  of  the  screens, 
the  erection  of  the  dummy  deckhouses  concealing  the 
guns,  the  comfort  of  the  personnel — nothing  was  too 
trivial  for  his  attention  provided  it  aimed  at  the  one 
end  of  sinking  the  enemy.  As  with  ships,  so  with 
officers.  With  his  vast  knowledge  of  human  nature, 
and  his  glance  which  penetrated  into  a  man's  very 
soul,  he  could  size  up  the  right  type  of  volunteer  for 
decoy  work ;  then,  having  once  selected  him  and  sent 
him  to  sea,  he  assisted  him  all  the  time  whenever 
wireless  was  advisable,  and  on  their  return  to  port 
encouraged,  advised,  and  rested  the  captains,  while 
the  Haulbowline  Dockyard  paid  every  attention  to 
improving  the  Q-ship's  fighting  power.  No  keen, 
capable  officer  on  this  station  who  did  his  job  ever 
failed  to  get  his  reward  ;  and  the  result  of  all  this,  and 
the  certain  knowledge  that  if  in  extremis  a  Queens- 
town  naval  ship  would  at  once  be  sent  to  his  rescue, 
created  such  a  fine  spirit  that  an  officer  would  almost 
sooner  die  than  return  to  port  after  making  a  blunder 
of  an  engagement.  By  reason  of  this,  the  Queens- 
town  Q-ships  became  famous  for  their  high  standard 
and  achievements.  In  the  spring  of  1916  the  four 
experienced  decoys  Farnboi^ough,  ZylpJia,  Vala,  and 
Penshurst,  were  operating  from  that  port.  They 
cruised  off  the  south  and  south-west  Irish  coasts ; 
between  Milford  Haven  and  the  Scillies ;  off  the 
western  approach  to  the  English  Channel ;  up  the 


48  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

Irish  Sea  as  far  as  the  north  of  Ireland.  In  a  few 
weeks  four  more  decoys  were  added  to  that  station,  so 
that  there  were  eight  of  them  by  July.  They  cruised 
along  the  merchant  ship  courses  as  far  out  into  the 
Atlantic  as  17°  W.,  as  far  south  as  the  middle  of  the 
Bay  of  Biscay,  as  far  east  as  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and 
as  far  north  as  the  Hebrides — in  other  words,  just 
where  U-boats  were  likely  to  attack.  One  of  these 
eight  was  the  S.S.  Carrigan  Head,  which  was  com- 
manded by  Lieut. -Commander  Godfrey  Herbert, 
D.S.O.,  R.N.,  late  in  command  of  the  Antwerp. 
CaiTigan  Head  was  a  fine  ship  of  4,201  tons,  and, 
in  order  to  make  her  practically  unsinkable,  she  was 
sent  to  Portsmouth,  where  she  was  filled  with 
empty  casks  and  timber.  As  may  be  expected 
from  her  commander,  this  was  a  very  efficient  ship. 
Below,  the  timber  had  been  stowed  in  the  holds  with 
great  cleverness  so  that  it  would  have  been  a  con- 
siderable time  before  she  could  ever  founder.  I  well 
remember  on  one  occasion  wandering  all  over  the 
decks  of  this  ship,  but  it  was  quite  impossible  to  see 
where  her  big  4-inch  and  two  1 2-pound ers  were 
located. 

That  being  so,  it  was  not  surprising  that  a  sub- 
marine never  suspected  on  September  9,  1916,  that 
this  was  another  '  trap-ship.'  It  was  just  before  6.30 
in  the  evening  that  this  steamer  was  sixty  miles  south- 
west of  the  Lizard,  when  a  submarine  was  sighted 
about  2,000  yards  off  on  the  starboard  bow.  The 
enemy  had  hoisted  some  flag  signals,  but  they  were 
too  small  to  be  read.  It  was  presumed  that  it  was 
the  usual  order  to  stop,  so  the  steamer  hove-to  and 
the  captain  called  up  the  stokers  who  were  off  watch 
to  stand  by  the  lifeboats,  for  all  this  time  the  sub- 
marine, who  had  two  guns,  was  firing  at  the  ship. 


STORY  OF  THE  *  FARNBOROUGH  '     49 

Having  lowered  the  starboard  lifeboat  halfway  down 
to  the  water,  the  Q-ship  pretended  to  try  and  escape, 
so  went  full  speed  ahead,  turned  to  port,  and  brought 
the  enemy  right  astern.  The  German  maintained  a 
rapid  fire,  many  shots  coming  unpleasantly  across  the 
bridge,  one  entering  the  forecastle  and  wounding  two 
men,  of  whom  one  afterwards  died.  Another  shell 
entered  the  engineers'  messroom  and  slightly  injured 
Temporary  Engineer  Sub- Lieutenant  James  Purdy, 
R.N.R.  This  same  shell  also  cut  the  leads  to  the 
wireless  room  just  above. 

As  several  shells  fell  within  a  few  feet  of  the  ship, 
Commander  Herbert  decided  to  feign  surrender, 
hoisted  the  International  Code  pennant  close  up, 
turned  eight  points  to  port,  but  with  the  real  intention 
of  firing  on  the  submarine,  which  had  now  risen  to 
the  surface  with  complete  buoyancy  and  presented  a 
good  target.  But  in  turning  to  port,  Carrigan  Head 
was  thus  brought  broadside  on  to  the  swell,  so  that  the 
ship  began  to  roll  heavily  and  helm  had  to  be  altered 
to  get  her  head  on  to  the  sea.  At  6.50  p.m.  the 
enemy  was  about  1,500  yards  away,  and  while  both 
lifeboats  were  being  lowered  the  submarine  kept  up 
an  intermittent  fire.  Three  minutes  later  Commander 
Herbert  decided  to  reveal  the  character  of  his  ship 
and  attack ;  therefore,  going  full  speed  ahead,  he 
fired  seven  rounds,  one  of  which  seemed  to  hit.  The 
submarine  was  considerably  surprised  and  at  once 
dived,  so  having  arrived  near  the  spot  Carrigan  Head 
dropped  depth  charges.  The  enemy  was  not  sunk, 
but  she  did  not  reappear,  such  was  her  fright,  until 
an  hour  and  a  half  later  when  she  sank  the  Norwegian 
S.S.  Lodsen  off  the  Scillies.  The  enemy's  behaviour 
was  typical :  as  soon  as  he  was  attacked  he  broke  off 
the  engagement  and  took  to  flight  by  submerging, 


50  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

and  it  was  only  on  the  rarest  occasions  that  he  was 
willing  to  fight,  as  were  the  Q-ships,  to  a  finish. 

By  reason  of  their  service,  Q-ship  officers  became 
a  race  apart.  Their  arrival  and  departure  were  kept 
a  profound  secret,  night-time  or  early  morning  being 
usually  selected.  The  ships  were  worked  as  separate 
units,  not  as  squadrons,  and  their  cruising  ground 
was  always  being  changed.  They  went  to  sea  in 
strange  garments,  and  when  they  came  ashore  they 
usually  wore  '  plain  clothes,'  the  naval  equivalent  for 
the  soldiers'  expression  'mufti.'  At  a  time  when  all 
the  nation  was  in  arms  and  for  a  healthy  man  to 
be  seen  out  of  uniform  was  to  excite  derisive  anger, 
some  of  the  Q-ship  officers  had  amusing  and  awk- 
ward experiences.  Arrived  in  port  at  the  end  of 
a  trying  cruise,  and  rather  looking  forward  to  a 
pleasant  respite  for  a  few  days,  they  would  run 
against  some  old  friend  in  a  public  place,  and  be 
greeted  by  some  such  remark  as,  '  Why  aren't  you  in 
uniform  V  or  '  What  ship  are  you  serving  in  ?  I 
didn't  know  yo7i  were  on  this  station ;  come  and  have 
a  drink.'  It  was  difficult  to  preserve  secrecy  when 
such  questions  were  asked  direct  by  old  shipmates. 
Who  knew  but  that  the  man  two  paces  away  was 
a  spy,  who  would  endanger  the  lives  of  the  Q-ship 
and  crew  the  next  time  they  put  to  sea  ?  Surely,  if 
there  be  occasions  when  it  is  legitimate  to  tell  a  lie, 
this  was  a  justifiable  one.  Thus  the  life  in  this 
special  service  was  one  that  called  for  all  the  ability 
which  is  usually  latent  in  any  one  man.  I  do  not 
ever  remember  a  Q-ship  officer  who  was  not  some- 
thing more  than  able.  Some  were  killed,  some  were 
taken  prisoners  by  submarines,  some  broke  down  in 
health  ;  but  in  no  case  did  you  ever  find  one  who 


STORY  OF  THE  'FARNBOROUGH  '     51 

failed  to  realize  the  intense  seriousness  of  his  job 
or  neglected  any  means  of  keeping  himself  in  perfect 
physical  health  and  the  highest  possible  condition  of 
mental  alertness.  Not  once  could  he  be  caught  off 
his  guard  ;  the  habit  was  ingrained  in  him. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  'MYSTERY'  SAILING  SHIPS 

Most  people  would  have  thought  that  the  sail-driven 
decoys  would  have  had  a  very  short  life,  and  that 
they  would  speedily  have  succumbed.  On  the  con- 
trary, though  their  work  was  more  trying  and 
demanded  a  different  kind  of  seamanship,  these 
'  mystery '  ships  went  on  bravely  tackling  the  enemy. 
The  Lowestoft  armed  smacks,  for  instance,  during 
1916  had  some  pretty  stiff  tussles,  and  we  know 
now  that  they  thoroughly  infuriated  the  Germans, 
who  threatened  to  have  their  revenge.  I^ooked  at 
from  the  enemy's  aspect,  it  certainly  was  annoying 
to  see  a  number  of  sailing  smacks  spread  off  the 
coast,  each  obviously  trawling,  but  not  to  know 
which  of  them  would  in  a  moment  cut  her  gear  and 
sink  the  submarine  with  her  gun.  It  was  just  that 
element  of  suspense  which  made  a  cautious  German 
officer  very  chary  of  going  near  these  craft,  whereas 
he  might  have  sunk  the  whole  fishing  fleet  if  he 
dared.  It  was  not  merely  annoying  ;  it  was  humili- 
ating that  a  small  sailing  craft  should  have  the 
impertinence  to  contend  with  the  super-modern  ship 
of  a  German  naval  officer.  That,  of  course,  was  not 
the  way  to  look  at  the  matter ;  for  it  was  a  contest, 
as  we  have  seen,  in  which  brains  and  bravery  were 
factors  more  decisive  than  anything  else.  The  average 
British  fisherman  is  ignorant  of  many  things  which 
are  learnt  only  in  nautical  academies,  but  the  last 

52 


THE  '  MYSTERY  '  SAILING  SHIPS      53 

you  could  accuse  him  of  being  is  a  fool  or  a  funk. 
His  navigation  in  these  sailing  smacks  is  quaint  and 
primitive,  but  he  relies  in  thick  weather  chiefly  on  the 
nature  of  the  sea-bed.  He  can  almost  smell  his  way, 
and  a  cast  of  the  lead  confirms  his  surmise  ;  he  finds 
he  is  just  where  he  expected  to  be.  So  with  his 
character.  Hardened  by  years  of  fishing  in  all 
weathers,  and  angered  to  extreme  indignation  during 
the  war  by  the  loss  of  good  ships  and  lives  of  his 
relatives  and  friends,  this  type  of  man,  so  long  as  his 
decoy  smack  had  any  sort  of  gun,  was  the  keenest 
of  the  keen. 

One  of  these  smacks  was  the  l^elesia,  armed  only 
with  a  3-pounder,  and  commanded  by  Skipper  W.  S. 
^Yharton,  who  did  extraordinarily  well  in  this 
dangerous  service.  On  March  23,  1916,  he  was 
trawling  roughly  thirty-five  miles  S.E.  of  Lowestoft, 
when  about  midday  he  sighted  a  submarine  three 
miles  off,  steering  to  the  north-east.  At  1.30  p.m. 
the  German,  who  was  evidently  one  of  the  cautious 
type,  and  having  a  careful  scrutiny  before  attacking, 
approached  within  50  yards  of  the  Telesias  starboard 
bow,  and  submerged  with  her  periscope  just  show- 
ing. She  came  back  an  hour  later  to  have  another 
look,  and  again  disappeared  until  4.30  p.m.,  when  she 
approached  from  the  north-east.  Having  got  about 
300  yards  away  she  attacked,  but  she  had  not  the 
courage  to  fight  on  the  surface  a  little  sailing  craft 
built  of  wood.  Instead,  she  remained  submerged 
and  fired  a  torpedo.  Had  that  hit,  Telesla  and  her 
men  would  have  been  blown  to  pieces  ;  but  it  just 
missed  the  smack's  bows  by  four  feet.  Skipper 
Wharton  at  once  brought  his  gun  into  action,  and 
fired  fifteen  rounds  at  the  periscope,  which  was  the 
only  part  of  her  that  could  be  seen,  and  an  almost 


54  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

impossible  target.  The  enemy  disappeared,  but 
arrived  back  in  half  an  hour,  and  this  time  the 
periscope  showed  on  the  starboard  quarter,  coming 
straight  for  the  smack,  and  rising  out  of  the  water 
at  the  same  time.  Again  she  fired  a  torpedo,  and 
it  seemed  certain  to  hit,  but  happily  it  passed 
40  feet  astern.  At  a  range  of  only  75  yards  the 
smack  now  fired  a  couple  of  shots  as  the  enemy 
showed  her  deck.  The  first  shot  seemed  to  hit  the 
conning-tower,  and  then  the  fore  part  of  the  hull  was 
observed  coming  out  of  the  water.  The  second  shot 
struck  between  the  conning-tower  and  the  hatch, 
whereupon  the  enemy  went  down  by  the  bows, 
showing  her  propeller.  She  was  a  big  craft,  judging 
by  the  size  of  her  conning-tower,  and  certainly  larger 
than  those  which  had  recently  been  sinking  Lowes- 
toft smacks.  Skipper  Wharton,  whilst  fishing,  had 
himself  been  chased,  so  he  was  fairly  familiar  with 
their  appearance.  Whether  the  enemy  was  actually 
sunk  is  a  matter  of  doubt.  Perhaps  she  was  not 
destroyed,  although  UB  13  was  lost  this  month  ;  how 
and  where  are  unknown.  One  thing  is  certain,  how- 
ever, that  the  little  Telesia  caused  her  to  break  oflP 
the  engagement  and  disappear.  The  smack  could  do 
no  more,  for  the  wind  had  now  died  right  away,  and 
this  fact  demonstrated  the  importance  of  these  decoy 
smacks  being  fitted  with  motors,  so  that  the  craft 
would  be  able  to  manoeuvre  in  the  absence  of  wind ; 
and  this  improved  equipment  was  now  in  certain 
cases  adopted.  Skipper  Wharton  well  deserved  his 
D.S.C.  for  this  incident,  and  two  of  the  ship's  com- 
pany also  received  the  D.S.M.  The  whole  crew 
numbered  eight,  consisting  of  Skipper  Wharton,  a 
naval  chief  petty  officer,  a  leading  seaman,  a  marine, 
an  A.B.,  and  three  fishermen. 


THE  'MYSTERY'  SAILING  SHIPS      55 

On  the  following  April  23  Telesia — this  time  under 
the  name  of  Hobby  hawk  and  under  the  command  of 
Lieutenant  H.  W.  Harvey,  R.N.V.R. — together  with 
a  similar  smack  named  the  Cheero,  commanded  by 
Lieutenant  W.  F.  Scott,  R.N.R.,  put  to  sea  from 
Lowestoft.  They  had  recently  been  fitted  with 
specially  designed  nets,  to  which  were  attached 
mines.  It  had  been  found  that  with  600  yards  of 
these  nets  towing  astern  the  smack  could  still  sail 
ahead  at  a  speed  of  3  knots.  A  bridle  made  out 
of  a  trawler's  warp  was  stopped  down  the  towing 
wire  and  from  forward  of  the  smack,  so  that  she 
would  look  exactly  like  a  genuine  smack  when  fishing 
with  the  ordinary  trawl.  All  that  was  required  was 
that  the  submarine  should  foul  these  nets  astern, 
when,  if  everything  worked  as  it  should,  destruction 
to  the  enemy  would  follow. 

At  5.45  that  afternoon,  when  10  miles  N.E.  of  the 
Smith's  Knoll  Pillar  Buoy,  the  nets  were  shot  and 
the  batteries  connected  up  to  the  net-mines.     The 
wind  was  light,  so  Cheero,  towing  away  to  the  south- 
east,  was  going  ahead  very  slowly.     Each  of  these 
two  smacks  was  fitted  with  a  hydrophone  by  means 
of  which  the   beat   of  a  vessel's   engines   could   be 
heard,  the  noise  of  a  submarine's  being  very  different 
from   that   of   reciprocating   engines   in    a   steamer. 
About  7  p.m.  Cheero  distinctly  heard  on  her  instru- 
ment the  steady,  quick,  buzzing,  unmistakable  noise 
of  a  submarine,   and  the  noise  gradually  increased. 
About  three-quarters  of  an  hour  later  the  wire  lead- 
ing to  the  nets  suddenly  became  tight  and  stretched 
along  the  smack's  rail.     The  strain  eased  up  a  little, 
became  tight  again,  then  an  explosion  followed  in 
the  nets,  and  the  sounds  of  the  submarine's  engines 
were  never  heard  again.     The  sea  was  blown  by  the 


56  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

explosion  20  feet  high,  and  as  the  water  was  settHng 
down  another  upheaval  took  place,  followed  by  oil. 
The  crew  remained  at  their  stations  for  a  few  minutes 
awaiting  further  developments,  and  then  were  ordered 
to  haul  the  nets,  but  a  great  strain  was  now  felt,  so 
that  instead  of  two  men  it  required  six.  As  the 
second  net  was  coming  in,  the  whole  fleet  of  nets 
took  a  sharp  angle  down,  and  a  small  piece  of  steel 
was  brought  on  board.  Other  pieces  of  steel  came 
adrift  and  fell  into  the  sea.  As  the  third  net  was 
being  hauled  in,  the  whole  of  the  nets  suddenly 
became  free  and  were  got  in  quite  easily,  whilst  the 
crew  remarked  on  the  strong  smell  of  oil.  It  was 
found  that  one  mine  had  exploded,  and  when  the 
nets  were  eventually  further  examined  ashore  in 
Lowestoft  there  could  be  no  doubt  but  that  a  sub- 
marine had  been  blown  up,  and  more  pieces  of  steel, 
some  of  considerable  size,  dropped  out.  Thus  UC  3, 
with  all  hands,  was  destroyed.  She  was  one  of  the 
small  mine-layers  which  used  to  come  across  from 
Zeebrugge  fouling  the  shipping  tracks  along  the  East 
Anglian  coast  with  her  deadly  cargoes,  and  causing 
the  destruction  of  merchant  shipping,  Allied  and 
neutral  alike.  On  May  1 8  of  the  same  year  Hobbyhawk 
(Telesia)  and  a  similar  smack,  the  Revenge  (alias 
Fame),  had  a  stiff  encounter  with  a  submarine  in 
about  the  same  place,  but  there  is  reason  to  suppose 
that  in  this  case  the  enemy  was  not  sunk. 

This  idea  of  commissioning  sailing  smacks  as  Q-ships 
now  began  to  be  adopted  in  other  areas.  Obviously 
only  that  kind  of  fishing  craft  could  be  employed 
which  ordinarily  were  wont  to  fish  those  particular 
waters  ;  otherwise  the  submarine  would  at  once  have 
become  suspicious.  Thus,  at  the  end  of  May,  a 
couple  of  Brixham  smacks,  which  usually  fished  out 


THE  'MYSTERY'  SAILING  SHIPS      57 

of  Milford,  were  fitted  out  at  Falmouth,  armed  each 
with  a  12-pounder,  and  then  sent  round  to  operate  in 
the  Milford  district.  These  were  the  Kermes  and 
Sb'umhles  respectively.  They  were  manned  by  a 
specially  selected  crew,  and  the  two  commanding 
officers  were  Lieutenant  E.  L.  Hughes,  R.N.R.,  and 
Sub-Lieutenant  J.  Hayes,  R.N.R.  But  although 
they  were  given  a  good  trial,  these  craft  were  not 
suitable  as  soon  as  the  autumn  bad  weather  came  on. 
Their  freeboard  was  too  low,  they  heeled  over  too 
much  in  the  strong  prevailing  winds,  so  that  it  was 
difficult  to  get  the  gun  to  bear  either  to  windward  or 
leeward  ;  and,  except  when  on  the  top  of  a  sea,  their 
range  of  vision  was  limited,  so  before  November  was 
out  these  ships  ceased  to  be  men-of-war  and  were 
returned  to  their  owners. 

Along  the  Yorkshire  coast  is  found  a  type  of  open 
boat  which  is  never  seen  farther  north  than  North- 
umberland and  never  farther  south  than  Lincolnshire. 
This  is  the  cobble,  a  peculiar  and  rather  tricky  kind 
of  craft  used  by  the  fishermen  of  Whitby,  Scarborough, 
Bridlington,  Filey,  and  elsewhere.  They  carry  one 
lug-sail  and  can  be  rowed,  a  single  thole-pin  taking 
the  place  of  a  rowlock.  The  smaller  type  of  cobble 
measures  28  feet  long  by  2j  feet  deep,  but  the  larger 
type,  capable  of  carrying  nine  tons,  is  just  under 
34  feet  long  by  4f  feet  deep.  Here,  then,  was  a  boat 
which,  with  her  shallow  draught,  could  with  safety 
sail  about  in  the  numerous  minefields  oft  the  York- 
shire coast.  No  submarine  would  ever  suspect  these 
as  being  anything  but  fishermen  trying  to  snatch  a 
living.  In  the  early  summer  of  1916  two  of  these 
boats,  the  Thalia  and  Blessing,  were  commissioned. 
They  were  sailing  cobbles  fitted  with  auxiliary  motors, 
and  were  sent  to  work  south-east  of  the  Humber  in 


58  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

the  Silver  Pit  area.  Here  they  pretended  to  fish, 
towing  300  yards  of  mine-nets,  30  feet  deep,  in  the 
hope  that,  as  had  happened  oiF  Lowestoft,  the  sub- 
marine would  come  along  and  be  blown  up.  However, 
they  had  no  luck,  and  after  a  few  months'  service 
these  boats  also  were  returned  to  their  owners.  But 
in  spite  of  this,  Q-sailing-ships  were  still  being  taken 
up,  the  difficulty  being  to  select  the  right  type.  Even 
in  the  Mediterranean  the  idea  was  employed.  Enemy 
submarines  had  been  destroying  a  number  of  sailing 
vessels,  so  the  Admiralty  purchased  one  local  craft, 
gave  her  a  small  auxiliary  motor,  and  towed  her  to 
Mudros,  where  she  could  be  armed  and  equipped  in 
secrecy.  One  day  she  set  forth  from  Malta  in  com- 
pany with  a  British  submarine,  and  two  days  later 
was  off  the  coast  of  Sicily.  Here  the  sailing  craft 
attracted  a  large  enemy  submarine,  the  British  sub- 
marine of  course  watching,  but  submerged.  Un- 
fortunately, just  when  the  enemy  might  have  been 
torpedoed,  the  heavy  swell  caused  the  British  sub- 
marine to  break  surface.  The  enemy  was  quick  to 
observe  this,  dived  for  his  life,  and  disappeared.  The 
rest  of  the  story  is  rather  ludicrous.  The  British 
submarine  remained  submerged  in  the  hope  that  the 
enemy  would  presently  come  to  the  surface,  while 
the  sailing  craft  lost  touch  with  her  consort  and 
turned  towards  Malta,  using  her  motor.  The  next 
incident  was  that  she  sighted  6  miles  astern  an 
unmistakable  submarine,  which  was  at  once  taken 
for  the  enemy.  Being  without  his  own  submarine, 
the  somewhat  inexperienced  R.N.  V.R.  officer  in  com- 
mand made  an  error  of  judgment,  and,  abandoning 
the  ship,  destroyed  her,  being  subsequently  picked 
up  by  a  Japanese  destroyer.  It  was  afterwards 
discovered   that   this  was   our  own   submarine  who 


THE  'MYSTERY'  SAILING  SHIPS      59 

had  been  working  with  the  saiHng  craft,  and  was  now 
on  her  way  back  to  INI alta  ! 

The  other  day,  laid  up  hidden  away  at  the  top  of 
a  sheltered  creek  in  Cornwall,  I  came  upon  an  in- 
teresting brigantine.  Somehow  I  felt  we  had  met 
before,  but  she  was  looking  a  little  forlorn ;  there 
was  no  life  in  the  ship,  yet  she  seemed  in  that  curious 
way,  which  ships  ha^  e  in  common  with  human  beings, 
to  possess  a  powerful  personality.  Freights  were  bad, 
the  miners  were  on  strike,  and  here  was  this  good 
little  vessel  lying  idle,  and  not  so  much  as  noticed 
by  those  who  passed.  Then  1  found  out  who  she 
w^as.  Here  was  an  historic  ship,  the  famous  Helgo- 
land, which  served  right  through  to  the  end  of  the 
war  from  the  summer  of  1916.  Now  she  was  back 
in  the  Merchant  Service,  and  no  one  seemed  to  care ; 
yet  hundreds  of  years  hence  people  will  write  and 
talk  of  her,  as  they  still  do  of  Grenville's  Revenge  or 
the  old  clipper-ships  Cutty  Sark  and  Thermopylae. 

Helgoland  had  been  built  in  1895  of  steel  and  iron 
at  Martenshoek  in  Holland,  where  they  specialize  in 
this  kind  of  construction,  but  she  was  now  British 
owned  and  registered  at  Plymouth.  She  measured 
122  feet  9  inches  long,  23  feet  3  inches  beam,  drew 
8  feet  aft,  and  her  tonnage  was  310  burthen  and  182 
net.  In  July,  1916,  this  ship  was  lying  in  Liverpool 
undergoing  an  extensive  overhaul,  and  here  she  was 
taken  over  from  her  owners  and  sent  to  Falmouth, 
where  she  was  fitted  out  forthwith  as  a  Q-ship. 
Armed  with  four  12-pounders  and  one  Maxim,  she 
was  known  officially  in  future  under  the  various 
names  of  Helgoland,  Horley,  Brig  10,  and  Q  17. 
Her  crew  were  carefully  chosen  from  the  personnel 
serving  in  Auxiliary  Patrol  vessels  at  Falmouth,  with 
the  exception  of  the  guns'  crews ;  the  ship's  comple- 


60  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

ment  consisting  of  two  R.N.R.  officers,  one  skipper, 
one  second  hand,  two  petty  officers,  six  Royal  Navy 
gunnery  ratings,  eight  deckhands  of  the  Trawler 
Reserve,  one  carpenter,  one  steward,  and  one  cook, 
the  last  three  being  mercantile  ratings.  Of  her  two 
officers  one  was  Temporary  Sub-Lieutenant  W.  E.  L. 
Sanders,  R.N.R. ,  who,  by  reason  of  his  sailing-ship 
experience,  was  appointed  as  mate.  This  was  that 
gallant  New  Zealander  who  had  come  across  the 
ocean  to  help  the  Motherland,  performed  amazing 
service  in  Q-ships,  fought  like  a  gentleman,  won  the 
Victoria  Cross,  and  eventually,  with  his  ship  and  all 
his  crew,  went  to  the  bottom  like  the  true  hero  that 
he  was.  The  story  must  be  told  in  a  subsequent 
chapter. 

When  we  consider  the  actions  fought  by  these 
topsail  schooners  and  brigantines  in  the  Great  War 
we  appear  almost  to  be  dreaming,  to  be  sent  right 
back  to  the  sixteenth  century,  and  modernity  seems 
to  have  been  swept  clean  away.  While  the  Grand 
Fleet  was  unable,  these  sailing  ships  were  carrying 
on  the  warfare  for  which  they  had  never  been  built. 
In  the  whole  of  the  Royal  Navy  there  were  hardly 
any  suitable  officers  nowadays  who  possessed  practical 
experience  in  handling  schooners.  This  was  where 
the  officer  from  the  Mercantile  Marine,  the  amateur 
yachtsman,  the  coasting  skipper,  and  the  fisherman 
became  so  invaluable.  In  these  days  of  decaying 
seamanship,  when  steam  and  motors  are  dominant,  it 
is  well  to  set  these  facts  down  lest  we  forget.  The 
last  of  the  naval  training  brigs  has  long  since  gone, 
and  few  officers  or  men,  even  in  the  Merchant  Service, 
serve  an  apprenticeship  under  sail. 

Helgoland  left  Falmouth  after  dark,  September  6, 
1916,  on  her  first  cruise  as  a  man-of-war,  and  she  had 


THE  '  MYSTERY  '  SAILING  SHIPS      61 

but  a  few  hours  to  wait  before  her  first  engagement 
took  place.  Commanded  by  Lieutenant  A.  D.  Blair, 
R.N.R.,  she  was  on  her  way  to  Milford,  and  at 
1.30  p.m.  on  the  following  day  was  only  10  miles 
south  of  the  Lizard  when  she  sighted  a  submarine 
on  the  surface  3  points  on  the  starboard  quarter. 
There  was  an  alarm  bell  fitted  up  in  Helgoland  which 
was  rung  only  for  action  stations,  and,  as  it  now 
sounded,  each  man  crept  stealthily  to  his  appointed 
place.  Under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  W.  E,  L. 
Sanders,  R.N.R.,  and  following  his  example  of  perfect 
calmness,  the  guns'  crews  carried  out  their  work 
without  flurry  or  excitement. 

Within  five  minutes  the  enemy,  from  a  distance  of 
2,000  yards,  had  begun  shelling  the  brigantine.  The 
first  shot  fell  10  yards  short,  but  the  second  and  third 
struck  the  foretopsail  yard — how  strange  it  seems  to 
use  the  time-honoured  phrases  of  naval  warfare  for  a 
twentieth-century  fight — one  shell  going  right  through 
the  yard.  It  happened  that  on  this  fine  summer's 
day  there  was  no  wind  ;  so  here  was  the  unlucky 
Helgoland  becalmed  and  unable  to  manoeuvre  so  as 
to  bring  her  guns  to  bear  as  required.  It  seemed  as 
if  the  enemy  intended  to  lie  off  and  shell  this  perfect 
target  with  impunity,  directing  the  fire  from  ahead 
and  astern,  which  was  just  the  way  the  brigantine's 
guns  would  not  bear.  However,  after  the  second 
shot  from  the  submarine,  the  Helgoland's  guns  would 
just  bear,  so  Lieutenant  Blair  dropped  his  screens  and 
opened  fire  whilst  still  there  was  a  chance.  The 
fourth  round  from  the  after  gun  seemed  to  hit  the 
enemy,  and  she  immediately  lurched  and  dived. 
Lieutenant  Blair  then  sent  two  of  his  hands  aloft  to 
look  for  periscopes,  and  in  a  few  minutes  one  was 
sighted  on  the  starboard  quarter  200  yards  away  and 


62  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

closing.  Two  rounds  from  each  of  the  starboard 
guns  were  therefore  fired,  one  striking  the  water  very 
close  to  the  periscope,  which  again  disappeared. 

Nothing  further  happened  until  half  an  hour  later, 
when  a  larger  submarine  with  sail  set,  about  the  size 
of  a  drifter's  mizzen,  was  sighted  right  aft.  As  soon 
as  this  U-boat  bore  3  points  on  the  port  quarter, 
she  also  was  attacked,  and  dived  under  cover  of  her 
smoke  screen.  The  afternoon  passed,  and  at  dusk 
(7  p.m.),  when  there  was  still  no  wind,  the  sound  of  a 
submarine's  motors  was  heard  as  if  circling  around 
the  brigantine.  An  hour  later  Helgoland  bent  her 
new  foretopsail,  and  just  before  9.30  a  submarine 
was  seen  right  ahead,  so  in  the  calm  the  Q-ship  could 
not  get  her  guns  to  bear.  Half  an  hour  later,  as 
there  was  still  no  wind,  Helgoland  spoke  an  armed 
trawler,  who  towed  her  back  to  Falmouth.  Just  as 
the  two  ships  were  communicating,  the  enemy  fired  a 
couple  of  torpedoes  which,  thanks  to  Helgoland's 
shallow  draught,  passed  under  her  amidships.  So 
ended  the  brigantine's  first  cruise.  It  was  unfortu- 
nate that  at  long  range  she  had  been  compelled  to 
open  fire  and  disclose  her  identity,  but  that  was  owing 
to  the  calm,  and  subsequently  she  was  fitted  with  an 
auxiliary  motor. 

Her  next  fight  was  in  much  the  same  position, 
about  20  miles  S.W.  of  the  Lizard.  At  6.20  a.m. 
on  October  24,  1916,  Helgoland,  now  commanded  by 
Lieutenant  G.  G.  Westmore,  R.N.R.,  was  on  an 
E.S.E.  course,  the  wind  being  S.W.,  force  4,  and  there 
was  a  moderate  sea.  About  a  mile  off  on  the  star- 
board bow  was  a  large  tramp  steamer  steering  a 
westerly  course,  and  presently  was  seen  a  submarine 
following  astern  of  the  tramp.  Lieutenant  Westmore 
at  once  sent  his  crew  to  quarters,  keeping  all  of  them 


Position  I.  ah  6-30am. 


m 


Q.I7.  Course  E.(tTue) 


''^^^ 


S/M 


'BAGOALE' 


Position  2.  at  6-42 a.m. 
inact  of  hauling  to  wind  and 
opening  fire  on  s/m. 


'BA  CDAU  'abandoned 


-*/ 


Q.  17  fired  S  rounds 


^ 


S/M  shelling  steamer 


2'V'S/m 


about^WOOvds. 


Position  3.  at  6-50  a.m 
Q.I7.  tacked  ship  and 
opened  pre  with  portions. 

fired —X^^'^ 
1-^  rounds' 


ndsSy 


'BAGDALE' 


Fig.  6. — Diagram  to  Illustrate  Approximate  Movements  of 
'  Helgoland  '  and  Submarine  on  October  24,  1916. 


64  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

out  of  sight,  with  the  exception  of  the  ratings  who 
represented  the  watch  that  ordinarily  would  be  seen 
on  the  deck  of  such  a  coaster.  In  order  to  pass  close 
to  the  German,  the  brigantine  hauled  to  the  wind, 
and  at  6.42  the  submarine  opened  fire  on  the 
steamer.  As  the  enemy  was  now  abeam,  and  only 
1,000  yards  to  windward  of  the  Helgoland,  Lieutenant 
Westmore  determined  that  this  was  the  opportune 
moment.  To  wait  longer  would  only  have  meant  an 
increase  in  the  range ;  so  down  went  the  screens  and 
fire  was  opened  with  the  starboard  guns.  The  second 
and  third  shots  seemed  to  strike  the  enemy  amidships, 
and  she  then  dived,  after  firing  only  one  round,  which 
passed  well  astern.  Everything  had  worked  well 
except  that  the  screen  had  jammed  at  the  critical 
moment,  but  Lieutenant  Sanders,  who  was  seeing 
that  guns  and  crew  were  ready,  soon  cleared  it. 
While  he  was  looking  after  his  men,  and  Lieutenant 
Westmore  was  generally  looking  after  the  ship. 
Skipper  William  Smith,  R.N.R.,  was  at  the  wheel 
steering  with  marked  coolness,  and  Skipper  R.  W. 
Hannaford,  R.N.R.,  w^as  in  charge  of  the  sails,  hand- 
ling them  and  trimming  the  yards  as  required. 

The  first  submarine  was  painted  a  dark  colour,  with 
a  brown  sail  set  aft,  so  that  at  first  she  resembled  one 
of  our  drifters.  And  now  a  second  U-boat,  painted  a 
light  colour  with  no  sail,  was  seen  two  miles  away 
heading  for  the  tramp  steamer.  The  latter  happened 
to  be  the  Admiralty  transport  Bagdale,  whose  crew 
had  by  now  abandoned  her,  the  ship's  boats  being 
close  to  the  submarine.  Helgoland  w^ent  about  on 
the  other  tack  and  stood  towards  the  enemy,  so  as  to 
save  the  Bagdale,  and  at  4,000  yards  fired  at  the  sub- 
marine. The  latter  was  not  hit,  dived,  came  to  the 
surface  and  made  off  to  the  south-west,  not  being  seen 


THE  *  MYSTERY'  SAILING  SHIPS      G5 

after  this.  The  brigantine  stood  by  the  abandoned 
Bagdale,  tacking  ship  at  frequent  intervals,  so  as  to 
prevent  the  submarine  resuming  her  onslaught.  Soon 
after  nine  two  trawlers  were  observed,  and  summoned 
by  gunfire  and  rockets.  They  were  sent  to  pick  up 
the  crew  and  to  tow  the  transport  into  Falmouth. 
Thus,  if  no  submarine  had  been  sunk,  this  sailing 
ship  had  saved  the  steamer  by  frightening  away  the 
enemy,  and  there  were  more  engagements  still  to 
follow. 

By  this — October,  1916 — the  Q-ship  service  had 
increased  to  such  an  extent  that  there  were  actually 
forty-seven  decoy  craft  operating.  These  com- 
prised almost  every  kind  of  vessel,  from  motor 
drifters  to  medium-sized  steamers.  Their  success  or 
failure  depended  partly  on  captain  and  crew,  but 
partly  on  luck.  Some  Q-ships,  as  we  have  seen, 
never  sighted  a  U-boat;  others  were  in  action  as 
soon  as  they  got  out  of  port.  The  advantage  of 
these  Q-sailing-ships  was  that  they  could  keep  the 
sea  independent  of  the  shore  for  periods  much  longer 
than  the  trawlers  or  tramps.  Owing  to  their  roomy 
decks,  these  coasters  were  well  suited  for  the  erection 
of  dummy  deckhouses  to  conceal  the  armament,  and 
another  advantage  was  that,  not  utilizing  engines  or  a 
propeller — except  when  used  occasionally — there  was 
no  noise  to  prevent  constant  listening  on  the  hydro- 
phones. There  was  always  the  chance  that  during 
the  dark  hours,  when  the  enemy  on  his  hydrophones 
could  not  hear  the  sailing  ship  approaching,  the 
schooner  or  brigantine  might  suddenly  surprise  and 
sink  a  submarine  lying  on  the  surface  charging  its 
batteries.  The  result  was  that  in  the  first  week 
of  November  another  sailing  craft  was  requisitioned. 
This  was  the  three-masted  barquentine  Gaelic,  which 

5 


66  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

was  then  lying  at  Swansea  loaded  with  300  tons  of 
coal.  Gaelic,  who  was  known  officially  afterwards 
also  under  the  names  of  Gobo,  Brig  11,  and  Q  22, 
was  126  feet  8  inches  long  and  24  feet  in  the  beam. 
She  had  been  built  of  iron  in  1898,  was  registered  at 
Beaumaris,  and  remained  in  service  throughout  the 
rest  of  the  war.  In  August,  1918,  she  was  operating 
in  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  and  then  returned  to  Gibraltar. 
At  the  end  of  November  she  left  '  the  Rock,'  reached 
Falmouth  by  the  middle  of  December,  and  then  was 
towed  to  Milford  to  be  paid  off,  reconditioned,  and 
returned  to  commercial  work.  But  before  then,  as 
we  shall  presently  see,  she  was  to  carry  out  some 
first-class  work. . 

There  is  no  person  more  conservative  than  the 
seafaring  man  ;  the  whole  history  of  the  sailing  ship 
shows  this  clearly  enough,  and  it  is  curious  how  one 
generation  is  much  the  same  as  another.  It  was 
Lord  Melville  who,  in  the  early  years  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  stated  that  it. was  the  duty  of  the 
Admiralty  to  discourage,  to  the  utmost  of  their 
ability,  the  employment  of  steam  vessels,  as  they 
considered  the  introduction  of  steam  was  calculated 
to  strike  a  fatal  blow  to  the  naval  supremacy  of 
Great  Britain.  A  hundred  years  later,  although  the 
Q-sailing-ship  had  justified  herself,  yet  there  was 
a  sort  of  conservative  prejudice  against  her  develop- 
ment. '  The  small  sailing  vessel,'  complained  a 
distinguished  admiral,  '  will  develop  into  a  sailing 
line-of-battle  ship  with  an  electric-light  party  reefing 
topsails  and  a  seaplane  hidden  in  the  foretopmen's 
washdeck  locker,  and  everybod)'^  seasick.' 

Yes :  there  was  much  in  common  between  this 
flag-officer  and  the  noble  lord,  in  spite  of  the  inter- 
vening century. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  'MARY  B.  MITCHELL' 

It  was  the  activities  and  successes  of  the  submarines 
in  the  western  end  of  the  EngUsh  Channel  that  had 
made  these  small  Q-sailing-ships  so  desirable.  The 
first  of  these  to  be  used  in  that  area  was  the  Mary  B. 
Mitchell.  She  was  a  three-masted  topsail  steel 
schooner  owned  by  Lord  Penrhyn.  Built  at  Carrick- 
fergus  in  1892  and  registered  at  Beaumaris,  she  was 
129  feet  in  length,  and  of  210  tons  gross.  In  the 
middle  of  April,  1916,  she  happened  to  be  lying  in 
Falmouth  with  a  cargo  of  china  clay,  and  it  was 
decided  to  requisition  her.  The  difficulty  always  was 
to  preserve  secrecy  during  her  fitting  out,  but  in  this 
case,  luckily,  she  had  recently  suffered  some  damage, 
and  this  afforded  an  excellent  excuse  for  paying  off 
the  mercantile  crew.  A  new  crew  was  selected  for 
her  and  was  trained  specially  for  the  work  while  she 
was  being  got  ready  for  her  special  service.  She  was 
commissioned  on  JNIay  5,  and  left  Falmouth  for  her 
first  cruise  on  June  2G,  and  then  operated  for  a  month 
on  end  in  the  western  approaches  between  Ushant,  the 
Irish  coast,  and  Milford. 

Her  captain  was  Lieutenant  M.  Armstrong,  R.N.R., 
and  she  was  known  officially  as  the  Mitchell  and  Q  9. 
During  her  cruising  she  sailed  also  under  three 
different  neutral  flags,  as  convenient.  Armed  with 
three  guns,  her  12-pounder  was  hidden  in  a  dummy 

67 


G8  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

collapsible  house  on  the  poop,  and  under  each  of  the 
two  hatches  was  a  G-pounder  mounted  on  a  swhiging 
pedestal.  There  were  also  a  couple  of  Lewis  guns, 
some  small  arms  and  Mills  hand-grenades.  In  spite 
of  the  thoroughness  with  which  the  guns  were  con- 
cealed, the  collapsible  arrangements  had  been  made  so 
ingeniously  that  all  guns  could  be  brought  into  action 
under  three  seconds.  Before  leaving  Falmouth  she 
was  painted  black  with  a  yellow  streak  and  bore  the 

name 

MARY  Y.  JOSE 

VIGO 

on  her  hull,  so  as  to  look  like  a  neutral.  But  until 
she  had  got  clear  of  Falmouth  this  inscription  was 
covered  over  with  a  plate  bearing  her  real  name.  In 
order  to  be  able  to  pick  up  signals  at  sea  she  was 
fitted  with  a  small  wireless  receiving  set,  the  wire 
being  easily  disguised  in  the  rigging.  Rolling  about 
in  the  swell  of  the  Atlantic  or  the  chops  of  the 
English  Channel  for  four  weeks  at  a  time  is  apt  to 
get  on  the  nerves  of  a  crew  unable  to  have  a  stretch 
ashore :  so  in  order  to  keep  everyone  on  board  fit  and 
cheery,  boxing-gloves  and  gymnastic  apparatus  were 
provided. 

No  one  could  deny  that  she  was  an  efficient  ship. 
During  her  first  cruise  she  used  to  carry  out  gun-trials 
at  night ;  hatches  sliding  smoothly  off,  guns  swinging 
splendidly  into  position,  and  a  broadside  fired  as  soon 
as  the  bell  for  action  sounded.  Until  that  bell  was 
pressed,  none  of  the  crew  was  allowed  to  be  visible 
on  deck  other  than  the  normal  watch.  One  of  the 
difficulties  in  these  ships  was  that  the  decks  might  be 
damaged  with  the  shock  of  firing,  but  in  the  Mitchell 
they  had  been  so  strengthened  that  not  a  seam  was 


THE     MARY  B.  MITCHELL'  69 

sprung  nor  so  much  as  a  glass  cracked.  You  may 
guess  how  perfect  was  her  disguise  from  the  following 
incident.  Pretending  she  was  a  Spaniard,  she  was 
one  day  boarded  at  sea  and  examined  by  some  of  the 
Falmouth  patrol  trawlers.  These  were  completely 
deceived,  for  even  though  their  crews  had  watched 
her  fitting  out,  yet  she  had  painted  herself  a  different 
colour  the  night  before  leaving  that  port.  Even  in 
the  Bay  of  Biscay  several  British  transports  on  sight- 
ing the  '  Spaniard '  altered  course  and  steamed  away, 
evidently  suspecting  she  was  co-operating  with  a 
submarine. 

She  was  back  from  her  first  cruise  on  July  2.5  just 
before  midnight  and  left  again  at  midnight  on 
August  3-4.  This  time  she  impersonated  the  French 
three-masted  schooner  Jeaiinette,  a  vessel  of  226  tons, 
registered  at  La  Houle,  for  Mitchell  now  made  a 
cruise  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Channel  Islands 
and  the  western  channel.  During  the  next  few 
months  she  continued  to  sail  about  the  last-mentioned 
area,  in  the  Bristol  Channel  near  Lundy  Island,  and 
in  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  sometimes  as  Jeannette,  some- 
times as  the  Blaine,  of  St.  Malo,  and  sometimes  as  the 
Russian  Neptun,  of  Riga. 

It  was  in  January,  1917,  that  she  had  an  experience 
which  showed  the  fine  seamanship  and  sound  judg- 
ment which  were  essential  in  the  captain  of  such  a 
secret  ship.  His  name  was  Lieutenant  John  Lawrie, 
R.N.R.,  a  man  of  strong  personality,  a  real  sailor,  and 
possessed  of  valuable  initiative.  On  the  evening  of 
January  7,  Mitchell  was  off  Berry  Head,  just  east  of 
Dartmouth,  when  bad  weather  came  on,  and  this 
developed  into  a  strong  winter's  gale.  There  was 
every  reason  why  a  Q-ship  should  not  run  into  the 
nearest  port  for  shelter,  as  her  presence  would  lead  to 


70  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

awkward  questions,  whereas  secrecy  was  the  essence 
of  her  existence.  The  gale  blew  its  fiercest,  and  by 
the  following  night  Mitchell  was  having  an  alarming 
time.  Just  after  9.30  p.m  the  foremast  and  spars 
crashed  over  the  side,  carrying  away  her  mainmast 
too.  She  then  lay-to  under  close-reefed  mizzen.  A 
jury  mast  was  rigged  on  the  stump  of  the  foremast, 
and  the  wind,  having  veered  from  W.  through 
N.W.  to  N.E.,  she  was  able  to  set  a  reefed  stay- 
sail. It  was  still  blowing  a  strong  gale,  with  what 
Lieutenant  Lawrie  described  as  a  '  mountainous  sea  ' 
running,  and  she  drifted  before  the  gale  in  a  south- 
west direction  towards  Ushant, 

In  this  predicament  it  was  time  to  get  assistance  if 
possible,  and  about  9.15  on  the  morning  of  the  9th 
she  signalled  a  large  cargo  steamer,  who  endeavoured 
to  take  Mitchell  in  tow,  but  eventually  had  to  signal 
that  this  was  impossible,  and  continued  steaming  on 
her  way  up  Channel.  The  schooner  was  now  about 
ten  miles  north  of  Ushant,  an  anxious  position  for 
any  navigator  going  to  leeward,  but  Lieutenant 
Lawrie  considered  she  would  drift  clear.  The  north- 
east gale  showed  no  sign  of  easing  up  during  that 
evening.  Signals  of  distress  were  made,  a  gun  being 
fired  every  few  minutes  as  well  as  rocket  distress 
signals,  and  flares  were  kept  burning  ;  but  no  answer- 
ing signal  came  from  the  shore.  By  this  time  the 
schooner  was  getting  dangerously  near  to  Ushant, 
and  it  could  not  be  long  before  she  and  her  crew 
would  inevitably  perish.  However,  she  never  struck, 
and  at  9.30  p.m.  the  Norwegian  S.S.  Sardinia  spoke 
her  and  stood  by  throughout  the  terrible  night  until 
7  a.m.  of  the  10th.  Then  ensued  a  nice  piece  of  sea- 
manship when  the  steamer  lowered  into  the  sea  a 
buoy  with  a  small  line  attached.     This  Mitchell  man- 


THE  'MARY  B.  MITCHELL'  71 

aged  to  pick  up,  and  the  tow-line  was  made  fast. 
Sardinia  then  went  ahead  and  towed  her  from  a 
position  10  miles  west  (True)  of  Creach  Point  until 
11.15  a.m.  when  near  Les  Pierres  Light.  Here  a 
French  torpedo-boat  came  towards  them,  so  Lieu- 
tenant Lawrie  hoisted  the  Red  Ensign ;  but  having 
done  that  he  was  clever  enough  also  to  show  the 
White  Ensign  over  the  stern  and  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  Norwegian  was  unable  to  see  it.  The 
captain  of  the  French  torpedo-boat  at  once  under- 
stood, signalled  to  the  Norwegian  to  cast  off  and  that 
the  torpedo-boat  would  take  the  schooner  in  tow. 
This  was  done  at  noon,  and  the  Sardinia  was  informed 
that  the  name  of  the  ship  was  the  Marij  B.  Mitchell 
of  Beaumaris,  Falmouth  to  Bristol  Channel  with 
general  cargo.  It  was  a  clever,  ready  answer  on  the 
part  of  the  British  captain.  The  torpedo-boat  took 
the  schooner  into  Brest,  and  at  length,  after  being 
remasted  and  refitted  she  went  back  to  carry  on  her 
work  as  a  Q-ship.  I  submit  that  throughout  the 
whole  of  that  gale  it  was  a  fine  achievement,  not 
merely  to  have  brought  her  through  in  safety,  but 
without  revealing  her  identity  as  a  warship. 

A  different  kind  of  adventure  was  now  awaiting 
her.  During  June,  1917,  she  cruised  about  first  as 
the  French  Marie  Therese,  of  Cette,  then  as  the 
French  Eider,  of  St.  JNIalo,  her  sphere  of  operation 
being,  as  before,  in  the  western  end  of  the  English 
Channel,  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  and  near  the  Channel 
Islands.  Mitchell  was  now  fitted  with  a  motor,  but 
this  was  never  used  during  daylight  except  when  abso- 
lutely necessary.  It  was  on  the  twentieth  of  that 
month,  at  11.30  a.m.,  that  she  was  in  a  position 
Lat.  47.13  N.,  Long.  7.23  W.,  when  she  sighted  the 
conning-tower  of  a  submarine  3  miles  away  on  the 


72  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

port  bow.  The  German  began  firing,  so  Mitchell 
was  run  up  into  the  wind,  hove-to,  and  '  abandoned.' 
By  this  time  the  enemy  was  on  the  starboard  bow 
and  continued  firing  for  some  time  after  the  schooner's 
boat  had  left  the  ship.  Unsuspectingly  the  sub- 
marine came  closer  and  closer,  and  more  and  more 
on  the  beam.  Then  after  a  short  delay  he  proceeded 
parallel  with  the  ship,  and,  altering  course,  made  as  if 
to  go  towards  the  Mitchell's  boat  lying  away  on  the 
port  quarter.  Suddenly  he  began  to  fire  again,  and 
being  now  not  more  than  800  yards  off  and  in  a  suit- 
able position,  the  schooner  also  opened  fire,  the 
first  round  from  the  12-pounder  appearing  to  hit. 
Altogether  seventeen  rounds  were  fired,  seven  seem- 
ing to  be  direct  hits.  The  enemy  did  not  reply,  and 
within  three  minutes  of  being  hit  disappeared.  For- 
tunately none  of  his  score  of  rounds  had  struck  the 
schooner,  though  they  burst  overhead  in  unpleasant 
proximity. 

A  further  engagement  with  what  was  probably  the 
same  enemy  occurred  later  on  the  same  day.  It  was 
a  favourite  tactic  for  a  submarine  to  follow  a  ship 
after  disappearing  for  a  while,  and  then,  having  got 
her  hours  later  in  a  suitable  position,  to  attack  her 
again.  I  used  to  hear  commanding  officers  say  that 
they  had  certainly  noticed  this  in  regard  to  their  own 
ships,  and  there  are  not  lacking  actual  records  of  these 
methods,  especially  in  the  case  of  the  slow-moving 
sailing  Q-ships  who  could  be  seen  across  the  sea  for  a 
long  time ;  and  it  was  part  of  these  tactics  to  carry 
out  this  second  attack  just  before  night  came  on. 
Thus  at  6.10  p.m.,  being  now  in  Lat.  47.37  N.,  Long. 
6.38  W.,  Mitchell  again  sighted  a  submarine,  this 
time  4  miles  away  on  the  port  quarter.  The 
schooner  kept  her  course,  the   submarine  overtook 


THE  'MARY  B.  MITCHELL'  73 

her,  and  at  6.35  again  shelled  the  ship.  After  the 
U-boat  had  fired  half  a  dozen  rapid  rounds,  Mitchell 
was  hove-to  and  '  abandoned,'  the  enemy  taking  up  a 
position  well  out  on  the  port  beam  and  firing  until 
the  boat  was  quite  clear  of  the  ship.  Then  the 
German  stopped,  exactly  on  the  beam,  800  yards 
away,  and  waited  for  a  long  time  before  making  any 
move.  Suddenly  he  turned  end  on,  came  full  speed 
towards  the  ship,  dived,  and  when  400  yards  away 
showed  his  periscope  on  the  port  side.  Having  got  to 
within  50  yards  he  went  full  speed  ahead,  star- 
boarded his  helm,  and  began  to  rise  quickly.  As  soon 
as  the  top  of  the  conning-tower  appeared  and  a  couple 
of  feet  of  hull  were  showing  Mitchell  cleared  away 
and  shelled  him  with  the  after  6-pounder.  This 
seemed  to  pierce  the  conning-tower,  a  large  blue 
flash  and  a  volume  of  yellow  vapour  coming  from  the 
hole.  Almost  simultaneously  the  1 2-pounder  hit  the 
enemy  in  the  bows,  but  after  this  the  enemy  was  too 
far  forward  for  the  schooner's  guns  to  bear.  In  a 
cloud  of  black  smoke,  yellow  smoke,  steam,  and  spray, 
she  dived  and  was  not  seen  again  until  8.7  p.m.  on 
the  surface  5  miles  to  the  westward,  just  as  the 
'panic  party'  were  coming  back  on  board  the 
schooner.  All  speed  was  made,  and  the  boat  towed 
astern  on  an  easterly  course  for  the  French  coast. 
For  a  time  the  submarine  followed,  but  then  went  off 
to  the  north-eastward  and  remained  in  sight  until 
dark.  The  reader  may  wonder  how  a  submarine, 
having  once  been  holed,  could  remain  afloat :  but 
there  are  cases  of  undoubted  authenticity  where,  in 
spite  of  being  seriously  injured,  the  submarine  did  get 
back  to  Germany.  A  remarkable  instance  of  one 
thus  damaged  by  a  Q-sailing-ship  will  be  given  in  a 
later  chapter.    But  in  the  present  case  of  the  Mitchell, 


74  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

even  if  she  had  not  sunk  her  submarine,  she  had 
fought  two  pkicky  engagements,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Admiralty,  and  the  captain,  Lieutenant  John  Lawrie, 
R.N.R.,  akeady  the  possessor  of  a  D.S.C.,  was  now 
awarded  the  D.S.O. — his  two  officers.  Lieutenant 
John  Kerr,  R.N.R.,  and  Lieutenant  T.  Hughes, 
R.N.R.,  being  given  eacii  a  D.S.C. 

On  the  following  August  3,  when  20  miles  south 
of  the  Start,  Mitchell  had  yet  another  engagement. 
She  had  left  Falmouth  two  days  before  as  the  Arius, 
of  Riga,  then  as  the  French  Cancalais,  of  La  Houle, 
and  cruised  between  the  Lizard  and  the  Owers,  to 
Guernsey,  and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ushant.  At 
1.45  p.m.  she  was  sailing  close-hauled  on  the  star- 
board tack,  steering  west ;  there  was  a  fresh  breeze, 
rather  a  rough  sea,  and  a  slight  haze.  Three  miles 
away  on  the  starboard  beam  appeared  a  submarine, 
who  five  minutes  later  began  shelling  the  schooner. 
Lawrie  let  his  ship  fall  off  the  wind,  and  the  shells 
came  bursting  around,  passing  through  sails  and 
rigging,  so  after  ten  minutes  of  this  the  schooner 
hove- to  and  '  abandoned '  ship.  Slowly  and  cautiously 
the  submarine  approached,  and  when  about  3,000 
yards  off  stopped  his  engines,  but  continued  to  fire. 
Then  he  came  up  on  the  decoy's  starboard 
beam,  about  1,000  yards  away ;  but  after  fifteen 
minutes  of  shelling  from  this  position,  Lawrie  de- 
cided that  he  could  tempt  the  enemy  no  nearer. 
It  was  now  4  p.m.,  so  Mitchell  started  her  motor, 
cleared  away  all  disguises,  put  the  helm  hard  aport, 
and  so  brought  the  enemy  well  on  the  beam,  allowing 
all  four  guns  to  bear.  Over  twenty  shells  were  fired, 
of  which  three  or  four  hit  the  base  of  the  conning- 
tower ;  but  the  submarine,  having  replied  with  four 
shots,  dived,  and  made  off.     For  two  hours  and  a 


THE  'MARY  B.  MITCHELL'  75 

quarter  had  this  engagement  been  prolonged,  and 
the  enemy  must  have  been  considerably  annoyed  to 
have  wasted  seventy  of  his  shells  in  this  manner. 
There  was  every  reason  to  suppose  that  he  had 
received  injuries,  and  though  there  were  no  fatalities 
aboard  the  schooner,  yet  the  latter's  windlass,  sails, 
rigging,  and  deck  fittings  had  been  damaged,  and 
two  of  her  men  had  been  wounded.  Lieutenant 
Lawrie  received  for  this  gallant  fight  a  bar  to  his 
D.S.C.,  and  a  similar  award  was  made  to  Lieutenant 
T.  Hughes. 

Such,  briefly,  was  the  kind  of  life  that  was  spent 
month  after  month  in  these  mystery  sailing  ships. 
It  was  an  extraordinary  mixture  of  monotony  and 
the  keenest  excitement.  From  one  hour  to  another 
no  man  knew  whether  he  would  be  alive  or  dead, 
and  the  one  essential  thing  consisted  in  absolute  pre- 
paredness and  mental  alertness.  To  be  surprised  by 
the  enemy  was  almost  criminal ;  to  escape  narrowly 
from  shipwreck,  to  remain  unmoved  under  shell-fire, 
to  see  the  spars  crashing  down  and  your  shipmates 
laid  out  in  great  pain,  to  be  hit  and  yet  refusing 
to  hit  back  until  the  right  moment,  to  keep  a  clear 
head  and  a  watchful  eye,  and  all  the  time  handle 
your  ship  so  that  the  most  was  got  out  of  the  wind 
— all  this  was  a  part  of  your  duty  as  a  Q-ship  man. 
Officers  and  men  believed  that  if  their  Q-ship  were 
torpedoed  and  any  of  them  were  captured,  they 
would  be  shot  as  francs-tireurs.  German  prisoners 
had  not  hesitated  to  make  this  statement,  although 
I  do  not  remember  an  instance  where  this  was 
carried  out. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  these  sailing  ships 
had  the  most  strenuous  and  arduous  task  of  all. 
They  suffered  by  being  so  useful,  for  the  Q-steam- 


76  Q  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

ships,  as  a  rule,  did  not  spend  more  than  eight  days 
at  sea  out  of  twelve,  and  then  they  had  to  come 
in  for  coal.  The  schooners,  as  we  have  seen,  could 
keep  the  sea  for  a  month,  so  long  as  they  had 
sufficient  water  and  provisions.  Several  more  were 
added  to  the  list  during  1917  and  1918,  and  there 
was  never  any  lack  of  volunteers  for  them.  The 
only  difficulty  was,  in  these  days  of  steam,  in 
choosing  those  who  had  had  experience  in  sailing 
craft.  The  revival  of  the  sailing  man-of-war  was 
certainly  one  of  the  many  remarkable  features  in  the 
naval  campaign. 


CHAPTER  VII 

MORE  SAILING  SHIPS 

During  the  ensuing  months  many  demands  were 
made  on  the  saiHng-ship  man-of-war.  There  were 
pressed  into  the  service  such  vessels  as  the  schooner 
Result,  the  220-ton  lugger  JBayard,  the  three-masted 
schooner  Prize,  the  motor  drifter  Betsy  Jameson,  the 
ketch  Sarah  Colebrooke,  the  auxiliary  schooner  Glen 
(alias  Sidney),  the  brigantine  Darkle,  the  Brown 
Mouse  yacht,  built  on  the  lines  of  a  Brixham  trawler, 
and  so  on.  The  barquentine  Merops,  otherwise  known 
as  Maracaio  and  Q  28,  began  decoy  work  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1917.  She  was  fitted  out  in  the  Firth  of 
Forth  with  a  couple  of  12-pounders  and  a  4-inch 
gun.  At  the  end  of  May  she  had  a  severe  engage- 
ment with  a  submarine,  and  was  considerably  damaged 
aloft.  In  March  the  158-ton  Rye  motor  ketch  Sarah 
Colebrooke  was  requisitioned,  and  sent  to  Portsmouth 
to  be  fitted  out,  appearing  in  May  as  the  Bolham. 
A  month  later,  20  miles  south  of  Beachy  Head, 
she  fought  a  submarine,  and  had  quite  an  unpleasant 
time.  One  of  the  enemy's  shells  exploded  under  the 
port  quarter,  lifting  the  ketch's  stern  high  out  of  the 
water,  another  exploded  under  the  port  leeboard, 
sending  a  column  of  water  on  board,  and  swamping 
the  boat ;  whilst  a  third  burst  on  board,  doing  con- 
siderable damage.  She  fought  the  submarine  until 
the  latter  disappeared,  but  the  Bolham  s  motor  was 

77 


78  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

by  this  time  so  choked  with  sphnters  and  glass  that 
she  could  not  proceed  to  the  spot  where  the  sub- 
marine had  last  been  seen,  and  of  course  it  so  hap- 
pened that  there  was  no  wind. 

