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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Our Navy in the War, by Lawrence Perry
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Our Navy in the War
+
+
+Author: Lawrence Perry
+
+
+
+Release Date: June 24, 2006  [eBook #18676]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR NAVY IN THE WAR***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Thomas Amrhein, David King, and the
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+(https://www.pgdp.net/)
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+
+
+America In The War
+
+OUR NAVY IN THE WAR
+
+by
+
+LAWRENCE PERRY
+
+Illustrated
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+New York
+Charles Scribner's Sons
+1919
+Copyright, 1918, by
+Charles Scribner's Sons
+Published October, 1918
+
+
+
+[Illustration: _From a photograph by C.R. Eagle._
+ATLANTIC FLEET STEAMING IN LINE OF BEARING.]
+
+
+
+
+THIS BOOK
+IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THE
+HON. JOSEPHUS DANIELS
+
+A NEWSPAPER MAN WHO BROUGHT TO HIS TASK AS SECRETARY OF THE NAVY THOSE
+GREAT QUALITIES OF MIND AND CHARACTER WHICH FITTED HIM TO MEET WITH SUCH
+SIGNAL SUCCESS THE IMMENSE PROBLEMS WHICH THE WAR IMPOSED UPON HIS
+OFFICE. TO HIS FAR-SEEING VISION, HIS BREADTH OF VIEW, HIS FREEDOM FROM
+ALL BIAS, HIS JUDGMENT OF MEN AND OF AFFAIRS, AND TO THE STERN COURAGE
+OF HIS CONVICTIONS ARE DUE TO-DAY THE MAINTENANCE OF THOSE HIGH
+TRADITIONS OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY OF WHICH AMERICANS HAVE EVER BEEN
+PROUD.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+First Experience of Our Navy with the German U-Boat--Arrival of Captain
+Hans Rose and the U-53 at Newport--Experiences of the German Sailors in
+an American Port--Destruction of Merchantman by U-53 off Nantucket--Our
+Destroyers to the Rescue--Scenes in Newport--German Rejoicing--The Navy
+Prepares for War
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+Our Navy Arms American Merchant Vessels--Death of our First Bluejacket
+on Service in the War Zone--Vice-Admiral Sims--We Take Over Patrol of
+Waters of Western Hemisphere--The Naval Advisory Board of
+Inventions--Work of this Body--Our Battleships the Largest in the
+World--Widespread Operations
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+First Hostile Contact Between the Navy and the Germans--Armed Guards on
+Merchant Vessels--"Campana" First to Sail--Daniels Refuses Offer of
+Money Awards to Men Who Sink Submarines--"Mongolia" Shows Germany How
+the Yankee Sailorman Bites--Fight of the "Silvershell"--Heroism of
+Gunners on Merchant Ships--Sinking of the "Antilles"--Experiences of
+Voyagers
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+Destroyers on Guard--Preparations of Flotilla to Cross the
+Ocean--Meeting the "Adriatic"---Flotilla Arrives in Queenstown--
+Reception by British Commander and Populace--"We are Ready
+Now, Sir"--Arrival of the Famous Captain Evans on the American
+Flag-Ship--Our Navy a Warm-Weather Navy--Loss of the "Vacuum"
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+British and American Destroyers Operating Hand in Hand--Arrival of Naval
+Collier "Jupiter"--Successful Trip of Transports Bearing United States
+Soldiers Convoyed by Naval Vessels--Attack on Transports Warded Off by
+Destroyers--Secretary Baker Thanks Secretary Daniels--Visit to our
+Destroyer Base--Attitude of Officers Toward Men--Genesis of the
+Submarine--The Confederate Submarine "Hunley"
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+On a German Submarine--Fight with a Destroyer--Periscope Hit--Record of
+the Submarine in this War--Dawning Failure of the Undersea Boat--Figures
+Issued by the British Admiralty--Proof of Decline--Our Navy's Part in
+this Achievement
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+How the Submarine is being Fought--Destroyers the Great Menace--But
+Nets, Too, Have Played Their Part--Many Other Devices--German Officers
+Tell of Experience on a Submarine Caught in a Net--Chasers Play Their
+Part--The Depth-Bomb--Trawler Tricks--A Camouflaged Schooner Which
+Turned Out To Be a Tartar--Airplanes--German Submarine Men in Playful
+Mood
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+Perils and Triumphs of Submarine-Hunting--The Loss of our First
+War-Ship, The Converted Gunboat "Alcedo"--Bravery of Crew--"Cassin"
+Struck by Torpedo, But Remains in the Fight--Loss of the "Jacob
+Jones"--Sinking of the "San Diego"--Destroyers "Nicholson" and "Fanning"
+Capture a Submarine, Which Sinks--Crew of Germans Brought Into Port--The
+Policy of Silence in Regard to Submarine-Sinkings
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+Our Battleship Fleet--Great Workshop of War--Preparations for Foreign
+Service--On a Battleship During a Submarine Attack--The Wireless That
+Went Wrong--The Torpedo That Missed--Attack on Submarine Bases of
+Doubtful Expediency--When the German Fleet Comes Out--Establishment of
+Station in the Azores
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+Great Atlantic Ferry Company, Incorporated, But Unlimited--Feat of the
+Navy in Repairing the Steamships Belonging to German Lines Which Were
+Interned at Beginning of War in 1914--Welding and Patching--Triumph of
+Our Navy With the "Vaterland"--Her Condition--Knots Added to Her
+Speed--Damage to Motive Power and How It Was Remedied--Famous German
+Liners Brought Under Our Flag
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+Camouflage--American System of Low Visibility and the British Dazzle
+System--Americans Worked Out Principles of Color in Light and Color in
+Pigment--British Sought Merely to Confuse the Eye--British System
+Applied to Some of Our Transports
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+The Naval Flying Corps--What The Navy Department Has Accomplished And Is
+Accomplishing in the Way of Air-Fighting--Experience of a Naval Ensign
+Adrift in the English Channel--Seaplanes and Flying Boats--Schools of
+Instruction--Instances of Heroism
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+Organization Of The Naval Reserve Classes--Taking Over of Yachts For
+Naval Service--Work Among The Reserves Stationed at Various Naval
+Centres--Walter Camp's Achievement
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+The United States Marine Corps--First Military Branch Of The National
+Service To Be Sanctioned By Congress--Leaving For The War--Service Of
+The Marines in Various Parts of the Globe--Details of Expansion of
+Corps--Their Present Service All Over The World
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+Scope Of The Navy's Work In Various Particulars--Food--Fuel--Naval
+Consulting Board--Projectile Factory--Expenditures--Increase Of
+Personnel
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+The beginning of the end--Reports in London that submarines were
+withdrawing to their bases to head a battle movement on the part of the
+German Fleet--How the plan was foiled--The surrender of the German Fleet
+to the combined British and American Squadrons--Departure of the
+American Squadron--What might have happened had the German vessels come
+out to fight
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+Lessons of the War--The Submarine Not Really a Submarine--French Term
+for Undersea Fighter--The Success of the Convoy Against
+Submersibles--U-Boats Not Successful Against Surface Fighters--Their
+Shortcomings--What the Submarine Needs to be a Vital Factor in Sea
+Power--Their Showing Against Convoyed Craft--Record of Our Navy in
+Convoying and Protecting Convoys
+
+Secretary Daniels's Report
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+Atlantic Fleet steaming in line of bearing
+
+Portraits of Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy, Rear-Admiral Leigh
+C. Palmer, Vice-Admiral William S. Sims, Admiral Henry T. Mayo,
+Rear-Admiral Albert Gleaves, Admiral William S. Benson
+
+Position of ships in a convoy
+
+A U.S. submarine at full speed on the surface of the water
+
+A submarine-chaser
+
+A torpedo-destroyer
+
+Repairing a damaged cylinder of a German ship for federal service
+
+Scene at an aviation station somewhere in America, showing fifteen
+seaplanes on beach departing and arriving
+
+Captain's inspection at Naval Training Station, Newport, R.I.
