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[Page 101]
1915.
for orders from the Admiralty. It was not known where the Grand Fleet under Admiral Jellicoe was stationed but rumour had it that they were at Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands. There were countless mine-sweepers round our coasts sweeping for mines & destroying them. A good deal of information was kept from the British public, in order to prevent the Germans from taking advantage of the facts. Two of our submarines were said to have been lost in the raid on Kiel at Xmas. The "Queen Mary" at Cromarty one night saw the periscope of a submarine and opened fire on it. Some of the shots ricocheted on to the shore & destroyed a house, but, fortunately, there was no loss of life. On the outbreak of war it was found that it would be greatly to the advantage of the Germans to learn of losses of ships not directly attributable to German torpedoes or guns, &, therefore, in some cases, losses were not reported where there was no loss of life. In one such case H.M.S. "Audacious", a powerful new ship, foundered after striking a mine in Lough Swilly, off the North of Ireland. All ships in the Firth of Forth were kept at 4 hours notice for full speed, & no ship was allowed to have more than 200 tons of coal short of full stowage. Occasionally, when activity was manifest