exploit produced a profound impression on both sides of the
North Sea. It was the first striking success of the German sub-
marine. For the moment something had to be found to cover
the proposed operations on the Belgian coast, and it was decided
to lay mines in the Narrows. The idea was no new one. It had
been part of the British war plans in 1913, but the plans had
outrun the performance, for the mines available at the outbreak
of war required new pistols and new mooring- ropes, and could
not be laid in the positions indicated on account of the tide. This
had been pointed out in May 1914, and the work was now taken
seriously in hand. A large area was notified on Oct. 2, and three
lines of mines were laid between the Downs and Holland, but
unfortunately the design of the mines was defective and their
real utility small.
The commander-in-chief had hardly been informed of this new policy when on Oct. 2 he was ordered to take special measures to ensure the safety of the Canadian convoy, which was on its way across. For eight days a special watch was established, with the whole fleet stretching right across the waters between Fair I. and Norway. The convoy consisted of 31 ships, escorted by Adml. Wemyss and Cruiser Force G right across the Atlantic. The battle-cruiser " Princess Royal " went out into the Atlantic to meet it, and she and the old battle- ship " Majestic " brought it safely in to Plymouth on Oct. 14. The battle-fleet had retired, but the loth Cruiser Squadron was still patrolling the next day at 10 A.M. on a line between Peterhead and the Naze 10 m. apart, when the " Hawke," which had stopped to get her mails from the " Endymion," and was going on again at 12 or 13 knots, was struck by a torpedo from Ug. There was only time to lower two seaboats, and 500 lives were lost as she sank.
The losses were not all on the British side. The British submarine 9 (Lt.-Comm. Max Horton), lying off Heligoland, had sunk the small cruiser " Hela " on Sept. 12, and now one of the German minelaying enterprises came to a sudden and disastrous end. Four German destroyers of the 7th Torpedo Half Flotilla (8115, Sn6, 8117, 8119) left the Ems in the morning of Oct. 17 to lay mines off the North Foreland, but the " Undaunted " with some of the British 3rd Flotilla (" Lennox," " Lance," " Legion," and " Loyal ") was waiting for them in the Narrows, and after a chase and sharp fight the last German boat sank off the Texel at 4:30 P.M. The success came very happily, for the guns were again busy on the Belgian coast. Dover had now became a separate command under Rear-Adml. the Hon. Horace Hood. A great German attack was gathering against Nieuport, and Joffre had asked on Oct. 16 for naval guns to act against the German right. Hood's light craft hurried across, followed by the monitors, and for nearly a week they maintained a heavy fire over the sand dunes against the German flank.
While the " Lennox " and " Lance " were sending their last shots into the German boats the British destroyers in the north were again engaged in a feverish hunt over the Flow. In the afternoon of Oct. 16 a German submarine was reported close to Switha Sound on the west side of the main entrance. Again the fleet had to raise steam and get to sea that night. There can be little doubt that these alarms were false, but they serve as a reminder that the British preparations for war were far from complete. The menace of the submarine had been recognized in 1912, and arrangements could have been devised for rapidly defending harbours by means of mines and booms. But the British mines were defective, and no suitable booms had been designed. The commander-in-chief proceeded to sea, and in view of the defenceless state of Scapa decided to take the fleet to Lough S willy. Its arrival there on Oct. 22 meant a serious dislocation of the war plans, which were beginning to give way both in the north and south through the pressure of the German submarine. The proper reply, booms and a supply of efficient mines, had not been foreseen and was not forthcoming.
Oct. 1914 saw the sudden dispatch of the R.N. Division to Antwerp, and the landing of forces at Dunkirk and on the Belgian coast. The defence of Antwerp was a military and not a naval problem, but the extension of the transport routes to the Belgian
coast and the landing of he 7th Division at Zeebrugge on Oct. 7 represented a considerable expansion of the original war plans, and brought a heavy strain on the Dover Patrol. The old battleship " Venerable " joined Rear-Adml. Hood's force, and lent the Belgian army the support of her guns in the German attack on Nieuport, which culminated on Nov. 2, when they fell back from the Yser as the waters rose.
On Oct. 27, when the Nieuport sluices were being opened, a bad piece of news arrived. The move to Lough Swilly had proved singularly unfortunate. Two days before the battle- fleet left Scapa, the " Berlin," a large Norddeutscher Lloyd of 17,000 tons, had left on a minelaying cruise, and laid mines on Oct. 23 some 26 m. north-west of Lough Swilly in the north of Ireland. On the 27th the " Audacious " going out to battle practice struck one of them, though she remained afloat for some hours. The White Star liner " Olympic," outward bound full of passengers, came up and tried to tow her, but found her unmanageable. At 9 P.M. she was still ism. from Lough Swilly when she settled, sank and blew up. With the Grand Fleet 300 m. from the North Sea, the whole groundwork of the British war plans was giving way, and the commander-in-chief left to confer with the Admiralty. It was a new board he met. Prince Louis of Battenberg (Marquess of Milford Haven) had resigned, and Lord Fisher had stepped into his place.
It was decided that the 3rd Battle Squadron of King Edward's should leave the Grand Fleet and reinforce the Channel Fleet, thus securing the situation in the south. Nowhere did naval activity on the part of the enemy seem so likely as off the Belgian coast, where a small number of old British ships were fighting, 1,000 m. from the Grand Fleet at Lough Swilly, and barely 300 m. from the Bight. To secure the approach to Dover and the Belgian coast it was decided to lay mines in the North Sea, which was declared a military area on Nov. 2. The notification was hardly issued when news came in on Nov. 3 of a German raid on the east coast. This was made by the battle-cruisers " Seyd- litz," " Moltke," " Von der Tann," " Blucher," the armoured cruiser " Yorck," and three light cruisers, with the object of covering the light cruiser " Kolberg " in laying a minefield some 15 m. from Yarmouth. Commodore (T), whose flotillas were patrolling in the Narrows, sent them off in chase. The Admiralty thought the raid was a prelude to something bigger, and ordered the Grand Fleet to proceed to Scapa and Beatty to put to sea, but by 4 P.M. the Germans were well on their way home and the orders to the Grand Fleet and Beatty were cancelled. The Germans did not get home scot-free. The "Yorck" struck a mine off the Jade and sank.
The commotion had barely died down when early in the morning of Nov. 4 a telegram arrived from the British consul- general at Valparaiso with news of Coronel (see CORONEL). Cradock's squadron had been wiped off the board, and the whole system of trade defence began to tremble under the menace of von Spee's approach. This marks a milestone in the war. Steps were instantly taken to retrieve the situation; but to understand it we must leave home waters for a time.
Cruiser Warfare, 1914. Outside home waters the principal task of the British navy was the protection of trade, and cruiser squadrons were stationed for this purpose at the focal points of maritime traffic, a system which may be termed the " Squad- ron " or " Patrol " system as compared with the " Convoy " system adopted later against the submarine. The number of German cruisers abroad was comparatively small. The largest squadron was von Spee's, consisting of the armoured cruisers " Scharnhorst " and " Gneisenau " (each 8 8-2-in., 8 s-9-in., 20 j knots), and the light cruisers " Emden," " Niirnberg " and " Leipzig," which threatened China, Australia and the East Indies, and gave rise to reactions which were felt over the whole world. In the East Indies was the " Konigsberg," a German light cruiser with 10 4-i-in. guns, able to steam 22 or 23 knots, and in the Atlantic the " Dresden " and " Karlsruhe," armed with 12 4-i-in., and with a full seagoing speed of 25 to 26 knots. This completes the tale of German cruisers abroad.
As soon as war broke out the introduction of a Government