+
+American Marines who took part in the Marne offensive on parade in
+Paris, July 4, 1918
+
+
+
+
+OUR NAVY IN THE WAR
+
+
+
+
+FOREWORD
+
+
+Gently rolling and heaving on the surge of a summer sea lay a mighty
+fleet of war-vessels. There were the capital ships of the Atlantic
+Fleet, grim dreadnoughts with their superimposed turrets, their
+bristling broadsides, their basket-masts--veritable islands of steel.
+There were colliers, hospital-ships, destroyers, patrol-vessels--in all,
+a tremendous demonstration of our sea power. Launches were dashing
+hither and thither across the restless blue waters, signal-flags were
+flashing from mast and stay and the wind, catching the sepia reek from
+many a funnel, whipped it across a league of sea.
+
+On the deck of the largest battleship were gathered the officers of the
+fleet not only, but nearly every officer on active duty in home waters.
+All eyes were turned shoreward and presently as a sharp succession of
+shots rang out a sleek, narrow craft with gracefully turned bow came out
+from the horizon and advanced swiftly toward the flag-ship. It was the
+President's yacht, the _Mayflower_, with the President of the United
+States on board. As the yacht swung to a launch was dropped overside,
+the gangway lowered and Woodrow Wilson stepped down to the little craft,
+bobbing on the waves. There was no salute, no pomp, no official
+circumstance, nor anything in the way of ceremony. The President did not
+want that.
+
+What he did want was to meet the officers of our navy and give them a
+heart-to-heart talk. He did just that. At the time it was early summer
+in 1917. In the preceding April a declaration that Germany had been
+waging war upon the United States had been made in Congress; war
+resolutions had been passed and signed by the President. This on April
+6. On April 7 the Navy Department had put into effect plans that had
+already been formulated. Much had been done when the President boarded
+the flag-ship of the Atlantic Fleet that early summer afternoon. Some of
+our destroyers were already at work in foreign waters, but the bulk of
+our fighting force was at home, preparing for conflict. And it was this
+time that the President chose to meet those upon whom the nation relied
+to check the submarine and to protect our shores against the evil
+devices of the enemy.
+
+"He went," wrote a narrator of this historic function, "directly to the
+business in hand. And the business in hand was telling the officers of
+the navy of the United States that the submarine had to be beaten and
+that they had to do it. He talked--well, it must still remain a secret,
+but if you have ever heard a football coach talk to his team between the
+halves; if you ever heard a captain tell his men what he expected of
+them as they stripped for action; if you ever knew what the fighting
+spirit of Woodrow Wilson really is when it is on fire--then you can
+visualize the whole scene. He wanted not merely as good a record from
+our navy as other navies had, he wanted a better record. He wanted
+action, not merely from the gold-braided admirals, but from the ensigns,
+too; and he wanted every mind turned to the solution of the submarine
+question, and regardless of rank and distinction he wanted all to work
+and fight for the common object--victory.
+
+"Somebody suggested to the President later that the speech be published.
+He declined. Most of it wasn't said to be published. It was a direct
+talk from the Commander-in-chief of the navy to his men. It was
+inspiration itself. The officers cheered and went away across the seas.
+And there they have been in action ever since, giving an account of
+themselves that has already won the admiration of their allies and the
+involuntary respect of their foes."
+
+It was under such auspices as these that the United States Navy went
+forth to war. No one ever doubted the spirit of our fighters of the sea.
+Through all the years, from the time when John Paul Jones bearded enemy
+ships in their own waters, when _Old Ironsides_ belched forth her
+well-directed broadsides in many a victorious encounter; when Decatur
+showed the pirates of Tripoli that they had a new power with which to
+deal; when Farragut damned the torpedoes in Mobile Bay, and Dewey did
+likewise in Manila Bay; when Sampson and Schley triumphed at Santiago,
+and Hobson accepted the seemingly fatal chance under the guns of Morro
+Castle--through all the years, I say, and through all that they have
+brought in the way of armed strife, the nation never for one moment has
+ever doubted the United States Navy.
+
+And neither did Woodrow Wilson doubt. He knew his men. But he wanted to
+look them all in the eye and tell them that he knew their mettle, knew
+what they could do, and held no thought of their failure. Every fighting
+man fights the better for an incident of this sort.
+
+Week by week since that time there has come to us from out the grim
+North Sea, from the Mediterranean and the broad Atlantic abundant
+testimony, many a story of individual and collective heroism, of ships
+that have waged gallant fights, of Americans who have lived gallantly,
+who have died gloriously--and above all there has come to us the
+gratifying record of reduced submarine losses, as to which there is
+abundant testimony--notably from the great maritime and naval power of
+the world--Great Britain--that our navy has played a vital part in the
+diminution of the undersea terror.
+
+Less than a year after President Wilson boarded the flag-ship of the
+Atlantic Fleet our navy had more than 150 naval vessels--battleships,
+cruisers, submarines and tenders, gunboats, coast-guard cutters,
+converted yachts, tugs, and numerous vessels of other types for special
+purposes--in European waters. Serving on these vessels were nearly
+40,000 men, more than half the strength of our navy before we entered
+the war--and this number did not include the personnel of troop-ships,
+supply-vessels, armed guards for merchantmen, signal-men, wireless
+operators and the like, who go into the war zone on recurrent trips.
+
+Submarines have been fought and sunk or captured--how many, a wise naval
+policy bids absolute silence. Our antisubmarine activities now cover in
+war areas alone over 1,000,000 square miles of sea. In a six-months
+period one detachment of destroyers steamed over 1,000,000 of miles in
+the war zone, attacked 81 submarines, escorted 717 single vessels,
+participated in 86 convoys, and spent one hundred and fifty days at sea.
+
+There have been mistakes, of course; there have been delays which have
+tried the patience not only of the country, but of the Navy Department.
