Submarines: Death from Below

- W.E. Lutz for the YouTube channel, The Great War Spring 2016

The war is going to be won by inventions.

- British Admiral Lord John Arbuthnot Jacky Fisher, 1915

Submarines existed in some form for centuries, and while some did do
serious damage (witness the CSN Hunley sinking the USS Housatonic
during the American Civil War, for example) prior to the Great War
submarines were a hit and miss affair, often killing the very crews who were
doing the attacking.
Contrary to what we assume, it was Germany who, in the years leading up
to the Great War, actually hesitated in building U-boats and were lagging
far behind the worlds leading submarine power, the British Fleet. As
Admiral Tirpitz, the grand admiral of the German High Seas Fleet stated in
1904:
"The submarine is, at present, of no great value in war at sea. We have no
money to waste on experimental vessels.

Ironically, that same year on their first fleet maneuvers, five British
submarines involved in naval maneuvers were assigned to defend
Portsmouth managed to "torpedo" four warships. Of this event, Admiral
John Arbuthnot Jacky Fisher (the creator of the worlds first true
battleship, the HMS Dreadnought) stated:
"It is astounding to me, perfectly astounding, how the very best amongst us
fail to realize the vast impending revolution in Naval warfare and Naval
strategy that the submarine will accomplish!"
What changed the German navys mind regarding submarines? It was the
Kaiser, Wilhelm II, who was truly impressed with the potential and capability
of U-boats. After diving in a submarine (which well later learn) he then
overruled Tirpitz, personally ordering the development of the U-boat fleet
and to expand research and development of U-boats, with the submarine
eventually becoming the feared war machine.
Submarines didnt appear overnight: much time and effort was involved in
the century prior to the Great War in the creation and evolution of the
submarine into what it eventually became: a truly effective killing machine.
Nations around the world were involved in varying degrees developing their
own version of submarines. But arguably the man most influential in the
development of modern submarine design is the Irish Engineer John Philip
Holland (February 24th, 1841 to August, 12th, 1914). With Holland,
submarines finally came onto their own, complete with electric underwater
drives and fueled surface capabilities.

John Holland, inventor of the modern

submarine.
Holland was born to an Englishman serving
in a Coat Guard service station in County
Cork of Ireland and his second wife, a native
born Irishwoman. Holland was a fenian - an
Irish patriot. Learning engineering, Holland
later emigrated to the United States teaching

in Paterson, New Jersey. As a young man, he read of the American Civil

War naval battle between the ironclads Monitor and Merrimack (CSS
Virginia), and believed the best way to attack a ship was under water. It
later was while visiting in Boston he slipped on ice and broke his leg.
Convalescing in the hospital, Holland spent his time drawing and designing
his submarine model.
Upon his release from the hospital, Holland approached the US Navy with
his invention, but was turned down. Returning to Ireland, Holland
approached the Fenian Brotherhood and Irish Republican Brotherhood
(IRB), organizations dedicated to establishing an independent Irish
Republic. Taken by his design, the Fenians paid Holland enough for him to
work full time on his design and research, creating his protocol submarine,
the Holland. The Fenians became increasingly frustrated with Holland's
delays, however, and faced with some internal legal and financial
squabbles, Holland literally stole the submarine and hid it in a shed in New
Haven, Connecticut, where it remained for thirty-five years. Holland had
nothing more to do with the Fenians, and his boat was eventually donated
to the city of Patterson, where it is now on display in the Paterson (City)
Museum of New Jersey.

Hollands submarine
built for the Fenians,
aka, the Fenian Ram as
it did not have torpedo
launching capability.

But Hollands work did not go to waste. Holland improved his designs and
worked on several experimental boats, prior to his successful efforts with a
privately built type, launched on May 17th, 1897. Hollands was the first
submarine capable of running submerged for any considerable distance,
and the first combining electric motors for submerged travel wth gasoline
engines for use on the surface. She was purchased by the U.S. Navy, on
April 11th, 1900. After rigorous tests she was commissioned on October
12th, 1900 as USS Holland. Six more of her type were ordered and built at
the Crescent Shipyard in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The company emerging
from these developments was called The Electric Boat Company,

founded on February 7th, 1899.This company eventually evolved into the

present day major international defense contractor General Dynamics, the
builder of modern nuclear powered submarines.

