Searchlight practice in forenoon. Captured 2 merchantmen, sending them back escorted by destroyers. One had 6000 tons of grain on board. 

Usual routine. Searchlight practice in forenoon. 

Usual routine. Searchlight practice in After T.S. in forenoon. Make & mend in afternoon. In nets boats and up anchor and off to sea at 4.45. Started 3 watches. 

(nets and boots could be vests and boots. Read tends to put the & right beside the first letter of the next word as in ‘make &mend’ which we took for make amend until today.)

Underway Routine. Provisioning etc. No church. Weather choppy. 

Arrived at Scapa Flow about 6:30 A.M. Coaled ship from “Mercedes” 1340 tons. Finished at 5.p.m.

4″ day action crews fired 1″ aiming in afternoon. Shooting much better than yesterday.

October 9th 1914

4″ day action crews fired at target towed by “New Zealand”. Firing poor, also fired 1″ aiming night firing (4:). On searchlights. Good
firing.

October 8th 1914

Ed. Note: While Frank was on the Lion today, Charlie Read, his younger brother, was racing out of Antwerp before the Germans took over the city. The story is here: The Siege of Antwerp 

Here is a postcard that Charlie sent to his parents soon after they arrived in Holland:

Charlie’s Postcard Back

Here is the transcription:

Have been through the siege of Antwerp (crossed out with another name above it ending in ‘enzer’ or ‘enzen’ and maybe starting with F) but am quite O.K. We were the last to leave the

home but we can’t say for certain. I will write again soon and let you have more positive news. 

Charlie’s Card Front

As it turned out, Charlie did not make it back to England. The non-neutral troops (both Belgian and British) were interned at Groningen for the duration of the war. Charlie did make home at least once on leave in 1917.

Searchlight practice in after transmitting station in forenoon. Fired H.A. gun at kite towed by “New Zealand’. Good firing.

October 7th 1914

Found target for “Queen Mary” and “New Zealand”. Good firing by both ships. We fired 13.5’s.

October 6th 1914

Usual routine. Object of trip to keep seas clean for Canadian troops between Faroe (?) and Fair Islands. “Princess Royal” met them in
Atlantic. Thought there might be something doing but, as usual, nothing happened.

October 5th 1914

Ed. Note: Far could be Faroe and Fair is almost certainly Fair Isle.