+But they were inevitable under the high pressure of affairs as they
+suddenly set in when we went to war. But in looking back over the year
+and a half of conflict, considering the hundreds of thousands of
+soldiers that our navy has conducted in safety across the infested
+Atlantic, and the feats which our fighters have performed in action, in
+stormy seas, in rescue work and in the long, weary grind of daily
+routine, no American has cause for aught but pride in the work our navy
+has done.
+
+There has been more than a sixfold increase in naval man power and about
+a fourfold increase in the number of ships in service. When present
+plans have been carried out--and all projects are proceeding
+swiftly--the United States will probably rank second to Britain among
+naval Powers of the world. Training facilities have increased on a
+stupendous scale; we have now various specialized schools for seamen and
+officers; our industrial yards have grown beyond dreams and the
+production of ordnance and munitions proceeds on a vast scale, while in
+other directions things have been accomplished by the Navy Department
+which will not be known until the war is over and the records are open
+for all to read.
+
+But in the meantime history has been making and facts have been marked
+which give every American pride. Praise from the source of all things
+maritime is praise indeed, and what greater commendation--better than
+anything that might be spoken or written--could be desired than the
+action of Admiral Sir David Beatty, commander-in-chief of the Grand
+Fleet, who, receiving a report not so many months ago that the German
+High Seas Fleet was out, awarded the post of honor in the consolidated
+fleet of British and American war-vessels which went forth to meet the
+Germans to a division of American battleships. This chivalrous
+compliment on the part of the British commander was no doubt designed as
+a signal act of courtesy, but more, it was born of the confidence of a
+man who has seen our navy, who had had the most complete opportunities
+for studying it and, as a consequence, knew what it could do.
+
+There is nothing of chauvinism in the statement that, so far as the
+submarine is concerned, our navy has played a most helpful part in
+diminishing its ravages, that our fighting ships have aided very
+materially in the marked reduction in sinkings of merchantmen as
+compared to the number destroyed in the corresponding period before we
+entered the war, and in the no less notable increase in the number of
+submarines captured or sunk. These facts have not only been made clear
+by official Navy Department statements, but have been attested to by
+many British and French Admiralty and Government authorities and naval
+commanders.
+
+"You doubtless know," wrote Admiral Sims to the Secretary of the Navy
+some time ago, "that all of the Allies here with whom I am associated
+are very much impressed by the efforts now being made by the United
+States Navy Department to oppose the submarine and protect merchant
+shipping. I am very glad to report that our forces are more than coming
+up to expectations."
+
+Admiral Sims was modest. Let us quote the message sent by Admiral Sir
+Lewis Bayly, commander-in-chief of the British naval forces on the Irish
+coast, on the anniversary of the arrival of our first destroyer flotilla
+at Queenstown:
+
+"On the anniversary of the arrival of the first United States men-of-war
+at Queenstown I wish to express my deep gratitude to the United States
+officers and ratings for the skill, energy, and unfailing good nature
+which they all have consistently shown and which qualities have so
+materially assisted in the war by enabling ships of the Allied Powers to
+cross the ocean in comparative freedom. To command you is an honor, to
+work with you is a pleasure, to know you is to know the best traits of
+the Anglo-Saxon race."
+
+And to Secretary Daniels, Sir Eric Geddes, first lord of the British
+Admiralty, wrote in part:
+
+"As you know, we all of us here have great admiration for your officers
+and men and for the splendid help they are giving in European waters.
+Further, we find Admiral Sims invaluable in counsel and in
+co-operation."
+
+American naval aid has been of the greatest help to the British Fleet,
+wrote Archibald Hurd, the naval expert, in the _Daily Telegraph_,
+London.
+
+"When the war is over," he said, "the nation will form some conception
+of the extent of the debt which we owe the American Navy for the manner
+in which it has co-operated, not only in connection with the convoy
+system, but in fighting the submarines. If the naval position is
+improving to-day, as it is, it is due to the fact that the British and
+American fleets are working in closest accord, supported by an immense
+body of skilled workers on both sides of the Atlantic, who are turning
+out destroyers and other crafts for dealing with the submarines as well
+as mines and bombs. The Germans can have a battle whenever they want it.
+The strength of the Grand Fleet has been well maintained. Some of the
+finest battleships of the United States Navy are now associated with it.
+They are not only splendid fighting-ships, but they are well officered
+and manned."
+
+Here is what Lord Reading, the British Ambassador to the United States
+said in the course of an address at the Yale 1918 Commencement:
+
+"Let me say to you on behalf of the British people what a debt of
+gratitude we owe to your navy for its co-operation with us. There is no
+finer spectacle to be seen at present than that complete and cordial
+co-operation which is existing between your fleet and ours. They work as
+one. I always think to myself and hope that the co-operation of our
+fleets, of our navies, is the harbinger of what is to come in the future
+when the war is over, of that which will still continue then.
+Magnificent is their work, and I glory always in the thought that an
+American admiral has taken charge of the British Fleet and the British
+policy, and that when the plans are formed for an attack that American
+admiral is given the place of honor in our fleet, because we feel that
+it is his due at this moment."
+
+And finally, there is the testimony of Admiral Sir Rosslyn Wemyss, first
+sea lord of the British, concerning our effective aid, testimony, by the
+way, which enlightens us to some extent upon British and American
+methods of co-operation.
+
+"On the broad lines of strategic policy," he said, "complete unanimity
+exists. Admiral Benson and Admiral Mayo have both visited us and studied
+our naval plans. No officers could have exhibited keener appreciation of
+the naval situation. I find it difficult to express the gratitude of the
+British service to these officers and to Admiral Sims for the support
+they have given us. I am not exaggerating, or camouflaging, to borrow a
+word of the moment. Our relations could not be more cordial. The
+day-to-day procedure is of the simplest. Every morning I hold conference
+with the principal officers of the naval staff, and Admiral Sims is
+present as the representative of the United States Fleet, joining freely
+in the discussion of the various subjects which arise. I need not add
+that I keenly appreciate his help. At sea the same spirit of cordial
+co-operation exists--extremely cordial. I should like to say we have,
+fortunately, a common language and common traditions, which have done
+much to assist us in working together.
+
+"The American officers and men are first-rate. It is impossible to pay
+too high a tribute to the manner in which they settled down to this job
+of submarine hunting, and to the intelligence, resource, and courage
+which they have exhibited. They came on the scene at the opportune
+moment. Our men had been in the mill for many weary months. Possibly the
+American people, so far removed from the main theatre of the war, can
+hardly appreciate what it meant when these American officers and men
+crossed the Atlantic. They have been splendid, simply splendid. I have
+seen a number of the destroyers and conversed with a large number of
+officers. I also have had many reports and am not speaking of the aid
+the United States has rendered without full knowledge.