The US Naval
submarine A-2 built at
Crescent Yards,
Elizabeth Port, New
Jersey, 1902

Hollands design combining both electric and gasoline engines was soon
adopted by other nations, and become the standard approach for
submarine design and construction.
Parallel to submarine development was that of the torpedo. In 1866, British
engineer Robert Whitehead developed, with the help of funding from the
Imperial Austrian government, the development of the Whitehead
Torpedo. Whiteheads torpedo was conceived as a means of defense by
harbors against attacking ships. A self-operating and adjusting machine,
the Whiteheads torpedo was powered by compressed air and had an
explosive charge of gun cotton. Whiteheads torpedo design enabled the
device to travel up to approximately 1,000yd (910m) at a speed of up to
6knots (11km/h). By 1881 Whiteheads factory was exporting torpedoes to
many national navies, with Whitehead developing more efficient models,
creating torpedoes capable of 18knots (33km/h) in 1876, 24knots (44km/
h) in 1886, and finally, 30knots (56km/h) in 1890.
In the meantime, submarine development continued. During the 1870s the
Germans had been developing their own version of submarines - or Uboats, as they later came to be known. A submarine built by

German Frederich Otto Vogel sank on trials, and German submarine

development was halted. In 1885, the French designer Claude Goubet built
a battery-operated submarine, but it was too awkward and unstable to be
successful. He followed up in 1889 with "Goubet II" also small, electric,
and not effective while in 1885, American Josiah Tuck demonstrated the
"Peacemaker" powered by a chemical (fireless) boiler using 1,500
pounds of caustic soda which provided five hours endurance. Tuck's
inventing days ended when relatives - after he squandered most of a
significant fortune - had him committed to an asylum for the insane.
In 1889 the Spaniard Isaac Perals submarine "Peral" successfully fired
three Whitehead torpedoes from his submarine while on trials - one of the
first submarines in the world to do so - but internal politics kept the Spanish
Navy from pursuing the project. Understand, the torpedo tube as we know
it did not come later, and torpedoes were launched from the sides of the
submarines in rather awkward and sometimes difficult ways, curtailing
submarine potential tactical capability until later on.
The Spanish-American War in 1898 intruded on Holland's efforts to sell his
new boat to the Navy, although Theodore Roosevelt at the time, Assistant
Secretary of the Navy argued for more submarines. The war begun,
Holland offered to go to Cuba and sink the Spanish fleet - if, upon being
successful, the Navy would buy his boat. The U.S. Navy was horrified at
the thought of a private citizen using a private warship to sink foreign ships
and thus did not take him up on his word, as privateers were no longer
accepted practice.
In the meantime, the French launched the giant 148-foot, 266-ton "Gustav
Zede" named for the recently-deceased designer. On maneuvers, taking
the idea from Spain, Frances submarine "torpedoed" an anchored
battleship, to the consternation and pride among French naval officers. Still,
the Gustav Zede did not utilize torpedo tubes for launching, although its
physical design did influence future submarine development.

The giant French submarine,

built in 1899, Gustav Zede; in
a number of ways it was years
head of its time. Note the
torpedo held on its side; this is
how torpedoes were first
launched form submarines.

Following the Spanish

American War, on April 11, the
U.S. Navy bought "Holland VI" for $150,000 and changed the name to
USS Holland. The boat had cost $236,615 to build, but Hollands
company viewed it as a loss-leader with the U.S. Navy ordering more
submarines. Later that year, Congress held hearings about submarines,
with one U.S. admiral testifying:
"The Holland boats are interesting novelties which appeal to the nonprofessional mind, which is apt to invest them with remarkable properties
they do not possess."
However, Admiral George Dewey the senior officer of the Navy and the
commander of the American forces at the Battle of Manila noted that if
the Spanish had possessed two submarines at Manila, he could not have
captured the city. Swayed by Admiral Dewey, Congress ordered six more
submarines.
During this time, torpedo also continued its development, with torpedoes
now included as standard complement on many naval ships. Torpedo
launching tubes were often placed on the decks of ships, with the later
introduction of torpedo tubes being built into more protected areas of a
ship to better protect the torpedoes during launching. In time, torpedo tubes
were then added onto submarines, moving away from launching a torpedo
from the sides or outside of a submarine.

1899: The battleship USS

Oregon (B-3) torpedo tubes.

