Todd war diary, 3 August 1914-29 February 1916 / Arthur Todd - Page 150
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[Page 150]
After steaming for ten days up and down & zig zagging every ten minutes some times going right in to the three mile limit and other times standing well out to sea, the Sydney left Halifax to coal and give the ships company a rest.
We sailed up near the great banks of which Kipling writes in the Captains Courageous and saw the fishing fleets at work. They at any rate did not seem to worry about submarines.
It was summer time and the weather was almost warm and the sea like glass and we looked forward to seeing the visiting first big British city town we had seen since leaving Sydney. On the 20th August in the early morning we reached harbour and sailed steamed right up to Bedford basin which lies at the head of the long narrow inlet in the shores of which Halifax is built.
In Bedford basin we found the Flagship and several other cruisers of the patrol doing their harbour spell.
Frightfulness was in full swing.
Each ship only got night leave twice a week and the rest of the time armed and darkened ship against prowling submarines.
The chance of a submarine getting up past the town of Halifax