+
+"Not only are the vessels well constructed and the officers and men
+thoroughly competent, but the organization is admirable. It was no
+slight matter for so many ships to come 3,000 miles across the Atlantic
+to fight in European waters. The decision raised several complicated
+problems in connection with supplies, but those problems have been
+surmounted with success. There has never been anything like it before in
+the history of naval warfare, and the development of the steam-engine
+has rendered such co-operation more difficult than ever before, because
+the modern man-of-war is dependent on a constant stream of supplies of
+fuel, stores, food, and other things, and is need of frequent repairs."
+
+In addition to doing signally effective work in hunting down the
+submarine, and in protecting ocean commerce, our war-ships have relieved
+England and France of the necessity of looking out for raiders and
+submarines in South Atlantic waters: we have sent to the Grand Fleet,
+among other craft, a squadron of dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughts
+whose aggregate gun-power will tell whenever the German sea-fighters
+decide to risk battle in the North Sea; war-ships are convoying
+transports laden with thousands of men--more than a million and a half
+fighting men will be on French and English soil before these words are
+read--escorting ocean liners and convoying merchant vessels, while in
+divers other ways the navy of this country is playing its dominant part
+in the fight against German ruthlessness.
+
+When the Emergency Fleet Corporation announced its programme of building
+ships the Navy Department at once began its preparations for providing
+armed guards for these vessels as soon as they were commissioned for
+transatlantic service. Thousands of men were placed in training for this
+purpose and detailed instructions were prepared and issued to the
+Shipping Board and to all ship-building companies to enable them to
+prepare their vessels while building with gun-emplacements, armed-guard
+quarters, and the like, so that when the vessels were completed there
+would be as little delay as possible in furnishing them. In all details
+relating to the protection of these merchant vessels the navy has played
+a most vital part and not least of the laurels accruing to this
+department of the government war service for work in the present
+struggle have been those won by naval gun crews on cargo-laden ships.
+
+The administrative work in connecting many vessels of this class is a
+not inconsiderable of itself. The romance of the armed merchantmen
+affords material for many a vivid page, and when in its proper place in
+this volume it is set forth somewhat in detail the reader will grasp--if
+he has not already done so through perusal of the daily press--the fact
+that all the glory of naval service in this war has not resided within
+the turrets of the dreadnought nor on the deck of destroyer or
+patrol-vessel.
+
+The navy organized and has operated the large transport service required
+to take our soldiers overseas. At this writing not a single transport
+has been lost on the way to France, and but three have been sunk
+returning. Transports bound for France have been attacked by submarines
+time and again, and, in fact, our first transport convoy was
+unsuccessfully assailed, as has been the case with other convoys
+throughout the past twelve months. In the case of the _Tuscania_, sunk
+by a torpedo while eastbound with American soldiers, that vessel was
+under British convoy, a fact which implies no discredit upon the British
+Navy, since it is beyond the powers of human ingenuity so to protect the
+ocean lanes as to warrant assurance that a vessel, however well
+convoyed, shall be totally immune from the lurking submarine. Again, it
+should be remembered, that the British have taken about sixty per cent
+of our expeditionary forces across the ocean.
+
+In the line of expanding ship-building facilities the Navy Department
+has in the past year carried on vigorously a stupendous policy of
+increased shipyard capacity, which upon completion will see this country
+able to have in course of construction on the ways at one time sixteen
+war-vessels of which seven will be battleships.
+
+In January, 1917, three months before we went to war, the Navy
+Department's facilities for ship-building were: Boston, one auxiliary
+vessel; New York, one battleship; Philadelphia, one auxiliary; Norfolk,
+one destroyer; Charleston, one gunboat; Mare Island, one battleship and
+one destroyer. At the present time the Brooklyn Navy Yard has a way for
+the building of dreadnoughts, and one for the building of battleships.
+At Philadelphia two ways are being built for large battleships and
+battle-cruisers. Norfolk, in addition to her one way for destroyers,
+will soon have a way for battleships. Charleston will have five ways for
+destroyers. The navy-yard at Puget Sound will soon have a way for one
+battleship.
+
+The building plans include not only the construction of ways, but also
+machine, electrical, structural, forge, and pattern shops in addition to
+foundries, storehouses, railroad-tracks, and power-plants. This increase
+in building capacity will enable the government through enhanced repair
+facilities to handle all repair and building work for the fleet as well
+as such for the new merchant marine. Three naval docks which will be
+capable of handling the largest ships in the world are approaching
+completion while private companies are building similar docks under
+encouragement of the government in the shape of annual guarantees of
+dockage.
+
+An idea of what has been accomplished with respect to ship-building is
+gained through the statement of Secretary Daniels, June 2, that his
+department had established a new world's record for rapid ship
+construction by the launching of the torpedo-boat destroyer _Ward_, at
+the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, seventeen and a half days after
+the keel was laid. The previous record was established shortly before
+that date at Camden, New Jersey, where the freighter _Tuckahoe_ was
+launched twenty-seven days and three hours after the laying of the keel.
+
+In 1898, twenty years ago, the first sixteen destroyers were authorized
+for the United States Navy. These were less than half the size of our
+present destroyers, and yet their average time from the laying of the
+keels to launching was almost exactly two years. During the ten years
+prior to our entrance into the present war Congress authorized an
+average of five or six destroyers a year. The records show that in the
+construction of these the average time on the ways was almost exactly
+eleven months, the total time of construction being about two years.
+
+[Illustration: REAR-ADMIRAL LEIGH C. PALMER.]
+
+[Illustration: VICE-ADMIRAL WILLIAM S. SIMS.]
+
+[Illustration: JOSEPHUS DANIELS, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.]
+
+[Illustration: ADMIRAL HENRY T. MAYO.]
+
+[Illustration: ADMIRAL WILLIAM S. BENSON.]
+
+[Illustration: REAR-ADMIRAL ALBERT GLEAVES.]
+
+The average time on the ways of the numerous destroyers launched in
+1917-18, is but little over five months, this being somewhat less than
+half the average time under peace conditions. As many as 400 men were
+employed in work on the _Ward_, and in preparing to establish the record
+as much structural work as possible was prepared in advance, ready for
+erection and assembling before the keel was laid. While this achievement
+will no doubt remain unmatched for some time, it will none the less
+stand significant as marking a condition that is general in naval
+construction throughout the country, this applying to battleships and
+other craft as well as to destroyers.
+
+In short, under the constructive leadership of Josephus Daniels, the
+navy is doing its enormous bit in a convincing manner. It took the
+personnel of the navy--that is, the commissioned personnel--a long time
+to discover the real character and personality of Mr. Daniels. It is not
+too much to say that many of them were hostile to his administration.
+But the war proved him for what he was. With administrative capacity of
+his own, sound judgment, and a clear brain, he was big enough to know
+that there were many things that had better be left to the highly
+trained technicians under his command.
