Dead Wake: The Last Crossing Of The Lusitania

The submarine is an important motif throughout Dead Wake, often signifying the broader ways in which new technology alters warfare throughout World War I. At the start of the war, both Germany and Britain underestimate the importance of submarines, instead focusing on traditional strategies of naval warfare. However, on September 22, 1914, a German submarine torpedoes three large British cruisers, causing them to sink. Both Germany and Britain quickly realize the power of submarines, and Germany devotes its entire naval strategy to submarine warfare. The shift in strategy proves successful, and Germany’s submarines prove to be difficult foes for Britain’s naval cruisers. However, submarine warfare ushers in a crueler form of naval warfare. Submarines operate in isolation, allowing the submarine’s captain total control over which targets the submarine will attack and whether the submarine will help rescue any survivors. Many of Germany’s submarine captains, such as the U-20’s captain, become known for brutally pursuing and attacking innocent ships. In one instance, Captain Schwieger torpedoes (and misses) a ship clearly “marked with large red crosses” to denote that it is a hospital ship (59). The cruelty of this naval warfare parallels the similarly brutal trench warfare that characterizes World War I’s land combat.

Though it is a powerful weapon, the submarine also comes with a new set of difficulties and dangers that differ from those associated with traditional battleships. Because submarines must spend days below the ocean surface, a submarine crew is forced to endure cramped quarters as well as stale and stuffy air, which often reeks due to the submarine’s toilet. A single accident or attack could mean a horrible death for the submarine’s crew because they could become trapped and slowly suffocate in the submarine. Larson describes how submarines are often left vulnerable to attack during their daily operations. In one section of Dead Wake, Larson describes the so-called “blind moment” that occurs when a submarine resurfaces (139). As the submarine travels from the ocean floor to the surface, the crew is unable to know whether any enemy ships are nearby until the submarine’s periscope exits the water. This means that a submarine could easily ascend to the surface and find itself surrounded by enemy ships. As Larson makes clear throughout Dead Wake, the submarine is a double-edged sword, one that is both a powerful new weapon and a terrible threat to those who operate it.