To the victor the spoils. There was an immediate cash gratuity to be shared among Inverlyon’s reservist crew members. All hands were also eligible for Admiralty bounty money, but that would not be forthcoming until April 1923*. Gunner Jehan was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, a well-deserved accolade for a surprisingly successful action in which a lot of nerve, nine rounds of 3-pounder and a few dozen rounds of small arms ammunition sank a U-boat. The Admiralty also singled out the actions and steadiness of the gun’s crew and Skipper Philip’s attempt to rescue the German submariner.
This is a great little story about a Q-ship versus a U-boat during World War One. It would take a lot of nerve for the captain of a scamp (see below) to take on a submarine. Especially the type that had sunk so many British and Allied vessels during that war.
The concept of the Q-ship was developed during this war and it was referenced here on the blog as a possible strategy to use against today’s pirates. Imagine a bunch of modern day yachts, cruising around the gulf with some Barrett’s and RPG’s just looking for trouble? lol
I also wanted to highlight how this Q-ship crew was used for warfare. They were all brought into the Royal Navy auxiliary as volunteers, and they were paid with ‘immediate cash gratuity’ and with Admiralty (Navy command) bounties for every German U-boat crew member killed. (£5 per crewman on a submarine) Hmmm, paying bounties for killing the enemy–now that doesn’t get much attention for that war.
The really funny part about this story was the fact that after this little sailboat sank the U-boat, the submarine actually got hung up in the fishing net they had been pulling behind them. Talk about a big fish? lol
Boy, if any movie folks out there are looking for a cool story, this would make for a great short film. It truly is a modern day version of David and Goliath and high seas bounty hunting. –Matt
This is what a ‘smack’ would have looked like during that time.
The Gunner and the U-Boat
September 2008
By Hugh Perkins
A lone gunner on a small trawler dueled a German U-boat to the finish in a David and Goliath-type contest
The story of the U-boat war against Allied merchant shipping during The Great War is one of enormous tragedy, incredible human suffering, sacrifice and bravery, Destruction of lives and ships on such a massive scale and by such an unusual means had never before happened in the history of the seafaring world. Once the potential inherent in the U-boats had been tested, the German Admiral staff did its utmost to isolate Great Britain from outside support, first with a U-boat blockade of the British Isles and later, through the wholesale destruction of her sea-borne trade on the high seas far from war-torn Europe. The German objective was to bring Britannia to her knees through starvation thus putting an end to the war on German terms. They came alarmingly close to succeeding.
During 1915, when the U-boat force began its first concerted campaign and shipping losses started to rise, the Royal Navy found itself completely unprepared to deal with the submersible marauders. Both the Admiralty and the mercantile community cast about for solutions to the problem.
Convoy, a defensive tactic that had been employed with success in sailing ship days, was not favored by either group. The Admiralty did not have the escort ships and the steamship captains did not want to give up their independence. Other means of protecting the merchant fleet were sought.
The first countermeasure to be tried was the containment of the U-boats using mine fields, nets and patrols. This was continued throughout the course of the war and ultimately mines destroyed more U-boats than any other single means. Another idea, and that best liked by the mercantile community, was to arm merchant ships so that by a combination of speed, maneuvering and gunfire they could fight it out with their adversaries.
This worked fairly well for the large, fast, modern ships when the U-boat cooperated by surfacing first, and many a steamer was actually saved by these tactics. Mounting a gun on a merchantman, however, had its drawbacks for it gave the U-boat captain the excuse he needed to sink the ship without warning. For the multitude of slow steamers, older ships and sailing vessels there was no real safety and they paid heavily. The best that could be done was to provide them with wireless sets so that ships in distress could at least call for help within the limited range of the early instruments.
Another solution was the creation of the now-famous Q-ships, an assortment of converted merchant vessels and small warships built to resemble merchant ships, manned by Naval crews and armed with concealed guns, depth charges and even torpedo tubes. These ships plied the trade routes like any other innocent merchantmen, sometimes under neutral colors, in the hopes of being challenged by German submarines, much like bait in a mobile trap. When a U-boat’s periscope was sighted, or one surfaced nearby and ordered them to heave-to, a “panic party” dressed as merchant seamen would tumble into the lifeboats and abandon ship while the gun crews stayed under cover at their hidden guns. Once the U-boat came within easy range, the white ensign was run up, the shields were dropped and the guns opened fire to destroy the submarine before it could dive out of danger.
