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until picked up by the Prince Eugene. The M. L.-254 was severely damaged and, on standing out, missed the inshore covering force and was finally picked up by the Warwick, of the offshore covering force, at 3.15 a. m. after firing a distress signal. When all hands had been taken aboard the destroyer the motor launch was sunk and the division of destroyers stood off. By this time the tide had fallen so low that it was inexpedient to return by the route inside of the shoals by which the approach had been made. So the course was set for a gap in the net defence by the deep-draught route from Ostend to seaward.

Evidently the Germans had mined this route in anticipation of an attack, as the Warwick struck a mine at 4.00 a. m., which broke her back just ahead of the superstructure of the after superimposed 4-inch gun and destroyed the after part of the ship. She took a heavy list and seemed to be settling by the stern. The Velox went alongside and took off all of the wounded. The Whirlwind took her in tow and the Velox remained alongside to steer her. The division arrived at Dover at 4.30 p. m. The general retirement was well carried out without further casualties.

Results. The chief mission, the destruction of the Flanders triangle, was undoubtedly well accomplished. Aerial observation showed that the blocking of the entrance to the Bruges Canal had prisoned, in Bruges, many torpedo and submarine craft whose draft prevented them from making their way out through the smaller canals to Ostend. And it was not until late in the summer after a great deal of dredging that a somewhat perilous and narrow channel was opened past the Iphigenia.

The position of the Vindictive in the entrance to Ostend Harbor, lying at an angle of 25 degrees to the eastern pier, merely restricted the entrance and a sufficient channel was left between her stern and the western pier to allow the passage of any torpedo or submarine craft. So the destruction of the triangle was due in part to the fact that the Ostend-Bruges leg was in reality a negligible quantity due to the shallowness of the canals.

On the other hand the damage to the base of the triangle was almost insignificant. The over-running of the prearranged position by the Vindictive at Zeebrugge prevented any damage being done to the Mole itself by the excellently arranged demolition party. The destruction of the viaduct by the submarine C-3

undoubtedly caused considerable inconvenience in the communication between the shore and the seaplane base and the batteries on the Mole. Aerial photographs of the defences show that although the battery emplacements were damaged, none of the guns were struck.

To accomplish this mission the English expended the old submarine C-3 and the old cruisers Thetis, Intrepid, Iphigenia, Brilliant, Sirius and Vindictive. In carrying out the attack they lost the destroyer North Star and motor launches numbers 110, 254 and 424. Besides, the destroyer Warwick and M. L.-276 were badly damaged. The damages to the rest of the forces employed were slight.

Although the losses were no greater than those suffered by the English Army in undertakings of equal magnitude, the personnel casualties on April 22-23 were heavy: 176 killed; 412 wounded; and 49 missing, of which it is believed 35 were killed. In comparison the losses on May 10 were slight, but a much smaller force was engaged: 8 killed; 30 wounded; and II missing, all believed to have been killed. The total casualties for the whole operation were 184 killed, 442 wounded and 60 missing.

[COPYRIGHTED]

U. S. NAVAL INSTITUTE, ANNAPOLIS, MD.

BRINGING IN THE SHEAVES

By COMMANDER Clarence NELSON HINKAMP, U. S. Navy

Having read in the March number of the U. S. NAVAL INSTITUTE PROCEEDINGS an interesting article entitled "Planting a War Garden," it occurred to me that several might be interested in the process of "Bringing in the Sheaves," known by a more plebian name as "Mine Sweeping."

Early in the summer of 1917 the Allies made an urgent call for mine sweepers, whereupon the Navy Department proceeded to buy up all of the available craft which might be used for mine sweeping. Among the purchases were ten trawlers of about the same dimensions, which had been engaged in the fishing industries of the Atlantic Coast. These vessels when tuned up were able to make about ten knots if the weather was fair, and very little if the weather was bad. However, laying aside the fancy characteristics which mine sweepers should possess, these nondescript vessels were remodeled as far as possible to suit the work which they were to perform, and in August, 1917, left these gay shores from that quaint old town of Provincetown and headed for the Azore Islands, little dreaming what was ahead.

After 11 days of steaming we reached the Azore Islands, where we re-fueled, held a short target practice (for many of our men had never seen a gun, much less heard it fired), and started for Brest.

Upon arrival in Brest six days later we were permitted a short breathing period, after which we were put upon coastal convoy duty. Due to the fact that the vessels were built of wood, and were about as flexible as a spring and not very easy to handle, it was decided, after one vessel sunk off Ushant, to take the trawlers off convoy duty and convert them into mine sweepers, using the French method of dragging. While the vessels were being fitted out at the arsenal in Brest, the officers were sent out on French mine sweepers to learn the game.

It was my pleasure to spend ten days on a French mine sweeper working on the north coast of France. All convoy routes had been heavily mined so we knew that we would gather some "eggs" We did-a more interesting experience cannot be pictured. It is very pretty to read a description of a fight with a submarine, or a fight with a vessel on the surface, or of sow

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ing mines to catch the enemy, but let your imagination run rampant for a few moments and picture an area which is known to be mined, and it is your particular little job to clear the field. It may be that the automatic gear of the German mine did not work, whereupon the mine would float a little too high and the vessel, gently riding on the swells, might, on a downward plunge,

hit one of these small implements of Satan; or it might be that the sweeping gear would foul a mine cable instead of cutting it, and in hauling in the gear the mine might accidentally be hauled up under the ship; or the mine might have been planted with a heavy tide running, and in slack water would be floating with

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the mine cable upright instead of at an angle. All of these conditions might be met and we knew it.

Again, if the vessel was of too deep draft the factor of safety due to the tide would be decreased by just that much. The only factor of safety that there was in the whole mine sweep

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