Q Ships and Their Story 34

Q Ships and Their Story 34

Q-ships were kept pretty busy, too, in the Mediterranean. On March

11, 1917, when _Wonganella_ (Lieut.-Commander B. J. D. Guy, R.N.) was

on her way from Malta to England via Gibraltar, she was shelled by a

submarine, and while the ‘panic’ party were getting out the boats, a

shell wounded the officer and several of the crew in the starboard

lifeboat. Another shell went through the bulwarks of the ship, wounding

some men and bursting the steam-pipe of the winch, thus rendering

unworkable the derrick used for hoisting out the third boat, and the

port lifeboat was also damaged. Shells burst in the well deck and

holed the big boat, so in this case, as all his boats were ‘done in,’

the captain had to give up the idea of ‘abandoning’ ship. There was

nothing for it but to open fire, though it was not easy for orders to

be heard in that indescribable din when shells were bursting, steam

pouring out from the burst winch-pipe, wounded men in great pain, and

_Wonganella’s_ own boiler-steam blowing off with its annoying roar. As

soon as fire was opened, the submarine dived and then fired a torpedo,

which was avoided by _Wonganella_ going astern with her engines, the

torpedo just missing the ship’s fore-foot by 10 feet. No more was seen

of the enemy, and at dusk the armed steam yacht _Iolanda_ was met, from

whom a doctor was obtained, thus saving the lives of several of the

wounded. In this engagement, whilst the White Ensign was being hoisted,

the signal halyards were shot away, so the ensign had to be carried up

the rigging and secured thereto.

 

_Wonganella_ was holed on the water-line and hit elsewhere, but she

put into Gibraltar on March 13, and on the evening of June 19 of the

same year we find her out in the Atlantic west of the south-west

Irish coast on her way homeward-bound from Halifax. A submarine bore

down on her from the north, and at the long range of 8,000 yards was

soon straddling _Wonganella_. Now the Q-ship happened to have on

board thirty survivors from a steamer recently sunk, so again it was

impossible to attempt the ‘abandon ship’ deception. She therefore

used her smoke-screen—at this time ships were being supplied with

special smoke-making apparatus—and then ran down the wind at varying

speeds and on various courses, with the hope that the enemy would

chase quickly. _Wonganella_ would then turn in the smoke-cloud and

suddenly emerge and close the enemy at a more suitable range. But the

best-laid schemes of Q-ships are subject to the laws of chance, for

now there appeared another merchant ship heading straight towards this

scene, and thus unwittingly frustrated the further development of the

encounter. This ‘merchant ship’ was the Q-ship _Aubrietia_ (Q 13), who

did, in fact, receive a signal from _Wonganella_ that no assistance was

required; but by that time it was too late to withdraw. The submarine,

after shelling _Wonganella_ through the smoke, abandoned the attack and

withdrew without ever scoring a hit.

 

During all these months the disguised steam trawlers were continuing

their arduous work. On August 20, 1916, the _Gunner_ from Granton

engaged a submarine during the afternoon, but the German subsequently

dived. _Gunner_ then proceeded on a westerly course whilst she altered

her disguise, and then that same evening encountered this submarine

again, shelled her, but once more the enemy broke off the fight.

The disguised Granton trawler _Speedwell_ was also operating in a

manner similar to _Gunner_, and in the following March the trawler

_Commissioner_ began her decoy work. She was a 161-ton ship armed

with a 12-pounder, her method of working being as follows: Lieutenant

F. W. Charles, R.N.R., was in command of the fighting portion of

the crew, but her fishing skipper was otherwise in charge of the

ship. _Commissioner_ proceeded to join the Granton fishing fleet,

looking like any other steam trawler, and then shot her trawl and

carried on like the rest of the fleet. When a submarine should appear

_Commissioner_ would cut away her fishing gear and then attack the

enemy. Such an occasion actually occurred the very day after she first

joined the fishing fleet, but the submarine was not sunk.

 

A similar decoy was the Granton steam trawler _Rosskeen_, which left

the Firth of Forth to ‘fish’ about 20 miles east of the Longstone.

Three days later she was just about to shoot her trawl when a shot came

whistling over her wheelhouse, and a large submarine was then seen

8,000 yards away. After twenty minutes, during which the enemy’s shells

fell uncomfortably close, _Rosskeen_ cut away her gear and ‘abandoned’

ship. The submarine then obligingly approached on the surface towards

the rowing boat, and when the range was down to 1,200 yards _Rosskeen_,

who was armed with a 12-pounder and 6-pounder, opened fire from the

former and hit the submarine, the conning-tower being very badly

damaged by the third shot. Two more shells got home, and by this time

the enemy had had enough, and dived.