On  June  8  four  fishing  smacks  were  captured  and 
sunk  off  the  Start  in  full  view  of  the  Q-smack 
Prevalent,  a  Brixham  trawler  armed  with  a  12- 
pounder.  Again  it  happened  to  be  a  calm,  so 
Prevalent,  being  too  far  away,  was  unable  to  render 
assistance.  After  this  incident  it  was  decided  to  fit  an 
auxiliary  motor  in  the  trawler-yacht  Brown  Mouse, 
which  was  doing  similar  service  and  was  specially 
suitable  for  an  engine.  On  the  following  day  our 
friend  Helgoland  had  another  encounter,  this  time 
off  the  north  coast  of  Ireland,  the  exact  spot  being 
8  miles  N.  by  W.  of  Tory  Island.  The  fight  began 
at  7.25  a.m.,  and  half  an  hour  later  the  submarine 
obtained  a  direct  hit  on  the  after-gun  house  of  the 
brigantine,  killing  one  man,  wounding  four  ratings, 
and  stunning  the  whole  of  the  after-guns'  crews. 
But  Helgoland,  with  her  charmed  life,  w^as  not  sunk, 
and  she  shelled  the  submarine  so  fiercely  that  the 
U-boat  had  to  dive  and  disappear. 

Even  a  private  yacht  was  taken  up  for  this  work 
in  June.  This  was  the  116-ton  topsail  schooner 
IJsette,  which  had  formerly  belonged  to  the  Duke  of 
Sutherland.  She  had  been  built  as  far  back  as  1873 
with  a  standing  bowsprit  and  jibboom.  She  was 
taken  from  Cowes  to  Falmouth,  where  she  was 
commissioned  in  August,  and  armed  with  three 
G-pounders.  But  this  old  yacht  was  found  to  leak  so 
much  through  her  seams,  and  her  construction  was 
so  light,  that  she  was  never  a  success,  and  was  paid 
off  in  the  following  spring.  In  April,  1917,  the 
auxiliary  schooner  Sidney  (alias  Glen)  began  service 


MORE  SAILING  SHIPS  79 

as  a  decoy,  having  been  requisitioned  from  her 
owners  and  fitted  out  at  Portsmouth.  A  crew  was 
selected  from  the  Trawler  Reserve,  but  the  guns' 
crews  were  naval.  Armed  with  a  12-pounder  and 
a  3-pounder,  she  was  fitted  with  wireless,  and  cruised 
about  in  the  English  Channel,  her  complement  con- 
sisting of  Lieutenant  R.  J.  TurnbuU  (R.N.R.),  in 
command,  one  sub-lieutenant  (R.N.R.),  one  skipper 
(R.N.R.),  two  R.N.R.  seamen,  one  R.N.R.  stoker  to 
run  the  motor,  a  signal  rating,  a  wireless  operator, 
four  R.N.  ratings  for  the  big  gun,  and  three  for  the 
smaller  one.  During  the  afternoon  of  July  10,  1917, 
Glen  was  in  combat  with  a  submarine  of  the  UC 
type,  and  had  lowered  her  boat  in  the  customary 
manner.  A  German  officer  from  the  conning-tower 
hailed  the  boat,  and  in  good  English  ordered  her  to 
come  alongside.  This  was  being  obeyed,  when  some- 
thing seemed  to  startle  the  officer,  who  suddenly  dis- 
appeared into  the  conning-tower,  and  the  submarine 
began  to  dive.  Glen  therefore  opened  fire,  and 
distinctly  saw  two  holes  abaft  the  conning-tower  as 
the  UC-boat  rolled  in  the  swell.  She  was  not  seen 
again,  and  the  Admiralty  rewarded  Glens  captain 
and  Sub-Lieutenant  K.  Morris,  R.N.R.,  with  a 
D.S.C.  each. 

During  the  month  of  January,  1917,  the  naval  base 
at  Lowestoft  called  for  volunteers  for  work  described 
as  '  dangerous,  at  times  rather  monotonous,  and  not 
free  from  discomfort.'  Everyone,  of  course,  knew 
that  this  meant  life  in  a  Q-ship.  The  vessel  selected 
was  the  122-ton  three-masted  topsail  schooner  Result, 
which  was  owned  at  Barnstaple,  and  had  in  Decem- 
ber come  round  to  Lowestoft  from  the  Bristol 
Channel.  Here  she  was  fitted  out  and  commissioned 
at  the  beginning  of  February,  being  armed  with  a 


80  Q-SHTPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

couple  of  12-poiinders,  but  also  with  torpedo-tubes. 
As  a  sailing  craft  she  was  slow,  unhandy,  and  prac- 
tically unmanageable  in  light  winds.  At  the  best 
she  would  lie  no  nearer  to  the  wind  than  5h  points, 
and  in  bad  weather  she  was  like  a  half-tide  rock. 
True,  she  had  a  Bolinders  motor,  but  the  best  speed 
they  could  thus  get  out  of  her  was  2^  knots.  The 
result  was  that  her  officers  had  great  difficulty  in 
keeping  her  out  of  the  East  Coast  minefields,  and  did 
not  always  succeed.  She  took  in  100  tons  of  sand 
as  ballast,  and  a  rough  cabin  was  fashioned  out 
of  the  hold  for  the  two  officers.  In  command  was 
appointed  Lieutenant  P.  J.  Mack,  R.N.  (retired), 
a  young  officer  who  had  seen  service  at  the  Dardanelles 
in  the  battleship  Lord  Nelson  and  in  the  historic 
River  Clyde,  whence  he  had  been  invalided  home. 
As  he  was  not  an  expert  in  the  art  of  sailing,  there 
was  selected  to  accompany  him  as  second  in  command 
Lieutenant  G.  H.  P.  Muhlhauser,  R.N.R.,  who  was 
not  a  professional  seaman,  but  a  keen  amateur  yachts- 
man of  considerable  experience,  who  had  made  some 
excellent  cruises  in  his  small  yacht  across  the  North 
Sea  and  had  passed  the  Board  of  Trade  examination 
as  master  of  his  own  yacht.  The  sailing  master  who 
volunteered  was  an  ex-schooner  sailor,  and  her  mate 
also  was  an  old  blue-water  seaman.  The  motor  man 
was  a  motor  mechanic  out  of  one  of  the  Lowestoft 
M.L.'s,  and  there  was  a  trimmer  from  the  Trawler 
Reserve.  She  carried  also  a  wireless  operator,  a 
cook,  a  chief  petty  officer,  deckhands,  and  some 
Royal  Naval  ratings  for  the  armament.  All  the 
crew,  consisting  of  twenty-two,  had  seen  considerable 
service  during  the  war  in  various  craft,  and  one  of  the 
deckhands  was  in  the  drifter  Linsdell,  which  was 
blown  up  on  an  East  Coast  minefield  at  the  commence- 


MORE  SAILING  SHIPS  81 

ment  of  the  war.  He  had  been  then  picked  up  by 
H.M.S.  Speedy,  who  in  turn  was  immediately  blown 
up.  This  man  survived  again,  and  was  now  a  volunteer 
in  a  Q-ship.  Remlfs  crew  were  trained  to  go  to 
their  '  panic  stations '  at  the  given  signal,  when  the 
bulwarks  were  let  down  and  the  tarpaulins  removed 
from  the  guns,  the  engineer  on  those  occasions 
standing  at  the  hatchway  amusingly  disguised  as  a 
woman  passenger,  arrayed  in  a  pink  blouse  and 
a  tasselled  cap  which  had  been  kindly  provided  by  a 
lady  ashore. 

On  February  9  Result  was  all  ready  as  a  warship, 
and  motored  out  of  Lowestoft.  She  then  disguised 
herself  as  a  neutral,  affixed  Dutch  colours  to  her 
topsides,  and  proceeded  via  Yarmouth  Roads  to  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  North  Hinder,  the  other  side 
of  the  North  Sea,  where  the  enemy  was  very  fond 
of  operating.  On  the  fifteenth  of  the  following 
month  Result  was  cruising  off  the  south-west  end  of 
the  Dogger  Bank  when  she  encountered  UC  45  in 
the  morning.  Lieutenant  Muhlhauser,  who  was  kind 
enough  to  give  me  his  account  of  the  incident,  has 
described  it  with  such  vividness  that  I  cannot  do 
better  than  present  the  version  in  his  own  words.  It 
should  be  added  that  at  the  time  Result  was  steer- 
ing E.S.E.,  and  was  now  in  the  position  Lat.  54.19  N., 
Long.  1.45  E.  The  submarine  was  sighted  2\  miles 
astern,  the  wind  was  northerly,  force  5  to  6,  the  sea 
being  4  to  5  and  rapidly  rising.  In  other  words,  it 
was  a  nasty,  cold  North  Sea  day,  and  one  in  which 
it  would  have  been  most  unpleasant  to  have  been 
torpedoed.  The  engagement  was  a  difficult  one, 
as  the  ship  had  to  be  manceuvred  so  that  her  guns 
would  bear,  and  careful  seamanship  had  to  be  used  to 
prevent  her  lying  in  the  trough  of  the  sea.     As  it 

6 


82  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

was,  with  bulwarks  down,  the  decks  and  gun-wells 
were  awash  and  frequently  full  of  water,  while  the 
submarine,  being  only  occasionally  visible  when 
Result  was  on  the  top  of  the  sea,  made  a  target  that 
was  anything  but  easy. 

'  By  7  a.m.,'  says  Lieutenant  Muhlhauser,  'we  had 
got  all  the  topsails  off  her,  and  at  this  moment  the 
C.O.  appeared  on  deck  and,  looking  aft,  said,  "  Why, 
there  is  a  submarine !"  and  at  the  same  moment  it 
was  reported  from  aloft.  Word  was  passed  to  the 
watches  below  to  stand  by.  In  a  few  minutes  came 
the  report  of  a  gun.  I  do  not  know  where  the  shell 
went.  The  men  ran  to  their  stations,  or  crawled 
there  according  to  what  their  job  was,  and  the  ship 
was  brought  on  the  wind.  The  submarine  continued 
firing  at  the  rate  of  a  shell  every  minute  or  there- 
abouts. The  C.O.  then  ordered  the  jibs  to  be  run 
down,  and  while  this  was  being  done  a  shell  stranded 
the  foretopmast  forestay,  but  luckily  did  not  burst. 
It  went  off  whistling.  Some  of  the  shells  were  fairly 
well  aimed,  but  the  bulk  were  either  50  or  60  yards 
short  or  over,  and  at  times  more  than  that.  As  the 
submarine  kept  about  2,000  yards  off,  tlie  C.O. 
ordered  the  boat  away,  with  the  skipper  in  charge. 
Four  hands  went  with  him.  Fle  was  reluctant  to 
go,  I  think,  though,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  ran  quite 
as  much  risk  as  did  those  remaining  on  board,  if  not 
more,  as  he  would  have  been  in  an  awkward  position 
if  by  any  chance  the  ship  worked  away  from  him  and 
the  submarine  got  him.  It  would  have  been  a  hard 
job  to  persuade  the  submariners  that  he  was  anything 
but  British.  However,  off  he  went  in  a  nasty  sea. 
In  lowering  the  boat  we  made  efforts  to  capsize  her, 
but  she  was  difficult  to  upset,  and  as  the  sub.  was 
some  way  off  and  unlikely  to  see  the  "  accident,"  we 


MORE  SAILING  SHIPS  83 

did  not  waste  much  time  on  it,  but  let  her  go  down 
right  side  up.  Away  went  the  skipper  and  his  crew, 
and  he  admits  feeHng  lonely  with  a  hostile  submarine 
near  by  and  the  ship  and  her  guns  working  away 
from  him.  He  says  he  was  struck  wdth  the  beauty 
of  her  lines,  and  she  never  appeared  more  attractive 
to  him.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  his  was  a  rotten  position, 
which  was  not  improved  by  the  sub.  firing  at  him  two 
or  three  shells,  which  went  over  and  short.  Evidently 
the  submarine,  which  by  the  way  had  closed  to  1,000 
yards  as  soon  as  the  boat  left  the  ship,  wanted  him 
to  pull  towards  it,  instead  of  which  he  was  digging 
out  after  us  manfully.  INIeanwhile  the  ship  appeared 
quite  deserted.  Everyone  was  concealed.  The  CO. 
prowled  around  the  deck  on  his  hands  and  knees, 
peering  through  cracks  and  rivet  holes  in  the  bulwarks 
to  see  how  the  submarine  was  getting  on.  All  I 
could  see  of  him  was  the  stern  position  of  his  body 
and  the  soles  of  an  enormous  pair  of  clogs.  I  sat  on 
deck  at  the  wheel,  trying  to  get  and  keep  the  ship  in 
the  wind,  so  as  not  to  get  too  far  from  the  boat.  All 
this  time  the  submarine  was  firing  steadily,  and  one 
shell  went  through  the  mizzen,  while  others,  as  the 
CO.  reported  from  time  to  time,  burst  short,  some 
of  them  close.  Splinters  from  the  latter  went  through 
the  stay-  and  fore-sails.  At  1,000  yards  the  ship  is  a 
fairly  big  target,  and  tlie  shooting  of  the  Huns  must 
be  put  down  as  bad. 

'  It  is  all  very  well  serving  as  a  target  at  1,000  yards, 
but  it  is  an  experience  which  must  not  be  too  long 
continued  in  case  a  lucky  shot  disables  one.  In  the 
present  case,  moreover,  the  wind  and  sea  were  rapidly 
increasing,  and  we  were  leaving  the  boat  in  spite  of 
all  our  efforts  to  stop.  The  submarine  seemed  quite 
determined  not  to  come  any  nearer,  and  the  CO. 


84  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

decided  that  the  moment  had  come  for  our  side  to 
begin.  Just  before  this  one  of  the  bulwarks,  luckily 
on  the  side  away  from  the  sub.,  had  fallen  down,  and 
let  a  deluge  of  water  on  to  the  decks,  but  this  did  not 
affect  things  as  far  as  we  know. 

'  At  the  word,  down  fell  the  bulwarks,  round  came 
the  guns,  and  up  went  the  White  Ensign.  Only  the 
after  12-pounder  gun  would  bear.  The  first  shell 
struck  the  submarine  at  the  junction  of  the  conning- 
tower  and  deck  forward.  The  6-pounder  also  fired 
one  shell,  and  hit  the  conning-tower.  The  second 
shell  from  the  big  gun  burst  short.  By  the  time  the 
smoke  had  cleared  away  the  submarine  had  dis- 
appeared. Had  we  sunk  her  or  had  she  dipped  ? 
This  is  the  point  which  is  exercising  our  minds.  The 
CO.  thinks  the  evidence  of  sinking  her  is  not  con- 
clusive, but  most  of  us  think  she  has  gone  down  for 
ever. 

'  We  then  made  for  the  boat,  which  was  still 
labouring  after  us,  and  got  it  hooked  on  and  hoisted. 
There  was  quite  a  decent-sized  sea,  and  the  hoisting 
process  was  not  very  pleasant  for  those  left  in  to 
hook  on,  not  to  mention  that  they  got  wet  from  the 
exhaust. 

'  At  the  time  the  sub.  was  firing,  one  of  the  officers 
or  crew  was  standing  on  the  conning-tower  rails, 
probably  spotting  for  the  gunners.  He  was  there 
when  the  first  shell  struck,  but  was  not  noticed  after- 
wards. Very  likely  he  had  fallen  into  the  tower,  but 
he  may  have  fallen  into  the  water. 

*  We  certainly  gave  them  a  lesson  in  gunnery, 
two  hits  out  of  three  shots.  Compare  that  with 
their  performance.  Moreover,  our  guns  had  to  be 
swung  into  position,  while  theirs  was  already  pointed. 

'  Having  picked   up  the   boat,    we   made  for   the 


MORE  SAILING  SHIPS  85 

spot  where  the  sub.  had  disappeared,  but  could  not 
be  sure  that  we  had  reached  it.  Anyway,  we  saw  no 
traces  of  it.  We  did  not  spend  much  time  in  search- 
ing, but  put  the  ship  back  on  her  course.  The  wind 
and  sea  were  by  this  time  strong  and  lieavy,  and 
after  running  out  for  half  an  hour  we  turned  and 
headed  west,  with  the  idea  of  being  near  shelter  if  a 
north-east  gale,  which  I  had  predicted,  came  along. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  it  did  not,  and  my  reputation  as 
a  weather-prophet  is  tarnished.  Our  alteration  of 
course  was  made  solely  from  weather  conditions,  but 
it  must  have  seemed  very  suspicious  to  a  second 
submarine  which  now  arrived  on  the  scene,  and 
which  had  probably  been  chasing  us  without  our 
knowing  it.  Instead  of  it  chasing  us,  it  suddenly 
found  us  coming  to  meet  it,  and  must  have  been 
puzzled.  By  way  of  clearing  the  air  it  fired  a  torpedo 
from  a  distance  of  about  2,000  yards,  and  missed  us 
by  about  200  yards — a  bad  effort.  It  then  fired  three 
shells  at  us,  which  also  went  wide.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  this  was  another,  and  smaller,  submarine  from 
the  first,  but  we  did  not  grasp  this  at  first,  and  so 
without  more  ado  we  let  drive  at  it,  but  unluckily 
the  gun  missed  fire  twice.  Fleet  then  opened  the 
breech,  at  some  risk  to  himself,  and  drew  out  the 
cartridge  and  threw  it  away.  But  this  wasted  time, 
and  when  he  did  fire  the  shell  went  short.  The 
submarine  had  taken  advantage  of  the  pause  to  get 
ready  to  dive,  and  did  not  wait  for  another  shot,  but 
went  under  as  soon  as  we  fired. 

'  It  was  no  use  waiting  about,  as  we  should  very 
likely  have  been  torpedoed,  so  we  went  on  towards 
the  land. 

'  And  so  ended  what  the  skipper  calls  the  "  Battle 
of  the  Silver  Pit,"  from  the   name   of  the   fishing 


86  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

ground  where  it  took  place.  As  far  as  it  went  it 
was  satisfactory,  but  we  should  like  to  be  sure  that 
w'e  sank  the  first.  The  two  engagements  took  about 
two  hours.  Possibly  by  waiting  we  might  have  done 
better,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  we  might  have  done 
worse.' 

It  was  eventually  known  that  the  first  submarine 
was  UC  45,  who  paid  the  Result  the  compliment 
of  describing  this  ship's  gunfire  as  well-controlled. 
She  got  back  safely  to  Germany.  For  the  manner 
in  which  the  fighting  had  been  conducted.  Lieutenant 
JNIack  and  the  skipper  were  both  mentioned  in 
despatches. 

After  the  return  to  Lowestoft,  Result  was  altered 
in  appearance  and  was  sent  off  to  the  area  where  this 
encounter  had  taken  place.  This  time  she  used 
Swedish  colours,  and  called  herself  the  l^ag.  On  this 
voyage,  whilst  in  the  vicinity  north  of  the  North 
Hinder  Bank,  on  April  4,  about  4  a.m.,  a  submarine 
w^as  seen  on  the  port  bow,  but  disappeared.  It  was 
so  big  that  at  first  it  resembled  a  steamer  or  destroyer. 
Presently  a  periscope  was  seen  about  4  points  on 
the  bow,  resembling  a  topmast,  as  it  had  a  rake. 
The  lower  portion  was  about  6  inches  in  diameter, 
and  a  narrower  stem  protruded  from  this,  terminating 
in  a  ball,  and  whilst  officers  and  crew  w^atched  it, 
wondering  whether  it  was  the  mast  of  a  wreck  or 
not,  it  slowly  dipped  and  vanished.  This  was  the 
submarine  in  the  act  of  taking  a  photograph.  She 
then  retired  to  a  distance  convenient  for  shelling. 
There  was  a  light  westerly  breeze,  and  the  enemy 
now  bobbed  up  at  intervals  all  round  the  Dag, 
examining  her  very  carefully.  Lieutenant  Muhl- 
hauser  writes  of  this  incident : 

'  Then  followed  a  pause  of  nearly  half  an  hour  with- 


MORE  SAILING  SHIPS  87 

out  our  seeing  anything  of  him.     The  cook  was  sent 

to  the  galley  to  get  on  with  breakfast  and  we  started 

the  engine.     It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  as  it 

was    particularly   wanted    i.t    ran    very   badly,   and, 

indeed,  could  hardly  be  kept  going  at  all.     Suddenly 

a   shell    burst    near    us,    followed    by    another    and 

another.     We  could  not  at  first  tell   the   direction 

from   which   they  came,   and  thought   it   was  from 

astern,  but  found  that  the  submarine  had  cunningly 

moved   away   towards   the    sun,   and    had    emerged 

in  the  mist  behind  the  path  of  the  sun,  where  he 

was   practically   invisible  from   our   ship,    while   we 

were  lit  up  and  must  have  offered  a  splendid  target 

with  our  white  hull  and  sails.     His  shooting  was  very 

good,    and  none  of  the  shells   missed  us    by  much. 

He  fired  rapidly,  and  was  probably  using  a  4*1 -inch 

semi-automatic  s^un.     The  shells  all  burst  on  striking 

•  •  • 

the  water,  and  the  explosions  had  a  vicious  sound. 

They  seemed  to  come  at  a  terrific  speed,  suggesting 
a  high- velocity  gun.  The  CO.  calmly  walked  the 
deck,  the  skipper  took  the  wheel,  and  I  sat  at  the  top 
of  the  cabin  hatchway  and  noted  the  times  and 
numbers  of  shells  fired  and  anything  else  of  interest. 
The  rest  of  the  crew  were  at  their  stations,  but  keep- 
ing below  the  bulwarks,  except  those  who  launched 
the  boat  and  let  it  tow  astern.  The  eleventh  shell 
struck  us  just  above  the  water-line,  and  soused  us  all 
with  spray  which  flew  up  above  the  peak  of  the 
mainsail.  It  tore  a  hole  in  the  side  and  burst  in 
the  sand  ballast,  reducing  the  skipper's  cabin  to 
matchwood,  and  destroying  the  wireless  instrument. 
It  also  knocked  down  the  sides  of  the  magazine  and 
set  fire  to  the  wood,  starting  some  of  the  rockets 
smouldering.  It  also  smashed  up  the  patent  fire 
extinguishers,    and    possibly   the   fumes   from   these 


88  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

prevented  the  fire  from  spreading.     Anyway,  it  was 
out  when  we  had  time  to  see  what  was  happening. 

'  In  the  meantime  we  could  not  afford  to  be  hit 
again,  and  the   CO.   gave   the   word   to   open   fire. 
Down  went  the  bulwarks  and  round  swung  the  guns, 
but   where   was   the   target  ?     Hidden   in   the   mist 
behind  the  sun's  path  it  was  invisible  to  the  gun-layers 
looking  through  telescopes,  and  they  were  obliged  to 
fire  into  the  gloom  at   a  venture.     The  poor  little 
6-pounder  was  quite  outranged,  and  it  is  doubtful 
if  the  shells  went  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  way. 
The   other   guns   had   suflficient   range,    but    it   was 
impossible  to  judge  the  distance  or  observe  the  fall 
of  the  shots.     However,  they  made  a  glorious  and 
cheering  noise,  and  Fritz  dived  as  soon  as  he  could. 
There  is  not  the  least  reason  for  thinking  that  we 
hit  him.     The  skipper,  deceived  by  the  low  freeboard 
revealed  when  the  bulwarks  were  down,  at  this  stage 
quickly   announced    the    conviction    that    she    was 
sinking.     Smoke  was  also  pouring  out  of  the  hatches, 
and  we  had  two  wounded  men  to  see   to  :  Ryder, 
who  was  in  the  magazine  and  who  was  hit  in  the 
arm,  sustaining  a  compound   fracture,    and   Morris, 
also  in  the  magazine,  bruised  in  the  back  and  suffer- 
ing from  shock.     We  were  not,  therefore,  in  a  position 
to  continue  the  battle,  and  things  looked  a  bit  blue. 
Fritz  might  be  expected  to  be  along  in  a  few  minutes 
submerged,  and  he  would   have   little   difficulty   in 
torpedoing  us,  as  we  were  very  nearly  a  stationary 
target.     We  had  no  means  of  warding  him  off  except 
by  a  depth  charge.     That  might  inconvenience  him, 
but  it  would  hardly  delay  him  long,  and  he  could 
then  either  torpedo  us  or  retire  out  of  range  of  our 
guns  and  pound  us  to  pieces,  as  his  gun  had  a  range 
of  about  5,000  yards  more  than  ours.     Sure  enough 


MORE  SAILING  SHIPS  89 

he  was  soon  after  us,  as  we  crawled  along  at  our 
4-knot  gait,  and  raised  his  periscope  right  astern 
about  200  yards  off. 

'  We  then  slung  over  a  depth  charge,  and  had  just 
got  our  10- feet  clearance  when  it  went  off,  and  made 
quite  a  creditable  stir  for  a  little  'un.  Fritz  promptly 
disappeared  to  think  things  over,  and  we  were 
relieved  of  the  sight  of  the  sinister-looking  periscope. 
But  we  had  only  delayed  things  a  little.  He  would 
soon  recover  and  adopt  fresh  tactics.  Still,  for  ten 
minutes  we  should  have  peace  to  attend  to  our 
wounded  and  the  damage.  The  CO.  supervised  the 
bandaging  of  Ryder,  who  had  been  lying  on  deck 
since  he  had  been  drawn  out  of  the  magazine.  I  had 
passed  him — passed  over  him,  in  fact — once  or  twice  in 
going  forward,  and  thought  he  was  dead,  as  he  lay  so 
still.  Then  the  hole  in  the  side  wanted  attention, 
and  also  the  fire  below.  Just  then  the  look-outs 
reported  the  Halcyon*  and  two  P-boats  ahead  coming 
our  way.  We  were  extremely  glad  to  hear  them 
shout  out,  as  it  meant  all  the  difference  between 
being  sunk  and  not  being  sunk.  When  the  skipper 
had  called  out  "  She  is  sinking,  sir,"  I  thought  of  the 
number  our  little  boat  would  hold,  and  the  number 
of  the  crew,  and  had  reflected  that  my  number 
was  up.  The  arrival  of  the  Halcyon  and  her 
attendants  put  a  different  complexion  on  things,  and 
while  efforts  were  being  made  by  guns  to  attract 
their  attention,  I  set  about  plugging  our  hole  and 
trying  to  find  the  fire. 

'  Stringer  warned  me  that  he  had  tried  to  get 
below,  but  had  found  the  fumes  too  much.  By  the 
time  I  got  there  they  must  have  cleared,  as  I  did  not 
find  them  too  bad.     The  place  was  full  of  smoke,  but 

*  H.M.S.  Halcyon,  torpedo-gunboat,  1,070  tons. 


90  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

though  I  pulled  things  about  blindly,  as  it  was  im- 
possible to  see  anything,  I  could  not  see  any  glow  to 
indicate  a  fire.  Ultimately  I  did  see  a  light,  but  on 
making  for  it  I  found  it  was  Dawes  and  an  electric 
Mght.  He  had  entered  from  the  mess-deck.  There 
appearing  to  be  no  immediate  danger  from  fire,  I 
crawled  round  to  the  shot-hole  and  found  water 
coming  in  through  rivet  holes.  'I'he  main  hole  had 
been  plugged  from  the  outside  by  two  coal-bags  and 
a  shot-hole  plug.  I  got  tools  and  cut  up  some  wood, 
while  AVreford  cut  up  a  coal-bag  into  6-inch  squares. 
These  Dawes  and  I  hammered  home,  and  made  her 
fairly  tight. 

'  Meanwhile  great  efforts  were  being  made  to  com- 
municate with  the  Halcyon,  to  let  them  know  that  a 
submarine  was  about,  and  to  ask  for  a  doctor.  We 
could  not  get  the  Halciion,  but  one  of  the  P-boats 
came  rushing  by  at  full  speed,  and  asked  where  we 
were  from  !  They  had  not  recognized  us  !  We  could 
get  nothing  out  of  these  ships.  They  rushed  about 
the  horizon  at  full  speed  and  disappeared  into  the 
mist  and  came  out  of  it  again  somewhere  else,  but 
generally  kept  away  from  us,  though  occasionally  a 
P-boat  tore  past  going  "  all  out." 

'  While  this  circus  was  going  on,  a  number  ot 
T.B.D.'s  were  reported  on  our  starboard  quarter,  and 
three  light  cruisers  and  then  T.B.D.'s  swept  into 
sight  and  seemed  to  fill  the  whole  horizon.  They 
went  on,  ignoring  our  request  for  a  doctor,  and  dis- 
appeared in  the  mist,  but  their  place  was  taken  by 
other  T.B.D.'s.  The  place  seemed  full  of  them. 
AVhere  they  all  came  from  1  do  not  know,  or  what 
they  were  doing,  but  everywhere  one  looked  one 
could  see  some  of  these  beautiful  vessels  rushing 
along.     It  was  a  fine,  stirring  sight.     Finally  we  got 


MORE  SAILING  SHIPS  91 

one  of  them  to  stop  and  lower  a  whaler  with  a  doctor. 
While  she  was  stopped  her  companion  ships  steamed 
round  to  ward  oif  attack.  The  doctor  came  on  board, 
and  decided  that  Ryder  ought  to  go  in  at  once,  and 
the  T.B.D.  Torrent  agreed  to  take  him  in  when  asked 
by  signal.  So  away  went  poor  Ryder  in  great  pain, 
I  fear,  in  spite  of  two  morphia  pills  which  we  gave 
him.  The  CO.  was  afraid  that  we  had  given  him 
too  much,  but  one  did  not  seem  to  do  him  much 
good,  so  we  gave  him  another  one. 

'  While  we  were  transshipping  him,  the  Halcyon 
came  tearing  past,  and  shouted  that  there  was  a 
hostile  submarine  3  miles  to  the  southward.  This, 
however,  did  not  worry  us  with  all  these  T.B.D. 's 
around.  We  were  in  a  scene  of  tremendous,  even 
feverish,  activity.  There  were  sweepers,  T.B.D. 's, 
P-boats,  and  our  own  submarines  all  about.  At 
6  a.m.  the  world  held  us  and  a  very  nasty,  large, 
hostile  submarine,  which  could  both  outrange  and 
outmanoeuvre  us,  and  the  game  seemed  up.  At 
6.30  a.m.  we  were  as  safe  as  one  could  wish  to  be, 
with  a  considerable  portion  of  England's  light  forces 
around  us.     "  Some  change  !"  ' 


CHAPTER  VIII 

SUBMARINES  AND  Q-SHIP  TACTICS 

In  order  properly  to  appreciate  the  difficulties  of  the 
Q-ships,  it  is  necessary  to  understand  something  of 
the  possibilities  and  limitations  of  the  U-boats.  No 
one  could  hope  to  be  successful  with  his  Q-ship 
unless  he  realized  what  the  submarine  could  not  do, 
and  how  he  could  attack  the  U-boat  in  her  weakest 
feature.  If  the  submarine's  greatest  capability  lay 
in  the  power  of  rendering  herself  invisible,  her  greatest 
weakness  consisted  in  remaining  thus  submerged  for  a 
comparatively  short  time.  On  the  surface  she  could 
do  about  16  knots;  submerged,  her  best  speed  was 
about  10  knots.  As  the  heart  is  the  vital  portion  of 
the  human  anatomy,  so  the  battery  was  the  vital 
part  of  the  submarine's  invisibility.  At  the  end  of  a 
couple  of  hours,  at  the  most,  it  was  as  essential  for  her 
to  rise  to  the  surface,  open  her  hatches,  and  charge 
her  batteries  as  it  is  for  a  whale  or  a  porpoise  to  come 
up  and  breathe.  It  was  the  aim,  then,  of  all  anti- 
submarine craft  to  use  every  endeavour  to  keep  the 
U-boat  submerged  as  long  as  possible.  Those 
Q-ships  who  could  steam  at  10  knots  and  over  had  a 
good  chance  then  of  following  the  submarine's  sub- 
merged wake  and  despatching  her  with  depth  charges. 
If  she  elected  not  to  dive,  there  was  nothing  for  it 
but  to  tempt  her  within  range  and  bearing  of  your 
guns  and  then  shell  her.     To  ram  was   an   almost 

92 


SUBMARINES  AND  Q-SHIP  TACTICS     93 

impossible  task,  though  more  than  one  submarine 
was  in  this  way  destroyed. 

The  difficulty  of  anti-submarine  warfare  was  in- 
creased when  the  enemy  became  so  wary  that  he 
preferred  to  remain  shelling  the  ship  at  long  range, 
and  this  led  to  our  Q-ships  having  to  be  armed  with 
at  least  one  4-inch  against  his  4-1 -inch  gun.  The 
famous  Arnauld  de  la  Periere,  who,  in  spite  of  his 
semi-French  ancestry,  was  the  ablest  German  sub- 
marine captain  in  the  Mediterranean,  was  especially 
devoted  to  this  form  of  tactics.  Most  of  the  German 
submarines  were  double-hulled,  the  space  between 
the  outer  and  inner  hulls  being  occupied  by  water 
ballast  and  oil  fuel.  The  conning-tower  was  literally 
a  superstructure  imposed  over  the  hull,  and  not  an 
essential  part  of  the  ship.  That  is  why,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  the  Q-ship  could  shell  holes  into  the 
tower  and  yet  the  U-boat  was  not  destroyed. 
Similarly,  a  shell  would  often  pierce  the  outer  hull 
and  do  no  very  serious  damage  other  than  causing  a 
certain  amount  of  oil  to  escape.  Only  those  who 
have  been  in  British  and  German  submarines,  and 
have  seen  a  submarine  under  construction,  realize 
what  a  strong  craft  she  actually  is. 

The  ideal  submarine  would  weigh  about  the  same 
amount  as  the  water  surrounding  her.  That  being  a 
practical  impossibility,  before  she  submerges  she  is 
trimmed  down  by  means  of  water  ballast,  but  then 
starts  her  engines  and  uses  her  planes  for  descent  in 
the  same  way  as  an  aeroplane.  The  flooding  tanks, 
as  we  have  seen,  are  between  the  two  hulls,  and  the 
hydroplanes  are  in  pairs  both  forward  and  aft.  The 
U-boat  has  been  running  on  the  surface  propelled  by 
her  internal-combustion  motors.  Obviously  these 
cannot  be  used  when  she  is  submerged,  or  the  air  in 


>TIV^ 


ONTAhlf' 


94  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

the  ship  would  speedily  be  used  up.  When  about  to 
submerge,  the  German  captain  trimmed  his  ship 
until  just  afloat ;  actually  he  frequently  cruised  in 
this  trim  when  in  the  presence  of  shipping,  ready  to 
dive  if  attacked.  The  alarm  was  then  pressed,  the 
engineer  pulled  out  the  clutch,  the  coxswain  con- 
trolling the  forward  hydroplane  put  his  helm  down, 
the  captain  entered  the  conning-tower,  the  hatch  was 
closed,  and  away  the  steel  fish  cruised  about  beneath 
the  surface. 

The  U-boat  was  now  running  on  her  electric 
batteries.  By  means  of  two  periscopes  a  view  was 
obtained  not  merely  of  the  sea  above,  but  also  of 
the  sky,  so  that  surface  craft  and  aircraft  might  be 
visible.  The  order  would  be  given  to  submerge  to 
say  10  metres.  Alongside  each  of  the  two  coxswains 
was  a  huge  dial  marked  in  metres,  and  it  was  the 
sole  duty  of  these  two  men  to  watch  the  dials,  and 
by  operating  a  big  wheel  controlling  each  hydroplane 
maintain  the  submarine  at  such  a  depth.  Horizontal 
steering  was  done  also  by  a  wheel,  and  course 
kept  by  means  of  a  gyroscope  compass,  a  magnetic 
compass  in  this  steel  ship  with  so  much  electricity 
about  being  out  of  the  question.  The  batteries  were 
charged  while  the  submarine  was  on  the  surface  by 
turning  the  oil  engines  into  a  dynamo  by  means  of 
the  clutch,  the  hour  before  dawn  and  the  hour  after 
sunset  being  favourable  times  for  so  charging. 

The  reader  will  have  noted  the  preliminary  methods 
of  attack  on  the  part  of  the  submarine  and  his  manner 
of  varying  his  position.  He  divided  his  attack  into 
two.  The  first  was  the  approach,  the  second  was  the 
attack  proper.  The  former  was  made  at  a  distance 
of  12,000  yards,  and  during  this  time  he  was  using 
his  high-power,  long-range  periscope,  manoeuvring  into 


SUBMARINES  AND  Q-SHIP  TACTICS     95 

position,  and  ascertaining  the  course  and  speed  of  the 
on-coming  Q-ship.  The  attack  proper  was  made 
at  800  or  400  yards,  and  for  this  purpose  the  short- 
range  periscope  was  used.  Now  watch  the  U-boat 
in  his  attempt  to  kill.  He  is  to  rely  this  time  not 
on  long-range  shelling,  but  on  the  knock-out  blow  by 
means  of  his  torpedo  :  he  has  endeavoured,  therefore, 
to  get  about  four  points  on  the  Q-ship's  bow,  for  this 
is  the  very  best  position,  and  he  has  dived  to  about 
00  feet.  During  the  approach  his  torpedo-tubes  have 
been  got  ready,  the  safety-pins  have  been  removed, 
and  the  bow  caps  of  the  tubes  opened.  The  captain 
has  already  ascertained  the  enemy's  speed  and  the 
deflection  or  angle  at  which  the  torpedo-tube  must 
point  ahead  of  the  Q-ship  at  the  moment  of  firing. 
AVhen  the  enemy  bears  the  correct  number  of  degrees 
of  deflection  the  tube  is  fired,  the  periscope  lowered, 
speed  increased,  and,  if  the  torpedo  has  hit  the 
Q-ship,  the  concussion  will  be  felt  in  the  submarine. 
This  depends  entirely  on  whether  the  Q-ship's  speed 
and  course  have  been  accurately  ascertained.  The 
torpedo  has  travelled  at  a  speed  of  36  knots,  so, 
knowing  the  distance  to  be  run,  the  captain  has  only 
to  look  at  his  stop-watch  and  reckon  the  time  when 
his  torpedo  should  have  hit.  If  the  German  was 
successful  he  usually  hoisted  his  periscope  and  cruised 
under  the  stern  of  the  ship  to  obtain  her  name.  If 
he  were  an  experienced  officer  he  never  came  near 
her,  after  torpedoing,  unless  he  was  quite  certain  she 
was  abandoned  and  that  she  was  not  a  trap.  During 
1917  and  onwards,  having  sunk  the  Q-ship,  the 
submarine  would  endeavour  to  take  the  captain 
prisoner,  and  one  Q-ship  captain,  whose  ship  sank 
underneath  him,  found  himself  swimming  about  and 
heard  the  U-boat's  officer  shouting  to  the  survivors, 


96  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

'  Vere  is  der  kapitan  V  but  the  men  had  the  good 
sense  to  He  and  pretend  their  skipper  was  dead. 
After  this  the  submarine  shoved  oft",  and  my  friend 
took  refuge  with  others  in  a  small  raft.  But  fre- 
quently a  submarine  would  wait  a  considerable  time 
cruising  round  the  sinking  ship,  scrutinizing  her, 
examining  the  fittings,  and  expecting  to  find  badly 
hinged  bulwarks,  a  carelessly  fitted  wireless  aerial, 
a  suspicious  move  of  a  '  deckhouse '  or  piece  of 
tarpaulin  hiding  the  gun.  This  was  the  suspense 
which  tried  the  nerves  of  most  Q-ship  crews,  especially 
when  it  was  followed  by  shelling. 

We  have  seen  that  the  U-boat  sought  to  disguise 
herself  by  putting  up  a  sail  when  in  the  vicinity  of 
fishing  craft  or  patrol  vessels.  The  submarine  which 
torpedoed  one  ship  disguised  her  periscope  by  a  soap 
box,  so  that  it  was  not  realized  till  too  late  that  this 
innocent-looking  box  was  floating  against  the  tide. 
At  the  best  the  submarine  was  an  unhandy  craft, 
and  it  took  her  from  three  to  six  minutes  to  make  a 
big  alteration  of  course,  inasmuch  as  she  had  to  dive 
deeper  lest  she  should  break  surface  or  disturb  the 
surface  of  the  water.  Again,  when  running  sub- 
merged, if  she  wished  to  turn  16  points — e.g.,  from 
north  to  south— the  pressure  on  her  hull  made  it 
very  difficult. 

It  may  definitely  be  stated  that  those  who  went 
to  their  doom  in  U-boats  had  no  pleasant  death. 
When  the  Q-ship  caused  the  enemy  to  be  holed  so 
that  he  could  not  rise  and  the  water  poured  in,  this 
water,  as  it  moved  forward  in  the  submarine,  was  all 
the  time  compressing  the  air,  and  those  of  the  crew 
who  had  not  already  committed  suicide  suffered 
agonies.  Moreover,  even  if  a  little  of  the  sea  got 
into  the  bilges  where  the  batteries  were  placed  there 


SUBMARINES  AND  Q-SHIP  TACTICS    97 

was  trouble  also.  Sea-water  in  contact  with  the 
sulphuric  acid  generated  chlorine,  a  very  deadly  gas, 
which  asphyxiated  the  crew.  There  is  at  least  one 
case  on  record  of  a  U-boat  surrendering  to  a  patrol 
boat  in  consequence  of  his  crew  having  become 
incapacitated  by  this  gas ;  and  on  pulling  up  the 
floorboards  of  a  British  submarine,  one  has  noticed 
the  chlorine  smell  very  distinctly.  The  dropping  by 
the  decoy  ship  of  depth  charges  sometimes  totally 
destroyed  the  submarine,  but  even  if  this  was  not 
accomplished  straight  away,  it  had  frequently  a  most 
salutary  effect :  for,  at  the  least,  it  would  start  some 
of  the  U-boat's  rivets,  smash  all  the  electric  bulbs  in 
the  ship,  and  put  her  in  total  darkness.  The  nasty 
jar  which  this  and  the  explosion  gave  to  the  sub- 
marine's crew  had  a  great  moral  effect.  A  month's 
cruise  in  a  submarine  in  wintry  Atlantic  weather, 
hunted  and  chased  most  of  the  way  from  Heligoland 
to  the  Fastnet  and  back,  is  calculated  to  try  any 
human  nerves :  but  to  be  depth-charged  periodically, 
or  surprised  and  shelled  by  an  innocent-looking  tramp 
or  schooner,  does  not  improve  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
men.  Frequently  it  happened  that  the  decoy  ship's 
depth  charges  merely  put  the  hydroplanes  out  of  gear 
so  that  they  jammed  badly.  The  U-boat  would  then 
make  a  crash-dive  towards  the  bottom.  At  100  feet 
matters  became  serious,  at  200  feet  they  became 
desperate ;  and  presently,  owing  to  pressure,  the  hull 
would  start  buckling  and  leaking.  Then,  by  sheer 
physical  strength,  the  hydroplanes  had  to  be  coaxed 
hard  over,  and  then  up  would  come  the  U-boat  to 
the  surface,  revealing  herself,  and  an  easy  prey  for 
the  Q-ship's  guns,  who  would  finish  her  off  in  a  few 
fierce  minutes.  Life  in  a  U-boat  was  no  picnic,  but 
death  was  the  worst  form  of  torture,  and  such  as  could 

7 


98  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

be  conveyed  to  the  imagination  only  by  means  of  a 
Theatre  Guignol  play. 

It  was  the  obvious  duty  of  the  Q-ships  to  make 
the  life  of  a  U-boat  as  nearly  as  possible  unbearable, 
and  thus  save  the  lives  of  our  ships  and  men  of  the 
Mercantile  Marine.  It  was  no  easy  task,  and  even 
with  perfect  organization,  well-thought-out  tactics, 
and  well-trained  crews,  it  would  happen  that  some- 
thing would  rob  the  decoy  of  her  victory.  On 
October  20,  1916,  for  instance,  the  Q-ship  Salvia, 
one  of  the  sloop-class  partially  reconstructed  w4th  a 
false  counter-stern  to  resemble  a  1,000-ton  tramp, 
was  off  the  west  coast  of  Ireland  when  a  submarine 
appeared  astern,  immediately  opened  fire,  and  began 
to  chase.  Salvia  stopped  her  engines  to  allow  the 
enemy  to  close  more  rapidly,  but  the  U-boat,  ob- 
serving this,  hauled  out  on  to  the  Salvia's  starboard 
quarter,  and  kept  up  her  firing  without  shortening 
the  range  of  2,000  yards.  Salvia  next  endeavoured 
to  close  the  range  by  going  slow  ahead  and  altering 
slightly  towards  the  enemy,  but  the  latter's  fire  was 
now  becoming  so  accurate  that  Salvia  was  soon  hit 
on  the  starboard  side  by  a  4*1 -inch  high-explosive 
shell.  This  burst  through  in  nine  places  in  the 
engine-room  bulkhead,  smashing  an  auxiliary  steam- 
pipe  and  causing  a  large  escape  of  steam.  The 
engines  were  now  put  full  ahead,  and  course  was 
made  for  the  enemy,  who  sheered  away  and  shortly 
afterwards  dived. 

That  being  so.  Salvia  deemed  it  prudent  to  pretend 
to  run  away,  but  in  the  middle  of  the  evolution  her 
steering  gear  unfortunately  broke  down,  and  before 
control  was  established  again  with  hand-steering  gear, 
the  ship  had  swung  90  degrees  past  her  course,  and 
the  submarine  reappeared  on  the  port  beam  about 


SUBMARINES  AND  Q-SHIP  TACTICS    99 


1,500  yards  away,  but  presently  disappeared.  The 
breakdown  had  been  most  unfortunate,  for  otherwise 
a  short,  sharp  action  at  about  700  yards  would  have 
been  possible,  followed  by  an  excellent  chance  of 
dropping  a  depth  charge  very  close  to  the  enemy. 
In  that  misty  weather,  with  a  rough  sea  and  a  fairly 


m^MSubmerg. 


s/m  reappeareJ^^ 


s/Mdisafpearsd    ^ 


y«  reappeared 


Fig.  7. — Diagram  to  Illustrate  Approximate  Movements  of 
'  Salvia  '  in  her  Action  with   Submarine   on  October  20,  1916. 

strong  breeze,  it  had  been  difficult  to  see  any  part  of 
the  U-boat's  hull,  for  she  had  trimmed  herself  so  as  to 
have  little  buoyancy,  and  only  her  conning- tower  could 
be  discerned.  Below,  in  the  Q-ship,  the  engine-room 
staff  found  themselves  up  against  difficulties ;  for  it 
was  an  awkward  job  repairing  the  leaking  steam-pipe, 


100        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR   STORY 

as  the  cylinder  tops  and  the  engine-room  were  full  of 
live  steam  and  lyddite  fumes.  The  chief  artificer  and 
a  leading  stoker  were  overcome  by  the  fumes,  but 
the  job  was  tackled  so  that  steam  could  be  kept  up 
in  the  boilers. 

A  few  months  later  Salvia  (alias  Q  15)  ended  her 
career.  Just  before  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
June  20,1917,  when  in  Lat.  52.15  N.,  Long.  16.10  W.— 
that  is  to  say,  well  out  in  the  Atlantic — she  was  struck 
on  the  starboard  side  abreast  the  break  of  the  poop 
by  a  submarine's  torpedo.  Troubles  did  not  come 
singly,  for  this  caused  the  depth  charge  aft  to  explode 
by  concussion,  completely  wrecking  the  poop,  blowing 
the  4-inch  gun  overboard,  and  putting  the  engines 
totally  out  of  action.  Here  was  a  nice  predicament 
miles  from  the  Irish  coast.  At  7.15  a.m.,  as  the  after 
part  of  the  ship  was  breaking  up,  her  captain  sent 
away  in  the  boats  all  the  ship's  company  except  the 
crews  of  the  remaining  guns  and  others  required  in 
case  the  ship  should  be  saved.  The  submarine  now 
began  to  shell  Salvia  heavily  from  long  range,  taking 
care  to  keep  directly  astern.  The  shells  fell  close  to 
the  boats,  so  these  were  rowed  farther  to  the  eastward. 
A  shell  then  struck  the  wheelhouse  and  started  a  fire, 
which  spread  rapidly  to  the  upper  bridge.  It  was 
now  time  for  the  remainder  of  the  crew  to  leave  in 
Carley  rafts,  and  temporarily  the  submarine  ceased 
fire ;  but  when  one  boat  started  to  go  back  to  the 
ship  the  enemy  at  once  reopened  his  attack.  He 
then  closed  the  rafts  and  took  prisoner  Salvia's  captain, 
who  arrived  safely  in  Germany,  and  was  released 
at  the  end  of  the  war.  At  9.15  a.m.  the  ship  sank, 
and  ten  minutes  later  the  submarine  disappeared. 
Thus  Salvia's  people  were  suddenly  bereft  of  ship 
and  skipper,  with  the  broad  Atlantic  to  row  about 


SUBMARINES  AND  Q-SHIP  TACTICS    101 

in,  boisterous  weather,  and  a  heavy  sea.  The  boat 
which  had  endeavoured  to  return  to  the  ship  then 
proceeded  to  search  for  the  men  in  the  Carley  rafts, 
but  could  see  nothing  of  them.  After  about  an  hour 
this  boat  sighted  what  looked  like  a  tramp  steamer, 
so  hoisted  sail  and  ran  down  to  meet  her.  At  1 1.20  a.m. 
this  steamer  picked  them  up :  she  happened  to  be 
another  disguised  sloop,  the  Q-ship  Aubrietia,  com- 
manded by  Admiral  Marx,  a  gallant  admiral  who 
had  come  back  to  sea  from  his  retirement,  and  as 
Captain,  R.N.R.,  was  now  taking  a  hand  in  the  great 
adventure.  Search  was  then  made,  and  within  two 
hours  the  men  in  the  rafts  were  picked  up,  and  a 
little  later  the  other  three  boat-loads  were  located : 
but  five  men  had  been  killed,  three  by  the  first 
explosion  in  Salvia  and  two  by  shell-fire.  It  had 
been  a  sad,  difficult  day. 

In  the  Mediterranean  the  enemy  was  showing  an 
increased  caution  against  likely  decoys,  and  by  the 
beginning  of  December,  1916,  had  already  sunk  a 
couple  of  Q-ships.  The  Q-ship  Saros  ( Lieut. - 
Commander  R.  C.  C.  Smart)  was  operating  in  this 
sea,  and  had  an  engagement  on  October  30,  thirteen 
miles  from  Cape  San  Sebastian.  The  engine-room 
was  ordered  to  make  smoke,  as  though  the  stokers 
were  endeavouring  to  get  the  utmost  speed  out  of  the 
ship :  at  the  same  time  the  engines  were  rung 
down  to  '  slow.'  But  the  enemy  realized  the  ruse  and 
slowed  down,  too.  Lieut. -Commander  Smart  en- 
deavoured to  make  the  enemy  think  a  panic  had 
seized  the  ship.  So  the  firemen  off*  watch  were  sent 
below  to  put  on  lifebelts  and  then  to  man  the  boats. 
Stewards  ran  about,  placing  stores  and  blankets  in 
the  boats,  but  the  enemy  insisted  on  shelling,  so 
Saros  had  to  do  the  same,  whereupon  the  submarine's 


102        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

guns'  crews  made  a  bolt  for  the  inside  of  the  U-boat, 
and  then  made  off.  As  soon  as  she  had  got  out  of 
sight,  Sm'os  changed  her  disguise,  taking  the  two  white 
bands  off  the  funnel,  hoisting  Spanish  colours,  and 
altering  course  for  the  Spanish  coast. 

Three  days  later  iSa70s  was  returning  to  the  Gib- 
raltar-Malta shipping  track,  heading  for  the  Cani 
Rocks,  after  carrying  out  firing  exercises.  At  half- 
past  four  in  the  afternoon,  the  officer  of  the  watch 
heard  a  shot,  and  saw  a  submarine  7,000  yards  off 
on  the  starboard  beam.  She  was  not  trimmed  for 
diving,  and  was  apparently  trimmed  to  cruise  like 
this  during  the  night  on  the  surface.  She  seemed 
quite  careless  and  slow  about  her  movements,  evidently 
never  suspecting  Saras'  true  character.  Saros  altered 
course  towards  the  enemy,  who  was  firing  all  the  time, 
one  round  exploding  and  falling  on  board  and  several 
coming  close  over  the  bridge.  The  U-boat,  after  going 
on  an  opposite  course,  very  slowly  turned  to  starboard 
to  get  on  a  parallel  course,  and  men  were  seen  hoisting 
up  ammunition  on  deck.  The  light  was  bad,  and  it 
was  becoming  late,  but  Scwos  had  manoeuvred  to  get 
the  German  in  a  suitable  position  as  regards  the  sun, 
so  at  5,500  yards  range  opened  fire  with  her  4-inch 
and  12-pounder  at  4.44  p.m.  This  shocked  the 
Teuton,  so  that  the  crew  which  had  been  sitting 
around  smoking,  and  apparently  criticizing  the  old 
'  merchantman,'  suddenly  became  active,  lowered  the 
wireless  masts  and  disappeared  below.  By  the  tenth 
round,  the  enemy,  who  appeared  to  have  been  hit, 
dived,  and  at  4.50  p.m.  Saros  ceased  fire.  Course 
was  then  altered  to  where  she  had  last  been  seen,  and, 
just  before  turning,  the  enemy  for  a  moment  showed 
himself,  but  as  the  gun -layer  was  ready  the  German 
disappeared,    and    then   artfully   cruised  about   sub- 


SUBMARINES  AND  Q-SHIP  TACTICS    103 

merged,  so  as  to  get  in  a  good  position.  She  was  never 
seen  again,  but  at  5.15  p.m.  a  torpedo  passed  just 
ahead  of  the  Scwos,  and  thereafter  the  latter  zigzagged 
at  her  utmost  speed.     During  the  night  there  was  a 


w 


s/m  first  seen 
firing 

Z^"       Course  S. 


->N 


•  'Cease  fire  4- SO 
range  on  guns  6300i)as. 


■^ 


^^^>j:sdd, 


'yds. 


\\  Torpedo  passed 
f   dose  dhcsdoF ship 


Opened  fire  4  44. 


S/M  First  seen 
sbout  7000 


Courses. 


Fig.  8. — Diagram  to  Illustrate  Approximate  Movements  of  'Saros 
IN  HER  Action  with  Submarine  on  November  3,  1916. 

moon  until  midnight,  and  an  anxious  time  was  spent. 
Owing  to  tlie  amount  of  sea,  Saros  was  not  doing 
more  than  8  J  knots,  but  no  further  attack  took  place. 
It  had  been  one  able  captain  against  another,  and  no 
actual  result  had  been  made.     So  the  warfare  went 


104         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

on  in  the  Mediterranean.  Baralong,  now  called 
Wyaiidra,  who  had  been  sent  to  the  Mediterranean, 
had  an  engagement  earlier  in  the  year  with  a  sub- 
marine, on  the  evening  of  April  13, 1916,  and  probably 
hit  the  enemy. 

In  the  spring  of  1917  three  more  Q- ships,  Nos.  24, 25, 
and  26,  had  been  taken  up  to  be  fitted  out  and  serve 
under  Vice- Admiral  Sir  Lewis  Bayly,  at  Queenstown. 
These  were  respectively  the  Laggcin  (alias  Pladda), 
Paxton  (alias  Lady  Patricia),  and  the  Mavis  (alias 
Nyi^oca),  being  small  steamers  of  1,200  or  1,300  tons, 
each  armed  with  one  4-inch  and  two  12-pounders.  Q 18 
(alias  Lady  Olive)  had  begun  her  work  in  January. 
Now,  of  these  four  ships  two  had  very  short  lives.  On 
May  20  Q  25  was  sunk  in  the  Atlantic,  her  com- 
manding officer  and  engineer  officer  being  taken 
prisoners  by  the  submarine.  Twenty-two  survivors 
were  picked  up  by  a  trawler,  and  four  were  picked  up 
by  an  American  steamer  and  taken  to  Manchester. 
Three  officers  and  eight  men  were  found  by  the 
United  States  destroyer  Wadswoi^th,  who  had  arrived 
only  a  few  days  before  from  America. 

The  fate  of  Q  18  was  as  follows  :  At  6.35,  on  the 
morning  of  February  19,  1917,  she  was  at  the  western 
end  of  the  English  Channel,  when  she  was  attacked 
by  a  submarine  who  was  coming  up  from  3  miles 
astern  shelling  her.  After  the  usual  panic  party  had 
been  sent  away  and  the  others  had  concealed  them- 
selves, the  submarine  came  close  under  the  stern, 
evidently  so  as  to  read  the  ship's  name.  At  7.10 
Lady  Olive  opened  fire,  the  first  two  shots  hitting  the 
base  of  the  conning-tower,  the  other  shot  putting  the 
enemy's  gun  out  of  action  and  killing  the  man  at 
the  gun,  the  range  being  only  100  yards.  Six  more 
effectual  shots  were  fired,  the  man  in  the  conning- 


SUBMARINES  AND  Q-SHIP  TACTICS    105 

tower  being  also  killed.  The  submarine  then  sub- 
merged. Lieutenant  F.  A.  Frank,  R.N.R.,  the 
captain  of  the  Q-ship,  now  rang  down  for  full  speed 
ahead,  with  the  intention  of  dropping  depth  charges. 
No  answer  was  made  to  his  telegraph,  so  he  waited 
and  rang  again.  Still  no  answer.  He  then  left  the 
bridge,  went  below  to  the  engine-room,  and  found 
it  full  of  steam,  with  the  sea  rising  rapidly. 
Engine-room,  stokehold,  and  the  after  'tw^een  deck 
were  filling  up,  the  dynamo  was  out  of  action,  it  was 
impossible  to  use  the  wireless,  and  the  steam-pipe  had 
burst  owing  to  the  enemy  having  landed  two  shots 
into  the  engine-room. 

As  the  ship  was  sinking,  the  only  thing  to  do  was 
to  leave  her.  Boats  and  rafts  were  provisioned,  the 
steel  chest,  containing  confidential  documents,  was 
thrown  overboard,  the  ship  was  this  time  really  aban- 
doned in  earnest,  and  all  took  to  the  three  boats  and 
two  rafts  at  9.30  a.m.  Thus  they  proceeded  in  single 
line.  Fortunately  the  weather  was  fine,  and  Lieu- 
tenant Frank  decided  to  make  for  the  French  coast, 
w^hich  was  to  the  southward,  and  an  hour  later  he 
despatched  an  officer  and  half  a  dozen  hands  in  the 
small  boat  to  seek  for  assistance.  So  the  day  went 
on,  but  only  the  slowest  progress  w^as  made.  At 
5  p.m.  Lieutenant  Frank  decided  to  leave  the  rafts 
and  take  the  men  into  the  boats,  as  some  were  begin- 
ning to  faint  through  immersion  in  the  cold  February 
sea,  and  it  was  impossible  to  make  headway  towing 
those  ungainly  floats  with  the  strong  tide  setting  them 
at  this  time  towards  the  Atlantic.  The  accommoda- 
tion in  each  boat  was  for  seventeen,  but  twenty-three 
had  been  crowded  into  each. 

With  Lieutenant  Frank's  boat  leading,  the  two 
little  craft  pulled  towards  the  southward,  and  about 


106         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

9  p.m.  a  light  was  sighted,  but  soon  lost  through  the 
mist  and  rain.  An  hour  later  another  light  showed 
up,  and  about  this  time  Lieutenant  Frank  lost  sight 
of  his  other  boat,  but  at  eleven  o'clock  a  bright  light 
was  seen,  evidently  on  the  mainland,  and  this  was 
steered  for.  Mist  and  rain  again  obscured  everything, 
but  by  rowing  through  the  night  it  was  hoped  to  sight 
it  by  daylight.  Night,  however,  was  followed  by  a 
hopeless  dawn,  for  no  land  was  visible.  It  was  heart- 
breaking after  all  these  long  hours.  The  men  had 
now  become  very  tired  and  sleepy,  and  were  feeling 
downhearted,  as  well  they  might,  with  the  cold,  wet, 
and  fatigue,  and,  to  make  matters  no  better,  the  wind 
freshened  from  the  south-west,  and  a  nasty,  curling 
sea  had  got  up.  Lieutenant  Frank  put  the  boat's 
head  on  to  the  sea,  did  all  he  could  to  cheer  his  men 
up,  and  insisted  that  he  could  see  the  land.  Everyone 
did  a,  turn  at  pulling,  and  the  sub-lieutenant,  the 
sergeant-major  of  marines,  the  coxswain,  and  Lieu- 
tenant Frank  each  steered  by  turns.  Happily  by 
noon  of  the  twentieth  the  wind  eased  up,  the  sea 
moderated,  and  Lieutenant  Frank  had  a  straight  talk 
to  his  men,  telling  them  their  only  chance  was  to 
make  the  land,  and  to  put  their  hearts  into  getting 
there,  for  land  in  sight  there  was.  Exhorting  these 
worn-out  mariners  to  put  their  weight  on  to  the  oars, 
he  reminded  them  that  everyone  would  do  '  spell 
about,'  for  the  land  must  be  made  that  night. 

Every  man  of  this  forlorn  boat-load  buckled  to  and 
did  his  best,  but,  owing  to  the  crowded  condition,  and 
the  weakness  of  them  all,  progress  was  pathetically 
slow.  Thus  passed  another  morning  and  another  after- 
noon. But  at  5.15  p.m.  a  steamer  was  sighted.  Alas  ! 
she  ignored  them  and  turned  away  to  the  westward, 
and  apparently  was  not  coming  near  them.     Then 


SUBMARINES  AND  Q-SHIP  TACTICS    107 

presently  she  was  seen  to  alter  course  to  the  east,  and 
began  to  circle  towards  them.  This  was  the  French 
destroyer,  Dunois,  who  had  seen  a  submarine  actually 
following  this  English  rowing  boat.  The  destroyer, 
which  had  to  be  handled  smartly,  came  alongside  the 
boat,  and  shouted  to  the  men  to  come  aboard  quickly, 
as  she  feared  she  might  lose  the  submarine.  Here  was 
rest  at  last ;  but,  just  as  the  boat  had  got  alongside, 
Dunois  again  caught  sight  of  the  Hun,  had  to  leave 
the  boat  and  begin  circling  round  and  firing  on  the 
pest.  At  six  o'clock  the  destroyer  once  more  closed 
the  boat,  and  got  sixteen  of  the  men  out,  when  she 
suddenly  saw  the  U-boat,  fired  on  her,  and  went  full 
speed  ahead,  the  port  propeller  guard  crashing  against 
the  boat,  so  that  it  ripped  out  the  latter 's  starboard  side. 

