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[Page 100]
1915.
other ships of the squadron were "Lion" (flagship of Sir David Beatty) "Tiger", "Princess Royal" "Queen Mary" "Indomitable" & "New Zealand", all of which had been in the recent North Sea action when the German ship "Blucher" was sunk. Many were the stories we heard of that fight. It appears that the English ships had plenty of warning of the intentions of the German ships, thanks to the excellence of the Intelligence department at the Admiralty. These intentions were probably to bombard East coast towns as formerly. Consequently, everything was ready when the Germans were sighted. They turned & ran, with a good start, & all managed to reach home, although considerably damaged, with the exception of "Blucher" which was sunk. The survivors picked up from the "Blucher" were very surprised to hear of the actual state of affairs in England. Evidently, they had been led to believe that London was partially laid in ruins by Zeppelins, & that German submarines had destroyed the Forth Bridge.
Feb. 18
On the declaration of the submarine blockade of Great Britain by Germany, we were constantly informed of the positions of floating mines, & the whereabouts of hostile submarines when observed. This information was diseminated by means of wireless telegraph. In the meantime, we were quietly waiting, at 4 hours notice for full speed,