THE EASTERN FLEET 129 



much of the lon^ journey out to East Africa Challenger had been 

 sounding with her asdic apparatus, for, despite the war, surveyors 

 such as Captain Wyatt followed the tradition of the Surveying 

 Service that no opportunity be lost of increasing man's knowledge 

 of the depths of the oceans. Shortly before reaching Kilindini the 

 asdic dome, the ear of the apparatus one might say, was struck 

 from the bottom of the hull by the ship hitting some submerged 

 object. The Captain's remarks when reporting this matter were 

 as follows: 'Apart from the lack of submarine look-out involved 

 by this loss, it was particularly annoying as it prevented my 

 carrying out a line of soundings past Europa Island and various 

 shoals in the Mozambique Channel.' 



When the ship arrived in Kilindini nearly the whole Eastern 

 Fleet was in harbour and the port was very congested. Captain 

 Wyatt waited upon Admiral Sir James Somerville, the C.-in-C, 

 and also upon the local Flag Officer. He discussed the surveys and 

 the future use of the port as a Fleet base and decisions were reached 

 with the officers on the various naval staffs as to what work should 

 be taken in hand. Two surveys, each on a large scale, were to 

 be made covering Port Kilindini and Port Reitz to allow the 

 closest possible berthing of ships. A survey of the entrance was 

 further desired on half the scale of the port surveys. The existing 

 chart was not considered adequate for approaching the harbour 

 from the eastward so a survey of a considerable area on a scale 

 of 1/7^,000 (i inch to a mile) was planned to take in those 

 features along the coast which would first be sighted by ships 

 making a landfall; the sounding on this chart would have to be 

 carried seaward for a distance of about i g miles to embrace the 

 whole of the mineswept channel approach. 



The survey of the Port of Kilindini was completed in the first 

 month. As in West Africa, the work was arduous indeed, and 

 sandfly fever and the effects of long exposure to sun and glare 

 brought about many cases of sickness. A daybreak start and an 

 earlier finish to the day's work when the glare from the westerly 

 sun was at its worst curbed the rising sick-list. The new crew 

 were getting into the swing of things ; camp parties were being 

 detached to progress the triangulation here or to watch the tides 

 there ; the boats were away sounding and the ship herself was at 