There  were  still  seven  men  in  the  boat,  and  it 
seemed  as  if  they  were  destined  never  to  be  rescued 
after  their  long  vigil,  and  moreover  the  boat  was  now 
nearly  full  of  water.  Dtmois  came  down  again  ;  some 
of  the  Q-ship's  seven  jumped  into  the  water,  the 
destroyer  lowering  her  cutter  and  picking  up  the  rest. 
The  submarine  was  not  seen  again ;  the  destroyer 
arrived  safely  in  Cherbourg,  where  the  Englishmen 
were  landed,  and  next  morning  they  met  a  trawler 
with  the  crew  of  the  second  cutter  on  board. 

Such,  then,  were  action  and  counter- action  of  Q- 
ship  and  submarine ;  such  were  the  hardships  and 
suffering  which  our  men  were  called  upon  to  endure 
when  by  bad  luck,  error  of  judgment,  or  superior 
cleverness  of  the  enemy,  the  combat  ended  unfavour- 
ably for  the  mystery  ship.  Not  all  our  contests  were 
indecisive  or  victorious,  and  some  of  these  subsequent 
passages  in  open  boats  are  most  harrowing  tales  of 
the  sea.  Men  became  hysterical,  went  mad,  died,  and 
had  to  be  consigned  to  the  depths,  after  suffering  the 


108         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

terrors  of  thirst,  hunger,  fatigue,  and  prolonged 
suspense.  It  was  a  favourite  ruse  for  the  U-boat, 
having  seen  the  survivors  row  off,  to  remain  in  the 
vicinity  until  the  rescuing  ship  should  come  along,  so 
that,  whilst  the  latter  was  stopped  and  getting  the 
wretched  victims  on  board,  Fritz  could,  from  the  other 
side,  send  her  to  the  bottom  with  an  easily-aimed 
torpedo.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  but  for  the 
smartness  of  Duiiois'  captain,  she,  too,  would  have 
suffered  the  fate  of  the  Q-ship,  and  then  neither 
British  nor  French  would  have  survived.  It  is  such 
incidents  as  these  which  make  it  impossible  to  forget 
our  late  enemies,  even  if  some  day  we  forgive. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  SPLENDID  '  PENSHURST  ' 

On  November  9,  1915,  the  Admiralty,  who  had  taken 
up  the  steamer  Penshurst  (1,191  gross  tons),  com- 
missioned her  at  Longhope  as  a  Q-ship,  her  ahases 
being  Q  7  and  Manjord.  This  inconspicuous-looking 
vessel  thus  began  a  life  far  more  adventurous  than 
ever  her  designers  or  builders  had  contemplated. 
Indeed,  if  we  were  to  select  the  three  Q-ships  which 
had  the  longest  and  most  exciting  career,  we  should 
bracket  Penshurst  with  Farnhorough  and  Baralong. 

The  following  incidents  illustrate  that  no  particular 
rule  could  be  laid  down  as  to  when  a  Q-ship  could 
get  in  touch  with  the  enemy.  We  have  seen  that 
Baralong  set  forth  for  a  particular  locality  to  look 
for  a  definite  submarine  and  found  her.  Other  decoys 
searched  for  submarines  but  never  so  much  as  sighted 
one ;  others,  again,  when  everything  seemed  quiet, 
suddenly  found  themselves  torpedoed  and  sinking. 
Others,  too,  had  an  engagement  to-day,  but  their 
next  fight  did  not  come  until  a  year  later.  The  case 
of  Penshurst  is  interesting  in  that  on  two  consecutive 
days  she  fought  a  submarine,  but  she  is  further 
interesting  as  having  been  commanded  by  an  officer 
who,  with  Captain  Gordon  Campbell,  will  always 
remain  the  greatest  of  all  Q-ship  captains. 

Commander  F.  H.  Grenfell,  R.N.,  was  a  retired 
officer  who,  like  so   many   others,   had   come   back 

109 


no        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 


to  the  service  after  the  outbreak  of  war.  After 
serving  for  a  year  in  the  10th  Cruiser  Squadron  as 
second-in-command  of  Cedric,  he  was  appointed  to 
command  Penshurst,  cruised  up  and  down  first  off 
the  north  of  Scotland,  then  off  Ireland,  and  in  the 
English  Channel  for  nearly  a  year  without  any  luck. 
On  November   29,    1916,   a   year   after   her   advent 


8.20 am f  ^ 


Fig,  9. — Diagram  to  Illustrate  Approximate   Movements  of  'Pens- 
hurst'  IN  her  Engagement  with  Submarine  on  November  29,  1916. 

into  this  special  service,  Penshurst,  who,  with  her 
three  masts,  low  freeboard,  and  funnel  aft,  resembled 
an  oil-tanker,  was  steaming  down  the  English  Channel 
at  8  knots.  The  time  was  7.45  a.m.,  and  her  course 
was  S.  81  W.  (Mag.),  her  position  at  this  time  being 
Lat.  49.45  N.,  Long.  4.40  W.  She  was  definitely  on 
the  look-out  for  a  certain  submarine  which  had 
been  reported  at  4.30  the  previous  afternoon  in  Lat. 
50.03  N.,  Long.  3.38  W.     As  Penshiirst  went  jogging 


THE  SPLENDID  '  PENSHURST  '      111 

along,  picture  a  smooth  sea,  a  light  south-west  wind, 
and  the  sun  just  rising.  Fine  on  the  port  bow  7  miles 
away  was  the  British  merchant  steamer  JVileyside, 
armed,  as  many  ships  were  at  this  time,  defensively 
with  one  gun  aft ;  while  hull  down  on  PensJiw^^f s 
starboard  bow  was  a  sailing  ship  of  sorts.  Then, 
of  a  sudden,  a  small  object  was  sighted  on  the  port 
beam  against  the  glare  of  the  horizon,  so  that  it  was 
difficult  to  make  out  either  its  nature  or  its  distance. 
However,  at  7.52  a.m.  this  was  settled  by  the  object 
firing  a  shot  and  disclosing  herself  as  a  submarine. 
The  shot  fell  60  yards  short,  but  a  few  minutes  later 
came  another  which  passed  over  the  mainmast  with- 
out hitting.  The  range  was  about  five  miles,  but 
owing  to  the  bad  light  Captain  Grenfell  could  not  see 
whether  the  enemy  was  closing.  In  order  to  induce 
her  so  to  do,  at  8  a.m.  he  altered  course  to  N.  4.5  W. 
This  brought  the  enemy  nearly  astern,  and  at 
the  same  time  Penshurst  slowed  down  to  half 
speed.  By  this  time  the  sun  was  above  the  horizon, 
and  the  light  was  worse  than  before,  but  the  sub- 
marine was  apparently  altering  course  to  cut  off  the 
JVileyside,  and  ignoring  Penshurst.  Therefore,  at 
8.6  a.m.  the  latter  altered  course  so  as  again  to 
bring  the  submarine  abeam.  This  had  the  desired 
effect,  for  at  8.10  a.m.  the  submarine  fired  a  third 
shot,  which  fell  about  200  yards  short  of  Penshurst, 
and  this  proved  that  Q-ship  and  submarine  were 
closing.  Two  minutes  later  Penshurst  stopped  her 
engines  and  the  usual  '  panic '  evolution  was  carried 
out,  by  which  time  the  submarine  had  closed  to 
within  3,000  yards,  and  turned  on  a  course  parallel 
with  the  Q-ship,  reducing  to  slow  speed  and  being 
just  abaft  the  Penshursfs  port  beam  and  silhouetted 
against  the  glare  of  the  sun,  three  Germans  being 


112        Q  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

seen  standing  in  the  conning-tower.  In  order  to 
spin  out  the  time,  the  Q-ship's  boats  were  being 
turned  out  and  lowered  as  clumsily  as  possible,  and 
now  the  U-boat  sent  along  a  couple  more  shots,  one 
of  which  fell  over  and  the  other  short. 

Thus  far  it  had  been  a  contest  of  brain,  and 
Captain  Grenfell  had  succeeded  in  making  the  enemy- 
conform  to  the  British  will.  At  8.20  a.m.,  as  there 
seemed  no  possibility  of  inducing  the  submarine 
to  come  any  closer,  Pensfmrst  opened  fire,  but  there 
was  time  to  fire  only  a  couple  of  rounds  from  the 
12-pounder  and  6-pounder  and  three  rounds  from 
the  3-pounder  before  the  German  hurriedly  dived,  for 
all  three  guns  had  dropped  their  shots  pretty  close  to 
the  target.  The  shooting  had  been  done  under  diffi- 
cult circumstances,  for  it  was  at  a  black  spot  against 
a  strong  glare.  When  once  the  enemy  submerged, 
Penshurst  went  full  speed  to  the  spot  and  dropped  a 
depth  charge,  but  the  German  had  escaped,  and 
she  would  live  to  warn  her  sister  submarines  about 
the  Q-ship  which  had  surprised  her. 

For  this  U-boat  had  had  a  careful  look  at  Penshurst^ 
and  Captain  Grenfell  could  hardly  hope  to  surprise 
the  submarine  again  and  bring  her  to  action,  so  he 
altered  course  to  the  eastward  with  the  object  of 
intercepting  another  U-boat,  whose  presence  had  been 
reported  at  11.15  that  forenoon  5  miles  north  of 
Alderney.  V^ery  likely  the  submarine  with  whom  he 
had  just  been  engaged  would  send  out  by  her 
telefiinken  wireless  a  full  description  of  the  Q-ship, 
so,  as  she  steamed  along,  Penshurst  now  altered  her 
appearance  by  painting  herself  a  different  colour  and 
by  lowering  the  mizzen-mast  during  the  night.  Thus, 
when  the  sun  rose  on  November  30,  on  what  was  to 
be  Penshui'sfs  lucky  day,  she  seemed  to  be  a  totally 
different  ship. 


THE  SPLENDID  'PENSHURST'      113 

During  the  forenoon  of  November  30  we  should 
have  seen  this  transformed  Penshurst  going  down 
Channel  again  well  south  of  the  Dorset  chalk  cliffs. 
At  noon  she  was  in  the  position  Lat.  50.11  N., 
Long.  2.31  W.  (see  track  chart),  steering  N.  89  W., 


i I.  so  p.m.. 

OPosiHon  cfS/Mat3.  I7pm 

.15p.m. 

'>'h.l2p.m. 


C^squetsd     y^ 
Alaerney 


3?W 


C  Barf  leu r 


Fig.  10. — Diagram  to  Illustrate  Approximate  Movements  of  'Pens- 
hurst '  IN  HER  Action  with  Submarine  on  November  .30,  1916. 


when  she  intercepted  a  wireless  signal  from  the 
Weymouth-Guernsey  S.S.  Ibex  that  a  submarine 
had  been  seen  at  11.44  a.m.  20  miles  N.W.  of  the 
Casquets ;  so  the  Q-ship  altered  course  towards 
this   position,  and  at  1.50  p.m.    the   conning- tower 

8 


114         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

of  a  submarine  was  observed  5  miles  to  the  south- 
ward, apparently  chasing  a  steamer  to  the  westward. 
A  few  minutes  later  the  German  turned  eastward 
and  then  submerged.  It  was  then  that  Penshurst 
saw  a  seaplane,  which  had  come  across  the  Channel 
from  the  Portland  base,  fly  over  the  submarine's 
position  and  drop  a  bomb  Mdthout  effect.  This 
caused  Captain  Grenfell  to  reconstruct  his  plans,  for 
it  was  hopeless  now  to  expect  that  the  submarine 
would  engage  on  the  surface.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Q-ship  with  her  speed  would  be  superior  to  this 
type  of  submarine,  which,  when  submerged,  could  not 
do  better  than  6  knots  at  her  maximum,  but  would 
probably  be  doing  less  than  this.  The  weapon  should, 
therefore,  be  the  depth  charge,  and  not  the  gun.  He 
decided  to  co-operate  with  the  seaplane,  and  ran 
down  towards  her. 

It  was  necessary  first  to  get  in  touch  with  the  air- 
man and  explain  who  the  ship  was,  so  at  2.22  p.m., 
being  now  in  Lat.  50  N.,  Long.  2.48  W.,  Captain  Gren- 
fell stopped  his  engines,  and  after  some  attempts  at 
communication  by  signal,  the  seaplane  alighted  on 
the  water  alongside.  Captain  Grenfell  was  thus  able 
to  arrange  with  the  pilot  to  direct  the  Q-ship  and  fire 
a  signal-hght  when  the  ship  should  be  over  the 
submarine ;  a  depth  charge  could  then  be  let  go. 
But  the  best-laid  schemes  of  seamen  and  airmen 
sometimes  went  wrong :  for,  just  after  the  seaplane 
had  risen  into  the  air,  she  crashed  on  to  the  water, 
broke  a  wing,  knocked  off  her  floats  and  began  to 
sink.  This  was  annoying  at  a  time  when  the  Q-ship 
wanted  to  be  thinking  of  nothing  except  the  enemy ; 
but  Penshurst  lowered  her  gig  and  rescued  the  air- 
men, then  went  alongside  the  injured  seaplane, 
grappled  it,  and  was  preparing  to  hoist  it  on  board 


THE  SPLENDID  '  PENSHURST  '      115 

when  at  3. 14  p.m.  a  shell  dropped  into  the  sea  200 
yards  ahead  of  the  ship.  Other  shots  quickly  followed, 
and  then  the  submarine  was  sighted  about  6,000  yards 
on  the  port  quarter.  How  the  enemy  must  have 
laughed  as,  through  his  periscope,  he  saw  the  aircraft 
which  so  recently  had  been  the  aggressor,  now  a 
wreck !  How  certain  a  victim  the  innocent-looking 
steamer  seemed  to  him  ! 

Captain  Grenfell,  by  change  of  circumstances,  had 
once  more  to  modify  his  plans,  stop  all  salvage  work, 
cast  off  the  seaplane  and  swing  in  his  derrick,  which 
was  to  have  hoisted  the  latter  in.  The  men  in  the 
gig  could  not  be  left,  and  he  was  faced  with  two 
alternatives.  Either  he  could  hoist  the  gig  on  the 
port  quarter  in  full  view  of  the  enemy,  or  he  could 
tow  her  alongside  to  starboard,  and  risk  her  being 
seen.  He  chose  the  latter,  and  at  3.24  p.m.  proceeded 
on  a  south-westerly  course  at  slow  speed.  The  sub- 
marine now  came  up  right  astern,  so  course  had  to  be 
altered  gradually  to  keep  the  German  on  the  port 
quarter  and  out  of  sight  of  the  gig. 

Slowly  the  submarine  overhauled  the  Q-ship,  firing 
at  intervals,  and  at  4.12  p.m.,  when  she  was  within 
1,000  yards,  Penshirst  stopped  her  engines,  the  panic 
party  '  abandoned '  ship,  and  the  two  boat-loads  pulled 
away  to  starboard.  The  German  now  sheered  out  to 
port,  swept  round  on  Pemhursfs  port  beam,  and 
passed  close  under  the  stern  of  her  with  the  object  of 
securing  the  ship's  papers  from  the  captain,  whom  the 
enemy  supposed  to  be  in  the  boats.  A  party  of  Ger- 
mans would  then  have  boarded  the  ship  and  sunk  her 
with  bombs.  But  these  intentions  w^ere  suddenly 
frustrated  at  4.26  p.m.,  when,  the  submarine  being  on 
Penshursfs  starboard  quarter  and  all  the  latter's  guns 
bearing,  the  British  ship  opened  fire  at  the  delight- 


116         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

fully  convenient  range  of  only  250  yards.  This  was 
the  last  thing  the  enemy  was  expecting.  No  one  was 
standing  by  her  8"8-centimetre  gun  forward  of  the 
conning-tower,  the  attention  of  all  the  Germans  on 
deck  being  directed  towards  the  Q-ship's  boats  rowing 
about.  Thus  completely  and  utterly  surprised,  the 
Germans  never  made  any  attempt  to  return  the  fire. 
The  second  shot,  fired  from  Penshursfs  starboard 
3-pounder,  penetrated  right  through  into  the  engine- 
room  and  prevented  the  submarine  from  submerging. 
At  this  ridiculous  range  the  British  guns  were  able  to 
be  worked  at  their  maximum  rapidity,  so  that  over 
eighty  rounds  were  fired  and  almost  every  shot  took 
effect.  Very  soon  the  submarine's  hull  was  fairly 
riddled  with  holes,  and  large  parts  of  the  conning- 
tower  and  hull  plating  were  blown  away  by  the  shells 
from  the  12-pounder. 

After  only  ten  minutes'  engagement  the  submarine 
foundered,  bows  first,  but  not  before  Penshursfs  boats 
had  taken  off  the  survivors  and  also  those  who  had 
leapt  into  the  sea.  These  survivors  included  Ober- 
Leutnant  Erich  Noodt,  Leutnant  Karl  Bartel,  In- 
genieur-Aspirant  Eigler,  and  thirteen  of  the  crew ; 
but  seven  had  been  killed.  Thus  perished  UB  19, 
who  had  left  Zeebrugge  on  November  22,  having 
come  via  the  Straits  of  Dover.  She  was  about  118 
feet  long,  painted  grey,  had  the  one  gun,  tAVO  peri- 
scopes, and  had  been  built  the  year  previous.  She 
was  of  the  smaller  class  of  submarines  belonging  to 
the  Flanders  flotilla  which  operated  for  three  weeks 
on  end  in" the  waters  of  the  English  Channel,  carrying 
only  three  torpedoes,  one  of  which  had  already  been 
used  to  sink  a  Norwegian  ship.  It  was  learned  from 
her  crew  that  her  submerged  speed  was  about  4  knots  ; 
so  Captain  Grenfell,  but  for  the  accident  to  the  sea- 


Q-SHTP  "  Penshuest'' 

This  shows  a  dress  rehearsal.  The  "panic  party"  are  seen  rowinj,'  away  in 
one  of  the  ship's  boats,  the  White  Ensign  is  lieing  hoisted  on  the  foremast  and 
the  guns  are  about  to  open  tire.     In  this  picture  she  has  her  mizzen  mast  up. 


Q-sHiP  "Penshurst"  at  sea 

Seen  witli  only  two  masts,  the  mizzen  having  been  lowered.  The  crew's 
washing  is  displayed  as  in  a  tramp  steamer.  The  funnel  has  been  pninted  a 
different  colour.  ]>ut  behind  the  white  wind  screen  on  the  lower  bridge  is  a 
(i-pounder  gun — one  each  side — which  can  fire  from  ahead  to  astern.  Inside 
the  boat  on  the  main  hatch  just  forward  of  the  funnel  is  the  (iummy  boat  in 
which  a  I'J-pounder  is  concealed.  Two  H-ponnders  are  in  the  after  deck-house. 
Depth  charges  were  released  through  ports  in  the  counter. 

To  face  p.  IIG 


THE  SPLENDID  '  PENSHURS T  '      117 

plane,  would  have  been  able  to  get  right  over  her  and 
destroy  her  by  depth  charge. 

Thus,  at  length,  after  a  year  of  hard  work,  dis- 
appointment, and  all  kinds  of  weather,  Commander 
Grenfell,  by  liis  doggedness  and  downright  skill,  had 
scored  his  tirst  success.  The  King  rewarded  him  with 
a  D.S.O.,  another  officer  received  the  D.S.C.,  and 
one  of  the  crew  the  D.S.M.  The  ship's  complement 
consisted  of  Commander  Grenfell,  three  temporary 
(acting)  R.N.R.  lieutenants,  and  one  assistant  pay- 
master, who  was  engaged  during  the  action  in  taking 
notes.  The  crew  numbered  fifty-six,  which  included 
R.N.R.  and  R.N.V.R.  ratings.  The  sum  of  £1,000 
was  awarded  to  the  ship,  and,  after  the  war,  Lord 
Sterndale  in  the  Prize  Court  awarded  a  further  sum 
as  prize  bounty. 

The  gallant  Penshurst  had  not  long  to  wait  for  her 
next  adventure.  December  passed,  and  on  January 
14,  1917,  there  was  another  and  newer  UB  boat 
ready  for  her.  It  was  ten  minutes  to  four  in  the 
afternoon,  and  the  Q-ship  was  in  Lat.  50.9  N.,  Long. 
1.46  W. — that  is  to  say,  between  the  Isle  of  Wight 
and  Alderney,  when  she  saw  a  submarine  heading 
towards  her.  Five  minutes  later,  the  German,  when 
3,000  yards  off,  fired,  but  the  shot  fell  short.  The 
Q-ship  then  stopped  her  engines,  went  to  '  panic  ' 
stations,  and  sent  away  her  boats  with  the  '  abandon 
ship  '  party.  Penshurst  then  gradually  fell  off  to 
port,  and  lay  with  her  head  about  W.N.  W.,  bringing 
the  submarine  on  the  starboard  bow.  Closing  rapidly 
on  this  bearing,  the  UB  boat  kept  firing  at  intervals, 
and  when  about  700  yards  off  turned  as  though  to 
cross  Captain  GrenfelFs  bows.  The  latter  withheld  his 
fire,  thinking  the  enemy  was  going  round  to  the  boats 
on  the  port  quarter,  and  he  would  be  able  to  get  her 


118         Q  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

at  close  range.  But  the  German  stopped  in  this 
position,  exposing  her  broadside,  and  quickened  her 
rate  of  fire,  hitting  the  steamer  twice  in  succession. 
It  was  this  kind  of  experience  which  always  tested 
the  discipline  and  training  of  the  Q-ship,  as  a  well- 
trained  boxer  can  receive  punishment  without  losing 
his  temper,  knowing  his  chance  will  come  presently. 
The  first  hit  broke  an  awning  ridge-pole  on  Pens- 

Bill  of  f\}rHjnd 


J  SOpm 
stopped 


^Noon  It/1/17 


Barfleur 


Fig.  11.— Diagram  to  Illustrate  Approximate  Movements  of 
'  Penshurst  '  in  her  Action  with  Submarine  on  January  14,  1917. 


Jmrsfs  bridge,  the  second  shell  struck  the  angle  of  the 
lower  bridge,  severing  the  engine-room  telegraph 
connections  and  the  pipe  connecting  the  hydraulic 
release  gear,  by  means  of  which  the  depth  charge  aft 
could  be  let  go  from  the  bridge.  This  shell  also 
killed  the  gun-layer  and  loading-number  of  the 
6-pounder,  wounding  its  breech-worker  and  the 
signalman  who  was  standing  by  to  hoist  the  White 
Ensign.     So  at  4.24  p.m.  Fenshurst  opened  fire,  her 


THE  SPLENDID  'PENSHUIIST'      119 

first  shot  from  the  12-pounder  hitting  the  base  of  the 
enemy's  conning-tower  and  causing  a  large  explosion, 
as  though  the  ammunition  had  been  exploded. 
Large  parts  of  the  conning-tower  were  seen  to  be 
blown  away,  and  a  big  volume  of  black  smoke  arose. 
The  second  British  shot  from  this  gun  hit  the  enemy 
a  little  abaft  the  conning-tower  and  also  visibly 
damaged  the  hull.  The  starboard  3-pounder  hit  the 
lower  part  of  the  conning-tower  at  least  four  times, 
and  then  the  enemy  sank  by  the  stern.  PensJiurst 
wanted  to  make  sure,  so  steamed  ahead  and  dropped 
depth  charges  over  her,  then  picked  up  her  boats  and 
made  for  Portland,  where  she  arrived  at  ten  o'clock 
that  evening  and  sent  her  wounded  to  the  Naval 
Hospital.  It  had  been  another  excellent  day's  work, 
for  UB  37,  one  of  those  modern  craft  fitted  w4th  net- 
cutters  forward  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  a  way 
through  the  Dover  Straits  barrage,  had  been  definitely 
destroyed  without  a  single  survivor,  ^lore  rewards 
followed,  and,  later  on,  more  prize  bounty. 

Penshurst  resumed  her  cruising,  and  just  about  a 
month  later  she  was  in  the  western  approach  to  the 
English  Channel,  the  exact  date  being  February  20, 
and  the  position  Lat.  49.21  N.,  Long.  6.16  W.  At 
12.36  p.m.  a  German  submarine  rose  to  the  surface, 
and  a  quarter  of  an  hour  later  began  firing  at  a  range 
of  3,000  yards.  Penshurst  then  '  abandoned '  ship, 
and  at  1.4  p.m.  opened  fire  and  scored  a  hit  with  her 
6-pounder.  At  100  yards  range  the  other  guns  came 
into  action,  and  the  enemy  was  hit  above  the  water- 
line  in  the  centre  of  the  conning-tower  and  abaft  this 
superstructure.  She  then  submerged  and  was  depth- 
charged  ;  yet  this  submarine,  in  spite  of  all  this,  was 
not  sunk.  This  again  illustrated  the  statement 
already  made  that  a   submarine   could   be   severely 


120        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

holed  and  yet  be  able  to  get  back  home.  A  still  more 
illuminating  example  is  to  be  found  in  the  following 
incident. 

Only  two  days  had  elapsed  and  Penshurst  was 
again  busily  engaged.  It  was  at  11.34  a.m.,  Feb- 
ruary 22,  and  the  ship  was  off  the  south  coast  of 
Ireland,  the  exact  position  being  Lat.  51.56  N., 
Long.  ^A^  W.  Penshurst  was  steering  S.  89  W. 
when  she  saw  a  submarine  steering  west.  The  steam- 
ship therefore  steamed  at  her  utmost  speed,  but 
could  not  get  up  to  her,  for  we  may  as  well  mention 
that  this  was  U  84,  a  very  up-to-date  submarine 
which  had  a  surface  speed  of  16  knots  and  could  do 
her  9  knots  submerged  for  a  whole  hour.  It  is  not 
to  be  wondered,  therefore,  that  she  could  run  away 
from  this  slow  steamer  and  at  11.55  a.m.  disappear. 
At  this  time  there  was  in  sight  8  miles  away  H.^l.S. 
Alyssum,  one  of  Admiral  Bayly's  sloops  based  on 
Queenstown,  who  was  escorting  the  large  four-masted 
S.S.  Canadian.  As  Penshurst  proceeded,  she  sighted 
at  12.18  p.m.  a  boat  with  men  in  it,  these  being  from 
the  torpedoed  sailing  ship  Tnvercauld,  which  had  been 
sunk  22  miles  S.E.  of  Mine  Head,  Ireland,  that  same 
day.  A  few  minutes  later  and  Penshurst  observed 
the  keel  of  this  ship  floating  bottom  up.  At  12.35 
the  periscopes  of  U  84  were  seen  to  emerge  400  yards 
on  the  port  beam,  and  the  track  of  a  torpedo  making 
straight  for  the  midships  of  Penshurst.  By  at  once 
starboarding  the  helm,  disaster  was  avoided,  but  the 
torpedo  passed  as  close  as  15  feet. 

The  Q-ship  then  altered  course  to  E.  J  S.  as  though 
running  away,  and  reduced  to  half  speed  to  allow  the 
enemy  to  come  up.  Boats  were  turned  out,  the  panic 
party  stood  by  with  lifebelts  on,  and  just  after  one 
o'clock,  at  3,500  yards  range,  the  U-boat  opened  fire. 


Q-SHip  "  Penshurst  " 

In  this  dummy  boat  mounted  on  the  main  hatch  is  seen  hidden  the  12-pounder 
gun.  The  sides  of  the  boat  were  movable.  The  voice  pipe  from  the  bridge  to 
the  two  after  guns  was  laslied  to  the  derricli  and  thus  liidden  from  the  enemy. 


Q-SHIP    "  PeNSHUPvST  " 

This  shows  how  the  concealed  12-pounder  gun  could  be  brought  into  action  by 
removing  the  boat's  sides.  The  bow  end  of  the  boat  has  been  moved  to  the  far 
side  of  the  gun.  where  Captain  Grenfell,  attired  in  his  '■  mystery"  rig  of  a 
^piaster  mariner,  is  seen  standing.  As  will  be  seen  from  the  other  photograph, 
the  sides  of  the  boat  when  in  position  were  a  perfect  fit.  The  coil  of  rope  was 
intended  to  hide  the  gun's  pedestal  from  observation  by  the  enemy. 

To  face  p.  120 


THE  SPLENDID  '  PENSHURS T        P21 

whereupon  the  Q-ship  '  abandoned  '  ship.  Then  the 
enemy  closed  to  1,500  yards  on  the  starboard  bow, 
but  cautiously  submerged,  and  then,  closely  and 
leisurely,  inspected  the  ship  from  the  periscope. 
Having  done  that,  and  apparently  been  quite  satisfied 
that  this  was  no  trap- ship,  the  submarine  emerged  on 
the  port  quarter,  GOO  yards  away  and  broadside  on. 
One  German  officer  then  came  out  of  the  conning- 
tower  and  two  other  men  looked  out  of  the  hatch. 
The  first  then  shouted  for  the  captain  to  come  along- 
side with  the  ship's  papers,  but  the  British  petty 
officer  in  charge  of  the  boat  party,  in  order  to  gain 
valuable  time,  ingeniously  pretended  not  to  under- 
stand. The  German  then  repeated  his  order,  so  the 
petty  officer  replied  he  w^ould  bring  the  boat  round 
by  the  stern,  the  intention,  of  course,  secretly  being 
for  the  purpose  of  affording  Penshurst  a  clear  range. 

The  petty  officer's  crew  had  not  rowed  more  than 
three  strokes  when  bang  went  Penshursfs  guns,  at 
which  the  German  officer  leapt  through  the  hatch  of 
his  conning-tower,  a  shot  hitting  the  after  part  of  this 
superstructure  just  as  the  officer  disappeared.  Two 
more  shells  got  home  in  the  centre,  another  hit  the 
hull  abaft  the  conning-tower  and  burst,  one  holing 
the  hull  below  the  conning-tow^er's  base.  The  sub- 
marine dived,  but  after  a  few  minutes  her  bows  came 
up  out  of  the  water  at  a  steep  angle.  Fire  was  then 
reopened  at  her,  and  one  shot  was  seen  to  go  through 
her  side,  and  then  once  more  she  submerged.  Tw^o 
depth  charges  were  dropped  near  the  spot  and 
exploded,  and  then  again  the  bows  of  the  enemy 
broke  surface  at  a  steep  angle,  but  3,000  yards  to  the 
westward.  Next  the  after  deck  came  to  the  surface, 
and  all  the  crew  came  out  and  lined  the  deck.  Pens- 
hurst resumed  shelling,  hit  her  again,  but  U  84  now 


122        Q-SHirS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

returned  the  fire.  She  was  a  big  submarine,  230  feet 
long,  armed  with  a  4*1 -inch  and  a  22-pounder,  and 
a  dozen  torpedoes  which  could  be  fired  from  six 
tubes. 

But  now  approached  H.M.S.  Alyssum  from  the 
north  and  began  to  shell  the  enemy,  so  that  the  latter 
made  off  to  the  southward.  The  speed  of  Penshurst 
was  8  knots — that  is  to  say,  about  half  that  of  the 
enemy.  Nor  could  the  sloop  overtake  the  latter,  who, 
after  being  chased  for  three  hours,  disappeared  at 
5.12  p.m.  These  sloops  had  been  built  for  mine- 
sweeping  work,  and  not  as  anti-submarine  ships,  and 
it  was  only  because  of  the  shortage  of  destroyers — 
thanks  largely  to  the  demands  in  this  respect  by  the 
Grand  Fleet — that  these  single-screwed,  compara- 
tively slow  vessels  were  engaged  on  escort  and  patrol 
duties. 

In  this  engagement  between  the  Q-ship  and  sub- 
marine everything  had  been  done  that  could  have 
been  brought  about  by  a  most  experienced,  skilful, 
and  determined  British  officer.  His  guns  had  kept 
on  hitting,  and  yet  the  enemy  had  escaped.  Fortu- 
nately we  now  know  the  story  from  the  enemy's  side, 
as  an  account  of  this  incident  was  published  in  the 
German  Press,  and  bears  out  all  that  has  been  said 
above.  The  German  version  mentions  that  U  84 
took  the  British  ship  for  a  tank  steamer.  This  is  not 
in  the  least  surprising,  for  the  Penshurst  was  one  of 
those  small  ships  with  her  engines  aft  just  as  you  see 
in  an  '  oil-tanker,'  and  such  a  craft  was  sure  enough 
bait  for  any  submarine.  The  Germans  say  the 
torpedo  was  fired  at  765  yards  range,  and  missed 
because  the  British  ship  was  going  '  faster  than  we 
supposed.'  The  Q-ship's  disguise  was  perfect,  for  it 
was  not  until  she  opened  fire  that  she  was  suspected 


THE  SPLENDID  'PENSHURST'      123 

of  being  a  'trap.'  As  to  the  latter's  shelling,  the 
German  account  admits  that  the  superstructure  abaft 
the  conning- tower  was  at  once  penetrated,  and  that 
hardly  had  the  hatch  been  closed  than  '  there  is  a 
sharp  report  in  the  conning-tower,  a  yellow  flash,  and 
explosive  gases  fill  the  air.  A  shell  has  penetrated 
the  side  of  the  conning-tower  and  exploded  inside.' 
The  result  was  that  one  man  was  injured.  She  then 
dived,  and  at  G5-G  feet  they  felt  the  two  depth 
charges,  which  made  the  boat  tremble  and  put  out 
some  of  the  electric  lights.  The  forward  hydroplane 
jammed,  and  this  was  the  reason  she  came  to  the 
surface  at  such  a  steep  angle.  The  gyro  compass, 
the  main  rudder,  the  trimming  pump,  and  all  the 
control  apparatus  also  broke  down.  But  what  about 
the  leaks  made  by  the  shells  ?  These  were  plugged, 
the  tricolour  flag  of  the  French  sailing  ship  Bayonne, 
which  they  had  sunk  on  February  17  in  the  English 
Channel,  being  also  used  for  that  purpose. 

The  German  account  goes  on  to  say  this  submarine 
was  now  compelled  to  proceed  on  the  surface  and 
run  away,  and  the  numerous  men  then  seen  on  her 
deck  were  engaged  in  bringing  up  ammunition,  '  all 
the  men  who  are  not  occupied  below'  being  thus 
employed.  The  submarine  at  first  took  Alyssum  for 
a  destroyer,  and  certainly  bow  on  she  was  not  unlike 
one.  It  needs  little  imagination  to  realize  how 
narrowly  the  enemy  had  escaped,  and  the  moral 
effect  which  was  made  on  the  German  crew.  \^^e 
know  now  that  a  German  petty  officer  was  killed 
and  an  officer  wounded.  It  mattered  little  that  the 
conning-tower  was  holed,  for,  as  has  been  already 
pointed  out,  this  is  not  an  essential  part  of  the  sub- 
marine's construction.  By  closing  the  hatch  on  deck 
no  water  could  get  down  into  the  hull  from  here ; 


124         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

and  the  other  holes  being  also  plugged,  U  84  could 
thus  get  back  home  by  keeping  out  to  sea  during 
daylight  hours,  avoiding  our  patrols,  and  passing 
headlands  under  cover  of  night. 

A  month  later  Penshurst  again  fought  a  sharp 
action  under  Commander  Grenfell  at  the  eastern  end 
of  the  English  Channel,  the  position  being  in  Lat. 
50.28  N.,  Long.  0.12  W.  In  this  engagement  she 
did  not  sink  the  enemy,  but  was  herself  badly  damaged 
and  so  seriously  holed  that  she  had  to  be  towed  to 
Portsmouth  the  following  day.  Here  she  underwent 
a  long  refit,  and  then  went  forth  to  fight  again  and  to 
fight,  as  ever,  splendidly.  She  had  a  new  command- 
ing officer.  Lieutenant  Cedric  Naylor,  R.N.R.,  who 
had  been  second-in-command  to  Captain  Grenfell,  now 
invalided  ashore,  and  this  lieutenant  well  maintained 
the  traditions  of  the  Q-service,  and  added  to  the  dis- 
tinctions won  by  this  wonderful  ship.  Oft  in  danger, 
but  always  emerging  from  the  tightest  of  corners, 
leaving  the  enemy  seriously  wounded,  the  gallant 
Penshurst  carried  on. 

On  July  2  she  was  steaming  her  8  knots,  as  usual, 
and  was  in  the  western  approaches  (Lat.  49.10  N., 
Long.  8.25  W.),  when  at  1.30  p.m.  a  submarine 
was  seen  crossing  the  ship's  bows  6,000  yards  away. 
She  dived  and  waited  for  Penshurst  to  approach 
in  the  manner  of  attack  outlined  in  a  previous 
chapter  as  being  the  tactics  of  a  submarine.  Then, 
after  a  while,  the  periscope  was  sighted  500  yards 
away  on  the  port  beam,  so  Penshurst,  knowing  a 
torpedo  was  imminent,  waited,  and,  the  torpedo 
having  been  sent,  altered  course  to  avoid  it,  just 
missing  by  a  matter  of  10  feet.  The  ship's  company 
then  went  to  '  panic '  stations  and  the  ship  was 
'  abandoned.'      At  3.35  p.m.  the  enemy  came  to  the 


The  Gallant  Captain  and  Officers  of  Q-ship  "  Penshurst  " 

From  left  to  right :  Paymaster-Lieut.  W.  R.  Ashton.  R.iSI.R.  ;  Lieut.  S.  P.  R.  White, 
R.N.R. :  Sub-Lieut.  J.  R.  Stenhouse,  R.N.R.  (in  command  of  the  "Aurora  "  in  Hir  E. 
Shackleton's  Antarctic  Expedition,  1914-15);  Captain  F.  H.  Grenfell,  R.N.;  Lieut.  C. 
Naylor,  R.N.R.  (First  Lieut.);  and  Lieut.  W.  S.  Harrison,  R.N.R.  (Navigating  Oflicer). 


Men  of  thk  Q  ship  "  Penshi-ust '' 

The  ship's  gunlayers  and  carpenter.    The  man  in  the  centre  wearing  service  uniform 

was  the  giinlayer  of  the  bridge  (I-poundcr  who  was  killed  in  the  action  of  January  14, 

I'.llT.     The  others  are  wearing  their  Q-.ship  "rig." 

To  face  p.  124 


THE  SPLENDID  'PENSHURST'      125 

surface  5,000  yards  away  on  the  starboard  quarter, 
at  3.39  p.m.  opened  fire  and  continued  until  4.13  p.m., 
when  PeJishurst  herself  started  firing  at  4,500  yards, 
succeeding  in  hitting  the  enemy  sixteen  times,  and 
undoubtedly  seriously  damaging  him.  The  submarine 
managed  to  pass  out  of  range  and  was  not  sunk. 
Three  destroyers  now  came  on  the  scene  and  gave 
chase,  but  the  German  got  away.  For  this  engage- 
ment Lieutenant  Naylor  received  the  D.S.O. 

In  accordance  with  Penshursfs  previous  experience, 
not  many  weeks  elapsed  before  she  was  again  in 
combat.  It  was  the  following  August  19,  and  she 
was  cruising  again  in  the  western  approaches.  That 
morning  a  steamship  had  sighted  a  submarine,  and 
Penshurst,  who  was  now  in  Lat.  47.45  N.,  Long. 
8.35  W.,  was  steering  S.  50  W.,  doing  8  knots,  when 
she  saw  the  enemy  6  miles  ahead  steering  across  the 
bows,  evidently  making  the  '  approach '  in  his  tactics. 
There  was  little  north-west  wind,  a  moderate  westerly 
swell,  and  the  sky  was  clear,  but  there  was  a  strong 
glare  from  the  sun.  At  5.8  p.m.  the  enemy  dived, 
and  Lieutenant  Naylor  estimated  that  she  would 
probably  attack  with  torpedo  about  5.45  p.m. 
Exactly  at  5.44  a  torpedo  was  observed  to  break 
water  1,000  yards  from  the  ship,  3  points  on  the  star- 
board bow,  just  forward  of  the  sun's  rays.  Penshurst 
put  her  helm  hard  aport,  and  at  5.45  the  torpedo 
struck  her — but  fortunately  it  was  only  a  glancing 
blow  immediately  below  the  bridge.  The  smart 
handling  of  the  ship  had  thus  saved  her  from  being 
struck  further  aft,  where  the  consequences  would 
have  been  even  more  serious.  As  it  was,  the  explosion 
caused  a  high  volume  of  water  to  rise  in  such  quantities 
that  upper  and  lower  bridges  and  after  deck  were 
flooded,  overwhelming  the  gun's  crew  concealed  there, 


126        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

and  filling  the  starboard  boat  hanging  in  the  davits 
over  70  feet  away  from  the  point  of  impact.  Further- 
more, it  caused  the  ship  to  take  a  heavy  list  to 
starboard  so  that  the  sea  poured  in  over  the  bulwarks, 
and  she  afterwards  rolled  to  port,  the  water  then 
pouring  in  on  this  side  also. 

Some  of  the  crew  were  hurled  with  force  against 
the  ceiling  of  the  cabins,  but  perfect  discipline  still 
continued,  as  might  well  be  expected  with  such 
a  well-tried  crew.  She  had  been  torpedoed  in 
No.  2  hold,  the  starboard  side  of  the  lower  bridge 
had  been  stripped,  and  unfortunately  the  12-pounder 
there  kept  screened  was  thus  exposed.  Unfortunately, 
too,  the  sides  of  the  dummy  boat  amidships,  which 
hid  another  12-pounder,  were  thrown  down  by  the 
explosion,  thus  exposing  this  gun,  flooding  the 
magazine,  putting  out  of  action  all  controls  from 
the  bridge  as  well  as  the  ship's  compasses  and  so  on. 
What  was  to  be  done  now  ?  Lieutenant  Naylor 
wisely  decided  not  to  '  abandon '  ship  since  the  guns 
had  been  disclosed  ;  the  ship  could  not  be  manoeuvred 
so  as  to  hide  this  side,  and  the  enemy  would  probably 
make  another  attack.  She  was  therefore  kept  under 
way,  the  steering  gear  was  connected  up  with  the 
main  steering  engines,  the  wireless  repaired,  and  at 
5.58  a  general  signal  was  sent  out  to  H.M.  ships 
requesting  assistance. 

At  five  minutes  past  six  the  submarine  showed 
herself  on  the  port  quarter  6,000  yards  away.  This 
made  things  better,  for  if  the  enemy  had  not  already 
observed  the  exposed  guns  she  could  still  be  kept 
in  ignorance,  as  the  sides  of  the  false  boat  had  in  the 
meantime  been  replaced  in  position.  Therefore  the 
3-pounder  on  the  top  of  the  gunhouse  aft  opened  fire 
at  5,000  yards.     This  was  quite  a  normal  happening. 


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128         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

for  many  a  small  mercantile  steamer  was  thus  armed 
defensivel}^  The  enemy  replied,  and  at  6.21,  as  the 
latter  showed  no  intention  of  decreasing  the  range, 
Penshurst  opened  fire  with  all  guns  on  the  port  side, 
and  appeared  to  hit,  so  that  at  6.24  the  enemy 
submerged.  Meanwhile  the  Penshurst  was  not  under 
control  and  steamed  round  in  circles,  but  help  was 
approaching,  for  at  6.50  p.m.  H.M.S.  Leonidas  wire- 
lessed saying  she  would  reach  Penshurst  at  7.30  p.m. 
At  7.5  the  submarine  was  7  miles  astern,  waiting 
stationary  to  see  what  would  happen,  but  at  7.26 
she  dived  on  observing  the  approaching  destroyer. 
Nightfall  came,  and  as  the  water  was  still  gaining  in 
the  Q-ship,  all  the  men  who  could  be  spared  were 
transferred  to  the  Leonidas.  Penshurst  then  shaped 
a  course  E.N.E.  for  Plymouth,  and  next  day  at 
1.30  p.m.  was  taken  in  tow  by  a  tug  which  had  been 
sent  out  with  two  armed  trawlers  from  the  Scillies 
Naval  Base.  Thus,  wounded  yet  not  beaten,  she 
passed  through  Plymouth  Sound,  and  on  August  21 
made  fast  to  a  Devonport  jetty,  happily  having 
suffered  no  casualties  to  any  of  her  personnel.  Lieu- 
tenant Naylor  received  a  bar  to  his  D.S.O.,  the  ship 
had  a  thorough  refit,  and  in  place  of  a  12-pounder  she 
was  now  given  a  4-inch  gun,  which  would  enable  her 
to  fight  the  4*l-inch  U-boat  gun  on  more  equal 
terms. 

Then,  still  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Naylor,  she 
went  forth  again.  We  can  pass  over  the  intervening 
weeks  and  come  to  Christmas  Eve,  1917.  At  a  time 
when  most  non-combatants  ashore  were  about  to  take 
part  in  the  great  festival,  this  most  gallant  ship, 
heroine  of  so  many  fights,  was  in  the  direst  straits. 
At  midday  she  was  approaching  the  southern  end  of 
the  Irish  Sea,  shaping  a  course  to  intercept  a  sub- 


THE  SPLENDID  'PENSHURST'      129 

marine  operating  off  the  Smalls,  when  ten  minutes 
later  she  sighted  a  U-boat  two  points  on  the  port  bow, 
in  Lat.  51.31  N.,  Long.  5.33  W.,  about  5  miles  ahead, 
steering  at  right  angles  to  Penshurst  and  beginning 
the  'approach'  of  her  attacking  tactics.  Penshurst 
was  making  her  usual  8  knots,  and  at  12.12  p.m. 
the  enemy,  as  was  expected,  submerged.  Although 
the  Q-ship  zigzagged  and  tried  to  make  the  enemy- 
break  surface  astern  and  attack  by  gunfire,  the  Ger- 
man was  too  good  at  his  own  job,  and  at  1.31  p.m. 
came  the  torpedo,  fired  from  300  yards  away,  half  a 
point  forward  of  the  port  beam.  Only  the  track  of 
the  torpedo  was  seen,  the  ship's  helm  was  put  hard 
aport,  but  the  torpedo  could  not  be  avoided  and 
struck  the  ship  between  the  boilers  and  engine-room. 
Violent  was  the  explosion,  great  was  the  damage,  so 
that  the  ship  stopped  dead  and  began  to  settle  by  the 
stern.  The  sides  of  the  dummy  boat  amidships  had 
fallen  down,  thus  exposing  the  midships  4-inch  gun, 
and  the  after  gunhouse  had  also  collapsed,  reveaUng 
the  guns  here  placed,  though  the  l2-pounder  guns  on 
the  bridge  remained  intact  and  concealed,  with  the 
guns'  crews  close  up  and  out  of  siglit.  The  ship  was 
now  '  abandoned,'  and  panic  parties  were  sent  away 
in  the  one  remaining  boat  and  two  rafts.  The  enemy, 
still  submerged,  proceeded  to  circle  the  ship,  inspect 
her  closely,  approach  the  boat  and  rafts,  and  then  at 
2.40  p.m.  rose  to  the  surface  on  the  port  bow  250 
yards  off  and  began  shelling  Penshurst  with  her  after 
gun.  The  Q-ship  was  about  to  open  fire,  but,  owing 
to  having  settled  down  so  much  by  the  stern,  the  gun 
there  could  not  be  sufficiently  depressed  to  bear.  It 
was  only  when  the  ship  rolled  or  pitched  enough  that 
advantage  was  taken  of  such  movement  and  the  enemy 
fired  at.     Six  rounds  were  fired,  the  second  hitting 

9 


130        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

the  submarine  on  the  starboard  side  of  the  deck  for- 
ward, the  fourth  hitting  abaft  the  conning-tower. 
The  enemy  dived,  and  at  3.47  p.m.  reappeared  on  the 
starboard  beam  5  miles  away.  But  now  one  of 
H.M.  P-boats,  those  low-lying,  specially  constructed 
anti-submarine  craft,  rather  like  a  torpedo-boat,  arrived 
on  the  scene,  so  that  the  submarine  was  frightened 
away  and  not  sighted  again  on  that  day,  though  she 
was  probably  the  one  sunk  by  a  P-boat  on  Christmas 
Day. 

As  for  Penshurst,  help  had  come  too  late.  The 
crew  were  saved,  but  the  ship  herself  sank  at  8.5  p.m. 
on  December  24,  1917.  Lieutenant  Cedric  Naylor, 
who  already  possessed  the  decorations  of  D.S.O.  and 
bar  and  D.S.C.,  and  had  for  his  gallantry  been  trans- 
ferred from  R.N.R.  to  the  Royal  Navy,  now  received 
a  second  bar  to  his  D.S.O.,  and  Lieutenant  E. 
Hutchison,  R.N.R. ,  received  a  D.S.O.  Thus  after 
two  years  of  the  most  strenuous  service,  full  of 
honours,  this  Penslmrst  ended  her  glorious  life  as  a 
man-of-war.  Wounded,  scar-stained,  repaired  and 
refitted,  her  gallant  crew,  so  splendidly  trained  by 
Captain  Grenfell,  had  kept  taking  her  to  sea  along 
the  lanes  of  enemy  activity.  Insignificant  to  look  at, 
when  you  passed  her  on  patrol  you  would  never  have 
guessed  the  amount  of  romance  and  history  contained 
in  her  hull.  Naval  history  has  no  use  for  hysteria  and 
for  the  sensational  exaggeration  of  '  stunt '  journalism, 
but  it  is  difficult  to  write  calmly  of  the  great  deeds 
performed  in  these  most  unheroic-looking  ships.  To- 
day some  Q-ship  officers  and  men  are  walking  about 
looking  for  jobs,  and  there  are  not  ships  in  commis- 
sion to  employ  them.  But  yesterday  they  were 
breaking  the  spirit  of  the  U-boat  personnel,  risking 
their  lives  to  the  uttermost  limits  in  the  endeavour  to 


THE  SPLENDID  'PENSHURST'      131 

render  ineffectual  the  submarine  blockade  and  the 
starvation  of  the  nation. 

Bravery  such  as  we  have  seen  in  this  and  other 
chapters  was  greater  than  even  appears  :  for,  having 
once  revealed  the  identity  of  your  ship  as  a  man-of- 
war,  the  wounded  submarine  would  remember  you, 
however  much  you  might  disguise  yourself;  and  the 
next  time  he  returned,  as  he  usually  did,  to  the  same 
station,  he  would  do  his  best  to  get  you,  even  if  he 
spent  hours  and  days  over  the  effort.  That  officers 
and  men  willingly,  eagerly,  went  to  sea  in  the  same 
Q-ships,  time  after  time,  when  they  might  have 
obtained,  and  would  certainly  have  deserved,  a  less 
trying  appointment  afloat  or  ashore,  is  surely  a  positive 
proof  that  we  rightly  pride  ourselves  on  our  British 
seamanhood.  Through  the  centuries  we  have  bred 
and  fostered  and  even  discouraged  this  spirit.  In 
half- decked  boats,  in  carracks,  galleons,  wooden  walls, 
fishing  boats,  lifeboats,  pleasure  craft ;  in  steam,  and 
steel-hulled  motor,  cargo  ships,  in  liner  and  tramp  and 
small  coaster,  this  seamanlike  character  has  been 
trained,  developed,  and  kept  alive,  and  now  in  the 
Q-ship  service  it  reaches  its  apotheosis.  For  all  that 
is  courageous,  enduring,  and  inspiring  among  the 
stories  of  the  sea  in  any  period,  can  you  beat  it  ?  Can 
you  even  equal  it  ? 


CHAPTER  X 

FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS 

One  of  the  great  lessons  of  the  Great  War  was  the 
inter-relation  of  international  politics  and  warfare. 
It  was  an  old  lesson  indeed,  but  modern  conditions 
emphasized  it  once  more.  We  have  already  seen  that 
the  torpedoing  in  1915  of  the  Atlantic  liners  Lusitania 
and  Arabic  caused  pressure  to  be  put  on  the  German 
Government  by  the  United  States  of  America.  In 
the  spring  of  1916  the  submarine  campaign,  for  the 
Germans,  was  proceeding  very  satisfactorily.  In 
February  they  had  sunk  24,059  tons  of  British  mer- 
chant shipping,  in  March  they  sank  83,492  tons,  in 
April  126,540  tons ;  but  in  May  this  dropped  sud- 
denly to  42,165  tons.  What  was  the  reason  for  this 
sudden  fall  ? 

The  answer  is  as  follows :  On  March  24,  1916,  the 
cross-Channel  S.S.  Sussex  was  torpedoed  by  a 
German  submarine,  and  it  happened  that  many 
citizens  of  the  U.S.A.  were  on  board  at  the  time  and 
several  were  killed.  This  again  raised  the  question 
of  relations  between  the  U.S.A.  and  Germany,  the 
New  York  World  going  so  far  as  to  ask,  '  Whether 
anything  is  to  be  gained  by  maintaining  any  longer 
the  ghastly  pretence  of  friendly  diplomatic  corre- 
spondence with  a  Power  notoriously  lacking  in  truth 
and  honour.'  On  April  20,  therefore,  the  U.S.A. 
presented  a  very  sharp  note  to  the  German  Govern- 

132 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  133 

ment,  protesting  against  the  wrongfulness  of  the 
submarine  campaign  waged  versus  commerce,  and 
threatened  to  break  off  diplomatic  relations.  The 
result  of  this  was  that  Germany  had  to  give  way, 
and  sent  orders  to  her  naval  staff  to  the  effect  that 
submarine  warfare  henceforth  was  to  be  carried  on  in 
accordance  with  Prize  Law :  that  is  to  say,  the 
U-boats — so  Admiral  Scheer  interpreted  it — were 
'  to  rise  to  the  surface  and  stop  ships,  examine  papers, 
and  all  passengers  and  crew  to  leave  the  ship  before 
sinking  her.' 

Now  this  did  not  appeal  to  the  German  mind  at 
all.  '  As  war  waged  according  to  Prize  Law  by 
U-boats,'  wrote  Admiral  Scheer,"---"  '  in  the  waters 
around  England  could  not  possibly  have  any  success, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  must  expose  the  boats  to  the 
greatest  dangers,  I  recalled  all  the  U-boats  by  wire- 
less, and  announced  that  the  U-boat  campaign 
against  British  commerce  had  ceased.'  Thus  we  find 
that  after  April  26  the  sinkings  of  British  merchant 
ships  became  low  until  they  began  to  increase  in 
September,  191G,  and  then  rapidly  mounted  up  until 
in  April,  1917,  they  had  reached  their  maximum  for 
the  whole  war  with  516,394  tons.  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  after  May  8,  until  July  5,  1916,  no  sinkings  by 
U-boats  occurred  in  home  waters,  although  the 
sinkings  went  on  in  the  Mediterranean,  where  risk 
of  collision  with  American  interests  was  less  likely 
to  occur. 

Having  regard  to  the  increasing  utility  and  effici- 
ency of  the  Q-ships,  we  can  well  understand  Admiral 
Scheer's  objection  to  U-boats  rising  to  the  surface, 
examining  the  ship's  papers,  and  allowing  everyone 
to  leave  the  ship  before  sinking  her.     This  was  the 

*  '  Germany's  High  Sea  Fleet  in  the  World  War/  p.  242. 


134        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

recognized  law,  and  entirely  within  its  rights  the 
Q-ship  made  full  use  of  this  until  she  hoisted  the 
White  Ensign  and  became  suddenly  a  warship.  It 
shows  the  curious  mental  temper  of  the  German  that 
he  would  gamble  only  when  he  had  the  dice  loaded  in 
his  favour.  He  had  his  Q-ships,  which,  under  other 
names,  endeavoured  and  indeed  were  able  to  pass 
through  our  blockade,  and  go  raiding  round  the 
world  ;  but  until  his  submarines  could  go  at  it  ruth- 
lessly, he  had  not  the  same  keenness.  It  was  on 
February  1,  1917,  that  his  Unrestricted  Submarine 
Campaign  began,  and  this  was  a  convenient  date,  seeing 
that  Germany  had  by  this  time  109  submarines.  We 
know  these  facts  beyond  dispute,  for  a  year  after  the 
signing  of  Armistice  Germany  held  a  '  General 
National  Assembly  Committee  of  Inquiry '  into  the 
war,  and  long  accounts  were  published  in  the  Press. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  witnesses  was  Admiral 
von  Capelle,  who,  in  March,  1916,  had  succeeded 
von  Tirpitz  as  ISIinister  of  JNIarine ;  and  from  the 
former's  lips  it  was  learned  that  one  of  the  main 
reasons  why  Germany  in  1916  built  so  few  sub- 
marines was  the  Battle  of  Jutland  ;  for  the  damage 
inflicted  on  the  High  Sea  Fleet  necessitated  taking 
workmen  away  from  submarine  construction  to  do 
repairs  on  the  big  ships.  The  number  and  intensity 
of  the  minefields  laid  by  the  British  in  German 
waters  in  that  year  caused  Germany  to  build  many 
minesweepers  to  keep  clear  the  harbour  exits.  This 
also,  he  says,  took  men  away  from  submarine  build- 
ing. It  needed  a  couple  of  years  to  build  the  larger 
U-boats  and  a  year  to  build  the  smaller  ones ;  and 
though  at  the  beginning  of  the  Unrestricted  Cam- 
paign in  February,  1917,  there  were  on  paper 
109  German  submarines,  and  before  the  end  of  the 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS         135 

war,  in  spite  of  sinkings  by  Allied  forces,  the  number 
even  averaged  127,  yet  there  were  never  more  than 
76  actually  in  service  at  one  time,  and  frequently  the 
number  was  half  this  amount.  For  the  Germans 
divided  the  seas  up  into  so  many  stations,  and  for 
each  station  five  submarines  were  required,  thus : 
one  actually  at  work  in  the  area,  one  just  relieved 
on  her  way  home  for  rest  and  refit,  a  third  on  her 
way  out  from  refit  to  relieve  number  one,  while  two 
others  were  being  overhauled  by  dockyard  hands. 
Geographically  Germany  was  unfortunately  situated 
for  attacking  the  shipping  reaching  the  British  Isles 
from  the  Atlantic  and  Bay  of  Biscay.  Before  the 
submarines  could  get  into  the  Atlantic  they  had 
either  to  negotiate  the  Dover  Straits  or  go  round  the 
North  of  Scotland.  The  first  was  risky,  especially 
for  the  bigger  and  more  valuable  submarines,  and 
during  1918  became  even  highly  dangerous ;  but 
the  second,  especially  during  the  boisterous  winter 
months,  knocked  the  submarines  about  to  such 
an  extent  that  they  kept  the  dockyards  busier  than 
otherwise. 

All  this  variation  of  U-boat  activity  reacted  on  the 
rise,  development,  and  wane  of  the  Q-ship.  In  the 
early  part  of  1917,  when  the  submarine  campaign  was 
at  its  height,  the  Q-ships  were  at  the  top  of  their 
utility.  It  was  no  longer  any  hole-and-corner  service, 
relying  on  a  few  keen,  ingenious  brains  at  one  or  two 
naval  bases,  but  became  a  special  department  in  the 
Admiralty,  who  selected  the  ships,  arranged  for  the 
requisite  disguises,  and  chose  the  personnel.  The 
menace  to  the  country's  food  had  by  this  time 
become  so  serious — a  matter  of  a  very  few  weeks,  as 
we  have  since  learned,  separated  us  from  starvation — 
that  every  anti-submarine  method  had  to  be  carried 


136         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

out  with  vigour,  and  at  that  time  no  method  promised 
greater  success  than  these  mystery  ships.  Altogether 
about  180  vessels  of  various  sorts  were  taken  up  and 
commissioned  as  Q-ships.  Apart  from  the  usual 
tramp  steamers  and  colliers  and  disguised  trawlers, 
thirty-four  sloops  and  sixteen  converted  P-boats, 
named  now  '  PQ's,'  were  equipped.  The  P-boat,  as 
mentioned  on  a  previous  page,  was  a  low-lying  craft 
rather  like  a  torpedo-boat ;  but  her  great  feature  was 
her  underwater  design.  She  was  so  handy  and  had  a 
special  forefoot  that  if  once  she  got  near  to  a  sub- 
marine the  latter  would  certainly  be  rammed ;  in  one 
case  the  P-boat  went  clean  through  the  submarine's 
hull.  The  next  stage,  then,  was  to  build  a  suitable 
superstructure  on  this  handy  hull,  so  that  the  ship 
had  all  the  appearance  of  a  small  merchant  ship. 
Because  of  her  shallow,  deceptive  draught  she  was 
not  likely  to  be  torpedoed,  whereas  her  extreme 
mobility  was  very  valuable. 

In  every  port  all  over  the  country  numerous 
passenger  and  tramp  steamers  and  sailing  ships  were 
inspected  and  found  unsuitable  owing  to  their 
peculiar  structure  or  the  impossibility  of  effective 
disguise  combined  with  a  sufficient  bearing  of  the 
disguised  guns.  All  this  meant  a  great  deal  of 
thought  and  inventive  genius,  the  tonnage  as  a  rule 
ranging  from  200  to  4,000,  and  the  ships  being 
sent  to  work  from  Queenstown,  Longhope,  Peter- 
head, Granton,  Lowestoft,  Portsmouth,  Plymouth, 
Falmouth,  Milford,  Malta,  and  Gibraltar.  And 
when  you  ask  what  was  the  net  result  of  these 
Q-ships,  the  whole  answer  cannot  be  given  in  mere 
figures.  Generally  they  greatly  assisted  the  merchant- 
man, for  it  made  the  U-boat  captain  very  cautious, 
and  there  are  instances  where  he  desisted  from  attack- 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  1.37 

ing  a  real  merchant  ship  for  the  reason  that  something 
about  her  suggested  a  Q-ship.  In  over  eighty  cases 
Q-ships  damaged  German  submarines  and  thus  sent 
them  home  licking  their  wounds,  anxious  only  to  be 
left  alone  for  a  while.  This  accounts  for  some  of 
those  instances  when  a  merchant  ship,  on  seeing  a 
submarine  proceeding  on  the  surface,  was  surprised 
to  find  that  the  German  did  not  attack.  Thus  the 
Q-ship  had  temporarily  put  a  stop  to  sinkings  by  that 
submarine.  But  apart  from  these  indirect,  yet  no 
less  valuable,  results,  no  fewer  than  eleven  submarines 
were  directly  sent  to  their  doom  of  all  the  203 
German  U-craft  sunk  during  the  war  from  various 
causes,  including  mines  and  accidents. 

But  as  time  went  on  it  became  inevitable  that  the 
more  a  Q-ship  operated  the  more  likely  would  she  be 
recognized  and  the  less  useful  would  be  her  work. 
By  August,  1917,  Q-ships  Avere  having  a  most 
difficult  time,  and  during  that  month  alone  six 
Q-ships  were  lost.  By  September  their  success, 
broadly  speaking,  was  on  the  wane.  This,  however, 
does  not  mean  that  their  service  had  ceased  to  be 
productive  or  that  they  were  no  longer  deemed  worth 
while.  On  the  contrary,  as  we  shall  see  presently, 
they  were  to  perform  more  wonderful  work,  and  the 
number  of  Q-ships  was  actually  increased,  especially 
in  respect  of  sailing  ships  in  home  waters  ;  but  those 
which  happened  to  make  an  unsuccessful  attack  were 
at  once  ordered  to  return  to  their  base  and  alter  both 
rig  and  disguise.  Similarly,  in  the  Mediterranean, 
where  the  submarines  w^ere  doing  us  so  much  harm, 
the  number  of  Q-ships  was  increased,  and  one  was 
cleverly  included  in  the  outward-bound  convoys,  to 
drop  astern  as  soon  as  in  the  danger  zone,  after  the 
manner  of  many  a  lame-duck   merchantman  whose 


138        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

engines  had  caused  him  to  straggle.  Then  would 
come  the  Q-ship's  chance,  when  she  revealed  herself 
as  a  warship  and  fooled  the  submarine  from  attacking 
the  convoy,  which  had  just  disappeared  over  the 
horizon  in  safety. 