At least, that was the idea. Sometimes it worked very well, sometimes not. Occasionally the Uboat would torpedo the Q-ship without ever revealing herself. On a number of occasions, better armed German submarines stood-off and shelled the Q-ship either forcing her to open fire prematurely to save herself or reducing the “trapship” to a sinking condition before she could bring her guns into action. There were some very lively actions between decoy ships and submarines with casualties aplenty on both sides.
Q-ships came in all shapes and sizes but one of the earliest, and most humble, must have been the converted fishing vessel known as His Majesty’s Armed Smack Inverlyon. She was based at Lowestoft on the Suffolk coast. Like dozens of her ilk, Inverlyon was a bluff-bowed, flushdecked, two-masted, fore-and-aft rigged, little vessel sporting a stubby bowsprit. She had no engine and relied entirely on a suit of patched, broom, canvas sails and the skill of her crew for mobility. For armament, Inverlyon was fitted with a single 3pounder (47mm) quick-firer, a popgun by anybody’s standards but about all that could be carried in such a small vessel.
The little Q-ship was manned by her fishing skipper, a man named Phillips, and three fishermen, all of whom were temporarily enrolled in the Royal Naval Reserve (Trawler section). Inverlyon was commanded by Mr. Ernest Martin Jehan, Gunner, RN. Ernest Jehan had been promoted from the lower deck in 1905. In 1910, he was in the crew that brought the light cruiser HMCS Rainbow out to Canada and remained aboard the Canadian cruiser at Esquimalt, British Columbia, until posted back to England in 1913.
Just prior to the outbreak of war, Jehan was posted aboard HMS Dryad, a one-time torpedo gunboat converted into a minesweeper. From Dryadhe was sent to the Inverlyon as commanding officer. What Ernest Jehan thought of his position is not recorded. Being in command of a tiny, wooden, sail-powered fishing boat armed with a 3-pounder gun must have been a far cry from anything that a graduate of HMS Excellent would ever have conceived for himself, but he did not let that dampen his professionalism as a Naval officer nor as a gunner. Four regular Royal Navy seamen, also from Dryad, were carried to man the gun.
In August 1915, Inverlyon was assigned to “fishing” in the vicinity of Smith’s Knoll Buoy about 20-nm east of the port of Great Yarmouth. To maintain the deception, the trawl was actually streamed. No doubt the fisherman crew would have been pleased with a profitable catch of haddock or plaice but they were after bigger, much-more-dangerous game. The area had a reputation for U-boats, several having been encountered during the preceding weeks, one only two-days before Inverlyon was to sail.
As there were small Q-ships, so there were small U-boats. For inshore work, the Kriegsmarine had built a number of diminutive submarines known as the UB- /type. These single-screw boats were 92-ft in length, displaced 140-tons when dived, carried two 18-in torpedoes, a single 8mm machine-gun and a crew of one officer and 13 men. Such a boat was the UB-4 commanded by Leutenant zur see Karl Gross.
Based at Zeebrugge, she was the first of her kind to score a victory when she torpedoed the British steamer Harpalyce without warning on 10 April 1915, near the North Hinder lightship midway between Harwich and the Hook of Holland. Harpalyce, engaged in Belgian Relief work, was on her way from Rotterdam to Norfolk, Virginia, in ballast, under a safe conduct pass from the German authorities. She had large white patches on her sides with “Belgian Relief written on them in big black letters and was flying a large white flag similarly marked. Nevertheless, Gross torpedoed her and the 5940-ton ship went down so quickly there was no time to get the boats away and 15 of her crew of 44 were lost.
Four months later, UB-4 left her base in Flanders headed for an area off Yarmouth to the northeast of where she had sunk the Harpalyce. Two days later, on Sunday 16 August at around 8:20 pm, Gross was on the surface when he spotted what appeared to be a typical British fishing smack and steered a course to intercept her. The smack was much too small for a torpedo and he probably intended to put men aboard to sink her with a small demolition charge or set her alight, a common fate for small wooden vessels.
