London Protocol, Article 22

[Oldgamer48]

I noticed in my briefing (using SH3 Commander), prior to my first war patrol, a mention of the London Protocol, Article 22. I was intrigued by this, and decided to see what it said. From http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/1909b.htm , I quote the following:

CONTRABAND OF WAR
Art. 22. The following articles may, without notice (*), be treated as contraband of war, under the name of absolute contraband:
(1) Arms of all kinds, including arms for sporting purposes, and their distinctive component parts. (2) Projectiles, charges, and cartridges of all kinds, and their distinctive component parts. (3) Powder and explosives specially prepared for use in war.
(4) Gun-mountings, limber boxes, limbers, military waggons, field forges, and their distinctive component parts.
(5) Clothing and equipment of a distinctively military character.
(6) All kinds of harness of a distinctively military character.
(7) Saddle, draught, and pack animals suitable for use in war.
(8) Articles of camp equipment, and their distinctive component parts.
(9) Armour plates.
(10)Warships, including boats, and their distinctive component parts of such a nature that they can only be used on a vessel of war.
(11)Implements and apparatus designed exclusively for the manufacture of munitions of war, for the manufacture or repair of arms, or war material for use on land or sea.

I don't know if any of this has the slightest effect on gameplay. I'm not even sure that you can "stop" a merchant ... especially a neutral ... and see if it has any contraband on it (thereby allowing you to sink the ship). Quite frankly, I haven't played far enough into the game to see what happens. However, I thought the above was interesting, from a historical standpoint. It was signed in 1909.

[Dantenoc]

the game doesn't model this at all... the radio messeges are just there to make it easier for you to "make beleive".

[Payoff]

It would be pretty cool if you could put a shot across her bow and trigger a merchie to stop for a short amount of time for inspection. :hmm:

[Captain Nemo]

I read about Article 22 recently. It meant that u-boat commanders had to stop and search merchants that they came across and if found to be carrying contraband could be legitimately sunk. Before doing this the crew of the merchant had to be allowed to abandon ship before the ship was sunk by the u-boat. At the beginning of the war several ships were sunk observing Article 22. However, as the war progressed it bacame unworkable as Allied air cover extended well beyond the ports and coasts of Britain and it was risky for u-boats to surface and board a merchant without being attacked by aircraft or a destroyer in the vicinity that had been alerted by the merchant with the emergency call sign "SSS". Unrestricted attacks against Allied merchant shipping was soon to follow.

Nemo

[Oldgamer48]

Originally Posted by Dantenoc

the game doesn't model this at all... the radio messeges are just there to make it easier for you to "make beleive".

I suspected that this was the case. It does raise a question in this "newbie's" mind about how BdU treats my sinking of neutral shipping! Indeed, I chased down a coastal merchant, yesterday, and came close to launching a torpedo at her, until I realised that she was being escorted by a Type 34.

As a former actor, I'm in favor of "Make Believe"!

@ Payoff
It would be cool. I know that one of the mods models tanks and other military items stored on the decks of merchants. A good compromise would be allowing the player to sink such a merchant, even if neutral, if contraband were stored on its decks.

@ Captain Nemo
All one needs is for a substantial portion of the crew to be aboard a merchie, when an aircraft or a destroyer shows up! I agree with you that technological and policy developments in WWII pretty well rendered Article 22 irrelevant.

[vienna]

It wasn't just the presence of aircraft or escorts that led to the abandonment of the stop-search-sink procedure and adoption of unrestricted submarine warfare; the arming of merchant ships and the use of so called "mystery ships" to lure the submarine to the surface gave further weight to the policy of shoot first/check later.

[Jimbuna]

Not to mention the 'Q' ship (crafty beggars)