The  converted  'flower'  class  sloops,  originally 
built  as  minesweepers,  but  by  the  able  work  of  the 
naval  dockyard  staff  now  made  to  resemble  little 
merchantmen,  were  having  a  busy  time.  Tulip 
(Q  12),  for  instance,  which  had  begun  her  Q-ship 
service  at  the  end  of  August,  1916,  was  sunk  eight 
months  later  by  a  submarine  in  the  Atlantic  and  her 
captain  taken  prisoner,  though  eighty  survivors  were 
picked  up  by  the  British  destroyer  Mary  Rose  and 
landed  in  Queenstown.*  The  sloop  Viola  began  this 
special  work  towards  the  end  of  September,  1916, 
and  a  month  later  was  shelled  by  a  submarine,  who 
suddenly  gave  up  the  attack  and  made  off"  to  the 
northward,  having  evidently  realized  the  sloop's  dis- 
guise, which  none  but  an  expert  seafarer  could  have 
penetrated.  Now,  in  each  submarine  there  was 
usually  carried  as  warrant  navigating  officer  a  man 
who  had  served  in  German  liners  and  freighters  and 
would  be  familiar  with  the  shipping  normally  to  be 
found  in  the  area  to  which  each  U-boat  was  assigned. 
In  this  particular  incident  his  practised  eye  had 
evidently  been  struck  by  the  position  of  the  above- 
water  discharge  being  vertically  under  the  imitation 
cargo  hatch  and  derrick  forward  of  the  mainmast. 
These  were  important  details  which  had  to  be 
watched  if  the  disguise  was  to  be  successful. 

■^  Tulip  was  sunk  by  U  62,  whose  captain  reported  that  she  was 
a  very  well-disguised  trap,  having  the  appearance  of  a  medium-sized 
cargo  steamer.  Suspicion  was  aroused  by  the  way  the  merchant 
flag  was  hoisted,  and  the  fact  that  she  appeared  to  have  no  defensive 
gun. 


,    « 

1      ^ 

'"m 

■  ..^-r-^ 

y<^^M 

.^,,^^^^^^ 

1 

m 

.  _s; — X:  _^    ^^ 

MHi 

■ 

■-' ' '  ' 

■^' 

'T      -»« 

--r 

-~  1 

Q-SHiP  '•  Tulip  "' 

This  vessel  was  originally  built  as  a  sloop,  but  was  given  a  false  stern  and 
generally  altered  to  resemble  a  merchantman. 


(^-sHip  '•  Tamarisk'' 

Like  the  "Tulip,"  this  vessel  was  originally  built  as  a  warship.     She  was 
cleverly  altered  so  that  both  in  hull  and  upperworks  she  resembled  a  merchant 

steamer. 

To  fucu  p.  138 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS  130 

Another  converted  sloop  was  Tamarisix,  who  began 
that  role  at  the  end  of  July,  1916,  and  was  commanded 
by  Lieutenant  John  W.  Williams,  R.N.R.  Towards 
the  end  of  November  she  was  shelled  by  a  submarine 
at  long  range,  so  that  the  Q-ship  had  to  declare  her- 
self and  reply,  whereupon  the  enemy  beat  a  retreat 
and  dived.  Hitherto  the  excellent  Q-ship  gunnery 
had  depended  on  the  fact  that  first-class  men  had 
been  selected  who  would  be  able  at  short  range  to 
score  hits  with  the  first  or  second  rounds.  But  this 
incident  of  the  Tamarisk,  involving  at  least  0,000 
yards  range,  showed  that  a  small  range-finder  would 
be  very  useful,  and  this  was  accordingly  supplied. 
Other  sloops  thus  converted  to  resemble  merchant- 
men were  the  Begonia,  Aubrietia,  Salvia,  Heather, 
and  so  on. 

The  Q-ships  operated  not  merely  in  the  North 
Atlantic,  English  Channel,  North  Sea,  and  Mediter- 
ranean, but  in  such  areas  as  off  Lapland  and  the  other 
side  of  the  North  and  South  Atlantic.  For  instance, 
the  S.S.  Intaba  (Q  2),  under  Commander  Frank 
Powell,  on  December  8,  1916,  was  in  action  with  a 
submarine  not  far  from  the  Kola  Inlet,  and  had  been 
sent  to  these  northern  latitudes  inasmuch  as  German 
submarines  for  some  time  had  been  sinking  our 
merchant  ships  off  that  coast.  Another  Q-ship 
operated  with  a  British  E-class  submarine  near 
Madeira  and  the  Canaries ;  and  another  Q-ship  was 
in  the  South  Atlantic  looking  for  a  German  raider, 
At  other  times  there  were  the  ocean-going  submarines 
Deutschland  and  Bremen  to  be  looked  out  for. 
There  was  thus  plenty  of  work  to  be  carried  out  by 
these  decoy  vessels  in  almost  every  sea. 

But  it  was  especially  those  Q-ships  based  on 
Queenstown  who  had  to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  sub- 


140         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

marine  warfare.  Strategically,  Queenstown  was  an 
outpost  of  the  British  Isles,  and  there  was  scarcely  a 
day  in  the  week  when  one  Q-ship  was  not  leaving  or 
entering  Queenstown,  or  in  the  Haulbowline  Dock- 
yard being  got  ready  for  her  next  '  hush '  cruise. 
Bearing  in  mind  that  this  base  was  in  a  country 
whose  inhabitants  were  largely  anti-British,  that 
there  had  been  a  great  rising  in  Dublin  at  Eastertide, 
1916,  and  that  the  German  disguised  S.S.  Aud  had 
made  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  land  a  cargo  of  arms, 
and  that  Sir  Roger  Casement  had  arrived,  it  may 
well  be  realized  how  great  was  the  responsible  task  of 
enshrouding  these  decoys  in  secrecy.  Perhaps  for 
weeks  a  recently  requisitioned  ship  would  be  along- 
side the  dockyard  quay  having  her  necessary  disguises 
made,  and  yet  the  enemy  knew  nothing  about  it 
until  he  found  himself  surprised,  and  forced  to  keep 
at  long  range  or  hide  himself  in  the  depths  of  the  sea. 
Sound  organization,  constant  personal  attention  on 
the  part  of  the  Commander-in-Chief,  and  loyal, 
enthusiastic  co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  officers 
and  men,  achieved  the  successes  which  came  to  this 
difficult  work  of  Q-ships.  It  was  all  such  a  distinctly 
novel  kind  of  sea  service,  which  was  of  too  personal 
and  particular  a  kind  to  allow  it  to  be  run  by  mere 
routine.  During  the  whole  of  its  history  it  was  experi- 
mental, and  each  cruise,  each  engagement,  almost 
each  captain  added  to  the  general  body  of  knowledge 
which  was  being  rapidly  accumulated.  It  seemed 
for  the  professional  naval  officer  as  if  the  whole 
of  his  previous  life  and  training  had  been  capsized. 
Instead  of  his  smart,  fast  twin-screw  destroyer,  he 
found  himself  in  command  of  an  awkward,  single- 
screw,  disreputable-looking  tramp,  too  slow  almost  to 
get  out  of  her  own  way.     On  the  other  hand,  officers  of 


FURTHER  DEVELOPMENTS         141 

the  Mercantile  Marine,  fresh  from  handhng  freighters 
or  Hners,  in  whom  throughout  all  their  lives  had  been 
instilled  the  maxim  '  Safety  first,'  now  found  they  had 
to  court  risks,  look  for  trouble,  and  pretend  they 
were  not  men-of-war.  Q-ship  work  was,  in  fact, 
typical  of  the  great  upheaval  which  had  affected  the 
whole  world. 

In  some  cases  the  transition  was  gradual.  Some 
officers,  having  come  from  other  ships  to  command 
sloops,  found  their  aspirations  satisfied  not  even  in 
these  ships,  whose  work  went  on  unceasingly — escort- 
ing all  but  the  fastest  Altantic  liners,  patrolling, 
minesweeping,  picking  up  survivors  or  salvaging 
stricken  ships,  or  whatever  duty  came  along.  Trans- 
ferring as  volunteers  from  sloops  to  sloops  rebuilt  as 
Q-ships,  they  had  to  forget  a  great  deal  and  acquire 
much  more.  One  of  such  officers  was  Lieut.-Com- 
mander  W.  W.  Hallwright,  R.N.,  who,  after  doing 
very  fine  work  as  captain  of  one  of  H.M.  sloops 
based  on  Queenstown,  took  over  command  of  the 
disguised  sloop  Heather  (Q  16).  One  April  day  in 
1917,  while  cruising  in  the  Atlantic  about  breakfast 
time,  Heather  was  suddenly  attacked  by  a  submarine, 
whose  sixth  shot  killed  this  keen  officer,  a  piece 
of  shell  passing  through  his  head  whilst  he  was 
watching  the  movements  of  the  German  through 
a  peep-hole  on  the  starboard  side  of  the  bridge. 
Lieutenant  W.  McLeod,  R.N.R.,  then  took  com- 
mand, opened  fire,  but  the  submarine  dived  and 
made  off  as  usual. 

Other  Q-ship  captains  perished,  and  that  is  all  we 
know.  On  a  certain  date  the  ship  left  harbour  ;  per- 
haps a  couple  of  days  later  she  had  reported  a  certain 
incident  in  a  certain  position.  After  that,  silence ! 
Neither  the  ship  nor  any  officers  or  crew  ever  returned 


142        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

to  port,  and  one  could  but  assume  that  the  enemy 
had  sent  them  to  the  bottom.  In  spite  of  all  this, 
the  number  of  volunteers  exceeded  the  demand. 
From  retired  admirals  downwards  they  competed 
with  each  other  to  get  to  sea  in  Q-ships.  Bored 
young  officers  from  the  Grand  Fleet  yearning  for 
something  exciting ;  ex-mercantile  officers,  yachts- 
men, and  trawler  men,  they  used  every  possible 
means  to  become  acceptable,  and  great  was  their 
disappointment  if  they  were  not  chosen. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  GOOD  SHIP  '  PRIZE  ' 

In  the  summer  of  1914  I  happened  to  be  on  a  yacht- 
ing cruise  in  the  English  Channel.     In  July  we  had 
seen  the  Grand  Fleet,  led  by  Iron  Ihike,  clear  out 
from  Weymouth  Bay  for  Spithead.     In  single  line 
ahead  the  battle  squadrons  weighed  and  proceeded, 
then  came  the  light  cruisers,  and  before  the  last  of 
these  had  washed  the  last  ounce  of  dirt  off  her  cable 
and  steamed  into  position,  the  Iron  Duke  and  Marl- 
borough were  hull  down  over  the  horizon :  it  was  the 
most  wonderful  sight  I  had  ever  witnessed  at  sea. 
A  week  or  two  later  I  had  arrived  in  Falmouth,  the 
war  had  begun,  and  yachting  came  to  a  sudden  stop. 
One  morning  we  found  a  new  neighbour  had  arrived, 
a  typical,  foreign-built,  three-masted  schooner,  who 
had  just  been  brought  in  and  anchored.     She  was 
destined  to  be  an  historic  ship  in  more  ways  than 
one.     Actually,  she  was  the  first  prize  to  be  captured 
fi'om  Germany,  and  it  was  a  unique  sight  then  to 
see  the  White  Ensign  flying  over  German  colours. 
Within  four  or  five  hours  of  declaration  of  war  this 
craft  had  been  captured  at  the  western  entrance  ot 
the  English  Channel,  and  she  never  became  German 
again. 

But  she  was  to  be  historic  in  quite  another  way. 
Of  all  the  splendid  little  Q-ships  during  the  war,  not 
excepting  even   the  Mitchell  mentioned  in  another 

143 


144         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

chapter,  no  sailing  craft  attained  such  distinction, 
and  her  captain  will  be  remembered  as  long  as  British 
naval  history  has  any  fascination.  This  German 
schooner  was  named  the  Else,  and  had  been  built  of 
steel  and  iron  in  1901  at  Westerbrock,  by  the  firm  of 
Smit  and  Zoon,  but  registered  at  Leer,  Germany. 
She  was  112  feet  6  inches  long,  her  net  tonnage 
being  199.  I  can  still  see  her  disconsolate  German 
skipper  standing  aft,  and  it  must  have  grieved  him 
that  his  ship  was  about  to  be  taken  from  him  for 
ever.  For  she  was  afterwards  put  up  for  auction 
and  sold  to  the  Marine  Navigation  Company,  who, 
because  of  her  experience  already  mentioned,  changed 
her  name  from  Ebe  to  Fii^st  Prize.  In  November, 
1916,  she  was  lying  in  Swansea,  and  as  the  Admiralty 
was  looking  out  for  a  suitable  vessel  to  carry  out 
decoy  work  after  the  manner  of  Mitchell  and  Helgo- 
land, she  was  surveyed,  found  suitable,  and  requisi- 
tioned. A  few  weeks  later  the  Managing  Director 
of  the  Company  patriotically  decided  to  waive  all 
payment  for  hire,  and  lent  her  to  the  Admiralty 
without  remuneration. 

By  February,  1917,  this  auxiliary  topsail  schooner 
was  ready  for  sea  as  a  disguised  man-of-war,  with  a 
couple  of  12-pounders  cleverly  concealed  on  her  deck. 
She  had  changed  her  name  from  First  Prize  to  Prize, 
alias  Q  21,  and  in  command  of  her  went  Lieutenant 
W.  E.  Sanders,  R.N.R.,  whom  we  saw  behaving  with 
distinction  when  serving  in  the  Q-sailing-ship  Helgo- 
land. No  better  man  could  have  been  found  than  this 
plucky  New  Zealander,  and  he  had  already  shown 
that  he  had  a  genius  for  this  extra  special  type  of 
Q-ship  work.  Prize  had  been  sent  to  work  in  the 
western  waters,  and  on  April  26, 1917,  she  left  Milford 
Haven  for  a  cruise  off  the  west  coast  of  Ireland,  this 


THE  GOOD  SHIP  *  PRIZE  '  145 

being  the  month  when,  of  all  months  in  the  war, 
German  submarines  were  the  most  successful.  At  8.35 
on  the  evening  of  April  30,  Prize  was  in  Lat.  49.44  N., 
Long.  11.42  W.  It  was  fine,  clear,  spring-like 
weather,  with  a  light  N.N.E.  wind,  calm  sea,  and 
good  visibility.  Prize  was  under  all  sail,  steering  on 
a  north-west  course,  and  making  about  2  knots.  Two 
miles  away  on  her  port  beam,  and  steering  a  parallel 
course,  was  sighted  a  big  submarine.  This  was  U  93, 
a  most  modern  craft,  commanded  by  one  of  Germany's 
ablest  submarine  officers,  Lieut. -Commander  Freiherr 
von  Spiegel.  She  was  a  powerful  vessel,  who  had 
relieved  U  43  on  this  station,  and  was  over  200  feet 
long,  armed  with  two  10'5-centimetre  guns,  500  rounds 
of  ammunition,  and  18  torpedoes,  her  complement 
consisting  of  37  officers  and  men.  This  latest  sub- 
marine was  on  her  maiden  trip  in  the  Atlantic,  having 
left  Emden  on  Friday,  April  13.  For  those  who  are 
superstitious  the  day  and  the  date  will  be  interesting. 
She  had  had  a  most  successful  cruise,  having  sunk 
eleven  merchantmen,  and  was  now  on  her  way  back 
to  Germany.  Von  Spiegel  was  anxious  to  be  back 
home  as  soon  as  possible,  for,  be  it  said,  he  was 
certainly  a  sportsman,  and  he  happened  to  have  a 
couple  of  horses  running  in  the  Berlin  races  in  the 
second  week  of  May. 

The  sighting  of  this  little  topsail  schooner  made 
him  avaricious.  He  had  sunk  eleven  :  why  not  make 
the  number  a  round  dozen?  So,  at  8.45  p.m.,  he 
altered  course  towards  the  P?ize,  and  ordering  on 
deck  to  see  the  fun  all  his  men  who  could  be  spared, 
he  opened  fire  with  both  guns.  Lieutenant  Sanders 
therefore  brought  Prize  into  the  wind,  and  sent  his 
panic  party  to  row  about.  This  party  consisted  of  six 
men  in  charge  of  Skipper  Brewer,  of  the  Trawler 

10 


146         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

Reserve,  who  had  been  intentionally  visible  on  deck, 
and  now  launched  their  small  boat.  In  the  mean- 
time, at  the  sounding  of  the  alarm,  Lieutenant  Sanders 
and  Skipper  Meade  (also  of  the  Trawler  Reserve)  had 
concealed  themselves  inside  the  steel  companion-cover 
amidships,  and  the  rest  of  the  crew  were  hiduig  under 
the  protection  of  the  bulwarks  or  crawling  to  their 
respective  stations.  Prize's  two  guns  were  placed 
one  forward,  concealed  by  a  collapsible  deckhouse,  and 
one  aft,  on  an  ingenious  disappearing  mounting  under 
the  hatchway  covers  of  the  after  hold,  and  she  carried 
also  a  couple  of  Lewis  guns.  Lieutenant  W.  D. 
Beaton,  R.N.R.,  who  was  second  in  command  of  the 
ship,  was  in  charge  of  the  gunnery  forward,  and  lay 
at  the  foot  of  the  foremast  with  his  ear  to  a  voice- 
pipe  which  led  back  to  where  Lieutenant  Sanders 
was  conning  the  ship. 

The  contest  could  not  fail  to  be  interesting,  for  it 
resolved  itself  into  a  duel  between  one  '  star-turn ' 
artist  and  another.  Neither  was  a  novice,  both  were 
resourceful,  plucky  men,  and  the  incident  is  one  of 
the  most  picturesque  engagements  of  all  the  Q-ship 
warfare.  Taking  it  for  granted  that  this  little  trader 
out  in  the  Atlantic  was  what  she  appeared  to  be, 
von  Spiegel  closed.  Pi^izes  head  had  now  fallen  off 
to  the  eastward,  so  the  submarine  followed  her  round, 
still  punishing  her  with  his  shells,  to  make  sure  the 
abandon-ship  evolution  had  been  genuine.  Two  of 
these  shells  hit  Prize  on  her  waterline — you  will 
remember  she  was  built  of  iron  and  steel — penetrating 
and  bursting  inside  the  hull.  One  of  them  put  the 
auxiliary  motor  out  of  action  and  wounded  the  motor 
mechanic  :  the  other  destroyed  the  wireless  room  and 
wounded  the  operator.  That  was  serious  enough,  but 
cabins  and  mess-room  were  wrecked,  the  mainmast 


THE  GOOD  SHIP  'PRIZE'  147 

shot  through  in  a  couple  of  places,  and  the  ship  now 
leaking.  Such  was  the  training,  such  was  the  dis- 
cipline of  these  men  under  their  gallant  New  Zealand 
captain,  that,  in  spite  of  this  nerve-wracking  experi- 
ence, they  still  continued  to  remain  on  deck,  immobile, 
unseen,  until  Lieutenant  Sanders  should  give  the 
longed-for  word.  They  could  see  nothing,  they  could 
not  ease  the  mental  strain  by  watching  the  enemy's 
manoeuvres  or  inferring  from  what  direction  the  next 
shot — perhaps  the  last — would  come.  This  know- 
ledge was  shared  only  by  Lieutenant  Sanders  and 
Skipper  JNleade  as  they  peeped  through  the  slits  of 
their  lair.  Several  times  Sanders  crept  from  this 
place  on  hands  and  knees  along  the  deck,  encouraging 
his  men  and  impressing  on  them  the  necessity  of 
concealment. 

Meanwliile,  closer  and  closer  drew  the  submarine, 
but  the  latter  elected  to  remain  dead  astern,  and  this 
was  unfortunate,  for  not  one  of  Prizes  guns  would 
thus  bear.  Then  there  was  a  strange  sound  aft. 
Everyone  knows  that  the  inboard  end  of  a  patent 
log  fits  into  a  small  slide,  which  is  screwed  down  on 
to  the  tafFrail  of  a  ship.  Suddenly  this  slide  was 
wrenched  and  splintered,  for  the  enemy  had  got  so 
close  astern  that  she  had  fouled  and  carried  away  the 
log-line  in  her  endeavour  to  make  quite  sure  of  her 
scrutiny.  U  93  then,  apparently  convinced  that  all 
was  correct,  sheered  out  a  little  and  came  up  on  the 
schooner's  port  quarter  only  70  yards  away,  being 
about  to  send  her  quickly  to  the  bottom. 

Thus  had  passed  twenty  long,  terrible  minutes  of 
suspense  on  board  the  Q-ship,  and  it  was  five  minutes 
past  nine.  But  patience,  that  great  virtue  of  the 
really  brave,  had  at  length  been  rewarded.  Through 
his  steel  slit  Sanders  could  see  that  his  guns  would 


148         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

bear,  so  '  Down  screens !'  '  Open  fire !'  and  up  went 
the  White  Ensign.  Covers  and  false  deckhouses 
were  suddenly  collapsed,  and  the  Prizes  guns  now 
returned  the  fire,  as  the  pent-up  feelings  of  the  crew 
were  able  to  find  their  outlet  in  fierce  activity.  But 
even  as  the  White  Ensign  was  being  hoisted,  the 
submarine  fired  a  couple  more  shots,  and  the  schooner 
was  twice  hit,  wounding  one  of  the  crew  who  had 
rushed  below  to  fetch  from  the  bottom  of  the  ladder 
a  Lewis  gun.  Von  Spiegel  was  now  evidently  very 
angered,  for  putting  his  helm  hard  aport  he  went  full 
speed  ahead  to  ram  the  schooner,  and  with  that  fine 
bow  he  might  have  made  a  nasty  hole  at  the  water- 
line,  through  which  the  sea  would  have  poured  like  a 
waterfall.  But  he  realized  that  he  was  outside  his 
turning  circle,  so  put  his  helm  the  other  way  and 
tried  to  make  off.  It  was  then  that  a  shell  from  the 
Prize's  after  gun  struck  the  forward  gun  of  the  sub- 
marine, blowing  it  to  pieces,  as  well  as  the  gun's  crew. 
The  second  shot  from  the  same  British  gun  destroyed 
the  conning-tower,  and  a  Lewis  gun  raked  the  rest 
of  the  men  on  the  deck.  The  third  shot  from  Prize's 
after  gun  also  hit  so  that  she  stopped,  and  as  she  sank 
shell  after  shell  hit,  and  the  glare  was  seen  as  of  a  fire 
inside  the  hull.  At  9.9  p.m.,  after  the  Prize  had  fired 
thirty-six  rounds,  the  enemy  disappeared  stern  first. 
Lieutenant  Sanders  could  not  use  his  engines  as  they 
were  already  out  of  action,  and  there  was  practically 
no  wind,  so  he  could  not  go  to  the  spot  where  she 
had  last  been  seen. 

The  darkness  was  fast  falling,  and  the  panic  party 
in  the  boat  rowed  over  the  scene  to  search  for  any 
survivors,  and  picked  up  three.  These  were  Von 
Spiegel,  the  submarine's  captain,  the  navigating 
warrant  officer,  and  a  stoker  petty  officer.     Covered 


THE  GOOD  SHIP  '  PRIZE  '  149 

by  Skipper  Brewer's  pistol,  these  were  now  taken  on 
board  the  schooner.  But  Prize  herself  was  in  a  bad 
way.  Water  was  pouring  through  the  shell-holes, 
and,  in  spite  of  efforts  to  stop  it,  the  sea  was  gaining 
all  the  time.  Had  it  not  been  calm,  the  vessel  would 
certainly  have  gone  to  the  bottom.  Von  Spiegel,  on 
coming  aboard,  offered  his  word  of  honour  to  make 
no  attempt  to  escape,  and  undertook  that  he  and  his 
men  would  render  all  assistance.  His  parole  being 
accepted,  captors  and  captives  set  to  work  to  save 
the  ship.  There  was  a  possibility  that  another  sub- 
marine known  to  be  in  the  area  would  come  along 
and  finish  off  the  sinking  Prize,  so  all  had  more  than 
an  interest  in  the  proceedings. 

As  the  ship  was  leaking  so  badly,  the  only  thing 
to  do  was  to  list  her.  This  was  done  by  swinging 
out  the  small  boat  on  the  davits  filled  with  water ; 
by  passing  up  from  below  both  cables  on  deck  and 
ranging  them  on  the  starboard  side ;  by  shifting  coal 
from  port  to  starboard  and  by  emptying  the  port 
fresh-water  tanks.  By  this  means  the  shot-holes  were 
almost  clear  of  the  water,  though  the  crew  had  to 
continue  baling  night  and  day.  Troubles  never  come 
singly.  Here  was  this  gallant  little  ship  lying  out 
in  the  Atlantic  night,  crippled  and  becalmed.  An 
attempt  was  made  to  start  the  engines,  but  owing  to 
sparks  from  the  motor  igniting  the  oil  which  had 
escaped  from  a  damaged  tank,  a  fire  broke  out  in  the 
engine-room.  This  was  prevented  from  reaching  the 
living  quarters  and  magazine,  and  was  eventually  put 
out.  Meanwhile,  the  German  navigating  warrant 
officer  had  dressed  the  wounds  of  Prize's  wounded 
crew,  and  now,  at  11.45  p.m.,  Prize's  wounded  stoker 
petty  officer,  assisted  by  the  second  motor-man  and 
the  German  stoker  petty  officer,  succeeded  in  starting 


150         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

one  engine,  and  course  was  shaped  for  the  Irish  coast, 
all  sail  being  set ;  but  the  nearest  land  was  120  miles 
to  the  north-east. 

That  night  passed,  and  the  next  day,  and  the  fore- 
noon of  the  day  following ;  but  on  the  afternoon  of 
May  2  the  Irish  coast  was  sighted,  and  Prize  was 
picked  up  5  miles  west  of  the  Old  Head  of  Kinsale 
by  H.M.M.L.  161  (Lieutenant  Hannah,  R.N.V.R.), 
who  towed  her  into  Kinsale,  where  the  wounded 
were  disembarked.  On  May  4 — that  notable  sunny 
day  when  the  first  United  States  destroyers  reached 
Queenstown  from  America — Prize,  still  with  her 
three  German  prisoners  on  board,  left  Kinsale  Har- 
bour, towed  by  H.M.  Drifter  Rival  II.,  who  took 
her  to  Milford.  But  on  the  way  Prize  sighted  a 
German  mine-laying  submarine  on  the  surface  2  miles 
away  to  the  southward.  The  crew  therefore  went  to 
action  stations,  and  for  an  hour  the  enemy  steered  on 
a  parallel  course,  but  finally  the  latter  drew  ahead 
and  disappeared.  Arrived  in  Milford  the  prisoners 
were  taken  ashore,  and  the  Prize  at  length  came  to 
rest. 

It  has  been  told  me  by  one  who  ought  to  know, 
that  when  Von  Spiegel  came  aboard  Prize,  after  being 
picked  up  out  of  the  water,  he  remarked  to  Sanders : 
'  The  discipline  in  the  German  Navy  is  wonderful, 
but  that  your  men  could  have  quietly  endured  our 
shelling  without  reply  is  beyond  all  belief  Before 
leaving  the  Prize  he  said  good-bye  to  Sanders  and 
extended  an  invitation  to  stay  with  him  on  his 
Schleswig-Holstein  estate  after  the  war.  No  one 
will  deny  the  extraordinary  gallantry  ot  Prize's  crew 
and  the  heroic  patience  in  withholding  their  fire  until 
the  psychological  moment,  though  the  temptation 
was  very  trying.     To  Lieutenant  W.  E.  Sanders  was 


THE  GOOD  SHIP  'PRIZE'  151 

awarded  the  Victoria  Cross,  and  he  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  Temporary  Lieut.-Commander,  R.N.R. 
To  Lieutenant  W.  D.  Beaton,  R.N.R.,  was  awarded 
a  D.S.O. ;  the  two  skippers  each  received  a  D.S.C., 
and  the  rest  of  the  brave  ship's  company  the  D.S.JNI. 
But  the  ending  of  this  story  is  yet  to  be  told. 
U  93  was  not  sunk,  but  got  safely  back  to  Germany  ! 
Von  Spiegel  had  thought  she  was  sunk,  and  the  crew 
of  Prize  were  not  less  certain.  She  had  been  holed 
in  her  starboard  ballast  tank,  in  her  starboard  fuel 
tank,  and  her  conning-tower,  and  she  was  assuredly 
in  a  very  bad  way.  If  it  had  been  daylight  she  would 
most  certainly  have  been  finally  destroyed  ;  as  it  was 
she  was  unable  to  dive,  and  escaped  in  the  darkness 
deprived  of  her  wireless.  Sub-Lieutenant  Ziegler 
took  over  the  command,  with  one  of  his  crew  killed, 
three  wounded,  and  three  already  taken  prisoners. 
With  the  utmost  difficulty,  and  compelled  to  navigate 
all  the  time  on  the  surface,  he  managed  to  get  his 
craft  home.  It  was  certainly  a  fine  achievement ;  the 
Kaiser  was  much  impressed,  and  promoted  him  to 
lieutenant.  But,  at  the  time,  we  in  this  country  had 
never  supposed  that  any  submarine  could  stand  so 
much  battering.  It  is  interesting  to  bear  this  incident 
in  mind  when  reading  other  accounts  in  this  book, 
where  it  seemed  so  sure  that  the  submarine  must 
have  been  sunk  :  yet  the  greatest  care  has  been  taken 
to  verify  every  enemy  submarine  sunk,  and  in  each 
case  the  number  has  been  given.  But  U  93  was 
doomed,  and  had  not  much  longer  to  live  after  her 
refit.  Early  in  the  following  January,  one  fine  clear 
morning  at  a  quarter  past  four,  the  time  when  human 
nature  is  at  its  weakest  and  most  collisions  occur  at 
sea,  this  submarine  was  rammed  by  a  steamer  and  sunk 
for  the  last  time. 


152         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

After  her  very  necessary  refit,  Lieut.-Commander 
Sanders  still  remained  in  the  Prize.  Admiral  Jellicoe, 
First  Sea  Lord,  had  sent  for  him  and  offered  him 
command  of  another  ship :  he  could  have  had  a 
destroyer,  a  P-boat,  or  any  ship  within  reason,  but 
his  undaunted  spirit,  to  which  Lord  Jellicoe  on 
arriving  in  New  Zealand  after  the  war  paid  such 
high  tribute,  refused  a  safer  appointment,  and  pre- 
ferred to  carry  on.  1  have  been  told  by  an  officer 
who  enjoyed  Sanders'  friendship  and  confidence  at 
this  time,  that  he  went  out  to  sea  again  with  the 
consciousness  that  before  long  he  would  have  played 
the  live-bait  game  too  far,  and  that  the  fish  would 
get  away  with  the  bait.  If  that  is  true,  then  we 
must  admire  Sanders  still  more  for  his  heroism  in  his 
devotion  to  duty.  It  is  surely  of  this  stuff  that  the 
great  martyrs  of  Christendom  have  been  made. 

On  June  12,  1917 — that  is,  six  weeks  after  the 
previous  incident,  just  time  enough  to  give  leave  to 
all  the  crew,  get  the  ship  refitted  and  sailed  to  her 
new  area — Prize  left  Killybegs  (Ireland)  to  cruise  to 
the  westward  of  the  Irish  coast.  At  11  a.m.  on  this 
day  she  was  under  all  sail  on  a  N.N.  W.  course,  doing 
not  more  than  a  knot  through  the  water,  when  she 
sighted  a  submarine  1^  miles  to  the  E.S.E.  proceed- 
ing slowly  on  the  same  course  as  Prize.  The  move- 
ments of  this  submarine  thereafter  are  worth  noting. 
It  is  only  reasonable  to  suppose  that  on  his  return  to 
Germany  in  U  93  Ziegler  would  give  a  full  description 
of  the  trap-ship  which  had  so  nearly  destroyed  him. 
This  information  would,  of  course,  be  passed  on  to 
the  other  submarine  captains  who  frequented  this 
Irish  area,  and  we  may  be  quite  certain  that  they 
would  be  on  the  look-out  for  her,  anxious  to  revenge 
their  service.     Now,  in  these  modern  times,  and  in 


THE  GOOD  SHIP  'PRIZE'  153 

any  twenty-four  hours,  you  will  see  far  more  steamers 
of  all  sorts  than  200-ton  sailing  craft :  it  certainly  was 
so  during  the  war  off  the  west  and  south-west  coast 
of  Ireland.  During  the  years  I  was  on  patrol  there, 
with  the  exception  of  quite  small  local  fishing  craft 
and  an  occasional  full-rigged  ship  making  the  land 
after  her  voyage  across  the  Atlantic,  one  scarcely  ever 
sighted  a  sailing  vessel  of  any  kind.  Ziegler  would 
have  reported  in  effect :  '  Look  out  for  a  three-masted 
topsail  schooner  of  about  200  tons.  She  has  a  bow 
like  this  .  .  .,  her  stern  is  like  this  .  .  .,  and  her 
sheer  is  so  .  .  .  You  will  probably  find  she  has  a  dummy 
deckhouse  placed  here  .  .  .  ;'  and  a  rough  sketch 
would  afford  his  comrades  a  pretty  accurate  idea. 
You  cannot  ever  disguise  the  appearance  of  such  a 
sailing  ship  altogether,  no  matter  what  name  you 
give  her,  nor  what  colour  you  paint  her  hull.  A 
three-masted  topsail  schooner  is  that  and  nothing 
else,  and  would  henceforth  be  regarded  with  the 
utmost  suspicion.  Then,  on  comparing  her  with  the 
sketch  and  examining  her  with  the  eye  of  seamanlike 
experience,  no  astute  submarine  officer  could  have 
had  much  doubt  in  his  mind.  A  British  officer  who 
knew  this  ship  well  has  told  me  that  in  his  opinion 
there  was  one  small  detail,  in  respect  of  the  wireless, 
which,  to  a  careful  observer,  would  always  give  her 
character  away.  This  may  be  so :  at  any  rate,  the 
following  incidents  seem  to  indicate  that  the  enemy 
were  on  the  look-out  for  her  during  the  rest  of  her 
career,  and  persistently  attacked  her. 

On  the  occasion  of  June  12,  as  soon  as  the  sub- 
marine came  to  the  surface  and  opened  fire.  Prize  as 
usual,  after  the  necessary  intentional  bungling,  sent 
away  her  boat,  which  took  up  a  position  half  a  mile 
away  on  the  starboard  bow.     The  enemy  kept  on 


154         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

firing,  and  at  11.30  the  schooner  was  hit  twice,  so 
three  minutes  later,  as  the  enemy  was  turning  away 
to  increase  the  range,  Sanders  ordered  the  screens  to 
be  lowered,  and  opened  fire  from  both  starboard  guns 
at  1,800  yards.  One  shell  seemed  to  hit,  and  the 
enemy  immediately  dived.  But  two  hours  later  a 
submarine  was  seen  on  the  surface  4  miles  away  on 
the  starboard  quarter,  and  remained  in  sight  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour.  Then  next  morning  at  6.30  a 
submarine  was  sighted  stopped,  1^  miles  ahead  on 
the  surface.  Five  minutes  later  he  dived,  but  came 
up  after  four  minutes  1,500  yards  off  on  the  starboard 
bow.  At  6.43  he  again  dived,  and  was  not  seen  again. 
Probably  eacli  of  these  three  appearances  was  the 
same  submarine.  On  the  first  he  was  repulsed,  on 
the  second  he  would  have  a  perfect  opportunity  of 
making  a  detailed  sketch,  on  the  third  he  may  have 
been  intending  to  attack  by  torpedo,  but  the  westerly 
swell  from  the  Atlantic  possibly  interfered  with 
accurate  firing.  But,  apart  from  all  surmise,  it  is 
absolutely  evident  that  the  enemy  was  able  to  obtain 
a  picture  of  the  schooner,  which  beyond  all  doubt 
would  establish  her  identity  on  a  future  occasion. 
The  importance  of  this  will  presently  be  seen. 

For  this  action  of  June  12  Lieut. -Commander 
Sanders  was  given  a  D.S.O.  to  wear  with  his  V.C. 
He  had  had  a  very  trying  time.  When,  at  11.30, 
the  German  shells  had  hit,  the  falls  of  the  port  davit 
had  been  shot  away,  and  another  shot  had  struck  the 
ship  on  the  starboard  side  amidships  just  on  the  top 
of  the  sheer  strake  plate.  This  shell  had  exploded 
and  caused  the  ship  to  leak.  Lieut. -Commander 
Sanders,  who  was  lying  concealed  between  the  mast 
and  the  hatch,  put  up  his  arms  to  shield  his  face  from 
the  burst  fragments  and  so  received  a  piece  of  shell 


THE  GOOD  SHIP  '  PRIZE  '  155 

in  his  right  arm  above  the  wrist.  In  addition,  the 
force  of  the  explosion  knocked  him  over  and  hurled 
him  to  the  other  side  of  the  deck,  where  he  was  picked 
up  by  Skipper  Mead.  In  spite  of  the  pain  and  the 
shock,  Sanders  was  just  sufficiently  conscious  to  give 
the  order  'Action'  at  11.33,  when  screens  were 
downed.  White  Ensign  run  up,  and  fire  was  returned. 
The  schooner  came  back  to  her  base,  her  gallant 
captain  recovered  from  his  wound,  and  two  months 
later  we  find  her  operating  in  the  Atlantic  again  to 
the  north-west  of  the  N.W.  Irish  coast.  On  this 
occasion  she  was  cruising  with  one  of  our  D -class 
submarines,  the  idea  being  that  when  the  enemy 
came  along  Prize  would  be  attacked  and  heave-to  in 
the  customary  manner,  while  the  British  submarine 
would  stealthily  make  for  the  enemy  and  torpedo 
him  whilst,  so  to  speak,  he  was  not  looking. 

On  the  forenoon  of  August  13,  imagine  this 
schooner  w4th  her  newly-painted  black  topsides  and 
red  boot-topping,  flying  the  Swedish  flag  and  heading 
east.  Suddenly  UB  48  was  sighted  to  the  north,  so 
Sanders  hove-to  and  signalled  the  British  submarine 
that  there  was  a  German  submarine  to  port.  Shells 
began  to  be  fired  from  the  enemy,  who  closed.  The 
British  submarine  saw  the  shots  falling  but  could  not 
see  the  enemy  until  4.10  p.m.,  when  the  German 
was  descried  to  starboard  of  the  Prize.  There  was 
a  considerable  lop  on  at  the  time,  and  Prize  was  seen 
with  White  Ensign  flying  at  the  peak,  and  her  guns 
manned.  Five  hours  later  the  British  submarine 
came  to  the  surface  and  spoke  Prize,  who  stated  that 
she  had  opened  fire  on  the  enemy  at  200  yards,  and 
had  hit  him.  This  we  now  know  from  another  source 
was  perfectly  true,  but  the  hits  were  not  in  a  vital 
part  of  the  German.     During  the  dark  hours  UB  48 


156         Q  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

bided  his  time,  and  at  midnight  fired  two  torpedoes, 
the  second  of  which  hit,  causing  a  terrific  explosion, 
so  that  nothing  more  was  seen,  and  the  good  ship 
Prhe,  with  her  gallant  captain  and  all  his  brave  men, 
ended  her  career  after  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
periods  that  can  be  found  in  the  records  of  sea 
achievement.  UB  48  was  on  her  maiden  voyage 
from  Germany  via  the  north  of  Scotland  and  N.W. 
of  Ireland  to  Cattaro  in  the  Adriatic,  where  she 
arrived  on  September  2,  sinking  merchantmen  on  the 
way.  This  modern  type  of  submarine,  with  her 
4  "1 -inch  gun  and  her  ten  torpedoes,  was  a  difficult 
craft  to  sink.  Her  second  officer  had  been  taken 
from  the  German  Mercantile  Marine,  so  we  can 
assume  that  his  critical  eye  would  scrutinize  the 
schooner  and  detect  something  which  convinced  his 
captain  that  this  was  really  a  trap-ship.  That  the 
submarine  should  have  been  content,  whilst  on  a 
long  passage,  to  waste  so  many  hours  over  a  mere 
sailing  craft  of  quite  small  tonnage  would  have  been 
doubtful ;  but  the  Prize  having  once  shown  her 
White  Ensign  and  used  her  guns  to  effect  decided 
the  German  that  she  must  be  settled  with  after  dark, 
when  she  would  be  a  good  target  in  that  August 
night.  It  was  a  fair  fight,  but  the  chances  were  all 
in  favour  of  the  German,  since  it  is  practically  im- 
possible to  see  a  periscope  at  night,  whereas  the 
Q-ship's  sails  would  loom  up  and  show  in  which 
direction  the  target  was  heading ;  and,  further,  the 
submarine  had  the  advantage  of  mobility  all  the  time. 
The  facts  which  have  just  been  stated  are  authentic, 
and  it  is  as  well  that  they  should  now  be  made  known. 
Ignorance  always  breeds  falsehood,  and  after  the  loss 
of  P?ize  there  were  all  sorts  of  wild  stories  going 
about  both  in  the    Service   and    in   the    Mercantile 


THE  GOOD  SHIP  'PRIZE'  157 

Marine.  Some  of  them  are  too  ghastly  to  be  related, 
but  a  favourite  version  was  that  the  brave  Sanders 
had  been  taken  prisoner  and  lashed  to  the  submarine's 
periscope,  which  then  submerged  and  so  drowned  him. 
Another  story,  which  was  very  prevalent,  was  that  he 
had  been  cruelly  murdered.  There  is  not  a  wo.rd  of 
truth  in  these  suggestions.  Lieut.  -  Commander 
Sanders  died  as  he  would  have  wished,  aboard  his 
ship  with  his  men.  His  body  rests  in  the  Atlantic 
where  the  remains  of  his  glorious  Prize  sank :  but 
his  memorial,  unveiled  by  Lord  Jellicoe  as  Governor 
of  New  Zealand,  will  inspire  generations  who  come 
after. 

For  dogged  devotion  to  dangerous  duty,  for  cool- 
ness in  peril,  for  real  leadership  of  men,  for  tenacity 
in  '  sticking  it,'  this  hero  among  those  great  and 
gallant  gentlemen  of  the  Q-ship  service  will  remain 
as  a  model  of  what  a  true  British  sailor  should  be. 
Had  he  lived,  his  influence  would  have  been  tremen- 
dous, but  by  his  refusing  a  safe  billet  when  he  was 
fully  entitled  to  it,  and  preferring  deliberately  to 
court  death  because  that  way  duty  and  honour 
pointed,  his  example  should  be  a  great  source  of 
strength  to  every  young  apprentice  beginning  his  life 
in  the  Merchant  Service,  every  midshipman  of  His 
Majesty's  Navy,  and  every  young  man  content  to 
learn  the  lessons  which  are  taught  only  by  the  sea. 
On  land,  for  their  historic  exploits  at  the  Dardanelles 
and  in  France  we  gratefully  remember  the  Australians 
and  New  Zealanders.  It  is  fitting  that  one  of  the 
latter  should  have  bequeathed  to  us  such  distinction 
on  the  sea :  it  is  characteristic  of  the  great  co-opera- 
tion when  the  children  of  the  Empire  flocked  to  help 
their  mother  in  her  throes  of  the  World  AVar. 


CHAPTER  XII 

SHIPS  AND  ADVENTURES 

Independence  of  character  is  a  great  asset  in  any 
leader  of  men,  but  it  is  an  essential,  basic  virtue  when 
a  man  finds  himself  in  command  of  a  ship :  without 
such  an  attribute  he  is  dominated  either  by  his 
officers,  his  own  emotions,  or  the  vagaries  of  chance. 
In  the  case  of  a  Q-ship  captain,  this  aloofness  was 
raised  to  a  greater  degree  of  importance  by  reason  of 
the  special  nature  of  the  work.  Can  you  think  of 
any  situation  more  solitary  and  lonely  than  this  ? 
There  are,  of  course,  all  kinds  and  conditions  of 
loneliness.  There  is  the  loneliness  of  the  airman 
gliding  through  celestial  heights ;  there  is  the  loneli- 
ness of  the  man  in  the  crowd ;  there  is  the  loneliness 
of  the  sentry,  of  the  hermit,  of  the  administrator  in 
the  desert.  But  I  can  conceive  of  nothing  so  solitary 
as  the  Q-ship  captain  lying  alone  on  the  planking  of 
his  bridge,  patiently  waiting  and  watching  through  a 
slit  in  the  canvas  the  manoeuvres  of  an  artful  U-boat. 
Such  a  figure  is  morally  and  physically  alone.  He 
is  the  great  brain  of  the  ship ;  at  his  word  she  is 
transformed  from  a  tramp  to  a  warship.  It  is  he  who 
has  to  take  the  fateful,  and  perhaps  fatal,  decision ; 
and  to  none  other  can  he  depute  this  responsibility  as 
long  as  life  lasts.  Only  a  big  character,  strong  and 
independent,  can  tackle  such  a  proposition.  Alone, 
too,  he  is  physically.     Most  of  his  men  have  left  the 

158 


SHIPS  AND  ADVENTURES  159 

ship  and  are  over  there  in  the  boats,  sometimes 
visible  on  the  top  of  the  w^ave,  sometimes  obliterated 
in  the  trougli.  The  rest  of  his  crew  are  somewhere 
below  the  bridge,  under  the  bulwarks,  at  their  guns, 
crouching  out  of  sight.  His  officers  are  at  their 
respective  stations,  forward,  aft,  and  amidships, 
connected  to  him  by  speaking-tubes,  but  otherwise 
apart.  He  himself,  arbiter  of  his  own  fate,  his  men, 
and  his  ship,  has  to  fight  against  a  dozen  contending 
impulses,  and  refuse  to  be  panic-stricken,  hasty,  or 
impetuous.  This  much  is  expected  of  him  ;  his  crew 
are  relying  on  him  blindly,  absolutely.  However,  by 
long  years  of  experience  and  moulding  of  character 
he  has  learnt  the  power  of  concentration  and  of 
omitting  from  his  imagination  the  awful  possibilities 
of  failure.  Before  putting  to  sea,  and  whilst  on 
patrol,  he  has  envisaged  every  conceivable  circum- 
stance and  condition  likely  to  occur.  He  has 
mentally  allowed  for  every  move  of  the  submarine, 
for  the  wounding  of  his  own  ship :  and  he  has  had  the 
ship's  action  stations  thus  worked  out.  Accidents 
will,  of  course,  occur  to  spoil  any  routine,  though 
some  of  these,  such  as  the  breakdown  of  the  wireless 
and  the  bursting  of  a  gun,  or  the  jamming  of  a  screen, 
may  be  foreseen  and  allowed  for. 

But  after  all  that  could  be  prepared  for  has  been 
done,  there  always  remains  some  awkward  possibility 
which  the  wit  of  man  can  never  foresee.  Take  the 
incident  of  the  Q-ship  Ravenstone,  which  was  com- 
missioned as  a  Q-ship  on  June  26,  1917,  under  the 
name  of  Donlevon.  A  month  later  she  was 
torpedoed  one  afternoon  in  the  Atlantic,  40 
miles  south  of  the  Fastnet.  Fortunately  there  were 
no  casualties,  and  fortunately,  too,  the  ship  did  not 
straight   away   founder.       There    was    a    heavy   sea 


160        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

running,  and  she  was  soon  down  by  the  head ;  but 
she  was  also  prevented  from  using  her  engines,  for  the 
torpedo  had  struck  her  in  No.  2  hold,  and  the  force 
of  the  explosion  had  lifted  and  thrown  overboard 
from  the  fore  well-deck  a  7-inch  hemp  hawser.  This 
had  fallen  into  the  sea,  floated  aft,  and  there  fouled 
the  propeller  so  effectually  that  the  ship  could  go 
neither  ahead  nor  astern.  It  was  a  most  annoying 
predicament,  but  who  could  have  foreseen  it  ?  The 
submarine  apparently  '  hopped  it,'  for  she  made  no 
further  attack,  and  one  of  Admiral  Bayly's  sloops, 
H.M.S.  Camelia,  stood  by  Donlevon,  and  from  Bere- 
haven  arrived  the  tug  Flying  Spray,  who  got  her  in 
tow.  Another  sloop,  the  Myosotis,  had  her  in  tow  for 
thirty -one  hours,  handling  her  so  well  in  the  heavy 
sea  that,  in  spite  of  Donlevon  being  down  by  the  head 
and  steering  like  a  mad  thing,  she  safely  arrived  in 
Queenstown,  and  was  afterwards  paid  out  of  the 
Service.  Ten  thousand  pounds'  worth  of  damage  had 
been  done. 

In  the  early  summer  of  1917,  at  a  time  when  the 
United  States  Navy  had  just  begun  to  help  us  with 
their  destroyers  and  the  enemy  was  hoping  very 
shortly  to  bring  us  '  to  our  knees,'  we  had  thirteen 
different  Q-ships  based  on  Queenstown.  There  was 
the  converted  sloop  Aubrietia,  commanded  by 
Admiral  Marx,  M.V.O.,  D.S.O.,  who,  in  spite  ot 
his  years,  had  come  back  to  the  Service  and  accepted 
a  commission  as  captain  R.N.R.  For  a  time  he  was 
in  command  of  H.M.  armed  yacht  Beryl,  owned  by 
Lord  Inverclyde.  From  this  command  he  trans- 
ferred to  the  more  exciting  work  of  decoying  sub- 
marines, and  it  is  amusing  when  one  thinks  of  an 
admiral  pretending  to  be  the  skipper  of  a  little 
tramp.    Of  this  thirteen  there  was  Captain  Grenfell's 


SHIPS  AND  ADVENTURES  161 

Penskurst,  about  which  the  reader  has  already  been 
informed.  Captain  Gordon  Campbell  was  in  Pargust, 
and  Commander  Leopold  A.  Bernays,  C.M.G.,  was 
in  Fala.  The  latter  was  one  of  the  most  unusual 
personalities  in  a  unique  service.  Before  the  war  he 
had  left  the  Navy  and  gone  to  Canada,  where  he  had 
some  pretty  tough  adventures.  On  the  outbreak  of 
war  he  joined  up,  and  crossed  to  England  as  a  soldier, 
but  managed  to  get  transferred  quite  early  to  a  mine- 
sweeping  trawler,  where  he  did  magnificent  work 
month  after  month  ;  first  in  sweeping  up  the  mine- 
field laid  off  Scarborough  at  the  time  of  the  German 
raid,  December,  1914,  and  afterwards  in  clearing  up 
the  difficult  Tory  Island  minefield,  which  had  been 
laid  by  Berlin  in  October,  1914,  but  was  not  rendered 
safe  for  many  months  afterwards.  When  in  the 
summer  of  1915  a  British  minesweeping  force  was 
required  for  Northern  Russia,  Bernays  was  sent  out 
with  his  trawlers.  Here,  with  his  usual  thoroughness 
and  enthusiasm,  he  set  to  work,  and  again  performed 
most  valuable  service,  and  buoyed  a  safe  channel  for 
the  ships  carrying  munitions  from  England  to  voyage 
in  safety. 

But  Bernays  was  no  respecter  of  persons,  especially 
of  those  who  were  not  keen  on  their  job.  With 
Russian  dilatoriness  and  inefficiency,  and  in  particular 
with  the  Russian  admiral,  he  soon  found  himself 
exasperated  beyond  measure.  His  own  trawlers 
were  working  in  the  most  strenuous  fashion,  whereas 
the  Russians  seemed  only  to  be  thwarting  instead  of 
helping,  and  at  any  rate  were  not  putting  their  full 
weight  into  the  contest.  1  do  not  know  whether  the 
yarn  about  Bernays  in  exasperation  pulling  the  beard 
of  the  overbearing  Russian  admiral  is  true,  but  there 
was  a  big  row,  and  Bernays  came  back  to  England, 

11 


162         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

though  for  his  good  work  he  received  the  coveted 
British  order  C.M.G.  After  further  minesweeping 
off  the  Scotch  coast,  where  once  more  he  distinguished 
himself,  he  came  to  Queenstown  to  serve  in  his 
Q-ship.  Here  he  went  about  his  job  in  his  usual 
fearless  manner,  and  on  one  occasion  had  played  a 
submarine  as  he  used  to  play  a  fish.  He  had  slowed 
down,  and  the  U-boat  was  coming  nicely  within 
range,  when  just  as  everything  was  ready  for  the  bait 
to  be  swallowed,  up  came  a  United  States  destroyer 
at  high  speed  to  '  rescue '  this  '  tramp.'  The  sub- 
marine was  frightened  away ,  and  Vala  lost  her  fish 
Then  one  day  Bernays  took  Vala  on  another  cruise. 
What  happened  exactly  we  do  not  know,  but  evi- 
dently a  submarine  got  her,  and  sank  her  without 
a  trace,  for  neither  ship  nor  crew  was  ever  heard  of 
again. 

Bernays  was  just  the  man  for  Q-ship  work.  He 
was  one  whom  you  would  describe  as  a  'rough 
customer,'  who  might  have  stepped  out  of  a  Wild 
West  cinema.  A  hard  swearer  in  an  acquired 
American  accent,  in  port  also  a  hard  drinker ;  but 
on  going  to  sea  he  kept  everything  locked  up,  and 
not  even  his  officers  were  allowed  to  touch  a  drop  till 
they  got  back  to  harbour.  The  first  time  I  met 
him  was  at  :3  o'clock  one  bitterly  cold  winter's 
morning  in  Grimsby.  It  was  blowing  a  gale  of  wind 
and  it  was  snowing.  Some  of  his  minesweepers  had 
broken  adrift  and  come  down  on  to  the  top  of  my 
craft,  and  were  doing  her  no  good.  There  was 
nothing  for  it  but  to  rouse  Bernays.  His  way  of 
handling  men,  and  these  rough  North  Sea  fishermen, 
was  a  revelation.  It  was  a  mixture  of  hard  Navy, 
Prussianism,  and  Canadian  '  get-to-hell-out-of-this- 
darned-hole.'     There  was  no  coaxing  in  his  voice  ; 


SHIPS  AND  ADVENTURES  163 

every  syllable  was  a  challenge  to  a  fight.  On  the 
forebridge  of  his  trawler  he  used  to  keep  a  bucket 
containing  lumps  of  coal,  and  in  giving  an  order 
would  at  times  accentuate  his  forcible  and  coloured 
words  by  heaving  a  lump  at  any  of  his  slow-thinking 
crew. 

Having  said  all  this,  you  may  wonder  there  was 
never  a  mutiny ;  but  such  a  state  of  affairs  was  the 
last  thing  that  could  ever  happen  in  any  of  Bernays' 
ships.  From  a  weak  man  the  crew  would  not  have 
stood  this  treatment  a  day,  but  they  understood 
him,  they  respected  him,  they  loved  him,  and  in  his 
command  of  the  English  tongue  they  realized  that 
he  was  like  unto  themselves,  but  more  adept.  Follow 
him  ?  They  followed  him  everywhere — through  the 
North  Sea,  through  Russian  and  Irish  minefields, 
and  relied  on  him  implicitly.  And  this  regard  was 
mutual,  for  in  spite  of  his  rugged  manner  Bernays 
had  a  heart,  and  he  thought  the  world  of  his  crew. 
I  remember  how  pleased  he  was  the  day  he  was 
ordered  to  go  to  the  dangerous  Tory  Island  mine- 
field. '  But  I'm  not  going  without  my  old  crew  ; 
they're  the  very  best  in  the  world.'  Bernays,  as 
an  American  officer  once  remarked,  '  certainly  was 
some  tough  proposition,'  but  he  knew  no  cowardice ; 
he  did  his  brave  duty,  and  he  rests  in  a  sailor's  grave. 

Another  of  these  thirteen  was  the  converted  sloop 
Begonia,  commanded  by  Lieut. -Commander  Basil 
S.  Noake,  R.N.,  an  officer  of  altogether  different 
temperament.  Keen  and  able,  yet  courteous  and 
gentle  of  manner,  tall,  thin,  and  suffering  somewhat 
from  deafness,  this  gallant  officer,  too,  paid  the  great 
penalty.  For  Begonia  was  destined  to  have  no 
ordinary  career.  Built  as  a  minesweeping  sloop,  she 
carried  out  escort  and  patrol  work  until  one  day  she 


164         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

was  holed,  but  managed  to  get  into  Queenstown. 
Here  she  was  repaired  and  transformed  into  a  decoy, 
with  a  counter  added  instead  of  her  cruiser  stern,  and 
with  the  addition  of  derricks  and  so  on  she  was  a 
very  clever  deception.  During  one  cruise  she  was 
evidently  a  victim  to  the  enemy,  for  she  disappeared, 
too. 

The  remaining  ships  of  this  thirteen  were  the  Acton 
(Lieut-Commander  C.N.  Rolfe,R.N.),Z2///?//rt(Lieut.- 
Commander  John  K.  McLeod,  R.N.),  Cullist  (Lieut- 
Commander  S.  H.  Simpson,  D.S.O.,  R.N.),  Tamarisk 
(Lieut.  -  Commander  John  W.  Williams,  D.S.O., 
R.N.R.),  Viola  (Lieut-Commander  F.  A.  Frank, 
D.S.O.,  R.N.R.),  Salvia  (Lieut.  -  Commander  W. 
Olphert,  D.S.O.,  D.S.C.,  R.N.R.),  Laggan  (Lieu- 
tenant C.  J.  Alexander,  R.N.R.),  and  Heather 
(Lieutenant  Harold  Auten,  R.N.R.).  In  this  list 
there  is  scarcely  a  name  that  did  not  receive  before 
the  end  of  the  war  at  least  one  D.S.O.,  while  two 
of  them  received  the  Victoria  Cross. 

Acton  had  an  indecisive  duel  with  a  submarine  on 
August  20,  1917.  It  was  a  fine  day  with  a  calm  sea 
when  the  enemy  was  sighted,  and  on  being  attacked 
Acton  abandoned  ship.  In  order  to  make  this  doubly 
real,  fire-boxes  were  started  in  the  well-deck,  and 
steam  leakage  turned  on,  which  made  the  ship  look 
as  if  she  were  on  fire.  The  enemy  inspected  the  ship 
closely,  so  closely  in  fact  that  he  actually  collided 
with  Acton,  shaking  the  latter  fore  and  aft.  But 
after  he  had  come  to  the  surface  and  Acton  opened 
fire,  hitting,  loud  shouts  came  from  the  conning- 
tower,  and  he  submerged,  thus  escaping.  Acton 
went  on  with  her  work  until  the  end  of  hostilities. 

Zylplia  and  Cullist  both  had  tragic  ends  to  their 
careers.     Zylpha  was  a  2,917-ton  steamer,  built  at 


SHIPS  AND  ADVENTURES  165 

Sunderland  in  1894,  and  had  been  commissioned  as  a 
Q-ship  as  far  back  as  October,  1915.  Early  in  June, 
1917,  she  steamed  along  the  south  Irish  coast  and  then 
out  into  the  Atlantic,  as  if  bound  for  New  York.  On 
June  11,  at  9.45  a.m.,  when  about  200  miles  from 
the  Irish  coast,  she  was  torpedoed  by  a  submarine 
that  was  never  seen  again,  and  totally  disabled.  Her 
engines  had  stopped  for  the  last  time,  and  the  sea 
had  poured  in,  though  her  closely-packed  cargo  of 
wood  was  at  present  keeping  her  afloat.  Having 
'  bleated  '  with  her  wireless,  one  of  the  United  States 
destroyers,  based  on  Queenstown,  proceeded  to  her 
assistance.  This  was  the  Warrington,  and  she  stood 
by  the  ship  for  a  whole  tv>^enty-four  hours — ^from 
2  p.m.  of  the  eleventh  until  2.30  p.m.  of  the  twelfth. 
By  the  time  Warrington  had  arrived  Zylplms  engine- 
room  and  boiler-rooms  were  already  awash,  Nos.  2 
and  3  holds  flooded,  the  wireless  out  of  action,  and 
one  man  killed.  The  Warrington  kept  patrolling 
round  her,  requested  a  tug  by  wireless,  and  went  on 
zigzagging  through  the  long  hours.  By  the  evening 
Zylplia  was  in  a  bad  way,  and  the  Atlantic  swell  was 
seriously  shaking  the  bulkheads,  but  she  was  still 
afloat  next  morning.  By  this  time  the  Waiiington, 
who  had  been  some  time  on  patrol,  was  running  short 
of  oil,  so,  at  2.30  p.m.,  regretfully  had  to  return  to 
harbour  for  fuel. 

This  was  a  sad  blow  to  the  Zyljiha  people,  but 
whilst  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the  U.S.  destroyer 
Lh^ayton  and  two  Queenstown  tugs  which  were  being 
sent  to  her,  Zylpha  actually  made  sail  with  what  little 
canvas  she  had,  and  made  good  at  1|^  knots.  At  noon 
of  the  fourteenth  she  was  picked  up  by  H.M.  sloop 
Daffodil,  and  was  then  taken  in  tow.  Next  day,  at 
1  p.m.,  tugs  reached  her,  but  she  could  not  last  out 


166        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

the  night,  and,  after  having  been  towed  for  most  of 
200  miles,  she  gradually  sank  when  quite  near  to  the 
west  coast,  finally  disappearing  at  11.20  p.m.  near  the 
Great  Skelligs.     So  ended  ZylpJia. 

Cullist  was  commanded  by  an  officer  who  had  served 
a  long  time  off  this  coast  in  a  sloop.  Her  real  name 
was  the  IVestphalia,  but  she  was  also  known  as  the 
Jurassic,  Hay  ling,  and  Prim.  She  was  of  1,030  gross 
tons,  and  in  the  spring  of  1917  was  lying  at  Calais, 
when  she  was  requisitioned  and  sent  to  Pembroke 
Naval  Dockyard  to  be  fitted  out.  She  was  commis- 
sioned on  May  12  by  Lieut.-Commander  Simpson, 
and  Admiral  Bayly  then  sent  her  to  cruise  along 
certain  trade  routes.  She  was  capable  of  steaming 
about  10  knots,  and  was  armed  with  a  4-inch  and 
two  12-pounder  guns,  as  w^ell  as  a  couple  of  torpedo- 
tubes,  and  all  these  had  been  well  concealed.  A 
few  weeks  later,  on  July  13,  Cullist  was  between  the 
Irish  and  French  coasts,  and  it  was  just  after  1  p.m. 
when  a  submarine  appeared  on  the  horizon. 

