In late 1916, when serving in HMS King Alfred, flagship of the 9th Cruiser Squadron based on the Isle of St. Vincent, Cape Verde Islands, off the West Coast of Africa, we received reports that German submarines were gradually working their way south towards our base. On hearing this, the Admiral decided to take extra precautions, for the anchorage was very much open to the sea and all ships, both Navy and merchant, were well lighted at night, as was the town of Porto Grande.
Next day he had a meeting with the Commodore of the Portuguese naval squadron stationed there, the captain of the port, and the local mayor, during which it was agreed that all ships and the town were to be completely blacked out at sunset.
The Portuguese squadron consisted of two gunboats, the flagship Beira, whose main armament was a 3-pounder gun, and another gunboat armed with a Nordenfelt gun. Both ships helped out in an antisubmarine patrol across the harbor entrance during dark hours as part of the agreement. Being Portuguese territory, the Commodore was the senior officer afloat.
The blackout worked smoothly until one night when the Admiral arrived on the quarterdeck of the King Alfred for an after-dinner constitutional. To his dismay, he saw lights blazing from a house ashore, as well as from one of the ships in the anchorage. Neither apparently had been noticed by the officer of the watch on the quarterdeck or the duty signalmen.
Very angry with everyone concerned, he immediately ordered that the midshipman of the watch be sent across in his barge (a beautiful 56-foot, 15-knot steam picket boat) to have the offending lights extinguished and to make a report as to who were the offenders and why.
On returning, the “Snottie”[*] reported that the shore lights were from the office of the captain of the port where the man on duty had fallen asleep and failed to turn the lights out. But the ship at fault was none other than the Commodore’s flagship, Beira, where apparently the Snottie had bawled out the quartermaster at the gangway before telling him that he had a message for the Commodore, to whom he explained his mission.
The Commodore, who was totally unaware of the situation, was very angry at this omission and went below to investigate. He found a merry party going on in the officer’s mess with the ports and doors wide open. Switching off the lights, he roundly bawled out the officers. Then he asked the Snottie to convey his regrets to the Admiral and promised that he would personally see to it that it would not happen again.
On the Snottie’s return to the King Alfred, he reported to the officer of the watch who relayed the message to the Admiral. When this gentleman heard about the Beira he was quite perturbed. As he didn’t want the Commodore to take offense or be the cause of a minor international incident—after all, we were in Portuguese territory and sometimes these people could take umbrage at quite a minor happening—he gave orders for the midshipman to be sent to the Beira the following morning to convey his regrets.
At 11 o’clock next morning, the barge left for the Beira with the midshipman clad in spotless whites, complete with sword.
Arriving on board, he was taken at once to the Commodore who was rather surprised at the unexpected official visit. After hearing the reason of the visit, however, he readily accepted the Admiral’s regrets.
“You must have a drink, my boy,” was his next remark. Of course, the Snottie dared not refuse and, while chatting, it came out that they had both served in sail at one time, hence the conversation became more engrossing. A few minutes later, the Snottie was informed that his glass of whiskey and soda was empty and that a refill was waiting. The Commodore wouldn’t take no for an answer then, nor later, as the third and fourth drinks were served. By that time, lunch was ready and he insisted that the Snottie stay and eat with him. There was wine aplenty with the meal, and afterward they finished off with brandy and cigars. The Snottie was now beyond worrying and thoroughly at peace with the world. After the second double brandy, he felt no pain and begged off to return to the ship before his legs gave way under him.
Meanwhile, the officer of the watch, seeing the barge still tied up to the Beira’s boat boom after nearly three hours, wondered what the hold up was. But as the barge was away on the Admiral’s business, he had no authority over it, so there was nothing he could do about it.
Shortly after 2 p.m. the Admiral’s barge was reported returning. As it neared the ship, the officer of the watch could see through his telescope an obviously inebriated midshipman lolling back in the sternsheets with a fat cigar in his mouth, his face wreathed in smiles; occasionally he burst into song. Realizing that there might be repercussions from this little incident, the OOW found urgent business below decks, leaving me, as midshipman of the watch, to welcome the returning Snottie. Where the Admiral’s business was concerned, it was always best to look the other way.
The duty quartermaster and the marine corporal of the gangway had quite a job to get the Snottie up the gangway, for he was hilariously and beautifully tight. Twice he nearly fell into the drink when his sword got tangled up between his legs and the gangway stanchions, but they finally got him below to the safety of the gunroom without his being seen. I passed a message from the Commodore to the officer of the watch to be relayed to the Admiral, who apparently was satisfied.
Admittedly, this was an unorthodox way to avert a diplomatic incident, and one for which ordinarily the midshipman could have been courtmartialed. For a while he was worried, but he never heard any more about it. Apparently he had done a thorough diplomatic job, as the Commodore told the Admiral when they next met. But whether the Admiral ever knew the state he was in when he returned to the ship, was something no one ever discovered.
[*] “Snottie” was the nickname for a midshipman in the British Navy. It had its origin in the old days when handkerchiefs were not in use and the cuff of the coat sleeve was used instead.