From March 8th to March 10th the Commander-in-Chief Coast of Scotland, Sir Robert Lowry, in conjunction with Vice-Admiral Bradford, who was the Senior Flag Officer of Grand Fleet ships at Rosyth, and was, therefore, responsible for all movements of these ships from the Rosyth base, organised a search on a large scale for a submarine reported to be operating off the Aberdeenshire coast. The vessels employed in this operation comprised trawler patrols and destroyers of the 1st Flotilla, and they were rewarded on March 10th by forcing the submarine--U 12--to the surface, when H.M.S. _Ariel_, very skilfully handled, succeeded in ramming and sinking her. Ten of her crew of twenty-eight were rescued. The _Ariel_ was considerably damaged, and was docked at Leith for repairs. On March 20th and 21st a division of destroyers hunted a submarine in the Moray Firth without success. On March 12th the _Faulknor_ and six destroyers were detached from the Grand Fleet flotillas to operate against submarines in the Irish Sea. In the course of the month the small steamers, specially fitted as mine-sweepers for the Grand Fleet, were withdrawn for service abroad. The increasing number of mines in the North Sea and the paucity of mine-sweepers led me to decide on March 22nd to fit eight destroyers each from the 2nd and 4th Flotillas with light mine-sweeps, and the work was taken in hand. These vessels were intended to augment the regular force of mine-sweepers in an emergency, as it was felt that a movement of the High Sea Fleet for an important naval operation would in all probability be preceded by extensive mine-laying outside the Fleet bases, and a much stronger sweeping force than we possessed was required to enable a passage for the Fleet to be rapidly cleared. The _Conqueror_ rejoined the Fleet on March 6th after effecting repairs which had been carried out by Messrs. Cammell Laird at Liverpool with most commendable rapidity. The 10th Cruiser Squadron experienced a further loss during March, the _Bayano_ being sunk by a submarine off Corsewall Point, Galloway, on March 11th, with considerable loss of life. In the course of this month Rear-Admiral W. L. Grant succeeded Rear-Admiral W. C. Pakenham in command of the 3rd Cruiser Squadron, the latter succeeding Rear-Admiral Sir Gordon Moore in command of the 2nd Battle Cruiser Squadron; Vice-Admiral Patey transferred his flag from the _Australia_ to the _Leviathan_ to proceed to the West Indies as Commander-in-Chief, and the 6th Cruiser Squadron was broken up, the ships being transferred to service abroad. The enemy submarines were very active against merchant shipping during March, and our losses were considerable, both from this cause and from mines.