In the introductory note to his
account of British submarine actions in World War I, William Guy Carr explained
the title as follows:
““By Guess and By God” was a
phrase coined during the war by navigating officers of British submarines to
describe the manner of their navigating. A surface ship in peace time proceeding
on her way without celestial or other aids to navigation goes “by dead
reckoning.” A submarine in war time, with all artificial aids to navigation
removed, with no chance to take a sight for days on end, harassed by the enemy,
with compasses often acting queerly, went “by guess and by God.” Blind as bats,
we guessed and prayed inwardly that we guessed right: the rest was in the hands
of Providence.”
During my own time in submarines,
fifty years after the events described by Carr, there were many occasions when
I “prayed inwardly.” Needless to say, a predicted landfall or confirming change
in the depth of the ocean below us allowed us to breathe a little easier.
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