About  two  minutes  later  the  enemy  from  very  long 
range  opened  fire,  but  as  his  shots  were  falling  about 
3,000  yards  short,  he  increased  speed  towards  the 
Cullist.  By  1.30  a  large  merchant  ship  was  seen 
coming  up  from  the  south,  so  Cullist  hoisted  the 
signal  '  You  are  standing  into  danger,'  whereupon  the 
big  steamer  altered  course  away.  Cullist  then  zig- 
zagged, keeping  always  between  sun  and  enemy,  and 
by  dropping  eight  smoke-boxes  at  various  intervals 
succeeded  in  enticing  the  submarine  down  to  a  range 
of  5,000  yards,  a  distance  which  was  maintained  for 
the  rest  of  the  action.  From  1.45  the  enemy  con- 
tinually straddled  Cullist  so  that  the  decks  were  wet 
with  the  splashes,  and  shell  splinters  were  rattling  on 
masts  and  deck.     By  2.7  the  enemy  had  fired  sixty- 


SHIPS  AND  ADVENTURES  167 

eight  rounds,  but  had  not  hit  once.  Cullist  now 
decided  to  engage,  and  her  third  round  was  seen  to 
hit  just  below  the  submarine's  gun,  the  remainder 
hitting  regularly  along  the  deck  and  on  the  conning- 
tower,  causing  bright  red  flames  which  rose  higher 
than  the  conning- tower.  Three  minutes  after  Cullist 
had  opened  fire  the  enemy  sank  by  the  bows  in 
flames,  and  then  the  ship  steamed  to  the  spot  and 
dropped  a  depth  charge.  Three  of  Cullisfs  crew  saw 
a  corpse  dressed  in  blue  dungarees,  floating  face  up- 
wards, but  the  submarine  was  never  seen  again.  By 
3.30  H.M.S.  Christopher  arrived  on  the  scene  and 
both  ships  searched  for  the  enemy.  He  was  evidently 
seriously  damaged,  but  he  had  made  his  escape. 
Lieut.-Commander  Simpson,  for  this  engagement, 
was  awarded  a  D.S.O  ;  Lieutenant  G.  Spencer, 
R.N.II.,  a  D.S.C. ;  Sub-Lieutenant  G.  H.  D.  Double- 
day,  R.N.R.,  also  a  D.S.C. ;  while  two  other  officers 
were  '  mentioned.' 

Cullisfs  next  adventure  was  on  August  20  in  the 
English  Channel,  when  she  was  shelled  for  most  of 
two  and  a  half  hours  at  long  range,  during  which  the 
submarine  expended  over  eighty  rounds  with  only 
one  hit.  This,  however,  had  penetrated  the  waterline 
of  the  stokehold,  injuring  both  firemen  who  happened 
to  be  on  watch,  and  causing  a  large  rush  of  water  into 
the  stokehold.  By  plugging  the  hole  and  shoring  it 
up  this  defect  was  for  the  present  made  good.  At 
7.25  p.m.,  inasmuch  as  the  light  was  fading  and  the 
enemy  declined  to  come  nearer  than  4,000  yards, 
Cullist  started  shelling  and  seemed  to  make  two 
direct  hits  on  the  base  of  the  conning-tower.  This 
was  enough  for  the  German,  who  then  dived  very 
rapidly  and  made  off.  Cullist  was  practically  un- 
injmed,  for  the  only  other  hits  on  her  had  been  that 


168         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

the  port  depth  charge  had  been  struck  with  shell 
splinters  and  the  patent  log-line  had  been  shot  away. 
But  on  the  eleventh  of  the  following  February  a 
much  more  serious  attack  was  made,  and  this  illus- 
trates the  statement  that  suddenly  without  the 
slightest  warning  a  Q-ship  might  find  herself  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye  changed  from  an  efficient  man- 
of-war  into  a  mere  wreck.  Cullist  at  the  time  was 
steaming  on  a  southerly  course  down  the  Irish  Sea, 
Kingstown  Harbour  being  to  the  westward.  The 
officer  of  the  watch  and  the  look-out  men  were  at 
their  posts,  and  Lieut. -Commander  Simpson  was 
walking  up  and  down  the  deck.  Suddenly,  from 
nowhere,  the  track  of  a  torpedo  was  seen  approaching, 
and  this  struck  the  ship  between  the  engine-room  and 
No.  3  hold.  Lieut.-Commander  Simpson  was  hurled 
into  the  air  and  came  down  on  to  the  edge  of  the 
deck  with  a  very  painful  arm.  Realizing  the  con- 
dition of  the  Cullist,  he  ordered  his  men  to  abandon 
ship,  but  such  was  the  zeal  of  the  crew  in  remaining 
at  action  stations  until  the  last  moment  that  many  of 
them  were  drowned :  for  in  less  than  two  minutes 
Cullist  had  gone  to  the  bottom.  This  part  of  the 
Irish  Sea  then  consisted  of  a  number  of  Englishmen 
swimming  about  or  keeping  alive  on  a  small  Carley 
float.  The  submarine  when  half  a  mile  astern  of 
where  Cullist  sank,  came  to  the  surface  and  rapidly 
approached.  Then  she  stopped,  picked  up  two  men, 
inquired  for  the  captain,  examined  survivors  through 
glasses,  and  having  abused  them  by  words  and 
gestures,  made  off  to  the  southward.  After  swimming 
about  for  some  time,  Lieut.-Commander  Simpson 
was  then  pulled  on  to  the  Carley  float,  which  is  a 
special  kind  of  raft,  very  shallow,  painted  Navy  grey, 
and  usually  supplied  with  a  paddle  such  as  you  find 


SHIPS  AND  ADVENTURES  169 

in  a  Canadian  canoe.  It  was  a  bleak  February  after- 
noon, and  here  were  a  few  men  able  to  keep  from 
death  by  joining  hands  on  this  crowded  raft.  As  the 
hours  went  on,  the  usual  trying  thirst  assailed  them 
and  the  fatal  temptation  to  drink  the  sea-water,  but 
the  captain  wisely  and  sternly  prevented  this.  How 
long  they  would  be  left  crowded  in  this  ridiculous 
raft,  cold  and  miserable,  no  one  knew :  it  was 
obvious  that  human  strength  could  not  last  out 
indefinitely. 

But  just  as  it  was  getting  dusk,  about  6  p.m.,  a 
trawler  was  seen.  Relief  at  last !  Someone  who 
held  the  Canadian  paddle  kept  it  high  to  make  it  more 
easy  for  the  trawler  to  recognize  them.  It  was  a 
patrol  trawler,  for  the  gun  was  visible ;  in  a  few 
moments  they  would  be  rescued.  But  just  then 
these  sopping-wet  survivors  were  horrified  to  see  the 
trawler  manning  her  gun  and  laying  it  on  to  the  raft. 
What  hideous  mistake  was  this  ?  '  Sing  at  the  top 
of  your  voices.'  So  they  sang  '  Tipperary '  with  all 
the  strength  they  had  left.  Then  a  slight  pause  was 
followed  by  the  trawler  dismissing  the  gun's  crew  and 
coming  towards  them  as  quickly  as  her  engines  would 
go  round.  The  survivors  were  picked  up  and  taken 
into  Kingstown,  where  they  landed  about  10  p.m., 
and  none  too  soon  for  some  of  them.  By  the  time 
they  were  in  hospital  they  were  almost  done.  But 
what  was  the  trawler's  explanation  ?  She  had  sighted 
something  in  the  half-light  which  resembled  a  sub- 
marine, and  on  examining  it  again  it  still  more 
resembled  such  a  craft.  There  was  the  conning- 
tower  painted  grey,  and  there  was  the  periscope  too. 
It  was  only  when  the  unmistakable  sound  of  British 
voices  chanting  '  Tipperary '  reached  their  ears  that 
they  looked  again  and  found  that  the  'periscope'  was 


170        Q  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

the  Canadian  paddle,  and  the  '  conning-tower '  was 
the  men  Hnked  together  imposed  on  the  grey  Carley 
float. 

But  it  had  been  a  near  thing ! 

Even  more  varied  was  the  career  of  the  Privet 
(ahas  Island  Queen,  Q  19,  Szvisher,  and  Alcala). 
This  was  a  small  steamer  of  803  tons,  which  had 
begun  her  service  in  December,  1916,  her  captain 
being  Lieut. -Commander  C.  G.  Matheson,  R.N.R. 
On  the  following  twelfth  of  March  she  was  on 
passage  from  Land's  End  to  Alderney,  and  was 
steaming  at  9  knots,  when  just  before  three  in  the 
afternoon  a  torpedo  was  seen  to  pass  under  the  ship 
at  the  engine-room.  Privet  was  presently  shelled  by 
the  submarine,  who  rose  to  the  surface  on  the  star- 
board side  aft,  the  first  nine  rounds  hitting  Privet  five 
times.  One  of  these  rounds  burst  among  the  '  aban- 
don ship  '  party,  causing  many  casualties  and  destroy- 
ing the  falls  of  both  boats.  Privefs  hull  had  been 
badly  holed,  and  she  was  compelled  to  send  out  a 
wireless  S.O.S.  signal,  stating  that  her  engines  were 
disabled,  but  two  minutes  later  she  opened  fire  with 
her  port  battery — she  was  armed  with  four  12- 
pounders — and  during  the  first  seven  rounds  the 
enemy  received  punishment,  being  hit  abreast  the 
fore  part  of  the  conning-tower,  and  twice  well  abaft 
the  conning-tower.  The  German  now  tried  to  escape 
by  submerging,  but  evidently  he  found  his  hull 
leaking  so  badly  that  he  was  seen  trying  to  reach  the 
surface  again  by  using  his  engines  and  hydroplanes. 
Thus  Privet  managed  to  get  in  a  couple  more  hits 
and  then  the  U-boat  disappeared  stern  first  at  an 
angle  of  forty-five  degrees.  Privet  in  this  manner 
had  definitely  sunk  U  85,  belonging  to  the  biggest 
U- class  submarines,  230  feet  long,  armed  with  two 
guns   and   twelve   torpedoes.      The  whole   incident, 


SHIPS  AND  ADVENTURES  171 

from  the  moment  the  torpedo  was  fired  to  the 
destruction  of  the  attacker,  had  covered  forty- 
minutes  ;  but  now,  ten  minutes  later,  Privefs 
engine-room  was  reported  to  be  filHng  up  with 
water  owing  to  one  of  the  enemy's  shells  getting 
home.  Twenty  minutes  later  the  chief  engineer 
reported  that  the  water  was  now  over  the  plates 
and  rising.  Efforts  were  made  to  plug  the  hole  with 
hammocks  and  timber,  but  this  was  found  impossible, 
and  this  small  ship,  in  spite  of  her  victory,  was  in 
great  peril.  After  another  few  minutes  the  men  and 
wounded  were  ordered  into  the  lifeboat  and  skiff,  for 
the  engine-room  was  full  of  water  and  the  after  bulk- 
head might  give  way  suddenly  any  minute.  Half  an 
hour  later  this  actually  happened,  but  by  this  time 
the  two  British  destroyers  Christopher  and  Orestes 
had  arrived  on  the  scene. 

Privet  was  in  a  pitiable  condition,  and,  after  throw- 
ing overboard  confidential  books  and  rendering  the 
depth  charges  safe,  she  was  finally  abandoned,  though 
she  did  not  at  once  sink.  In  fact,  an  hour  and  a 
half  later  she  was  still  afloat ;  so  Lieut. -Commander 
JNlatheson,  his  officers,  a  seaman,  and  a  working  party 
from  Orestes  went  back  on  board  her,  and  within  an 
hour  Orestes  had  begun  to  tow  her  under  great 
difficulties.  However,  everything  went  fairly  well 
until  they  were  approaching  Plymouth  Sound,  when 
Privefs  last  bulkheads  collapsed,  and  she  started  now 
to  settle  down  quickly.  This  was  rather  hard  luck, 
having  regard  to  what  she  had  gone  through,  but 
there  was  no  mistake  about  it,  she  was  sinking  fast. 
Those  in  charge  of  her  are  to  be  congratulated,  for 
they  were  able  just  in  time  to  get  her  into  shoal  water, 
and  she  sank  in  only  4j  fathoms  opposite  the  Pickle- 
comb  Fort,  and  that  closed  chapter  one  in  her  not 
uninteresting  career. 


172         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

From  this  position  she  was  very  soon  raised,  taken 
into  Devonport,  and  recommissioned  at  the  end  of 
April.  Thus,  having  sunk  a  submarine  and  herself 
being  sunk,  she  returned  to  the  same  kind  of  work, 
and  actually  succeeded  in  sinking  another  submarine 
on  the  night  of  November  8-9,  1918,  this  being  the 
last  to  be  destroyed  before  Armistice.  The  incident 
occurred  in  the  Mediterranean  and  the  submarine  was 
U  34.  Truly  a  remarkable  career  for  such  a  small 
steamer,  but  a  great  tribute  to  all  those  brains  and 
hands  who  in  the  first  instance  fitted  her  out,  fought 
in  her,  got  her  into  Plymouth  Sound,  salved  her, 
fitted  her  out  again,  took  her  to  sea,  and  undauntedly 
vanquished  the  enemy  once  more  !  In  the  whole 
realm  of  naval  history  there  are  not  many  ships  that 
can  claim  such  a  record  against  an  enemy. 

Another  trying  incident  was  that  which  occurred 
to  the  1,295-ton  steamer  Mavis  (alias  Q  26  and 
Nyroca),  armed  with  a  4-inch  and  two  12-pounders. 
This  vessel  had  been  fitted  out  at  Devonport,  her 
Merchant  Service  cranes  being  landed  and  replaced  by 
dummy  derricks.  The  hatches  to  her  holds  were 
plated  over,  access  to  the  same  being  provided  by 
manholes.  In  order  to  give  her  the  maximum 
chance  should  she  ever  be  torpedoed,  she  was  bal- 
lasted with  closely  packed  firewood ;  and  only  those 
who  have  seen  torpedoed  ships  carrying  a  cargo  of 
timber  can  realize  for  what  a  long  time  such  an 
apparently  sinking  ship  will  keep  afloat,  though 
necessarily  deep  in  the  water.  I  remember,  during 
the  war,  the  case  of  a  steamer  torpedoed  off  Brow 
Head  (south-west  Ireland)  after  she  had  just  arrived 
from  across  the  Atlantic.  She  was  deserted  by  her 
crew,  the  sea  was  over  the  floors  of  her  upper-deck 
cabins,  and  she  was  obviously  a  brute  to  steer  in  such 


SHIPS  AND  ADVENTURES  173 

an  unseaworthy  condition,  but  with  great  difficulty 
and  some  patience  we  managed  to  tow  her  into  port, 
where,  owing  to  her  sinking  condition,  she  drew  so 
much  water  that  she  touched  the  ground  every  low 
tide.  But  she  was  salved  and  eventually  patched  up. 
It  was  her  timber  cargo  which  had  kept  her  afloat 
just  long  enough,  and  inasmuch  as  ship  and  freight 
were  worth  no  less  than  £250,000,  this  was  more 
than  worth  while.     So  it  was  with  Mavis. 

On  the  last  day  of  May,  1917,  under  command  of 
Commander  Adrian  Keyes,  R.N.,  this  Q-ship  had  left 
Devonport  to  cruise  in  the  Atlantic.  At  6.45  a.m. 
on  June  2  she  sighted  a  ship's  lifeboat  coming  along 
under  sail  and  found  it  contained  three  men  who 
were  in  a  very  exhausted  condition.  These  w^ere  the 
survivors  from  the  Greek  S.S.  A^.  Hadziaka,  which 
had  been  torpedoed  and  sunk  a  little  further  to  the 
westward.  This  torpedoing  had  occurred  in  a  heavy 
sea,  and  in  lowering  away  the  boats,  one  of  them  had 
been  smashed  and  the  other  swamped.  The  captain 
and  twenty-two  men  had  clung  to  the  wreckage  when 
the  German  submarine  broke  surface,  approached, 
but  made  no  attempt  at  rescue,  and  then  went 
away.  For  forty-eight  hours  these  wretched  men 
kept  more  or  less  alive  in  the  water  and  then  gradu- 
ally dropped  off  one  by  one  until  only  three  remained. 
These  then  managed  to  patch  one  boat,  upright  her, 
bale  her  out,  and  make  sail.  They  had  been  saihng 
for  ten  hours  during  the  night  when  they  had  the 
good  luck  to  be  picked  up  by  Mavis,  having  been 
flfty-eight  hours  without  food  or  water. 

Having  rescued  them.  Mavis  continued  on  her 
western  course,  but  after  dark  turned  east,  setting  a 
course  to  pass  10  miles  south  of  the  Lizard.  During 
the  following  day  she  passed   through  considerable 


174         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

wreckage.  At  9.45  p.m.  she  was  20  miles  south  of  the 
Wolf  Rock  when  a  torpedo  was  seen  to  break  surface 
40  yards  from  the  ship  on  the  starboard  beam.  It 
struck  Mavis  abreast  of  the  engine-room  and  pene- 
trated the  side,  so  that  the  ship  stopped  at  once,  and 
both  engine-room  and  boiler-room  were  flooded.  It 
was  impossible  to  send  out  a  wireless  call,  as  the 
emergency  apparatus  had  been  wrecked  too,  but  three 
rockets  were  flred  and  eventually  the  destroyer  Chris- 
topher came  up,  followed  later  by  the  trawler  White- 
fiiars  and  several  tugs.  Then  began  the  difficult 
and  slow  process  of  towing,  and  they  got  her  just 
inside  Plymouth  Sound,  but  by  this  time  she  was  in 
such  a  crank  condition  that  it  was  feared  she  might 
capsize,  so  they  managed  to  beach  her  in  Cawsand 
Bay  on  the  west  side  of  the  Sound.  It  was  her  ballast 
of  firewood  that  had  saved  her  from  total  loss,  and  for 
this  both  British  and  Greeks  must  have  felt  more 
than  thankful. 

Another  incident,  which  well  illustrates  the  risks 
run  by  these  Q-ships,  is  now  to  be  related.  Among 
those  officers  who  had  retired  from  the  Service  and 
come  back  after  the  outbreak  of  war  was  Commander 
W.  O'G.  Cochrane,  R.N.,  who  for  part  of  the  war 
was  captain  of  one  of  the  sloops  off  the  south  of 
Ireland.  In  the  spring  of  1917  1  well  remember  the 
very  excellent  sport  we  had  in  company,  but  in 
separate  ships,  exploring  and  destroying  the  mine- 
fields laid  by  the  enemy  submarines  right  along  the 
whole  south  coast  from  Cape  Clear  to  the  Old  Head 
of  Kinsale.  At  the  beginning  of  the  following 
November,  Commander  Cochrane  left  Devonport  in 
command  of  the  Q-ship  Candytuft,  together  with 
a  convoy  of  merchant  ships  bound  for  Gibraltar. 
Candytuft  was  disguised  to  represent  a  tramp  steamer, 


Q-suip  "Candytuft" 

This  Q-ship  had  the  misfortune  to  be  attacked  by  a  submarine  who  used  torpedoes 
to  blow  both  the  bow  and  stern  off  the  Q-ship.     The  "  Candytuft ""  was  afterwards 

beached  on  the  North  African  coast. 


To  face  p.   174 


SHIPS  AND  ADVENTURES  175 

and  on  the  eighth,  when  in  the  vicinity  of  Cape 
St.  Vincent,  had  an  encounter  with  a  submarine,  in 
which  the  usual  tactics  were  employed.  One  of  the 
enemy's  shells  struck  the  Q-ship's  bridge,  exploding 
under  the  bunk  in  Captain  Cochrane's  cabin,  wrecking 
the  wireless  and  steering-gear.  Candytuft  was  able 
to  fire  three  shots,  but  the  enemy  disappeared,  made 
off,  and  was  never  seen  by  the  Q-ship  again. 

After  having  been  repaired  at  Gibraltar,  Candytuft 
left  in  company  with  the  merchant  ship  Tremayne  for 
Malta.  This  was  on  November  16.  Two  days  later 
they  were  off  Cap  Sigli,  when  a  torpedo  crossed 
Tremayne  s  bows,  but  struck  Candytuft  on  the  star- 
board quarter,  entirely  blowing  off  the  ship's  stern 
and  killing  all  the  officers  excepting  Captain 
Cochrane  and  Lieutenant  Phillips,  R.N.R.,  who 
was  on  the  bridge,  but  very  badly  wounding 
Lieutenant  Errington,  R.N.R. 

Vi^ith  sound  judgment  and  true  unselfishness 
Captain  Cochrane  now  ordered  Tremayne  to  make 
for  Bougie  as  fast  as  she  could,  and  in  the  meantime 
the  Q-ship  hoisted  her  foresail  to  assist  the  ship  to 
drift  inshore.  Most  of  the  ship's  company  were  sent 
away  in  boats,  only  sufficient  being  kept  aboard  to 
man  the  two  4-inch  guns,  and  everyone  kept  out  of 
sight.  Within  half  an  hour  a  periscope  was  seen 
by  Captain  Cochrane,  concealed  behind  the  bridge 
screens.  A  periscope  is  a  poor  target,  but  it  was 
fired  at,  though  ineffectually.  On  came  the  torpedo, 
striking  Candytuft  just  foreward  of  the  bridge,  com- 
pletely wrecking  the  fore  part  of  the  ship.  This 
explosion  wounded  several  men  in  a  boat,  covered 
the  bridge  with  coal  barrows  and  other  miscellaneous 
wreckage,  blew  a  leading-seaman  overboard — happily 
he  was  picked  up  unhurt— blew  Captain  Cochrane  up 


176        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

also,  but  some  of  the  falling  wreckage  struck  him  on 
the  head,  knocked  him  back  inboard,  and  left  him 
staggering  off  the  bridge. 

Presently  the  ship  gave  a  sudden  jerk,  and  rid  her- 
self of  her  bow,  which  now  floated  away  and  sank. 
Candytuft  drifted  towards  the  African  shore,  and 
after  the  captain  and  one  of  his  crew  had  gallantly 
closed  the  watertight  door  at  the  foreward  end  of  the 
mess-deck,  up  to  their  middles  in  water  and  working 
in  almost  complete  darkness,  with  tables  and  other 
articles  washing  about,  it  became  time  for  these  last 
two  to  leave  the  ship.  They  were  taken  off  by  a 
French  armed  trawler  and  landed  at  Bougie. 
Candytuft,  minus  bow  and  stern,  drifted  ashore  on  to 
a  sandy  beach,  and  eventually  the  two  4-inch  guns 
were  salved.  Lieutenant  Errington  had  died  before 
reaching  land,  and  the  wounded  had  to  be  left  in 
hospital.  But  afterwards  some  of  Candytuft's  crew 
went  to  sea  in  another  Q-ship,  and  so  the  whole 
gallant  story  went  on.  Ships  may  be  torpedoed, 
but,  like  the  soldiers,  sailors  never  die.  They  keep 
on  '  keeping  on '  all  the  time,  as  a  young  seaman  once 
was  heard  to  remark. 


Q-SHip  "Candytuft" 

This  shows  some  of  the  damage  done  by  the  enemy  submarine's  torpedo.     She  is 
Iving  beached  and  one  of  the  guns  is  being  salved  and  lowered  down  the  side. 


To  face  p.  176 


CHAPTER  XIII 

MORE   SAILING-SHIP    FIGHTS 

If,  in  accordance  with  the  dehghtful  legend,  Drake 
during  the  recent  war  had  heard  the  beating  of  his 
drum  and  had  '  quit  the  port  o'  Heaven,'  come  back 
to  hfe  again  in  the  service  of  his  Sovereign  and 
country,  he  would  assuredly  have  gone  to  sea  in 
command  of  a  Q-sailing-ship.  His  would  have  been 
the  Victoria  Cross  and  D.S.O.  with  bars,  and  we  can 
see  him  bringing  his  much  battered  ship  into  Ply- 
mouth Sound  as  did  his  spiritual  descendants  in  the 
Great  War.  And  yet,  witii  all  the  halo  of  his  name, 
it  is  impossible  to  imagine  that,  great  seaman  as  he 
was,  his  deeds  w^ould  be  more  valiant  than  those  we 
are  now  recording. 

If  we  had,  so  to  speak,  put  the  clock  back  by  the 
re-introduction  of  the  fighting  sailing  ship,  it  was 
an  anachronism  that  was  well  justified  by  results. 
INlore  of  these  craft  and  various  rigs  were  still  being 
taken  up.  In  the  spring  of  1917  the  topsail  schooner 
Dargle  was  requisitioned,  fitted  out  at  Granton  with 
a  4-inch  and  two  12-pounders,  and  then  sent  to 
Lerwick,  whence  she  operated.  Similarly  the  ketch 
George  L.  Mui?^  (alias  G.  L.  Mu?iro,  G.L.M.,  and 
Padre),  which  was  accustomed  to  trade  between  Kirk- 
wall and  the  Firth  of  Forth,  was  chartered  and  armed 
with  a  12-pounder. 

On  April  22,1917,  the  174-ton  auxiliary  barquentine 

177  12 


178        Q  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

Gaelic  (otherwise  known  as  Brig  11,  Gobo,  and 
Q  22),  which  had  been  taken  up  at  the  end  of  1916, 
and  was  armed  with  a  couple  of  12-pounders,  had  a 
very  plucky  fight.  She  had  left  Falmouth  on  the 
nineteenth  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  G. 
Irvine,  R.N.R.,  and  at  6.30  p.m.  w^as  now  48  miles 
south  of  the  Old  Head  of  Kinsale,  steering  S.E.  under 
all  fore-and-aft  sail.  It  was  a  fine,  clear  day,  the  sea 
was  calm,  there  was  little  wind,  but  the  ship  was 
making  about  2  knots  under  sail  and  starboard  motor. 
It  was  a  quiet  Sunday  evening :  one  of  those  gentle 
spring  days  which  came  gladly  to  the  Irish  coast  after 
the  long  nights  and  continuous  gales  of  the  dark 
wdnter.  The  watch,  consisting  of  four  men,  were  all 
aloft  getting  in  the  square  sails,  when  one  of  them 
hailed  the  deck  that  he  could  see  a  submarine  about 
four  points  on  the  starboard  bow.  She  was  distant 
about  5,000  yards  to  the  southward  and  steering  to 
the  N.W.  at  slow  speed. 

Hands  were  called  down  from  aloft  immediately, 
and  action  stations  sounded  on  the  alarm  gong.  The 
enemy  began  the  tactics  of  keeping  well  away  from 
the  ship  and  firing  shell  after  shell,  of  which  six  hit 
the  Gaelic,  killing  two  of  the  deckhands  and  wound- 
ing four,  besides  putting  the  port  motor  out  of  action 
and  seriously  damaging  the  rigging.  For  a  time  both 
vessels  maintained  their  respective  courses,  and  when 
the  enemy  was  bearing  a  couple  of  points  abaft  Gaelics 
starboard  beam,  the  sailing  ship  unmasked  her  guns 
and  opened  fire.  It  was  now  6.50;  the  enemy  had 
already  fired  twenty  rounds,  but  as  soon  as  the  attack 
was  returned  he  altered  course  and  despatched  a  tor- 
pedo at  4,000  yards.  This  luckily  Gaelic  was  able 
to  avoid  in  time  by  starboarding  her  helm  so  that  the 
torpedo  missed  by  about  150  yards,  passing  parallel 


MORE  SAITJNG-SHIP  FIGHTS       179 

along  the  starboard  side.  Gaelic  s  forward  gun  had 
now  fired  three  shots,  but  her  fourth  hit  the  submarine. 
By  a  piece  of  bad  luck,  soon  after  this,  the  firing  pin 
of  the  port  forward  gun  broke  and  the  gun  was  tem- 
porarily out  of  action,  so  Gaelic  had  to  be  brought 
round  until  the  starboard  guns  would  bear.  Thus 
the  fight  went  on  until  7.20  p.m.,  when  the  enemy 
came  round  under  port  helm  and  started  to  move 
slowly  away  to  the  S.  W.,  still  firing.  Another  trouble 
now  occurred  in  the  barquentine.  One  of  the  shells 
had  caused  the  fresh-water  tank  on  deck  to  leak. 
This  water  then  came  through  a  hole  in  the  deck  on 
to  the  starboard  engine,  putting  it  out  of  action,  and 
so  with  both  engines  useless  and  no  wind  the  unfor- 
tunate Gaelic  could  not  be  manoeuvred,  though  the 
guns  continued  to  bear.  Firing  was  maintained  and 
two  more  hits  were  scored  on  the  German  target. 
About  eight  o'clock  the  submarine  ceased  fire,  ported 
his  helm,  headed  towards  the  barquentine,  and  ten 
minutes  later,  the  range  being  still  4,000  yards,  Gaelic 
hit  him  again.  This  was  the  end  of  the  action,  each 
craft  having  fired  about  110  rounds.  It  seems  pretty 
certain  that  though  the  submarine  was  not  sunk  she 
was  badly  knocked  about,  for  she  broke  off  the 
engagement  and  dived.  A  hand  was  sent  aloft  who 
reported  that  he  could  distinctly  see  the  submarine 
below  making  to  the  south-east.  Gaelic  did  her  best 
to  follow,  but  by  this  time  darkness  was  rapidly 
setting  in,  so  with  both  motors  useless,  sails  and 
rigging  also  in  a  dreadful  condition,  she  set  a  course 
for  the  Old  Head  of  Kinsale,  and  at  daybreak,  when 
10  miles  short  of  that  landfall,  was  picked  up  by 
H.M.  sloop  Bluebell  and  towed  into  Queenstown. 
She  was  then  refitted  and  eventually  went  out  to  the 
Mediterranean,  being  based  on  Gibraltar. 


180         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

Allusion  has  been  made  in  another  chapter  to  the 
auxiliary  schooner  Glen  (aUas  Sidney  and  Athos), 
which  began  her  special  service  on  April  5,  1917, 
under  Lieutenant  R.  J.  Turnbull,  R.N.R.  On 
May  17  she  had  a  most  successful  duel,  in  which  she 
managed  to  sink  the  small  UB  39,  one  of  those 
submarines  about  121  feet  long,  and  possessing 
extreme  surface  speed  of  8^  knots,  which,  armed 
with  one  gun  and  four  torpedoes,  used  to  come  out 
from  Zeebrugge,  negotiate  the  Dover  Straits — for 
which  she  was  fitted  with  a  net-cutter  at  the  bows — 
and  then  operate  in  the  English  Channel.  The  enemy's 
gun  was  a  22-pounder ;  Glen  carried  a  12-pounder 
and  a  3-pounder.  It  was  six  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
and  Glen  was  about  35  miles  south  of  the  Needles, 
steering  north-east,  close  hauled  on  the  starboard 
tack,  the  wind  being  E.  by  S.,  force  4.  There  was  a 
moderate  sea  on,  and  the  ship  was  bowling  along 
under  all  sail.  Suddenly  out  of  nowhere  a  shot  was 
heard,  and  five  minutes  later  could  be  seen  the  flash 
of  a  second,  and  UB  39  was  sighted  to  the  south- 
ward, 2^  miles  away.  Gle7i  therefore  backed  her 
fore-yard,  and  eased  away  all  sheets,  so  as  to  check 
her  way.  The  submarine  then  ceased  firing,  but  her 
captain  must  have  been  one  of  those  less  experienced 
men,  who  were  characteristic  of  the  later  stages  of 
the  war,  and  did  foolish  things  ;  for  he  was  indis- 
creet enough  in  this  case  to  close  scliooner,  who  then 
'abandoned  ship.'  On  came  the  German  and  sub- 
merged when  800  yards  ofi^  until  only  her  periscope 
and  part  of  her  bridge  dodger  were  showing.  Still 
she  approached  until  now  she  was  only  200  yards 
distant,  steering  a  course  parallel  with  the  schooner 
on  the  latter's  starboard  side.  All  this  happened  so 
quickly  that  the  '  panic  party '  were  just  leaving  the 


y 


MORE  SAILING-SHIP  FIGHTS        181 

ship,  when  UB  39  rose  to  the  surface  just  abaft  the 
schooner's  beam,  and  now  only  80  yards  off.  For 
such  temerity  the  German,  who  must  have  been 
amazingly  credulous,  paid  with  his  life.  Lieutenant 
Turnbull  gave  the  order  for  '  action,'  and  within  five 
seconds  the  first  shot  from  the  12-pounder  was  fired, 
wliich  fell  over  the  submarine  abaft  the  conning- 
tower.  The  enemy  was  evidently  quite  surprised, 
for  the  hatch  in  the  conning-tower  was  now  opened, 
and  there  appeared  the  head  and  shoulders  of  a  man 
who  seemed  dazed,  and  as  the  second  12-pounder 
shell  came  bursting  on  the  hull  under  the  conning- 
tower  this  man  apparently  fell  back  down  the  hatch. 

The  submarine  now  commenced  to  dive,  and  as 
the  stern  rose  out  of  the  water  the  third  and  fourth 
shots  from  the  same  gun  burst  on  the  after  part  of 
the  hull  in  the  middle  line,  the  holes  made  by  these 
three  shots  being  plainly  visible  to  those  in  the 
schooner.  The  3-pounder  had  also  come  into  action, 
and  out  of  six  rounds  the  second  shot  had  hit  the 
hull  on  the  water-line  forward  of  the  conning-tower, 
the  third  had  hit  her  on  the  water-line  under  the 
gun,  the  fourth  and  fifth  bursting  on  the  after  part  of 
the  hull  just  as  she  was  sinking,  and  the  sixth  burst- 
ing on  the  water  as  her  stern  disappeared.  Badly 
holed,  leaking  from  all  these  holes,  UB  39  Hsted  over 
to  port  towards  the  schooner,  vanished  from  sight 
for  evermore,  and  then  a  large  quantity  of  oil 
and  bubbles  came  to  the  surface.  There  were  no 
survivors. 

Having  definitely  disposed  of  the  enemy,  it  would 
be  reasonable  for  the  crew  of  the  Glen  to  feel  elated ; 
but  just  as  UB  39  was  finally  disappearing,  another 
submarine  was  seen  approaching  about  4,000  yards  off 
on  the  starboard  bow.    Glen  opened  fire  and  the  enemy 


182         Q  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

submerged,  only  to  reappear  about  600  yards  away 
on  the  port  bow.  Glen  fired  once  more,  and  next 
time  the  submarine  appeared  a  few  minutes  later  on 
the  port  quarter  1,000  yards  off.  This  was  happen- 
ing while  the  '  panic  party '  were  being  got  on  board 
again,  and  thus  there  was  every  risk  of  being  tor- 
pedoed ;  but  Glen  then  proceeded  on  a  northerly 
course  under  sail  and  motor,  and  at  7.30  p.m.  a  very 
large  submarine  was  observed  2  miles  away  on  the 
starboard  beam,  heading  in  about  the  same  direction. 
After  ten  minutes  this  submarine  opened  fire,  then 
turned  to  pass  astern,  and  continued  firing  with  both 
her  guns,  which  Glen  answered  with  both  of  hers. 
About  8  p.m.  the  duel  ceased  ;  the  enemy  disappeared 
to  the  west  on  the  look-out  evidently  for  a  less 
obstinate  ship.  If  you  examine  the  positions  on  the 
chart  you  will  realize  that  the  enemy  submarines 
were  evidently  concentrated  in  mid-Channel  in  order 
to  entrap  shipping  coming  up  and  down  and  across 
the  English  Channel.  They  were  so  placed  as  to  cut 
the  lines  of  communication  to  Cherbourg  and  at  the 
same  time  have  a  good  chance  of  bagging  some  liner 
bound  up  along. 

This  concentration  at  important  centres  was 
noticeable  during  the  submarine  campaign  ;  in  fact, 
but  a  few  weeks  later  Glen  was  again  engaged  with  an 
enemy  in  the  same  vicinity.  This  was  on  June  25, 
the  exact  position  was  14  miles  S.  by  W.  of  St. 
Catherine's  Point,  and  the  schooner  was  sailing  close 
hauled  on  the  starboard  tack,  heading  S.W.  by  S., 
doing  her  2  knots,  when  she  sighted  a  vessel 
apparently  under  sail  on  her  port  quarter  4  miles 
distant.  Presently  this  vessel  fired  at  her,  the  shot 
falling  1,000  yards  short.  This,  of  course,  was  a 
submarine,  and  it  was  a  not  unusual  thing  to  attempt 


MORE  SAILING-SHIP  FIGHTS       183 

disguise  by  this  means ;  for  obviously  a  low-lying 
craft  on  the  surface  viewed  from  a  distance  would 
create  suspicion.  But,  parenthetically,  it  may  be 
mentioned  that  this  sail  device  was  not  always  carried 
out  with  common  sense,  and  I  remember  on  one 
occasion  a  submarine  giving  himself  hopelessly  away 
by  motoring  at  good  speed  in  the  eye  of  the  wind 
with  his  sail  of  course  shaking  wildly.  Such  an 
unseamanlike  act  was  at  once  spotted  by  the  nearest 
patrol,  and  the  submarine  had  to  dive  so  hurriedly 
that  she  left  the  sail  on  the  water. 

In  the  case  of  Glen  the  recognition  was  obvious  as 
soon  as  the  first  shot  was  fired.  Several  minutes 
later  came  another,  which  fell  only  60  yards  short, 
so  Glen  hove-to  and  '  abandoned '  ship,  the  enemy 
continuing  to  fire  every  few  minutes,  but  the  shots 
fell  just  over.  Her  seventh  and  eighth  shots  fell 
much  closer,  in  fact  so  near  that  their  splash  flooded 
the  schooner's  deck,  and  shell  splinters  struck  the 
sails  and  bulwarks.  Glen  then  opened  fire  with  both 
guns,  but  this  was  a  more  cautious  submarine,  who 
declined  to  approach  nearer  than  4,000  yards,  fired 
three  more  rounds,  then  submerged  and  made  off. 

The  activity  of  the  submarines  during  this  week 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Portland  Bill  was  most 
noticeable.  Submarines  were  also  stationed  in  the 
western  approaches  of  the  English  Channel.  The 
reason  for  this  is  not  hard  to  appreciate,  for  it  was  on 
June  26,  the  day  after  the  above  engagement,  that 
the  first  contingent  of  U.S.A.  troops  landed  in 
France  on  the  western  coast.  Whether  the  trans- 
ports would  be  bound  up  Channel  to  Cherbourg  or 
Soutliampton,  the  enemy  submarines  were  lying  in 
wait  ready  for  them.  And  it  is  significant  that  also 
on  June  26  the  Q-sailing-ship  Gaelic  sighted  a  sub- 


184         Q  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

marine  at  the  western  entrance  of  the  English 
Channel  and  had  a  short  duel  with  her. 

On  July  2  Gaelic  had  another  indecisive  duel,  and 
on  the  tenth  Glen  (now  commanded  by  Sub-Lieu- 
tenant K.  Morris,  R.N.R.)  once  more  was  in  action. 
This  time  she  was  further  down  Channel,  about 
45  miles  S.W.  of  Portland  Bill.  In  this  incident 
the  enemy  fired  several  rifle-shots  at  the  panic  party 
rowing  in  the  boat.  An  officer  appeared  at  the 
conning-tower  presently,  hailed  this  rowing  boat, 
and  in  good  English  ordered  her  to  come  alongside. 
The  boat  began  to  do  so,  but  just  then  something 
seemed  suddenly  to  startle  the  officer,  and  he  dis- 
appeared into  the  conning-tower.  Glen  opened  fire, 
and  the  submarine — one  of  the  UC  type— submerged. 
She  was  not  sunk,  but  she  had  been  damaged,  and 
Sub-Lieutenant  Morris  was  awarded  the  D.S.C. 

We  saw  just  now  that  submarines  were  very  fond 
of  hanging  about  on  the  approach  to  Cherbourg. 
There  was  a  sound  reason  for  this.  The  coal-fields 
of  France  were  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  conse- 
quently it  fell  to  us  to  keep  France  supplied.  From 
February,  1917,  a  system  was  organized  which  was 
the  real  beginning  of  the  convoy  method  soon  after- 
wards adopted  with  such  beneficial  results  to  our 
shipping.  This  embryonic  organization  was  known 
as  the  'F.C.T.'— French  Coal-Trade  Traffic.  The 
ships  would  load  coal  up  the  Bristol  Channel  and 
then  sail  independently  round  to  Weymouth  Bay. 
Having  thus  collected,  they  were  sailed  across  to 
Cherbourg  together  in  a  group,  protection  being 
afforded  by  trawlers  during  daylight  and  moonlight 
hours  only.  As  one  looked  at  this  heterogeneous 
collection  of  craft,  some  of  them  of  great  age,  lying 
at  anchor  off  Weymouth  Harbour,  they  seemed  dis- 


MORE  SAILING  SHIP  FIGHTS        185 

tiiictly  a  curious  lot ;  but  there  was  a  great  dearth 
of  shipping  at  that  time,  and  any  old  vessel  that 
could  carry  coal  and  go  ahead  was  worth  her  weight 
in  gold.  The  system  was  found  most  successful, 
and  other  group  sailings  on  definite  routes,  such  as 
Falmouth- Brest  and  Dover-Dunkirk,  were  instituted. 

The  next  development  was  to  have  one  or  two 
Q-ships  among  the  convoys,  for  the  most  obvious  of 
reasons,  and  especially  well  astern  of  the  convoy,  so 
that  the  enemy  might  take  them  for  stragglers  and 
sink  them  before  any  of  the  escort  could  turn  back 
and  help.  Then  came  a  still  further  development, 
which  had  been  in  the  minds  of  many  naval  officers 
for  a  long  time.  Since  there  was  such  a  scarcity  of 
tonnage  available  for  general  purposes,  why  not  let 
the  Q-ship,  instead  of  carrying  ballast,  be  loaded 
with  a  proper  cargo  ?  She  could  easily  carry  this 
without  interfering  with  her  fighting  ability :  in  fact, 
she  would  be  trimmed  more  normally,  and  rather 
increase  than  decrease  her  power  of  deception.  As 
to  the  possibility  of  secrecy  being  lost  whilst  loading 
in  port,  the  armament  was  very  cleverly  concealed  and 
only  a  little  organization  was  necessary  to  prevent 
her  true  character  being  bruited  about.  The  main 
difficulty  would  be  when  in  the  presence  of  neutral 
shipping  in  that  particular  harbour,  but  this  problem 
was  capable  of  solution. 

Thus  it  happened  now  that  in  many  cases  the 
Q-ship  became  also  a  trader.  Be  it  noted,  her 
character  was  not  that  of  an  armed  merchant  ship 
which  is  armed  only  defensively,  but  a  properly 
commissioned  warship  carrying  cargo  as  well  as  her 
offensive  armament.  Now,  one  of  these  craft  was  the 
two-masted  179-ton  brigantine  Probus  (alias  Q  30, 
Ready,  Thirza,  Elixir).     She  had  been  purchased  by 


186         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

the  Admiralty  in  1915,  and  fitted  with  an  auxiliary 
motor.  Then,  based  on  Granton,  she  had  worked 
as  a  decoy  in  the  North  Sea. 

In  JNIay,  1917,  having  done  excellent  work  as  a 
pure  decoy,  we  find  her  as  a  decoy-trader.  Having 
loaded  up  with  coal  at  Granton,  she  left  there  on 
JNIay  4,  and  duly  arrived  at  Treguier.  From  there 
she  proceeded  to  Swansea  with  a  cargo  of  pit-props, 
which  were  much  needed  by  the  Welsh  coal  mines, 
seeing  that  our  customary  supply  from  Scandinavia, 
via  the  North  Sea,  was  so  endangered  at  that  time. 
From  Swansea  Probus,  who  was  armed  with  two 
12-pounders  and  two  6-pounders,  sailed  round  to 
Falmouth,  and  at  3.30  on  the  afternoon  of  June  20 
she  set  sail  for  Morlaix  in  company  with  twelve 
sailing  ships  and  the  one  steamship  escort,  the  armed 
trawler  Harlech  Castle.  Think  of  it  in  these  modern 
days :  a  dozen  sailing  vessels  coming  out  past  St. 
Anthony's  Lighthouse !  Truly  this  war  has  shown 
how  history  goes  on  repeating  itself.  Who  would 
have  thought  that  sailing-ship  convoys,  which  in 
other  wars  used  to  assemble  and  leave  Falmouth, 
would  ever  be  witnessed  again  ? 

Now,  to  control  a  dozen  sail  you  must  have  sea- 
room,  so  the  convoy  was  arranged  thus  ;  A  mile 
ahead  of  the  first  sailing  ship  steamed  the  trawler, 
then  came  the  twelve  ships  spread  over  3  miles,  and 
then  4  miles  astern  of  the  last  ship,  and  looking  just 
as  a  straggler  would  be,  sailed  the  Probus.  There 
was  thus  a  distance  of  8  miles  between  her  and  the 
escort  trawler.  Most  of  a  day  passed  before  anything 
occurred.  At  2.15  p.m.  on  June  21  Probus,  still 
astern  of  the  convoy,  was  about  23  miles  south-west 
of  the  Start  and  heading  on  a  course  S.E.  by  S.  The 
wind  was  S.W.,  force  3,  and  she  was  doing  about 


MORE  SAILING-SHIP  FIGHTS       187 

4  knots  througli  the  water,  when  she  observ^ed  what 
appeared  to  be  a  ketch-rigged  vessel,  steering  the 
same  course,  4  miles  away  on  the  starboard  quarter ; 
but  from  the  rapidity  with  which  the  bearing  altered, 
it  was  soon  obvious  that  the  ketch  was  not  under 
sail  alone.  At  2.30  p.m.  the  'ketch'  proved  her 
submarine  identity  by  opening  fire,  the  first  shot 
falling  10  yards  clear  of  the  brigantine's  beam. 
Probus  then  hove-to,  the  crew  went  to  action  stations, 
and  the  boat  was  got  ready  to  be  launched,  while 
the  submarine  kept  up  a  rapid  fire  from  about  4,000 
yards,  shells  falling  unpleasantly  close.  By  now 
Probus  was  heading  about  S.W.  with  fore-yards 
aback,  and,  owing  to  the  light  wind,  was  making  a 
stern  board.  Then  her  head  fell  round  slowly  to  the 
west.  The  enemy  was  now  bearing  about  W.  to 
W.S.VV.,  firing  rapidly,  and  heading  to  the  south- 
east so  as  to  cross  the  brigantine's  bows.  It  was  a 
beautifully  clear  summer's  afternoon,  and  you  could 
see  the  convoy  and  the  smoke  from  the  escorting 
trawler  quite  easily.  After  the  submarine  had  main- 
tained a  continuous  long-range  fire  for  ten  minutes, 
Probus  ran  up  the  ^^^hite  Ensign,  and  at  3,500  yards 
opened  fire  with  her  starboard  12-pounder.  The  first 
round  fell  500  yards  short,  but  the  crew  of  the  sub- 
marine's gun  hurriedly  left  their  station  and  made 
for  the  conning-tower.  The  second  shot  seemed  to 
be  a  hit,  for  the  enemy,  lying  across  the  brigantine's 
bows,  stopped,  and  a  large  cloud  of  smoke  went  up, 
and  he  temporarily  ceased  fire. 

Probus  then  went  about  on  the  other  tack,  and  the 
enemy  took  advantage  of  this  to  resume  firing,  while 
shots  began  to  fall  all  round  ;  but  the  port  12-pounder 
of  the  British  ship  now  came  into  action,  and  the 
fourth  shot  was  certainly  another  hit,  for  it  dismantled 


188         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

the  German's  sails  and  mast,  and  raised  a  cloud  of 
smoke  from  the  fore  part  of  the  conning-tower. 
Shelling  continued,  and  the  enemy  was  compelled  to 
submerge,  Probus's  parting  shot  hitting  him  on  the 
top  of  the  conning-tower.  It  was  now  about  3.30  p.m., 
and  nothing  was  seen  of  the  German  until  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  later,  when  he  was  sighted  6  miles  away 
approaching  Prohus.  He  had  probably  been  stopping 
his  shell-holes,  and  was  now  ready  to  give  the  sailing 
ship  the  knock-out  blow  ;  but  the  armed  trawler,  with 
its  fishermen  crew  eager  to  have  a  hand  in  the  fight, 
was  by  this  time  making  towards  the  submarine,  and 
this  compelled  the  German  to  break  off  the  engage- 
ment and  scurry  to  the  north-east. 

Unfortunately  this  duel  demonstrated  yet  again  the 
great  weakness  of  the  sailing  ship  as  a  man-of-war. 
In  the  olden  days,  when  the  swift-moving  galley 
fought  the  sailing  carrack  or  caravel,  the  galley  was 
able  to  press  home  her  attack  if  the  weather  fell  light, 
and  left  the  other  ship  rolling  helpless  in  the  calm, 
with  yards  and  tackle  grievously  creaking  and  chafing. 
The  submarine  is  the  modern  galley,  and  the  Q-sailing- 
ship  is  the  carrack's  counterpart.  As  long  as  there 
was  a  good  breeze  she  could  be  manoeuvred,  and  if 
there  was  a  hard  breeze  it  would  make  it  difficult 
for  the  enemy's  gunnery.  Probus  was  practically 
becalmed,  so  the  submarine  could  run  rings  round 
her,  and  the  sailing  ship  could  not  be  worked  up  to 
windward.  Of  course,  on  these  and  similar  occasions 
troubles  seldom  come  singly  ;  for  when  the  brigantine 
Probus  made  a  stern  board  her  starboard  propeller 
had  fouled  the  log-line,  so  this  was  out  of  action. 
However,  Probus  resumed  her  original  course,  fol- 
lowed the  convoy,  and  in  spite  of  the  light  airs  duly 
arrived  at  Morlaix  on  June  25. 


Q-SAILING    SHIP    ''FkESH    HoPE  " 

Tliis  was  a  900-toii  three-masted  schooner  which  was  requisitioned  in  the  last 
year  of  the  war.      She  liad   previously  been   the  United    States  "  Edith   E. 

Cummins. "' 


Q-SHip  "Record  Reign" 

This  apparently  peaceful  ketch  was  one  of  those  armed  mystery  sailing  ships 
which  came  into  service  during  the  last  vear  of  the  war. 


To  face  p.  ISS 


MORE  SAILTNG-SHIP  FIGHTS        189 

Although  the  submarine  escaped,  Probus  had 
succeeded  in  luring  him  from  the  convoy,  and  had 
sent  him  right  away.  These  sailing  Q-ships  became,  in 
fact,  one  of  the  best  types  of  escort  for  other  sailing 
vessels  in  convoy,  and  thus  allowed  armed  steam 
patrol  vessels  to  be  employed  elsewhere.  Looking  in 
no  way  different  from  the  rest  of  the  convoy,  but 
fitted  with  concealed  wireless  and,  later,  even  with 
howitzer  armament,  they  had  a  much  better  chance 
than  the  armed  trawler  or  destroyer  of  enticing  the 
submarine.  Apart  altogether  from  these  important 
considerations,  the  scheme  of  carrying  freights  was  a 
big  financial  success,  and  Probus  paid  for  herself  over 
and  over  again.  It  was  nothing  unusual  for  her  to 
earn  over  £1,000  a  month.  Naturally  enough,  then, 
we  find  other  sailing  ships  being,  taken  up  for  this  dual 
work.  In  November,  1917,  the  900-ton  three-masted 
fore-and-aft  schooner  Fresh  Hope,  lying  at  Granton, 
was  requisitioned.  She  had  formerly  been  the  United 
States'  Edith  E.  Cummins,  and  in  a  fresh  breeze  could 
log  her  12  knots.  Known  also  as  the  Iroquois,  she 
was  fitted  out  and  commissioned  by  the  first  week  of 
April,  1918,  and  served  until  the  Armistice.  Other 
sailing  vessels  were  thus  commissioned  in  1918, 
specially  selected  as  being  able  to  carry  each  at  least 
one  4-inch  and  two  12-pounders,  and  to  be  fitted  with 
auxiliary  engines.  These  were  the  Rentoul,  Imogene, 
Viola,  Cijmric,  and  Elizabeth.  They  were  actually 
armed  with  a  7*5-inch  howitzer,  in  addition  to  the 
three  guns  just  mentioned.  Imogene  was  a  barquen- 
tine,  and  had  been  carrying  china  clay  fi'om  Fowey  to 
St.  Malo.  Rentoul  was  also  a  barquentine,  Viola  was 
a  schooner  ;  Cymric  was  a  three-masted  schooner. 

By  the  end  of  September  there  were  no  fewer  than 
nineteen  decoy  ships  which  had  been  fitted  out  in  the 


190        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

one  port  of  Granton,  and  nine  of  these  were  sailing 
ships.  It  will  therefore  be  of  interest  to  show  how 
in  this  month  such  vessels  were  being  employed  in 
their  double  capacity  of  warship  plus  freighter.  The 
barquentine  Merops  was  discharging  a  cargo  at 
Runcorn  preparatory  to  loading  coal  for  Cherbourg. 
The  topsail  schooner  Dargle  was  discharging  a 
cargo  at  Lerwick,  and  then  loading  herrings  for 
Farnborough.  The  Fresh  Hope  was  about  to  leave 
Liverpool  for  Belfast,  where  she  would  load  with  cork 
ballast  for  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia.  The  Baron  Rose, 
another  900-ton  schooner,  was  about  to  leave 
Newcastle  with  cork  ballast  for  Halifax  also.  The 
barquentine  Rentoul  was  on  her  way  with  coal  to 
Cherbourg,  the  barquentine  Imogene  was  on  her  way 
with  coal  for  Lerwick.  The  topsail  schooner  Viola 
(alias  Vereker)  left  Granton  with  coal  for  St.  Valery- 
en-Caux.  The  iron  schooner  Cymric  was  taking  coal 
from  Granton  to  Cherbourg.  Another  three-masted 
schooner  was  carrying  coal  from  Granton  to  St. 
Valery-en-Caux.  In  addition,  there  were  a  dozen 
steam  craft  from  this  same  port  acting  as  Q-ships. 
In  another  part  of  the  British  Isles  our  old  friend 
Helgoland  had  yet  another  fight  with  a  submarine. 
This  was  on  July  11,  1917,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  Scillies,  and  this  was  another  occasion  when  two 
ships  with  sails  shelled  each  other,  but  unfortunately 
it  was  another  of  those  calm  days,  and  hazy.  At  the 
outset  the  enemy's  shells  passed  over  the  Helgoland's 
fore-tgallant  yard  as  the  latter  was  just  drifting  with 
the  tide.  Then  the  motors  were  started,  and  at 
500  yards  both  guns  and  the  Lewis  guns  gave  the 
submarine  a  warm  time,  so  that  she  was  seriously 
damaged  and  had  to  escape  by  submerging. 

Thus,  all  round  our  coasts,  in  the  North  Sea,  Eng- 


- 

> 

.^ 

> 

; 

1 

/ 

\ 

« 

s 

/  y.  • ,    ! 

,  •.'■.•/.■III 

^^ 

J 

V 

Q-SAILIXG    SHIP    "  ReNTOUL  " 

This  barqnentine  was  commissioned  as  a  Q-ship  in  March,  litis,  was  well  armed, 
but  was  also  employed  simultaneously  in  carrying  coal  to  France. 


Q-SAILINli    SHIP    "  PiENTOUL  " 

The  crew  of  the  4-inch  eun. 


To  face  p.   100 


MORE  SAILING-SHIP  FIGHTS        191 

lish  Channel,  Irish  Sea,  and  Atlantic  :  from  as  far 
north  as  the  Orkneys  and  Shetlands  to  as  far  south  as 
the  Bay  of  Biscay,  and  as  far  west  as  the  coast  of 
North  America,  these  Q-sailing-ships  were  doing 
their  job  of  work.  The  fitting  out,  the  manning  of 
these  craft  and  of  their  guns,  put  a  great  strain  on 
our  manhood,  already  greatly  diminished  by  the 
demands  of  our  Armies  abroad  and  munition  makers 
at  home.  Nor  could  the  Navy  proper  and  the 
Auxiliary  Patrol  Force  afford  to  be  weakened.  On 
the  contrary,  destroyers  and  light  cruisers  were  being 
built  and  commissioned  at  a  rapid  rate :  whilst  more 
minesweepers,  more  trawlers  and  drifters,  were  daily 
consuming  scores  of  men.  Add  to  this  the  fact  that 
other  men  as  gunners  were  required  in  great  numbers 
— for  practically  every  British  merchant  ship  became 
defensively  armed — and  one  can  see  how  important  to 
our  island  nation  and  the  overseas  Empire  is  the 
existence  of  peace-time  shipping,  with  all  that  it 
connotes — steamships,  liners,  tramps,  colliers,  traw- 
lers, drifters,  yachts,  fishing  smacks,  it  does  not 
matter.  From  all  these,  and  from  the  few  full-rigged 
ships  and  sailing  coasters,  we  had  to  draw  our  supplies 
of  personnel,  and  it  still  takes  longer  to  train  a  man 
into  a  sailor  than  into  a  military  unit. 

Never  before,  not  even  in  Armada  days,  and  prob- 
ably ne^  er  again,  could  such  a  call  come  from  the  fleet 
in  being  to  the  fleet  of  merchantmen.  The  sailing  ship 
has  had  many  centuries  of  usefulness  as  a  fighting 
ship  and  a  cargo  carrier,  and  if  she  is  being  gradually 
killed  by  the  mechanical  ship  she  is  dying  hard. 
Apparently  in  neither  capacity  has  she  quite  finished 
her  fascinating  and  illustrious  history. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE  SUMMIT  OF  Q-SHIP  SERVICE 

It  was  on  February  17, 1917,  that  Commander  Gordon 
Campbell,  still  in  command  of  Farnboi^ougli,  now 
named  Q  5,  again  sank  a  submarine,  but  in  circum- 
stances which,  hid  from  publication  at  the  time,  sent  a 
thrill  through  the  British  Navy  and  especially  among 
those  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  serving  in  that 
area.  The  scene  was  again  off  the  south-west  Irish 
coast,  and  the  enemy  at  the  beginning  of  the  month 
had  commenced  the  unrestricted  warfare  portion  of 
their  submarine  campaign.  The  Germans,  as  we 
have  since  learned,  possessed  at  this  date  ninety-five 
submarines  in  addition  to  eight  in  the  Baltic  and 
thirty-one  in  the  Mediterranean.  The  orders  to  their 
submarine  captains  were  very  drastic  and  left  no  un- 
certainty, and  one  of  these  commanding  officers 
informed  one  of  my  friends  after  the  war  that  unless 
they  were  successful  in  sinking  plenty  of  shipping 
they  soon  were  removed  from  their  command. 

Every  Allied  merchant  ship  was  to  be  attacked 
without  delay.  '  This  form  of  warfare  is  to  force 
England  to  make  peace  and  thereby  to  decide  the 
whole  war.  Energetic  action  is  required,  but  above  all 
rapidity  of  action,'  '  Our  object  is  to  cut  England  off 
from  traffic  by  sea,  and  not  to  achieve  occasional 
results  at  far-distant  points.  As  far  as  possible,  there- 
fore, stations  must  be  taken   up   near  the  English 

192 


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THE  SUMMIT  OF  Q-SHIP  SERVICE    193 

coast,  where  routes  converge  and  where  divergence 
becomes  impossible.'  If  ever  there  was  a  chance  of 
attacking  by  night,  this  was  to  be  done.  When  a 
ship  had  been  abandoned  by  her  crew  the  submarine 
was  to  sink  her  by  gunfire,  and  approach  the  ship  from 
aft.  Owing  to  the  activity  of  the  British  Q-ships, 
every  ship,  even  saihng  vessels,  should  be  suspected, 
and  both  captain  and  engineer  of  merchant  ships  were 
to  be  taken  prisoners. 

Of  the  above  numbers  of  submarines  available  this 
month  not  less  than  twenty-five  and  not  more  than 
forty-four  could  actually  be  at  work  on  any  given 
date,  for  the  reasons  given  in  another  chapter.  The 
first  stages  of  this  unrestricted  warfare  were  most 
marked,  for  whereas  the  number  of  merchant  ships 
sunk  by  submarines  in  all  waters  during  December 
and  January  had  been  respectively  thirty-six  and 
thirty-five,  in  February  the  total  suddenly  rose  to 
eighty-six — these  sinkings  occurring  in  the  western 
approaches,  especially  off  the  south  coast  of  Ireland. 
On  February  14  the  sailing  ship  Eitdora  (1,991  tons) 
had  been  sunk  30  miles  S.S.W.  of  the  Fastnet,  and 
three  days  later  the  S.S.  lolo  40  miles  S.  by  W.  of  the 
Fastnet,  so  orders  from  Germany  were  being  carried 
out  to  the  letter.  The  seventeenth  of  February  was 
the  Saturday  before  Ash  Wednesday,  and  Captain 
Campbell  had  taken  Farnhorough  into  the  locality 
just  mentioned,  the  exact  position  being  Lat.  51.34  N., 
Long.  11.23  W.  It  was  a  quarter  to  ten  in  the  fore- 
noon and  the  steamer  was  steering  an  easterly  course 
at  7  knots,  when  a  torpedo  was  seen  approaching. 
And  then  occurred  a  supreme  instance  of  Q-ship 
bravery.  In  his  Order  Book  Captain  Campbell  had 
laid  it  down  that  '  Should  the  Officer  of  the  Watch 
see  a  torpedo  coming,  he  is  to  increase  or  decrease 

13 


194  Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

speed  as  necessary  to  ensure  it  hitting.'  This  order 
was  read  and  signed  by  all  his  officers,  so  that  there 
could  be  no  misunderstandino-.  The  intention  was 
deliberate,  premeditated  self-immolation  for  the 
greater  object  of  fooling  the  submarine  and  then 
sinking  him.  The  Q-ship's  company  had  all  been 
warned  that  the  intention  would  be  thus,  and  every 
man  was  given  an  opportunity  to  leave  the  ship  before 
sailing.  Not  one  man  left.  Therefore  to-day,  when 
a  long  way  off  the  torpedo  was  seen  approaching,  it 
could  easily  have  been  avoided,  but  instead,  the  helm 
was  put  hard  aport  only  at  the  last  minute,  and  only 
so  that  it  should  strike  the  ship  elsewhere  than  in  the 
engine-room.  On  came  the  steel  fish  and  struck  the 
ship  abreast  of  No.  3  hold,  wounding  an  Engineer 
Sub-Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  causing  a  terrific  explosion, 
and  making  a  huge  hole  in  the  ship's  side. 

