two o'clock
Here the repairs which were needed by the _ Ariel _ were at once taken in hand by her own crew and that of the _ Ithuriel _ , while the _ Orion _ was sent out to sea again to keep a sharp look-out for the Russian fleet , which she would sight long before she herself became visible , and then to watch the movements of the Russians from as great a distance as possible until it was time to make the counter-attack . As Aberdeen was then one of the coaling depots for the North Sea Squadron , it was defended by two battleships , the _ Ascalon _ and the _ Menelaus _ , three powerful coast-defence vessels , the _ Thunderer _ , the _ Cyclops _ , and the _ Pluto _ , six cruisers , and twelve torpedo-boats . The shore defences consisted of a fort on the north bank at the mouth of the Dee , mounting ten heavy guns , and the Girdleness fort , mounting twenty-four 9-inch twenty-five ton guns , in connection with which was a station for working navigable torpedoes of the Brennan type , which had been considerably improved during the last ten years . Shortly after two o'clock on the afternoon of the 30th the _ Orion _ returned to her consorts with the news that the Russian fleet was forty miles off the land , heading straight for Aberdeen , and that there were no other warships in sight as far as could be seen to the southward . From this fact it was concluded that the Russians had escaped the notice of the North Sea Squadron , and so would only have the force defending Aberdeen to reckon with . Even had they not possessed the air-ship , this force was so far inferior to their own that there would be little chance of successfully defending the town against them . They had eleven battleships , twenty-five cruisers , eight of which were very large and heavily armed , and forty torpedo-boats , to pit against the little British force and the two forts .