Mine-sweeping trawlers--Captains courageous--Scotch
drifters--The motor launches--Keeping open the swept
channels.

Having in previous chapters dealt with some of the gallant doings in
the war of the Harwich Force of light cruisers and destroyers and the
Harwich Submarine Flotilla, I will now turn to a third force which had
Harwich as its base--the Harwich Auxiliary Patrol and Mine-sweeping
Force, whose most valuable and most dangerous work it was throughout
the war to clear the sea routes of the enemy's mines over a large and
very vulnerable portion of the North Sea, and, incidentally, to
attack and destroy the enemy's mine-laying submarines whenever
possible, thus keeping open and comparatively safe the channels used
by the Harwich Force and those frequented by our merchant shipping.

A few years before the war the Admiralty had the foresight to found
what may now be regarded as the nucleus of the vast mine-sweeping
organisation that has been developed since 1914. When war broke out
this nucleus contained a personnel of about a thousand officers and
men, belonging to the Royal Naval Trawler Reserve, who used to undergo
a short training each year in mine-sweeping, as it was then known; for
great indeed has been the progress made since in this by no means
simple science. These men were quite apart from the active service
ratings of Fleet Sweeping Flotillas. It was realised how utterly
inadequate was so small a force for the gigantic task that lay before
it, so the Admiralty at once took steps to place the R.N.T.R. on a war
footing. Able officers were set to work to organise the undertaking,
suitable vessels were acquired, crews were enrolled, and the force
expanded rapidly until at last it included approximately 750 sweeping
vessels, all manned from the Trawler Reserve, the total of which was
38,000 at the conclusion of the armistice. The magnitude of the work
carried out may be gathered from the fact that during hostilities
about 2000 square miles of sea were swept daily for mines in our home
waters alone, while nearly 10,000 enemy mines were swept up and
destroyed.

The Harwich Branch of this force--the one with which I am here
dealing--from the outbreak of war has been commanded by two successive
Commanders under the Rear-Admiral of the base. Both these Commanders
have been promoted to captains for good service during the war, while
one has received the D.S.O., and the other the D.S.O. and bar.