nglish seaplane and was capturing her pilot. As soon as the
captain of the submarine had completed his task he dived quickly. The
German must have then realised too late that he was dealing with an
enemy, for as the submarine was moving away beneath the surface there
was felt the shock caused by the bursting of bombs dropped by the Hun
aircraft.

On another occasion, in June 1915, one of the Harwich submarines, on
coming to the surface somewhere near the German coast, found that her
engines were partly disabled. There was a German trawler in sight, and
within range of the submarine's gun. The trawler would certainly have
made a bolt for it, and in all probability would have got safely away,
had she known that the submarine was incapable of giving chase to her.
But the captain of the submarine induced the German to surrender and
compelled him to tow the crippled submarine across the North Sea back
to Harwich, where the trawler and her crew of eight men were handed
over to the authorities.

CHAPTER VIII

RECONNAISSANCE AND MINE-LAYING

CHAPTER VIII

RECONNAISSANCE AND MINE-LAYING

The eyes of the Fleet--The _Westphalen_
torpedoed--Mine-laying submarines--Destruction of U boats.

The principal duties of our submarines in the North Sea were
reconnaissance, attack on the enemy's ships, especially on his
submarines, and mine-laying. The Germans were the first to introduce
the system of laying mines with submarines, but we quickly followed
their example and constructed submarines for this purpose. One of our
submarines carries about twenty mines. The weapon of our submarines
is, of course, the torpedo, of which an "E" boat carries ten. Our
submarines, unlike the German, usually carry nothing heavier than the
twelve-pound gun. But towards the end of the war we were constructing
submarines with heavier armament. Our latest "M" boat is armed with a
twelve-inch gun; she was despatched to the Mediterranean, but the
armistice was signed, and prevented her from showing what she could do
in the war.

For reconnaissance work in the North Sea our submarines were
invaluable, for they could patrol close under the enemy shores, seeing
much without being seen themselves, and could do what surface ships
could not do--remain there on the watch for several days at a time if
necessary, for they were able to dive and disappear if detected and in
serious danger. The submarines of the Harwich Flotilla had often t