Chapter I: Foreword

"_The German people is always right, because it is the German people, and numbers 87 million souls._"[A]

O. R. TANNENBERG.

The sea is a stern mistress. She demands from her sons both vigilance and skill in her service, and for the man who fails her the penalty is death. From generation to generation men have faced and fought the same dangers in every ocean. Going down to the sea in ships from a thousand different ports, the mariners of the world have triumphed or died like their fathers before them, in the face of dangers as old as the world itself. And because they have braved the same perils, seamen of all nations have been united in a splendid fellowship, which is called the Brotherhood of the Sea. The mariner in danger who sent out a call for help could count on assistance from his brother of the sea, regardless of nationality; while with the advance of science and coming of wireless telegraphy, the scope of such mutual assistance became more and more extended. Without hesitation men turned their ships from their intended course, on receiving the S.O.S. signal, and sped for miles to the help of their unfortunate brothers.

It bound men together, this Brotherhood of the Sea, in a way never fully to be comprehended by landsmen. It was a fine, manly freemasonry, and demanded from its members those qualities of courage, honour, and chivalry which are the true seaman's heritage. Not until the coming of the German submarine commander was the Brotherhood of the Sea destroyed.

The following accounts of German submarine exploits have been compiled from British Admiralty documents and the sworn statements of survivors. Each story is a plain statement of fact. They are, of course, merely a selection, but they show quite clearly the lines upon which the German submarine campaign has been conducted from the beginning of the war up to the latter part of 1917.

It is only right that the tale of these sinkings should be widely known, because only by knowing what has actually taken place can a true opinion be formed about the German submariner and his work. For this reason, the following accounts have been set down as simply as possible, without exaggeration or unfair comment.

The German submarine commanders were sent to sea in order to sink ships, because Germany believed unrestricted U-boat warfare a necessity; but they received orders, according to the Berlin Government, that human life and the rights of neutrals were to be respected. The way in which these orders were carried out is shown in the following pages.

THE PIRATE AS THIEF.

_A Selection of Cases._

Dutch s.s. GAMMA 1st Feb., 1917. Russian s.v. GARNET HILL 2nd Feb., 1917. British trawler ROMEO 3rd Feb., 1917. British s.s. DAUNTLESS 4th Feb., 1917. British trawler BENBOW 9th Feb., 1917. British trawler ATHENIAN 9th Feb., 1917. British trawler IRELAND 10th Feb., 1917. British s.s. MARGARITA 14th Feb., 1917. British s.v. INVERCAULD 22nd Feb., 1917. Portuguese and Irish Fishing Vessels March and May, 1917. British s.v. ALFRED 12th June, 1917. Swedish s.s. SNETOPPEN 4th July, 1917.