Archibald Hurd – författare

Volume II continues the narrative from the Lusitania sinking to the eve of the German Declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare on 1st February 1917. During these twenty months the war at sea passed through what the author calls an intermediate stage, though with one or two diplomatic exchanges between Germany and the USA over U boat tactics, with the America becoming the champion of the rights of the neutrals at sea. The German government was forced to exercise more control over the operations of their submarine commanders despite fierce opposition from their own naval and military commanders. A chapter is devoted to the task of transporting troops from all parts of the Empire to theatres of war and moving territorial divisions from England to India to replace the regulars being brought home, all achieved without any loss of life. The part played by the merchant service in the Dardanelles Expedition is described as well as the war in the Mediterranean where U boats had become very active. Arming merchant ships, operations off the Flanders coast, enemy mine-laying and submarine operations in coastal waters, attacks on the fishing industry, raids on the Dover Straits all feature in the narrative. In particular there is a detailed account of the blockade of Germany carried out by the 10th Cruiser Squadron, screening the 450 mile stretch between the north of Scotland and Iceland. It quickly became apparent that the eight old cruisers (completed in1891/1892) which made up the squadron were not suitable for the task and they were replaced by twenty-four armed merchant cruisers, commanded by RN officers and manned by merchant seamen. Finally there is a very good account of the cruises of the German raiders Moewe, Seeadler and Wolf and their attacks on our shipping. There is a full account of the notorious case of Captain Fryatt, who was tried by a German court-martial for attempting to ram U boat. The events leading up to his arrest, the trial and the personalities involved, his execution (July 1916) and the public outcry are all described in detail; a case of judicial murder if ever there was one. The period under review in this volume ends with the outcome of the struggle between the Imperial Chancellor, who wanted to maintain restricted submarine warfare, and the Naval and General Staff who wanted all restrictions lifted; the latter won and from February 1917 "intensive" (unrestricted) submarine warfare began.

This final volume of the history of the Merchant Navy takes us from the onset of unrestricted submarine warfare to the conclusion of hostilities, and its prime concern is to give an account of the ordeal to which the seamen were subjected in the last twenty months of the war. But it also gives a good account of how the Merchant Navy took the war to the enemy through the 10th Cruiser Squadron and the Auxiliary Patrol, and in surface engagements involving British armed merchant cruisers. The losses to British merchant shipping make grim reading. For the five months from February 1917 (the start of intensive U boat operations) to the end of June 1,837,842 tons (590 ships) were lost at a cost of 2,942 lives; April was the worst month of the war with 516,394 tons (155 ships) sunk by submarines and 997 lives lost. During this period the convoy system was introduced and developed and problems and successes are discussed as well as other steps taken to combat the menace of the U boat and mine: the hydrophone; the depth charge; dazzle painting and its effect; the paravane; the smoke screen and the tactics of stalking and hunting. The German attitude to Hospital ships in light of the Berlin Declaration of 28 January 1917 is discussed. This declaration is reproduced in full and the British response to accusations of misuse of ships sailing under the Red Cross. Several sinkings of hospital ships are described, that of the Llandovery Castle on 27 June 1918 (only 24 survivors out of 258) in great detail. There is a chapter on merchant seamen prisoners, their treatment, the camps where and the conditions in which they were held. An appendix shows the number and gross tonnage of British merchant vessels and fishing vessels lost through enemy action during each month of the war, the final total of merchant ships is 2,479, gross tonnage 7,759,090, with a loss of 14,287 men. Six hundred and seventy-five fishing vessels were lost (71,765 gross tonnage) at a cost of 434 lives.