World War, 1914-1918 -- Naval operations -- Submarine; World War, 1914-1918 -- United States
The next morning another enemy submarine met her fate at the hands of
Captain Campbell, and although the _Cushing_ had kept far enough away
not to interfere with the action, she had the honour of escorting the
injured mystery ship into port and of receiving as a reward three
rousing cheers from the crew of the _Pargust_ led by Campbell. A more
villainous-looking gang of seamen than the crews of these ships never
sailed the waves. All men on board were naval officers or enlisted men;
they were all volunteers and comprised men of all ranks--admirals,
captains, commanders, and midshipmen. All had temporarily abandoned His
Majesty's uniform for garments picked up in second-hand clothing stores.
They had made the somewhat disconcerting discovery that carefully
trained gentlemen of the naval forces, when dressed in cast-off clothing
and when neglectful of their beards, differ little in appearance from
the somewhat rough-and-tumble characters of the tramp service. To assume
this external disguise successfully meant that the volunteers had also
to change almost their personal characteristics as well as their
clothes. Whereas the conspicuous traits of a naval man are neatness and
order, these counterfeit merchant sailors had to train themselves in the
casual ways of tramp seamen. They had also to accustom themselves to the
conviction that a periscope was every moment searching their vessel from
stem to stern in an attempt to discover whether there was anything
suspicious about it; they therefore had not only to dress the part of
merchantmen, but to act it, even in its minor details. The genius of
Captain Campbell consisted in the fact that he had made a minute study
of merchantmen, their officers and their crews, and was able to
reproduce them so literally on this vessel that even the expert eye was
deceived. Necessarily such a ship carried a larger crew than the
merchant freighter; nearly all, however, were kept constantly concealed,
the number appearing on deck always representing just about the same
number as would normally have sailed upon a tramp steamer. These men had
to train themselves in slouchiness of behaviour; they would hang over
the rails, and even use merchant terms in conversation with one another;
the officers were "masters," "mates," "pursers," and the like, and their
principal gathering-place was not a wardroom, but a saloon. That
scrupulous deference with which a subordinate officer in the navy treats
his superior was laid aside in this service. It was no longer the custom
to salute before addressing the commander; more frequently the sailor
would slouch up to his superior, his hands in his pockets and his pipe
in his mouth. This attempt to deceive the Hun observer at the periscope
sometimes assumed an even more ludicrous form. When the sailor of a
warship dumps ashes overboard he does it with particular care, so as not
to soil the sides of his immaculate vessel; but a merchant seaman is
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