“Valeria” sinking a Submarine
In defiance of the judgment of civilisation, this dastardly act was hailed in Germany as a proud triumph. The Kolnische Volkszeitung of May 10th, 1915, stated “The sinking of the Lusitania is a success for our submarines which must be placed beside the greatest achievements in this naval war.... The sinking of the great British steamer is a success, the moral significance of which is still greater than the material success. With joyful pride we contemplate this latest deed of our Navy, and it will not be the last.” In the Cologne Gazette, of five days later, it was stated that “the news will be received by the German people with unanimous satisfaction, since it proves to England and the whole world that Germany is quite in earnest with regard to her submarine warfare.” In the Neue Freie Presse of the same date it was remarked, “We rejoice over this new success of the German Navy.” The City of Magdeburg immediately proposed to honour the officers and men who had slaughtered so many hundreds of defenceless men, helpless women, and innocent children and brought the anguish of bereavement on so many hundreds of homes on both sides of the Atlantic. And to crown this achievement, which stands in isolation in the annals of the human race, a medal was struck in Munich commemorating this exploit of the German Fleet, which was afterwards to be surrendered and, then, to be scuttled by its own officers in Scapa Flow.
In view of the fate of so many hospital ships, boat drill was regularly carried out on the great Cunarders
CHAPTER V
The Toll of the Submarines
But some came not with break of light,
Nor looked upon the saffron dawn;
They keep the watch of endless night,