British Secret Service During the Great WarEveritt, Nicholas
History
British Secret Service During the Great War
Everitt, Nicholas
Secret service -- Great Britain; World War, 1914-1918 -- Secret service -- Great Britain
The February number of the _Wide World Magazine_, p. 361, also contained
a most interesting article by Captain Frank H. Shaw entitled, A "Q," and
a "U," in which he describes how he personally helped to sink a
submarine with the aid of a camouflage apparatus on the lines of my
invention as illustrated:
"Meanwhile the fitters were making most of their opportunities
aboard the _Penshurst_ (the Q-boat in question). A useful
twelve-pounder gun--one of the best bits of ordnance ever devised
for short range work--was mounted on the fore-deck. A steel ship's
lifeboat was cut in two through the keel, and so faked that on
pulling a bolt, the two halves would fall clear away. This dummy
boat was then put in place over the twelve-pounder and effectively
concealed its presence.
"So far as the outward evidence was concerned, the _Penshurst_ was
simply carrying a spare lifeboat on deck--a not unnecessary
precaution, considering the activity of the enemy submarines."
Captain Shaw describes in stirring narrative and vivid detail how a
submarine held up his ship, how part of their crew abandoned the ship,
and how the Hun boat was lured well within easy gun-fire range, and how
my ideas worked in practice:
"_The foredeck boat opened beautifully like a lily and the gun came
up, with its crew gathered round it._ The twelve-pounder was not a
second behind its smaller relative. Her gunlayer, too, was a useful
man. He planted a yellow-rigged shell immediately at the base of
Fritz's conning-tower. It exploded there with deafening report and
great gouts of water flew upwards with dark patches amongst the
foam."
* * * * *
By my friends I was disparaged for foolishness in not putting forward a
claim for compensation in connection with these ideas, followed by an
accepted invention of recognised utility. In the U.S.A. in the spring of
1919 I heard this invention considerably lauded; in New York, Boston,
and Washington. It was also described and illustrated in certain
American periodicals.
If the figures given by Admiral Sims are true estimates, and, say, only
twenty-five submarines were sunk by the direct assistance of this simple
contrivance, then it follows that about 1,000,000 tons of shipping were
saved each year it was in active use.
Eventually I communicated with Admiral W. R. Hall, C.B., through whom I
had submitted my suggestions in the first instance. From him I received
a charming letter in which he regretted the matter had passed beyond his
department. Therefore on January 26th, 1920, I wrote to the Secretary of
the Admiralty referring by number to previous letters conveying the
_secret_ thanks of the Lords of the Admiralty to me in 1915 and asking
him whether (now that the war was over) I was entitled to any
recognition for this invention, and if so, how and to whom I should
apply.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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