A Sub. of the R.N.R.: A Story of the Great War

by Percy F. Westerman

For the next five weeks workmen were toiling day and night upon the "Saraband," from the moment she arrived at Portsmouth Dockyard.

A clean sweep was made of her sumptuous cabin fittings. The white enamelled woodwork of the promenade and boat-decks was ruthlessly "scrapped." Over the engine and boiler-rooms a protective steel deck was built, while light armour, sufficient to stop any hostile shell from the light guns of the German commerce destroyers, was placed in position round the water-line, and also in other important and otherwise vulnerable parts of the ship.

In addition to the two 4.7-in. guns already carried four more of the same calibre were provided, two on the fo'c'sle and two amidships, while on the promenade-deck four twelve-pounders were mounted behind armoured shields. Finally the ship from truck to water-line was painted a neutral grey; her name was changed, and under the White Ensign appeared in the Navy List as H.M. Armed Merchant Cruiser "Strongbow."

During that six weeks Sub-Lieutenant Terence Aubyn, R.N.R., had been far from idle. In company with the rest of the ship's deck officers he had been sent to Whale Island, the Naval Gunnery School, to undergo a rapid though none the less thorough preliminary course of gunnery. Aubyn simply revelled in the work. Gunlaying, position finding, gunnery control, both in theory and practice, kept him hard at it, and when the examination took place he came off with flying colours, somewhat to the astonishment and great satisfaction of the authorities, who had hitherto regarded the R. N. R. officers in a rather tolerant spirit.

Just before the date fixed for commissioning H.M.S. "Strongbow" Terence was accorded weekend leave—from three o'clock on Friday to nine a.m. on Monday. Needless to say he employed the time by paying a visit to his home.

Mrs. Aubyn lived in a picturesque little house on the East Coast, between Caistor and Yarmouth, standing within fifty yards of the low cliffs. The house had been designed by Captain Aubyn, who did not live long to enjoy his well-earned retirement. It was a low rambling building. Over the two end rooms was a flat roof, accessible by means of a "hatchway." This was the worthy captain's "quarter-deck," on which was mounted on a tripod a powerful telescope. There was also a flagstaff set at a rake from the centre of the side wall. From this staff Captain Aubyn regularly hoisted the ensign at the regulation hour, hauling it down at sunset. This he did regularly until a few days before his death. In one of the rooms under the flat roof was a semicircular projection, pierced with several small windows that commanded an extensive marine view. This room the captain was wont to dub the "casemate."

People in the neighbourhood were apt to regard the house as the output of a somewhat eccentric mind; but it was rather the result of a life-long career in various ships of the Royal Navy, and so strong were the traits of the service that Captain Aubyn introduced them as far as possible into his private life. Whenever his friends rallied him up on the subject of "Aubyn's Battery" the captain smiled complacently. The reference pleased him far more than his acquaintances were aware.

Terence Aubyn's irregular and hasty visits were always a source of deep pleasure to his mother. In his breezy way the lad would take his parent by storm, converting her usually quiet existence into a brief round of excitement.

It was after eleven o'clock at night when the sub. reached Yarmouth. He had previously wired to the effect that he would be home, as quickly as the unpunctual train service would permit.

Once clear of the town Terence set off at a steady swinging pace along the Denes. Several times he was challenged by patrols, incidents that served to remind him that war was close at home. He vaguely wondered whether such precautions were necessary, with the Grand Fleet holding the North Sea and keeping every German warship skulking in harbour. It seemed so unreal, even with vast armies fighting on the Continent, and the sound of their guns almost within hearing distance of Dover, that the peaceful Norfolk coast should have to be protected against possible raids.