honest old face is undisguised. "Gott!
I am glat to see yo, Cabtin," he calls. "Dere vas a rumour dat yo vas
down too! Yoost now, ven yo signal de name of de ship, I vas
glat--glat!" He is full of his news; there are rumours and rumours. 'The
White Star mailboat is down,' 'a Prince liner is overdue,' 'there are
fears for a Lamport and Holt boat.' In view of our safe arrival, he is
prepared to discount the rumours. What is certain is that U 53 has
arrived in these waters, and has already sunk six large ships off
Nantucket.

* * * * *

A day later we turn to the commercial pages of the _New York Herald_.
Our arrival is reported, and it seems that the sovereign is now worth
$4.72 1/16!

IX

INDEPENDENT SAILINGS

UNTIL nearly three years of war had gone on, we sailed independently as
'single' ships, setting our speeds and courses and conforming only to
the general route instructions of the Admiralty. The submarine menace
did not come upon us in a sudden intensity. Its operation was gradually
unfolded and counter-measures were as methodically advanced to meet it.
The earliest precaution took the form of a wide separation of the ships,
branching the sea-routes apart on the sound theory that submarines would
have voyaging to do to reach their victims. While this was a plan of
value on the high seas, it could not be pursued in the narrower waters
of the channels. Destroyers in sufficient numbers not being available to
patrol these waters, fishing craft--trawlers and drifters--were
commissioned to that service. Being of moderate speed, their activities
were not devoted to a mass operation, by which they could group the
merchantmen together for protection. The custom was still to separate
them as widely as possible, each zigzagging on her own plan. Until the
convoy system was established, measures for our protection did not take
the form of naval escorts sailing in our company: such vessels were only
provided for transports or for ships on military service: vessels on
commercial voyages were largely left to their own resources when clear
of harbour limits.

[Illustration: FIREMEN STANDING BY TO RELIEVE THE WATCH]

That all sea-going vessels should carry a wireless installation was one
of the first measures enforced by Admiralty. The magnificent resources
of the Marconi Company, though strained, were equal to the task. There
was a life-labour alone in the technical education of their