The campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare, which was relied upon by Germany to win the war by the extinction of the British mercantile marine and the stoppage of transatlantic supplies, had proved a failure by August, 1917, after six months’ duration.  While the tonnage destroyed by the undersea instruments of frightfulness was sufficiently serious to cause grave alarm on both sides of the Atlantic, it formed but a small percentage of the ships actively and continually engaged in the transportation of munitions and supplies, while it was practically counterbalanced by the activities of Allied shipbuilders and by the seizure for Allied service of interned German ships in the countries that entered the war subsequent to February 1, 1917, when the campaign of unrestricted destruction began.  Determined efforts were made by the British, French and United States navies to cope with the undersea enemy, and these were increasingly successful.  Many merchant ships and transports were convoyed to safety by the destroyers of the three great naval Allies, and by August the fear that Britain could be starved out by means of German submarines had practically disappeared.  The record of sinkings of British vessels for the first twenty-four weeks after the “unrestricted” warfare began was as follows: 

Over           Under
1,600          1,600          Smaller
Week                          tons.          tons.

First............               14             9
Second...........               13             4
Third............               16             8
Fourth ..........               19             7
Fifth............               18            13
Sixth ...........               17             2
Seventh..........               19             9
Eighth ..........               40            15
Ninth............               38            13
Tenth............               24            22
Eleventh ........               18             5
Twelfth..........               18             5
Thirteenth ......               18             1
Fourteenth ......               15             3
Fifteenth........               22            10
Sixteenth........               27             5
Seventeenth .....               21             7
Eighteenth ......               15             5
Nineteenth ......               14             3
Twentieth........               14             4
Twenty-first.....               21             3
Twenty-second ...               18             3
Twenty-third.....               21             2
Twenty-fourth ...               14             2

Total............              474           164

Grand total of ships sunk......

KING OF GREECE DEPOSED