+
+And so in large measure he delegated many actual tasks of administration
+to the most competent officers in the navy, officers selected for
+special tasks without fear or favor. Mr. Daniels will receive, as he is
+now receiving, credit for their work; but he in turn is earnest in his
+desire so to speak and act, that this credit will be duly and properly
+shared by those entitled thereto. He has disregarded seniority and other
+departmental, not to say political factors, in choosing the right men to
+head the various bureaus of the Navy Department and the various units of
+the fleet.
+
+He has favored the young officer, and to-day it is not too much to say
+that youth holds the power in the navy; but, on the other hand, he has
+been quick to recognize and to employ in high places the qualities that
+reside in officers who with years of experience, combine enduring zest
+and broad points of view,
+
+In all, Secretary Daniels exemplifies the spirit of the American
+Navy--and the spirit of our navy is altogether consonant with our
+national tradition--to get into the fight and keep fighting. He has been
+the sponsor for a naval increase which sees our active roster increased
+from 56,000 men in April, 1917, to more than 400,000 at the present
+time, and our fighting ships increased, as already pointed out,
+fourfold.
+
+And while our vessels and our fighting men are playing their part on the
+high seas the counsel of our trained technical experts is eagerly sought
+and constantly employed by the admiralties of the Allied nations. When
+the naval history of this war is given to the world in freest detail we
+shall know just how much our officers have had to do with the strategy
+of operations adopted by all the Entente navies. It is not violating
+either ethics or confidence, however, to say that our influence in this
+respect has been very potent and that the names of Admiral William S.
+Benson, chief of operations, Vice-Admiral William S. Sims, Admiral Henry
+T. Mayo, and Rear-Admiral Albert Gleaves are already names that are to
+be reckoned with abroad as at home.
+
+As for incidents reflecting gloriously upon the morale of our officers
+and men, the navy has already its growing share. There is the destroyer
+_Cassin_ struck by a torpedo and seriously crippled, but refusing to
+return to port as long as there appeared to be a chance of engaging the
+submarine that had attacked her. There is Lieutenant Clarence C. Thomas,
+commander of the gun crew on the oil-ship _Vacuum_. When the ship was
+sunk he cheered his freezing men tossing on an icy sea in an open boat
+far from land, until he at length perished, his last words those of
+encouragement. There is Lieutenant S.F. Kalk, who swam from raft to raft
+encouraging and directing the survivors of the destroyer _Jacob Jones_
+after a torpedo had sent that vessel to the bottom. There are those two
+gunners on the transport _Antilles_ who stood serving their gun until
+the ship sank and carried them down. There is the freighter
+_Silver-Shell_ whose gun crew fought and sank the submarine that
+attacked the ship, and the gun crews of the _Moreni_, the _Campana_, and
+the _J.L. Luckenback_--indomitable heroes all. There is Osmond Kelly
+Ingram, who saved the _Cassin_ and lost his life. There is the glorious
+page contributed to our naval annals, by the officers and crew of the
+_San Diego_. History indeed is in the making--history that Americans are
+proud to read.
+
+In all that has been written in this foreword the design has been merely
+to sketch, to outline some of the larger achievements of the United
+States Navy in this war. In chapters to come our navy's course from
+peace into war will be followed as closely as the restrictions of a wise
+censorship will permit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+First Experience of Our Navy with the German U-Boat--Arrival of Captain
+Hans Rose and the U-53 at Newport--Experiences of the German Sailors in
+an American Port--Destruction of Merchantman by U-53 off Nantucket--Our
+Destroyers to the Rescue--Scenes in Newport--German Rejoicing--The Navy
+Prepares for War
+
+
+How many of us who love the sea and have followed it to greater or less
+extent in the way of business or pleasure have in the past echoed those
+famous lines of Rudyard Kipling:
+
+  "'Good-bye Romance!' the skipper said.
+  He vanished with the coal we burn."
+
+And how often since the setting in of the grim years beginning with
+August of 1914 have we had occasion to appreciate the fact that of all
+the romance of the past ages the like to that which has been spread upon
+the pages of history in the past four years was never written nor
+imagined. Week after week there has come to us from out the veil of the
+maritime spaces incidents dramatic, mysterious, romantic, tragic,
+hideous.
+
+Great transatlantic greyhounds whose names evoke so many memories of
+holiday jaunts across the great ocean slip out of port and are seen no
+more of men. Vessels arrive at the ports of the seven seas with tales of
+wanton murder, of hairbreadth escapes. Boat crews drift for days at the
+mercy of the seas and are finally rescued or perish man by man. The
+square-rigged ship once more rears its towering masts and yards above
+the funnels of merchant shipping; schooners brave the deep seas which
+never before dared leave the coastwise zones; and the sands of the West
+Indies have been robbed of abandoned hulks to the end that the
+diminishing craft of the seas be replaced. And with all there are
+stories of gallantry, of sea rescues, of moving incidents wherein there
+is nothing but good to tell of the human animal. Would that it were all
+so. But it is not. The ruthlessness of the German rears itself like a
+sordid shadow against the background of Anglo-Saxon and Latin gallantry
+and heroism--a diminishing shadow, thank God, and thank, also, the navy
+of Great Britain and of the United States.
+
+For more than two years and a half of sea tragedy the men of our navy
+played the part of lookers-on. Closely following the sequence of events
+with the interest of men of science, there was a variety of opinion as
+to the desirability of our playing a part in the epic struggle on the
+salt water. There were officers who considered that we were well out of
+it; there were more who felt that our part in the struggle which the
+Allied nations were waging should be borne without delay. But whatever
+existed in the way of opinion there was no lack of unanimity in the
+minute study which our commissioned officers gave to the problems in
+naval warfare and related interests which were constantly arising in
+European waters.
+
+It was not, however, until October of 1916 that the American Navy came
+into very close relationship with the submarine activities of the German
+Admiralty. The morning of October 7 of that year was one of those days
+for which Newport is famous--a tangy breeze sweeping over the gorse-clad
+cliffs and dunes that mark the environment of Bateman's Point the old
+yellow light-ship which keeps watch and ward over the Brenton reefs
+rising and falling on a cobalt sea. From out of the seaward mists there
+came shortly before ten o'clock a low-lying craft which was instantly
+picked out by the men of the light-ship as a submarine, an American
+submarine. There is a station for them in Newport Harbor, and
+submersible boats of our navy are to be found there at all times.
+
+But as the men watched they picked up on the staff at the stern of the
+incoming craft the Royal German ensign. A German submarine! Be assured
+that enough interest in German craft of the sort had been aroused in the
+two years and eight months of war to insure the visitor that welcome
+which is born of intense interest. The submarine, the U-53, held over
+toward Beaver Tail and then swung into the narrow harbor entrance,
+finally coming to anchor off Goat Island. The commander, Captain Hans
+Rose, went ashore in a skiff and paid an official visit first to
+Rear-Admiral Austin M. Knight, commander of the Newport Naval District,
+and then to Rear-Admiral Albert Gleaves, chief of our destroyer
+flotilla.
