On the night of the 15th the armed boarding-steamers Dundee and King Orry, which had been disguised as merchant-ships, left Scapa for operations off the Norwegian coast. It was hoped that they would be able to close enemy and neutral vessels carrying contraband without exciting suspicion, and that they would stand a better chance of capturing them than any vessel having the appearance of a warship. The Dundee operated between Udsire and Lister, and the King Orry off Stadlandet, both being localities in which ships were in the habit of leaving territorial waters. The light cruiser Constance and two destroyers were sent to support the Dundee, keeping well to seaward of her, as that ship was operating in waters in which enemy warships might be found. The operation resulted in a Norwegian steamer, carrying a cargo of magnetic iron ore for Rotterdam, being sent in.
On the 30th the Abdiel left Scapa to lay mines in the vicinity of the Horn Reef. She carried out the operation successfully, and without being observed, on the night of the 31st–1st.
The work of the 11th Submarine Flotilla in the Kattegat and in the vicinity of the Horn Reef continued. The submarines, returning on the 17th, reported having been attacked by a German decoy trawler in the Kattegat. On the 30th submarine E 43 sailed to operate against this vessel, but met with no success.
Casualties to war-vessels during the month included: The light cruiser Cleopatra, of the Harwich force, which was mined on the 4th near the Thornton Ridge off the Dutch coast, and reached the Nore to be repaired; the destroyer Lassoo, also of the Harwich force, was sunk by mine or submarine near the Maas Lightship off the Dutch coast on the 13th; the armed boarding-steamer Duke of Albany was sunk by a submarine on the 24th, 20 miles to the eastward of the Pentland Skerries, with considerable loss of life, including Commander G. N. Ramage, R.N.R. Sixteen destroyers, sea-planes, and an airship were sent out from Scapa at once to hunt this submarine, but saw nothing of her, although the armed boarding-steamer Duke of Clarence which had stood by the Duke of Albany and rescued the survivors reported that she had passed over and struck a submerged object. The light cruiser Blonde went ashore on the Lowther Rock, Pentland Firth, in thick weather on the 10th, but was lightened and towed off on the 11th, having sustained considerable injuries; the battleships Warspite and Valiant collided in the Scapa Flow on the night of the 24th, whilst, respectively, returning from and proceeding to the night firing area, both ships being considerably damaged, with the result that they had to be docked.
On August 3rd mines were laid off the Longstone by an enemy submarine, and the departure of the Marlborough from the Tyne was thereby delayed; the coincidence that mines were frequently laid in this neighbourhood when warships were due to leave the Tyne after repairs, led to suspicion that enemy agents were working in that locality. On the 4th or 5th August a considerable number of mines of the submarine type were also laid in the War channel in the White Sea by enemy vessels.
On August 3rd four “C” class submarines left the Nore in tow of tugs for Archangel, en route by the canal system for service in the Baltic. These submarines performed very useful work in those waters during the year 1917.
The increase in mine-laying by German submarines gave rise to anxiety that the movements of the Grand Fleet might be hampered by mine-fields near the bases at a critical moment, and, in the absence of any new mine-sweepers, the mine-sweeping force at Scapa was strengthened during July by withdrawing a certain number of trawlers from patrol duty in order to form a mine-sweeping flotilla; during the latter half of 1916 the Grand Fleet mine-sweeping force at Scapa or Cromarty comprised two flotillas composed of sloops and gunboats, as well as two flotillas, each consisting of 12 trawlers; in addition one flotilla of paddle mine-sweepers was based on Granton in the Firth of Forth. These flotillas were all additional to the small local sweeping force of trawlers at the various fleet bases.
On August 18th the Grand Fleet proceeded to sea for a sweep in southern waters. The presence of an unusually large number of submarines in the North Sea—a phenomenon which had been observed shortly before the Jutland Battle—had suggested the possibility of movement on the part of the enemy and a sweep appeared desirable. The Iron Duke, after leaving Scapa Flow, proceeded ahead of the remainder of the Battle Fleet screened by two destroyers to communicate with the Royalist, and at 7.55 P.M., as the ships were about to communicate, a submarine on the starboard bow, about 250 yards off, fired a torpedo, which passed close astern of the screening destroyer Onslaught on that bow. Only one torpedo was seen. Possibly the submarine misjudged the attack, and did not get into the position intended for attacking the Iron Duke, which was proceeding at high speed, and zigzagging, and, therefore, fired at the Onslaught instead. Communication between the Iron Duke and Royalist was deferred until after dark in consequence of this attack; the Fleet was warned by signal.
The squadrons from Scapa were opened out to avoid the submarine, and passed her without further incident, and the Battle Fleet and cruisers concentrated at daylight on the 19th, in the vicinity of the “Long Forties,” steering to the southward at a speed of advance of 17 knots. The Battle Cruiser Fleet had been ordered to a position 30 miles ahead of the Battle Fleet. At 5.55 A.M. on the 19th the Nottingham, one of the light cruiser screen ahead of the battle cruisers, whilst zigzagging at 20 knots speed, was hit by two torpedoes in Lat. 55.34 N., Long. 0.12 E. The submarine was not seen, and the torpedoes struck the port side almost simultaneously. The first report indicated that she had been hit by mines or torpedoes, and, until it was clear that a mine-field did not exist, it was prudent for the Fleet to avoid this locality, and course was accordingly reversed until it was ascertained that the damage was due to torpedoes; when this became clear the southward course of the Fleet was shaped to pass to the eastward of the submarine. Meanwhile the Dublin cruised at high speed in the vicinity of the Nottingham for the purpose of keeping the submarine down so as to prevent further attacks. But at 6.26 A.M. the Nottingham was hit by a third torpedo, and it became evident that she could not float much longer. Her boats were lowered, and the majority of the ship’s company placed in them. The ship sank at 7.10 A.M., just as the destroyers Penn and Oracle, which had been sent to her assistance, arrived on the scene. These two destroyers picked up all the survivors, except Captain Miller, one officer, and several men who remained on board until the ship sank, and who were rescued by a cutter from the Dublin. Several torpedoes were fired at the Dublin and the two destroyers during their work of rescue, but all fortunately missed.
From 8.24 A.M. onwards Zeppelins were frequently in sight from both the Battle Fleet, and the Battle Cruiser Fleet, and were fired at, but they kept at too long a range for our fire to be effective. The Galatea sighted the first airship at 8.24 A.M., and the second was seen by the Battle Fleet at 9.55 A.M.; at 10 A.M. Commodore Tyrwhitt, who was at sea with the Harwich force, reported himself in position Lat. 52.50 N., Long. 3.38 E., and also being followed by a Zeppelin. He stated later that his force was shadowed by airships during the whole period of daylight on the 19th. Reports were also received from the patrol trawler Ramexo that she had two Zeppelins in sight in Lat. 57 N., Long. 1 E. It was evident that a very large force of airships was out. A total of at least ten was identified by our directional wireless stations and they appeared to stretch right across the North Sea.