Q Ships and Their Story 29

Q Ships and Their Story 29

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 submarine. 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 more 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 22-pounder, but owing to the heavy sea knocked up by the fresh

southerly wind they had been all washed overboard before reaching the

gun.

 

[Illustration: BRIDGE OF Q-SHIP “DUNRAVEN”

 

Captain Gordon Campbell, V.C., D.S.O., R.N., inspecting the damage by

the submarine’s shells to his ship.

 

To face p. 202]

 

The captain of UC 29 had been killed by _Pargust’s_ fire. This class

of submarine carried besides her 22-pounder and machine-gun eighteen

mines and three torpedoes. She had left Brunsbüttel on May 25, calling

at Heligoland, and the routine was usually first to lay the mines and

then operate, sinking ships 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 I 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

_Pargust_, 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 _Pargust_ in tow. The sloop _Zinnia_ and

the United States destroyer _Cushing_ arrived also, and escorted

her to Queenstown, which she reached next afternoon. The prisoners

had been already transferred to _Zinnia_, and in _Pargust_ the only

casualties had been one stoker petty officer killed and the engineer

sub-lieutenant wounded. For _Pargust’s_ 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 Lieutenant R. N.

Stuart, D.S.O., R.N.R., was given the V.C., and Seaman W. Williams,

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 was fitted

out at Devonport under his supervision, just like her predecessor, and

her crew turned over _en bloc_ from _Pargust_. She 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 _Dunraven’s_

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. _Dunraven_ 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.

 

[Illustration: AFTER THE BATTLE

 

Forebridge of Q-ship “Dunraven” and captain’s cabin as the result of

the submarine’s shells.

 

To face p. 204]

 

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 abandoning ship,’

were flashed forth just as were sent almost daily by stricken ships

in those strenuous days. _Dunraven’s_ 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

punishment 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 _Dunraven’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 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 _Dunraven’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-inch 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.

 

[Illustration: “DUNRAVEN” DOOMED

 

This picture shows the Q-ship in her last hours. She has been through

an historic duel, she has been torpedoed and shelled, her poop has been

blown up, and the Atlantic seas are breaking over her deck.

 

To face p. 206]

 

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 further and

_Dunraven’s_ 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 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 that they

had to lift the boxes of cordite from off the deck the men still had

remained at their posts.[6]

 

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

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 Campbell 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 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.[7]

 

[Illustration: FIG. 15.—THE GREAT DECISION.

 

Captain Campbell’s famous wireless signal refusing assistance when the

Q-ship _Dunraven_ was already crippled and about to be attacked again.]

 

[Illustration: Q-SHIP “DUNRAVEN”

 

Her duel with the submarine being ended, the crippled “Dunraven” is

taken in tow by H.M. Destroyer “Christopher,” who is seen endeavouring

to get her into port.