“Typically, Griffin, you will be upagainst full flotillas of German destroyers. They are faster than us and more heavilyarmed. After eighteen months of war in the Channel and southern North Sea, theyare experienced and skilful. You must never allow them to reach as far as the Barrage.The small ships there are capable of catching and sinking submarines. That istheir job. They cannot live against destroyers. The Barrage protects thecross-Channel traffic, as you know. If it is broken then we face disaster.”
Griffin was aware of the need to protectthe Channel.
“We shall be patrolling at a distance fromthe Barrage, out into the North Sea as far as the Broad Fourteens and across tothe Belgian coast. Our job will be to pick up anything coming down from the north,in addition to watching for sorties from the Belgian ports.”
“Yes, sir. I was aware of that. I havespent some time considering the problem and have come up with a patrol linethat I think will serve us well.”
“No, Griffin. The last thing we need is apatrol line. We must never be predictable. Submarines will watch us and will usetheir wirelesses at night to tell the destroyers where we are so that they caneither avoid us or lay up in ambush. They would very soon pick up any patternin our behaviour. We cannot even get into a habit of say, three days out andtwo in Harwich – we would be observed.”
Griffin could not imagine that they weresimply to venture out on random sorties, wandering the North Sea hopefully.
“Almost. We shall vary our patrols, in partaccording to information given us from the Commodore’s people, to a great extentdepending on our own observations. Obviously, we shall be under the orders ofthe Patrol as a whole and may often be sent out with specific orders. When weare on our own, we must use our initiative.”
Simon smiled and then proceeded to make clearthat the initiative in question was to be his alone.
“I shall give all captains a briefingbefore we go out. You will be at my side, having discussed the patrol with mefirst. What I would have in mind would be to beat up the coast from Dunkerque,holding inshore of the minefields, frequently, sometimes as a whole flotilla,others with half inshore of the fields, the remainder out to sea. That would beat night exclusively. The batteries are too big and too many to be ignored now –they have closed their coast in daylight hours. Following a run up coast, thenskirt Dutch waters and reach out across as far as Dogger, thereabouts, and makea low speed patrol – fifteen knots – to keep submarines down. Boats at aboutfour cables abeam of each other, working a long zigzag to cover as much sea aspossible, reversing track at random interval, all simply aiming to make it toodangerous for submarines to attempt to make their passage surfaced in daylighthours.”
Griffin could not see the benefits of suchaction.
“We will make them take an extra day,perhaps two, on passage in and out of the Atlantic. That will cut down on thetime they can spend on station, will slightly reduce their chances of makingkills. Anything that saves our merchant ships will be a blessing, just at themoment, Griffin. The losses are becoming worrying, even with the restrictedwarfare the Kaiser has laid down. You know that we have almost no chance ofdetecting a submarine when submerged in the open sea – the only thing we can dois harass them, make them a little less effective.”
“Would we not be wiser to patrol at lowerspeeds, sir? Fifteen knots is rather high for our purpose.”
“The Commodore has laid down that fifteenknots is to be the minimum for patrol. No submarine can attain more than twelveknots surfaced – or so we believe to be the case. Fifteen knots prevents themobserving us and then headreaching to attain an ambush point off our bows.Submarines do not make beam attacks on warships if they can be avoided – they muchprefer to shoot from off the bow at about four cables, particularly when dealingwith small ships. Same rule for us, of course.”
“You mean we should not make torpedoattacks except when bows on to the foe, sir?”
Simon was not sure he liked the word ‘foe’– it was Victorian, might give an indication to the man’s habits of thought.
“Generally, yes, Griffin. Use torpedoes sparinglyon small, fast ships – they are the most difficult of targets. Your Gunner willhave his opinions there, I do not doubt. Remember as well that reloads are inshort supply. A torpedo used today may not be replaced for a week or two; theCommodore’s people say that the munitions shortage is almost at an end but itis as well still to be careful with our expenditure.”
Griffin had not heard that there was ashortage. It had not affected him on minesweeping duty.
“Not just us, Griffin. The Hun as well areunder orders to conserve their torpedoes, the more I expect because theirsubmarines need them, must have their loads if they are to do anything at all.”
“Makes us sound more like shopkeepers thannaval officers, sir!”
“We must live with the circumstances we find,Griffin. Returning to the point. We may not work the Belgian coast at all onsome nights, more or less at random, though I am inclined not to try to followthe inshore passage when there is no moon. Might be profitable to lay to offZeebrugge on occasion, simply wait in the swept passage out of the harbour. Inthat case, half the flotilla inshore, the other four boats out to sea on asweep for submarines coming in or out. Might be that that we could pick up minesweepersor, less commonly, minelayers coming out on business as well. Always useful tosink them. Means that the Hun will have to send replacements down from Kiel.They will cut through Dutch waters, most likely, and irritate the Dutchgovernment, which is always to our benefit.”
Simon explained why it was desirable thatthe Dutch should be at loggerheads with the Germans.
“Keeps them neutral on our
