Queenstown Q-Ships Deploy Panic Station Tactics Against U-Boats 1917 | Season 4 – Episode 2
Floats Jan 23, 2024
During World War One, Queenstown (Cobh) in County Cork was a vital naval base for British and later American vessels, strategically positioned near Atlantic shipping routes.
Under the terms of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, Queenstown port remained a British sovereign base within the new Irish Free State after 1922. Queenstown reverted back to the name Cobh in 1922 having been renamed Queenstown following the visit of Queen Victoria in 1849. Along with the other Treaty Ports at Berehaven County Cork and Lough Swilly in County Donegal Queenstown (Cobh) and nearby Spike Island were handed over to the government of the Irish Free State in 1938.
WORLD WAR ONE
At the onset of World War 1, the powerful British Royal Navy, imposed a blockade on Germany, confining its surface fleet. In response, the Germans, relying on their technologically advanced submarine fleet, the Unterseeboote (U-Boats), adapted tactics to target British merchant ships.
When let loose in the Atlantic with indiscriminate attack orders the U-boats proved highly effective and were quickly proving an effective blockade to British sea ports.
Back then, the sole offensive Anti-Submarine Warfare tactic involved waiting for submarines to surface before attacking them, treating them like surface ships.
It is worth nothing that County Clare born pacifist and inventor of the modern submarine, John Philip Holland had hoped that with his invention that all naval battles would prove futile. However he also recognised the abilities of his submarine invention when he wrote in 1900 that “the submarine is indeed a ‘sea-devil’, against which no means we posses at present can prevail”. We previously covered Holland’s submarine; 1897 Clare man launches the first modern submarine https://irelandmade.ie/1897-clare-man-launches-the-first-modern-submarine-season-1-episode-73/
Passive anti-submarine tactics included nets hung from the sides of merchant ships, with limited effectiveness. Some ships were retro-fitted with Anti-Torpedo Bulges, forming a protective water compartment on each side of the hull. However, this defence could be easily thwarted by launching multiple torpedoes at the same spot.
Ships were also painted with “Dazzle Camouflage” to bewilder rather than hide, creating disruptions in the outline of large ships. When observed through a submarine periscope, this camouflage made it challenging to gauge the ship’s range, speed and heading. Deprived of this crucial information, accurately launching a torpedo became difficult, leading to potential misses.
A novel and improved anti-submarine warfare approach was needed, and it was proposed by Winston Churchill, then the First Lord of the Admiralty. He is credited with suggesting a new tactic: deploying armed vessels disguised as merchant supply ships to entice submarines to surface, enabling them to be approached, attacked and sunk. “…a small or moderate sized steamer should be taken up and fitted very secretly with two twelve-pounder guns in such a way that they can be concealed with deck cargo…”
The decoy ships for anti-submarine warfare that Churchill has envisaged were fitted out in Haulbowline Dockyard and operated from Queenstown harbour as a home base and became quickly known as Q-ships.
ARMAMENTS
To conceal their actual intent, the Q-ships were equipped with deceptive features such as false funnels and deck guns were cleverly concealed within hen-coops and lifeboats. The vessels were designed with hinged sides that could be swiftly dropped, unveiling an array of up to five traversable 12-pounders, two 6-pounders and one Maxim machine gun, ready to fire as soon as the submarine surfaced.
CREW
The Q-ship crews went to sea out of the standard naval uniform and more than one fist-fight came about when these men went home on shore leave and were quizzed as to why they were not in navy uniform.
The crews received hazard pay for their ‘panic party’ duties (see below) and a bounty of £1,000 was shared amongst the ship’s crew for the sinking of each U-boat.
TACTICS
The arrival and departure of Q-Ships from Queenstown were shrouded in profound secrecy, typically scheduled during night-time or early morning. Uncommonly, the ships operated as individual units rather than as squadrons.
Q-Ships working alone to lure a submarine to the surface with the promise of a soft merchant ship target developed a unique set of special tactics. When facing a U-boat, often after narrowly escaping a tense encounter with a torpedo, the merchant ship feigned surrender by halting its engines, releasing steam and raising the International Code pendant.
Knowing that the U-boat was surfacing to attempt to sink the merchant ship with shellfire from their deck gun instead of using their limited stock of torpedoes, the Q-ship would also try to position themselves broadside for the most advantageous attack position.
On board the merchant ship a carefully rehearsed plan was put into play by the Captain who had remained on board with the gunnery crews. The expression ‘Panic Stations’ has its roots in Q-ships. When a Q-ship came under attack, the command ‘Hands to Panic Stations’ would be issued.
