War in the Underseas — Inside the Classic

Narrative Voice and Rhetorical Flourishes

Wheeler’s authorial voice is that of a historian with a flair for the dramatic. He uses personification and metaphor to animate naval vessels: British submarines are described as having inquisitive noses, while a U-boat is called a pirate. The foreword’s dedication to Geoffrey Charles Taskar Keyes expresses a hope that he may emulate his father’s daring at Zeebrugge and Ostend, linking the book to contemporary heroism. Wheeler also employs rhetorical contrasts—such as the British Navy being neither spiteful nor cruel compared to German actions—to reinforce a moral framework. These stylistic choices give the narrative a purposeful, almost propagandistic energy, though they are grounded in specific operational details.

Pacing and Action Sequences

The excerpts reveal a deliberate variation in pace. Wheeler often begins a section with a calm, almost mundane observation—such as a seaplane pilot finding his patrol a trifle boring without action—before accelerating into a sudden engagement. The attack on a U-boat by a blimp is narrated with step-by-step precision: the bomb falling three feet short, oil spurting to the surface, then a direct hit aft of the conning-tower. This rhythm of lull and crisis mirrors the actual experience of naval patrols, where long stretches of vigilance are punctuated by moments of intense action. Wheeler’s sentences grow shorter and more urgent during combat, creating a sense of immediacy.

Recurring Details and Technical Observations

Wheeler repeatedly notes the interplay between different branches of naval warfare: submarines, airships, seaplanes, and surface patrols. He describes how a British coastal airship altered course to traverse the trail of a torpedo, traveling at a rate approaching ninety miles an hour. Technical details—such as ballast tanks filling slowly, or bombs exploding astern of propellers—anchor the narrative in practical realities. Wheeler also highlights the fallibility of perception: presumed periscopes are sometimes nothing more than mops or spars. These observations ground the heroic tone in the mundane challenges of naval operations, from breakdowns to the difficulty of spotting submerged U-boats.

Readers approaching War in the Underseas should attend to Wheeler’s careful construction of suspense and his use of technical detail to lend authenticity. The book rewards those interested in the operational realities of WWI submarine warfare, but its patriotic framing and occasional moralizing reflect the context of 1918. For a fuller understanding, compare Wheeler’s accounts with official naval histories or later scholarly analyses of the U-boat campaign.

Reading Wheeler’s cramped patrols, I remembered my grandfather’s silence about the Somme. Strange, how war’s mechanics—his tunnels, their torpedoes—leave such hollow echoes in those who return. That same weight filled the pages of On the Anzac trail: Being extracts from the diary of a New Zealand sapper — Reading Notes, another quiet voice from beneath the roar.