The voyage of the submarine merchantman "Deutschland" has, for a long time past, been the subject of eager speculation among the nations of the Old and New worlds.

The wildest rumours regarding the fate of our cruise have appeared in the newspapers, to say nothing of the pretty imaginative stories in which the English have announced again and again that we were stranded or sunk, or, still worse, dispatched to America in bales of cargo.

How often we chuckled on board when our wireless operator picked up one of these nice English wild goose stories from the air!

It is with all the greater pleasure, therefore, that I am now about to start on this account of our fairy-like cruise and adventures. Not that it was such a "fairy-like" business after all. It could hardly be that, for we went as far out of the way of adventure as possible.

Readers must not therefore expect to find in this little book a series of thrilling experiences such as are to be met with in the published narratives of the voyages of battleships. Our task was to bring our valuable cargo to America as smoothly and with as few incidents as possible; to get the better of the English blockade, and to return safely with an equally valuable cargo. This we succeeded in doing, as the following account will show. But as events will prove, things did not by any means always work as smoothly as they might have done, and if at times we were in a pretty tight corner and much occurred that was not on our programme, my readers must thank the amiable activities of the English for all these exciting little incidents.

In spite of such things, however, our enemies were not able to hinder our voyage, though they certainly helped very materially in making it more varied and interesting, and it would be ingratitude on our part not to acknowledge this.

And here I must specially thank my two officers of the watch, Krapohl and Eyring, whose notes have helped to make this account complete. It is impossible for a commander to be always on the conning-tower—I had almost said the "bridge" from force of habit—and six eyes see further than two. For it must be remembered that careful observation is necessary, above everything, on a submarine.

Indeed, a great number of the incidents related here came to my knowledge through the observations of my officers. Throughout the cruise they proved true and unflagging companions, and to-day they have also become fellow-workers with me in writing this account of the voyage.

My thanks are due to them, even more than to the English, and I trust my readers' gratitude will likewise be extended to them when they have read this book.

The Author.

THE VOYAGE
OF THE "DEUTSCHLAND"