The German pirate — Reading Companion

The Foreword's Framing of a Broken Code

The foreword opens by describing the 'Brotherhood of the Sea' as a 'fine, manly freemasonry' built on 'courage, honour, and chivalry.' This romanticized vision of maritime solidarity is immediately contrasted with the claim that 'the German submarine commander' destroyed it. The author, using the pseudonym 'Ajax,' positions the work as a corrective to ignorance, stating that only by knowing 'what has actually taken place can a true opinion be formed.' The epigraphs—from Nietzsche ('Ye shall love peace as a means to new wars'), the Crown Prince ('must not let himself be lazily sung to sleep by the peace-lullabies'), and Bernhardi ('efforts to secure peace are extraordinarily detrimental')—serve to characterize German militarism as deliberate and ideological. This framing shapes how the subsequent narratives are to be read: not as isolated atrocities but as evidence of a systematic policy.

Survivor Testimony and the Physical Toll

The excerpt from the sinking of the Alnwick Castle provides a detailed, almost clinical account of an eight-day lifeboat ordeal. The narrative focuses on the progressive physical and mental deterioration of the crew: 'agonies of thirst,' 'light-headedness,' 'secret drinking of salt water,' and deaths from exposure. The chief officer's efforts to prevent salt-water drinking are noted, but the text emphasizes his limitations—'there are limits to what one man can accomplish.' Specific details ground the account: licking oars and woodwork for moisture, breaking up the empty water-breaker to lick the inside, and the death of a baby six days after reaching hospital. The account of the Daleby adds a different dimension: the submarine surfaced and circled a survivor but made 'no attempt to pick him up.' These details, presented without commentary, accumulate to support the foreword's indictment.

Structure and Rhetoric of the Compiled Accounts

The book's structure—a selection of sinkings 'set down as simply as possible'—relies on the cumulative weight of individual stories rather than argument. Each account follows a pattern: ship name, date, location, method of attack (torpedoed 'without warning'), and aftermath. The Alnwick Castle narrative, for instance, moves from the sinking to the lifeboat's daily struggles, noting deaths and the chief officer's testimony to the 'splendid behaviour of the boat's crew.' The Daleby account is shorter but includes the striking detail of the submarine circling the survivor. This repetition of structure—attack, survival, loss—creates a rhythm that reinforces the foreword's claim of a systematic campaign. The author's restraint ('without exaggeration or unfair comment') lends an air of documentary authority, even as the selection of incidents is itself a rhetorical choice.

Readers should approach this work as a wartime document shaped by its purpose: to condemn German submarine warfare through official sources and survivor accounts. The pseudonymous author's claim to factual reporting coexists with a clear moral framework. Pay attention to the recurring details—the failure to rescue, the physical suffering, the role of local communities—and consider how the book's structure of compiled incidents builds its case. The epigraphs offer a key to the author's interpretive lens.