 

These trawlers were undoubtedly both a valuable protection to the

fishermen (who had been repeatedly attacked by the enemy) and a subtle

trap for some of the less experienced submarine captains. During May

two more trawlers, the _Strathallan_ and _Strathearn_, were similarly

commissioned, and even steam drifters such as the _Fort George_

(armed with one 6-pounder) were employed in this kind of work. On the

thirteenth of June _Strathearn_ was fishing 19 miles east of the Bell

Rock when five shots were fired at her, presumably by a submarine,

though owing to the hazy weather nothing could be seen. The enemy then

evidently sighted a destroyer and disappeared. On the following day

_Fort George_ was fishing about 35 miles east of May Island, when she

was attacked by submarine at 2,000 yards. It was ten o’clock at night,

and the drifter, after the third round, secured her fishing gear and

returned the fire. The enemy was evidently surprised, for after the

drifter had fired three shells the German broke off the engagement

and submerged, but with his fourth and fifth rounds he had hit _Fort

George_, killing two and wounding another couple.

 

But on the following twenty-eighth of January _Fort George_ was about

14 miles east of May Island, with the decoy trawler _W. S. Bailey_

(Lieutenant C. H. Hudson, D.S.C., R.N.R.). The two ships were listening

on their hydrophones when a submarine was distinctly heard some

distance away, and it was assumed that the enemy was steering for May

Island, so the _W. S. Bailey_ after proceeding for a quarter of an

hour in that direction listened again, and the sounds were heard more

plainly. For an hour and a half the enemy was determinedly hunted,

and just after 9 p.m. the sounds became very distinct, so the trawler

steamed full speed ahead in the submarine’s direction, dropped a depth

charge, listened, and then, as the enemy was still heard on the

hydrophone, a second charge was dropped. The trawler then went full

speed astern to check her way, and just as she was stopping there were

sighted two periscopes not 20 yards away, on the starboard quarter, and

going full speed. The trawler then dropped a third depth charge over

the spot where the periscopes had disappeared, and nothing further was

heard on the hydrophone, but a fourth charge was then let go to make

sure, and the position was buoyed, and the disguised craft remained

in the vicinity until January 30. A few days later the _W. S. Bailey_

swept with her chain-sweep over the position, and on each occasion the

sweep brought up in the place that had been buoyed, and a quantity of

oil was seen. Local fishermen accustomed to working their gear along

this bottom reported that the obstruction was quite new. In short, the

_W. S. Bailey_ had succeeded in destroying UB 63, a submarine about 180

feet long and well armed with a 4·1-inch gun and torpedoes. For this

useful service Lieutenant Hudson received a bar to his D.S.C., while

Skipper J. H. Lawrence, R.N.R., was awarded the D.S.C.

 

Thus, in all waters and in all manner of ships wearing every kind of

disguise, the shy submarine was being tempted and sought out, though

every month decoy work was becoming more and more difficult: for though

you might fool the whole German submarine service in the early stages

of Q-ships, it was impossible that you could keep on bluffing all of

them every time. The most that could be expected was that as a reward

for your constant vigilance and perfect organization you might one day

catch him off his guard through his foolishness or lack of experience

or incautiousness. But every indecisive action made it worse for the

Q-ships, for that vessel was a mark for future attack and the enemy’s

intelligence department was thereby enriched, and outgoing submarines

could be warned against such a trawler or such a tramp whose guns had a

dead sector on such a bearing. Thus an inefficient Q-ship captain would

be a danger not merely to himself and his men, but to the rest of the

force. Nothing succeeds like success, and there was nothing so useful

as to make a clean job of the submarine-sinking, so that he could never

get back home and tell the news. Surprise, whether in real life or

fiction, is a factor that begins to lose its power in proportion to its

frequency of use. It was so in the Q-ships, and that is why, after a

certain point had been reached, this novel method became so difficult

and so barren in results.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XVII

 

SHIPS OF ALL SIZES

 

 

The unrestricted phase of submarine warfare instituted in February,

1917, had, apart from other means, been met by an increase in the

number of Q-ships, so that by the end of May there were close upon

eighty steamers and sailing craft either being fitted out as decoys or

already thus employed. By far the greater number of the big Q-ships

were serving under Admiral Bayly, the other large craft being based

on Longhope, Portsmouth, the south-east of England, and Malta. Of

the smaller types, such as trawlers and sailing ships, no fewer than

one-half were based on Granton, under Admiral Startin, the rest of

these little vessels working out of Stornoway, Longhope, Peterhead,

Lowestoft, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Falmouth, Milford Haven, and Malta.

 

One of the moderate-sized Q-steamers was the 1,680-ton _Stonecrop_,

alias _Glenfoyle_, which was armed with a 4-inch, a 12-pounder, and

four 200-lb. howitzers. She had begun her special service at the end

of May, 1917, under Commander M. B. R. Blackwood, R.N. She was very

slow, and her captain found her practically unmanageable in anything

of a head wind and sea. Her first cruise was in the English Channel,

and she left Portsmouth on August 22. Three days later when 15 miles

south of the Scillies she saw a large steamer torpedoed and sunk.

_Stonecrop_ herself was caught in bad weather, and had to run before

the gale and sea towing an oil bag astern. Arriving back at Portsmouth

she needed a few repairs, and left again on September 11 to cruise off

the western approaches of the British Isles. Six days later she was

off the south-west coast of Ireland steering a westerly course when

a submarine was seen on the surface. This was the U 88, one of the

biggest types, over 200 feet long, armed with a 4·1-inch

and a 22-pounder, plus torpedoes. It was now 4.40 p.m., and though the

enemy was still several miles away he opened fire three minutes later