Isle of Man Steam Packet Company England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Ports served included Liverpool, Silloth, Whitehaven, Holyhead, Ardrossan, Blackpool, Belfast and Dublin. Vessels and crews of the company were actively involved in both the First and Second World Wars. One vessel, , was attached to the British Grand Fleet and led the German High Seas Fleet into Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands at the end of the First World War. Another vessel, "Viking", was converted to become a seaplane carrier, serving as . During the First World War, eleven out of a total fleet of fifteen Steam Packet ships were requisitioned by the Admiralty.
British submarine flotilla in the Baltic British submarine flotilla in the Baltic A British submarine flotilla operated in the Baltic Sea for three years during the First World War. The squadron of nine submarines was attached to the Russian Baltic Fleet. The main task of the flotilla was to prevent the import of iron ore from Sweden to Imperial Germany. The success of the flotilla also forced the German Navy in the Baltic to keep to their bases and denied the German High Seas Fleet a training ground. The flotilla was based in Reval (Tallinn), and for most of its career commanded by Captain Francis Cromie.