The port is protected by a semi-circular jetty or mole which stretches out into the sea for a distance of about two kilometres; an elevated side-walk leads to the end of the jetty. The latter, built of blocks of concrete each weighing three thousand tons, is divided into four parts: the first, which spans the beach, is solid; the second is of open-work, to prevent the port becoming choked with sand; the third comprises the wharves proper, and forms the terminus of a special railway siding; it is solid and has an elevated walk running along the left hand side; the fourth, or Lighthouse Jetty, is also solid and acts as a break-water. This immense undertaking, begun in 1893, was completed ten years later, and the new port, on which great hopes were set, was solemnly opened, amid popular rejoicings, by King Leopold. [Illustration: +The Wharves on the mole beyond the open-work portion of the latter+ +The Lighthouse Pier seen in the photographs on page 81.+ +The Mole of Zeebrugge.+ _An assemblage of aeroplane photographs taken in 1917._ _On the left, a number of seaplanes are visible. German warships moored alongside the quay._ =THE BLOCKING OF THE PORT OF ZEEBRUGGE.= =April 22, 1918.=] In October 1914, the Germans made a "pirates nest" of the port, which was consequently attacked unceasingly by British ships and Allied aeroplanes. The most important of these attacks was that which resulted in the blocking of the port. _Motor-cars may go along the mole as far as the end of the wharves. See text and photographs on pages 80 and 81._ In spite of the enemy's formidable defences around Zeebrugge, the British determined to block that port, at the same time as Ostend _(See page 68)_. [Illustration: +Vice-admiral Keyes.+] The operations, carefully planned in all details, were extremely perilous on account of the minefields, the nature of the landing-places (unmarked by any lights), and the difficulty of finding one's bearings near a coast where the dunes of varying heights are indistinguishable one from another. The enterprise was entrusted to Vice-Admiral Keyes, Commander of the Naval Forces at Dover. The attacking flotilla was composed as follows: Three old cruisers the _Iphigenia_ (Lieut. Billyard-Leake), the _Intrepid_ (Lieut. Stuart Bonham-Carter) and the _Thetis_ (Captain Sneyd), which, loaded with concrete, were to be sunk in the channel. The protected cruiser _Vindictive_ (Capt. Carpenter), was armed for an attack on the mole; sailors and marines were to land, destroy the guns, drive back the Germans, and create a diversion, thus enabling the blockading ships to carry out their mission. Two ferry-boats: the _Iris_ and _Daffodil_, armed for landing operations; two submarines, loaded with explosives, to attack the mole; destroyers to defend the flotilla against enemy attacks; launches and motor-scouts to pick up the crews of destroyed or sunken vessels, and smoke boats. [Illustration: +The Attack on Zeebrugge.+