26. Q-Ships Met With Mixed Results
When hailed by a U-boat, part of the Q-ship crew, known as the “panic party”, would act like normal merchant sailors terrified by the sudden appearance of an enemy submarine. They would rush to the lifeboats, and abandon ship. The use of expensive torpedoes to sink relatively easy targets such as trawlers and freighters were seen as overkill and was officially frowned upon. So U-boat captains would normally close the distance to the now “abandoned” ship, in order to open fire from close range and sink it with their deck gun. Once the submarine got close enough, hidden crewmen still on board the Q-ship would haul down the merchant flag and raise the Royal Navy’s ensign. Simultaneously, other crew would collapse the deck structure, reveal up to four guns manned and ready for action, and fire upon and sink the surprised U-boat.
The deceit was initially quite successful when first introduced, and within months, Q-ships claimed 11 German submarines. However, as the war progressed, German submariners learned to be wary, and to approach small vessels with a healthy dose of caution, lest they turn out to be Q-ships with concealed weapons. At the slightest suspicion, torpedoes were used as a first option to sink vessels from a safe distance. After the Germans turned to open submarine warfare in 1917 and began to sink ships without warning, the utility of the Q-ships came to an end. Their effectiveness had depended on U-boats hailing and coming close enough for the decoy ship to surprise them, and once the Germans stopped doing that, Q-ships became useless.
