Instead, the London Naval Treaty required submarines to abide by "cruiser rules", which demanded they surface, search[15] and place ship crews in "a place of safety" (for which lifeboats did not qualify, except under particular circumstances)[16] before sinking them, unless the ship in question showed "persistent refusal to stop...or active resistance to visit or search".[17] These regulations did not prohibit arming merchantmen,[18] 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.[19] This made restrictions on submarines effectively moot.[18]