destroyers  of  the  then  latest  types  and  ranging  in  size  from  700  to  1,000
tons.  The  flotilla  included  some  of  the  fastest  ships  in  the  British  Navy —
vessels  equal  to  a  speed  at  sea  of  over  thirty  knots  an  hour.  Each
cruiser  carried  a  complement  of  about  three  hundred  men  and  each  de-
stroyer had  a  crew  of  about  one  hundred.  In  the  spring  and  autumn
the  flotilla  left  Harwich  for  about  eight  weeks'  battle  practice  on  the  north-
east coast  of  Scotland,  and  in  the  intervals  there  were  firing  and  tactical
exercises,  extending  over  several  days  at  a  time,  in  the  North  Sea.  Har-
wich was,  also,  at  this  time,  the  headquarters  of  a  flotilla  of  nine  sub-
marines, together  with  the  parent  ship  Mercury  and  the  sea-going
ship  Thames,  a  second-class  cruiser  of  4,000  tons.  There  was  further
to  be  taken  into  account  the  existence,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Stour,
and  immediately  facing  Harwich,  of  the  Shotley  Royal  Naval  Training
School,  where  some  1,400  boys  were  under  training.
Towards  the  end  of  1911,  and  under  these  conditions,  Harwich  had
taken  on  a  fresh  lease  of  life  as  a  naval  port  of  great  prospective  utihty.
Significant  of  much  that  was  happening  was  the  fact  that  the  running  on
the  Great  Eastern  of  "  seamen's  specials  "  for  the  conveyance  to  London
of  men  on  week-end  leave  had  become  a  well-established  and  greatly-
appreciated  institution.  By  March,  1912,  the  new  naval  base  had
acquired  a  second  flotilla  of  about  twenty-five  destroyers,  with  attendant
cruisers,  scouts  and  depot  or  repair  ships  ;  the  Admiralty  had  provided
a  floating  dock  capable  of  accommodating  two  destroyers  side  by  side,
and  plans  were  being  prepared  for  additional  dredging  operations  for
which  the  Admiralty  had  undertaken  to  make  a  grant.