Aboard the Inverlyon, the gun’s crew waited tensely at their concealed weapon, the gunlayer and a loader on the gun itself a third sailor below to pass up ammunition. Two of the crew, armed with repeating rifles, had taken cover behind the bulwarks while Skipper Philips manned the helm and the remaining seaman “lounged” about the deck for appearance’s sake. All eyes were on Ernest Jehan who was leaning casually against the starboard bulwark watching the approaching U-boat. He was playing a spine-chilling waiting game, judging just the right moment to open fire. Too early or too late would certainly mean failure and probably seal their own fate for, once alerted, the enemy had most of the advantages in this deadly game.
The U-boat drew slowly to within 30-yds of the starboard side, the wavy lines of her camouflage clearly visible in the fading light, her captain standing abaft the open conning tower hatch directing his ship, the German Naval ensign fluttering on its short staff behind him. There was no machine gun mounted on the tripod on the foredeck nor anyone else topside.
Drawing within hailing distance, the German officer was heard to shout at them in such a way that Mr. Jehan and the crew assumed they were being ordered to heave-to and the ‘loungers” moved towards the rigging as if to comply. The German submariner obviously expected to be obeyed and they obliged him.
The U-boat was almost stopped when Mr. Jehan gave the order to hoist the white ensign. Then, raising his revolver he took careful aim at the man on the tower and fired. At the same time he shouted the order “Open Fire!”
Up went the white ensign, down came the shroud around the 3-pounder and almost instantly the gunlayer squeezed the trigger to send the first round into the target. Three shots cracked out in rapid succession. The first and third hit UB-4s conning tower and were seen to burst inside, undoubtedly with murderous effect in such a confined space. The second shell blew away the after part of the bridge structure throwing Gross and the ensign staff into the water. The submarine, now drifting on the tide, crossed under Inverlyon’s stern and as the stricken vessel passed cries of “Stop, stop,” could be heard coming from inside. As the slowly settling Uboat cleared the smack’s port quarter, the little 3-pounder opened a devastating fire at point-blank range.
The gunners got six rounds away as fast as they could load, aim and fire. The first hit the tower, two went over while the remainder hulled the U-boat. All the while the men with rifles maintained a rapid fire emptying their magazines as quickly as they could chamber the rounds and pull the trigger. During the brief action, Gunner Jehan alone emptied four revolvers and a repeater into the U-boat. Once it was obvious the submarine was sinking they ceased fire.
Hull and crew alike riddled by shell splinters and small arms fire, her shattered interior filling with sea water, chlorine gas, smoke from shell bursts and fused electrical equipment, the stricken submarine began to settle rapidly by the bows, the bodies of two men who had attempted to return fire jammed half in and half out of the conning tower hatch.
As UB-4’s stern rose nearly vertical and she began her final plunge, three bodies floated to the surface, one of which was heard shouting for help. Skipper Phillips stripped off his seaboots and jacket, grabbed a lifebuoy and dove after the drowning man heedless of the thick oil covering the sea’s surface and the vortex created by the sinking U-boat. The German submariner was doomed, however, and sank to join his comrades before Phillips could get to him. The compassionate skipper was hauled back aboard the Inverlyon on his own lifebuoy as more oil and great bubbles of air and water welled to the surface.
Inverlyon still had way on and when she passed over the sinking U-boat her trawl fouled the wreck, effectively anchoring the smack in position and raising the possibility of salvage. Another smack, the Arthur Williams, was dispatched to the nearest steam drifter to pass a message on to base. At dawn, two pigeons were released from the Inverlyon carrying messages describing the action and requesting assistance and instructions. Ultimately it was decided to cut the trawl and allow the U-boat to finish her final plunge.
To the victor the spoils. There was an immediate cash gratuity to be shared among Inverlyon’s reservist crew members. All hands were also eligible for Admiralty bounty money, but that would not be forthcoming until April 1923*. Gunner Jehan was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, a well-deserved accolade for a surprisingly successful action in which a lot of nerve, nine rounds of 3-pounder and a few dozen rounds of small arms ammunition sank a U-boat. The Admiralty also singled out the actions and steadiness of the gun’s crew and Skipper Philip’s attempt to rescue the German submariner.
Story here.
