In addition 3 battleships and 1 light cruiser were torpedoed,
but reached port badly damaged. One Zeppelin also got back to port badly
damaged after having been attacked by a submarine.
Other enemy craft destroyed by British submarines were 14 transports, 6
ammunition and supply ships, 2 store ships, 53 steamships, and 197
sailing ships. In no case was a merchant ship sunk at sight. Care was
taken to see that the crews of all vessels got safely away.
In addition to carrying out their attacks on enemy war-craft, the
submarines played an important part in convoy work. In the third year of
the war one of the British submarine commanders carried out 24 cruises,
totalling 22,000 miles, which probably constitutes a record for any
submarine. In the first and second years of the war 7 British submarine
commanders carried out a total of 120 cruises, extending for 350 days,
all of which were actually spent in the enemy theatre.
Our submarines, too, acquitted themselves nobly on the other side, and
when the story of the navy's activities is finally presented by Mr.
Daniels, we shall have in our possession details not now to be printed.
We may, however, say that battles, submarine against submarine, have not
been unknown in the war zone; the fact that in addition to moving ahead
or astern the submarine has also the power of dodging up and down
complicated these fights in many interesting ways.
There has been, too, a great deal of misapprehension concerning the
relative showing of the United States and Great Britain in conveying our
soldiers to the theatre of war.
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