The _Iris_ and _Daffodil_ were both well known to Liverpool folk, being used for conveying passengers across the River Mersey many times daily. They were extremely handy craft, could each carry fifteen hundred men if required, and drew very little water, but they possessed two serious disadvantages. Firstly, their decks were so low as to necessitate the use of long storming ladders for reaching the parapet. Secondly, their steaming qualities were comparatively poor, judged from the point of view of the operation for which they were required. Just picture their ordinary daily employment for a moment. Waiting alongside one of the piers at Liverpool till their usual quota of passengers had embarked, they would make the short trip across the river to the Birkenhead shore and then wait once more. During this second period of waiting the steam pressure would be increased in the boilers in readiness for the next short voyage across the river. Compare that employment with a trip of nearly one hundred miles across the open sea. It will then be evident that the task allotted to these two ferry vessels was by no means simple from the engineering point of view alone. All this, however, was carefully thought out, and {81} it was decided that their advantages outweighed their disadvantages. Both craft, by nature of their work, were designed to stand heavy bumping alongside piers; their draught was small, and, as already stated, they were easy to handle. After minor alterations they proceeded to the port of assembly in charge of their naval crews and adopted the title H.M.S., much to the amusement of those of us who made their acquaintance for the first time. It is rumoured that one of these two vessels arrived at her destination _with her anti-submarine escort in tow_, which thus early showed that proud spirit to which she so justly proved her right on St. George's Day, 1918. The first duty of the _Daffodil_ on arrival at the Mole was to be that of pushing the _Vindictive_ bodily alongside. The former vessel was to place herself at right angles to the latter, bows against the latter's side, and to continue pushing until _Vindictive_, which would previously have anchored, was secured by means of the grapnels. _Daffodil_ was then to drop alongside _Vindictive_ and her parties were to climb over the latter and up to the Mole. The _Iris_ was to go alongside the Mole ahead of _Vindictive_, to anchor, to grapnel the parapet, and to land her storming parties by means of ladders against the wall, her decks being too low to allow the use of large gangways as carried in _Vindictive_. In the event of _Vindictive_ being sunk, _Iris_ and _Daffodil_ were to storm the Mole as best they could and do everything possible to knock out the three-gun battery or divert its fire from the blockships.