So matters went on until the night of the 18th of March, when, owing to heavy off-shore gales, the _Thracia_ broke adrift, her anchors, cables, and ropes being lost and her windlass broken. Fortunately, a few days later, the ice began to open here and there, and with the courageous assistance of another vessel, and under her own steam, she succeeded at last in reaching a position inside the bar of the Archangel river on April 9th, when her cargo was landed in good condition on the stationary river ice and conveyed by sleighs to Archangel. Her troubles, however, were not yet over, for within less than three weeks, the river ice itself began to break, and the outgoing stream, carrying this broken ice to sea, drove the _Thracia_ on to the Bar. Her propeller blades were now reduced to the merest stumps, but in spite of this, she succeeded, at high water, in working herself free again by her own exertions. Obtaining ground tackle from another ship, which had come down from Archangel at the first break-up of the ice, the _Thracia_ was enabled to come to anchorage in the gulf, and here she remained for about a week until the Dwina river was finally cleared of ice. She then proceeded slowly up river to the town itself, where she arrived on May 9th. So great had been the damage sustained by her, that she was then dry-docked for the necessary repairs to enable her to return to England; and when she at last arrived home, about the middle of August, 1915, it was not until her voyage had lasted some seven and a half months. After this diversion, let us return to the record of the war experiences of other Cunarders. It was on March 30th, 1917, that the _Valacia_, Captain J. F. Simpson, left London for New York, and it was at 5.30 the next evening that she was struck on the port side by a torpedo, when in the English Channel off the Eddystone Lighthouse. An attempt was made by one of the torpedo boats, of which several happened to be in the neighbourhood, to tow the _Valacia_, whose No. 6 hold, engine-room, and stoke-hold were all full of water. She proved too heavy, however, and tugs were accordingly sent from the shore, the Admiralty officials intending to try and beach the ship. Although a heavy gale was blowing at the time, Captain Simpson, in view of the fact that the bulkheads were holding, strongly advised that this course should not be pursued, but that an attempt should be made to tow the _Valacia_ into Plymouth Harbour. This advice was taken, and as it proved with complete success, the _Valacia_ being taken safely into Plymouth Harbour, where she was subsequently docked for repairs, and whence she was enabled, within a few months, to take her place again in the Company’s fleet, and do much useful service. [Illustration: “AQUITANIA” AS HOSPITAL SHIP]