By Guess and By God: The Story of the British Submarines in the War

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A record of the activities and exploits of British submarines during the First World War, together with something about the men who commanded them. Starting with action of the E-14 and E-11 in the Sea of Marmora to the end of WWI.

THIS is an absorbing book, with a preface by Admiral Sydney Hall, written by one who was once a navigating officer in the "Trade" - the name given by the submarines to their dangerous service. It gives a vivid impression of many of the principal submarine episodes in the war-with "trade" garnishings. The entry of E 14 into the Dardanelles is described in the words of one of her courageous crew: "What with smoke belching out like a blooming smelter, and the noise she made as we rattled along, the Admiralty might as well've sent a brass band ahead playing 'Ere the conquering 'eroes come' " .

There is the story of the doings of Holbrook, Boyle, Nasmith, Bruce, Cochrane and Stocks in the Dardanelles; all newly told in a vivid submarine setting. Of E 12 coming out of the Dardanelles in June, 1915, when her hydroplanes jammed: " Down she went to two hundred and forty-five feet. At such a depth she was an egg-shell in a slowly closing fist " . She came safely through " By Guess and by God," possibly, too, by a not inconsiderable measure of coolness and skill on the part of her commander.

There is also-the Baltic story of Max Horton, of Noel Laurence, of Francis Cromie and of Martin Nasmith. The steering of a submarine was a little wild on one occasion, when a patrol boat was near; the helmsman was apologetic; the officer was acrimonious and replied, " Go to Hell." A voice, gravely courteous, came up through the pipe, " Do you think I would be here, sir, if I knew the way ' "

There are some specially interesting remarks on the discomfort, nausea and unhealthy conditions of submarine service in the war. After five or six hours of diving, a match could not be kept alight. There is an account, for the first time, of how J 6 was destroyed in October, 1918, by a British Q-boat and of how C 6 and L 2 nearly suffered the same fate at the hand of American destroyers. The story of C 25, attacked by German planes and trying to get the hatch closed, is a terrible one . Good fortune, however, attended Lieutenant Cromwell Varley who left his patrol and sank U 51, though the Admiralty had to pretend, gravely, to be very angry at this felicitous form of disobedience .

There is an account of the sinking of U 81 by E 54 and of what the commander relates about it, or perhaps what the "Trade " have added for him. And for wonderful courage and endurance perhaps there is nothing to beat the story of Petty Officer William Brown working in darkness in a sunken submarine .

There is a small point which seems to require correction. The author attributes the sinking of the German commercial submarine Bremen to G 13, and adds a confirmatory footnote to this effect . But the Bremen left Germany for America in August, 1916, and G 13 does not seem to have been in commission till October, 1916. Nothing certain seems to be known of the loss of the Bremen.

The only part of the book one can cavil at is the title. It should be "By God, Skill and Courage.” The "Guesswork" seems to have been largely made up of the latter elements. The book is a really good one, and amusing; and what the author says of a sailor's story that " it is essentially truthful " is certainly applicable to his own book. - The Naval Review 1931