Charles Domville-Fife: Submarine Warfare of To-Day

The few minesweeping and other ships which had remained in the harbour through the night now commenced to show signs of returning life and activity. Heavy brown smoke poured from the funnels of some, the staccato noise of oil engines came from others, and men were busy on the decks of all. The night’s “rest” was over and the vital work of sweeping, possibly under an irritating fire from shore batteries and the strain of a necessarily ever-alert patrol, commenced afresh. The steady barometer promised a fine day for the harvesting of mines and, for the ships that returned, another night’s rest similar to the previous three!

Aberdeen harbour mined, 209

Aden, mine-field laid off, 145

Admiralty dispatch bearers, 108

Aerial attacks, 293-300

— bombs, effect of, 297

— warfare and submarine fighting, 273

Aircraft and convoys, 116

Airship, salving of, 273-279

Allied navies, 69

A memorable Christmas, 191-201

American first army, transport of, 124

Arctic patrol, 52, 227

— seas, work in, 193-201

Area of sea covered daily by sweepers, 161

Areas, command of, 23

— patrol of, 128-131

Armed liners, 51

Armies, transport of, 116

Atlantic patrol, 226-232

Australian first army, transport of, 123

Auxiliary patrol office, 25

Bases and their fleets, 113-115

— war, 23, 24, 102-115

Battle of Jutland, 248-256

Beatty, Sir David, 249, 255, 256

Blister system on monitors, 178

Blockade, naval, 18

Boarding parties, 201-208, 270

Bombardment of Zeebrugge, 287-293

Bombay, mine-field laid off, 145

Bombs, submarine, 91

Boom-defence ships, 68

— staff, 111

Brighton Queen , H.M.S., 54

Britannia , H.M.S., torpedoed, 101

British coast completely mined-in, 145

— Empire, dangerous position of, 117

Call of the White Ensign, 31, 33

Camouflaged ships, 73, 95

Canada, officers from, 44, 195

Canadian first army, transport of, 123

Case of mistaken identity, 190-191

Castaways, 238-247

Casualties, naval, in Great War, 27, 256

Casualty, a, 220

Chaplains, naval, 109-110

Christmas Day, 1916, 192-201

Clearing large mine-fields, 161

Coastal motor boats, 62

— construction of, 62-68

— method of attack, 65

— bases of, 65

— v. German destroyers, 66

— in actions off Zeebrugge and Ostend, 61, 68, 287

Colombo, mine-field laid off, 145

Colonial officers, 44-45

Colonies, aid from, 21

Concentration of British fleet, August, 1914, 17

Convoy, composition of, 118-119

Convoy ships, 115

Convoy system, 116-125

Convoying, difficulties of, 122

Convoys, minesweeping in front of, 121, 162

Co-operation between fleets of sea and air, 279

Cruiser Squadron, the Tenth, 51-52

Dan-buoys, 199

Danish derelict, 202-208

Decoy system of attack, 137-138

Deluding patrols, 236

Demobilisation, naval, 28

Depth charge, construction of, 80-84

— method of use, 80-84

— attacks with, 81-84, 262

Depth charges, 70, 84

Derelict, a, 201-208

Destruction of a U-C boat, 209, 218

Division of sea into patrol areas, 128-131

Docker battalions, 121

Dominions, aid from, 21

Dover lighted barrage, 183-185

— naval base, 103

Dover patrols, 286, 295-300

Drafting officers, 110

Drifter units, 54, 55, 114

Drifters, loss of in Adriatic, 56

— — in Straits of Dover, 56

Duffel clothing, 195

Dunkirk, a night spent in, 293-300

— patrols, 286, 293-300

Effect of danger on human senses, 261

Effect of shell fire, 256

Electrically controlled boats off Zeebrugge, 290-293

Engadine , H.M.S., 255

England’s food supply, 18-19

Evening quarters in warships, 41

Examination ships, 68

Excitement, suppressed, before an action, 259

Exploratory minesweeping, 158-161

Fight, an epic, 226-232

Finding the ships, guns and men, 21

Firth of Forth, mines in, 209

Fishing fleets, armed guards with, 279-285

Fleet sweeping, 161

French ship, mysterious disappearance of, 264

German High Sea Fleet, 249

— naval position in 1914, 18

— submarine bases, 127

— mine-laying, 143

— raiders, Wolfe and Moewe , 145

— mines, description of, 145, 148

— — and Hague Convention, 150-152

— mine-laying policy, 154-156

— submarine offensive, 155

— minesweeping, 169

— submarines, loss of, 186

— mine-field, a Christmas spent on, 192-201

Grand Fleet, 233, 255, 286

— bases, 103

Granton Naval Base, 103

Guarding a mine-field, 201

Gunboats patrol, 53

Gunnery classes, 43-44

Harbour duties, 115

— mines at entrance to, 209-219

— sweeping, 162

Harwich patrols, 286

Hermione , training ship for new navy, 33, 36-49

Hope of action, 202

Hydrophone attack, 134-135

— branch of naval service, 76

— flotillas, 134-135

Hydrophones, 70-84

— object of, 70

— portable, 71

— — use of, 71-72

— construction of, 72-74

— limitations in use of, 77-78

— directional, 75

— — use of, 76

— fitted in U and U-C boats, 76-77

Iceland fishing fleet, 195, 200

Indian Ocean, mine-fields in, 145

Indicator nets, 85, 89, 138, 258-263

Intelligence offices in naval bases, 108, 129

Interpreter officers, 68

Invincible , H.M.S., 255

Isolation of mined areas, 159

Jellicoe, Sir John, 252

King’s Messengers, 108

Lance bombs, 91

Life-boat, work of, 222-223

Lighted barrage, 183

Lightning reveals U-boat, 260

Lion , H.M.S., after Jutland, 56, 254

Liverpool harbour mined-in, 209

Loss of ships, percentage of, 54, 55

Lowestoft harbour mined-in, 209

Lusitania , sinking of, 18

Manning of British ships in past, 20

Mercantile fleets under convoy, 116

— Marine, 122

— shipping in danger zone, 209

Merchant ships, loss of, due to mines, 155

Methods of attacking submarines, 134-142

Mine barrages, 129, 139, 156, 179, 286

Mine-field, Christmas on, 192-200

Mine-fields, deep-laid, 139, 179-186

Mine-layers, 233-236

Mine nets, 39, 138

Mine-protection devices, 175-178

Mined areas, isolation of, 159

Minesweeping, 54, 121, 157, 178, 209, 293-300

Mine-laying from U-C boats, 152-153, 157

Mines destroyed by British Navy, 155, 158, 209

Mines, floating, 150

Mining School, Portsmouth, 163

M.L.’s. See under Motor Launches

Modified sweeps, 96-101

Moewe , German raider, 145

Monotony, effect of, 280

Moonlight, effect of on searchlights, 297-298

Moral effect of air raids, 295

Moray Firth, mine-field in, 161

Morning divisions in warships, 41

Motor launch flotillas, 36, 115, 134-136

Motor launches, Admiralty contract for, 57

Motor launches, arrival of, 38

— construction of, 58-62

— description of, 56

— area patrolled by, 61

— loss of, 62

— in actions off Zeebrugge and Ostend, 62, 287

Mysteries of sea war, 264-272

— of submarine hunting, 126-162

— of German mine-laying, 143-156

— of minesweeping, 157-178

Mystery ships, 96, 101

— numbers employed, 96

National Insurance, 125

Naval bases, 102-115

— centres, 129

— College, Greenwich, 35

— policy, British, 31