_Landrail_. The _Landrail's_ bows were smashed in, practically
telescoped. In a photograph taken shortly afterwards she presented an
extraordinary appearance, a large portion of her forward deck hanging
over the wreckage where once had been her stem, like an apron. She
was towed from Borkum to Harwich stern first. During the voyage heavy
weather came on. She parted wire hawser after hawser, until there
could have been few hawsers left on board the ships that were
convoying her. Destroyer after destroyer, the _Mentor_, _Aurora_, and
others, took her in tow in turn as the hawsers parted; and, finally,
the _Arethusa_ brought her in. Fog in war-time is not the least of the
perils in the North Sea, and, considering the nature of the work that
had to be carried on, fog or no fog, it is wonderful that collisions
were not more frequent.

CHAPTER VI

THE PATROLS

CHAPTER VI

THE PATROLS

Raids on enemy trawler fleets--The unsleeping
watch--Patrolling the Channel barrage--Patrolling the
mine-net barrage--The patrols in action.

In their indiscriminate warfare against merchantmen and fishermen the
Germans generally sank our vessels (being unable to carry them into
their own ports across the seas which our Navy so well guarded), often
leaving the crews to drown, and on many occasions disgracing their
flag--which will ever be regarded as a symbol of dishonour among the
nations--by firing at helpless men struggling in the water. When we
captured an enemy merchantman we did not waste valuable material by
sinking her, but brought her as a prize into one of our ports, while
we treated the captured crews even too well. But our captures were not
many after we had swept up such vessels as were upon the seas at the
opening of the war; for, later, our command of the sea confined the
enemy merchantmen within their own ports, and the North Sea was
practically clear of them.

The destroyers of the Harwich Force, however, used to make successful
raids on the enemy trawlers fishing in German waters, generally on the
Jutland coast. It was the practice of our destroyers to spread out on
nearing territorial waters, sweep in and drive the trawlers out, and
then reassemble with their captures at an appointed spot. Prize crews
were then placed on the trawlers, and they were sent to England. In
one raid in 1915 over twenty were thus captured. Those that contrived
to escape under the shore among shallows, where th