PANIC STATIONS
This led to the crew displaying a sense of panic in response to the U-boat threat, engaging in what sailors termed a ‘panic party.’ Every effort was made to convincingly portray a distressed crew, as the future survival of both the ship and its crew relied on the submarine commander being deceived by their apparent distress.
The panic scene observed by the U-boat commander through his periscope was crafted to be as authentic as possible, with crew members hastily donning parts of their uniforms, rushing to launch and quickly putting distance between themselves and the ship. And it proved effective; repeatedly, the overly confident U-boat captains were enticed to surface and approach for an attack on what appeared to be an unarmed merchant steamer.
Once the men in the lifeboat had safely moved out of the firing range, a signal alerted the naval gunners and the Captain, in concealed positions on board. The White Ensign (Royal Navy flag) was hoisted, covers were thrown back, and a barrage of gunfire commenced from the 12 and 6-pounder guns, as well as the Maxim machine gun.
TYPICAL ENGAGEMENT
On March 22nd, 1917, we have an account of Q-ship engaging a U-boat when Q 5 (HMS Farnborough) under the command of Lieutenant Commander Gordon Campbell, steaming at a speed of 8 knots along the west coast of Ireland.
Q5 was being stalked by a formidable war machine U-68, a recently designed German Kriegsmarine submarine capable of reaching speeds of 17 knots. Armed with one 4.1-inch gun, one 22-pounder, a machine gun and equipped with eleven torpedoes, the submarine had a cruising radius of 11,000 miles.
At 06:40 am, the submarine launched a torpedo. Seeing the torpedo in the water heading for his ship Lieutenant Commander Campbell ordered Panic Stations and the panic party quickly got away in a lifeboat.
U-68 surfaced and approached on Q 5 from astern. When the boat-crew were clear, the gunnery crew hoisted the White Ensign and opened fire with five 12-pounders, two 6-pounders, and one Maxim gun hitting U-68 which quickly dived. Q 5 manoeuvred into position above the submarine and released a depth charge, causing the bow of U-68 to rise to the surface.
The conning tower of the U-boat appeared to be significantly damaged. Nonetheless, a U-Boat could withstand a direct hit to the conning tower; only a direct strike below the waterline on the main pressure hull would prove fatal.
Subsequently, the gunners resumed firing and delivered five rounds directly into the base of the conning tower at point-blank range. Following the sinking of the U-boat, Lieutenant Commander Campbell dropped two depth charges as an additional measure, resulting in the loss of U-68 along with all hands.
U-BOAT WIN
Q-ship 5 (HMS Farnborough) faced a less fortunate outcome in a subsequent surface encounter with U-83. Although the U-boat was successfully attacked and sunk, Q 5 suffered severe damage. The engine-room, boiler-rooms, and aft holds (Nos. 3 and 4) became flooded, causing the ship to list and seemed likely to sink.
Captain Campbell despatched a mournful wireless signal to Vice-Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, Commander-in-Chief, Queenstown: ‘Q.5 slowly sinking respectfully wishes you goodbye.’ However, the destroyer HMS Narwhal and the sloop HMS Buttercup intercepted the transmission and reached the location in time to tow Q 5 to port. Eventually, the ship was beached near Queenstown and later scrapped.
By the close of 1917, Q-Ships were no longer as effective as depending on deception, their effectiveness waned as their fame (or infamy) increased. U-Boat commanders became well aware of these “U-Boot-Falle” (trap ships) and their disguises, no longer falling for their tactics and avoiding close encounters.
POST WAR
Post-war assessments revealed that Q-ships were overrated, diverting skilled seamen from other duties without sinking enough U-boats to justify the strategy. Notably, Q-ships accounted for approximately 10% of all U-boats sunk, ranking them less effective than minefields.
Q-ship tactics would also be employed in the Second World War.
Information sources and photo credits:
Britain’s WWI Mystery Q-Ships – Miriam Bibby
DTIC.mil
Globe Composite
History Hub Ulster
Key Military
Periscope Films
Q-SHIPS OF THE GREAT WAR – (Air Command And Staff College Air University) Barbara J. Coder, LCDR, USN
Shipping Wonders of the World
Sinking of the Linda Blanche out of Liverpool by German painter and illustrator Willy Stöwer (1864-1931)
Sky Scape
The Project Gutenberg eBook, Q-Ships and Their Story, by E. Keble (Edward Keble) Chatterton
Western Front Association
Western Front Association – Pantomime at Sea: Q-ships in the First World War
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