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[Page 49]
In those days, beyond a few destroyers and a cruiser or two, Brindisi was essentially a commercial port. In the days of War commerce for Brindisi was a thing of the past, and it had become a vast naval base and arsenal. It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that by the beginning of 1918 the waters of its harbour were only visible in patches, so crammed was it with destroyers, submarines and cruisers, with their attendant depot and repair ships, oilers and colliers.
From Brindisi it was that the Salonika and Albanian fronts were kept reinforced, the harbour of Valona on the Albanian coast being only about five hours distant for moderately fast ships, and there the Italians had established another base.
Under Italian Command
The flotilla now came under the orders of the Italian Commander in Chief, Admiral Acton, who had at his disposal, in addition to the Italian ships, the British eighth light cruiser squadron under Commodore P. Hill, R.N., an English and a French submarine flotilla and a division of French destroyers. For purposes of patrol work the flotilla was ordered to work in two divisions, one division relieving the other every four days.
The nature and object of the Adriatic barrage should now be explained. Glancing at a map of the Adriatic a very cursory glance will show that the Austrian ports of Pola, Cattaro and Durazzo were, from the enemy's point of view, peculiarly convenient for the harbouring of their submarines, and so it was that from these ports that 99% of the enemy submarines in the Mediterranean operated.
The Adriatic Barrage
The Adriatic barrage was established in order to prevent the ingress and egress of the submarines from and to these ports. At first the barrage was confined to two or three lines of English