At 7 A.M. on the 21st the Battle Fleet was in position Lat. 55.45 N., Long. 3.30 E., and the Vice-Admiral of the battle cruisers having reported at 6.20 A.M. from a position in Lat. 55.16 N., Long. 4.52 E., that the weather was too bad to admit of the search of trawlers being carried out satisfactorily, the operation was abandoned and the Fleet turned to the northward, as it was considered that an incomplete examination would do more harm than good. During this period the 3rd Cruiser Squadron was working in Area 7, and the 10th Cruiser Squadron in Area 6, as usual; the _Alsatian_ and _Mantua_, with the _Drake_, of the 6th Cruiser Squadron, were sweeping down the Norwegian coast and then returned to resume their patrol east of the Shetlands, where they were joined by the armed merchant ship _Teutonic_. The 2nd and 4th Flotillas left Scapa on the 20th and joined the Battle Fleet and the Battle Cruiser Squadron respectively on the 21st. All wireless telegraphy signalling at sea was stopped between 4 P.M. on the 20th and 4 P.M. on the 21st, in order that the enemy should not become aware of the movements of the Fleet, as such knowledge might prevent the High Sea Fleet from putting to sea and possibly deprive us of our opportunity of catching it. During the passage of the Fleet to the northward, an extensive sweep was carried out during daylight of the 21st. The Battle Fleet covered a front of 40 miles, and battle cruisers and cruisers prolonged the front to the eastward and westward. On the evening of the 21st I was informed by wireless telegraphy from the Admiralty of a report that a German force of two light cruisers, with destroyers and submarines in company, had been sighted from Esbjerg on the 20th, proceeding to the northward. The whole Fleet was turned to the southward at midnight on the 21st, and spread at dawn to cover a front of 104 miles from the Norwegian coast westward, sweeping to the northward, to endeavour to intercept the enemy vessels if they had continued a course to the northward. The sweep to the northward was continued until 10 A.M. The _Iron Duke_ was in position Lat. 59 N., Long. 2.35 E., when the line was directed to wheel towards the Orkneys and Shetlands on a course N. 51 W. During the 22nd, visibility was very good, but no enemy vessels were sighted, and the Dreadnought Battle Fleet and battle cruisers passed to the westward of the Orkneys during the night, the 3rd Battle Squadron and 6th Battle Squadron being detached to support the cruisers searching in the North Sea areas.