+
+Subsequent testimony of that German commander was that the American
+naval officers appeared somewhat embarrassed at the visit, suggesting
+men who were confronted by a situation which they were not certain how
+to handle. The statement of the German officer had a humorous sound and
+may have been humorously intended. In any event. Admiral Knight and
+Admiral Gleaves were very polite, and in due course paid the Germans the
+courtesy of a return visit, And while the submarine lay in the harbor
+the crew came ashore and were treated to beer by the American sailors,
+while crowds of curious were admitted aboard the submersible and shown
+about with the most open courtesy.
+
+Captain Rose said he had come to deliver a letter to Count von
+Bernstorff, the German Ambassador, but such a mission seemed so trivial
+that rumor as to the real intentions of the craft was rife throughout
+the entire country. There were suspicions that she had put in for fuel,
+or ammunition, or supplies. But nothing to justify these thoughts
+occurred. The U-53 hung around through the daylight hours, and at
+sunset, with a farewell salute, put to sea.
+
+Did our naval officers think this was the last of her? Possibly, but
+probably not. They knew enough of the Germans to realize, or to suspect,
+that their minds held little thought those days of social amenities and
+that such calls as were made upon neutrals contained motives which,
+while hidden, were none the less definite.
+
+The night brought forth nothing, however, and the Navy Department was
+beginning to feel that perhaps after all the U-53 was well on her way to
+Germany, when early the following morning there came to the
+radio-station at Newport an indignant message from Captain Smith of the
+Hawaiian-American liner _Kansan_. He asked to know why he had been
+stopped and questioned by a German submarine which had halted him in the
+vicinity of the Nantucket light-ship at 5.30 o'clock that morning. He
+added that after he had convinced the submarine commander as to the
+nationality of his ship, he was permitted to proceed.
+
+This looked like business, and Newport became certain of this when
+shortly after noon came a radio containing advices as to the sinking of
+the steamship _West Point_ off Nantucket. Then at intervals up to
+midnight came other messages telling of the sinking of other vessels
+until the victims of the undersea craft numbered four British, a Dutch,
+and a Scandinavian vessel, one of them, the Halifax liner _Stephana_, a
+passenger-vessel, with Americans on board. Reports of vessels torpedoed,
+of open boats containing survivors afloat on the sea, followed one
+another swiftly until not only Newport but the entire country was
+aroused.
+
+Admiral Knight and Admiral Gleaves, who had been keeping the Navy
+Department at Washington in touch with every phase of the situation,
+beginning with the arrival of the U-53 the preceding day, lost no time
+in sending destroyers forth to the rescue, while already there was the
+cheering word that the destroyer _Batch_ was on the scene and engaged in
+rescue work.
+
+The departure of the destroyers was a spectacle that brought thousands
+of men, women, and children of Newport to the points of vantage along
+the shore or to small craft of all sorts in which they kept as close to
+the destroyers, preparing for their seaward flight, as they could. It
+was Sunday, a day when crowds were at leisure, but it was also a day
+when many of the officers and crew of the flotilla were on shore-leave.
+They were summoned from all points, however, and within a short time
+after the first call for help had been received the _Jarvis_, with
+Lieutenant L. P. Davis in command, was speeding to sea at the rate
+ordered by Admiral Gleaves, thirty-one knots an hour.
+
+Inside half an hour the other destroyers shot out to sea at the same
+speed as the _Jarvis_ while the spectators cheered them, and such as
+were in small boats followed until the speeding craft had disappeared.
+There was the _Drayton_--Lieutenant Bagley, who later was to know the
+venom of the German submarine--the _Ericson_, Lieutenant-Commander W. S.
+Miller; the _O'Brien_, Lieutenant-Commander C. E. Courtney; the
+_Benham_, Lieutenant-Commander J. B. Gay; the _Cassin_,
+Lieutenant-Commander Vernon; the _McCall_, Lieutenant Stewart; the
+_Porter_, Lieutenant-Commander W. K. Wortman; the _Fanning_, Lieutenant
+Austin; the _Paulding_, Lieutenant Douglas Howard; the _Winslow_,
+Lieutenant-Commander Nichols; the _Alwyn_, Lieutenant-Commander John C.
+Fremont; the _Cushing_, Lieutenant Kettinger; the _Cummings_,
+Lieutenant-Commander G. F. Neal; the _Conyngham_, Lieutenant-Commander
+A. W. Johnson, and the-mother ship, _Melville_, Commander H. B. Price.
+
+Soon after the destroyers had passed into the Atlantic there came a
+wireless message saying that twenty of the crew of the British steamship
+_Strathdean_ had been taken on board the Nantucket light-ship. Admiral
+Gleaves directed the movement of his destroyers from the radio-room on
+the flag-ship. He figured that the run was about a hundred miles. There
+was a heavy sea running and a strong southwest wind. There was a mist on
+the ocean. It was explained by the naval authorities that the destroyers
+were sent out purely on a mission of rescue, and nothing was said as to
+any instructions regarding the enforcement of international law. None
+the less it was assumed, and may now be assumed, that something was said
+to the destroyer commanders with regard to the three-mile limit. But as
+to that we know no more to-day than at the time.
+
+Suffice to say that the destroyers arrived in time not only to wander
+about the ocean seeking survivors in the light of a beautiful hunter's
+moon, but in time to witness the torpedoing of at least two merchantmen;
+the submarine commander, it is said, advising our war-ship commanders to
+move to certain locations so as not to be hit by his shells and
+torpedoes.
+
+Eventually the destroyer flotilla returned with their loads of survivors
+and with complete details of the operations of the U-53 and, according
+to belief, of another submarine not designated. It appeared that the
+Germans were scrupulous in observing our neutrality, that their
+operations were conducted without the three-mile limit, and that
+opportunities were given crews and passengers to leave the doomed ships.
+There was nothing our destroyer commanders could do. Even the most
+hot-headed commander must have felt the steel withes of neutral
+obligation which held him inactive while the submarine plied its deadly
+work. There was, of course, nothing else to do--except to carry on the
+humanitarian work of rescuing victims of the U boat or boats, as the
+case might have been.
+
+Later, it was given to many of the craft which set forth that October
+afternoon to engage in their service to humanity, to cross the seas and
+to meet the submarine where it lurked in the Irish Sea, the North Sea,
+the English Channel, and the Mediterranean. One of them, the _Cassin_
+was later to be struck--but not sunk--by a torpedo off the coast of
+England, while the _Fanning_, in company with the _Nicholson_, had full
+opportunity of paying off the score which most naval officers felt had
+been incurred when the U-53 and her alleged companion invaded American
+waters and sullied them with the foul deeds that had so long stained the
+clean seas of Europe.
+
+German diplomats were enthusiastic over the exploits of their craft.
