REMOVAL OF THE NORTH SEA MINE BARRAGE 



119 



long, the sweepers worked 

 from four in the morning 

 until ten, and sometimes 

 even later, at night. 



The days in port were 

 equally busy. Fuel, water, 

 provisions, and new sweep 

 gear had to be obtained ; 

 boilers had to be cleaned 

 and many repairs were al- 

 ways required. The ma- 

 chine-shops on the two re- 

 pair-ships buzzed inces- 

 santly, and as soon as 

 everything could be finished 

 the ships were under way 

 once more for the barrage. 



Group 9, the largest 

 group of mines that has 

 ever been laid, was selected 

 for the next operation. 



Five thousand five hun- 

 dred and twenty mines had 

 been laid within its bound- 

 aries. The same method of 

 sweeping was to be used as 

 on the previous operation, 

 except that the three pairs 

 of sweepers were to work- 

 together, sweeping their 

 section of the field longi- 

 tudinally instead of trans- 

 versely. It was a bold ex- 

 periment, but if they could 

 demonstrate that the danger 

 was no greater than in the 

 other form of sweeping 

 (This largely depended on 

 their ability to keep be- 

 tween the invisible lines of 

 mines), then there might 

 yet be a possibility of finishing the task 

 before winter. 



Admiral Strauss spent several days on 

 one of these sweepers in order personally 

 to judge the relative merits of the two 

 methods. 



A SUBMARINE WRECK CAUGHT IN THE 

 SWEEP-WIRE 



An interesting indication of the success 

 of the barrage was encountered while 

 sweeping in the central portion of this 

 group. The Heron and Sanderling, while 

 crossing the lines of mines, were suddenly 

 brought almost to a standstill; then their 



A MINE WITH ITS ANCHOR, WHICH FOULED THE SWEEP 

 AND WAS HAULED ON BOARD 



This extremely dangerous practice was automatically discon- 

 tinued after the Bobolink's disaster (see page 117). 



sweep-wire snapped. A few minutes later 

 a huge patch of oil rose to the surface 

 and spread out astern of them. The 

 sweep had fouled the wreck of a subma- 

 rine which had been sunk in the barrage. 

 Curiously, the mining squadron, when 

 passing close to this same spot a few days 

 after they had laid the field, sighted the 

 dead body of a German sailor floating in 

 the water. 



From the records of the Admiralty the 

 wreck was presumed to be the U. B. 127. 



The sweeping progressed slowly, The 

 weather, although it was now June, was 

 almost as violent as it had been during 1 



