Preparation
The cruisers involved in the blockade—including HMS Vindictive—were equipped in Chatham, an operation which involved over 2,000 workers for the special fitting out, and stripping out (in the case of the ships to be sunk) of all unnecessary equipment including their masts. Iris, Daffodil and the submarines were fitted out in Portsmouth. The fleet made its rendezvous at Swin Deep about 8 mi (7.0 nmi; 13 km) south of Clacton. Almost none of the participants were aware of their target.
The first opportunity for the raid was early April 1918, and on 2 April, a first attempt was initiated and Zeebrugge was subjected to an initial air raid by 65 Squadron from Dunkirk. The success of the raid depended upon smoke screens to avoid a massacre of the British Fleet, but as the wind direction was unfavourable, the attack was called off. By this time, Zeebrugge was visible to the fleet, and the fleet to the Germans in Zeebrugge. Seventy-seven ships of all sizes—some with their lights already switched off—had to make a sharp turn to the west and return to their bases.
Read more about this topic: Zeebrugge Raid
Famous quotes containing the word preparation:
“With memory set smarting like a reopened wound, a man’s past is not simply a dead history, an outworn preparation of the present: it is not a repented error shaken loose from the life: it is a still quivering part of himself, bringing shudders and bitter flavours and the tinglings of a merited shame.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“Living each day as a preparation for the next is an exciting way to live. Looking forward to something is much more fun than looking back at something—and much more constructive. If we can prepare ourselves so that we never have to think, “Oh, if I had only known, if I had only been ready,” our lives can really be the great adventure we so passionately want them to be.”
—Hortense Odlum (1892–?)
“It’s sad but true that if you focus your attention on housework and meal preparation and diapers, raising children does start to look like drudgery pretty quickly. On the other hand, if you see yourself as nothing less than your child’s nurturer, role model, teacher, spiritual guide, and mentor, your days take on a very different cast.”
—Joyce Maynard (20th century)