Cardiff does not bulk large on the war maps. Mention of it recalls no such adventure as at Zeebrugge, no such achievement as laying the mine-barrage in the North Sea, or sinking of submarines at Durazzo or on the high seas. But it spelled coal for our forces, and meant hard work and called for efficient management. The limited number of colliers, the time for making voyages to American coal fields, and the hazard from U-boats suggested obtaining coal from Wales for the needs of the army in France. The Army requested the Navy to release colliers for that service, and at first to operate twenty "lake" and other chartered boats and undertake the carrying of coal from Great Britain to supplement the steady flow from America. Admiral Philip Andrews, with headquarters at Cardiff, directed this work, which required a naval personnel of 4,101, operated 65 ships, and delivered 30,000 to 45,000 tons of coal each month. There is no glamour about the work of repairing ships. Even in peace times it is a hard overalls job, but our nine European bases with eleven repair ships and tenders, kept our ships in condition. If I were a poet I would immortalize the skilled men, working in the dark, often flat on their backs, to keep our ships fit and to repair the ravages of U-boat attacks. Not counting the 500 ships going and coming from the United States to Europe, often calling for first aid, we had nearly 400 ships on duty in European waters. Though taxed by their own needs, the facilities of our Allies were freely at our disposal, but the fact that it was possible to make our forces so nearly self-sustaining is a high tribute to the officers and men charged with that duty. Allied navies expressed admiration for the ability of a ship's force to do much of their own repairing, and marvelled at the efficiency of the repair ships--the _Melville_, _Dixie_, _Panther_, _Prometheus_, _Bridgeport_, _Black Hawk_. Our own Shipping Board voiced its thanks for naval assistance abroad as well as at home. In fact, in all ship construction and repair work as well as plans for operation and navigation undertaken by that organization the Navy furnished constructors and other experts, and was ready upon call with its entire facilities. Little has been heard of the _Scorpion_, which was interned in Turkish waters during the war. The crew of that ship, whose base had long been at Constantinople, protected the American and British embassies, one regular duty of the vessel being to act as despatch boat to our Ambassador to Turkey. After America entered the war, some of them, eager to get into the fray, made their escape over land and joined the American forces in France.