WAR AT SEA I03 



for a few minutes was unable to walk away. A young doctor who 

 had been working through the night came out of the mortuary — 

 'Just like a butcher's shop, it's ghastly,' he said. 



By the end of January all was ready for sea, and Vice-Admiral 

 Edgell, the Hydrographer of the Navy, paid a visit; this was all 

 he was able to see of his ships in these days, and these visits were 

 always appreciated as they made everyone onboard feel that the 

 Chief still gave much thought to the ships despite his over- 

 whelming occupation with chart production and supplies which 

 had by now reached enormous proportions. 



The new internal degaussing coils had been run round the ship 

 as a protection against magnetic mines. These were calibrated by 

 taking the ship over the degaussing range at Tilbury before she 

 sailed down river and into the Medway at Sheerness, where she 

 arrived during an air-raid. Enemy aircraft were flying low through 

 broken cloud, and the ship's guns were in action; as she stemmed 

 the strong tidal stream so that the men on the forecastle could 

 secure her to the buoy a barrage balloon came drifting down on 

 the wind in flames, narrowly missing the ship as it struck the 

 water. 



The first big survey of 1941 was that of Lough Foyle where 

 Challenger arrived in mid-February, With bases in Eire denied to 

 us, Londonderry was our nearest port to the Battle of the Atlantic 

 and was growing daily in importance as a base for anti-submarine 

 vessels, frigates and corvettes as the battle gained in intensity. 

 Many of these vessels were having difficulty in navigating the long 

 channel through the lough and up the river to Londonderry. 

 Whether this was bad navigation or a change in the channel itself 

 was not readily apparent: it is natural for many seafarers to 

 question the chart before questioning their own navigation. How- 

 ever, in view of the ever increasing importance of Londonderry 

 and the plans that had been formulated in the Admiralty for wharf 

 construction in the river at Culmore, the Hydrographer was taking 

 no chances and ordered a re-survey of the whole channel and 

 river approach to Londonderry, 



This was a formidable survey and Commander Jenks tackled 

 it with the same determination with which he had tackled Iceland 

 in the previous year. Every boat onboard was pressed into service 



