The Battle Cruiser Fleet and destroyers proceeded to a position for supporting the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron, near the Horn Reef, with directions to arrive at daylight on the 4th, and the Battle Fleet, with its cruiser squadrons, the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron and the destroyer flotillas, to a supporting position to the northward of the Battle Cruiser Fleet. The list of ships absent from the Fleet on this occasion, owing to refit, repair, or to being engaged on other operations, is given below; it is useful as showing the reduction that takes place in the nominal numbers comprising a watching fleet at any given moment: Battleships, _Ajax_ and _Dreadnought_; battle cruisers, _New Zealand_, _Australia_, _Invincible_; cruisers, _Black Prince_, _Warrior_, _Donegal_; light cruisers, _Southampton_, _Gloucester_, _Blonde_; destroyers, 3 from the 1st Flotilla, 6 from the 2nd Flotilla, 3 from the 11th Flotilla. During the passage south, the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron was detached to endeavour to locate a zeppelin reported by directional wireless to be in the centre of the North Sea (zeppelins had been seen off the north-east coast on the night of the 2nd). The search was unsuccessful, but the zeppelin descended off Stavanger later and was destroyed. On the morning of the 4th the conditions for sea-planes seemed from the Battle Fleet to be ideal, but, once more, the difficulty of getting these machines to rise from the water was experienced, a slight sea being sufficient to prevent all, except one, from carrying out the attack. This one sea-plane reported having dropped bombs on the objective. The remainder were damaged by the sea. At 10 A.M. a zeppelin, L 7, was sighted by the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron and attacked by gunfire by the _Galatea_ and _Phaeton_. She was damaged sufficiently to cause her to descend near submarine E 31 in the vicinity of the Vyl Lightship. E 31 completed her destruction and rescued seven survivors. [Illustration: OPERATIONS OFF HORN REEF MAY 2^{ND.} TO 5^{TH.} 1916.] The Fleet cruised in the vicinity of the Horn Reef during May 4th, no enemy vessels being sighted, and then returned to its various bases. A thick fog was experienced during the return passage, which was made without incident; the Cromarty force was, however, taken to Scapa, as a submarine had been reported off Tarbet Ness in the Moray Firth. On May 9th the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron left Scapa to carry out another sweep on the Norwegian coast between the Naze and Udsire Lighthouse. The squadron was divided, two ships proceeding to the Naze and two to Udsire, arriving in position at daylight on the 10th and then sweeping towards each other. One neutral steamer, carrying iron ore for Lübeck, was intercepted outside territorial waters and sent in. On the same day the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron left Rosyth for Scapa, searching the central portion of the North Sea _en route_.