IN THE PRUSSIAN NAVY 9

On July 16th we arrived in Wilhelmshaven, where the mobilization was in full swing, but we could not enter the harbour because the locks were not yet completed; so we remained in the roads. The dangers of being without a dockyard crippled the squadron; any damage to the ship's bottom was irreparable and meant incapacity for battle. We now went through a hard time in the outer roads. We were to be thrown into the fight if Hamburg or any other place on the North Sea was. attacked. We also put out to sea twice; once as far as the Dogger Bank to watch the two new French armoured vessels which had been sent to reinforce the French Eastern Squadron; and the second time when we expected to find the French fleet scattered after a storm, to the leeward of Heligoland. On neither occasion did we come to blows. The army reproached us for not attacking the whole French fleet when it suddenly appeared off Wilhelmshaven on its way home. We youngsters were also indignant at not being let loose on the enemy, but this caution was correct. We were three armoured ships to their eight, and we could only do 10 knots; and even if Captain Werner had advertised the Konig Wilhelm in the Gartenlaube as the strongest ship in the world, this was not sufficient to counterbalance a threefold superiority. In view of the lack of any possibility of refitment we should have had to expect the loss of our whole fleet, without reaping any advantage thereby. It was also difficult for the lay mind to understand why we did not at least attempt a raid. An engage-