In  the  meantime  '  Action  '  had  been  sounded  and 
all  hands  went  to  their  stations,  the  ship  being 
abandoned  by  every  available  man  with  the  exception 
of  those  required  on  board.  Thus  two  lifeboats  and 
one  dinghy  full  of  men  were  sent  to  row  about,  and 
the  fourth  boat  was  partially  lowered.  Captain  Camp- 
bell was  lying  concealed  at  one  end  of  the  bridge, 
watching  and  waiting  in  his  great  isolation.  Up 
through  the  voice-pipe  came  the  chief  engineer's 
report  that  the  engine-room  was  filling:  back  came 
the  captain's  orders  that  he  was  to  hang  on  as  long  as 
possible  and  then  hide.  This  was  done.  In  the 
meantime  Farnhorougli  s  captain  saw  the  submarine 
appear  on  the  starboard  quarter  a  couple  of  hundred 
yards  away,  submerged,  but  cautiously  making  a 
thorough  scrutiny  of  the  ship  through  his  periscope. 
Then  the  German — U  83  was  her  name — came  past 
the  ship  on  the  starboard  side  only  13  yards  away  and 


o 

Eh 


O 
o 

be 


>■ 

c3 
(B 

«    fj 

C3      >- 
P^     f 

a 


bp 


THE  SUMMIT  OF  Q-SHIP  SERVICE    195 

about  5  yards  from  the  boats.  She  was  so  close,  in 
fact,  that  Captain  Campbell,  looking  down,  could  see 
the  whole  shape  of  the  submarine  below  the  water 
quite  distinctly. 

Here  was  the  big  crisis.  Was  this  the  psycho- 
logical moment  ?  Was  this  the  right  time  to  make 
the  final  gamble  ?  For  Captain  Campbell  the 
temptation  to  open  fire  was  almost  unbearable,  yet 
the  opportunity  was  not  yet :  he  must  wait  a  little 
longer  and  live  minutes  which  were  like  days.  The 
submarine  passed  along,  then  close  round  Farn- 
boro2igh's  bows,  finally  breaking  surface  about  300 
yards  on  the  port  bow.  It  was  now  five  minutes 
past  ten  and  U  83  motoring  along  the  surface  came 
past  the  port  side,  continuing  the  scrutiny  with 
less  caution  born  of  satisfaction.  The  concealed 
figure  on  FarnborougJis  bridge  was  waiting  only 
until  all  his  guns  would  bear,  and  as  soon  as  the 
enemy  thus  bore  came  the  great  onslaught.  It  was 
point-blank  range,  and  the  6-pounder  opened  the 
battle,  whose  first  shot  hit  the  conning-tower  and 
beheaded  the  German  captain. 

The  surprise  had  been  instant  and  effective,  for 
the  submarine  never  recovered  from  the  shock,  but 
remained  on  the  surface  whilst  FainiborougJis  guns 
shattered  the  hull  to  pieces,  the  conning-tower  being 
continually  hit,  and  some  of  the  shells  going  clean 
through.  Over  forty  rounds  had  thus  been  fired,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  Maxim  gun.  U  83  was  beaten, 
finished,  smashed :  and  she  finally  sank  with  her 
conning-tower  open  and  her  crew  pouring  out.  About 
eight  of  her  crew  were  seen  in  the  water,  and  one  of 
Fdrnborouglis  lifeboats  went  to  their  assistance  and 
was  in  time  to  pick  up  one  officer  and  one  man,  and 
then  rowed  back  to  the  ship  through  sea  thick  with 


196         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

oil  and  blood  and  bubbles.  U  83  was  satisfactorily 
disposed  of,  but  what  about  the  decoy  ship  herself? 
It  was  now  time  to  inspect  her,  and  she  was  clearly  in 
a  stricken  state.  The  engine-room  and  boiler-rooms 
and  both  Nos.   3  and  4  after  holds  were  all  filling 


S.— 1320  b,     (Eitablisheri  — May.  1900.) 
(Revised— Tebruary,  1914.) 

P.O.  of  Watch- 

Read  by- 

NAVAL     SIGNAL. 

Reported  by  — 

Frum 

To- 

Passed  by-    /]_^ 

Logged  by- 

Q    ^ 

System— 

Date-     :/£f    //  -^ 

Time-      //OO 

a  6 


/Vi^'Jiex^tl'oJt^ 


.AAj-'OdyhlyJ 


Xti^«>-oy 


-f"^-^ 


J/00 


M  1704/00. 
Sta.  6/14 


{io.&;j)    nt  ■.KormiT.   r.\a\ipij!    m:c  t 'T^  l-j   lo-^ 


Fig.  13. — '  Farnborough's  '  Farewell. 

When  Q  5  {Fariiborough)  had  succeeded  in  sinking  U  83,  but  was  herself  in  a 
sinking  condition  and  apparently  doomed,  Captain  Campbell  despatched 
the  above  wireless  signal  to  Vice-Admiral  Sir  Lewis  Bayly,  Commander-in- 
Chief,  Queenstown.  It  was  one  of  the  most  pathetic  and  dramatic  messages 
which  ever  flashed  out  of  the  Atlantic,  but  happily  Q  5  was  salved. 


rapidly,  and  she  was  sinking  by  the  stern :  the  end 
could  not  be  far  away.  Captain  Campbell  therefore 
sent  a  wireless  signal  for  assistance  and  placed  nearly 
all  his  hands  in  the  boats,  keeping  only  a  few  men  on 


Q-SHip  '•  Farnborough  " 

Brought  safely  into  Berehaven  after  her  famous  light  and  beached  in 
Mill  Cove,  with  a  heavy  list. 


S.S.   "  LODORER  ■'■ 

Having  served  magnificently  as  a  warship  under  the  names  of  "  Farnboroucrh  "' 
and  Q-o.  and  having  been  salved,  this  ship  is  here  seen  ready  to  be  returned  to 

her  owners. 

To  face  p.  196 


THE  SUMMIT  OF  Q-SHIP  SERVICE    197 

board,  and  destroying  all  confidential  books  and 
charts.  His  signal  was  picked  up,  and  before  noon  a 
British  destroyer  arrived,  and  as  by  this  time  Farn- 
horougk  was  in  a  critical  condition  most  of  the  crew 
were  transferred  to  her.*  Presently  H.M.  sloop  Butte?'- 
cup  steamed  up,  and  as  there  seemed  a  chance  of  saving 
the  ship  Captain  Campbell  with  twelve  officers  and 
men  then  went  back  on  board  his  ship.  She  seemed 
now  to  have  settled  to  a  definite  position,  and  the 
water,  though  rising,  was  gaining  but  slowly. 

At  length  Butteixup  got  her  in  tow,  but  there  is 
nothing  so  hard  to  steer  as  a  sinking  ship,  and  the 
tow  parted.  At  5  p.m.  the  sloop  again  got  her  in 
tow,  but  it  was  a  disappointing  business  with  the 
water  steadily  gaining  below  and  the  Atlantic  swell 
breaking  over  the  after  deck,  and  thus  the  ships  went 
on  through  the  night.  At  2  a.m.  on  the  Sunday 
Farnhorough  suddenly  took  an  alarming  list  and  the 
water  gained  rapidly,  so  the  crew  had  to  be  ordered 
into  the  boats  once  again.  The  sloop  Laburnum^ 
which  had  also  arrived,  was  ordered  to  close  her  an 
hour  and  a  half  later,  but  just  as  Captain  Campbell 
was  walking  aft  off  went  one  of  the  depth  charges 
with  such  an  explosion  that  Buttei'cup,  thinking  it 
was  a  submarine's  torpedo,  slipped  her  tow.  After 
remaining  aboard  Laburmmi  until  daylight,  Captain 
Campbell  went  back  to  his  ship,  and  then  Laburnum 
got  her  in  tow.  A  course  had  been  set  for  Bantry 
Bay,  and  as  she  approached  she  was  an  amazing  spec- 
tacle, listing  over  to  the  extent  of  twenty  degrees  and 
her  stern  nearly  8  feet  under  water.     However,  the 

*  Twelve  officers  and  men  were  selected  from  a  host  of  volunteers 
to  try  and  get  the  ship  in  tow.  These  were  placed  in  a  motor- 
boat,  whilst  the  Captain  boarded  the  escort  to  arrange  for  towage 
if  possible. 


198         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

armed  trawler  Lwieda  and  the  tug  Flying  Sportsman 
had  been  sent  out  to  her,  and  by  their  assistance  she 
was  brought  up  the  ijord  and  beached  at  Mill  Cove, 
Berehaven,  by  half-past  nine  that  Sunday  night. 
Next  morning,  and  for  long  after,  this  very  ordinary- 
looking  steamer  lay  among  a  number  of  other  wounded 
ships,  a  strange  and  impressive  sight.  Farnboi'OugJi 
had  fought  both  submarine  and  adversity,  and  had  won 
both  times :  still,  had  it  not  been  for  sound  seaman- 
ship and  her  holds  being  packed  with  timber  she 
would  never  have  been  saved. 

There  was  much  work  to  be  done  and  there  were 
too  few  salvage  experts  and  men  to  cope  with  the 
results  of  the  submarines'  attacks  :  so  for  the  present 
Farnborough  had  to  reman  idle.  Months  later  she 
was  repaired  temporarily,  refloated,  taken  away  from 
Berehaven  and  properly  reconditioned,  but  she  had 
ended  her  days  as  a  warship.  She  has  now  gone  back 
to  the  Merchant  Service  as  a  cargo  carrier,  and  if  you 
ever  go  aboard  her  you  will  find  a  suitable  inscription 
commemorating  her  truly  wonderful  career.  As  for 
Commander  Campbell,  as  soon  as  he  had  got  his  ship 
safely  into  Berehaven  he  was  summoned  to  see  his 
Commander-in-Chief,  Admiral  Sir  Lewis  Bayly. 
After  that  he  was  received  by  the  King,  who  con- 
ferred on  him  the  highest  of  all  awards  for  heroes.  No 
details  appeared  in  the  Press ;  only  this  announcement 
from  the  London  Gazette  : 

'  The  King  has  been  graciously  pleased  to  approve  | 
of  the  grant  of  the  Victoria  Cross  to  Commander 
Gordon  Campbell,  D.S.O.,  R.N.,  in  recognition  of 
his  conspicuous  gallantry,  consummate  coolness  and 
skill  in  command  of  one  of  His  Majesty's  ships  in 
action.' 

Press  and  public  were  greatly  puzzled,  but  secrecy 


I     I 


Q-sHiP  "Pargust" 
One  of  Captain  Gordon  Campbell's  famous  commands. 


Q-SHip  '-Sarah   .Tones" 

This  craft  did  not  come  into  the  service  until  about  three  months  Ijefore  the 
end  of  the  war.     Her  alias  was  •'  Margaret  Murray.  " 


To  face  p.  198 


THE  SUMMIT  OF  Q-SHIP  SERVICE    199 

was  at  this  time  essential.  '  This,'  commented  a 
well-known  London  daily,  '  is  probably  the  first  time 
since  the  institution  of  the  V.C.  that  the  bestowal  of 
this  coveted  honour  has  been  announced  without 
details  of  the  deed  for  which  it  was  awarded.'  The 
popular  press  named  him  'the  Mystery  V.C.,'  and 
the  usual  crop  of  rumours  and  fantastic  stories  went 
round.  And  while  these  were  being  told  the  gallant 
commander  was  busy  fitting  out  another  Q-ship  in 
which  to  go  forth  and  make  his  greatest  of  all 
achievements. 

This  ship  was  the  S.S.  Vittoria,  a  collier  of  2,817 
gross  tons.  She  was  selected  whilst  lying  at  Cardiff, 
whence  she  was  sent  to  Devonport  to  be  fitted  out 
as  a  decoy.  Commander  Campbell  superintended 
her  alteration,  and  she  began  her  special  service  on 
March  28,  1917.  She  was  armed  with  one  4-inch, 
four  12-pounders,  two  Maxim  guns,  and  a  couple  of 
14-inch  torpedo  tubes.  She  was  a  slow  creature, 
7J  knots  being  her  speed,  but  she  looked  the  part  she 
was  intended  to  play.  When  Commander  Campbell 
took  over  the  command  he  was  accompanied  by  his 
gallant  crew  from  Farnbor^ough.  She  had  been 
fitted  with  wireless,  and  down  in  her  holds  the  useful 
timber  had  been  stowed.  On  leaving  Devonport  she 
changed  her  name  to  Pargiist,  but  she  was  variously 
known  also  as  the  Snail,  Friswell,  and  Pangloss  at 
later  dates. 

She  again  came  under  the  orders  of  Sir  Lewis 
Bayly  at  Queenstown,  and  then,  being  in  all  respects 
ready  to  fight  another  submarine,  Par  gust  went 
cruising.  She  had  not  long  to  wait,  and  on  June  7 
we  find  her  out  in  the  Atlantic  again,  not  very  far 
from  the  scene  of  her  last  encounter.  The  month  of 
April  had  been  a  terrible  one  for  British  shipping ; 


200         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

no  fewer  than  155  of  our  merchant  craft  had  been 
sunk  by  submarines,  representing  a  loss  of  over  half 
a  million  of  tonnage.  In  May  these  figures  had 
dropped  slightly,  but  in  June  they  were  up  again, 
though  in  no  month  of  the  war  did  our  losses  ever 
reach  the  peak  of  April  again.  Nor  was  it  only 
British  ships  that  so  suffered,  and  I  recollect  the 
U.S.S.  Cushing  two  days  previously  bringing  into  Ban- 
try  Bay  thirteen  survivors,  including  three  wounded, 
from  an  Italian  barque.  At  this  time,  too,  the 
enemy  submarines  were  laying  a  number  of  dangerous 
minefields  off  this  part  of  the  world,  and  as  one 
patrolled  along  the  south-west  Irish  coast  pieces  of 
wreckage,  a  meat-safe  or  a  seaman's  chest,  would  be 
seen  floating  from  some  victimized  steamer. 

On  the  morning,  then,  of  the  seventh,  picture 
Pargust  in  Lat.  51.50  N.,  Long.  11.50  W.,  jogging 
along  at  her  slow  speed.  At  that  time  there  was 
scarcely  a  steamer  that  was  not  armed  with  some 
sort  of  a  gun ;  therefore,  if  a  Q-ship  did  not  display 
one  aft,  she  would  have  looked  suspicious.  Pargust 
kept  up  appearances  by  having  a  dummy  gun  mounted 
aft  with  a  man  in  uniform  standing  by.  I  well  re- 
member that  day.  There  was  a  nasty  sea  running, 
and  the  atmosphere  varied  from  the  typical  Irish 
damp  mist  to  heavy  rain.  At  8  a.m.  out  of  this 
thickness  Pargust  descried  a  torpedo,  apparently 
fired  at  close  range,  racing  towards  her  starboard 
beam.  When  about  100  yards  off  it  jumped  out  of 
the  water  and  struck  the  engine-room  near  the  water- 
line,  making  a  large  tear  in  the  ship's  side,  filling  the 
boiler-room,  engine-room,  and  No.  5  hold,  and  blow- 
ing the  starboard  lifeboat  into  the  air. 

Captain  Campbell  then  gave  the  order  to  abandon 
ship,  and  the  panic  party  went  away  in  three  boats, 


>   ^ 


Z       7 


03     ? 


O 


THE  SUMMIT  OF  Q-SHIP  SERVICE    201 


and  just  as  the  last  boat  was  pushing  off  a  periscope 
was  sighted  400  yards  on  the  port  side  forward  of  the 
beam.  It  then  turned  and  made  for  the  ship,  and 
submerged  when  close  to  the  lifeboat's  stern,  then 
came  on  the  starboard  quarter,  turned  towards 
the  ship  and,  when  50  yards  away,  partially  broke 
surface,  heading  on  a  course  parallel,  but  opposite,  to 

s/M  sank  a 
I 


Position  cf  other  boats 


/  \ 


Periscope    •- 
shotved 


Fig.  14. 


^  P^r> 


y 


s»         ^ —      Position  of-^U  on  'Open  Fire ' 

-Diagram  to  Illustrate  Approximate  Movements  of 
'Pargust'  and  UC  29  on  June  7,  1917. 


that  oi  Pargust,  the  lifeboat  meanwhile  pulling  away 
round  the  steamer's  stern.  The  submarine  followed, 
and  a  man  was  seen  on  the  conning-tower  shouting 
directions.  The  lifeboat  then  rowed  towards  the 
ship,  and  this  apparently  annoyed  the  Hun,  who 
now  began  semaphoring  the  boats ;  but  at  8.36  a.m. 
the  submarine  was  only  50  yards  off,  and  was  bearing 
one  point  before  the  beam,  so  all  Pargusfs  guns  were 
able  to  bear  nicely.     Fire  was  therefore  opened,  the 


202         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

first  shot  from  the  4-inch  gun  hitting  the  base  of  the 
conning -tower  and  removing  the  two  periscopes. 
Nearly  forty  more  shells  followed,  most  of  them 
being  hits  in  the  conning-tower,  so  that  the  submarine 
quickly  listed  to  port,  and  several  men  came  out  of 
the  hatch  abaft  the  conning-tower.  She  was  already 
obviously  in  a  bad  way,  with  her  heavy  list  and  her 
stern  almost  submerged,  and  oil  squirting  from  her 
sides. 

The  Germans  now  came  on  deck,  held  up  their 
hands,  and  waved ;  so  Captain  Campbell  ordered 
'  Cease  Fire.'  Then  a  typically  unsportsmanlike 
trick  was  played,  for  as  soon  as  Pargust  stopped  firing 
the  enemy  began  to  make  off  at  a  fair  speed.  So 
there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  resume  shelling  her, 
and  this  was  kept  up  until  8.40  a.m.,  when  an 
explosion  occurred  in  the  forward  part  of  the  sub- 
marine. She  sank  for  the  last  time,  falling  over  on 
her  side,  and  3  feet  of  her  sharp  bow  end  up  in  the  air, 
300  yards  off,  was  the  last  that  was  ever  seen  of  her. 
So  perished  UC  29,  and  thus  one  inore  submarine  was 
added  to  the  score  of  this  gallant  captain  and  crew. 
One  officer  (a  sub-lieutenant  of  Reserve)  and  an 
engine-room  petty  officer  were  picked  up.  The 
former  had  come  on  to  the  submarine's  deck  with  a 
couple  of  men  to  fire  the  2 2 -pounder,  but  owing  to 
the  heavy  sea  knocked  up  by  the  fresh  southerly  wind 
they  had  been  all  washed  overboard  before  reaching 
the  gun. 

The  captain  of  UC  29  had  been  killed  by  Pargusfs 
fire.  This  class  of  submarine  carried  besides  her 
22-pounder  and  machine-gun  eighteen  mines  and 
three  torpedoes.  She  had  left  Brunsbiittel  on  May  25, 
calling  at  Heligoland,  and  the  routine  was  usually 
first  to  lay  the  mines  and  then  operate,  sinking  ships 


Bridge  of  Q-ship  "  Dunraven  " 

Captain  Gordon  Campbell,  V.C,  D.S.O.,  R.N..  inspecting  the  damage  by  the 
submai'ine's  shells  to  his  ship. 


To  face  p.  202 


THE  SUMMIT  OF  Q-SHIP  SERVICE    208 

with  gun  or  torpedo.  As  to  her  mines,  it  is  quite 
possible  that  she  laid  the  three  mines  I  recollect 
sinking  on  June  12  in  the  approach  to  Valentia 
Harbour,  Dingle  Bay,  and  she  may  have  laid  three 
others  off  Brow  Head,  one  of  which  1  remember  on 
June  4,  for  it  was  customary  for  these  craft  to  lay 
their  '  eggs '  in  threes.  With  regard  to  her  three 
torpedoes  we  know  that  one  had  penetrated  Pargast, 
another  had  sunk  a  sailing  ship — probably  the  Italian 
barque  already  mentioned — and  the  third  had  been 
fired  at  a  destroyer,  but  passed  underneath. 

As  to  Pargust,  she  fortunately  did  not  sink,  thanks 
to  her  cargo  of  timber.  At  12.30  p.m.  another  of 
Admiral  Bayly's  alert  sloops,  who  always  seemed  to 
be  at  hand  when  wanted,  arrived.  This  was  H.M.S. 
Crocus,  who  took  Pnrgust  in  tow.  The  sloop  Zinnia 
and  the  United  States  destroyer  Gushing  sxvwedi  also, 
and  escorted  her  to  Queenstown,  which  she  reached 
next  afternoon.  The  prisoners  had  been  already 
transferred  to  Zinnia,  and  in  Pargust  the  only  casual- 
ties had  been  one  stoker  petty  officer  killed  and  the 
engineer  sub-lieutenant  wounded.  For  Pargusfs 
splendid  victory  further  honours  were  awarded. 
Captain  Campbell,  already  the  possessor  of  the  V.C. 
and  D.S.O.,  now  received  a  bar  to  his  D.S.O.  To 
I^ieutenant  R.  N.  Stuart,  D.S.O. ,  R.N.R.,  was  given 
the  V.C,  and  Seaman  VV.  Wilhams,  R.N.R.,  also 
received  this  highest  of  all  decorations.  These  two, 
one  officer  and  one  man,  were  selected  by  ballot  to 
receive  this  distinction,  but  every  officer  and  every 
man  had  earned  it. 

Before  Pargust  could  be  ready  for  sea  again  much 
would  have  to  be  done  to  her  at  Devonport,  so 
Captain  Campbell  proceeded  to  look  for  a  new  ship, 
and  this  was  found  in  the  collier  Dunraven.     She 


204         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

was  fitted  out  at  Devonport  under  his  supervision, 
just  like  her  predecessor,  and  her  crew  turned  over 
en  bloc  from  Pargust.  Slie  was  commissioned  on 
July  28,  and  within  a  fortnight  Captain  Campbell, 
now  already  promoted  to  post- captain  at  an  age 
which  must  certainly  be  a  record,  was  engaged  in  the 
most  heroic  Q-ship  fight  of  all  the  long  series  of  duels 
only  a  few  days  after  leaving  Devonport. 

Just  before  eleven  on  the  forenoon  of  August  8 
Dunraven  was  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  about  130  miles 
west  of  Ushant,  doing  her  8  knots  and  disguised 
as  a  defensively  armed  British  merchantman,  for 
which  reason  she  had  a  small  gun  aft.  In  order  to 
conform  further  with  merchant-ship  practice  of  this 
time,  she  was  keeping  a  zigzag  course.  On  the  horizon 
appeared  a  submarine,  about  two  points  forward  of 
Jbunravens  starboard  beam.  The  German  was 
waiting,  you  see,  in  a  likely  position  for  catching 
homeward-bound  steamers  making  for  the  western 
British  ports,  and  on  sighting  this  '  tramp  '  he  must 
have  felt  pretty  sure  she  was  bringing  home  a  cargo 
of  commodities  useful  for  winning  the  war.  Pursuing 
the  more  cautious  tactics  of  the  time,  the  enemy, 
having  apparently  ascertained  the  '  tramp's '  speed 
and  mean  course,  submerged,  but  at  11,43  she  broke 
surface  5,000  yards  off  the  starboard  quarter  and 
opened  fire.  In  order  to  maintain  the  bluff.  Captain 
Campbell  replied  with  his  defensive  gun,  made  as 
much  smoke  as  possible,  reduced  to  7  knots,  and 
made  an  occasional  zigzag  in  order  to  give  the  enemy 
a  chance  of  closing.  Diuir avert  was  now  steaming 
head  to  sea,  and  the  enemy's  shots  were  falling  over, 
but  after  about  half  an  hour  of  this  the  submarine 
ceased  firing,  came  on  at  full  speed,  and  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  later  turned  broadside  on,  and  reopened  fire. 


After  the  Battlk 

Forebridge  of  Q-ship  "  Dunraven  '"  and  captain's  cabin  as  the  result 
of  the  siibmaiiue's  shells. 


To  face  p.  204 


THE  SUMMIT  OF  Q-SHIP  SERVICE    205 

In  the  meantime  the  decoy  was  intentionally  firing 
short,  and  sent  wireless  signals  en  clair  so  that  the 
enemy  could  still  further  be  deceived.  Such  messages 
as  '  Submarine  chasing  and  shelling  me,'  '  Submarine 
overtaking  me,  help,  come  quickly  .  .  .  am  aban- 
doning ship,'  were  flashed  forth  just  as  were  sent 
almost  daily  by  stricken  ships  in  those  strenuous  days. 
Dunravens  next  bluff  was  to  pretend  his  engines  had 
been  hit ;  so  Captain  Campbell  stopped  his  ship, 
which  now  made  a  cloud  of  steam.  The  next  step 
was  to  '  abandon  ship,'  and  the  '  tramp '  had  enough 
way  on  to  allow  of  her  being  turned  broadside  on 
and  let  the  enemy  see  that  the  vessel  was  being 
abandoned.  Then,  to  simulate  real  panic,  one  of 
the  boats  was  let  go  by  the  foremost  fall,  an  incident 
that  somehow  seems  to  happen  in  every  disaster  to 
steamers.  Thus,  so  far,  everything  had  been  carried 
out  just  as  a  submarine  would  have  expected  a  genuine 
'  tramp  '  to  behave.  Not  a  thing  had  been  omitted 
which  ought  to  have  been  seen  by  the  enemy,  who 
had  already  closed  and  continued  his  shelling.  From 
now  ensued  a  most  trying  time.  To  receive  punish- 
ment with  serene  stoicism,  to  be  hit  and  not  reply,  is 
the  supreme  test ;  but  these  officers  and  men  were  no 
novices  in  the  Q-ship  art,  and  none  had  had  greater 
or  more  bitter  experience.  However,  not  all  the 
tactics  and  devices  could  prevent  the  enemy's  shells 
hitting  if  the  German  insisted,  and  this  had  to  be 
endured  in  order  that  at  length  the  submarine  might 
be  tempted  inside  the  desired  range  and  bearing. 

Thus  it  happened  that  one  shell  penetrated  Dun- 
leaven's  poop,  exploding  a  depth  charge  and  blowing 
Lieutenant  C.  G.  Bonner,  D.S.C.,  R.N.R.,  out  of  his 
control  position.  This  was  rather  bad  luck,  and  two 
more  shells  followed,  the  poop  became  on  fire,  dense 


206         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

clouds  of  black  smoke  issued  forth,  and  the  situation 
was  perilous  ;  for  in  the  poop  were  the  magazine  and 
depth  charges,  and  it  was  obvious  that  as  the  fire 
increased  an  explosion  of  some  magnitude  must  soon 
occur.  But  the  main  consideration  was  to  sink  the 
submarine,  and  it  mattered  little  if  the  Q-ship  were 
lost ;  so  Captain  Campbell  decided  to  wait  until  the 
submarine  got  in  a  suitable  position.  It  was  exactly 
two  hours  to  the  minute  since  the  submarine  had 
been  first  sighted  when,  just  as  he  was  passing  close 
to  Dunraveii  s  stern,  a  terrific  explosion  took  place 
in  the  poop,  caused  probably  by  a  couple  of  depth 
charges  and  some  cordite.  The  result  was  that  the 
4-incli  gun  and  the  whole  of  its  crew  were  blown  up 
into  the  air,  the  gun  vaulting  the  bridge  and  alighting 
on  the  well  deck  forward,  while  the  crew  came  down 
in  various  places,  one  man  falling  into  the  water,  and 
4-inch  projectiles  being  blown  about  the  ship  in  the 
most  unpleasant  manner. 

That  this  explosion  should  have  happened  at  this 
moment  was  a  misfortune  of  the  greatest  magnitude, 
for  it  spoilt  the  whole  tactics.  Captain  Campbell  was 
watching  the  enemy  closely,  and  the  latter  was  coming 
on  so  nicely  that  he  had  only  to  proceed  a  little  fur- 
ther and  Dunravens  guns  would  have  been  bearing 
at  a  range  of  not  more  than  400  yards.  As  it  was, 
the  explosion  gave  the  whole  game  away,  for  firstly  it 
frightened  the  submarine  so  that  he  dived,  secondly 
it  set  going  the  '  open  fire '  buzzers  at  the  guns. 
Thus  the  time  had  come  to  attack.  The  only  gun  in 
the  ship  that  would  bear  was  the  one  on  the  after 
bridge,  and  this  began  to  bark  just  as  the  White 
Ensign  was  hoisted.  One  shot  was  thought  to  have 
succeeded  in  hitting  the  conning- tower  just  as  the 
enemy  was  submerging,  but  if  he  was  damaged  it 


■Si    . 

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THE  SUMMIT  OF  Q-SHIP  SERVICE    207 

was  not  seriously,  and  Captain  Campbell  realized  that 
the  next  thing  to  expect  was  a  torpedo.  He  therefore 
ordered  the  doctor  to  remove  all  the  wounded,  and 
hoses  were  turned  on  to  the  poop,  which  was  now  one 
mass  of  flames,  the  deck  being  red-hot.  So  gallant 
had  been  this  well-disciplined  crew  that  even  when  it 
was  so  hot  tliat  they  had  to  lift  the  boxes  of  cordite 
from  off  the  deck  the  men  still  had  remained  at  their 
posts." 

The  position  now  was  this :  a  ship  seriously  on  fire, 
the  magazine  still  intact  but  likely  to  explode  before 
long  with  terrible  effects,  a  torpedo  attack  imminent, 
and  the  White  Ensign  showing  that  this  was  a  '  trap- 
ship  '  after  all.     The  submarine  would  certainly  fight 

*  Captain  Campbell  has  been  good  enough  to  furnish  me  with 
the  following  details  of  this  heroic  episode  : 

'  Lieutenant  Bonner,  having  been  blown  out  of  his  control  by  the 
first  explosion,  crawled  into  the  gun -hatch  with  the  crew.  They 
there  remained  at  their  posts  with  a  fire  raging  in  the  poop  below 
and  the  deck  getting  red-hot.  One  man  tore  up  his  shirt  to  give 
pieces  to  the  gun's  crew  to  stop  the  fumes  getting  into  their 
throats,  others  lifted  the  boxes  of  cordite  off  the  deck  to  keep  it 
from  exploding,  and  all  the  time  they  knew  that  they  must  be 
blown  up,  as  the  secondary  supply  and  magazine  were  immediately 
below.  They  told  me  afterwards  that  communication  with  the 
bridge  was  cut  off,  and  although  they  knew  they  would  be  blown 
up,  they  also  knew  they  would  spoil  the  show  if  they  moved,  so 
they  remained  until  actually  blown  up  with  their  gun.  Then, 
when  as  wounded  men  they  were  ordered  to  remain  quiet  in 
various  places  during  the  second  action,  they  had  to  lie  there  un- 
attended and  bleeding,  with  explosions  continually  going  on  aboard 
and  splinters  from  the  shell-fire  penetrating  their  quarters.  Lieu- 
tenant Bonner,  himself  wounded,  did  what  he  could  for  two  who  were 
with  him  in  the  wardroom.  When  I  visited  them  after  the  action, 
they  thought  little  of  their  wounds,  but  only  expressed  their 
disgust  that  the  enemy  had  not  been  sunk.  Surely  such  bravery 
is  hard  to  equal.  The  strain  for  the  men  who  remained  on  board 
after  the  ship  had  been  torpedoed,  poop  set  on  fire,  cordite  and 
shells  exploding,  and  then  the  enemy  shell-fire,  can  easily  be 
imagined.' 


208         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 


now  like  the  expert  duellist,  and  it  would  be  a  fight 
to  the  finish,  undoubtedly.  Realizing  all  this,  and 
full  well  knowing  what  was  inevitable,  Captain  Camp- 
bell made  a  decision  which  could  have  been  made 
only  by  a  man  of  consummate  moral  courage.  To  a 
man-of-war  who  had  answered  his  call  for  assistance 


^        1X90   h       lEstKbhshed  — Mav.  1900.) 
J.      lUi.\J   U.      .D      I     j^    Ja„uar'v    I"!?) 

P.O.  of  Watch  - 

Read  by    — • 

NAVAL    SIGNAL. 

Reported  by^  y^  ^ 

To- 

Passed  by-  /LJ~^ 

Logged  by- 

/J  x^ynJij^A^-c^ 

System  —      Ij)  .  /, 

^^^'^-CL^  r*" 

T,me-  JZ    ■TO/^ 

l\£je^h  ^Q^o.-»-tw        /^     n-^        iy\£^d£.->^t' 


M.   1704/00. 
Sta.   (i/14. 
Sta.   536/ IC. 


13242  J      S06(M/D6B       56260  PaJ*      2/17     H    W    V     Lj  £,  877. 


Fig.  15.— Ths  Great  Decision. 

Captain  Campbell's  famous  wireless  signal  refusing  assistance  when  the  Q-ship 
Dunraven  was  already  crippled  and  about  to  be  attacked  again. 

when  the  explosion  occurred  he  now  sent  a  wireless 
signal  requesting  him  to  keep  away,  as  he  was  already 
preparing  for  the  next  phase,  still  concentrating  as  he 
was  on  sinking  the  submarine.* 

*  See  illustration  above. 


o 


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o 


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a! 


i 


THE  SUMMIT  OF  Q-SHIP  SERVICE    209 

It  was  now  twenty  minutes  since  that  big  explosion, 
and  the  expected  torpedo  arrived,  striking  Duiiraven 
abaft  the  engine-room.  The  enemy  was  aware  of 
two  facts  :  he  had  seen  the  first  '  abandon  ship '  party 
and  this  he  now  knew  was  mere  bluff",  and  that  there 
were  others  still  remaining  on  board.  In  order,  there- 
fore, to  deceive  the  German,  Captain  Campbell  now 
sent  away  some  more  of  his  crew  in  boats  and  a  raft. 
It  would  then  look  as  if  the  last  man  had  left  the 
ship.  From  1.40  to  2.30  p.m.  followed  a  period  of 
the  utmost  suspense,  during  which  the  periscope 
could  be  seen  circling  around  scrutinizing  the  ship  to 
make  quite  sure,  whilst  the  fire  on  the  poop  was 
still  burning  fiercely,  and  boxes  of  cordite  and  4-inch 
shells  were  going  off  every  few  minutes.  To  control 
yourself  and  your  men  under  these  circumstances  and 
to  continue  thinking  coolly  of  what  the  next  move 
shall  be,  this,  surely,  is  a  very  wonderful  achievement : 
more  than  this  could  be  asked  of  no  captain. 

At  half-past  tw^o  the  submarine  came  to  the  surface 
directly  astern  (where  Dunraveris  guns  would  not 
bear)  and  resumed  shelling  the  steamer  at  short  range, 
and  used  her  Maxim  gun  on  the  men  in  the  boats. 
This  went  on  for  twenty  minutes,  and  then  she  dived 
once  more.  Captain  Campbell  next  decided  to  use 
his  torpedoes,  so  five  minutes  later  one  was  fired 
which  passed  just  ahead  of  the  submarine's  periscope 
as  the  enemy  was  motoring  150  yards  off  on  the  port 
side ;  and  seven  minutes  afterwards  Dunraven  fired  a 
second  torpedo  which  passed  just  astern  of  the  peri- 
scope. The  enemy  had  failed  to  see  the  first  torpedo, 
but  evidently  he  noticed  the  second.  It  was  obvious 
that  by  now  it  was  useless  to  continue  the  contest 
any  further,  for  the  submarine  would  go  on  torpedo- 
ing and  shelling  Dunraven  until  she  sank  :  so  Captain 

14 


22nd  August »  1917. 


It  Is  with  very  great  pleasure  that  I 
convey  to  you,  by  the  directions  of  the  War 
Cabinet,  an  expression  ot  their  high  appreciation 
of  the  gallantry,  skill,  and  devotion  to  duty, 
which  have  heen  displayed  througli  many  months  of 
arduous  service  by  yourself  and  the  officers  and 
men  of  His  Majesty's  ship  under  your  command. 

In  conveying  to  you  this  message  of  the 
War  Cabinet,  which  expresses  the  hi^i  esteem  with 
which  the  conduct  of  your  officers  and  men  Is 
regarded  by  His  Majesty's  Government,  I  wish  to 
add  on  behalf  of  the  Board  of  Admiralty,  that  they 
warmly  endorse  this  commendation. 

Will  you  please  convey  this  message  to 
all  ranks  and  ratings  under  your  command? 


Fig.  16. — Letter  of  Appreciation  from  ;the  First  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty  to  Captain  Gordon  Campbell  after  the  Historic 
Actio    fought  by  Q-Ship  '  Dunraven.' 


THE  SUMMIT  OF  Q  SHIP  SERVICE    211 

Campbell  signalled  for  urgent  assistance,"  and  almost 
immediately  the  U.S.S.  No?iia  arrived  and  fired  at  a 
periscope  seen  a  few  hundred  yards  astern  of  Dun- 
raven.  Then  came  the  two  British  destroyers  Attack 
and  Christopher,  lyunraven  then  recalled  her  boats 
and  the  fire  was  extinguished,  but  it  was  found  that 
the  poop  had  been  completely  gutted  and  that  all 
depth  charges  and  ammunition  had  been  exploded. 
From  Noma  and  Christopher  doctors  came  over  and 
assisted  in  tending  the  wounded,  a  couple  of  the  most 
dangerously  injured  being  taken  on  board  Noma  to 
be  operated  on  and  then  landed  at  Brest. 

At  G.45  p.m.  Christopher  began  towing  Dmiraven, 
but  this  was  no  easy  matter,  for  there  was  a  nasty 
sea  running,  the  damaged  ship  would  not  steer ;  her 
stern  went  down,  the  sea  broke  over  it  and  worked 
its  way  forward.  In  this  way  the  night  passed,  and 
at  10.15  the  next  morning  Christopher  was  able  to 
report  that  she  was  now  only  60  miles  west  of  Ushant 
and  bringing  Diuiraven  towards  Plymouth  at  4-  knots. 
By  six  that  evening  the  ship  was  in  so  bad  a  condition 
that  she  might  sink  any  moment,  so  Captain  Camp- 
bell transferred  sixty  of  his  crew  to  the  trawler  Foss. 
About  9  p.m.  two  tugs  arrived,  took  over  the  towing, 
and  carried  on  during  the  night  until  1.30  a.m.  of 
August  10.  It  was  time  then  for  the  last  handful  of 
men  to  abandon  her  in  all  true  earnestness,  so  the 
Christopher  came  alongside,  in  spite  of  the  heavy  sea 
running,  and  the  last  man  was  taken  off.  It  was 
only  just  in  time,  for  almost  immediately  she  capsized, 
and  was  finally  sunk  by  Christopher  dropping  a  depth 
charge  and  shelling  her  as  a  dangerous  derelict  soon 

*   In  the  meantime  he  arranged  for  a  further  '  abandon  ship  ' 
evolution,  having  only  one  gun's  crew  on  board. 


212         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

after  3  a.m.  Thus  the  Hfe  of  Dunraven  as  a  man-of- 
war  had  been  both  l)rief  and  distinguished. 

As  to  the  officers  and  men,  it  is  difficult  to  imagine 
greater  and  more  persistent  bravery  under  such 
adverse  circumstances,  and  the  King  made  the 
following  awards:  Captain  Gordon  Campbell,  V.C., 
D.S.O.,  received  a  second  bar  to  his  D.S.O. ;  Lieu- 
tenant C.  G.  Bonner,  D.S.C.,  R.N.R.,  received  a 
V.C.,  as  also  did  Petty  Officer  E.  Pitcher.  To 
Assistant-Paymaster  R.  A.  Nunn,  D.S.C.,  R.N.R., 
was  awarded  a  D.S.O.  Three  other  officers  received 
a  D.S.C.,  whilst  Lieutenant  P.  R.  Hereford,  D.S.O., 
D.S.C.,  and  two  engineer  officers,  all  received  a  bar 
to  their  D.S.C. 

Such  is  the  story  of  Captain  Campbell's  last  and 
greatest  Q-ship  fight,  for  after  this  he  was  appointed 
to  command  a  light  cruiser  at  Queenstown.  In  these 
duels  w^e  reach  the  high-water  mark  of  sea  gallantry, 
and  the  incidents  themselves  are  so  impressive  that 
no  further  words  are  necessary.  Let  us  leave  it  at 
that. 


CHAPTER  XV 

LIFE  ON  BOARD  A  Q-SHIP 

In  history  it  is  frequently  the  case  that  what  seems 
to  contemporaries  merely  ordinary  and  commonplace 
is  to  posterity  of  the  utmost  value  and  interest.  How 
little,  for  example,  do  we  know  of  the  life  and  routine 
in  the  various  stages  and  development  of  the  sailing 
ship !  In  a  volume  entitled  '  Ships  and  Ways  of 
Other  Days,'  published  before  the  war,  I  endeavoured 
to  collect  and  present  the  everyday  existence  at  sea 
in  bygone  years.  Some  day,  in  the  centuries  to 
come,  it  may  be  that  the  historical  student  will 
require  to  know  something  of  the  organization  and 
mode  of  life  on  board  one  of  the  Q-steamships,  and 
because  it  is  just  one  of  those  matters,  which  at  the 
time  seemed  so  obvious,  I  have  now  thought  it 
advisable  here  to  set  down  a  rough  outline.  As  time 
goes  on  the  persons  of  the  drama  die,  logs  and 
diaries  and  correspondence  fall  into  unsympathetic 
hands  and  become  destroyed ;  therefore,  whilst  it  is 
yet  not  too  late,  let  us  provide  for  posterity  some 
facts  on  which  they  can  base  their  imagination  of 
Q-ship  life. 

Elsewhere  in  the  pages  of  this  book  the  reader 
will  find  it  possible  to  gather  some  idea  of  the  types, 
sizes,  and  appearances  of  the  ships  employed.  The 
following  details  are  chiefly  those  of  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  Q-ships,  the  famous  Peusliurst,  and  as 

213 


214         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

such  they  have  especial  interest  as  showing  the 
organization  of  a  tiny  Uttle  tramp  into  a  vaHant  and 
successful  man-of-war  that  sank  several  powerful 
enemy  submarines ;  and  it  is  through  the  courtesy  of 
her  gallant  late  commanding  officer,  Captain  F.  H. 
Grenfell,  D.S.O.,  R.N.,  that  I  am  able  to  present 
these  facts. 

Penshurst  was  a  three-masted,  single-funnelled, 
single-screw  steamer,  owned  by  a  London  firm.  She 
had  been  fitted  out  as  a  decoy  at  the  end  of  1915  by 
Admiral  Colville  at  Longhope.  Her  length  between 
perpendiculars  was  225  feet,  length  over  all  232  feet, 
beam  35  feet  2  inches,  draught  14  feet  6  inches, 
depth  of  hold  13  feet  7  inches.  Her  tonnage  was 
1,191  gross,  740  registered,  displacement  2,035  tons. 
Fitted  with  four  bulkheads,  the  ship  had  the  maximum 
amount  of  hold,  the  engines  being  placed  right  aft. 
The  crew  were  berthed  in  the  forecastle,  the  engineers' 
mess  and  cabins  being  aft,  whilst  the  captain's  and 
oflScers'  mess  and  cabins  were  adjacent  to  the  bridge 
just  forward  of  midships.  The  engine-room  pressure 
was  180  pounds,  and  the  maximum  speed,  with  every- 
thing working  well  and  a  clean  bottom,  was  10  knots. 
Her  armament  consisted  of  five  guns.  A  12-pounder 
(18  cwt.)  was  placed  on  the  after  hatch,  but  disguised 
in  the  most  ingenious  manner  by  a  ship's  boat,  which 
had  been  purposely  sawn  through  so  that  the  detached 
sections  could  immediately  be  removed,  allowing  the 
gun  to  come  into  action.  Originally  there  were 
mounted  a  3-pounder  and  6 -pounder  on  each  side  of 
the  lower  bridge  deck.  These  were  hidden  behind 
wooden  screens  such  as  are  often  found  built  round 
the  rails  in  this  kind  of  ship.  These  screens  were 
specially  hinged  so  that  on  going  into  action  they 
immediately  fell  down  and  revealed  the  guns.     Thus 


=3 


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2; 


01 


.•2  O 


§    S 


be 

3 


o 


03 


LIFE  ON  BOARD  A  Q-SHIP  215 

it  was  possible  always  to  offer  a  broadside  of  three 
guns.  In  the  spring  of  1916  Penshnrst  was  trans- 
ferred from  Longhope  to  Milford  and  Queenstown, 
and  Admiral  Bayly  had  tlie  arrangement  of  guns 
altered  so  that  the  .'j-pounders  were  now  concealed 
in  a  gunhouse  made  out  of  the  engineers'  mess  and 
cabins,  the  intention  being  to  enable  both  these  guns 
to  fire  right  aft.  The  6-pounders  were  then  shifted 
forward  into  the  positions  previously  occupied  by  the 
3-pounders  on  the  lower  bridge  deck.  How  success- 
ful this  arrangement  was  in  action  the  reader  is  able 
to  see  for  himself  in  the  accounts  of  Penshurst' s 
engagements  with  submarines.  The  ship  was  also 
supplied  with  depth  charges,  rockets,  and  Verey's 
lights. 

The  crew  consisted  of  Captain  Grenfell  and  three 
temporary  R.N.R.  officers,  an  R.N.R.  assistant-pay- 
master, thirteen  Royal  Navy  gunnery  ratings,  eight 
R.N.R.  seamen,  a  couple  of  stewards,  two  cooks,  a 
shipwright,  carpenter's  crew,  an  R.N.R.  chief  engine- 
room  artificer,  an  engine-room  artificer,  and  R.N.R. 
stokers,  bringing  the  company  up  to  forty-five. 

In  arranging  action  stations  in  a  Q-ship  the  diffi- 
culty was  that  internally  the  vessel  had  to  be  organized 
as  a  warship,  while  externally  she  must  necessarily 
keep  up  the  character  of  a  merchantman.  In  Pens- 
kurst  Captain  Grenfell  had  arranged  for  the  following 
signals  to  be  rung  from  the  bridge  on  the  alarm  gong. 
One  long  ring  meant  that  a  submarine  was  in  sight 
and  that  the  crew  were  to  stand  by  at  their  respective 
stations  ;  if  followed  by  a  short  ring  it  denoted  the 
enemy  was  on  the  starboard  side  ;  if  two  short  rings 
the  submarine  was  on  the  port  side.  Two  long  rings 
indicated  that  the  crew  were  to  go  to  panic  stations  ; 
three  long  rings  meant  that  they  were  to  go  to  action 


216         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

stations  without  '  panic'      '  Open  fire  '  was  ordered 
by  a  succession  of  short  rings  and  whistles. 

With  regard  to  the  above,  in  the  case  of  action 
stations  the  look-out  men  on  the  bridge  proceeded  to 
their  gun  at  the  stand-by  signal,  keeping  out  of  sight, 
while  the  crews  who  were  below,  off  watch,  went  also 
to  their  guns,  moving  by  the  opposite  side  of  the 
ship.  In  order  to  simulate  the  real  mercantile  crew, 
the  men  under  the  foc's'le  now  came  out  and  showed 
themselves  on  the  fore  well  deck.  If  '  panic  '  was  to 
be  feigned,  all  the  crew  of  the  gun  concealed  by  the 
collapsible  boat  were  to  hide,  the  signalman  stood  by 
to  hoist  the  White  Ensign  at  the  signal  to  open  fire, 
and  the  boat  party  ran  aft,  turned  out  the  boats, 
lowered  them,  and  '  abandoned '  ship,  pulling  away 
on  the  opposite  bow.  The  signal  for  standing-by 
to  release  the  depth  charge  was  when  the  captain 
dropped  a  red  flag,  and  all  guns'  crews  were  to  look 
out  to  fire  on  the  enemy  if  the  depth  charge  brought 
the  U-boat  to  the  surface. 

Special  arrangements  had  been  made  in  the  event 
of  casualties.  Thus,  if  the  captain  were  laid  out  a 
certain  officer  was  to  carry  on  and  take  over  com- 
mand. Similar  arrangements  were  made  in  the  event 
of  all  officers  on  the  bridge  becoming  casualties,  an 
eventuality  that  was  far  from  improbable.  In  fact. 
Captain  Grenfell  gave  orders  that  if  a  shell  burst  on 
or  near  the  bridge  a  certain  officer  was  to  be  informed 
in  any  case ;  and  if  the  latter  did  not  receive  word  of 
this  explosion  he  was  to  assume  that  everyone  on  the 
bridge  was  a  casualty  and  he  was  to  be  ready  to  open 
fire  at  the  right  time.  One  of  the  possibilities  in  the 
preliminary  stages  of  these  attacks  was  always  that 
owing  to  the  hitting  by  the  enemy's  shells,  or,  more 
likely  still,   by  the  explosion  of  his  torpedo  against 


LIFE  ON  BOARD  A  Q  SHIP  217 

the  side  of  the  ship,  some  portion  of  the  screens  or 
dummy  deckhouses  might  have  been  damaged,  and 
thus  the  guns  be  revealed  to  the  enemy.  So,  while 
Penshursfs  captain  was  busily  engaged  watching  the 
movements  of  the  submarine,  the  information  as  to 
this  unfortunate  fact  might  have  been  made  known. 
It  was  therefore  a  standing  rule  that  the  bridge  was 
to  be  informed  by  voice-pipe  of  such  occurrences. 
Damage  received  in  the  engine-room  was  reported  up 
the  pipe  to  the  bridge.  Conversely  there  were  placed 
three  men  at  the  voice-pipes — one  on  the  bridge,  one 
in  the  gunhouse  aft,  and  one  at  the  12-pounder — 
whose  duty  it  was  to  pass  along  the  messages,  the 
first-mentioned  passing  down  the  varying  bearing  and 
range  of  the  submarine  and  the  state  of  affairs  on  the 
bridge,  and  when  no  orders  were  necessary  he  was  to 
keep  passing  along  the  comforting  remark  '  All  right.' 
By  this  means  the  hidden  officers  and  guns'  crews 
were  kept  informed  of  the  position  of  affairs  and  able 
to  have  the  guns  instantly  ready  to  fire  at  the  very 
moment  the  screens  were  let  down.  Obviously 
victory  and  the  very  lives  of  every  man  in  the  ship 
could  be  secured  only  if  the  vessel  came  into  action 
smartly  and  effectively  without  accident  or  bungling. 
Sometimes  victory  was  conditional  only  on  being 
torpedoed,  so  that  the  enemy  might  believe  he  had  got 
the  steamer  in  a  sinking  condition  and  the  vessel  was 
apparently  genuinely  abandoned.  Inasmuch  as  the 
submarine  on  returning  home  had  to  afford  some  sort 
of  evidence,  the  U-boat  captain  would  approach  the 
ship  and  endeavour  to  read  her  name.  It  was  then 
that  the  Q-ship's  opportunity  presented  itself,  and  the 
guns  poured  shells  into  the  German.  Special  drills 
were  therefore  made  in  case  Penshurst  should  be  hit 
by  torpedo,  and  in  this  eventuality  the  boat  '  panic 


218         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

party '  was  to  lower  away  and  at  once  start  rowing  off 
from  the  ship,  whilst  the  remainder  hid  themselves  at 
their  respective  stations.  As  for  the  engineers,  their 
duty  was  to  stop  the  engines  at  once,  but  to  try  to 
keep  the  dynamo  ruiming  as  long  as  possible  so  that 
wireless  signals  could  still  be  sent  out.  The  engine- 
room  staff  were  to  remain  below  as  long  as  conditions 
would  allow,  but  if  the  water  rose  so  that  these  were 
compelled  to  come  up,  their  orders  were  to  crawl  out 
on  to  the  deck  on  the  disengaged  side  and  there  lie 
down  lest  the  enemy  should  see  them.  As  these 
Q-ships  usually  carried  depth  charges  and  the  latter 
exploded  under  certain  conditions  of  pressure  from 
the  sea,  it  was  one  of  the  first  duties  on  being 
torpedoed  that  these  should  be  secured. 

Now,  supposing  the  Q-ship  were  actually  sunk  and 
the  whole  crew  were  compelled  i^eally  to  abandon 
ship,  what  then  ?  The  submarine  would  certainly 
come  alongside  the  boats  and  make  inquiries.  She 
would  want  to  know,  for  instance,  the  name  of  the 
ship,  owners,  captain,  cargo,  where  from,  where 
bound.  That  was  certain.  She  would  also,  most 
probably,  insist  on  taking  the  captain  prisoner,  if  the 
incident  occurred  in  the  last  eighteen  months  of  the 
war.  All  these  officers  and  men  would,  of  course,  be 
wearing  not  smart  naval  uniform,  but  be  attired  in 
the  manner  fitting  the  yersonnel  of  an  old  tramp. 
The  captain  would  be  wearing  a  peaked  cap,  with  the 
house-flag  of  his  Company  suitably  intertwined  in 
the  cap  badge,  while  the  men  would  be  attired  in 
guernseys,  old  suits,  and  mufflers,  with  a  dirty  old 
cloth  cap.  Now,  if  the  U-boat  skipper  was  a  live 
man  and  really  knew  his  work  he  would,  of  course, 
become  suspicious  on  seeing  so  many  hands  from  one 
sunken   tramp.     '  This,'  he   would   remark,    '  is    no 


LIFE  ON  BOARD  A  Q-SHIP  219 

merchant  ship,  but  a  proper  trap,'  and  would  proceed 
to  cross-examine  the  boats'  crews.  It  was  therefore 
the  daily  duty  of  Q-ship  men  to  learn  a  suitable  lie 
which  would  adequately  deceive  the  German.  Here 
is  the  information  which  Penshur.st  was,  at  a  certain 
period  of  her  Q-ship  career,  ready  to  hand  out  to  any 
inquisitive  Hun  if  the  latter  had  sunk  the  ship. 

In  answer  to  questions  the  crew  would  reply : 
'This  is  the  S.S.  Perishurst,  owned  by  the  Power 
Steam  Ship  Company  of  London.  Her  master  was 
Evan  Davies,  but  he  has  gone  down  with  the  ship, 
poor  man.  Cargo  ?  She  was  carrying  coal,  but  she 
was  not  an  Admiralty  collier.'  Then  the  enemy 
would  ask  where  from  and  to.  If  it  happened  that 
Penshurst  was  in  a  likely  locality  the  reply  would  be  : 
'  From  Cardiff';  otherwise  the  name  of  a  well  distant 
coal  port,  such  as  Newcastle  or  Liverpool,  was  decided 
upon.  For  instance,  if  PensJiurst  were  sunk  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Portland  Bill  whilst  heading  west 
it  would  be  no  good  to  pretend  you  were  from  the 
Mersey  or  Bristol  Channel.  When  the  German  com- 
mented on  the  singularly  large  number  of  the  crew, 
he  would  get  the  reply :  '  Yes,  these  aren't  all  our 
own  chaps.  We  picked  up  some  blokes  two  days 
ago  from  a  torpedoed  ship.'  Then  in  answer  to 
further  questions  one  of  the  survivors  from  the  latter 
would  back  up  the  lie  with  the  statement  that  they 
were  the  starboard  watch  of  the  S.S.  Carroii,  owned 
by  the  Carron  Company,  2,350  tons,  bound  with  a 
cargo  of  coal  from  Barry  (or  Sunderland)  to  a  French 
port.  In  this  case  Captain  Grenfell  would  pretend  to 
be  the  master  of  the  Cam-on,  and  of  PensJiursfs  four 
officers  one  would  pretend  he  was  the  first  mate  of 
the  Cmn-on,  another  the  first  mate  of  the  colher 
Penshurst,    another    the    Penslmrsfs    second    mate, 


220         Q  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

whilst  the  assistant-paymaster,  not  being  a  navigator, 
passed  as  chief  steward.  Thus,  every  Httle  detail 
was  thought  out  for  every  possible  contretemps.  To 
surprise  the  enemy  and  yet  not  to  let  him  surprise 
you  was  the  aim. 

If,  by  a  piece  of  bad  luck,  your  identity  as  a  Q-ship 
had  been  revealed— and  this  did  occur — so  that  the 
enemy  got  away  before  you  had  time  to  sink  him, 
there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  get  the  other  side  of 
the  horizon  and  alter  the  appearance  of  the  ship.  To 
the  landsman  this  may  seem  rather  an  impossible 
proposition.  I  admit  at  once  that  in  the  case  of  the 
Q-sailing-ships  this  was  rather  a  tall  order,  for  the 
plain  reason  that  topsail  schooners  and  brigantines  in 
these  modern  days  of  maritime  enterprise  are  com- 
paratively few  in  number.  But  the  greatest  part  of 
our  sea-borne  trade  is  carried  on  in  small  steamers  of 
more  or  less  standardized  type  or  types.  Vessels 
of  the  type  such  as  Penshurst  and  Suffolk  Coast  are 
to  be  seen  almost  everywhere  in  our  narrow  seas  : 
except  for  the  markings  on  their  funnels  they  are  as 
much  like  each  other  as  possible.  In  a  fleet  of  such 
craft  it  would  be  about  as  easy  for  a  German  to  tell 
one  from  another  as  in  a  Tokio  crowd  it  would  be  for 
an  Englishman  to  tell  one  Japanese  from  another. 
The  points  which  distinguish  these  craft  the  one  from 
the  other  are  of  minor  consideration,  such  as  the 
colour  of  the  hull,  the  colour  of  the  funnel,  the  device 
on  the  funnel,  the  number  of  masts,  the  topmast, 
derricks,  cross-trees,  and  so  on.  Thus,  in  the  case  of 
Penshurst  there  were  any  amount  of  disguises  which 
in  a  few  hours  would  render  her  a  different  ship.  For 
instance,  by  painting  her  funnel  black,  with  red  flag 
and  white  letters  thereon,  she  might  easily  be  taken 
for  one  of  the  Carron  Company's  steamers,  such  as 


I 


i,..u  i.:^>A..,^^..-.^..^£^?!^..-.^^..:  ■•-^^-4 


Q-SHip  "Barranca" 

In  one  form  of  disguise.     Hull  painted  a  light  colour,  black  boot-top  to  funnel. 

funnel  painted  a  light  colour,  alley  ways  open.     She  is  here  seen  in  her  original 

colour  as  a  West  Indian  fruit-carrier. 


Q-sHip  "Barranca" 

Appearance  altered  by  painting  hull  lilack  and  funnel  black  with  white  band. 

She  is  here  disguised  as  a  Spaniard,  with  Spanish  colours  painted  on  the  ship's 

side  just  forward  of  the  bridge,  though  not  discernable  in  the  photograph. 

To  face  p.  -JiO 


LIFE  ON  BOARD  A  Q-SHIP  221 

the  Forth.  By  giving  her  a  black  funnel  with  a 
white  V  she  might  be  the  Glouceste?'  Coast  of  the 
Powell,  Bacon,  and  Hough  Lines,  Ltd. ;  by  altering 
the  funnel  to  black,  white,  red,  white,  and  black 
bands  she  might  have  been  the  Streathatn,  owned  by 
Messrs.  John  Harrison,  Ltd.  Other  similar  craft, 
sucli  as  the  Blackburn  and  Bargang,  had  no  funnel 
marks  ;  so  here  again  were  more  disguises.  Penslmrst 
further  altered  her  appearance  at  times  by  taking 
down  her  mizzen-mast  altogether,  by  filling  in  the 
well  deck  forward,  by  adding  a  false  steam-pipe  to 
the  funnel,  by  shortening  and  levelling  the  derricks, 
by  removing  the  main  cross-trees,  by  painting  or 
varnishing  the  wood  bridge-screen,  by  giving  the 
deckhouses  a  totally  different  colour,  by  showing  red 
lead  patches  on  the  hull,  and  varying  the  colour  of 
the  sides  with  such  hues  as  black  to-day,  next  time 
green  or  grey  or  black,  and  adding  a  sail  on  the 
forestay. 

If  you  will  examine  the  photos  of  Commander 
Douglas's  Q-ship  Barranca,  you  will  see  how  cleverly, 
by  means  of  a  little  faking,  even  a  much  bigger  ship 
could  be  disguised.  In  one  picture  you  see  her  alley- 
ways covered  up  by  a  screen,  funnel  markings  altered, 
and  so  on ;  whilst  in  another  the  conspicuous  white 
upper- works,  the  white  band  on  the  funnel,  and  the 
dark  hull  make  her  a  different  ship,  so  that,  he  tells 
me,  on  one  occasion  after  passing  a  suspicious  neutral 
steamer  and  not  being  quite  satisfied,  he  was  able  to 
steam  out  of  sight,  change  his  ship's  appearance,  and 
then  overtake  her,  get  quite  close  and  make  a  careful 
examination  without  revealing  his  identity.  To  the 
landsman  all  this  may  seem  impossible,  but  inasmuch 
as  the  sea  is  traversed  nowadays  by  steamers  differing 
merely  in  minute  details,  distinguished  only  to  the 


222         Q  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

practised  eye  of  the  sailor,  such  deception  is  possible. 
I  remember  on  one  occasion  during  the  war  a  sur- 
prising instance  of  this.  Being  in  command  of  a 
steam  drifter  off  the  south-west  Irish  coast,  I  obtained 
Admiral  Bayly's  permission  at  my  next  refit  to  have 
the  ship  painted  green,  the  foremast  stepped,  the 
funnel  and  markings  painted  differently,  and  a  Dublin 
fishing  letter  and  number  painted  on  the  bows,  a  suit- 
able name  being  found  in  the  Fisherman's  Almanack. 
The  6 -pounder  gun  forward  was  covered  with  fishing 
gear,  which  could  be  thrown  overboard  as  soon  as  the 
ship  came  into  action.  Discarding  naval  uniform  and 
wearing  old  cloth  caps  and  clothes,  we  left  Queens- 
town,  steamed  into  Berehaven,  and  tied  up  alongside 
a  patrol  trawler  with  whom  we  had  been  working  in 
company  for  nearly  a  year.  The  latter's  crew  never 
recognized  us  until  they  saw  our  faces,  and  even  then 
insisted  that  we  had  got  a  new  ship  !  In  fact,  one  of 
them  asserted  that  he  knew  this  Dublin  drifter  very 
well,  at  which  my  Scotch  crew  from  the  Moray  Firth 
were  vastly  amused. 

Routine  at  sea  of  course  differed  in  various  Q-ships, 
but  it  may  be  interesting  to  set  down  the  following, 
which  prevailed  in  that  well-organized  ship  Penshurst : 

SEA  ROUTINE. 

4J  r  Call  guns'  crew  of  morning  watch  ;  3-pounder  crew 

rt  ^  oj  ^'  ^3is\\  up  and  stow.     Guns'  crew  close  up,  uncover 

^  ^  '^  §  '        guns,  unship  6-pounder  night-sights.     Gunlayers 

jq  33  O  W  report  their  crews  closed   up  to    officei's   of  the 

P-i  \      Avatch. 

