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[Page 104]
1915
was kept for submarines & floating mines.
March 9
"Tiger" & "Invincible" each sighted & sank a floating mine.
March. 10.
The following day a hostile submarine was seen by "New Zealand", & the whole squadron altered course, & steamed away at full speed. The constant menace of mines & submarines is by no means as terrifying as one might imagine. One feels secure with a solid deck beneath one's feet, & after having been at sea for a few days without seeing either mine or submarine one gets confident, & begins to doubt if there is really any danger at all. Sometimes, chiefly at night-time there is heard here & there a fervent wish expressed that we shall not meet with disaster during the night. Darkness adds materially to one's helplessness especially in ice cold water, where one could only expect to survive a few minutes with very little chance of being seen & picked up by other ships. In fact, since "Hogue" "Cressy" & "Aboukir" had been lost after having been torpedoed by a German submarine, the two latter ships having stopped to effect rescues from the first ship, the Admiralty had issued strict orders that ships were not to stop to pick up survivors. Therefore, in any case, hopes of rescue would not be bright. After 3 days useful exercises, the Fleet returned to its base at Rosyth, each ship with all lights out, sliding quietly in single