Traditional prize procedure assumed that a warship could stop a merchantman, place a prize crew aboard, and send the capture to a friendly port. A submarine had little spare space for detained crews and could not easily supervise a seized ship. The Central Powers' lack of an Atlantic coastline also left few practical destinations for captures made far from home. Those platform and basing constraints pushed submarine operations toward sinking ships rather than taking prizes. A legal rule can become difficult to enforce when a weapon's physical design and operating geography work against it.
Notable Point · 25:25-25:58
Why submarines struggled to obey prize rules
Prize law assumed room for captured crews and access to a friendly port, two requirements that worked badly for Central Powers submarines in the Atlantic.