Paying the Prize for the German Submarine War 1914-1918: U-boats Destroyed and the Admiralty Prize Fund, 1919-1932. Dr Innes McCartney, Leverhulme Research Fellow, Bournemouth University, Department of Archaeology, Anthropology & Forensic Science, Fern Barrow, Talbot Campus, Poole, Dorset BH12 5BB, UK ©2017 The Author 33 Barwis Terrace Penzance Cornwall TR18 2AW
[email protected] 01736 330769 Key Words Maritime Heritage, Room 40, Naval History, U-boats, Admiralty, Prize Regulations, WW1, Naval Intelligence, Anti-Submarine Warfare, Royal Navy Abstract This paper examines how the Admiralty paid prize money to the Royal Navy for the destruction of U- boats in WW1. The research shows that the method by which it did so was distinct from the standard prize process, primarily because of secrecy surrounding the anti-U-boat effort. Prize payments were only made by the Admiralty to the crew of naval vessels after the war had ended and this was based on reports compiled during wartime. The research shows that the payments made closely match the detailed analysis into U-boat losses released internally by the Anti-Submarine Division of the Naval Staff in January 1919. This listed 186 U-boats destroyed. The Admiralty considered 93 of these cases eligible for prize bounty. At least a further 41 cases were turned down. Where inconsistencies exist between the work of the Anti-Submarine Division and the prizes paid out, they are explained by the process of post-war reassessments of U-boats destroyed. The final prize payments were made in 1932. Biographical Note Dr Innes McCartney (PhD Bournemouth University 2014) is a nautical archaeologist of the modern era, specialising in the relationship between historical texts and the archaeological record.