1914, following the publishing of the 1914–1915 Naval Estimates, Scott had a letter published in the London Times criticising the lack of provision for submarines and aircraft. He argued that submarines represented a potent threat to the fleet and that no fleet could hide from the eye of the aeroplane: "probably if we went to war, we should at once lock our battleships up in a safe" For this he received an avalanche of critical denials. World War I When war broke out, at the request of Field-Marshal Earl Roberts, Scott provided proposals for the use of 6-inch naval guns mounted for mobile use on land as long range artillery. Neither the War Office nor Admiralty appreciated the value of such long range weapons and it was not until mid-1915, when under pressure on the Western Front from long range German guns, they urgently called Scott to put the proposals into effect. In November 1914 Scott was called into the Admiralty by Winston Churchill and Lord Fisher, returned once more as First Sea Lord, to be told he was to be employed as an advisor in connection with the gunnery efficiency of the fleet. His first job, however, was to organise the conversion of sixteen merchant vessels into a squadron of dummy warships which he effected with the help of the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. Once more Scott turned his attention to the submarine menace. He proposed that rams should be put on torpedo boats, destroyers and trawlers, and he submitted a design for a bomb which could be used to attack submarines on or near the surface. These measures were rapidly implemented. In late October 1914 Captain P. H. Colomb proposed a depth charge actuated by a hydrostatic pressure valve and in the same month Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Madden suggested adapting howitzers to lob depth charges in the water. In November Scott proposed a simple depth charge deliverable from the air. Scott was however frustrated by the Admiralty's exhaustive development process and instead of having a basic howitzer depth charge combination in late 1914, the weapon did not become available until 1916. Much of Scott's time was employed cutting through red tape and getting the Grand Fleet fitted with director-firing. However, in May 1915 Fisher resigned and Scott once more found himself with little influence. Once more the momentum slowed. By the time of the Battle of