Dead Wake: The Last Crossing Of The Lusitania

The submarine is an important motif throughout Dead Wake, often signifying the broader ways in which new technology alters warfare throughout World War I. At the start of the war, both Germany and Britain underestimate the importance of submarines, instead focusing on traditional strategies of naval warfare. However, on September 22, 1914, a German submarine torpedoes three large British cruisers, causing them to sink. Both Germany and Britain quickly realize the power of submarines, and Germany devotes its entire naval strategy to submarine warfare. The shift in strategy proves successful, and Germany’s submarines prove to be difficult foes for Britain’s naval cruisers. However, submarine warfare ushers in a crueler form of naval warfare. Submarines operate in isolation, allowing the submarine’s captain total control over which targets the submarine will attack and whether the submarine will help rescue any survivors. Many of Germany’s submarine captains, such as the U-20’s captain, become known for brutally pursuing and attacking innocent ships. In one instance, Captain Schwieger torpedoes (and misses) a ship clearly “marked with large red crosses” to denote that it is a hospital ship (59). The cruelty of this naval warfare parallels the similarly brutal trench warfare that characterizes World War I’s land combat.