On the 26th a submarine was reported inside Cromarty harbour, but Sir David Beatty, who was there with the battle cruisers, stated, after investigation, that he did not consider the report was true.
Discussions took place with the Admiralty during the stay of the Fleet at Lough Swilly on the subject of trawlers for the patrol of the Minches and vicinity, and the requirements were given as thirty-six trawlers for this service, which was considered next in importance to the provision of an adequate patrol force of this nature for the waters in the vicinity of the bases at Scapa Flow and Cromarty.
The stay of the Fleet at Lough Swilly was rendered memorable by the unfortunate loss of the Audacious, then one of our most modern battleships.
Orders had been given to the 2nd Battle Squadron to carry out target practice against the two battle practice targets obtained from Lamlash, and the squadron left Loch-na-Keal on the evening of October 26th for a rendezvous in Lat. 55.45 N., Long. 8.30 W., at daylight on the 27th, where the targets which had left Lough Swilly in tow of two tugs, the Plover and Flying Condor, escorted by the light cruiser Liverpool, were to be met.
The squadron was in Lat. 55.34 N., Long. 8.30 W. at 9 A.M. on the 27th, preparing for the practice, when at that hour the Audacious struck a mine whilst turning. The explosion resulted in the flooding of the port engine-room and partly flooding the centre engine-room. It was not clear at the time whether the ship had been mined or torpedoed. The Monarch having reported sighting a submarine at 11 A.M., a precautionary signal was made to Sir George Warrender to keep the squadron clear of the Audacious.
Meanwhile all available destroyers, tugs, trawlers and other small craft were sent from Lough Swilly and Loch-na-Keal to assist the Audacious and to prevent the submarine (if one were present) from doing further damage; and the armed boarding steamer Cambria escorted the collier Thornhill (provided with towing hawsers) to the scene. The hospital-ship Soudan was ordered out to give help to survivors in case the Audacious sank or to the injured, and the Liverpool was directed to stand by her, but to keep moving at high speed. The battleship Exmouth was put at “short notice” ready to tow the Audacious in if necessary. Vice-Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, commanding the 1st Battle Squadron, came on board the Iron Duke to suggest that he should proceed to the scene to render any assistance, an offer of which I very gladly availed myself, as Sir George Warrender, in the 2nd Battle Squadron, could not close the ship whilst the danger of submarine attack existed.
Shortly after the Audacious struck the mine, the s.s. Olympic, on passage from the United States to Liverpool, closed the ship on learning of the disaster, and Captain Haddock, C.B., R.N.R., who was in command, at once volunteered to help in any way possible. Captain Dampier, of the Audacious, asked that his ship might be taken in tow and brought into Lough Swilly, and Captain Haddock, disregarding the danger of submarine attack or of being mined, took immediate steps to carry out this request. Unfortunately a considerable sea was running, which increased during the day. In spite of the most magnificent and seamanlike handling of the Olympic by Captain Haddock, and later in the day excellent work on the part of the master of the Thornhill, the hawsers constantly parted, owing to the state of the sea and the weight of the Audacious, the stern of that ship being almost awash by the afternoon. The two ships were worked in a manner which Sir Lewis Bayly reported as beyond praise. The attempts to tow the injured ship had to be abandoned before dark, and Sir Lewis Bayly, Captain Dampier and the few officers and men who had remained on board to work the hawsers, etc., were taken off the Audacious by 7.15 P.M. The remainder of the ship’s company had been removed without accident, in spite of the heavy sea, in the course of the day by destroyers, trawlers, and other small craft, and in the boats of the Audacious.
The work of the destroyers on this occasion was, as usual, of the greatest value, and the exceedingly seamanlike handling of the Fury by Lieutenant-Commander Sumner, who, in the teeth of the greatest difficulties, took heavy wire towing hawsers between the Audacious and the towing ships on several occasions, elicited from Sir Lewis Bayly expressions of warm admiration. Arrangements were made for the Liverpool to stand by the Audacious during the night, but at 9 P.M. she suddenly blew up with great violence and sank. The cause of this explosion was never ascertained with certainty. At the time the ship blew up the Liverpool was not far distant, and a good deal of débris fell on the deck of that ship, killing one petty officer. This was the only casualty due to the loss of the Audacious.
Meanwhile, at 1.8 P.M., information reached me from Kingstown that the s.s. Manchester Commerce had been sunk on the night of the 26th by a mine in the vicinity of the disaster to the Audacious, and at 4.40 P.M. a report came from Malin Head that a four-masted sailing vessel, the Caldaff, had also struck a mine in the neighbourhood on the previous night.
These unfortunately belated reports disposed at once of any idea that submarines had attacked the Audacious, and at 5 P.M. the Exmouth sailed from Lough Swilly to attempt to tow her in. Steps had already been taken to warn outward and homeward bound vessels of the existence of the mine-field and to divert all traffic clear of it; and all mine-sweeping gunboats were ordered to Lough Swilly to locate the exact limits of the mine-field and to sweep a clear passage along the north coast of Ireland.