Not in Reilly.

Only 5 copies in Worldcat.

Includes tip-in inscribed by author.

"On 28 August 1914 I was commissioned as Lieutenant R.N.V.R. and sent to Scapa Flow for duty in H.M.S. Cyclops. My friend, Hilton Young (now Lord Kennet), was similarly commissioned at the same time. The letters of credence which, together with a batch of confidential books, we were given to deliver to the Captain of Cyclops described us as 'two gentlemen of affairs'-- a description which vastly amused the Captain and officers of the ship. The Cyclops was a repair ship, sister ship to the Assistance, but unlike the Assistance she did not accompany the fleet to sea, but remained moored in Longhope, a pocket of sheltered water south-east of Scapa Flow. She was also the chief depot ship of the base. The duty for which we were sent was primarily to assist in coding and decoding cipher messages, from ship to ship or between ship and Admiralty; a job which needs only care and accuracy and no special skill, such as is required to decipher intercepted enemy messages in code.

Hilton Young soon left the Cyclops to join the Iron Duke, Admiral Jellicoe's flagship, and afterwards took part in many exciting adventures in various theatres of the war, the story of which he has told admirably in his book By Sea and Land. I remained in the Cyclops till June 1918, when I was sent to Buncrana in Ireland as first Lieutenant of the Naval Barracks there. During my long service in H.M.S. Cyclops my duties were varied and numerous. Admiral F. S. Miller, C.B., who flew his flag in the Cyclops, appointed me 'Water Officer', placing me in sole charge of a fleet of water-boats, whose task was to keep the colliers, tankers, store ships, drifters and trawlers, and other auxiliaries supplied with drinking water and water for their boilers. Light cruisers, sloops, destroyers, and submarines also required to be supplied-- the latter with distilled water, as these smaler ships had no facilities for distilling.

The blue and white burgee was their signal of distress, indicating that these ships wanted water. It was a big business to keep them all supplied, and required careful planning, as the ships were distributed over a very wide area. On an average, the water-boats which I controlled, numbering at most nine, pumped out a thousand tons of water a day.

In addition to the watches I continued to keep, as one of the coding office team, I was given or assumed many other minor duties-- inter alia, I was put in charge of the distribution of vegetables, woollies, tobacco, &c., which came in generous quantities from all parts of the United Kingdom. I formed a small ship's orchestra and organized weekly concerts and sing-songs. I also initiated and edited a ship's periodical called the Cyclopede in which, amongst other contributions, the verses printed below appeared." -- p.76