*There is no mention of the amount of the bounty for sinking UB-4, but the Admiralty bounties were typically £5 per crewman on the submarine, or £70 in the case of UB-4. See: ‘Verschollen: World War I U-boat losses‘, by Dwight Messimer, pp. 158, 170, 222, for examples of the £5 per capita bounty.
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Q-Ships of the First World War (wikipedia)
British Q-ship HMS Tamarisk
Following the First Battle of the Atlantic, by 1915 Britain was in desperate need of a countermeasure against the U-boats that were strangling her sea-lanes. Convoys, which had proved effective in earlier times (and would again prove effective during the Second World War), were rejected by the resource-strapped Admiralty and the independent captains. Depth charges of the time were relatively primitive, and almost the only chance of sinking a submarine was by gunfire or by ramming while on the surface. The problem was luring the U-boat to the surface.
A solution to this was the creation of the Q-ship, one of the most closely-guarded secrets of the war. Their codename referred to the vessels’ home port, Queenstown, in Ireland. These became known by the Germans as a U-Boot-Falle (“U-boat trap”). A Q-ship would appear to be an easy target, but in fact carried hidden armaments. A typical Q-ship might resemble a tramp steamer sailing alone in an area where a U-boat was reported to be operating. By seeming to be a suitable target for the U-boat’s deck gun, a Q-ship might encourage the U-boat captain to make a surface attack rather than use one of his limited number of torpedoes. The Q-ships’ cargoes were light wood (balsa or cork) or wooden caskets, and even if torpedoed they would remain afloat, encouraging the U-boat to surface and sink them with a deck gun. The crew might even pretend to “abandon ship”. Once the U-boat was vulnerable, the Q-ship’s panels would drop to reveal the deck guns, which would immediately open fire. At the same time, the White Ensign (Royal Navy flag) would be raised. With the element of surprise, a U-boat could be quickly overwhelmed.
The first Q-ship victory was on 23 June 1915, when U-40 was sunk off Eyemouth by the submarine HMS C24, cooperating with the decoy vessel Taranaki, commanded by Lieutenant Frederick Henry Taylor CBE DSC RN. The first victory by an unassisted Q-ship came on 24 July 1915 when the Prince Charles, commanded by Lt Mark-Wardlaw, DSO, sank U-36. The civilian crew of Prince Charles received a cash award. The following month, an even smaller converted fishing trawler renamed HM Armed Smack Inverlyon successfully destroyed UB-4 near Great Yarmouth. Inverlyon was an unpowered sailing ship fitted with a small 3 pounder (47 mm) gun. The British crew fired 9 rounds from the 3 pounder into U-4 at close range, sinking her with the loss of all hands despite the attempt of Inverlyon’s skipper to rescue one surviving German submariner.
On August 19, 1915 Lieutenant Godfrey Herbert RN of the HMS Baralong sank U-27, which was preparing to attack a nearby merchant ship. About a dozen of the U-boat sailors survived and swam towards the merchant ship. Herbert, allegedly fearing that they might scuttle her, ordered the survivors to be shot in the water and sent a boarding party to kill all who had made it aboard. This became known as the “Baralong Incident”.
HMS Farnborough (Q-5) sank SM U-68 on 22 March 1916. Her commander, Gordon Campbell, was awarded the VC.
Lieutenant-Commander William Edward Sanders VC, DSO, a New Zealander commanding HMS Prize, was awarded the Victoria Cross for an action on 30 April 1917 with U-93, which was severely damaged. Sanders waited, while his ship sustained heavy shellfire, until the submarine was within 80 yards, whereupon he hoisted the White Ensign and the Prize opened fire. The submarine appeared to sink and he claimed a victory. However, the badly damaged submarine managed to struggle back to port. With his ship accurately described by the survivors of U-93, Sanders and his crewmen were all killed in action when they attempted a surprise attack on U-43 on 14 August 1917.
In a total of 150 engagements, British Q-ships destroyed 14 U-boats and damaged 60, at a cost of 27 Q-ships lost out of 200. Q-ships were responsible for about 10% of all U-boats sunk, ranking them well below the use of ordinary minefields in effectiveness.
The Imperial German Navy commissioned six Q-boats during the Great War for the Baltic Sea into the Handelsschutzflottille. Both were unsuccessful in destroying any enemy submarines. The famous Möwe and Wolf were Merchant raiders.
Link to wikipedia here.