 Instead, the London Naval Treaty required submarines to abide by "cruiser rules", which demanded they surface, search and place ship crews in "a place of safety" (for which lifeboats did not qualify, except under particular circumstances) before sinking them, unless the ship in question showed "persistent refusal to stop...or active resistance to visit or search".These regulations did not prohibit arming merchantmen, but doing so, or having them report contact with submarines (or raiders), made them "de facto" naval auxiliaries and removed the protection of the cruiser rules.This made restrictions on submarines effectively moot.