+"The U-53 and other German submarines, if there are others," said a
+member of the German Embassy at Washington, "is engaged in doing to the
+commerce of the Allies just what the British tried to do to the
+_Deutschland_ when she left America. (The submarine _Deutschland_,
+engaged in commercial enterprise, had visited the United States some
+time previously.) It is a plain case of what is sometimes known as
+commerce-raiding. It is being done by submarines, that is all. Warfare,
+such as that which has been conducted in the Mediterranean, has been
+brought across the Atlantic. It should be easy to destroy more of the
+overseas commerce of the Allies, which is principally with America, near
+where it originates."
+
+Here was a veiled threat--not so veiled either--which was no doubt
+marked in Washington. President Wilson received the news of the sinkings
+in silence, but plainly government authorities were worried over the
+situation. New problems were erected and the future was filled with
+possibilities of a multifarious nature.
+
+Thus, within twenty-four hours it was demonstrated that the war was not
+3,000 miles away from us, but close to our shores. The implied threat
+that it would be a simple matter for submarines to cross the Atlantic
+and deal with us as they were dealing with France and England and other
+Entente nations--not to say harmless neutrals such as Holland and
+Scandinavia--was not lost upon the citizens of this country. But, as
+usual, German judgment in the matter of psychology was astray. The
+threat had no effect in the way of _Schrecklichkeit_, but rather it
+steeled us to a future which began to appear inevitable. And deep under
+the surface affairs began to move in the Navy Department.
+
+No doubt, too, the conviction began to grow upon the government that the
+policy of dealing fairly by Germany was not appreciated, and that when
+the exigencies of the war situation seemed to require it, our ships
+would be sent to the bottom as cheerfully as those of other neutrals
+such as Holland, Norway, and Sweden, as well as other countries who
+unfortunately were not in the position to guard their neutrality with
+some show of dignity that we were in.
+
+Subsequent events proved how true this feeling was. For not six months
+later the German policy of sea aggression had brought us to the point
+where it was not possible for us to remain out of the conflict against
+the pirate nation. It was in the following April that we went to war,
+and our first act was to send forth a destroyer flotilla to engage the
+U-boat in its hunting-ground, Among that flotilla, as said, were many of
+the craft which had rescued survivors of the Nantucket affair. They were
+ready and their officers were ready, nay, eager. They swept across a
+stormy Atlantic like unleashed hounds, and when the British commander
+received them at Queenstown, and asked the American commanders when they
+would be ready to take their places with the British destroyers, the
+answer came quickly:
+
+"We are ready now."
+
+And they were--allowing for the cleaning of a few hulls and the
+effecting of minor repairs to one or two of the vessels. Other
+destroyers remained here, of course, while a fringe of submarine-chasers
+and swift, armed yachts converted into government patrol-vessels were
+guarding our coast the day after the President signed the war
+resolution. But more than a year and a half was to elapse before our
+waters were again to know the submarine menace. Just why the Germans
+waited may not be known. Probably they had all they could attend to in
+foreign waters. In any event it was not until June, 1918, that a
+coastwise schooner captain was both surprised and indignant when a shot
+from a craft which he took to be an American submarine went across his
+bows. It was not an American submarine; it was a German submersible and
+that schooner was sent to the bottom, followed by other wind-jammers and
+the Porto Rico liner _Carolina_.
+
+Thus, what in the original instance was a test journey in the interests
+of German submarine activity--the visit of the U-53 in October, 1916--as
+well as a threat to this country bore its fruit in the development of
+that test trip, and in the fulfilment of that threat. At this writing
+the coastwise marauder, or marauders, are still off our shores, and
+clouds of navy craft are seeking to destroy them. We are far better
+equipped for such service than we were when Captain Hans Rose came here
+in his submarine, and it is divulging no secret information to say that
+this and further invasions of our home waters will be dealt with bravely
+and rigorously without the necessity of subtracting from the number of
+war-vessels that are engaged with Allied fighters in maintaining
+commerce upon the waters of Europe.
+
+But this is getting a bit further ahead than I intended to go at this
+juncture. The primary point is that with the visit of Captain Hans Rose
+in his undersea boat, with her depredations off our coast, the Navy
+Department, saying nothing to outsiders, came to accept the idea of war
+as something more than a possible contingency.
+
+Debates in Congress were characterized by an increasing pointedness, and
+stories of sea murders increased rather than diminished. And not
+infrequently there were Americans on board those ships. At length came
+the sinking of American merchantmen and the final decision by our
+government to place armed guards on all merchant vessels carrying our
+flag. It was then that the Navy Department was called upon to take the
+first open steps against the German sea menace--steps rife with grim
+possibilities, since it operated to bring our seamen gunners into actual
+conflict with the German naval forces. There could be little doubt,
+therefore, that war would follow in inevitable course.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+Our Navy Arms American Merchant Vessels--Death of our First Bluejacket
+on Service in the War Zone--Vice-Admiral Sims--We Take Over Patrol of
+Waters of Western Hemisphere--The Naval Advisory Board of
+Inventions--Work of this Body--Our Battleships the Largest in the
+World--Widespread Operations
+
+
+Announcement was made on March 12, 1917, that American merchantmen would
+be armed for protection against submarine attacks, and hundreds of guns
+of proper calibers were required for the purpose. These were taken from
+the vessels of the fleet and, of course, had to be replaced as soon as
+possible. Work was expeditiously carried forward, and hardly had the
+order for armed guards been issued than the American freighter _Campana_
+was sent to Europe well-laden with cargo and prepared to make matters
+interesting for any submarine that saw fit to attack by the then
+prevailing method of shell-fire. Other vessels soon followed, and the
+country witnessed the anomalous condition of the navy in war service in
+the European war zone before war was declared.
+
+The navy, in fact, had its first death in service before we went to war,
+when on April 1, John Espolucci, of Washington, D.C., one of the armed
+guard of the steamship _Aztec_, was killed in the course of events
+attending the destruction of that vessel by a submarine. By this time
+active hostilities had seemed inevitable and before the sinking of the
+_Aztec_ the Navy Department had sent Admiral William S. Sims abroad to
+get in touch with the British and French Admiralties for the purpose of
+discussing the most effective participation of our war-ships in the
+conflict. Later, when war was actually declared, Sims was promoted to
+vice-admiral, and made commander of the United States naval forces
+operating in European waters.
+
+No better man for this post could have been selected. A graduate of the
+Naval Academy in the class of 1880, his career in the navy had been one
+sequence of brilliant achievement. As naval attache at Paris and
+Petrograd, in the course of his distinguished service he had ample
+opportunities for the study of European naval conditions, and later he
+was intrusted with the important duty of developing gunnery practice and
+marksmanship in our battle-fleet. The immense value of his work in this
+respect is an open book. His instincts were wholly scientific, and with
+neither fear nor favor he carried forward our record for marksmanship
+until it was second to that of no navy in the world. The one mark upon
+his record is an indiscreet speech made in London, before the European
+War occurred, in which he stated that blood was thicker than water, and
+that at the necessary moment the navies of the United States and of
+Great Britain would be found joined in brotherly co-operation. England
+liked that speech a lot, but Germany did not, and Washington was rather
+embarrassed. Beginning, however, with April of 1917, that speech
+delivered several years previously was recalled as perfectly proper,
+pat, and apropos. There can be no doubt that his constructive advice,
+suggestion, and criticism were of enormous benefit to the British and
+the French, and by the same token exceedingly harmful to the murderous
+submarine campaign of Germany, As evidence of the regard in which the
+admiralty of Great Britain held this American officer, witness the fact
+that upon one occasion when the British commander-in-chief of naval
+operations on the Irish coast was compelled to leave his command for a
+period, Admiral Sims was nominated by the admiralty to serve as chief of
+the combined forces until the British commander returned.
