WAR OF THE NATIONS 



6172 



WAR OF THE NATIONS 



In the first two months after the first dec- 

 larations of war German submarines in the 

 North Sea destroj'ed many big British cruisers 

 and several battleships; in one day the U-29, 

 one of the most famous of the submersibles, 

 sank three, representing a value of $12,000,000. 

 One of the most famous exploits early in the 

 \\;ir was a trip of 5,000 miles by the U-51, from 

 Germany to the Dardanelles, eluding scores of 

 dangerous spots en route and sinking two Brit- 

 ish battleships engaged in the Dardanelles cam- 

 paign. Later, U-boats sank vessels close to 

 America's shores. 



The "War Zone." As long as Germany lim- 

 ited its submarine activity to attacks sanc- 

 tioned by the accepted rules of war no enemy 

 nation could complain, even though severely 

 punished, and neutral countries viewed the situ- 

 ation without prejudice. It was not long, how- 

 ever, before the Germans refused to recognize 

 the rules of warfare, which it had helped to 

 frame, and it began early in 1916 indiscrimi- 

 nate destruction of merchant ships, their car- 

 goes and their crews, within a great sea area 

 around the British Isles, the eastern coasts of 

 Europe and in the Mediterranean. The ''free- 

 dom of the seas" became an empty phrase to 

 neutrals; they had greater cause for complaint 

 than had belligerents, although by treaties 

 signed by twenty-nine powers it was agreed 

 that merchant vessels, even of warring powers, 

 carrying contraband of war must be searched 

 and their passengers and crew provided for be- 

 fore the vessels and cargoes were confiscated or 

 sunk. 



Whenever a submarine could sink a vessel 

 daring to enter the "war zone" it did so, re- 

 gardless of its mission or of its nationality. 

 The British nation, having the largest tonnage 

 of any country and being closest to Germany 

 on the sea and the particular object of German 

 hatred, suffered most. There was no discrimi- 

 nation, however, for friendly Norway suffered 

 more severely, in proportion to its tonnage. 

 The American phase of this controversy is fur- 

 ther outlined in the subtitle Delow, The United 

 States in the War. 



Dispatches reporting almost daily loss of life 

 were becoming so common that they ceased to 

 thrill, but on May 7, 1915, there flashed over 

 the cable news of the sinking of the great liner 

 Lusitania, with the loss of 1,198 men, women 

 and children, which so shocked the world that 

 for a time the submarine menace held first 

 place in the councils of the nations. 



"Unrestricted Warfare." On February 1, 



1917, after only twenty-four hours' notice of its 

 intention, Germany began what was at once 

 termed "ruthless submarine warfare." It an- 

 nounced that it intended to destroy all vessels, 

 of whatever class, wherever found. It was esti- 

 mated that this destruction, if it could reach 

 1,000,000 tons a month, would destroy England 

 within four months by starving its inhabitants, 

 and bring victory to the central powers and a 

 peace dictated by Germany. The estimate may 

 have been very accurate, for it must be remem- 

 bered that when a 10,000-ton vessel was sent to 

 the bottom with a full cargo the value of the 

 boat was a small fraction of the loss; from 

 $2,000,000 to $10,000,000 was represented in its 

 cargo. 



Through mighty efforts of the British and the 

 French, with the help of the United States 

 from the month of May, the German expecta- 

 tion was not realized. The greatest losses for 

 any month did not .exceed 600,000 tons, and the 

 submarine toll gradually decreased to less 

 than one-third 6f that tonnage. Greatly in- 

 creased shipbuilding operations replaced a con- 

 siderable part of this wastage, and so deeply 

 were plans of offense and defense laid that in 

 1918 the submarines were fairly beaten. 



Actual Shipping Losses. In December, 1918, 

 there was published an official announcement 

 of losses in the world's merchant shipping due 

 to the action of submarines and to submarine 

 mines. Submarine boats were charged with by 

 far the greater part of this loss. From the 

 beginning of the war to October 31, 1918, there 

 were destroyed 15,053,786 gross tons of mer- 

 chant vessels. During the same period, due to 

 intense activity on the part of Great Britain, 

 France and the United States, there were con- 

 structed 10,849,527 tons. Enemy vessels which 

 had been interned or captured were pressed 

 into allied service, and thus 2,392,675 tons of 

 enemy boats served the allies. This made the 

 net loss of tonnage 1,811,584 tons. 



Naturally the United Kingdom of Great 

 Britain and Ireland suffered most heavily in 

 shipping losses. British merchant tonnage sent 

 to the bottom of the ocean during the war 

 totaled 9,031,828 gross tons. New construction 

 in the same period was 4,342,296 tons; pur- 

 chases abroad were 535,000 tons, and enemy 

 tonnage confiscated amounted to 716,520 tons. 

 The net British loss was 3,443,012 tons. 



Submarine Losses. A submarine is difficult 

 to capture or to destroy. Those of the most 

 modern type can rise near enough to the sur- 

 face for the periscope to be used, can fire a 



