British Submarines in the Great War Author:Edwyn Gray British submarine crews in World War I faced almost as great a danger from their new and untried vessels as they did from enemy action. Five submarine commanders won the Victoria Cross in a variety of operations around the world. In addition to attacks on naval vessels and merchant ships, the submarines conducted early versions of "economy of fo... more »rce" operations, with a few submarines bottling up large numbers of German and Turkish vessels in the Baltic and Mediterranean.« less