Telegram from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to the Japanese Minister of Marine [Vice-Admiral Rokuro Yashiro] on Britain's intention to enter the Baltic early in the New Year. WSC predicts the fall of Tsingtau [the German port on the China coast], and the destruction of the German outlying cruisers; he asks Japan to consider their continuing naval aid contribution. [Hand-written copy, copied to Sir Edward Grey, Foreign Secretary].

Extract from the Times, giving an Admiralty announcement warning that German mines have been scattered in the open sea on the trade route between the United States and Liverpool via Northern Ireland; also making the whole of the North Sea a military area, and warning merchant shipping of the dangers. [Typescript copy].

Memorandum by Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Wilson, on the difficulty of putting any significant force into the Baltic without weakening the North Sea Fleet; also on the need for a French fleet to cover the English Channel, thus sparing old British battleships for bombarding operations.

Letter from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to Field Marshal Sir John French [Chief of Imperial General Staff, later 1st Lord Ypres], on a naval bombardment to support the advance of the Army on Ostende, Belgium, suggesting that the Navy attack Zeebrugge, the base of the German submarines, at the same time. Also includes Admiralty memorandum sketching out naval support for the army. [Hand-written drafts, initialled by WSC].

Telegram from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to [Vice-Admiral Rukuro Yashiro, Japanese Minister of Marine] with thanks for his telegram of congratulations for the British success in the Battle of the Falklands. [Hand-written draft by WSC].

Telegram from Field Marshal Sir John French [Chief of Imperial General Staff, later 1st Lord Ypres] to Field Marshal 1st Lord Kitchener [Secretary of State for War], stating that the naval support of the Army's attack on Ostende [Belgium] had been "most useful". French recommends that the same co-operation be given the next day, with note by WSC, confirming that naval co-operation would be continued. [Initialled by WSC].

Telegram from Field Marshal Sir John French [Chief of Imperial General Staff, later 1st Lord Ypres] to Field Marshal 1st Lord Kitchener [Secretary of State for War], stating that the advance along the Belgian coast from Nieuport was not as fast as hoped, and asking for surprise bombardment by monitor and big gun ships. [Typescript copy].

Minute from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to the Prime Minister [Herbert Asquith, later 1st Lord Oxford and Asquith] and Sir Edward Grey [Foreign Secretary] asking for authority to put into force the combined Anglo- French dispositions for the defence of the English Channel. [Hand-written copy].

Letter from Vice-Admiral Sir John Jellicoe (HMS Iron Duke) "at sea" to WSC, First Lord of the Admiralty, on his appointment [as Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet] and on the Fleet's problem of oil and coal supplies. Jellicoe expresses his wish for a decisive action, and details the ships that he needs for this.

Telegram from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to the Minister of Marine, Japan [Vice-Admiral Rokuro Yashiro] expressing the pleasure of the officers and men of the Royal Navy at finding themselves "allied in a common cause - against a common foe with the gallant and seamanlike Navy of Japan". [Hand-written and initialled by WSC].

Minute by WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] on the establishment of the Naval Brigade to fight in France and Belgium. [Typescript, initialled by WSC].

Submission from Commodore Roger Keyes [Captain and Commodore in charge of the Submarine Service] to the Chief of the War Staff, Admiralty [Vice-Admiral Sir (Frederick) Doveton Sturdee], reporting results of submarine reconnaissance, particularly activities of German destroyer patrols north and south of Heligoland. Keyes suggests a "well- organised drive" by British submarines to disrupt the patrols. [Carbon copy].

Diary note by Commodore Roger Keyes [Captain and Commodore in charge of the Submarine Service], giving an account of a meeting between himself and Lieutenant Ernest Leir [Submarine Service] with WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty], Prince Louis of Battenberg [1st Sea Lord, later 1st Lord Milford Haven] and Vice-Admiral Sir [Frederick] Doveton Sturdee [Chief of the War Staff, Admiralty] on arrangements for "The Affair of 28 August" [naval action in the Heligoland Bight].

Telegram from the Supreme Commander of the Russian Armies [the Grand Duke Nicholas] to WSC, First Lord of the Admiralty, accepting in principle the offer of assistance from the Royal Navy to a Russian Army landing on the North German Coast, if the British fleet gained command of the Baltic Sea. [Typescript copy].

Report from Commodore Roger Keyes [Captain and Commodore in charge of the Submarine Service] to the Chief of the War Staff, Admiralty [Vice-Admiral Sir (Frederick) Doveton Sturdee], reporting on a raid on Heligoland by British cruisers, destroyers and submarines, including an account of the sinking of the German light cruiser Mainz. [Typescript copy].

Letter from Commodore Roger Keyes [Captain and Commodore in charge of the Submarine Service] (Harwich [Essex]) to Commodore Allan Everett [Captain of the Fleet, Grand Fleet] on the British raid on the Heligoland Bight, and the sinking of the German light cruiser Mainz. [Typescript copy].

Telegram from Commander-in-Chief, Grand Fleet [Vice- Admiral Sir John Jellicoe] to WSC, First Lord of the Admiralty, commenting on the recent German submarine activity. [Typescript copy].

Minute from WSC [First Lord of the Admiralty] to the Secretary of the Admiralty [Sir (William) Graham Greene] and the 1st Sea Lord [Prince Louis of Battenberg, later 1st Lord Milford Haven] on forces available for operations in the narrow seas, which should consist of a small number of good modern ships, suggesting that the "Bacchante" class cruisers be withdrawn from the area. [Typescript copy].

Minute from Vice-Admiral Sir (Frederick) Doveton Sturdee [Chief of Staff, Admiralty] to the 1st Sea Lord [Prince Louis of Battenberg, later 1st Lord Milford Haven] on the danger to the Battle Fleet from German submarine activity in the North Sea.

Admiralty minute [? from Rear-Admiral Frederick Hamilton, 2nd Sea Lord] to the 1st Sea Lord [Prince Louis of Battenberg, later 1st Lord Milford Haven] on the risk to the Battle Fleet from German submarines in the North Sea.