5.30  a.m.     Call  cooks  and  stewards. 
6.0    a.m.     12-pounder  crew  and  one  of  3-pounder  crew  to  wash 

down  bridges  and  saloon-decks. 
7.0    a.m.     Call  guns'    ci-ews   of  forenoon  watch,  lash  up   and 

stow  hammocks.     Hands  to  wash. 
7.30  a.m.     Forenoon  watch  to  breakfast. 


Q-sHip  "Barranca" 
Disguised  as  a  ditferent  ship  with  yellow  funnel  and  black  boot-top. 


Q-SHip  •' Barranca" 

Appearance  cbanged  by  closing  up  alley-ways,  painting  hull,  ship's  boats,  and 
funnel  so  as  to  resemble  a  freighter  of  the  P.  it  O.  Line. 


To  face  p.  222 


LIFE  ON  BOARD  A  Q-SHIP  223 

8.0    a.m.  Change  watches.     Morning  watch  lash  up  and  stow 
hammocks.     Breakfast. 

9.0    a.m.  Watch  below  clean  mess-deck,  etc. 

1 1.30  a.m.  Afternoon  watch  to  dinner. 

12.30  p.m.  Change  watches.     Forenoon  watch  to  dinner. 

1.30  p.m.  Cooks  clean  up  mess-deck. 

3.30  j).m.  Tea. 

4.0    p.m.  Change  watches.     Afternoon  watch  to  tea. 

6.0    p.m.  Change  watches. 

7.0    p.m.  Supper. 

8.0    p.m.  Change  watches.     Watch  below  to  supper. 

Sunset.  Clean    guns,    ship    6"-pounder   night-sights.       Cover 
guns.     Drill  as  required. 

A  few  weeks  after  the  war,  Lord  Jellicoe  remarked 
publicly  that  in  the  '  mystery  ship '  there  had  been 
displayed  a  spirit  of  endurance,  discipline,  and  courage, 
the  like  of  which  the  world  had  never  seen  before. 
He  added  that  he  did  not  think  the  English  people 
realized  the  wonderful  work  which  these  ships  had 
done  in  the  war.  No  one  who  reads  the  facts  here 
presented  can  fail  to  agree  with  this  statement,  which, 
indeed,  is  beyond  argument.  Discipline,  of  course, 
there  was,  even  in  the  apparently  and  externally 
most  slovenly  tramp  Q-ship ;  and  it  must  not  be 
thought  that  among  so  many  crews  of  '  hard  cases ' 
all  the  hands  ^vere  as  harmless  as  china  shepherd- 
esses. When  ashore,  the  average  sailor  is  not  always 
at  his  best :  his  qualities  are  manifest  on  sea  and  in 
the  worst  perils  pertaining  to  the  sea.  The  landsman, 
therefore,  has  the  opportunity  of  observing  him  when 
the  sailor  wants  to  forget  about  ships  and  seas.  If 
some  of  the  Q- ships'  crews  occasionally  kicked  over 
the  traces  in  the  early  days  the  fault  was  partly  their 
own,  but  partly  it  was  as  the  result  of  circumstances. 
Even  Q-ship  crews  were  human,  and  after  weeks  of 
cruising  and  pent-up  keenness,  after  being  battered 
about  by  seas,  shelled  by  submarines  while  lying  in 


224         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

dreadful  suspense,  and  then  doing  all  that  human 
nature  could  be  expected  to  perform,  much  may  be 
forgiven  them  if  the  attractions  of  the  shore  tempo- 
rarily overpowered  them.  In  the  early  stages  of  the 
Q-ship  the  mistake  was  made  of  sending  to  them  the 
'  bad  hats '  and  impossible  men  of  the  depots ;  but 
the  foolishness  of  this  was  soon  discovered.  Only 
the  best  men  were  good  enough  for  this  special 
service,  and  as  the  men  were  well  paid  and  well 
decorated  in  return  for  success,  there  was  no  difficulty 
in  choosing  from  the  forthcoming  volunteers  an  ideal 
crew.  Any  Q-ship  captain  will  bear  testimony  to 
the  wonderful  effect  wrought  on  a  crew  by  the  first 
encounter  with  an  enemy  submarine.  The  average 
seaman  has  much  in  him  of  the  simple  child,  and  has 
to  be  taught  by  plain  experience  to  see  the  use  and 
necessity  of  monotonous  routine,  of  drills  and  dis- 
cipline ;  but  having  once  observed  in  hard  battle  the 
value  of  obedience,  of  organization  and  the  like,  he  is 
a  different  man — he  looks  at  sea-life,  in  spite  of  its 
boredom,  from  a  totally  different  angle.  Perfect 
discipline  usually  spelled  victory  over  the  enemy. 
Presently  that,  in  turn,  indicated  a  medal  ribbon  and 
'  a  drop  of  leaf '  at  home,  so  as  to  tell  his  family  all 
about  it.  Never  again  would  he  overstay  his  leave  : 
back  to  the  ship  for  him  to  give  further  evidence  of 
his  prowess. 

This  was  the  kind  of  fellow  who  could  be  relied 
upon  to  maintain  at  sea  the  gallant  traditions  of  British 
seamanhood,  and  in  their  time  of  greatest  peril  the 
true  big-souled  character  manifested  itself,  as  real 
human  truth  always  emerges  in  periods  of  crisis.  I 
am  thinking  of  one  man  who  served  loyally  and  faith- 
fully in  a  certain  Q-ship.  In  one  engagement  this 
gallant  British  sailor  while  in  the  execution  of  his 


LIFE  ON  BOARD  A  Q-SHIP  225 

duty  was  blown  literally  to  pieces  except  for  an  arm, 
a  leg  in  a  sea-boot,  and  the  rest  a  mere  shattered, 
indescribable  mass,  his  blood  and  flesh  being  scattered 
everywhere  by  the  enemy's  attack.  And  yet  the  last 
words  of  this  good  fellow,  spoken  just  before  it  was 
too  late,  did  much  to  help  the  Q-ship  in  her  success. 
In  a  previous  engagement  this  man's  gun  had  the 
misfortune  to  start  with  seven  missfires.  This  was 
owing  to  ammunition  rendered  faulty  by  having  been 
kept  on  the  deck  too  long  as  '  ready-use.'  Conse- 
quently his  gun  did  not  come  into  action  as  quickly 
as  the  others.  This  piece  of  bad  luck  greatly  upset 
such  a  keen  warrior,  and  he  was  determined  that  no 
such  accident  should  occur  again.  Therefore,  in  the 
next  fight,  just  as  he  was  crouching  with  his  gun's 
crew  behind  the  bridge-screen,  he  was  heard  to  say  to 
his  mates  :  '  Now,  mind.  We're  to  be  the  first  gun  in 
action  this  time.'  Immediately  afterwards  a  shell 
came  and  killed  him  instantaneously. 

Or,  again,  consider  the  little  human  touch  in  the 
case  of  the  Q-ship  commanded  by  Lieut. -Commander 
McLeod,  which  had  been  '  done  in '  and  was  sinking, 
so  that  she  had  really  to  be  abandoned.  When  all 
were  getting  away  in  the  boats,  Lieut. -Commander 
McLeod's  servant  was  found  to  be  missing.  At  the 
last  moment  he  suddenly  reappeared,  carrying  with 
him  a  bag  which  he  had  gone  back  to  fetch.  In  it 
was  Lieut.-Commander  McLeod's  best  monkey- 
jacket.  '  I  thought  as  you  might  want  this,  sir,  seeing 
you'll  have  to  go  and  see  the  Admiral  when  we  get 
back  to  Queenstown,'  was  his  cool  explanation. 
Nothing  could  crush  this  kind  of  spirit,  which  pre- 
vailed in  the  trenches,  the  air,  and  on  sea  until  the 
Armistice  was  won.  It  is  the  spirit  of  our  forefathers, 
the  inheritance  of  our  island  race,  which,  notwith- 

15 


226         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

standing  political  and  domestic  tribulations,  lies  silent, 
dormant,  undemonstrative,  until  the  great  hour  comes 
for  the  best  that  is  in  us  to  show  itself.  Germany,  of 
course,  had  her  disguised  armed  ships,  such  as  the 
3Ioewe,  the  JVolf,  and  so  on,  and  with  them  our  late 
enemies  performed  unquestionably  brilliant  work  all 
over  the  world.  It  is  true,  also,  that  a  similar 
achievement  was  attained  in  one  disguised  sailing 
ship  ;  nor  can  we  fail  to  admire  the  pluck  and  enter- 
prise which  enabled  them  to  get  through  the  British 
blockade.  To  belittle  such  first-class  work  would  be 
to  turn  one's  back  on  plain  truth. 

But  the  Q-ship  service  was  not  a  short  series  of 
three  or  four  spasms,  but  took  its  part  in  the  persistent 
prosecution  of  the  anti-submarine  campaign.  It 
remained  a  perpetual  thorn  in  the  enemy's  side,  and 
it  was  a  most  dangerous  thorn.  Unlike  the  U-boat 
service  in  its  later  stages,  it  continued  to  be  composed 
of  volunteers,  and  it  was  certainly  the  means  of 
bringing  to  light  extraordinary  talent  and  courage. 
Like  other  children,  the  seaman  loves  dressing  up  and 
acting.  In  the  Q-ship  he  found  this  among  the  other 
attractions,  of  which  not  the  least  was  the  conscious 
joy  of  taking  a  big  share  in  the  greatest  of  all  wars. 
In  one  Q-ship  alone  were  earned  no  fewer  than  four 
D.S.O.'s  and  three  bars,  five  D.S.C.'s  and  seven  bars, 
one  Croix  de  Guerre,  and  six  '  mentions '  among  the 
officers.  Among  the  men  this  ship  earned  twenty- 
one  D.S.M.'s  and  four  bars,  as  well  as  three  '  mentions.' 
To-day  as  you  pass  some  tired  old  tramp  at  sea,  or 
watch  a  begrimed  steamer  taking  in  a  cargo  of  coals, 
you  may  be  gazing  at  a  ship  as  famous  as  Grenville's 
Revenge  or  Drake's  Golden  Hind.  At  the  end  of 
the  war  the  Admiralty  decided  to  place  a  memorial 
tablet  on  board  each  merchant  vessel  that  had  acted 


LIFE  ON  BOARD  A  Q-SHIP  227 

as  a  decoy  during  the  war,  the  tablet  being  suitably 
inscribed  with  details  of  the  gallant  ship's  service, 
together  with  the  names  of  the  commanding  officer 
and  members  of  the  crew  who  received  decorations. 
The  first  of  these  ships  so  to  be  commemorated 
was  the  Lodorer,  better  known  to  us  as  Captain 
Campbell's  Q-ship  Farnborough.  After  hostilities, 
in  the  presence  of  representatives  of  the  owners  and 
tlie  iMinistry  of  Shipping,  Vice-Admiral  Sir  Alexander 
Duff  unveiled  Lodoj^efs  tablet,  and  those  who  read  it 
may  well  think  and  reflect. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Q-SHIPS  EVERYWHERE 

In  the  spring  of  1917  there  was  a  2,905-ton  steamship, 
called  the  Bracondale,  in  the  employment  of  the 
Admiralty  as  a  collier.  It  was  decided  that  she 
would  make  a  very  useful  Q-ship,  so  at  the  begin- 
ning of  April  she  was  thus  commissioned  and  her 
name  changed  to  Chagford.  She  was  fitted  out  at 
Devonport  and  armed  with  a  4-inch,  two  12-pounders, 
and  a  couple  of  torpedo  tubes,  and  was  ready  for  sea 
at  the  end  of  June.  Commanded  by  Lieutenant 
D.  G.  Jeffrey,  R.N.  R.,  she  proceeded  to  Falmouth 
in  order  to  tune  everything  up,  and  then  was  based 
on  Buncrana,  which  she  left  on  August  2  for  what 
was  to  be  her  last  cruise,  and  I  think  that  in  the 
following  story  we  have  another  instance  of  heroism 
and  pertinacity  of  great  distinction. 

Chagford' s  position  on  August  5  at  4.10  a.m.  was 
roughly  120  miles  north-west  of  Tory  Island,  and  she 
was  endeavouring  to  find  two  enemy  submarines  which 
had  been  reported  on  the  previous  day.  At  the  time 
mentioned  she  was  herself  torpedoed  just  below  the 
bridge,  and  in  this  one  explosion  was  caused  very 
great  injury :  for  it  disabled  both  her  torpedo  tubes 
and  her  4-inch  gun ;  it  shattered  the  boats  on  the 
starboard  side  as  well  as  the  captain's  cabin  and  chart 
room.  In  addition,  it  also  wrecked  all  the  voice-pipe 
connections  to  the  torpedo  tubes  and  guns,  and  it 

228 


Q-SHIPS  EVERYWHERE  229 

flooded  the  engine-room  and  put  the  engines  out  of 
commission,  kiUing  one  of  the  crew.  Lieutenant 
Jeffrey  therefore  '  abandoned '  ship,  and  just  as  the 
boats  were  getting  away  two  periscopes  and  a  sub- 
marine were  sighted  on  the  starboard  side  800  yards 
away.  As  soon  as  the  enemy  came  to  the  surface 
fire  was  opened  on  her  by  the  two  12-pounders  and 
both  Lewis  and  machine-guns,  several  direct  hits 
being  observed.  The  submarine  then  dived,  but  at 
4.40  a.m.  she  fired  a  second  torpedo  at  Chagford, 
which  hit  the  ship  abaft  the  bridge  on  the  starboard 
side. 

From  the  time  the  first  torpedo  had  hit,  the  enemy 
reahzed  that  Chagford  was  a  warship,  for  the  4-inch 
gun  and  torpedo  tubes  had  been  made  visible,  and 
now  that  the  second  explosion  had  come  Lieutenant 
Jeffrey  decided  to  recall  his  boats  so  that  the  ship 
might  genuinely  be  abandoned.  The  lifeboat,  dinghy, 
and  a  barrel  raft  were  accordingly  filled,  and  about 
5.30  a.m.  the  enemy  fired  a  third  torpedo,  which 
struck  also  on  the  starboard  side.  Having  sent 
away  in  the  boats  and  raft  everyone  with  the  ex- 
ception of  himself  and  a  lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  two 
sub-Heutenants,  R.N.R.,  also  an  assistant-paymaster, 
R.N.R.,  and  one  petty  officer,  Lieutenant  Jeffrey 
stationed  these  in  hiding  under  cover  of  the  fo'c'sle 
and  poop,  keeping  a  smart  look-out,  however,  through 
the  scuttles. 

Here  was  another  doomed  ship  rolling  about  in  the 
Atlantic  without  her  crew,  and  only  a  gallant  handful 
of  British  seamanhood  still  standing  by  with  but  a 
shred  of  hope.  To  accentuate  their  suspense  peri- 
scopes were  several  times  seen,  and  from  9  a.m.  until 
9  p.m.  a  submarine  frequently  appeared  on  the 
surface  at  long  range,  and  almost  every  hour  a  peri- 


230         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

scope  passed  round  the  ship  inspecting  her  cautiously. 
During  the  whole  of  this  time  Cfiagford  was  settling 
down  gradually  but  certainly.  At  dark  Lieutenant 
Jeffrey,  fearing  that  the  enemy  might  attempt  board- 
ing, placed  Lewis  and  Maxim  guns  in  position  and 
served  out  rifles  and  bayonets  to  all.  Midnight 
came,  and  after  making  a  further  examination  of  the 
damage,  Lieutenant  Jeffrey  realized  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  the  Chagford  to  last  much  longer,  for 
her  main  deck  amidships  was  split  from  side  to  side, 
the  bridge  deck  was  badly  buckled,  and  the  whole 
ship  was  straining  badly.  Therefore,  just  before 
half-past  midnight,  these  five  abandoned  the  ship  in 
a  small  motor- boat  which  they  had  picked  up  at  sea 
some  days  previously,  but  before  quitting  Chagford 
they  disabled  the  guns,  all  telescopic  sights  and 
strikers  being  removed. 

Having  shoved  off,  they  found  to  their  dismay 
that  there  were  no  tanks  in  the  motor-boat,  so  she 
had  to  be  propelled  by  a  couple  of  oars,  and  it  will 
readily  be  appreciated  that  this  kind  of  propulsion  in 
the  North  Atlantic  was  not  a  success.  They  then 
thought  of  going  back  to  the  ship,  but  before  they 
could  do  so  they  were  fortunately  picked  up  at 
7.30  a.m.  by  H.M.  trawler  Saxon,  a  large  submarine 
having  been  seen  several  times  on  the  horizon  between 
4  and  7  a.m.  The  trawler  then  proceeded  to  hunt 
for  the  submarine,  but,  as  the  latter  had  now  made 
off,  volunteers  were  called  for  and  went  aboard 
Chagford,  so  that  by  4  p.m.  Saxon  had  commenced 
towing  her.  Bad  luck  again  overcame  their  efforts, 
for  wind  and  sea  had  been  steadily  increasing,  and  of 
course  there  was  no  steam,  so  the  heavy  work  of 
handling  cables  had  all  to  be  done  by  hand.  Until 
the  evening  the  ship  towed  fairly  well  at  2  knots, 


Q-SHIPS  EVERYWHERE  231 

but,  as  she  seemed  then  to  be  breaking  up,  the  tow- 
rope  had  to  be  shpped,  and  just  before  eight  o'clock 
next  morning  (August  7)  she  took  a  final  plunge  and 
disappeared.  The  Saxon  made  for  the  Scottish  coast 
and  landed  the  survivors  at  Oban  on  the  morning  of 
the  eighth.  In  this  encounter,  difficult  as  it  was, 
Chagford  had  done  real  service,  for  she  had  damaged 
the  submarine  so  much  that  she  could  not  submerge, 
and  this  was  probably  U  44  which  H.M.S.  Oracle 
sighted  in  the  early  hours  of  August  12  off  the  north 
coast  of  Scotland,  evidently  bound  to  Germany. 
Orach  chased  her ;  U  44  kept  diving  and  coming  to 
the  surface  after  a  short  Avhile.  She  had  disguised 
herself  as  a  trawler,  and  was  obviously  unable  to  dive 
except  for  short  periods.  Oracle  shelled  and  then 
rammed  her,  so  that  U  44  was  destroyed  and  Chagford 
avenged.  Nothing  more  was  seen  of  Chagford  except 
some  wreckage  found  by  a  trawler  on  August  11,  who 
noticed  the  word  Bracondale  on  the  awnings. 

After  Lieutenant  Jeffrey  and  crew  had  returned  to 
their  base  they  proceeded  to  fit  out  the  2,794-ton 
S.S.  Arvonian.  This  was  to  be  a  very  powerful 
Q-ship,  for  she  was  armed  with  three  4-inch  guns 
instead  of  one,  in  addition  to  three  12-pounders,  two 
Maxim  guns,  and  actually  four  18-inch  torpedo  tubes. 
She  was,  in  fact,  a  light  cruiser,  except  for  speed  and 
appearance,  but  the  Chagford  crew  were  destined  to 
disappointment,  for  this  is  what  happened.  The 
reader  will  recollect  that  in  her  engagement  of  June  7, 
1917,  Captain  Campbell's  famous  ship  Pargust 
received  so  much  damage  that  she  had  to  be  left  in 
dockyard  hands  while  he  and  his  crew  went  to  sea  in 
the  Dunraven.  Now,  at  the  beginning  of  October 
Admiral  Sims  asked  the  British  Admiralty  for  a  ship 
to  carry  out  this  decoy  work,  and  to  be  manned  by 


232        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

the  United  States  Navy.  The  Admiralty  therefore 
selected  Pargust,  and  Admiral  Sims  then  assigned 
her  to  the  U.S.N,  forces  based  on  Queenstown.  Her 
repairs,  however,  took  rather  a  longer  time  than  had 
been  hoped  ;  in  fact,  she  was  not  finished  and  com- 
missioned again  until  the  following  May,  so  it  was 
decided  to  pay  off  Arvonian  on  November  26,  1917, 
and  she  was  then  recommissioned  with  a  United 
States  crew  under  Commander  D.  C.  Hanrahan, 
U.S.N.,  and  changed  her  name  to  Santee.  By  the 
time  she  left  Queenstown  for  her  maiden  cruise  she 
was  a  very  wonderful  ship.  Her  4-inch  guns  had 
been  disguised  by  being  recessed,  and  by  such  con- 
cealments as  lifebuoy  lockers,  hatch  covers,  and  so  on. 
The  12-pounder  gun  aft  had  a  tilting  mounting,  as 
also  had  the  two  12-pounders  forward  at  the  break  of 
the  fo'c'sle  on  either  side.  Thus  they  were  concealed, 
but  could  be  instantly  brought  into  position.  Her 
four  torpedo  tubes  were  arranged  so  that  there  was 
one  on  each  beam,  one  to  fire  right  ahead,  and  one  to 
fire  right  astern.  She  also  boasted  of  a  searchlight,  a 
wireless  set,  and  an  emergency  wireless  apparatus. 
She  had  two  lifeboats,  two  skiffs,  two  Carley  floats, 
and  also  a  motor-boat.  She  was  thus  the  last  word 
in  Q-ship  improvements,  and  embodied  all  the  lessons 
which  had  been  learnt  by  bitter  and  tragic  experience. 
Two  days  after  Christmas,  1917,  she  left  Queenstown 
at  dusk  on  her  way  to  Bantry  Bay  to  train  her  crew, 
but  in  less  than  five  hours  she  was  torpedoed.  It 
was  no  disgrace,  but  a  sheer  bit  of  hard  luck  which 
might  have  happened  to  any  other  officer,  British  or 
American.  Commander  Hanrahan  was  one  of  the 
ablest  and  keenest  destroyer  captains  of  the  American 
Navy,  and  no  one  who  had  ever  been  aboard  his  ship 
could  fail  to  note  his  efficiency.     He  had  been  one  of 


Q-SHIPS  EVERYWHERE  233 

the  early  destroyer  arrivals  when  the  United  States 
that  summer  had  begun  to  send  their  destroyer 
divisions  across  the  Atlantic  to  Queenstown,  and  he 
had  done  most  excellent  work. 

But  on  this  night  his  Q-ship  career  came  to  a 
sudden  stop,  though  not  before  everything  possible 
had  been  done  to  entrap  the  enemy.  It  was  one  of 
those  cloudy,  moonlight,  wintry  nights  with  good 
visibility.  As  might  have  been  expected  under  such 
a  captain  there  was  a  total  absence  of  confusion  ;  all 
hands  went  to  their  stations,  the  '  panic '  party  got 
away  in  accordance  with  the  best  '  panic '  traditions, 
while  on  board  the  crews  remained  at  their  gun 
stations  for  five  hours,  hoping  and  longing  for  the 
submarine  to  show  herself.  No  such  good  fortune 
followed,  for  the  submarine  was  shy ;  so  just  before 
midnight  Commander  Hanrahan  sent  a  wireless 
message  to  Admiral  Bayly  at  Queenstown,  and  very 
shortly  afterwards  the  U.S.  destroyer  Cuitwihigs 
arrived.  At  1  a.m.  the  tug  Paladin  took  Santee  in 
tow,  escorted  by  four  United  States  destroyers  and 
the  two  British  sloops  Viola  and  Bluebell.  Santee 
got  safely  into  port  and  was  sent  to  Devonport,  where 
she  was  eventually  handed  back  by  the  U.S.N,  to  the 
British  Navy,  owing  to  the  time  involved  in  repairs. 
On  June  4,  1918,  she  was  once  more  recommissioned 
in  the  Royal  Navy  and  took  the  name  of  Bendish,  the 
crew  having  come  from  the  Q-ship  Starmount.  By 
this  date  the  conditions  of  submarine  warfare  had 
undergone  a  modification.  In  home  waters  it  was 
only  the  quite  small  Q-ships  of  the  coaster  type,  of 
about  500  tons,  which  could  be  expected  to  have  any 
chance  of  successfully  engaging  a  submarine.  This 
class  would  normally  be  expected  to  be  seen  within 
the   narrow  seas,  and  the  enemy  would  not   be    so 


234         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

shy.  But  for  such  vessels  as  Bendish  and  Pargiist 
the  most  promising  sphere  was  likely  to  be  between 
Gibraltar  and  the  Azores  and  the  north-west  coast  of 
Africa,  where  German  so-called  '  cruiser '  submarines 
of  the  DeiUschland  type  were  operating.  Therefore  a 
special  force,  based  on  Gibraltar  but  operating  in  the 
Azores  area  or  wherever  submarines  were  to  be 
expected,  was  organized,  consisting  of  four  Q-ships. 
These  were  the  Bendish  (late  Santee),  Captain 
Campbell's  former  ship  Pargust  but  now  named  the 
Pangloss,  the  Underwing,  and  the  Marshfort^  the 
whole  squadron  being  under  the  command  of  Lieut. - 
Commander  Dane  in  Bendish.  After  being  at  last 
ready  for  sea  in  May,  1918,  Pangloss,  commanded  by 
Lieutenant  Jeffrey,  who  for  his  fine  work  in  Chagford 
had  received  the  D.S.O.,  had  then  been  assigned 
to  serve  under  the  Vice-Admiral  Northern  Patrols 
until  she  was  sent  south. 

Under  the  new  scheme  just  mentioned  these  four 
Q-ships  were  so  worked  that  they  always  arrived 
and  sailed  from  Gibraltar  as  part  of  the  convoy  of 
merchant  ships,  from  which  class  they  could  not  be 
distinguished.  But  already  long  before  this  date 
Q-ships  had  been  employed  in  such  distant  waters. 
For  instance,  in  the  middle  of  November,  1916,  the 
BaiTanca  (Lieut. -Commander  S.  C.  Douglas,  R.N.) 
was  sent  from  Queenstown  via  Devonport,  and 
proceeded  to  operate  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Madeira 
and  the  Canaries,  based  on  Gibraltar.  This  ship, 
known  officially  as  Q  3  (alias  Eclmnga),  had  been 
taken  over  from  Messrs.  Elders  and  FyfFes,  Ltd.  Her 
registered  tonnage  was  4,115,  and  she  had  a  speed  of 
14  knots,  so  she  was  eminently  fitted  for  this  kind 
of  work.  She  had  been  employed  as  a  Q-ship  since 
June,    1916,    and   was    armed   with    a    4-inch,   two 


Q-sHip  Tkansformation 
Crew  painting  funnel  while  at  sea  (see  pp.  220-1). 


Q-SHiP  "Barranca"  at  Sea 
The  look-out  man  aft  is  disguised  as  one  of  the  Mercantile  crew.     The  dummy 
wheel,  dummy  sky-light,  and  dummy  deck-house  are  seen.     The  latter  con- 
cealed a  4-inch  gun  and  two  12-pounders. 

To  face  p.  234 


I 


Q-SHIPS  EVERYWHERE  235 

12-pounders,  and  two  G-pounders,  and  terminated  lier 
service  in  the  following  5lay.  Her  captain  had  been 
one  of  the  earliest  officers  to  be  employed  in  decoy 
work,  having  been  second  in  command  to  Lieut. - 
Commander  Godfrey  Herbert  when  that  officer  com- 
manded the  Antwerp.  Soon  after  this  date  the  Q-ship 
UunclutJia  left  for  that  part  of  the  Atlantic  which 
is  between  the  north-east  coast  of  South  America  and 
north-west  coast  of  Africa.  This  ship,  together  with 
Oo?na,  both  of  them  being  vessels  of  between  3,000 
and  4,000  tons,  had  commenced  their  special  service 
at  the  end  of  1910  and  been  sent  to  work  under 
the  British  Commodore  off  the  east  coast  of  South 
America  in  the  hope  of  falling  in  with  one  of  the 
German  raiders,  such  as  the  Moeive.  In  May,  1918, 
both  these  vessels  had  to  be  withdrawn  from  such 
service,  as  the  shortage  of  tonnage  had  become  acute, 
and  were  required  to  load  general  cargo  in  a  Brazilian 
port.  Another  of  these  overseas  Q-ships  was  the 
Bomhala  (alias  IVillow  Branch).  She  was  a  3,314-ton 
steamer  and  had  left  Gibraltar  on  April  18,  1918,  for 
Sierra  Leone,  A  week  later,  off  the  West  African 
coast,  she  sighted  a  submarine  off  the  port  quarter, 
and  a  few  minutes  later  a  second  one  off  the  starboard 
bow.  Both  submarines  opened  their  attack  with 
shells,  this  class  of  submarine  being  armed  with  a 
couple  of  5-9-inch  guns.  After  about  thirty  rounds 
the  enemy  had  found  the  range,  and  then  began  to 
hit  the  ship  repeatedly,  carrying  away  the  wireless 
and  causing  many  casualties.  Bombala  shortened  the 
range  so  that  she  could  use  her  4-inch  and  14-pounder, 
and  the  action  went  on  for  two  and  a  half  hours.  By 
that  time  Bombala  was  done  for,  and  it  was  impossible 
to  save  the  ship ;  so  the  crew  were  ordered  into  the 
boats,  and  then  the  ship  foundered,  bows  first.    How- 


236         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

ever,  the  Q-ship  had  not  sunk  without  severely 
damagmg  the  enemy,  for  when  the  submarines  came 
alongside  Bombalas  boats  it  was  found  that  in  one  of 
the  submarines  there  were  seven  killed  and  four 
wounded. 

Q-ships  were  kept  pretty  busy,  too,  in  the  Medi- 
terranean.    On  March   11,  1917,  when   Wonganella 
(Lieut. -Commander  B.  J.  D.  Guy,  R.N.)  was  on  her 
way  from  Malta  to  England  via  Gibraltar,  she  was 
shelled  by  a  submarine,  and  while  the  '  panic '  party 
were   getting   out   the   boats,   a  shell  wounded  the 
officer  and  several  of  the  crew  in  the  starboard  life- 
boat.    Another  shell  went  through  the  bulwarks  of 
the    ship,   wounding    some   men   and   bursting   the 
steam-pipe  of  the  winch,  thus  rendering  unworkable 
the  derrick  used  for  hoisting  out  the  third  boat,  and 
the  port  lifeboat  was  also  damaged.     Shells  burst  in 
the  well  deck  and  holed  the  big  boat,  so  in  this  case, 
as  all  his  boats  were  '  done  in,'  the  captain  had  to 
give  up  the  idea  of  '  abandoning '  ship.     There  was 
nothing  for  it  but  to  open  fire,  though  it  was  not 
easy  for  orders  to  be  heard  in  that  indescribable  din 
when  shells  were  bursting,  steam  pouring  out  from 
the  burst  winch-pipe,  wounded  men  in  great  pain, 
and  Wonganella  s  own  boiler-steam  blowing  off  with 
its  annoying  roar.     As  soon  as  fire  was  opened,  the 
submarine  dived  and  then  fired  a  torpedo,  which  was 
avoided  by  Wonganella  going  astern  with  her  engines, 
the  torpedo  just  missing  the  ship's  fore-foot  by  10  feet. 
No  more  was  seen  of  the  enemy,  and  at  dusk  the 
armed  steam  yacht  lolanda  was  met,  from  whom  a 
doctor  was  obtained,  thus  saving  the  lives  of  several 
of  the  wounded.      In  this  engagement,   whilst  the 
White  Ensign  was  being  hoisted,  the  signal  halyards 
were  shot  away,  so  the  ensign  had  to  be  carried  up 
the  rigging  and  secured  thereto. 


Q-SHIPS  EVERYWHERE  237 

Wonganella  was  holed  on  the  water-hne  and  hit 
elsewhere,  but  she  put  into  Gibraltar  on  March  13, 
and  on  the  evening  of  June  19  of  the  same  year  we 
find  her  out  in  the  Atlantic  west  of  the  south-west 
Irish  coast  on  her  way  homeward-bound  from  Halifax. 
A  submarine  bore  down  on  her  from  the  north,  and 
at  the  long  range  of  8,000  yards  was  soon  straddling 
Wonganella.  Now  the  Q-ship  happened  to  have  on 
board  thirty  survivors  from  a  steamer  recently  sunk, 
so  again  it  was  impossible  to  attempt  the  '  abandon 
ship '  deception.  She  therefore  used  her  smoke-screen 
— at  this  time  ships  were  being  supplied  with  special 
smoke- making  apparatus — and  then  ran  down  the 
wind  at  varying  speeds  and  on  various  courses,  with 
the  hope  that  the  enemy  would  chase  quickly.  Won- 
ganella would  then  turn  in  the  smoke-cloud  and 
suddenly  emerge  and  close  the  enemy  at  a  more 
suitable  range.  But  the  best-laid  schemes  of  Q-ships 
are  subject  to  the  laws  of  chance,  for  now  there 
appeared  another  merchant  ship  heading  straight 
towards  this  scene,  and  thus  unwittingly  frustrated 
the  further  development  of  the  encounter.  This 
'merchant  ship'  was  the  Q-ship  Aubrietia  (Q  13), 
who  did,  in  fact,  receive  a  signal  from  Wonganella 
that  no  assistance  was  required ;  but  by  that  time  it 
was  too  late  to  withdraw.  The  submarine,  after 
shelling  Wonganella  through  the  smoke,  abandoned 
the  attack  and  withdrew  without  ever  scoring  a  hit. 

During  all  these  months  the  disguised  steam 
trawlers  were  continuing  their  arduous  work.  On 
August  20,  1916,  the  Gunner  from  Grant  on  engaged 
a  submarine  during  the  afternoon,  but  the  German 
subsequently  dived.  Gu?me?^  then  proceeded  on  a 
westerly  course  whilst  she  altered  her  disguise,  and 
then  that  same  evening  encountered  this  submarine 


238         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

again,  shelled  her,  but  once  more  the  enemy  broke 
off  the  fight.  The  disguised  Granton  trawler  Speed- 
well was  also  operating  in  a  manner  similar  to  Gunner, 
and  in  the  following  March  the  trawler  Commissioner 
began  her  decoy  work.  She  was  a  161 -ton  ship  armed 
with  a  12-pounder,  her  method  of  working  being  as 
follows:  Lieutenant  F.  W.  Charles,  R.N.R.,  was  in 
command  of  the  fighting  portion  of  the  crew,  but  her 
fishing  skipper  was  otherwise  in  charge  of  the  ship. 
Commissioner  proceeded  to  join  the  Granton  fishing 
fleet,  looking  like  any  other  steam  trawler,  and  then 
shot  her  trawl  and  carried  on  like  the  rest  of  the  fleet. 
When  a  submarine  should  appear  Commissioner  would 
cut  away  her  fishing  gear  and  then  attack  the  enemy. 
Such  an  occasion  actually  occurred  the  very  day  after 
she  first  joined  the  fishing  fleet,  but  the  submarine 
was  not  sunk. 

A  similar  decoy  was  the  Granton  steam  trawler 
Rosskeen,  which  left  the  Firth  of  Forth  to  'fish' 
about  20  miles  east  of  the  Longstone.  Three  days 
later  she  was  just  about  to  shoot  her  trawl  when  a 
shot  came  whistling  over  her  wheelhouse,  and  a  large 
submarine  was  then  seen  8,000  yards  away.  After 
twenty  minutes,  during  which  the  enemy's  shells  fell 
uncomfortably  close,  Rosskeen  cut  away  her  gear  and 
'abandoned'  ship.  The  submarine  then  obligingly 
approached  on  the  surface  towards  the  rowing  boat, 
and  when  the  range  was  down  to  1,200  yards  Ross- 
keen,w\\o  was  armed  with  a  12-pounder  and  6-pounder, 
opened  fire  from  the  former  and  hit  the  submarine, 
the  conning-tower  being  very  badly  damaged  by  the 
third  shot.  Two  more  shells  got  home,  and  by  this 
time  the  enemy  had  had  enough,  and  dived. 

These  trawlers  were  undoubtedly  both  a  valuable 
protection  to  the  fishermen  (who  had  been  repeatedly 


Q  SHIPS  EVERYWHERE  239 

attacked  by  the  enemy)  and  a  subtle  trap  for  some 
of  the  less  experienced  submarine  captains.  During 
May  two  more  trawlers,  the  Strathallan  and  Strath- 
earn,  were  similarly  commissioned,  and  even  steam 
drifters  such  as  the  Fort  George  (armed  with  one 
G-pounder)  were  employed  in  this  kind  of  work.  On 
the  thirteenth  of  June  Strathearn  was  fishing  19  miles 
east  of  the  Bell  Rock  when  five  shots  were  fired  at 
her,  presumably  by  a  submarine,  though  owing  to 
the  hazy  weather  nothing  could  be  seen.  The  enemy 
then  evidently  sighted  a  destroyer  and  disappeared. 
On  the  following  day  Fort  George  was  fishing  about 
35  miles  east  of  May  Island,  when  she  was  attacked 
by  submarine  at  2,000  yards.  It  was  ten  o'clock  at 
night,  and  the  drifter,  after  the  third  round,  secured 
her  fishing  gear  and  returned  the  fire.  The  enemy 
was  evidently  surprised,  for  after  the  drifter  had  fired 
three  shells  the  German  broke  off  the  engagement 
and  submerged,  but  with  his  fourth  and  fifth  rounds 
he  had  hit  Fort  George,  killing  two  and  wounding 
another  couple. 

But  on  the  following  twenty-eighth  of  January 
Fort  George  was  about  14  miles  east  of  May  Island, 
with  the  decoy  trawler  IV.  S.  Baileij  (Lieutenant 
C.  H.  Hudson,  D.S.C.,  R.N.R.).  the  two  ships 
were  listening  on  their  hydrophones  when  a  sub- 
marine was  distinctly  heard  some  distance  away,  and 
it  was  assumed  that  the  enemy  was  steering  for  May 
Island,  so  the  W.  S.  Bailey  after  proceeding  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  in  that  direction  listened  again, 
and  the  sounds  w^ere  heard  more  plainly.  For  an 
hour  and  a  half  the  enemy  was  determinedly  hunted, 
and  just  after  9  p.m.  the  sounds  became  very  distinct, 
so  the  trawler  steamed  full  speed  ahead  in  the  sub- 
marine's direction,  dropped  a  depth  charge,  listened, 


240        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

and  then,  as  the  enemy  was  still  heard  on  the  hydro- 
phone, a  second  charge  was  dropped.  The  trawler 
then  went  full  speed  astern  to  check  her  way,  and 
just  as  she  was  stopping  there  were  sighted  two 
periscopes  not  20  yards  away,  on  the  starboard 
quarter,  and  going  full  speed.  The  trawler  then 
dropped  a  third  depth  charge  over  the  spot  where 
the  periscopes  had  disappeared,  and  nothing  further 
was  heard  on  the  hydrophone,  but  a  fourth  charge 
was  then  let  go  to  make  sure,  and  the  position  was 
buoyed,  and  the  disguised  craft  remained  in  the 
vicinity  until  January  30.  A  few  days  later  the 
W.  S.  Bailey  swept  with  her  chain- sweep  over  the 
position,  and  on  each  occasion  the  sweep  brought  up 
in  the  place  that  had  been  buoyed,  and  a  quantity  of 
oil  was  seen.  Local  fishermen  accustomed  to  working 
their  gear  along  this  bottom  reported  that  the  ob- 
struction was  quite  new.  In  short,  the  W.  S.  Bailey 
had  succeeded  in  destroying  UB  63,  a  submarine 
about  180  feet  long  and  well  armed  with  a  4*1 -inch 
gun  and  torpedoes.  For  this  useful  service  Lieutenant 
Hudson  received  a  bar  to  his  D.S.C.,  while  Skipper 
J.  H.  Lawrence,  R.N.R.,  was  awarded  the  D.S.C. 

Thus,  in  all  waters  and  in  all  manner  of  ships  wear- 
ing every  kind  of  disguise,  the  shy  submarine  was 
being  tempted  and  sought  out,  though  every  month 
decoy  work  was  becoming  more  and  more  difficult : 
for  though  you  might  fool  the  whole  German  sub- 
marine service  in  the  early  stages  of  Q-ships,  it  was 
impossible  that  you  could  keep  on  bluffing  all  of  them 
every  time.  The  most  that  could  be  expected  was 
that  as  a  reward  for  your  constant  vigilance  and  per- 
fect organization  you  might  one  day  catch  him  off  his 
guard  through  his  foolishness  or  lack  of  experience  or 
incautiousness.     But  every  indecisive  action  made  it 


I 


Q-SHIPS  EVERYWHERE  241 

worse  for  the  Q-ships,  for  that  vessel  was  a  mark  for 
future  attack  and  the  enemy's  inteUigence  department 
was  thereby  enriched,  and  outgoing  submarines  could 
be  warned  against  such  a  trawler  or  such  a  tramp 
whose  guns  had  a  dead  sector  on  such  a  bearing. 
Thus  an  inefficient  Q-ship  captain  would  be  a  danger 
not  merely  to  himself  and  his  men,  but  to  the  rest  of 
the  force.  Nothing  succeeds  like  success,  and  there 
was  nothing  so  useful  as  to  make  a  clean  job  of  the 
submarine-sinking,  so  that  he  could  never  get  back 
home  and  tell  the  news.  Surprise,  whether  in  real 
life  or  fiction,  is  a  factor  that  begins  to  lose  its  power 
in  proportion  to  its  frequency  of  use.  It  was  so  in 
the  Q-ships,  and  that  is  why,  after  a  certain  point  had 
been  reached,  this  novel  method  became  so  difficult 
and  so  barren  in  results. 


16 


CHAPTER  XVII 

SHIPS    OF    ALL    SIZES 

The  unrestricted  phase  of  submarine  warfare  insti- 
tuted in  February,  1917,  had,  apart  from  other  means, 
been  met  by  an  increase  in  the  number  of  Q-ships,  so 
that  by  the  end  of  May  there  were  close  upon  eighty 
steamers  and  sailing  craft  either  being  fitted  out  as 
decoys  or  already  thus  employed.  By  far  the  greater 
number  of  the  big  Q-ships  were  serving  under 
Admiral  Bayly,  the  other  large  craft  being  based  on 
Longhope,  Portsmouth,  the  south-east  of  England, 
and  Malta.  Of  the  smaller  types,  such  as  trawlers 
and  sailing  ships,  no  fewer  than  one-half  were  based 
on  Granton,  under  Admiral  Startin,  the  rest  of  these 
little  vessels  working  out  of  Stornoway,  Longhope, 
Peterhead,  Lowestoft,  Portsmouth,  Plymouth,  Fal- 
mouth, Milford  Haven,  and  Malta. 

One  of  the  moderate-sized  Q-steamers  was  the 
1,680-ton  Stonecrop,  alias  Glenfoyle,  which  was  armed 
with  a  4-inch,  a  12-pounder,  and  four  200-lb.  howit- 
zers. She  had  begun  her  special  service  at  the  end  of 
May,  1917,  under  Commander  M.  B.  R.  Blackwood, 
R.N.  She  was  very  slow,  and  her  captain  found  her 
practically  unmanageable  in  anything  of  a  head  wind 
and  sea.  Her  first  cruise  was  in  the  English  Channel, 
and  she  left  Portsmouth  on  August  22.  Three  days 
later  when  15  miles  south  of  the  Scillies  she  saw  a 
large  steamer  torpedoed  and  sunk.    Stonecrop  herself 

242 


SHIPS  OF  ALL  SIZES  243 

was  caught  in  bad  weather,  and  had  to  run  before  the 
gale  and  sea  towing  an  oil  bag  astern.  Arriving  back 
at  Portsmouth  she  needed  a  few  repairs,  and  left  again 
on  September  11  to  cruise  off  the  western  approaches 
of  the  British  Isles.  Six  days  later  she  was  off  the 
south-west  coast  of  Ireland  steering  a  westerly  course 
when  a  submarine  was  seen  on  the  surface.  This  was 
the  U  88,  one  of  the  biggest  types,  over  200  feet  long, 
armed  with  a  4*l-inch  and  a  22-pounder,  plus  tor- 
pedoes. It  was  now  4.40  p.m.,  and  though  the  enemy 
was  still  several  miles  away  he  opened  fire  three 
minutes  later  with  both  guns.  Stonecrop  accordingly 
pretended  to  flee  from  his  wrath,  turned  16  points, 
made  off  at  her  full  speed  (which  was  only  7  knots), 
made  S.O.S.  signals  on  her  wireless,  followed  by 
'  Hurry  up  or  I  shall  have  to  abandon  ship ' — oi  clair 
so  that  the  submarine  should  read  it.  And  in  order 
further  still  to  simulate  a  defensively  armed  merchant 
ship  she  replied  with  her  after  gun. 

Thus  it  went  on  until  .5.15  p.m.,  by  which  time  the 
submarine  had  not  registered  a  hit  and  was  gradually 
closing :  but  most  of  the  shells  were  falling  very  near 
to  the  steamer,  so  that  the  German  might  easily  have 
supposed  they  were  hits.  In  order  to  fool  the  enemy 
further  still  Commander  Blackwood  had  his  smoke 
apparatus  now  lit.  This  was  most  successful,  the 
whole  ship  becoming  enveloped  in  smoke  and  seeming 
to  be  on  fire.  A  quarter  of  an  hour  later  Stonecrop 
'  abandoned '  ship,  sending  away  also  a  couple  of 
hands  in  uniform  to  represent  the  men  from  the 
deserted  defensive  gun.  The  submarine  then  dis- 
played the  usual  tactics :  submerged,  came  slowly 
towards  the  ship,  passing  down  the  port  side,  round- 
ing the  stern,  and  then  came  to  the  surface  600  yards 
off'  the  starboard  quarter,  displaying  the  whole  of  his 


244         Q  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

length.  For  three  minutes  the  British  and  German 
captains  remained  looking  at  each  other,  the  former, 
of  course,  from  his  position  of  concealment.  But  at 
ten  minutes  past  six,  as  there  were  still  no  signs  of 
anyone  coming  out  of  the  conning-tower  hatch,  and 
as  the  U-boat  seemed  about  to  make  for  Stonecrop's 
boats,  Captain  Blackwood  decided  this  was  the  critical 
moment  and  gave  the  order.  From  the  4- inch  gun 
and  all  howitzers  there  suddenly  poured  across  the 
intervening  600  yards  a  very  hot  fire,  which  had 
unmistakable  effect :  for  the  fourth  shot  hit  the  base 
of  the  conning-tower,  causing  a  large  explosion  and 
splitting  the  conning-tower  in  two.  The  fifth  shot 
got  her  just  above  the  water-line  under  the  foremost 
gun,  the  sixth  struck  between  that  gun  and  the 
conning-tower,  the  seventh  hit  30  feet  from  the  end 
of  the  hull,  the  eighth  got  her  just  at  the  angle  of  the 
conning-tower  and  deck,  the  ninth  and  tenth  shells 
came  whizzing  on  to  the  water-line  between  the  after 
gun  and  conning-tower,  whilst  the  eleventh  hit  the 
deck  just  abaft  the  conning-tower  and  tearing  it  up. 
Good  gunnery,  certainly ! 

This  was  about  as  much  as  the  stunned  submarine 
could  stand,  and  forging  ahead  she  suddenly  sub- 
merged and  sank  stern  first,  but  a  few  seconds  later 
she  rose  to  the  surface  with  a  heavy  list  to  starboard, 
and  then  sank  for  good  and  all.  For,  on  submerging, 
she  had  found  she  was  leaking  so  badly  that  her  con- 
dition was  hopeless,  and  she  was  doubtless  intending 
to  surrender,  but  apparently  the  fourth  shot  from 
Stonecrop  had  so  damaged  the  conning-tower  hatch 
that  it  could  not  be  opened.  Thus  there  perished 
U  88,  but  this  was  more  than  the  sinking  of  an 
ordinary  submarine,  for  with  her  there  went  to  his 
doom  Lieut. -Commander  Schwieger,  who,  when  in 


? 


SHIPS  OF  ALL  SIZES  245 

command  of  U  20,  had  sunk  the  Lusitaiiia  on  May  7, 
1915,  with  the  loss  of  over  eleven  hundred  men, 
women,  and  children.  Altogether  Stofiec?'op\s-  action 
had  been  very  neat.  He  had  lured  the  enemy  into  a 
short  range,  utterly  fooled  him,  and  then  disabled  him 
before  he  woke  up.  For  this  service  Commander 
Blackwood  received  the  D.S.O.,  and  three  ll.N.R. 
lieutenants  and  a  naval  warrant  officer  each  received 
a  D.S.C.  But  Q-ship  life  was  always  full  of  un- 
certainties, for  on  the  very  next  day  Stonecrop  was 
herself  torpedoed  by  another  submarine  at  1  p.m., 
though  fortunately  this  was  in  a  position  a  little  nearer 
the  coast.  Two  officers  and  twenty  survivors  were 
picked  up  by  a  motor-launch  of  the  Auxiliary  Patrol 
and  landed  at  Berehaven ;  sixty-four  men  in  one  boat 
and  a  raft  were  remaining  behind,  but  all  available 
craft  were  sent  out  to  rescue  them. 

The  employment  of  small  coasting  steamers  was, 
during  the  last  phase  of  the  war,  more  and  more 
developed.  What  the  Q-ship  captain  liked  was  that 
the  enemy  should  attack  him  not  with  torpedoes  but 
with  gunfire.  Now,  even  the  biggest  German  sub- 
marines carried  usually  not  more  than  ten  torpedoes, 
and  inasmuch  as  his  cruise  away  from  any  base  lasted 
weeks,  and,  in  the  case  of  the  JDeutschland  class,  even 
months,  it  was  obvious  that  the  U-boat  had  to  con- 
serve his  torpedoes  for  those  occasions  which  were 
really  worth  while.  From  this  it  follows  that  a  sub- 
marine captain  who  knew  his  work,  and  was  anxious 
to  make  a  fine  haul  before  ending  his  cruise,  would 
not,  as  a  rule,  waste  his  torpedoes  on  a  500-ton 
steamer  when  he  might  have  secured  much  bigger 
tonnage  by  using  the  same  missile  against  a  20,000-ton 
liner. 

This  suggested  an  avenue  of  thought,  and  as  early 


246         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

as    January,    1918,    the   matter   was   considered    by 
Admiral  Bayly  and  developed.     Already  there  were 
in  existence  several  small  vessels  acting  as  Q-ships, 
but  simultaneously  carrying  out  in  all  respects  the 
duties  of  cargo-carriers  from  port  to  port,  and  thus 
paying  their  way.     It  was  now  decided  to  look  for  a 
little  steamer  which,  based  on  Queenstown,  would 
work  between  the  Bristol  Channel,  Irish  Sea,  and  the 
south  coast  of  Ireland,  where  even  during  the  height 
of  the  submarine  campaign  it  was  customary  to  see 
such   craft.     As   a   result    of  this   decision    Captain 
Gordon  Campbell  was  sent  to  inspect  the  S.S.  Wexford 
Coast,  which  was  being  repaired  at  Liverpool.     Her 
gross  tonnage  was  only  423,  she  had  a  well  deck, 
three  masts,  and  engines  placed  aft :  just  the  ordinary- 
looking,  innocent  steamer  that  would  hardly  attract  a 
torpedo.     Owned  by  Messrs.  Powell,  Bacon,  Hough, 
and  Co.,  of  Liverpool,  this  vessel  had  already  done 
valuable  work  in  the  war;  for  in  1915  she  had  been 
requisitioned  for  store- carrying  in   the   Dardanelles, 
where  she  was  found  invaluable  in  keeping  the  troops 
supplied,  and  when  that  campaign  came  to  an  end 
assisted  at  the  evacuation.     Returning  to  England, 
she  was  again  sent  out  as  a  store- carrier,  this  time  to 
the  White  Sea.     Wexford  Coast  was  now  taken  up 
as  a  Q-ship,  her  fitting-out  being  supervised  by  Lieut. - 
Commander  L.  S.  Boggs,  R.N.R.,  who  had  been  in 
command  of  the  Q-ship  Tamarisk,  and  from  the  last 
ship  came  a  large  part  of  her  new  crew.     She  was 
duly  armed,  and  fitted  with  a  cleverly  concealed  wire- 
less aerial,  to  be  used  only  in  case  of  emergency,  and 
was  then  commissioned  on  JNIarch  13, 1918,  as  '  Store- 
Carrier  No.   80,'  this  title  being  for  the  purpose  of 
preserving    secrecy.      She   put   to   sea   in   her   dual 
capacity,  but  on  August  31  had  the  misfortune  to  be 


SHIPS  OF  ALL  SIZES  247 

run  into  by  the  French  S.S.  Bidart,  six  miles  south- 
east of  the  Start,  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning — 
another  instance  of  this  fatal  hour  for  collisions.  The 
Frenchman  grounded  on  the  Skerries  and  capsized, 
and  the  We.vford  Coast  had  to  put  in  to  Devonport. 
After  the  sinking  of  the  Q-ship  Stoch force  (to  be 
related  presently),  Admiral  Bayly  wished  the  captain 
and  crew  of  the  latter  to  be  appointed  to  a  coaster 
similar  to  Wexjord  Coast,  so  the  Suffolk  Coast  was 
chosen  at  the  beginning  of  August  whilst  she  was 
lying  in  the  Firth  of  Forth.  Before  the  end  of  the 
month  she  had  arrived  at  QueenstoAvn,  where  she  was 
fitted  out.  On  November  10  she  set  out  from 
Queenstown,  but  on  the  following  day  came  the 
Armistice,  which  spoiled  her  ambitions.  However,  in 
this,  the  latest  of  all  Q-ships,  we  see  the  development 
so  clearly  that  it  will  not  be  out  of  place  here  to 
anticipate  dates  and  give  her  description. 

Suffolk  Coast  was  intentionally  the  most  ordinary- 
looking  little  coaster,  with  three  masts,  her  engines 
and  funnel  being  placed  aft,  and  the  very  last  thing 
she   resembled   was   a   man-of-war.       But   she    was 
heavily  armed  for   so  small   a   ship.       In   her  were 
embodied  all  the  concentrated  experience  of  battle 
and   engineering   development.     All   that   could   be 
learned  from  actual  fighting,  from  narrow  escapes, 
and  from  defects  manifested  in  awkward  moments 
was  here  taken  advantage  of.     Instead  of  a  12-knot 
4,000-ton  steamer  the  development  had,  owing  to  the 
trend  of  the  campaign,  been  in  the  direction  of  a  ship 
one-eighth  of  the  size,  but  more  cleverly  disguised 
with  better  'gadgets.'      In  fact,  instead  of  being  a 
model  of  simplicity  as  in  the  early  days,  the  Q-ship 
had  become  a  veritable  box  of  tricks.     It  was  the 
triumph  of  mind  over  material,  of  brain  over  battle. 


248         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

Coolness  and  bravery  and  resolute  endurance  were 
just  as  requisite  in  the  last  as  in  the  first  stages  of  the 
campaign,  but  the  qualities  of  scientific  bluff'  had 
attained  the  highest  value.  The  basic  principle  was 
extreme  offensive  power  combined  with  outward 
innocence :  the  artfulness  of  the  eagle,  but  the 
appearance  of  a  dove. 

In  Suffolk  Coast  there  was  one  long  series  of 
illusions  from  forward  to  aft.  On  the  fo'c'sle  head 
was  a  quite  usual  wire  reel  such  as  is  used  in  this 
class  of  ship  for  winding  in  a  wire  rope.  But  this  reel 
had  been  hollowed  out  inside  so  as  to  allow  the 
captain  to  con  the  ship.  Near  by  was  also  a  peri- 
scope, but  this  was  disguised  by  being  hidden  in  a 
stove-pipe  such  as  would  seem  to  connect  with  the 
crew's  heating  arrangements  below.  Now  this  was 
not  merely  a  display  of  ingenuity  but  an  improve- 
ment based  on  many  a  hard  case.  What  frequently 
happened  after  the  '  abandon  ship  '  party  pushed  off  ? 
As  we  have  seen,  this  was  often  the  time  when  the 
real  fight  began,  and  the  enemy  would  shell  the  bridge 
to  make  sure  no  living  thing  could  remain.  That 
being  so,  the  obvious  position  for  the  captain  was  to 
be  away  from  the  bridge,  though  it  broke  away  from 
all  the  traditions  of  the  sea.  In  Suffolk  Coast  the 
enemy  could  continue  sweeping  the  bridge,  but  the 
captain  would  be  under  the  shelter  of  the  fo'c'sle  head 
and  yet  watching  intently.  Similarly  both  he  and  his 
men  need  not,  in  passing  fi'om  the  bridge  or  one  end 
of  the  ship  to  another,  be  exposed  to  the  enemy's  fire, 
for  an  ingenious  tunnel  was  made  right  into  the  fo'c'sle 
through  the  hold.  In  a  similar  manner,  if  the  forward 
part  of  the  ship  had  been  '  done  in,'  there  was  a  peri- 
scope aft  disguised  as  a  pipe  coming  up  from  the 
galley  stove. 


SHIPS   OF  ALL  SIZES  249 

Now,  when  a  submarine  started  shelling  a  Q-ship,  the 
latter  would  naturally  heave-to  and  then  pretend  she 
had  been  disabled  by  being  hit  in  the  engine-room. 
This  was  achieved  by  fitting  a  pipe  specially  arranged 
to  let  steam  issue  forth.     The  importance  of  wireless 
in  these  death-struggles  may  well  be  realized,  so  not 
merely  was  one  wireless  cabinet   placed  below,  but 
another  was  situated  in  the  fo'c'sle.  The  Suffolk  Coast, 
with  her  two  4-inch  and  two  12-pounders,  was  armed 
in  a  manner  superior  to  any  submarines  excepting 
those  of  the  biggest  classes  such  as  voyaged  south  to  the 
Canaries  and  north-west  African  coast.    This  Q- ship's 
guns  were  concealed  in  the  most  wonderfully  ingenious 
manner,  so  that  it  would  have  puzzled  even  a  sea- 
man to  discover  their  presence.      Thus  the  forward 
12-pounder  was  mounted  in   No.  1   hold,  the  hatch 
being   suitably   arranged   for   collapsing.      The   first 
4-inch  gun  was  placed  further  aft,  covered  by  a  deck, 
and  the  sides  made  to  fall  down  when  the  time  came 
for   action.     The   second  4-inch  was  mounted   still 
further  aft  and  similarly  concealed,  whilst  the  other 
12-pounder  was   allowed   to  be  conspicuous  at  the 
stern  so  that  all  U-craft  might  believe  she  was  the 
usual   defensively  armed  merchant  ship.     Without 
this  they  might  have  become   suspicious.      In  this 
'  mystery  ship '  everything  was  done  to  render  her 
capable  of  remaining  afloat  for  the  maximum  of  time 
after  injury,  and,  in  addition  to  having  a  well- stowed 
cargo  of  timber,  she  had  special  watertight  bulkheads 
fitted.     With  a  thorough  system  of  voice-pipes,  so 
that  the  captain  could  keep  a  perfect  control  over  the 
ship's  firing — a  most  essential  consideration,  as  the 
reader  will  already  have  ascertained — and  a  crew  of 
nearly  fifty  experienced  officers  and  men,  such  a  small 
ship  represented  the  apotheosis  of  the  decoy  just  as 


250        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

the  war  was  terminating.  Every  sort  of  scheme 
which  promised  possibiHties  was  tried,  and  many- 
clever  minds  had  been  at  work,  but  this  represented 
the  standard  of  success  after  four  long  years. 

Every  new  aspect  of  the  submarine  advancement 
had  to  be  thought  out  and  met,  and  the  variations 
were  most  noticeable,  but  during  the  last  few  months 
of  the  war  considerable  attention  had  to  be  concen- 
trated on  the  areas  of  the  Azores,  the  north,  south, 
east,  and  west  of  Ireland,  the  Bristol  Channel,  and 
the  approaches  to  the  English  Channel  in  the  west. 
But   by  the  spring  of   1918  the  crews  of  German 
submarines   had   become   distinctly   inferior.     Their 
commanding  officers  were  often  young  and  raw,  there 
was  a  great  dearth  of  trained  engineer  officers  and 
experienced   petty  officers,  and   this  was   shown   in 
frequent  engine-room  breakdowns.      So   many  sub- 
marines had  failed  to  return  home,  and  others  reported 
such    hairbreadth    escapes,  that    the   inferior   crews 
became   nervous   and  were  not   sorry   to   be   taken 
prisoners.     The  fact  was  that  not  only  were  expert, 
highly  skilled  officers  hard  to  find,  but  the  hands  he 
was   compelled   to   go  to  sea  with  were  no   longer 
chosen  by  the  captain  ;   he  had  to  accept  whatever 
recruits   were   drafted   to   his   craft.       Of    the   best 
personnel  that  remained  many  had  lost  their  nerve 
and  had  a  very  real  dread  of  mines,  depth  charges, 
and   decoy   ships.     The   institution   of   our    convoy 
system  and  of  Q- ships  as  part  of  the  convoy  did  not 
add  to  the  pleasures  of  the  U-boat  officers.    It  is  true 
that  the  often  excellent  shooting  of  the  submarines 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  their  gun-layers  were  generally 
selected  from  the  High  Sea  Fleet,  but  as  against  this 
many  of  our  Q-ship  expert  gunners  were  out  of  the 
Grand  Fleet.     It  is  true  that  the  cruiser  submarines 


SHIPS  OF  ALL  SIZES  251 

with  their  two  5-9-inch  guns,  plus  torpedoes,  were 
formidable  foes  even  for  the  most  heavily  armed 
decoy,  but  as  against  this  they  took  a  long  time  to 
dive,  and  thus  represented  a  better  target. 

