t, at any time, seriously interfered with, the movements of the larger
ocean transports were not conducted without loss. _Royal Edward_ was the
first transport to be torpedoed. She went down with the sacrifice of
over a thousand lives. The power of the submarine had been over-lightly
estimated by the authorities: measures of protection were inadequate.
Improved U-boats were, by now, operating in the Mediterranean, and their
commanders had quickly acquired a confidence in their power. More
destroyers were required to escort the troopships.

By a rearrangement of forces a more efficient measure of naval
protection was assured. Although the provision of a swift escort did not
always prevent the destruction of ships, the loss of life on the
occasion of the sinking of a transport was sensibly reduced by the
presence of accompanying destroyers. The skill and high gallantry of
their commanders was largely instrumental in averting complete and
terrible disaster. As the numbers of ships were reduced by enemy action
there came the need to pack the remaining vessels to a point of
overloading. Boat equipment on the ships could not be other than
inadequate when the certified complement of passengers was exceeded by
100 per cent. In any case, the havoc of a torpedo left little time to
put the huge numbers of men afloat. With no thought of their own
hazard--bringing up alongside a torpedoed vessel and abandoning the
safeguard of their speed and manoeuvring power--the destroyer men
accepted all risks in an effort to bring at least the manning of their
charge to port.

Every casualty added grim experience to the sum of our resources in
avoiding a great death-roll. Life-belts that we had thought efficient
were proved faulty of adjustment and were condemned: methods of
boat-lowering were altered to meet the danger of a sudden list: the run
of gangway and passage to the life-apparatus was cleared of impediment.
When on a passage every precaution that could be taken towards a ready
alert was insisted upon. Despite the manly grumbling of the very young
military officers on board, certain irksome regulations were enforced.
Life-belts had to be worn continuously; troops were only allowed below
decks at stated hours; systems of drill, constantly carried through,
left little leisure for the officers and men. Although no formal drill
can wholly meet the abnormal circumstances of the new sea-casualty, we
left nothing undone to prepare for eventua