The results other than the sinking of submarines were exceedingly important in bringing the war to an end. It was the failure of the submarine campaign which defeated the German hopes and forced their surrender; and in this defeat the barrage was an important element. That submarines frequently crossed it is true; there was no expectation, when the enterprise was started, that it would absolutely shut the U-boats in the North Sea; but its influence in breaking down the German moral must have been great. To understand this, just place yourself for a moment in the position of a submarine crew. The width of this barrage ranged from fifteen to thirty-five miles; it took from one to three hours for a submarine to cross this area on the surface and from two to six hours under the surface. Not every square foot, it is true, had been mined; there were certain gaps caused by the spontaneous explosions to which I have referred; but nobody knew where these openings were, or where a single mine was located. The officers and crews knew only that at any moment an explosion might send them to eternity. A strain of this sort is serious enough if it lasts only a few minutes; imagine being kept in this state of mind anywhere from one to six hours! Submarine prisoners constantly told us how they dreaded the mines; going through such a field, I suppose, was about the most disagreeable experience in this nerve-racking service. Our North Sea barrage began to show results almost immediately after our first planting. The German officers evidently kept informed of our progress and had a general idea of the territory which had been covered. For a considerable time a passage-way, sixty miles wide, was kept open for the Grand Fleet just east of the Orkney Islands; the result was that the submarines, which had hitherto usually skirted the Norwegian coast, now changed their route, and attempted to slip through the western passage-way—a course that enabled them to avoid the mine-field. When the entire distance from the Orkneys to Norway had been mined, however, it became impossible to "run around the end." The Germans were now obliged to sail boldly into this explosive field, taking their chances of hitting a mine. Stories of this barrage were circulated all over Germany; sailors who had been in contact with it related their experiences to their fellows; and the result was extremely demoralizing to the German submarine flotilla. The North Sea barrage was probably a contributory cause of the mutiny which demoralized the German fleet in the autumn of 1918.
I think I am therefore justified in saying that this enterprise was a strong factor in overcoming the submarine menace, though the success of the convoy system had already brought the end in sight, and had thus made it practicable to assign, without danger of defeat, the tonnage necessary to lay the barrage and maintain and augment it as long as might be necessary. The Germans saw the barrage not only as it was in the autumn of 1918, but as it would be a few months or a year hence. We had started a steady stream of mines from hundreds of factories in the United States to our Scottish bases; these establishments were constantly increasing production, and there was practically no limit to their possible output. We had developed a mine-laying organization which was admittedly better than any that had been hitherto known; and this branch of the service we could now enlarge indefinitely. In time we could have planted this area so densely with explosives that it would have been madness for any submarines even to attempt a passage. To be sure, the Pentland Firth, between the Orkneys and Scotland, was always open, and could not be mined on account of its swift tides, but besides being a dangerous passage at best it was constantly patrolled to make it still more dangerous.
The loyal devotion to duty and the skilful seamanship which our officers displayed in this great enterprise were not only thoroughly in keeping with the highest traditions of the navy, but really established new standards to guide and inspire those who will follow us. These gallant officers who actually laid the mines are entitled to the nation's gratitude, and I take great pleasure in commending the work of Captain H. V. Butler, commanding the flagship San Francisco; Captain J. Harvey Tomb, commanding the Aroostook; Captain A. W. Marshall, commanding the Baltimore; Commander W. H. Reynolds, commanding the Canandaigua; Captain T. L. Johnson, commanding the Canonicus; Captain J. W. Greenslade, commanding the Housatonic; Commander D. Pratt Mannix, commanding the Quinnebaug; Captain C. D. Stearns, commanding the Roanoke; Captain Sinclair Gannon, commanding the Saranac; and Captain W. T. Cluverius, commanding the Shawmut.
This splendid squadron, of which the flagship was the San Francisco, was organized by Captain R. R. Belknap and, by order of the Secretary of the Navy, was placed under his direct command; and he was therefore responsible for all preparations, tactics, general instructions, special instructions for each mine-laying "excursion," the intricate navigation required, and in fact all arrangements necessary for the successful planting of the mines in their assigned positions.
FOOTNOTE:
[7] Complete statistics of shipping losses, new ship construction for 1917 and 1918, will be found in Appendices VIII and IX.