The submarine race was on. By October of 1900, the British had five
Hollands on order, but senior naval leadership wrestled with a dilemma:
they, like many international naval leaders of the time, believed covert
warfare was immoral. Gentlemen fought each other face to face, wearing
easily recognized uniforms - not hiding under water and conducting sneak
attacks. The British Navy agreed to proceed only with caution, primarily to
"test the value of the submarine as a weapon in the hands of our enemies."
Not all within British command agreed. British Rear Admiral A. K. Wilson
declared that the submarine was "underhanded, unfair, and damned UnEnglish. The government, Admiral Wilson wrote, should "treat all
submariners as pirates in wartime . . . and hang all crews. Despite Admiral
Wilsons insistence, the British continued submarine development and the
practice of hanging captured submariners never put into practice.
But by 1902 a former player re-entered the submarine race: the German
High Seas Fleet. Influenced by the Spanish submarine designer, Raimondo
Lorenzo DEuqvilley, the 40 foot Forelle (Trout) was built at Germanys
Krupp Shipyards. Admiral Tirpitz, German high seas fleet commander,
dismissed outright the notion of submarines. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany
was, however, suitably impressed to the point where both he and his
brother, also an admiral, took an actual underwater ride on the Trout (one
of the few monarchs to actually ride within a submarine). The Kaiser
became the submarines primary advocate, overcoming Tirpitzs opinion

and ordering the creation of the German High Seas submarine force.
Germany was back in the submarine race.

The German High Seas

submarine, U-1,
designed upon the
Spanish submarine
Forelle.

Submarines were regarded as mainly defense vessels, intended only to

patrol the coastlines and to protect harbors. But during naval trials, the
capabilities of submarines were clearly coming onto their own. By 1904, on
their first fleet maneuvers, the five new British Hollands assigned to
defend Portsmouth managed to "torpedo" four warships - much to
everyones surprise.
Despite the growing success of submarines, John Holland was squeezed
out of management and resigned from The Electric Boat Company, forming
his own company, John P. Holland's Submarine Boat Company. He sold
plans for two larger, improved submarines to be built in Japan under the
supervision of a Holland associate; one achieved a remarkable underwater
speed of 16 knots - a speed not matched until several decades later.
Holland solicited international business, but quickly discovered all of his
patents were controlled by The Electric Boat Company. Holland instead
tried to interest the U.S. Navy in a new, fast hull design; tested in an
experimental tank at the Washington Navy Yard, it promised submerged
speeds as high as 22 knots - a remarkable achievement as submarines did
not attain this submerged speed until after World War II. The U.S. Navy,
however, stated it would be too hazardous for submarines to go faster than

6 knots underwater and declined Hollands design. Hollands design would

wait until much later in the coming years.
Despite the clear successes of submarines, general naval doctrine still held
submarines were limited to harbor and coastal operations. In 1912, a
presentation was given at the U.S. Naval War College by a 26-year old
Lieutenant Chester Nimitz (later Admiral Chester Nimitz commanding U.S.
Pacific naval forces during World War II) addressing the role of submarines
with his work, "Defensive and Offensive Tactics of Submarines. Nimitz did
not advocate submarines as offensive weapons, but rather suggested a
ruse which might assist in forcing the enemy to keep away from certain
areas, and thus increase the chances of making the enemy cross the
submarine danger zone. One of Nimitzs ideas was to plant buoys in
harbors with fake periscopes so as to fool an attacking force they are facing
a force of submarines!
But a notion arose: rather than trick the enemy into thinking they were
facing submarines and have them move into tactical danger zones, why
not simply have the submarines undertake an attack?

Lte. Chester Nimitz.

Later that year, the Americans also

made a very significant advancement
in submarine development. Thanks in
large part to the efforts of Nimitz, the
US Navy replaced gasoline submarine
engines with diesel motors. Submarine
fleets of the world also took notice of
this advancement and made similar
changes as well, for diesel was far
more safer and stable, and far less
inflammatory then gasoline.

And in 1912, during fleet maneuvers, two British submarines demonstrated

their offensive capabilities by slipping into a safe fleet anchorage and
"torpedoing" three ships. The notion that submarines were useful just for
defensive harbor and coastal patrols were now being challenged. A British
Navy staff evaluation at the time warned that enemy submarines might
prove a serious menace to the fleet. The British Navy Board scoffed,
however, with naval command still refusing to regard submarines as
anything but defensive in nature - and this a mere two years prior to the
beginning of the Great War.
The role of submarines in the years during the Great War is known to all.
But as with war, something new is generally underestimated nor (with very
rare exceptions) fully exploited. New ideas and technology are not always
welcomed nor readily understood, as is likewise those advocating such
notions are not always welcomed nor understood. In June of 1914, just a
month prior to the start of the war, British Admiral Percy Scott, stated in a
series of letters to various editors of British newspapers:
"As the motor has driven the horse from the road, so has the submarine
driven the battleship from the sea." Admiral Scott also stated: "Submarines
and aeroplanes have entirely revolutionized naval warfare; no fleet can
hide from the aeroplane eye, and the submarine can deliver a deadly attack
even in broad daylight.

Admiral Percy Scott

Admiral Scott called for more submarines and no more battleships. He was loudly
attacked by many within the British
government and by other senior naval
officers, along with the conservative press
stating that his theory was "a fantastic
dream."

