[Page 233]
[par]ticular Job they do not fancy, or when told to do a particular thing in a way they do not fancy, would insure an instant Court Martial for anyone in the regular Service. They are great Grumblers, but the work is always done, and done efficiently. One old Devonshire Skipper was heard to remark 'Its lucky King George has these ere Trawlers' as he swept the Horizon for Battleships and large Transports, which were safely sheltering during one of the periodical Submarine scares. There is a lot of truth in this. For it is these handy shallow draught Craft, which have made the supply of the Army possible in the past, and on which the Army will have to rely in the Winter, when the Storms turn the peaceful Mediterranean into a raging wilderness, of short choppy Seas. Our Fleet has in fact entirely changed since the end of May. We now control the narrow waters, between the Islands and the Mainland, by our Destroyers, Trawlers, and the new Monitors , which now cover the Army instead of the Battleships.
One of the most arduous Duties, which falls to the Navy, is keeping up the Service of Picquet Boats. These steam Pinnaces are marvelous Craft. At every Beach in Gallipoli, and at all the Islands, it is they who form the ultimate means of communication between the Sea and the Shore. They are the friend of every individual, and every Craft, Trawler, or Lighter, in distress. If you want to go anywhere you must take a Picquet Boat. The Lighters full of Stores or Horses or Ammunition, are filled up from the Trawlers, or small Transports, and then you see one of these Picquet Boats dash out from the Pier, tie up alongside, and bring them in through rough Seas or swirling Tides, with a skill that is amazing to the lay mind. At one time there was a shortage of these precious Craft, ow-