If  we  consider  these  facts  in  regard  to  the  later 
tactics  of  the  submarines  in  contest  with  our  decoy 
ships,  there  is  much  that  becomes  clear.  The  ex- 
cellence of  our  intelligence  system  has  been  shown 
by  various  British  and  German  writers  since  the  war, 
and,  as  a  rule,  we  were  extraordinarily  prepared  for 
the  new  developments  with  which  our  Q-ships  were 
likely  to  be  faced.  On  the  other  hand,  the  enemy's 
supply  of  intelligence  w^as  bad,  and  if  w^e  put  ourselves 
in  the  position  of  an  inexperienced  young  U-boat 
captain  we  can  easily  see  how  difficult  was  his  task 
toward  the  end  of  hostilities.  He  was  sent  out  to 
sink  ships,  and  yet  practically  every  British  ship  was 
at  least  armed  defensively,  and  there  was  nothing  to 
indicate  which  of  them  might  be  a  well-armed  decoy, 
save  for  the  fact  that  he  had  been  informed  by  his 
superiors  that  trap-ships  were  seldom  of  a  size  greater 
than  4,000  tons.  Sailing  ships,  fishing  craft,  and 
steamers  might  be  ready  to  spring  a  surprise,  so  that 
it  was  not  easy  for  the  German  to  combine  ruthless 
attack  wdth  reasonable  caution :  thus,  in  effect,  the 
battle  came  down  to  a  matter  of  personality.  It  was 
not  merely  a  question  of  the  man  behind  the  gun, 
nor  of  the  man  behind  the  torpedo,  but  the  man 
at  the  periscope  of  the  submarine  versus  the  man 
peeping  at  him  from  the  spy-hole  of  the  steamer. 
They  were  strange  tactics,  indeed,  to  be  employed  in 
naval  war  when  we  consider  the  simple,  hearty 
methods  of  previous  campaigns  in  history,  but  even 
as  an  impersonal  study  of  two  foes  this  perpetual 
battle  of  wits,  of  subtleties,  and  make-believe,  must 


252         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

ever  remain  both  interesting  and  instructive  in  spite 
of  the  terrible  loss  of  life  accompanying  it.  Life  on 
board  one  of  the  small  steam  Q-ships  was,  apart  from 
its  dangers  arising  through  mines  and  submarines, 
distinctly  lacking  in  comfort.  The  following  extracts 
from  the  private  diary  of  a  Q-ship's  commanding 
officer  at  different  dates  afford,  in  the  fewest  words, 
an  insight  into  the  life  on  board  : 

'  The  heavy  westerly  gale  was  banking  up  the  west- 
going  tide,  and  made  the  most  fierce  and  dangerous 
sea  that  I  have  ever  seen.  The  ship  made  little  head- 
way and  was  tossed  about  like  a  small  boat.  Fortu- 
nately we  managed  to  keep  end  on  to  the  sea,  or  I 
think  the  old  tub  would  have  gone  slick  over.  As  it 
was  she  behaved  well,  though  her  movements  were 
pretty  violent.  Seas  broke  over  the  stern  and  washed 
away  the  stern  gratings,  one  big  sea  broke  right  over 
the  forward  deck,  a  tumbling  mass  of  foam,  into  the 
water  on  the  other  side  of  the  ship,  carrying  away  a 
ventilator  and  some  steam-pipes.  I  had  one  spasm  of 
anxiety,  when  in  the  middle  of  all  this  the  wheel 
jammed  for  a  few  seconds,  and  I  feared  she  would 
broach-to.  If  we  had  done  so,  I  think  the  ship  would 
at  once  have  been  rolled  over  and  smothered.  I  have 
never  before  seen  such  enormous  breakers.  .  .  .' 

'  Had  just  finished  tea  and  was  sitting  at  the  table 
yarning  with  the  others  when  the  alarm  gong  went 
and  we  all  dashed  out.  .  .  .     Immediately  before  the 

gong  went,  M ,  our  young  R.N.V.R.  signalman, 

who  had  never  been  to  sea  before,  and  who  was  on 

watch,  remarked  to  W ,  the  officer  of  the  watch, 

"  What's  that  funny-looking  stick  sticking  out  of  the 

water  over  there  ?"     W cast  an  eye  at  the  said 

"  funny-looking  stick  sticking  out  of  the  water  "  200 
yards  on  our  starboard  beam,  and  remarked  profanely  : 


SHIPS  OF  ALL  SIZES  253 

"  Good  God,  man,  why,  it's  a  periscope !"  and  promptly 
rang  the  gong.'  It  was,  indeed,  a  periscope,  and 
presently  the  submarine  opened  fire  and  sent  a  shell 
through  the  ship's  engine-room,  which  disabled  the 
ship,  though  she  was  afterwards  towed  into  port, 
where  she  was  repaired  and  refitted  for  her  next 
encounter. 

'  Completed  loading  timber  at  11  a.m.  Total  599 
tons.  That  ought  to  keep  us  afloat  if  we  are  tor- 
pedoed. .  .  .  The  ship's  behaviour  is  quite  different 
to  what  it  was  with  coal  ballast.  She  moves,  but 
with  a  much  easier  motion,  and  without  that  terrible 

jerkiness  she  had  before.  .  .  .     When  off  the we 

fell  in  with  a  lifeboat  under  sail,  evidently  with 
survivors  from  a  sunk  ship.  Stopped  and  took  them 
on  board.  They  turned  out  to  be  the  captain,  2nd 
officer,  purser,  3rd  engineer,  and  ten  men,  part  of  the 

crew  of  the  S.S.  ,  which  had  been  torpedoed  at 

11.30  a.m.  yesterday.  .  .  .     Discussing  the  daily  lie 

for   Fritz  with   S :    To-day  we  are  from  Cape 

Coast  Castle  with  kernels,  bound  for  London.  I 
wonder  if  it  will  go  down  with  Fritz.  .  .  .' 

And  the  following  entry  after  successfully  sinking 
a  German  submarine  notwithstanding  many  months 
of  monotonous  uneventfulness : 

'  I  then  "  spliced  the  main-brace."     We  passed  the 

S Light  at  11.30  p.m.,  and  just  before  picking 

up  the  Examination  boat  received  a  wireless  message 
from  [the  Commander-in-Chief],  which  reads :  "  Very 
well  done.  A  year's  perseverance  well  rewarded."  .  .  . 
We  anchored  at  midnight,  and  a  boat  at  once  came 
off  with  a  doctor,  who  removed  the  wounded.  ...  A 
tug  brought  off  the  armed  guard  sent  ...  to  re- 
ceive our  prisoners.  .  .  .  We  formally  mustered  the 
prisoners  and  handed  them  over,  with  the  signing  of 


254         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

receipts  for  their  custody  and  disposal,  etc.  It  was 
an  impressive  moment  when  1  led  the  officer  in 
charge  to  the  saloon,  and  handed  over  to  him  the 
commanding  officer  of  the  submarine.  A  couple  of 
bluejackets  with  rifles  fixed  promptly  closed  up  at 
either  elbow,  and  he  was  marched  out.  He  had  the 
grace  to  pause  at  the  door,  where  I  was  standing,  and 
to  thank  me  for  my  treatment  of  him.  He  was  no 
doubt  very  much  upset  by  the  loss  of  his  ship :  we 
found  him  extremely  glum  and  did  our  best  to  cheer 
him  up.  He  had  lunch  with  us,  and  I  think  he 
really  did  find  that  we  were  human.  Similarly  the 
other  officers  tendered  their  thanks  (they  all  went 
away  in  a  good  deal  of  our  clothing),  and  when  it 

came  to  the  marching  off  of  the  men, stepped 

out  of  the  ranks  and  tendered  to  me  their  grateful 
thanks  for  the  excellent  treatment  they  had  received 
at  our  hands.' 


1 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE  LAST  PHASE 

One  of  the  effects  of  the  British  blockade  on  Germany 
was  to  prevent  such  valuable  war  material  as  iron 
reaching  Germany  from  Spain.  Now  Spanish  ores, 
being  of  great  purity,  were  in  pre-war  days  imported 
in  large  quantities  for  the  manufacture  of  the  best 
qualities  of  steel,  and  it  was  a  serious  matter  for  Ger- 
many that  these  importations  were  cut  off.  But 
luckily  for  her  she  had  been  accustomed  to  obtain, 
even  prior  to  the  war,  supplies  of  magnetic  ore  from 
Sweden,  and  it  was  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
this  should  be  continued  now  that  the  war  would  last 
much  longer  than  she  had  ever  expected. 

If  you  look  at  a  map  of  Scandinavia  inside  the 
Arctic  Circle  you  will  notice  the  West  Fjord,  which 
is  between  the  Lofoten  Isles  and  the  Norwegian 
mainland.  Follow  this  up  and  you  come  to  the 
Ofoten  Fjord,  at  the  head  of  which  is  the  Norwegian 
port  of  Narvik.  From  here  there  ran  across  the 
Swedish  border  to  liulea  what  was  the  most  northerly 
railway  in  Europe,  and  Narvik  was  a  great  harbour 
for  the  export  of  magnetic  iron  ore.  Hither  German 
ships  came,  loaded,  and  then,  by  keeping  within  the 
three-mile  limit  of  territorial  waters,  going  inside 
islands,  and  taking  every  possible  advantage  of  night, 
managed  to  get  their  valuable  cargoes  back  home 
for  the  Teutonic  munition  makers. 

Now  it  was  obviously  one  of  the  duties  of  our 

255 


256         Q  SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

Tenth  Cruiser  Squadron,  entrusted  with  the  intercep- 
tion of  shipping  in  the  north,  to  see  that  Germany 
did  not  receive  this  ore.  But  having  regard  to  the 
deUcacy  of  not  violating  the  v^aters  of  a  neutral 
nation,  and  bearing  in  mind  the  pilotage  difficulties 
off  a  coast  studded  with  islands  and  half- tide  rocks, 
this  was  no  easy  matter.  It  was  here  that  the  small 
ships  came  in  so  useful.  We  can  go  back  to  June, 
1915,  and  find  the  armed  trawler  Tenby  Castle  (Lieu- 
tenant J.  T.  Randell,  R.N.R.)  attached  nominally  to 
the  Tenth  Cruiser  Squadron,  but  sent  to  work  single- 
handed,  as  it  were,  off  the  Norwegian  coast  intercepting 
shipping.  As  a  distinguished  admiral  remarked,  here 
she  lay  in  a  very  gallant  manner  for  twenty  days, 
during  which  time  she  sank  one  enemy  ship,  very 
nearly  secured  a  second,  and  was  able  to  hand  over  to 
the  Tenth  Cruiser  Squadron  a  neutral  ship  with  iron 
ore.  It  was  a  most  difficult  situation  to  handle,  for  it 
required  not  merely  a  quick  decision  and  bold  initia- 
tive, but  very  accurate  cross  bearings  had  to  be  made, 
as  these  offisnding  steamers  were  on  the  border-line  of 
territorial  waters.  That  great  enemy  of  all  seamen 
irrespective  of  nationality,  fog,  was  in  this  case  actually 
to  be  a  very  real  friend  to  our  trawler ;  for  in  thick 
weather  and  the  vicinity  of  a  rock-bound  coast  full  of 
hidden  dangers,  skippers  of  the  ore  ships  would  natur- 
ally be  inclined  to  play  for  safety  and  stand  so  far  out 
from  the  shore  as  to  be  in  non-territorial  waters.  A 
further  consideration  was  that  owing  to  the  effisct  of 
the  magnetic  ore  on  their  compasses  they  could  not 
affiard  to  take  undue  navigational  risks  in  thick 
weather.  What  they  preferred  was  nice  clear  weather, 
so  that  they  could  hug  the  land. 

The  success  of  Tenhy  Castle  was  such  that  half  a 


THE  LAST  PHASE  257 

dozen  other  trawlers  were  selected  and  stationed  off 
that  coast  except  in  the  wild  wintry  months,  and  this 
idea,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  was  developed  still 
further,  but  it  will  assist  our  interest  if  we  appreciate 
first  the  difficulties  as  exemplified  in  the  case  of  the 
Tenhy  Castle.  On  the  last  day  of  June,  1915,  this 
trawler  was  about  five  miles  N.E.  of  the  Kya  Islet, 
and  it  was  not  quite  midday,  when  she  sighted  a 
steamer  coming  down  from  Nero  Sound  ;  so  she 
closed  her  and  read  her  name,  Pallas.  Inasmuch  as 
the  latter  was  showing  no  colours,  Tenby  Castle  now 
hoisted  the  White  Ensign  and  the  international  signal 
to  stop  immediately.  This  was  ignored,  so  the 
trawler  came  round  and  saw  she  was  a  German  ship 
belonging  to  Flensburg,  and  fired  a  shot  across  the 
enemy's  bow.  The  German  then  stopped  her  engines, 
ported  her  helm,  and  headed  in  the  direction  of  the 
coast,  having  a  certain  amount  of  way  on.  The 
trawler  closed  and  ordered  her  to  show  her  colours, 
but  the  German  declined  ;  so  the  latter  was  then  told 
to  steer  to  the  westward,  which  he  also  refused  to  do. 
Lieutenant  Randell,  informing  him  now  that  he  would 
give  him  five  minutes  in  which  to  make  up  his  mind 
either  to  come  with  him  or  be  sunk,  sent  a  wireless 
signal  informing  H.M.  ships  of  the  Tenth  Cruiser 
Squadron,  then  went  alongside  the  German  and  put  an 
armed  guard  aboard  ;  but  the  captain  of  Pallas  rang 
down  for  full  speed  ahead  and  starboarded  his  helm, 
whereupon  Tenby  Castle  fired  a  couple  of  shots  at  the 
steamer's  steering  gear  on  the  poop,  damaging  it.  The 
German  stopped  his  engines  once  more,  but  the  ship 
was  gradually  drawing  towards  the  shore,  so  that 
when  f^ictorian  arrived  Pallas  was  about  two  and  a 
half  miles   from   the   land,  thus   being  just  within 

17 


258         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

territorial  waters,  and  had  to  be  released.     There  had 
been  no  casualties. 

The  next  incident  occurred  a  week  later.  At  ten 
minutes  to  six  on  the  morning  of  July  7  Tenby  Castle 
was  lying  off  the  western  entrance  of  the  West  Fjord, 
the  weather  being  thick  and  rainy,  when  a  large 
steamer  was  seen  to  the  N.N.  W.,  so  Tenby  Castle  put 
on  full  speed  and  ordered  her  to  stop.  This  was  the 
Swedish  S.S.  Malmland,  with  about  7,000  tons  of 
magnetic  ore.  After  being  ordered  to  follow  the 
trawler,  31almland  put  on  full  speed  and  drew  ahead  ; 
so  she  was  made  to  keep  right  astern  at  reduced 
speed,  and  just  before  half-past  eight  that  morning 
was  handed  over  to  H.M.S.  India  of  the  above- 
mentioned  cruiser  squadron.  The  day  passed,  and  it 
was  a  few  minutes  after  midnight  when  this  trawler, 
again  lying  off  the  West  Fjord,  sighted  a  steamer 
coming  down  from  Narvik.  A  shot  was  fired  across 
the  steamer's  bows,  and  on  rounding-to  under  the 
steamship's  stern  it  was  observed  that  she  was  the 
German  S.S.  Frederick  A?y,  of  Hamburg.  She  was 
ordered  to  stop,  then  the  trawler  closed  and  ordered 
the  steamer  to  follow.  The  German  refused  to  obey 
and  steamed  towards  the  land,  so  the  Tenby  Castle  was 
compelled  to  fire  a  shot  into  his  quarter,  and  this 
caused  him  to  stop.  After  he  had  several  times  refused 
to  follow.  Lieutenant  Randell  gave  him  five  minutes 
and  informed  him  he  would  either  have  to  accompany 
the  trawler  or  else  be  sunk.  The  five  minutes  passed, 
the  obstinate  German  still  declined,  and  two  minutes 
later  put  his  engines  ahead  and  made  towards  the 
shore.  It  was  now  an  hour  since  the  ship  had  first 
been  sighted,  so  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  for  the 
trawler  to  sink  her,  and  she  was  shelled  at  the  water- 
line  and  sunk  four  and  a  half  miles  away  from  the 


THE  LAST  PHASE  259 

nearest  land,  her  crew  of  thirteen  being  handed  over 
a  few  hours  later  to  H.M.S.  India.  Thus  a  cargo  of 
4,000  tons  of  magnetic  ore  was  prevented  from 
reaching  Germany. 

Now,  it  was  quite  obvious  that  the  information  of 
these  incidents  would  not  be  long  in  reaching  Germany 
from  an  agent  via  Norway.  The  German  Captain 
Gayer  has  stated  since  the  war  that  news  reached 
Germany  that  '  an  English  auxiliary  cruiser  was 
permanently  stationed  '  off  West  Fjord,  whose  task,  he 
says,  was  'to  seize  and  sink  the  German  steamers 
coming  with  minerals  from  Narvik.'  Therefore,  on 
August  3,  Germany  despatched  U  22  from  Borkum 
to  West  Fjord,  and  this  craft  had  scarcely  taken  up  her 
position  when  she  saw  the  armed  merchant  cruiser 
India  enter  West  Fjord  and  torpedoed  her  at  long 
range,  so  that  India  was  sunk.  Gayer,  who  occupied 
during  the  war  a  high  administrative  position  in  the 
U-boat  service,  adds  the  following  statement :  '  It 
was,'  he  remarks,  '  one  of  the  few  instances  in  which 
a  submarine  found  with  such  precision  the  object  of 
attack  really  intended  for  it,  when  the  information 
had  been  given  by  an  agent.' 

We  pass  over  the  intervening  years  and  come  to 
February,  1918.  On  the  nineteenth  of  that  month 
the  Q-ship  Tay  and  Tyne  had  left  Lerwick,  in  the 
Shetlands,  to  perform  similar  work  off  the  Norwegian 
coast,  where  she  arrived  on  the  twenty- second.  This 
was  a  little  557-ton  steamer,  which  had  been  requisi- 
tioned at  the  end  of  the  previous  July  and  fitted  out 
at  liOwestoft  with  a  4-inch  gun  aft,  suitably  hidden, 
and  a  couple  of  12-pounders.  She  was  a  single-screw 
ship,  built  at  Dundee  in  1909,  having  a  funnel,  two 
masts,  and  the  usual  derricks.  In  addition  to  her 
guns  she  carried  one  torpedo  tube  and  also  smoke- 


260        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

making  apparatus.  She  was  commanded  by  Lieu- 
tenant Mack,  R.N.,  with  whom  Lieutenant  G.  H.  P. 
Muhlhauser,  R.N.R.,  went  as  second  in  command, 
both  of  these  officers,  as  the  reader  will  remember, 
having  served  together  in  the  Q- sailing-ship  Result. 
Having  commissioned  the  new  ship.  Lieutenant  Mack 
then  took  her  from  Lowestoft  to  the  secluded  area  of 
the  Wash  in  order  to  practise  gunnery  and  the 
'  panic  '  party  arrangements.  Months  passed,  but  on 
February  22  something  of  interest  happened,  for  some 
distance  below  the  Vigten  Islands  a  couple  of 
steamers  were  sighted,  so  course  was  then  altered 
to  cut  off  the  one  that  was  bound  to  the  southward. 
When  1,000  yards  away  the  latter  hoisted  German 
colours,  so  Tay  and  Tyne  (alias  Cheriton  and 
Dundreary)  hoisted  the  international  signal  'M.N.' 
to  stop  immediately.  This  ship  was  the  Dusseldorf^ 
a  nine-year-old,  typical  German  flush- decked  tramp 
of  1,200  tons,  with  1,700  tons  of  magnetic  ore  on 
board.  As  she  disregarded  the  signal,  a  shell  was 
fired  across  her  bows,  and  this  caused  her  to  stop  and 
hoist  the  answering  pennant.  Lieutenant  Mack  then 
steamed  round  the  stern,  keeping  her  covered  all  the 
time  with  his  gun,  and  now  took  up  station  inshore 
of  the  German. 

Dusseldorf  had  been  completely  taken  by  surprise, 
and  never  supposed  that  this  little  steamer  could 
possibly  be  a  trap-ship.  Tay  and  Tyne  lowered  a 
boat  containing  several  of  the  British  crew,  under 
Lieutenant  Muhlhauser,  armed  with  revolvers  and 
rifles,  and  this  guard  then  boarded  the  enemy,  on 
board  whom  were  found  a  couple  of  Norwegian 
Customs  House  officials  and  two  Norse  pilots.  Lieu- 
tenant Muhlhauser  then  ordered  the  German  captain 
to  muster  his  crew,  which  he  promptly  did,  and  now 


THE  LAST  PHASE  261 

the  terrified  crew  were  given  five  minutes  to  collect 
their  clothes.  The  captain  handed  over  the  ship's 
papers  and  protested  that  the  ship  was  in  territorial 
waters.  Eleven  Germans  and  the  four  Norwegians 
were  then  transferred  to  the  Q-ship,  who  landed  the 
four  Norwegians  in  the  Dusseldorfs  boat  at  Sves 
Fjord,  and  this  boat  they  were  allowed  to  keep.  The 
British  boarding  party  had  consisted  of  a  dozen  men, 
but  Lieutenant  Sluhlhauser  sent  three  back  to  the 
Q-ship,  and  retained  three  German  stokers  and  the 
two  German  engineers  in  order  to  get  the  prize  back 
to  England,  these  five  men  working  under  the  super- 
vision of  one  of  the  Tay  and  Tyne's  crew. 

Having  received  orders  to  proceed,  Lieutenant 
Muhlhauser  then  began  to  take  the  Dusseldorf  across 
the  North  Sea.  I  am  indebted  to  him  for  having 
allowed  me  to  see  his  private  diary  of  this  voyage,  and 
I  think  it  well  illustrates  the  unexpected  and  sur- 
prising difficulties  with  which  Q-ship  officers  so 
frequently  found  themselves  confronted.  Having 
parted  company  with  the  J'ay  and  Tyne,  Dusseldorfs 
new  captain  proceeded  to  look  for  navigational 
facilities,  but  in  this  respect  she  was  amazingly  ill- 
found.  The  only  chart  available  showed  just  a  small 
portion  of  the  North  Sea,  and  there  was  no  sextant 
in  the  ship.  This  was  a  delightful  predicament,  for 
with  all  her  magnetic  ore  it  could  be  taken  for  certain 
that  the  compass  would  have  serious  deviation,  and, 
having  regard  to  the  number  of  minefields  in  the 
North  Sea  and  the  physical  dangers  of  the  east  coast 
of  Scotland,  it  was  a  gloomy  prelude  to  crossing  from 
one  side  to  the  other. 

Having  been  round  the  ship,  it  was  now  possible 
to  ascertain  her  character.  She  was  not  a  thing  of 
beauty,  there  was  no  electric  light,  the  engine-room 


262        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

was  in  a  neglected  condition,  and  round  it  were  the 
engineers'  cabins,  the  skipper  and  mate  being  berthed 
in  a  deckhouse  under  the  bridge.  However,  as  the 
prize  dipped  to  the  North  Sea  swell  it  was  a  joy  to 
realize  that  all  the  hundreds  of  tons  of  ore  would  not 
reach  Germany.  At  this  late  stage  of  the  war  she 
was  very  short  of  this  commodity,  and  the  loss  to  her 
would  be  felt.  The  Tay  and  Tyne  had  certainly 
made  a  most  useful  capture.  Fortunately  there  was 
found  plenty  of  food  in  Dusseldorf,  and  enough  coal 
for  about  three  weeks,  so  if  only  a  few  days'  fine,  clear 
weather  could  be  ensured,  the  ship  would  soon  be 
across  and  anchored  in  a  British  harbour.  That,  of 
course,  was  always  supposing  there  was  no  encounter- 
ing of  mines  or  torpedoes. 

By  dusk  of  the  first  day  the  Halten  Lighthouse 
(Lat.  64.10  N.,  Long.  9.25  E.)  was  made  out,  and  then 
the  night  set  in.  For  some  time  the  glass  had  been 
falling,  and  before  the  morning  it  was  blowing  a  gale 
of  wind  with  a  heavy  sea.  Loaded  with  such  a  cargo 
Dusseldo7]f  made  very  heavy  weather,  and  was  like  a 
half- tide  rock  most  of  the  time,  and  during  the  next 
day  made  only  30  miles  in  twenty-four  hours ! 
Strictly  speaking,  this  is  not  the  North  Sea  but  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  and  February  is  as  bad  a  month  as 
you  could  choose  to  be  off  this  Norwegian  coast  in  a 
ship  that  could  make  good  only  a  mile  an  hour.  By 
the  afternoon  of  the  twenty-fourth  the  Romsdal 
Islands  had  been  sighted,  and  then,  fearing  lest  the 
enemy  might  have  received  news  of  the  capture  and 
sent  out  some  of  his  light  forces,  the  ship  was  kept 
well  out  from  the  shore.  The  Germans  should  never 
get  this  ore,  and  arrangements  were  made  to  sink  her 
rather  than  give  her  up. 

With  no  chart,  a  doubtful  compass,  and  so  few 


THE  LAST  PHASE  263 

appliances,  was  there  ever  an  Atlantic  voyage  made 
under   more   casual  circumstances  ?      Bearings  were 
taken  of  the  Pole  Star  and  Sirius  in  order  to  get  a 
check  on  the  compass,  and  the  ship  proceeded  roughly 
on  a  W.S.\V.  course.     During  the  twenty-fifth  and 
twenty-sixth  it  blew  a  westerly  gale,  and  the  seas 
crashed  over  her  without  mercy.    Owing  to  the  cargo 
being  heavy  and  stowed  low,  the  Dusseldorf  dh^Vdyed 
a  quick,  lively  roll,  and   already  had  broken   down 
twice,  when  for  a  third  time  on  the  evening  of  the 
twenty-sixth  she  again  stopped.     She  was  now  four 
days  out,  and  the  captain  was  a  little  anxious  as  to  his 
position,  but  it  was  impossible  to  ascertain  it.    A  cast 
of  the  lead  was  taken  and  bottom  was  found  at  thirty 
fathoms.     From  this  it  was  assumed  that  they  were 
now  somewhere  near  the  Outer  Skerries  (East  of  the 
Shetlands) ;   and  inasmuch  as  it  was  believed  there 
was  a  German  minefield,  laid  this  year,  not  far  away, 
anxiety   was   in   nowise  lessened.     As  soon   as   the 
repairs  had  been  effected,  course  was  altered  to  south- 
east for  16  miles,  then  south  for  the  same  distance, 
and  north-west  in  the  hope  of  making  the  land.    This 
was  done,  but  no  land  appeared,  and  it  was  blowing 
a  gale  from  the  north-west.     Whether  the  ship  was 
now  in  the  North  Sea  or  whether  she  had  overshot 
the   Shetlands  and  got  the  other  side  of  Scotland, 
who  could  say  ?     Neither  the  error  of  the  compass 
nor  the  error  of  the  log  could  be  known.     It  was  now 
the  twenty-seventh,  and  they  might  be  north,  south, 
east,  or  west  of  the  Shetlands,  but,  on  the  whole, 
Lieutenant  IMuhlhauser  believed  he  was  in  the  North 
Sea,  so  decided  to  run  south  until  well  clear  of  the 
Moray  Firth  minefields,  and  then  south-west  until 
the  land  was  picked  up. 

The  twenty-eighth  of  February  passed  without  land 


264        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

being  sighted,  and  there  was  always  the  horrible 
possibility  that  suddenly  the  ship  might  strike  the 
shore  in  the  darkness.  It  was  a  long-drawn-out 
period  of  suspense,  aggravated  by  bad  weather  and 
the  presence  of  mines  and  submarines.  But  as  spring 
follows  winter  and  dawn  comes  after  night,  so  at 
length  there  came  relief  At  six  in  the  morning  of 
the  first  of  March  a  light  was  picked  up  on  the  star- 
board bow,  which,  on  consulting  a  nautical  almanack, 
was  identified  as  the  Bell  Rock  (east  of  the  Tay). 
Continuing  further  south,  two  trawlers  and  an  armed 
yacht  were  sighted  off  JMay  Island,  so  a  signal  was 
sent  through  the  yacht  to  Admiral  Startin  at  Granton 
reporting  the  arrival  of  a  prize  captured  by  Tay  and 
Tyne,  and,  in  due  course,  having  steamed  up  the 
Firth  of  Forth,  Dusseldorf  at  last  came  to  anchor  and 
reported  herself.  It  had  been  a  plucky  voyage  made 
under  the  worst  conditions,  and  many  an  officer  has 
been  decorated  for  an  achievement  less  than  this. 

As  for  Tay  and  Tyne,  she,  too,  had  passed  through 
a  trying  period.  After  landing  the  Norwegian  pilots 
and  Customs  House  officials  in  Sves  Fjord  she  had 
steamed  out  to  sea  and  made  bad  weather  of  the  gale, 
water  even  pouring  into  the  engine-room ;  but  she 
had  been  saved  from  foundering  by  taking  shelter  in 
a  Norwegian  fjord,  and  next  day  cruised  about  the 
coast  looking  for  more  ore  ships,  but  had  no  further 
luck,  so  on  February  25  shaped  a  course  for  Lerwick, 
where  she  duly  arrived,  and  the  German  prisoners 
were  taken  out  of  the  fo'c'sle  and  handed  over  to  the 
naval  authorities. 

In  the  following  month  Tay  and  Tyne,  accom- 
panied by  another  Q-ship  named  the  Glendale,  was 
again  off  the  Norwegian  coast  on  the  look-out  for  ore 
ships,  just  as  in  Elizabethan  days  our  ancestral  seamen 


THE  LAST  PHASE  265 

were  in  a  western  sea  looking  out  for  the  Spanish 
ships  with  their  rich  cargoes.  Glendale  (ahas  Speed- 
well II.  and  Q  23)  was  a  disguised  trawler  of  273  tons 
belonging  to  Granton,  and  armed  with  a  couple  of 
12-pounders,  a  6-pounder,  and  two  torpedoes.  On 
the  twenty-first  of  March,  Glendale  was  oif  the  Oxnaes 
Lighthouse  when  she  captured  the  German  S.S. 
Valeria  with  2,200  tons  of  ore.  In  vile  weather 
these  three  ships  then  started  to  cross  to  Lerwick, 
but,  after  they  had  got  part  of  the  way  across, 
Valeiia's  small  supply  of  .coal  gave  out,  so  on  the 
twenty-third  she  had  to  be  abandoned  and  then  sunk 
by  the  shelling  from  the  two  Q-ships,  the  crew  having 
been  previously  taken  off  by  boats,  while  both  Q-ships 
poured  oil  on  to  the  sea.  Although  Valeria  never 
reached  a  British  port  this  was  most  useful  work  ;  for 
not  only  was  the  ore  prevented  from  reaching  Ger- 
many, but  they  were  deprived  of  a  brand-new  1,000- 
ton  ship.  Her  captain,  who,  together  with  the  rest  of 
the  crew,  was  brought  into  Lerwick,  had  only  just  left 
the  German  Navy,  and  this  was  his  first  trip.  In- 
cidents such  as  these  show  what  excellent  service  can 
be  rendered  in  naval  warfare  irrespective  of  the  size  of 
ships  and  of  adverse  circumstances,  provided  only  that 
the  officers  have  zeal  and  determination.  The  risks 
run  by  these  two  small  ships  were  very  great  when  we 
consider  the  manner  in  which  our  Scandinavian  con- 
voys had  been  cut  up  in  spite  of  destroyer  protection. 
Conversely,  seeing  how  necessary  for  the  prosecution 
of  the  war  these  supplies  of  ore  were  to  Germany,  is 
it  not  a  little  surprising  that  she  did  not  station  a 
submarine  off  the  Norwegian  coast  to  act  as  escort, 
submerged,  and  then  torpedo  the  Tay  and  Tyne  as 
soon  as  she  began  to  close  the  ore  ship  ?  One  of  her 
smaller  submarines  could  surely  have  been  spared  for 


266        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

such  an  undertaking,  and  it  would  have  been,  from 
their  point  of  view,  more  than  worth  while. 

Finally,  we  have  to  relate  the  fight  of  another  small 
coasting  steamer  transformed  into  a  Q-ship.  This 
was  the  Stockforce  (alias  Chary ce),  which  had  been 
requisitioned  at  Cardiff  at  the  beginning  of  1918,  and 
then  armed  with  a  couple  of  4-inch  guns,  a  12-pounder, 
and  a  3-pounder.  Her  captain  was  Lieutenant  Harold 
Auten,  D.S.C.,  R.N.R.,  who  had  had  a  great  deal  of 
experience  in  Q-ships  under  Admiral  Bayly,  and  had 
recently  commanded  the  Q-ship  Heatlier.  On  the 
thirtieth  of  July,  1918,  Stockforce  was  about  25  miles 
south-west  of  the  Start,  steaming  along  a  westerly 
course  at  7\  knots,  the  time  being  just  before  five  in 
the  afternoon,  when  the  track  of  a  torpedo  was  seen 
on  the  starboard  beam  coming  straight  on  for  the 
ship.  The  crew  were  sent  to  their  stations,  the  helm 
was  put  hard  aport  and  engines  full  speed  astern,  in 
the  hope  of  avoiding  the  torpedo  ;  but  it  was  too  late. 
The  ship  was  struck  on  the  starboard  side  abreast  of 
No.  1.  hatch,  putting  the  forward  gun  out  of  action, 
entirely  wrecking  the  fore  part  of  the  ship,  including 
the  bridge,  and  w^ounding  three  ratings  and  an  officer. 

As  soon  as  the  torpedo  had  exploded  there  came  a 
tremendous  shower  of  timber,  which  had  been  packed 
in  the  hold  for  flotation  purposes,  and  besides  these 
12-pounder  shells,  hatches,  and  other  debris  came 
falling  on  to  the  bridge  and  fore  part  of  the  ship, 
wounding  the  first  lieutenant,  the  navigating  officer, 
two  ratings,  and  adding  to  the  injuries  of  the  forward 
gun.  All  this  had  happened  as  the  result  of  one 
torpedo.  The  enemy,  perhaps,  being  homeward 
bound  with  a  spare  torpedo  in  his  tube,  had  not 
hesitated  to  use  such  a  weapon  on  a  small  coaster 
instead  of  employing  his  guns.     Stockforce  had  been 


\ 


THE  LAST  PHASE  267 

fairly  caught  and  was  settling  down  by  the  head. 
The  '  abandon  ship '  party  then  cleared  away  their 
boat  and  went  through  their  usual  make-believe, 
whilst  the  ship's  surgeon  had  the  wounded  taken  down 
to  the  'tween  deck,  where  their  injuries  could  be 
attended  to.  Here  it  was  none  too  safe,  for  the  bulk- 
heads had  been  weakened  by  the  explosion  so  that 
the  water  flowed  aft,  Hooding  the  magazine  and 
'tween  decks  to  a  depth  of  three  feet,  and  thereby 
rendering  the  work  of  the  surgeon  not  merely  difficult 
but  hazardous. 

Whilst  the  '  panic '  party  were  rowing  ahead  of  the 
ship,  the  rest  lay  at  their  stations  on  board,  behaving 
with  the  greatest  equanimity  and  coolness,  while 
Lieutenant  Auten,  as  the  fore-control  and  bridge  were 
out  of  action,  exercised  his  command  from  the  after 
gunhouse.  Five  minutes  later  the  submarine  rose  to 
the  surface  half  a  mile  distant,  and,  being  very  shy, 
remained  there  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  carefully 
watching  Stockforce  for  any  suspicious  move.  In 
accordance  with  the  training,  the  '  panic  '  party  then 
began  to  row  down  the  port  side  towards  the  port 
quarter  so  as  to  draw  the  enemy  on,  and  this  manoeuvre 
succeeded  in  fooling  the  German,  who  now  came 
down  the  port  side  as  required,  being  only  about  three 
hundred  yards  away.  As  soon  as  the  enemy  was  full 
on  the  beam  of  Stockforce,  the  latter  handed  him  the 
surprise  packet.  It  was  now  5.40  p.m.  as  both  4-inch 
guns  opened  fire  from  the  Q-sliip.  The  first  round 
from  the  after  gun  passed  over  the  conning- tower, 
carrying  away  the  wireless  and  one  of  the  periscopes, 
the  second  shell  hitting  the  conning-tower  in  the 
centre  and  blowing  it  away,  sending  high  into  the  air 
a  man  who  was  in  the  conning-tower. 

Stockforce  s  second  4 -inch  gun  mth  her  first  shot 


268         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

hit  the  enemy  on  the  water-Hne  at  the  base  where  the 
conning-tower  had  been,  tearing  the  submarine  right 
open  and  blowing  out  many  of  the  crew.  A  large 
volume  of  blue  smoke  began  to  pour  out  of  the 
U-boat,  and  shell  after  shell  was  then  poured  into  the 
German  until  she  sank  by  the  stern,  by  which  time 
twenty  direct  hits  had  been  obtained.  The  enemy 
submerged,  leaving  a  quantity  of  debris  on  the  water, 
and  was  never  seen  again.  But  in  the  meantime 
Stockforce  was  in  a  critical  condition,  and  every 
attempt  now  was  made  to  save  her  from  foundering. 
Having  recalled  the  '  panic  '  party,  the  engines  were 
put  full  speed  ahead  in  the  effort  to  reach  the  nearest 
land  and  beach  her,  as  she  was  rapidly  listing  to  star- 
board and  going  down  by  the  head.  At  6.30  p.m. 
two  trawlers  were  sighted  who  closed  the  ship,  and  as 
Stockforce  was  already  practically  awash  forward  and 
along  most  of  the  starboard  side,  all  the  wounded  and 
half  the  men  were  now  transferred  to  one  of  these 
trawlers. 

With  a  volunteer  crew  the  Q-ship  then  went  ahead 
again,  but  the  engine-room  was  leaking  badly,  and  in 
the  stokehold  there  were  several  feet  of  water,  and  it 
was  clear  that  the  life  of  Stockforce  was  a  matter  of  a 
very  short  while,  for  the  water  in  both  engine-room 
and  stokehold  began  now  to  rise  rapidly  and  the  ship 
was  about  to  sink.  But  two  British  torpedo-boats 
had  now  arrived,  and  at  5.15  p.m.,  when  off  Bolt 
Tail,  with  Plymouth  Sound  only  a  few  miles  off,  the 
Stockforce's  captain  had  to  send  the  rest  of  the  ship's 
company  from  the  sinking  ship,  while  he  remained  on 
board  with  only  the  first  lieutenant.  Five  minutes 
later  a  dinghy  from  one  of  the  torpedo-boats  fetched 
them  also,  and  after  only  another  five  minutes  Stock- 
force  sank.     It  had  been  a  plucky  fight  and  a  fine 


THE  LAST  PHASE  269 

endeavour  to  save  the  ship,  but  this  was  not  to  be 
successful.  Handsome  awards  were  made  in  respect 
of  these  efforts,  the  coveted  Victoria  Cross  being 
conferred  on  Lieutenant  Auten,  whilst  the  Distin- 
guished Service  Cross  was  bestowed  on  Lieutenant 
H.  F.  Rainey,  R.N.R.,  Lieutenant  L.  E.  Workman, 
R.N.R.,  Lieutenant  W.  J.  Grey,  R.N.R.,  Sub- 
Lieutenant  G.  S.  Anakin,  R.N.R.,  Assistant- Pay- 
master A.  D.  Davis,  R.N.R.,  and  Surgeon-Probationer 
G.  E.  Strahan,  R.N.V.R. 

This  last  fight  represents  Q-ship  warfare  at  its 
highest  point  of  development.  We  have  here  the 
experienced  officers  of  each  nation,  knowing  all  the 
tricks  of  their  highly  specialized  profession,  fighting 
each  other  in  the  most  cunningly  devised  craft. 
Each  of  these  vessels  represented  all  that  could  be 
done  by  a  combination  of  intellect  and  engineering 
skill,  so  that  when  the  two  should  meet  in  the  sea 
arena  the  fight  could  not  fail  to  be  interesting.  After 
the  preliminary  moves  had  been  made  how  would 
matters  stand  ?  The  answer  is  that  in  the  final  appeal 
it  was  largely  a  matter  of  luck.  Now,  in  the  duel 
we  have  just  witnessed  the  first  round  of  the  match 
was  undoubtedly  won  by  the  submarine,  whose 
torpedo  got  home  and  wrought  such  damage  that  the 
ship  was  doomed  from  the  first.  Round  number  two, 
when  the '  panic  '  party  succeeded  in  luring  the  enemy 
on  to  the  requisite  range  and  bearing,  was  distinctly 
in  favour  of  Stockforce.  So  also  was  round  three,  in 
which  she  managed  to  shell  him  so  thoroughly.  But 
here  the  element  of  luck  enters  and  characterizes  the 
rest  of  the  day.  To  all  intents  and  purposes  the  sub- 
marine was  destroyed  and  sunk  ;  whereas,  in  point 
of  fact,  notwithstanding  her  grievous  wounds,  she 
managed  to  get  back  home.     It  was  touch-and-go 


270        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

with  her,  as  it  had  been  with  von  Spiegel's  submarine 
after  being  shelled  by  the  Prize,  but  good  fortune 
just  weighed  the  scales  and  prevented  a  loss.  On 
the  other  hand,  Stoclxforce  might  have  had  the  luck 
just  to  keep  afloat  a  few  more  miles  and  get  into 
Plymouth  Sound,  but  as  it  was  she  sank  a  little  too 
soon,  and  thus  the  actual  result  of  the  encounter 
might  by  some  be  called  indecisive,  or  even  in 
favour  of  the  enemy.  This  is  not  so.  To  us  the  loss 
of  a  small  coaster  turned  temporarily  into  a  man-of- 
war  was  of  little  consequence.  A  similar  ship,  the 
Suffolk  Coast,  would  soon  be  picked  up  and  then 
turned  over  to  the  dockyard  experts  to  be  fitted  out ; 
,  but  in  the  case  of  a  submarine  there  were  only  limited 
numbers.  That  particular  U-boat  would  now  have  a 
long  list  of  defects  and  be  a  non-combatant  for  a  long 
time,  and  her  crew  would  morally  be  seriously  affected 
by  their  miraculous  escape,  and  they  would  not  forget 
to  pass  on  their  impressions  to  their  opposite  numbers 
in  other  submarines. 

It  was  rather  the  cumulative  effect  of  Q-ships, 
destroyers,  mines,  auxiliary  patrol  craft,  depth  charges, 
hydrophones,  convoys,  and  good  staff  work  which 
broke  the  spirit  of  the  German  submarine  menace,  so 
that  if  the  war  had  continued  much  longer  U-boats 
would  have  been  thwarted  except  within  certain 
limits  of  the  North  Sea.  Every  weapon  has  its  rise 
and  fall  in  the  sphere  of  usefulness  ;  the  shell  is 
repelled  by  armour-plate,  the  Zeppelin  is  destroyed 
by  the  aircraft,  and  so  on.  So  it  was  with  the  Q-ship. 
It  came  into  being  at  a  time  when  no  other  method 
seemed  likely  to  deal  with  submarines  adequately.  It 
became  successful,  it  rose  into  popularity  to  its  logical 
peak,  and  then  began  to  wane  in  usefulness  as  the  sub- 
marine re-adapted   herself  to  these  new  conditions. 


THE  LAST  PHASE  271 

Afterwards  came  the  period  when  the  mine  barrages  in 
the  HeHgoland  Bight,  in  the  Dover  Strait,  and  across 
the  northern  end  of  the  North  Sea,  and  the  hydro- 
phones, in  swiftly  moving  hght  craft,  made  the  hfe  of 
any  submarine  precarious  in  his  going  and  coming. 
The  hydrophone  has  made  such  wonderful  develop- 
ments since  the  war  that  in  the  future  within  the 
narrow  seas  a  submarine  would  find  life  a  little  too 
thrilling  to  be  pleasant. 

But  for  a  long  period  the  Q-ship  did  wonders,  and 
to  the  officers  and  men  of  this  service  for  their  bravery 
and  endurance  we  owe  much.  They  were  taking 
enormous  risks,  and  they  turned  these  risks  into 
successes  of  great  magnitude  as  long  as  ever  the  game 
was  possible.  Most,  though  not  all,  of  the  ships  and 
officers  and  men  came  from  the  Mercantile  Marine, 
and  in  this  special  force  we  see  the  perfect  co-opera- 
tion between  the  two  branches  of  our  national  sea 
service  for  the  good  of  the  Empire.  The  Royal  Navy 
could  teach  them  all  that  was  to  be  known  about  the 
technicalities  of  fighting,  could  provide  them  with 
guns  and  expert  gunners,  could  give  them  all  the 
facilities  of  His  Majesty's  dockyards,  whilst  at  the 
same  time  the  Mercantile  Marine  provided  the  ships 
and  the  pei^sonnel  who  knew  what  were  the  normal 
habits  and  appearances  of  a  tramp,  a  collier,  or  a 
coaster.  Originally  known  as  special  service  ships, 
as  decoys,  then  as  Q-ships,  these  vessels  during  1917 
and  1918  were  known  as  H.M.S.  So-and-So,  but  it 
was  under  the  designation  of  Q-ships  that  they 
reached  their  pinnacle  of  fame,  and  as  such  they  will 
always  be  known,  so  it  has  been  thought  well  thus  to 
describe  them  in  these  pages.  But  whether  we  think 
of  them  as  mystery  ships  or  as  properly  commissioned 
vessels  of  His  Majesty's  Navy,  there  will  ever  remain 


272         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 

for  them  a  niche  in  our  great  sea  story,  and  the  valour 
of  all  ranks  and  ratings  in  all  kinds  of  these  odd  craft, 
amid  every  possible  condition  of  difficulty  and  danger, 
should  be  to  those  who  come  after  an  immortal  lesson 
and  a  standard  of  duty  to  the  rising  race  of  British 
seamanhood.  Otherwise  these  men  toiled  and  endured 
and  died  in  vain. 


I 


INDEX 


The  names  of  Q-stiips  are  in  heavy-faced  type. 


Acton,  161 

Alcala.    See  Q  19 

Alexander,  C.  J.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R., 

164 
Alijssum,  H.iM.S.,  120,  122-3 
Amiral  Ganteaume,  7 
Anakin,  G.  S.,  Sub-Lieutenant,  R.N.R., 

260 
Andalusiati,  9 
Aniylo-Oolunibian,  26 
Antwerp   (formerly    Vienna),  8,  9,  24, 

235 
Arabic,  20,  32,  132 

Armstrong,  M.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  67 
Arvonian  {Santee,  Bendish),  231-4 
Athos.     See  Glen 
Attach,  H. M.S.,  211 
Attentive,  H.M.S.,  7 
Aubrietia.    See  Q  13 
Aud,  140 
Auten,    Harold,    Lieutenant,    R.N.R., 

164,  266-9 

Baqdale,H.M.T.,U-h 

Baralong  ( Wijandra),  20-3,  25, 26-31,  41, 

104,  109 
Baron  Ardrossan,  34 
Baron  Napier,  33-5 
Baron  Rose,  190 
Barranca.    See  Q  3 
Bartel,  Leutnant  Karl,  116 
Bayard,  77 
Bayly,  Admiral  Sir  Lewis,  46,  104,  198, 

203,  215,  233,  246,  247,  266 
Bayonne,  123 
Beaton,  W.   D.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R. 

146 
Begonia,  139,  163 
Bendish.    See  Arvonian 
Berlin,  161 
Bernays,     Leopold     A.,    Commander 

R.N.,  161-3 
Beryl,  H.M.Y.,im 
Beswick,  W.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  41, 

43 
Betsy  Jameson,  77 
Bidart,  247 
Blackwood,    M.    B.    R.,   Commander, 

R.N.,242,  245 
Blair,  A.  D.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  61 
Blessing,  57 

Bluebell,  H.M.S.,  179,233 
Boggs,    L.     S. ,     Lieut.  -  Commander. 

R.N.R.,246 
Bolham.     See  Sarah  Colehrooh 
Bombala  (  Willow  Branch),  235-6 


27 


Bonner,    C.    G.,  Lieutenant,   R.N.R. , 

205,  207,  212 
Bracondale.    See  Chagford 
Bradford  City  (Saros),  31,  lOl 
Bremen,  139 

Brewer,  Skipper,  R.N.R.,  145,  149 
Brig  10.     See  Q  17 
Brig  11.    See  Q  22 
Brown  Mouse,  77,  78 
Buttercup,  II. M.S.,  197 

Camelia,  H. M.S.,  160 

Campbell,  Captain  Gordon,  R.N.,  24, 

39-46,  109,  161,  192-208,  246 
Canadian,  120 
Candytuft,  174-6 
Capelle,  Admiral  von,  134 
Carrigan  Head,  48-9 
Casement,  Sir  R. ,  140 
CedricH.M.S.,  110 
Century.     See  Penhallow 
Chagford  [Bracondale),  228-31 
Chancellor,  26 
Charles,  F.  W.,   Lieutenant,   R.N.R., 

238 
Charyce.    See  Stochforce 
Cheero,  55-6 

Chariton.    See  Tai/  and  Ti/ne 
Christopher,  H.M.S.,  167,  i71,  174,  211 
Cochrane,    W.     O'G. ,   Captain,   R.N., 

174-5 
Colville,  Admiral  Sir  Stanley,  13,  214 
Commissioner,  238 
Crocus,  B.3I.S.,203 
Crompton,  Ober-Leutnant,  28,  30 
CuUist  (  Westphalia,  Jwrassic,  Hayling, 

Prim),  164,  166-8 
Cummings,  U.S.S.,  233 
Cushing,  U.S.S.,  200,  203 
Cymric,  189-90 

Daffodil,  H.3I.S.,  165 

Dag.     See  Result 

Dane,  Commander,  R.N. ,  234 

Dargle,  77,  177, 190 

Davis,    A.    D.,    Assistant-Paymaster, 

R.N.R.,  269 
Deutschland,  139,  234 
Donlevon  {B aven.it one),  159, 160 
Doubleday,  G.  H.  D.,  Sub-Lieutenant, 

R.N.R.,  167 
Douglas,  S.  C,  Commander,  R.N. ,  234 
Dowie,  J.    M.,   Temporary   Engineer, 

R.N.R.,  30 
Drayton,  U.S.S.,  165 
Dreadnought,  H.M.S.,  9 

3  18 


274        Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 


Duff,  Vice-Admiral  Sir  Alexander,  227 

Dunclutha,  235 

Buncombe,  17 

Dundreary.     See  Tay  and  Tyne 

Dunois,  107-8 

Dunraven,  203-12 

Dusseldorf,  260-4 

E  13,  H.M.  Submarine,  23 

Echunga.    See  Q  3 

Editii  E.  Cummins.    See  Fresh  Hope 

Eigler,  Ingenieur-Aspirant,  116 

Elixir.     See  Q  30 

Elizabeth,  189 

Else.     See  Q  21 

Errington,  Lieutenant,  R.N.E.,  175-6 

Eudora,  193 

Falaba,  31 

Fame.     See  Revenqe 

First  Prize.     See  Q  21 

Flying  Sportsman,  H.M.  Tug,  198 

Flying  Spray,  H.M.  Tug,  160 

Fort  George,  239 

Foss,  211 

Frank,  F.  A.,  Lieut.  -  Commander, 
R.N.E.,  105-6,  164 

Frederick  Arp,  258 

Fresh  Hope  [Edith  E.  Cummins,  Iro- 
quois), 189-90 

Friswell.     See  Pargust 

G  and  E,  20 

G.L.M.     See  George  L.  Muir 

G.  L.  Munro.     See  George  L.  Muir 

Gaelic.     See  Q  22 

Gayer,  Captain,  259 

George  L.  Muir  (G.  L.  Munro,  G.L.M., 

Padre),  177 
Glen  [Sidney,  Athos),  77-9,  180-4 
Glendale.    See  Q  23 
Glenfoyle.     See  Stonecrop 
Glen  Isla,  17 
Glitra,  7 
Gobo.     See  Q  22 
Grenfell,  F.  H.,  Captain,  R.N.,  109-17, 

124,  160,  214-6 
Grey,  W.  J.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  269 
Gunner,  11,  237 
Guy,    B.    J.    D. ,    Lieut. -Commander, 

R.N.,  35-6,  236 

HadziaTca,  173 

Halcyon,  H.M.S.,  90 

Hallwright,  W.  W.,  Lieut. -Commander, 

R.N.,141 
Hannaford,  Skipper  R.  W..  E.N.R.,  64 
Hannah,  Lieutenant,  R.N.V.R.,  150 
Hanrahan,  D.  C. ,  Commander,  U.S.N., 

232-3 
Hansen,  Lieut. -Commander,  26,  29 


Harlech  Castle,  H.M.  Travjler,  18& 
Harvey,  H.  W.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.V.R., 

55 
Hayes,  J.,  Sub-Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  57 
Hayling.     See  Cullist 
Heather.     See  Q  16 
Helgoland.    See  Q  17 
Herbert,  Godfrey,  Commander,  R.N., 

8,  48-9,  235 
Hereford,  P.  R.,  Lieutenant,  212 
Hermes,  H.M.S.,  7 
Hesione,  26 

Hick,  Captain  AUanson,  30-1 
Hobbyhawk.     See  Telesia 
Hodson,    G.     L.,    Lieut. -Commander, 

R.N.,  33-4 
Horley.    See  Q  17 
Hudson,  C.   H.,  Lieutenant,   R.N.R., 

239-40 
Hughes,  E.  L.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  57 
Hughes,  T.,  Lieutenant,  E.N.R.,  74-5 
Hutchinson,  E. ,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  130 

Imogene,  189-90 

Ina  Williams,  H.M.  Traioler,  46 

India,  H.M. S.,  258-9 

Intaba,  139 

Invercauld,  120 

Inverlyon,  20 

lolanda,H.M.Y.,1?,& 

Mo,  193 

Iroquois.    See  Fresh  Hope 

Irvine,  G.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  178 

Island  Queen.    See  Q  19 

Jeffrey,    D.    G.,  Lieutenant,    R.N.R,, 

228-31,  234 
Jellicoe,  Admiral  Viscount,  10, 152, 157, 

223 
Jiirassic.    See  Cullist 

Kaye,  A.B.,  R.N.R.,  40 

Kermes,  57 

Kerr,  J.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  74 

Keyes,  Adrian,  Commander,  R.N.,  173 

Lalmrnum,  H.M.S.,  197 

Lady  Olive.    See  Q  18 

Lady  Patricia.    See  Paxton 

Laggan  [Pladda),  104, 164 

Lammeroo.    See  Rememhrance 

Lawrence,  Skipper,  J.  H.,  R.N.R.,  240 

Lawrie,  J.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  69-75 

Leonidas,  H.M.S.,  128 

Linsdell,  80 

Lisette,  78 

Lodorer.    See  Q  5 

Lodsen,  49 

Louise,  16 

Loveless,  Engineer-Lieutenant,  43 

Luneda,  H.M,  I'rawler,  198 


INDEX 


275 


Lusitania,  13,  31,  32,  132,  2-15 
Lyons,  9,  25 

McClure,  Sab-Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  33 
Mack,  P.  J.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.,  80,  86, 

260 
McLeod.    J.    K.,    Lieut. -Commander, 

R.N.,  164,225 
McLeod,  W.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  141 
Malachite,  7 
Malndand,  258 
Manford.     See  Q  7 
Maracaio.     See  Q  28 
Marg^t,  32-5 
Marshfort,  234 
Marx,  Admiral,  101,  160 
Mary  B.  MitcheU.     See  Q  9 
Mary  Rose,  H.M.S.,  138 
Mathesou,   C.   G.,  Lieut. -Commander, 

R.N.R.,  170-1 
Mavis.     See  Q  26 
Maxwell,  F.  N.,  13 
Meade,  Skipper,  R.N.R.,  146-7 
Melville,  Lord,  66 
Merops.     See  Q  28 
Mitchell.     See  Q  9 
Moewe,  226,  235 
Morris,    K.,  Sub-Lieutenant,    R.N.R., 

79, 184 
Muhlhauser,    G.    H.    P.,    Lieutenant, 

R.N.R.,80-2,  86,  260-4 
Myosotis,  H.M.S.,  160 

Naylor,    Cedric,    Lieutenant,   R.N.R., 

124-5, 128, 130 
Nicosian,  22-3 
Niger,  H. M.S.,  7 
Noake,    Basil    S.,   Lieut. -Commander, 

R.N.,  163 
Noma,  U.S.S.,  211 
Noodt,  Ober-Leutnant  Erich,  116 
Nunn,    R.     A.,    Assistant-Paymaster, 

RN.R.,  212 
Nyroca.     See  Q  26 

Olphert,      W. ,      Lieut.  -  Commander, 

K.N.R.,  164 
Ooma,  235 
Oracle,  H. M.S.,  231 
Orestes,  H. M.S.,  171 

Padre.     See  Georqe  L.  Muir 
Paladin,  H.M.  Tug,  233 
Pallas,  257 

Pangloss.     See  Pargust 
Pargust  ( Vittoria,  Snail,  Friswell,  Pan- 
gloss),  161,  199-204,  231,  234 
Paxton  (Lady  Patricia),  104 
Penhallow  (Century),  31 
Penshnrst.    See  Q  7 
Periere,  Arnanld  de  la,  93 


Pet,  20 

Phillips,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  175 
Pitcher,  E.,  Petty  Officer,  212 
Pladda.     See  Laggan 
Powell,  Commander  Frank,  139 
Prevalent,  78 
Prim.     See  Cullist 
Primo,  7 

Prince  Charles,  13-16 
Princess  Ena,  24 
Privet.     See  Q  19 
Prize.     See  Q  21 
Probus.     See  Q  .30 

Purdy,  James,  Engineer  Sub-Lieuten- 
ant, R.N.  R.,  49 

Q  3  (Barranca,  Echunga),  221,  234 

Q  5  (Lodorer,  Farnhorough),  24, 40-7, 109, 

192-9,  227 
Q  7  (Penshurst,  Manford),  17,  47, 109-30, 

161,  213-22 
Q  9  (Mary  B.  Mitchell,  Mary  Y.  Jose, 

Jeannette,  Brine,  Neptun,  Marie  The- 

rese.  Eider,  Arius,  Cancalais),  67-74 
Q  12  (Tulip),  138 

Q  13  (Auhrietia),  101,  139,  160,  237 
Q  15  (Salvia),  98-101, 139,  164 
Q  16  (Heather),  17,  139,  141,  164,  266 
Q  17  (Helgoland,  Horley,  Brig  10),  59-64, 

78,  190 
Q  18  (Lady  Olive),  104 
Q    19   (Privet,    Island   Queen,   Swisher, 

Alcala),  170-1 
Q  21  (Else,  First  Prize,  Prize)  77,  144 
Q  22  (Gaelic,  Goho,  Brig  11),  65-6,  178-9, 

183-4 
Q  23  (Glendale,  Speedwell  II.),  264-5 
Q  25,  104 

Q  26  (Mavis,  Nyroca),  104,  172-4 
Q  28  (Merops,  Maracaio),  77,  190 
Q  30  (Thirza,  Beady,  Probus,  Elixir),  18, 

185-9 
Quickly,  11 

Rainey,  H.  F.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,269 
Randell,    J.   T.,  Lieutenant,   R.N.R., 

256-8 
Ravenstone.     See  Donlevon 
Ready.     See  Q  30 
Remembrance  (Lammeroo),  31 
Rentoul,  189,  190 
Result  (Dag),  77,  79,  81-6,  260 
Revenge  (Fame),  56 
Rival  II.,  H.M.  Drifter,  150 
Rolfe,  C.  N.,  Lieut. -Commander,  R.N., 

164 
Rosskeen,  238 

Salvia.    See  Q  15 

Sanders,  W.  E.  L.,  Lieut. -Commander, 
R.N.R.,60,  61,  114,157 


276         Q-SHIPS  AND  THEIR  STORY 


Santee.    See  Arvonian 

Sarah  Colebrooke  (Bolham),  77 

Sardinia,  70-1 

Saros.     See  Bradford  City 

Saxon,  H.M.  Trawler,  230-1 

Scheer,  Admiral  von,  133 

Schwieper,  Lient. -Commander,  244 

Scott,  W.  F.,  Lieutenant,  K.N.E.,  55 

Sidney.     See  Glen 

Simpson,  S.  H.,  Commander,  R.N.,164, 
167,  168 

Sims,  Admiral,  231-2 

Smart,  R.  C.  C,  Lieut. -Commander, 
KN.,101 

Smith,  J.  S.,  Temporary  Engineer  Sub- 
Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  41,  44 

Smith,  Skipper  W.,  R.N.R.,  64 

Snail.     See  Pargust 

SoeraJcarta,  45 

Speedwell,  238 

Speedwell  II.     See  Q  23 

Speed>j,H.M.S.,  81 

Spence,  G.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  167 

Spencer,  J.  G.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R. , 
14 

Spiegel,  Lieut.  -  Commander  Freiherr 
von,  145-8 

Springwell,  35-6 

Starmount,  233 

Startin,  Admiral,  10 

Stockforce  (Charyce),  247,  266-70 

Stonecrop  (Glenfoyh),  242-5 

Strahan,  G.  E.,  Surgeon-Probationer, 
R.N.V.R.,269 

Sfrathallan,  H.M.  Traiuler,  239 

Strathearn,  H.M.  Traioler,  239 

Strumbles,  57 

Stuart,  R.  N.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R.,  203 

Suffolk  Coast,  220,  247-9 

Sussex,  132 

Swisher.     See  Q  19 

Tamarisk,  139, 164,  246 

Tay  and  Tyne  {Cheriton,  Dundreary), 

259-62,  264-5 
Telesia  {Hobby haioTc),  53-6 
Tenby  Castle,  256-8 
Thalia,  57 
Thirza.     See  Q  30 
Thornhill.     See  Werribee 
Torrent,  H.M.S.,  91 
Tremayne,  175 
Tulip.     See  Q  12 
Turnbull,  R.  J.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R., 

79,  180-1 
Tweedie,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R. ,  33 


U  9,  6;    U18,7;   U  20,  245;  U  21,  7; 

U  22,  259;    U  23,  10;    U  27,  22,  26; 

i/  29,  9 ;   U  34,  172 ;   f/  36,  16 ;   U  40, 

10;    U  41,  26,  28-31,  40;    U  43,  145; 

f/ 44,  231;   f/ 62, 138;   t/68,42;   ^783, 

194-6  ;   U  84,  120 ;   U  88,  242-4 ;   U  93, 

145-52 
UB  4,   20;    UB   13,  54;    UB   19,   116; 

UB  37,  119;    UB  39,  180-1;    UB  48, 

155-6 ;   UB  63,  240 
UC  3,  56 ;   UC  29,  202 ;   UG  45,  81,  86 
Underwing,  234 
Urbino,  28,  30 

Vala,  16,  17,  47,  161-2 

Valeria,  265 

Vereker.     See  Viola 

Victorian,  H.M.S.,  257 

Vienna.     See  Antwerp 

Vindictire,  H.M.S.,  24 

Viola  {Verelcer),  138,  164,  189-90,  233 

Vittoria,  7 

Vittoria.     See  Pargust 

W.  S.  Bailey,  239-40 

Wadsworth,  104 

Wardlaw,  Mark,  Lieiitenant,  R.N.,  14- 

16 
Warrington,  U.S.S.,  165 
Wegener,  Lieut. -Commander,  23 
Wellholme.     See  Werribee 
'Werribee  (ThornJiill,  Wellholme,  Wonrja- 

we«a),  31,  35-6,  236-7 
Westmore,  G.  G.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R., 

62,64 
Westphalia.    See  Cullist 
Wexford  Coast,  246 

Wharton,  W.  S.,  Skipper,  R.N.R.,  53-4 
TT  liitefriars,  174 
Wiley  side,  111 
Williams,  J.  W.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R,, 

139,  164 
Williams,  Seaman  W.,  R.N.R.,  203 
Willow  Branch.     See  Bombala 
Wilmot-Smith,  A.,  Lieut. -Commander, 

R.N.,  26,  29,  30 
Wolf,  226 

Wonganella.     See  Werribee 
Workman,  L.  E.,  Lieutenant,  R.N.R., 

269 
Wreford,  90 
Wyandra.     See  Baralong 

Ziegler,  Sub-Lieutenant,  151-3 
Zinnia,  H.M.S.,  203 
Zylpha,  24,  47, 164-5 


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