tuary and over the Channel--the
latter serving as an escort to the Expeditionary Force crossing to
France. Patrols were at first, through limitations of equipment, mainly
confined to the Home coast, but, as the war went on and machines
improved, they were rapidly extended, especially in connection with the
detection and destruction of submarines; reconnaissances were carried
out over the enemy's shores, and in 1918 there were forty-three flights
of seaplanes, thirty flights of aeroplanes, together with flying boats
and airships, operating from, and communicating with, an ever-increasing
number of shore stations. Not only was anti-submarine work carried out
in the vicinity of the coast, but organized hunts were made for
submarines, ships were convoyed on the high seas, shipping routes were
protected, and action was taken to bar the passage of submarines through
narrow channels. This was effected by an intensive system of combining
and interlocking patrols, and by maintaining, in close co-operation with
surface craft, a protective barrage across suitable stretches of water,
such as the Straits of Dover.

Airships from the beginning, when patrols operated from Kingsnorth
during the crossing of the Expeditionary Force to France, proved
particularly useful for escort, in addition to patrol work, and
twenty-seven small airships, known as the S.S. type, were completed in
1915. In 1916 the Coastal type with a longer range was designed and
constructed and new airship bases were established.

_Fleet Assistance, Reconnaissance, Spotting for Ships' Guns._

The successful use of Drachen kite-balloons borne in ships at the
Dardanelles led to their extensive development. Up to about May, 1915,
when the vessels to which they were attached could stand in close to
shore and overlook the enemy's positions from a distance of three or
four thousand yards, a large amount of spotting of great value was
carried out by these balloons for ships at Gallipoli, but when the Turks
brought long-range guns into position, kite-balloon vessels were obliged
to lie out beyond 11,000 yards and their services were rendered
comparatively slight for this purpose. From 1916, however, they were
towed by merchant auxiliaries and light cruisers to spot submarines,
observers communicating with the patrol ship by means of telephone. One
of the most wonderful sights I have ever seen was from the observer's
basket of the kite-balloon let up from S.S. "Manica" in