On December 6th bad weather was again experienced. Orders were issued on this date for a sweep down the North Sea, but were cancelled on receipt of information from the Admiralty that the recent bad weather had caused a very large number of mines to break adrift in the southern portion of the North Sea. On the same day the light cruiser Sappho and three armed boarding steamers were sent to Loch Ewe and based there with orders to work north-west of the Hebrides for the interception of trade; the force of armed boarding steamers was increased later. These vessels were mostly Irish mail packets. Rather extensive alterations were necessary, after they had been sent up, before they were fit for their duties.
During the early part of December the ships of the 2nd and 6th Cruiser Squadrons and the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron were mainly engaged in Areas 3, 4 and 6; the 3rd Cruiser Squadron was at Rosyth and working to the eastward from that base.
On December 7th Rear-Admiral Sir A. G. W. Moore, K.C.B., assumed command of the newly constituted 1st Cruiser Squadron, and the Leviathan and Duke of Edinburgh arrived at Scapa on that date; the Warrior and Black Prince, with the above ships, comprised the squadron. On December 7th, two merchant ships, the s.s. Michigan and City of Oxford, disguised as men-of-war, arrived at Scapa. These vessels, with several others, had been fitted out at Belfast by Admiralty orders with dummy turrets and guns, and altered with a view to representing certain British battleships and battle cruisers. The whole of these were formed into a squadron under the command of Commodore Haddock, C.B., R.N.R., of Olympic fame, and termed the Special Service Squadron. The disguise of the ships was carried out very cleverly, though presumably at considerable expense. They would have been of value had it been possible to select vessels of a suitable speed, but the highest speed attainable by any vessel in the squadron was not more than nine to ten knots, whilst the speed of the squadron as a whole did not exceed seven knots. The ships could not under these conditions accompany the Fleet to sea, and it was very difficult to find a use for them in home waters. Commodore Haddock was, later, detached with the squadron to Loch Ewe, where the ships were worked up to carry out fleet movements. This he did most successfully, so that, had the ships possessed the requisite speed, use might have been made of them as a squadron for various decoy purposes. But, under the conditions existing, this was impossible, and eventually the squadron was disbanded with the exception of one vessel; the experiment was tried of sending her to sea disguised as a disabled man-of-war with a considerable heel to one side, and with patrol craft accompanying her as if for protection, in the hope that a submarine might be induced to attack her and so afford the patrols an opportunity of sinking the submarine.
This scheme, however, met with no success. All the vessels were restored to their original conditions for trading purposes, with the exception of some which were sent to the Mediterranean and to North America, where it was reported that they were of some use.
On December 8th another gale was experienced. The Thunderer, which had developed condenser defects, left for Devonport on the 8th for refit and for retubing condensers; yet another case of this defect!
On December 9th the 1st Battle Squadron proceeded to sea to cruise to the north-westward of the Shetland Islands and to carry out gunnery practices as convenient. In consequence of bad weather the Vice-Admiral sent the attached cruiser Bellona back to Scapa for shelter.
On December 10th the new battleships Benbow and Emperor of India arrived from Berehaven to strengthen the 4th Battle Squadron, and proved very welcome additions to the Fleet. They, as well as all other new ships joining, necessarily spent several weeks in practices before becoming efficient to join the Fleet at sea, or to take part in action. Owing to the hurried completion of these two ships, a great deal of fitting work was also required before they were in a proper condition, and this delayed their practices considerably. On the 11th another gale was experienced which lasted until the 14th. The weather during this period was very bad, and ships at sea (including the 1st Battle Squadron which returned to Scapa on the 12th) met with very bad weather. Destroyers on patrol were unable to maintain their stations and were forced to run for shelter, and one of them, the Cockatrice, suffered some damage.
On the 12th the work of retubing the port condenser of the King George V. was completed; the starboard condenser was not taken in hand owing to the small margin of superiority of the Battle Fleet over the High Sea Fleet at this time.
During this stay of the Battle Fleet some very necessary work in the ships of the “Iron Duke” class was partially carried out. These ships were the first modern battleships fitted with 6-inch guns for their secondary armament, and the gunports were very low. Early in the War it was found necessary to unship the ports altogether, as the sea washed them away constantly. Water then had free access to the inside of the ship through the opening between the revolving shield and the ship’s side, and, except in fine weather, water entered freely. In bad weather the water, as deep as three to four inches, was continually washing about the living decks and finding its way below through the open hatches, to the great discomfort of the ship’s company, who were continually wet, and to the detriment of efficiency. Arrangements were devised on board the Iron Duke to overcome this trouble, and steps taken to have all the necessary fittings made at various contractors’ yards. A partial bulkhead was fitted in rear of the guns to confine the water which entered the ship, and watertight indiarubber joints provided between the gun shields and the ship’s side. The result was satisfactory, and similar changes were made in the ships of the “Queen Elizabeth” class and in the Tiger. The two after 6-inch guns, which were on the main deck level, were removed altogether at the first opportunity, and the ship’s side and armour completed in the after embrasure in all these ships, as it was apparent that these guns could never be worked at sea, being only a few feet above the water line. The guns themselves were mounted in new unarmoured casemates on the superstructure deck level. The work connected with the forward 6-inch guns was entirely carried out at Scapa, with the ships at short notice for steam, and in some cases the workmen remained in the ships and continued the work at sea.
On December 12th serious defects in the boilers of the Liverpool became apparent and the speed of the ship was limited to 17 knots. This defect, which first showed itself in this ship, gradually affected the boilers of the same type in all ships so fitted, as they experienced a certain degree of wear, and from this time onwards there was usually one, and occasionally two, light cruisers paid off for the purpose of carrying out the necessary repairs which occupied a period of two or three months. This reduction in the number of efficient light cruisers was serious, at a time when our numbers compared badly with those possessed by the enemy.