The training of the officers and ratings for the Minesweeping Branch of the Royal Naval Patrol Service is carried out at the naval establishment known as H.M.S. Loch-invar, based on the shore of a Scottish firth.

Every three weeks a score of officers arrive from H.M.S. King Alfred, where they have completed their cadet course ; they have taken an additional gunnery course on trawler weapons in H.M.S. Excellent. All have served varying periods as ratings and have been commissioned as Sub-Lieutenants in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. They have volunteered—or perhaps it would be more correct to say that they have expressed a preference for—the Minesweeping Service, of which some of them may have had experience on the lower deck.

At the beginning of the war trawlers were regarded (by those who did not man them) as the lowest form of marine life : all they could do was to " tow a bit of wire." The sweepers themselves have changed all that. Now that the Navy has seen what they can do, there is competition to join them. Some men prefer to serve in battleships and cruisers; but those who have shared the more intimate life aboard a sweeper believe their branch to be the finest in the Royal Navy.

The applicants are, however, specially selected, for the work makes peculiar demands upon a man besides those ordinary " officer-like qualities " which the Navy requires. A minesweeping officer must be a Jack of many trades and master of most. He must be technically-minded, to understand the intricacies of the modern sweeping-gear. He must have a bent for pilotage, for when in command of a sweeper he will be his own Navigator and must be familiar with the particular navigational problems of trawlers. He must be competent to keep his charts up to date, to plot the position of a minefield, and to read signals. He will also be his own Gunnery Officer, and requires a sound knowledge of the armament used in minesweepers. And besides all this he needs the endurance

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of a strong body, the initiative of a quick mind, and the resolution of a gallant spirit.

The object of the six weeks' course in H.M.S. Lochinvar is to develop these qualities and to fit the " trainees," as they are called, to become officers of minesweeping vessels. At the beginning of the course the officers spend two days at sea in trawlers or