Between June, 1916, and February, 1918, I contributed a good many articles and sketches on Naval subjects to _The Cornhill Magazine_. They were not designed upon any plan or published in any settled sequence. As one article led up to another, and information came to me from my generously appreciative readers (many of whom were in the Service), I revised those which I had written and ventured to write still more. This book contains my _Cornhill_ articles—revised and sometimes re-written in the light of wider information and kindly criticism—and several additional chapters which have not previously been published anywhere. I have endeavoured to weave into a connected series articles and sketches which were originally disconnected, and I have introduced new strands to give strength to the fabric. Through the whole runs a golden thread which I have called THE SECRET OF THE NAVY. B. C. _March, 1918._ CONTENTS PROLOGUE AFTER THE BATTLE I. A BAND OF BROTHERS II. THE COMING OF WAR III. THE GREAT VICTORY IV. WITH THE GRAND FLEET: A NORTH SEA “STUNT” V. WITH THE GRAND FLEET: THE TERRIERS AND THE RATS VI. THE MEDITERRANEAN: A SUCCESS AND A FAILURE VII. IN THE SOUTH SEAS: THE DISASTER OFF CORONEL VIII. IN THE SOUTH SEAS: CLEANING UP IX. HOW THE “SYDNEY” MET THE “EMDEN” X. FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH XI. THE CRUISE OF THE “GLASGOW”: PART I—RIO TO CORONEL XII. THE CRUISE OF THE “GLASGOW”: PART II—CORONELTO JUAN FERNANDEZ XIII. THE BATTLE OF THE GIANTS: PART I XIV. THE BATTLE OF THE GIANTS: PART II EPILOGUE LIEUTENANT CÆSAR LIST OF MAPS THE NORTH SEA THE MEDITERRANEAN OPERATIONS THE SOUTH SEAS HOW THE “SYDNEY” MET THE “EMDEN” THE “SYDNEY-EMDEN” ACTION THE CRUISE OF THE “GLASGOW” THE PACIFIC: VON SPEE’S CONCENTRATION THE CRUISE OF THE “GLASGOW” THE BATTLE OF THE GIANTS THE SILENT WATCHERS PROLOGUE AFTER THE BATTLE “Cæsar,” said a Sub-lieutenant to his friend, a temporary Lieutenant R.N.V.R., who at the outbreak of war had been a classical scholar at Oxford, “you were in the thick of our scrap yonder off the Jutland coast. You were in it every blessed minute with the battle cruisers, and must have had a lovely time. Did you ever, Cæsar, try to write the story of it?”