It is often said that wars, specifically the moneys that wars attract, are an influential engine for technological advancement. And while this is an over-simplification of a much more nuanced truth, the SMS Wolf is a good example of how war drives humanity to explore the limits of industry and technology in the hopes of finding a competitive advantage. The Wolf is a chronicle not only of the SMS Wolf and its journey, but of the human forces that propel us to such extremes.
On November 30th, 1916, the SMS Wolf, a vessel of the German Imperial Navy, left port on a fourteen-month journey that would see it travel half the Earth's surface, sink 37 enemy vessels, capture 467 prisoners of war and return home to Germany without once putting into port. To achieve this, the SMS Wolf disguised itself as a commercial vessel, lulling its prey into a false sense of security before it revealed its true colors and stormed its enemy. Though its primary mission was to mine important harbors in Australia and Asia, it took every opportunity to terrorize commercial shipping in the same region, efforts which, thanks to the self-censorship of the Australian press, were only marginally successful. Captained by a charismatic soldier whose powerful will kept his ship on mission for fully half the war without taking instruction from his superiors, the SMS Wolf became, for many, a floating habitat, as entire enemy crews were imprisoned aboard her decks, crews that were fed, housed and largely allowed to mingle with the Wolf's crew until it returned home in February of 1918.
Mr. Gilliath and Mr. Hohnen effectively tell three stories in The Wolf. They describe the commercial raider's mission, the life aboard ship during that time, and the impact it had on the countries it attacked. And given the tendency for authors of micro history to flesh out the minutest details in order to justify their publication, they manage to balance these three interests with an admirable eye for the compelling. There are no villains here, no sides to root for. There are merely human beings, some with missions to attack, some with obligations to protect, and others who get caught between. Of the three legs of the narrative, the plight of the captives is the most potent, as the authors reconstruct the journals of men and women who, in exchange for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, earn a 14 month stay on a warship fighting a war they aren't involved in. What surprises is the intensity of The snapshot the authors take of Australia in the early 20th century. Compared to what is, governmentally, a fairly liberal democracy today, it is, in 1918, little more than a colonial property with a compliant press, a restrictive government and a oppressive police.
This is excellent work, as gripping to naval aficionados as war enthusiasts and fans of extreme pursuits. (3/5 Stars)
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