From the 1st to the 3rd, and the 5th to the 7th, further mine-sweeping operations were carried out by the Fleet sweepers and paddle sweepers in connection with the German mine-field in the southern portion of the North Sea, the operation being covered by four light cruisers and a force of destroyers. The work of clearing that portion of the mine-field, which it was decided to sweep up, was completed on the 7th. On several days during the month a force from Harwich, comprising light cruisers and destroyers, was cruising off the Dutch coast with the object of intercepting and attacking zeppelins. The force did not, however, meet with any success. From the 4th to the 7th the 1st Cruiser Squadron, with three armed boarding-steamers and three destroyers, operated on the two trade routes, St. Abbs Head to the Skagerrak and Rotterdam to Norwegian ports, examining all vessels encountered; nothing of special interest occurred. But when returning during a thick fog to Scapa the armed boarding-steamer _Duke of Albany_ grounded on the Lother Rock, Pentland Firth, at 4 A.M. on the 7th, remained ashore for seven days, and was considerably damaged. From the 18th to the 21st the 3rd Cruiser Squadron, with the light cruisers _Nottingham_ and _Birmingham_, of the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron, accompanied by four destroyers, swept across the North Sea, steering to the eastward from Rosyth to the entrance to the Skagerrak, thence to the coast of Norway and back to Rosyth. This force was attacked by at least three submarines during the sweep, and torpedoes were fired at the _Birmingham_ on the 19th, and at the _Argyll_, the _Roxburgh_ (on two occasions), and the _Nottingham_ on the 20th. Two torpedoes were fired at the _Nottingham_. These ships were proceeding at high speed and all the attacks failed, except the second attack on the _Roxburgh_ (Captain C. R. de C. Foot), which was hit in the bows by a torpedo at 2 P.M. on the 20th in Lat. 56.47 N., Long. 0.38 E. Fortunately, the damage was well forward, and the _Roxburgh_ was able to maintain a speed of 14 knots during her return to Rosyth, all available destroyers of the 1st Flotilla being sent out to meet and screen her in. At the time of the attack the _Roxburgh_ was proceeding at high speed and zigzagging, with one destroyer screening her. The ship was considerably damaged, and her repairs at a dockyard occupied a lengthened period. The incident furnished an example of the risks run by heavy ships cruising in the North Sea in waters frequented by submarines, unless accompanied by a much stronger screen of destroyers than it was possible to provide owing to the paucity of destroyers and the immense amount of work required of them. It was noted at the time, and considered to be suspicious, that a large fleet of trawlers flying neutral colours was fishing in the neighbourhood of these submarine attacks.