Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson VC, the Controller of the Royal Navy, stated in 1901 that, “Submarines are underhand, unfair and damned un-English. The crews of all submarines captured should be treated as pirates and hanged”.
Subsequently, (from the Royal Navy Submarine Museum):
Lieutenant Commander (later Admiral Sir) Max Horton first flew the Jolly Roger-two flags in fact- on return to harbour after sinking the German cruiser Hela and the destroyer S-116 in 1914; but the Black Flag of old-time pirates was not generally flown by submarines, to show their successes, until the Second World War.
So, the Brits acknowledged early the suitability of these great vessels for piracy, although their use of the jolly roger was intended as an indicator of bravado and stealth rather than of lawlessness.
The good crew of the G.S. PATIENCE, though, prefer to exemplify the lawless tradition of the flag, and concur with the good Admiral Sir Arthur Wilson’s impression of the submarine’s potential.
