On October 27th a trawler reported very suspicious movements on the part of a large steamer to the westward of the island of Sule Skerry (west of the Orkneys). It appeared possible that the ship might be a German mine-layer, and the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron at Scapa was sent to a position 120 miles from Fair Island on the Fair Island--Heligoland line, to intercept her on returning, with orders that, at daylight on the 29th, she should spread widely and sweep towards Fair Island, then sweeping over to the Norwegian coast near Jaederen’s Point, spreading at daylight on the 30th and sweeping up a line approximately N. 15 W. from Heligoland, before returning to Scapa. Destroyers of the 4th Flotilla were also sent out from Scapa on the 28th in search of the suspected vessel, and the 3rd and 10th Cruiser Squadrons were disposed so as to cut her off if she passed to the north of the Shetlands. The ship was not sighted, and no mines had been laid. The Grand Fleet was considerably weakened at this time apart from the loss of the _Audacious_. The _Ajax_ had developed condenser defects; the _Iron Duke_ had similar troubles; the _Orion_ had to be sent to Greenock for examination of the turbine supports, which appeared to be defective; the _Conqueror_ was at Devonport refitting, and the _New Zealand_ was in dock at Cromarty. The _Erin_ and _Agincourt_, having been newly commissioned, could not yet be regarded as efficient, so that the Dreadnought Fleet only consisted of 17 effective battleships and 5 battle cruisers; the German Dreadnought Fleet at the time comprised 15 battleships and 4 battle cruisers, with the _Blücher_ in addition. The margin of superiority was, therefore, unpleasantly small in view of the fact that the High Sea Fleet possessed 88 destroyers and the Grand Fleet only 42. During the stay of the Fleet at Lough Swilly numerous reports of the presence of submarines on the west coast of Scotland were received, a large number of the reports coming from the coast watchers. Destroyers were sent on many occasions to search the localities from which the reports emanated, and the various harbours that could be used by submarines as a base were frequently examined. At this period it was considered possible that enemy submarines, acting so far from their home ports as the west coast of Scotland, would be working from a short or from a floating base. It was not thought--from experience with our own submarines--that they would be self-supporting at this distance, and the best method of limiting their activities, if not destroying the submarines, was to find their base. Later experience, and a closer knowledge of German submarines, however, showed that they were independent of such bases.