92 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



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either to load into a waiting ship 

 or to put away in store. 



CONSTANT DANGER IN THE WORK 



This work was a constant dan- 

 ger from fire risk and the poison- 

 ous fumes of the molten explo- 

 sive. The sailors in attendance 

 had to wash their heads and 

 necks thoroughly afterward. 

 Several were overcome seriously 

 in the course of the work, and 

 one man died ; but the rest quietly 

 stuck to it, as if they liked it. 



There was a great transporta- 

 tion problem involved, originally 

 estimated to absorb the use of 

 60,000 tons of shipping for five 

 months. Beginning their sailings 

 in late February, a group of 24 

 steamers, managed by the Naval 

 Overseas Transport Service, were 

 constantly employed, with two or 

 three departures every eight 

 days, carrying mine material and 

 stores for the northern barrage. 



It was through a submarine 

 sinking one of these ships, the 

 Lake Moor, with 41 of her crew, 

 that our operation suffered its 

 greatest, almost the only, loss of 

 life. 



Meantime the British naval 

 authorities were preparing de- 

 pots for us in Scotland. The 

 mine material was to be unloaded 

 on the west side of Scotland ; 

 some cargoes at Fort William, at 

 the western terminus of the 

 Caledonian Canal, and some at 

 Kyle, on Loch Alsh, opposite the 

 Isle of Skye. 



Thence the cargoes would be 

 forwarded by canal barge and by 

 rail to Inverness, and to Inver- 

 gordon, on Cromarty Firth, re- 

 spectively. These harbors open 

 on Moray Firth, about eight 

 miles apart, on the northeast 

 coast of Scotland (see map, page 

 86). 



A single depot would have 

 been better, as far as assembling 

 the mines was concerned, but the 

 limited transporting capacity by 

 canal and Highland railway made 

 two assembling points necessary. 



