The Dover Patrol, 1915-1917 (Volume 2)

Service for " hostilities only "—The exacting routine of the destroyers—Too few boats—Enemy's advantage in gun-fire and speed—" Tip-and-run " raids—Their influence on German officers and men—Ill-formed criticism —Suspicious preparation at Ostcnd—A " shoot and scoot " raid—An official memorandum—The evolution of the Zubian —Enemy boats—The raid of March 1st, 1917,and its lessons—Bombardment of Ramsgatc and a dash into the Channel—The Swift and Broke in action—A German wreath and its sequel—Casualties and their causes—A final tribute to officers and men of the Flotilla. My heart warms to the task of writing a chapter on the 6th Destroyer Flotilla. The very words " 6th Flotilla " bring back a flood of memories of incidents and details, largely uninteresting in themselves—of gales of wind, snow and fog, hot weather and brilliant sunshine, long dark nights, moonlight and haze—-and the Flotilla always with steam up, always at work. I worked them hard—perhaps, it may be said, too hard—but it had to be done. They were always cheery, always ready for more. From the commencement of hostilities down to the end of 1916, no other destroyers were attached to the Dover Patrol, except, at times, half a dozen good boats which were lent from Harwich to lie at Dunkirk, as a reserve to support the Belgian Coast Patrol, but these were not allowed to take part in the work of the patrol. And here, let me at once say that if any destroyer officer or senior oflicer objects to the eulogistic term " incomparable " being applied to one particular flotilla, let him make allowance for the feelings of an Admiral who, during the Great War, was served so well, so incomparably well, by the destroyers under his command.