The Russell, Albemarle and Exmouth, of the 6th Battle Squadron, belonging originally to the Channel Fleet, arrived at Scapa to join the Grand Fleet on the night of the 7th–8th.
At 9.30 P.M. on the 8th the battleships Orion, Monarch and Ajax were detached to carry out target practice, and the remainder of the Fleet proceeded to the south-eastward from Fair Island, carrying out Fire Control Exercises; but, on receipt of a report from the Monarch that a torpedo had been fired at her by a submarine, the practice was stopped and the ships rejoined, one-half of the 2nd Flotilla being directed to search for the submarine. At 6.30 P.M. the officer of the watch on board the Iron Duke sighted a periscope and altered course to ram; the same periscope was shortly afterwards reported by the Dreadnought, but was not seen again.
At 4 A.M. on the 9th, the Fleet was in Lat. 58.31 N., Long. 1.9 E.
Shortly afterwards the Orion reported a strong smell of oil, and bubbles were seen on the surface, and the Birmingham, commanded by Captain A. M. Duff, of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron, which had been screening ahead of the Fleet with the 2nd Cruiser Squadron, claimed to have rammed and sunk the German submarine U 15, which she had sighted on the surface. This initial success was hailed with great satisfaction in the Fleet. Subsequent information showed that the Birmingham had been handled with great promptitude. During daylight of August 9th, the Battle Fleet and 1st Battle Cruiser Squadron were cruising in company, the noon position being Lat. 58.41 N., Long. 0.15 W., and as the presence of submarines was suspected, the Fleet was constantly zigzagging, the ships altering course by “Blue Pendant” turns, that is, turning together by signal.
At midnight, 9th–10th, the position of the Iron Duke was Lat. 57.51 N., Long. 1.2 E.
On the 9th a telegram was dispatched to the Admiralty requesting that the movements of the Commodore (T) and Commodore (S) might be directed from the Admiralty, whilst the Commander-in-Chief with the Fleet remained in northern waters, as it was not possible to be sufficiently conversant with the conditions in the south for the Commander-in-Chief to control these movements. This plan was adopted and continued throughout the War.
On August 10th, the movements of the Fleet were as follows:
At 5 A.M. the Iron Duke parted company from the Fleet and proceeded to Scapa in order that the Commander-in-Chief might communicate by land wire with the Admiralty and make further arrangements for the work at the fleet bases. The Iron Duke, with the 2nd Cruiser Squadron, and the Falmouth, Liverpool and Bellona, arrived at Scapa at 2.30 P.M., the 2nd Flotilla forming a submarine screen through the Pentland Firth.
The remainder of the Battle Fleet proceeded north under the command of Sir George Warrender to a position to the westward of the Shetlands, in accordance with telegraphic directions received from the Admiralty, where it was considered that the submarine danger in the North Sea was considerable at this time. The 1st Battle Cruiser Squadron was detached to sweep a wide area to northward and westward in advance of the Battle Fleet, which was screened by the 4th Flotilla as far north as Lat. 60 N.; this flotilla was then detached for operations on the Norwegian coast in conjunction with the 3rd Cruiser Squadron and the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron. The latter force was directed to search for a suspected German submarine base in the vicinity of Stavanger Fiord. The Flag officer in command was directed to carry out the operation of endeavouring to locate this base—if it existed—with due regard to the susceptibilities of the Norwegians. Commodore W. E. Goodenough, commanding the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron, visited Stavanger in the Southampton and was assured by the Norwegian authorities that no base had been formed in that vicinity by the enemy.
The 2nd Cruiser Squadron and the Falmouth left Scapa at 10 P.M. on the 10th to co-operate with the 3rd Cruiser Squadron, the Hannibal and Magnificent having arrived at Scapa at 4 P.M. These two battleships were stationed to defend the Hoxa and Hoy entrances to Scapa Flow against attack by destroyers.