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Updated: May 31, 2025
In view of the successes that had already attended the efforts of the German submersibles, there was little doubt in the hearts of the men that the present venture would be accomplished.
We found nothing except, near the bottom of the pool, the commencement of a tunnel large enough for the ingress and egress of one of those tiny submersibles the credit for inventing which neither Mr. Henry Ford nor Professor Parker ever tires of giving the other. I have since had reason to believe that not one swimming-pool in Great Britain is secure against visits from these miniature pests.
It was possible to plan a great fleet of submersibles to attempt execution of von Tirpitz's plan for unrestricted submarine warfare. This was decided upon by the German High Command, the day Bucharest fell.
The problem of bottling up the submersibles is enormously difficult, because it necessitates operations in the enemy's territory, where he would possess the superiority of power. I believe that the question of operations against the submarine bases is not a naval but a military one, and one which would be best solved by the advance of the Western left flank of the Allied armies.
There is also the statement that Admiral Beatty passed with his battle-cruisers through a flotilla of enemy submersibles without being touched. Submersibles cannot attack their target in definite formations as do surface vessels, and therefore they cannot operate in numbers with the same effectiveness as do the latter. They must maneuver more or less singly, and at random.
A bombardment of Zeebrugge by the British fleet caused much damage, the Germans losing forty dead and some hundred wounded. Here the submarine port, with two submersibles and two guns on the harbor wall were destroyed, while the central airship shed, containing at the time two dirigibles, was also severely damaged. The semaphore tower was shot to pieces and some sluices crippled.
In this connection it should be said that many reports were current of frequent captures made by the Allies of enemy submersibles. The British seldom admitted such captures, seeking to befog Berlin as to the fate of her submarines. But there was little doubt that numbers of them had been taken by both French and British.
"But doesn't Lord Hastings know?" "I suppose so; but he is keeping his information to himself." "Well, I didn't know any of them had disappeared." "They have, though, and I heard Mr. Churchill say that the government hoped within another month to have rid British waters entirely of the German submersibles." "I hope his hope comes true," said Frank with a smile.
In the event of gunfire attack by a submersible, three vessels would be on the alert to answer her fire instead of one: an important factor in discouraging submersibles from surface attack! The future of the submarine campaign is of vital importance. The prospect is not very cheerful. Laubeuf states that at the beginning of the war Germany had not over thirty-eight submersibles.
Bits of sticks, empty preserve cans sparkling in the sunlight, bunches of seaweed, a sea gull with outspread wings letting itself rock on the waves; everything made them think of the periscopes of the submarine coming up to the water's level. At night time the vigilance was even greater. To the danger of submersibles must also be added that of collision.
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