Representations had been made by me to the Admiralty that the presence of a senior Flag officer in general command of the Orkneys and Shetlands, who would be responsible for the defences of these islands and the Fleet bases, was very necessary, the work of actual administration of the base at Scapa Flow being sufficient fully to occupy the time of Rear-Admiral Miller. Vice-Admiral the Hon. Sir Stanley Colville accepted the post, and as it was very desirable that the officer holding this position should be junior to the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, he paid me the compliment of expressing his desire to be placed junior on the list to myself, a reversal of our proper respective seniorities. He was, accordingly, appointed, and came to Loch Ewe on September 6th, to confer with me before taking up his appointment. He accompanied me to sea in the _Iron Duke_ on the 7th in order to talk matters over, was embarked on board the _Oak_ to the westward of the Orkneys, and took up his command on arrival. The result was immediately most beneficial. He was able to devote his whole time to the questions of defence and organisation and relieved me of all these matters which had, as was inevitable under the previous arrangement, occupied so much of my time in harbour and so much of my thoughts at sea. On September 6th the Portsmouth floating dock arrived safely at Cromarty. During September 7th the Dreadnought Battle Fleet proceeded northward from Loch Ewe _en route_ to the North Sea, and passed through the Fair Island Channel at 10 P.M., being joined at 4 A.M. by the 3rd Battle Squadron. The 1st Battle Cruiser Squadron left Rosyth after dark on this date and proceeded to the north-eastward, being joined at 4 A.M. on the 8th by the _Sappho_ and four destroyers of the 4th Flotilla. These smaller vessels were intended to carry out boarding duties in order to avoid the danger to the large ships from submarine attack, consequent on stopping for this purpose. The 1st Battle Cruiser Squadron swept to the south-eastward of Area 6 during daylight on the 8th, and during the night of the 8th and daylight of the 9th was on a patrol area approximately between Lat. 55 N., Long. 2 E., and Lat. 56.20 N., Long. 2.40 E., with the object of intercepting possible enemy mine-layers. The Battle Fleet carried out gunnery practices and exercised battle tactics during the 8th eastward of the Orkneys, and at dark proceeded to the southward to support an extensive sweep into the Heligoland Bight which it had been decided to carry out on September 10th. The dispositions for this sweep were generally as follows: