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[Page 8]
Ever since the Australian destroyer flotilla had taken over the Adriatic barrage we lived in constant expectation of having a brush with the Enemy destroyers and perhaps big ships, any night we were out on patrol. Should they appear as they did in June 1918 - with very disastrous results to our drifters, we had very distinct orders how to act.
As the enemy if he came out at all was presumed to be superior to the patrol in numbers, speed and gun fire, to engage him on sight would be merely asking for trouble and at the same time defeating our raison d'etre of affording protection to the drifters to the Southward of us. Our orders were then, on sighting the enemy surface craft to turn south away from them at full speed simultaneously informing C-in-C Brindisi as to their disposition and the composition (class of vessel) opposed to us. The object of turning south was to lure the enemy as far away from his base as possible in order to give our ships in Brindisi, between him and his base, ample time to come out from that port and thus cut off his retreat.
It was not likely that any enemy force having reached our patrol line some fifty miles south of Brindisi and as many more from his base would continue much further to the southward after having been once discovered, and so we were ordered the moment he showed any inclination to retire we were to attack.
Addenda [handwritten arrow]
Well night after night passed, and although we were but three anything but modern destroyers, and very lightly armed in comparison with the Austrian T.B.D's our bashful foe never attempted to interfere with us until the night of April 22nd 1918. By that time we had been re-inforced by the arrival of the 5th (Imperial) Flotilla already alluded to in previous articles - and our numbers on patrol from a modest three, had been swelled to a more substantial eight. These eight boats after dark, patrolled on an East and West line drawn two miles north of Cape Otranto on the Italian side and Cape Lingnetta on the Albanian. They patrolled in sub-divisions of two, spread out five miles apart and altered course by Greenwich meantime correcting their positions by the lights on either main land which although not constantly burning were shown at certain intervals known to ourselves during the dark hours.
On the night of April 22nd the patrol was composed as follows from West to East "Jackal" and "Hornet", "Comet" (Senior officer) and "Torrens" "Lizard" and "Rifleman" "Alarm" and "Scimitaire" the latter being French, and about three knots faster than any of the others. The "Gloucester" (light