Had we been able to keep an effective look-out off the enemy ports, so as to obtain warning of their ships leaving, the difficulty would not have been so great, but our submarines in those days (the only class of vessel which could be used for such a purpose) were not fitted with wireless installations with which they could signal from the required positions, or indeed from positions anywhere near the enemy’s coast, and, in any case, it must be borne in mind that at night the exit of enemy vessels unobserved, even under the conditions of a close submarine look-out, is a comparatively easy matter. At this stage it is convenient to remark upon the condition of British naval bases. As is well known, the Grand Fleet was moved to Scapa Flow during the latter days of July, 1914, and the defenceless condition of the Base, both against destroyer attack and submarine attack, was brought very strongly into prominence by the presence of so valuable a Fleet at this Base. The anchorage known as Scapa Flow has three main entrances navigable by all ships, the Hoxa, the Switha, and Hoy Channels, and, in addition, has some more narrow, shallow and tortuous entrances on the eastern side, the main one being Holm Sound. The question of providing gun defences for this Base, which the Admiralty had decided a year or two before the War was to be the main Fleet Base, had been discussed on more than one occasion, after examination by a committee of officers on the spot; but, since finance governs defence, and the Admiralty from year to year had insufficient money for even more urgent needs, no action had been taken. Scapa Flow lies some 450 miles from the German naval bases, and was, therefore, open to an attack by enemy’s destroyer flotillas as well as, of course, by submarines. Its main, indeed its only, safety against such attacks by submarines lay in the navigational difficulties attendant upon entry into the harbour, combined, as regards destroyer attacks, with the possibility of an enemy’s force being intercepted on its outward or homeward passage, or of its being successfully engaged in the vicinity of the base. The sailing directions laid great stress upon the difficulties of navigations in the approaches to this Base, due to the very strong and varying currents, but the Germans were well acquainted with the Orkney and Shetland Islands. They had indeed made it a practice to send ships to visit these islands fairly frequently before the War, and they were, therefore, as well able to judge of the difficulties of entry into Scapa Flow as we were; and seeing that we used it as a main Fleet Base, they could deduce the fact, if they did not know it already, that the difficulties of entry were not insuperable.