But theories and notions often have an unsettling way of becoming an ugly
fact. In August of 1914, a German force of 10 U-boats conducted the first
massed submarine attack in history (a tactic leader on expanded in World
War II into wolf packs). The August sortie was, however, not successful.
The only attack was made when the submarine attacked the HMS
Monarch, but failed, their torpedo missing the target. Following this attack
two of the ten U-boats were sunk.
The August 1914 campaign pointed out the inherent weaknesses of the Uboat. During The Great War, U-Boats were not the vaunted killing machines
as they later on became during World War II. While submerged, the U-boat
was virtually blind and virtually immobile as submarines of this era had
limited underwater speed and endurance (air and battery capacity), so Uboats needed to be in position - usually ahead of their target - before an
attack took place. In addition, the surface speed of a typical U-boat speed
of 15 knots was less than the cruising speed of most warships and most
battleships at the time. More often than not, luck played a major role in
submarine warfare.
Radio technology, such as it was during the Great War, had limitations.
Whenever a submarine used a radio, the enemy was able to know where
the sender was, and what messages they received. Because of that ships
frequently used to communicate by reception only - which meant that until
the contact with the enemy, submarines just received messages. When
contact was established, submarines then transmitted a message. Until the
contact with the enemy, submarines rarely used their transmitters. If
submarines sent any messages, the messages were short and always
coded. Submarines communicated with their bases and with another
submarines by night and while surfaced - with further limited radio usage as
there always was danger to be sighted from enemy ships or aircraft.
In addition, ships and submarines could be outfitted with sensitive
microphones detecting engine noise from enemy submarines and ships
with these underwater microphones playing an important part in combatting
submarines. The Allies also fist developed sonar during the Great War, but
it came too close to the end of the war to offer much help.

Regardless, the impact of submarine warfare soon became apparent. On

September 5th, 1914, the British naval ship HMSPathfinder was sunk by
the German submarine SMSU-21, the first warship sunk by a submarine
using a self-propelled torpedo launched in what we now regard as utilizing
standard torpedo tubes.
On September, 22nd of that year, SMS U-9 sank the British warships
HMSAboukir, HMSCressy and HMSHogue - all in a single hour!
Submarine warfare changed with a vengeance overnight, becoming truly
offensive, and not just for harbor or coastline defense.

The HMS Pathfinder: the first

ship to be sunk by a selfpropelled torpedo from a
submarine during active duty.

Later during the Gallipoli Campaign in early 1915, German U-boats

prevented close support of allied troops by battleships, sinking two of them.
Meantime, the loss of the British battleship HMS Audacious to a mine laid
by a German submarine also demonstrated the danger submarines offered
beyond their torpedoes. And with the German blockade of Great Britain,
submarines proved their worth. What was once regarded as impractical or
a mere dream was malignantly real.
By 1914 at the beginning of the Great War, the leading navy with the most
submarines was Great Britain, followed by France, then Russia, the United
States and then Germany. Germany overall had less than half the
submarines that Great Britain had - and yet Germanys impact with
submarines was far more significant - so much so that as part of
Germanys later surrender, Germany had to remove any and all
submarines from their navy.

During the Great War, Imperial German U-boats sank approximately 5,000
ships of various types amounting to 13 million gross tons, while losing 178
submarines and men in combat.
Submarines changed the face of war. Ironically, what were once developed
and intended for defensive use - the submarine and torpedo - soon
combined into a single deadly offensive weapon; a point underscored
during World War II and the later 20th century with the introduction of
nuclear intercontinental missiles situated on mammoth modern
submarines.
For now, the Great War was on - and submarines (along with their
torpedoes) were on the loose. With the submarine, war would never be the
same again and many - men, women and children - would be subjected to
yet more ways to die.
After Note
Below are the number of the worlds submarines fleets (in order of ranking
by size of fleets) at the time of formal declaration of war, July 1914:
Great Britain: 74 in service, 31 under construction, 14 projected.
France: 62 in service, 9 under construction.
Russia: 48 boats in service.
United States: 30 in service, 10 under construction;
Germany: 28 in service, 17 under construction.
Italy: 21 in service, 7 under construction;
Japan: 13 in service, 3 under construction;
Austria: 6 in service, and 2 under construction.

Suggested References
The Terrible Hours by Peter Maas
Submarine development timeline, developed for NOVA http://www.submarine-history.com/NOVAtwo.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-boat_Campaign_(World_War_I)
John P. Holland, 1841-1914: Inventor of the Modern Submarine,
by Richard Knowles Morris
Nimitz by E.B. Potter