The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1917-05-19
FIGHTING THE SUBMARINE.
ENGLAND SIIROUDS HER METH
DDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
WITH VEIL OF SEC
RECY.
The Battle for the Safety of Tic Seas
is Being Fought with Skill AMI Dar-
ing and When the Full Story Can
be Told at the Close of the War the
World Will Marvel.

full seriousness of Germanv' subma-
rine warfare. there is ray ofShope
and encouragement In the reasons for
secrecy on the part of Great Britain
concerning just what is being accom-
plished in Gtalking these snakes of
the sea. In communication to. the
National Geographic Society, sydney
Brooks, the English journalist. gfves
some Of the strategic reasons fori ST.
lience relative to the success with
which the British admiralty is meet
ing in bagging this nefarious game. A
part of the communication is issued
as the follow ing bulletin by the So
ciety:
Just as Great Britain never ad-
vertises the feats of her armies, so
she allows the world to think that the
Prussians are having it pretty much
their own way with their submarines.
AS a matter Of fact, the German sub
marines have scored very few legiti-
mate successes-by which mean
successes that conform to the usages
OF civilized warfare. 1t must be
nearly two years since they sank
British nof- war of any Importance.
"As pirates preying upon fishing
smacks. trawlers. Atlantic liners. and
the merchantmen of all nations. they
have added q new and infamous chap
ter to naval history. Otherwise it is.
believe, the opinion of most naval
men that in German har Is the sub
marine has proved disappointingly in
effective.
People. I remember, were thrown
into state Of quite unbalanced ad-
miration when the Deutschland ap-
peared in American waters. 1t was
spoken Of as one of the most remark
able achievements of the war Fev
stopped to remember--even indeed If
they ever knew-that the war was
only few months old when ten Brit
ish submarines crossed the Atlantic
from Halifax to the British Isles-the
first submarines in naval history to
make the journey under their own
power.
while we publish the number Of
vessels sunk by Prussian submarines
we say not word about the u-bOats
whose careers are brought to a sud-
den stop. / do not know how many
| of them we have caught, sunk, or de-
stroyed. 1t may be $50; it may be
200; 1t may be 220. They come out
an dthey do not return, and there is
no one in Germany, and perhaps not
half = dozen people in England, who
know what becomes of them.
1.-The reasons for our secrecy must
be tolerdbly obvious to anyone who
thinks the matter over. All that the
Germans are able to infer from the
failure of any given ,i-boat to return
to port is that somehow or other it
has been lest. But how or where
they cannot tell.
1T may have been through some
error Of structure or design-a
thought to send a chill down the spine
of every admiralty official. 1t may
have been through q mistake in navi-
cation. 1T may have been through
one or other of the endless and con-
stantly changing devices that British
ingenuity has evolved and brought
into play against the new piracy. 1t
may. too, have happened near the
German coast or after the u-boat had
reached it's appointed station. They
cannot tell.
'They are faced with a blank wall
of possibilities that they have no
means of verifying. Weeks must often
clapse before they can be sure that q
submarine which they thought was
operating in certain area had really
perished, and that another boat should
be dispatched to take it's place.
Sometimes. however, the veil of
mystery Is partially lifted. Some
times German u-bOat is towed ND
the Thames. mOored to the emba nk-
ment. and from $4,000 to 100000
collected for some naval charity by
throwing it open to the public. Some
times If you are dining with naval
officer you will hear worLrou tales
OF submarines netted. bombed by aero
planes even when they are well be-
low the surface, hunted and caught
by destroyers. induced by one ruse
after another to show themselves
whore they can be got at.
Sometimes. too. i'm British port
tho men Of tho rnarcb,nt ,,,orino x,,ii, |