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[Page 105]
1915.
file, under the cover of darkness, into the Firth of Forth, & under the great Forth Bridge to our respective anchorages. Leaving & arriving at our base always took place during the dark hours, thus guarding against submarine attacks in the narrow channels. Submarines were reported by our destroyers from time to time, & we knew that some of them were waiting to attack us near the Firth of Forth, whenever the opportunity occurred. it is comparitively easy for a large fast ship to avoid a submarine, when sighted by the former. Immediately the submarine is seen, full speed is put on & a zig-zag course steered, which outpaces the submarine & gives her a varying target for her torpedo. In the case of a destroyer sighting a submarine, she at once attempts to ram it, being able to turn quickly, & steam at very high speeds towards it. A destroyer draws too little water to be certainly hit by a torpedo, &, therefore, has little to fear from a submarine. The great change in conditions of climate to which the crew had been subjected soon made itself apparent, & nearly everybody on board suffered from severe coughs & cold.
March. 17.
Three men died from pneumonia. However, after a few weeks the danger disappeared. Snowfalls were frquent & low temperatures continued right up to the advent of spring.