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This photograph of the torpedo room of a German U-boat reveals the cramped living conditions of the crew. Crews were also unable to bathe or wash their clothes because fresh water could only be used for drinking and cooking. Source: Bundesarchiv, 134-B0627.
This photograph of the HMS MANTUA in dazzle camouflage is from an album which belonged to Captain Lloyd Williams who served on a British submarine in 1917-18. Source: Walter Lloyd Williams.
Certificate of Captain John Richard Williams’s attendance of the ‘Submarine Menace Course’ at Plymouth in July 1918. Source: Captain John Richard Williams Collection at the Porthmadog Maritime Museum.
The chief strength of submarines in attack was their invisibility to merchant ships when partially or wholly submerged. Periscopes were especially hard to spot in rough seas and with the sun behind them, whilst the target merchant ship would be seen in sharp outline against the horizon.
The Admiralty recommended several measures to merchant ship captains to help protect their vessels. They could steer a zig-zag course to make themselves a more difficult target. They could paint their ships with dazzle camouflage to obscure their size and shape and make it more difficult for the enemy to estimate their speed and direction of travel.
Many of the merchant vessels were also fitted with deck guns and provided with naval gunners. Merchant ship captains were also encouraged to take more drastic offensive action by ramming submarines.