Another Vessel Gone
The effectiveness of the submarine was demonstrated during World War I when German subs, known as U-boats, were used extensively against Allied warships and merchant vessels.
With no means of protection within a convoy or skill in the tactics of self-defence, the sailing schooners of Newfoundland were easy targets for German U-boats. In spite of this, they were heavily involved in supplying dry salt fish to western European markets and returning with cargoes of salt.
The schooner Maid of Harlech was on its way to a Mediterranean port with a cargo of fish in late January 1918. Captain Charles P. Moore had taken the load of Newfoundland salt dry cod to Gibraltar and there received further orders to sail to Naples, Italy. In due time, they arrived in Naples, discharged their fish, and were returning to Gibraltar.
On February 4, when the schooner was at longitude 02 east, a submarine surfaced near the schooner and a shot from its deck gun whistled over the bow of the vessel. This initial shot, meant to order the Maid of Harlech to stop, was followed by seven other volleys, some of which hit the schooner.
A German officer commanded the schooner to “heave to.” The next command was to leave the schooner and take water and provisions. As quickly as possible, Captain Moore had the ship’s boat out, and all hands rowed away from the schooner.
The sub then commenced to pelt shells at the Maid until thirty-two in all had been fired. The schooner slowly settled until its decks were awash; eventually, it went down. Moore and his six crew had no time to take extra clothes or personal possessions.
The submarine came closer to the lifeboat, and Captain Moore was ordered to come aboard the sub. Moore said after they kept him below for three-quarters of an hour while the enemy discussed, in German, what was best to do.
Yet, Moore said, all the officers could speak English fluently when they spoke to him. Then the officers sighted another large ship off in the distance and quickly made up their minds on what to do with the Newfoundland sailors.
They released the captain, putting him back on the lifeboat, where the rest of the Maid of Harlech’s crew was anxiously waiting. They were free to make it to a shore.
The coast of Algeria, North Africa, was the nearest landfall, fifty miles away. They rowed all night and landed, exhausted, on an isolated spot in Algeria. In time they were taken to the port of Oran, where the British Consul was located. From there the Consul arranged transportation to England and thence to Halifax.
It was March 25 before Moore and three of his crew came by train across Newfoundland, via the ferry at North Sydney. With him were sailors John Walsh, Robert Shute, and J. Myles, all residents of St. John’s. Left behind in Halifax were the mate, the bosun, and another crewman (who was a native Indian of Canada and, like the other two, unidentified).
Shipping and naval authorities in Halifax had questioned Captain Moore on his experiences with the enemy, but details were kept under cover. The Halifax newspapers, under their “Cable News” item, said of the Maid of Harlech:
Its captain [Charles Moore] was ordered to keep silent and he was very reticent when asked for further particulars.