+
+But this mission of Admiral Sims, and the eventual despatch of submarine
+flotillas to the war zone, were but two phases of the enormous problem
+which confronted the Navy Department upon the outbreak of hostilities.
+There was first of all the task of organizing and operating the large
+transport system required to carry our share of troops overseas for
+foreign service. Within a month after the President had announced that
+troops would be sent to Europe the first contingent had been organized,
+and all its units were safely landed in France before the 4th of July.
+These included a force of marines under Colonel (now Brigadier-General)
+Charles A. Doyen, which is serving in the army under Major-General
+Pershing. Since that time a constant stream of troops and supplies has
+poured across the Atlantic under naval control and supervision, the
+presiding officer in charge of transport being Rear-Admiral Albert
+Gleaves.
+
+Then, again, the United States took over control of most of the patrol
+of the western Atlantic. Our thousands of miles of coast had to be
+guarded against enemy attack and protected against German raiders. A
+squadron under command of Admiral William B. Caperton was sent to South
+America and received with the utmost enthusiasm at Rio de Janeiro, at
+Montevideo and Buenos Aires, which cities were visited on invitation
+from the governments of Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. After Brazil's
+entrance into the war the Brazilian Navy co-operated with our vessels in
+the patrol of South American waters.
+
+The taking over of some 800 craft of various kinds, and their conversion
+into types needed, provided the navy with the large number of vessels
+required for transports, patrol service, submarine-chasers,
+mine-sweepers, mine-layers, tugs, and other auxiliaries. The repair of
+the 109 German ships whose machinery had been damaged by their
+crews--details of which will be treated in a subsequent chapter--added
+more than 700,000 tons to our available naval and merchant tonnage, and
+provided for the navy a number of huge transports which have been in
+service for nearly a year. Hundreds of submarine-chasers have now been
+built, and a number of destroyers and other craft completed and placed
+in service. The first merchant ship to be armed was the oil-tanker
+_Campana_; guns manned by navy men were on board when she sailed for
+Europe, March 12, 1917. The big American passenger-liners _St. Paul_ and
+_New York_ were armed on March 16 of that year, and the Red Star liner
+_Kroonland_ and the _Mongolia_ on March 19. And continuously up to the
+present writing merchant ships as they have become available have been
+armed and provided with navy gun crews. Since the arming of the
+_Campana_ more than 1,300 vessels have been furnished with batteries,
+ammunition, spare parts, and auxiliaries.
+
+But of equal importance, greater importance history may decree it, was
+Secretary Daniels's action in 1915 of appointing the Naval Advisory
+Board of Inventions. That was looking ahead with a vengeance. The idea
+was to make available the latent inventive genius of the country to
+improve the navy. The plan adopted by Secretary Daniels for selecting
+this extraordinary board included a request to the eleven great
+engineering and scientific societies of the country to select by popular
+election two members to represent their society on the board. Results
+were immediately gratifying. Nominations were forthcoming at once, and
+in September of 1915 the board, which came popularly to be known as the
+Inventions Board, met in Washington for organization. Thomas A. Edison
+was selected by the Secretary of the Navy as chairman of the board, and
+the other members were elected as follows:
+
+From the American Chemical Society: W. R. Whitney, director of Research
+Laboratory, General Electric Company, where he has been the moving
+spirit in the perfection of metallic electric-lamp filaments and the
+development of wrought tungsten. L. H. Baekeland, founder of the Nepera
+Chemical Company and inventor of photographic paper.
+
+From the American Institute of Electrical Engineers: Frank Julian
+Sprague, consulting engineer for Sprague, Otis, and General Electric
+Companies and concerned in the establishment of the first electrical
+trolley systems in this country. B. G. Lamme, chief engineer of the
+Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company and a prolific inventor.
+
+From the American Mathematical Society: Robert Simpson Woodward,
+president of the Carnegie Institution and an authority on astronomy,
+geography, and mathematical physics. Arthur Gordon Webster, professor of
+physics at Clark University and an authority on sound, its production
+and measurement.
+
+From the American Society of Civil Engineers: Andrew Murray Hunt,
+consulting engineer, experienced in the development of hydro-electric,
+steam, and gas plants. Alfred Craven, chief engineer of Public Service
+Commission, New York, and formerly division engineer in charge of
+construction work on Croton aqueduct and reservoirs.
+
+From the American Aeronautical Society: Mathew Bacon Sellers, director
+of Technical Board of the American Aeronautical Society and the first to
+determine dynamic wind-pressure on arched surfaces by means of "wind
+funnel." Hudson Maxim, ordnance and explosive expert, maker of the first
+smokeless powder adopted by the United States Government.
+
+The Inventors' Guild: Peter Cooper Hewitt, inventor of electric lamp,
+appliances to enable direct-current apparatus to be used with
+alternating-current circuits, and devices for telephones and aircraft.
+Thomas Robbins, president of Robbins Conveying Belt Company and inventor
+of many devices for conveying coal and ore.
+
+From American Society of Automobile Engineers: Andrew L. Riker,
+vice-president of Locomobile Company, electrical and mechanical engineer
+and inventor of many automobile devices. Howard E. Coffin,
+vice-president of Hudson Motor Car Company and active in the development
+of internal-combustion engines.
+
+From the American Institute of Mining Engineers: William Laurence
+Saunders, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ingersoll-Rand
+Company and inventor of many devices for subaqueous and rock drilling.
+Benjamin Bowditch Thayer, president of the Anaconda Copper Mining
+Company and an authority on explosives.
+
+From the American Electro Chemical Society: Joseph William Richards,
+professor of Electro-Chemistry at Lehigh and author of numerous works on
+electrometallurgy. Lawrence Addicks, consulting engineer for Phelps,
+Dodge and Company and authority on the metallurgy of copper.
+
+American Society of Mechanical Engineers: William Leroy Emmet, engineer
+with the General Electric Company. He designed and perfected the
+development of the Curtis Turbine and was the first serious promoter of
+electric propulsion for ships. Spencer Miller, inventor of ship-coaling
+apparatus and the breeches-buoy device used in rescues from shipwrecks.
+
+From the American Society of Aeronautic Engineers: Henry Alexander Wise
+Wood, engineer and manufacturer of printing-machinery and student of
+naval aeronautics. Elmer Ambrose Sperry, founder of Sperry Electric
+Company, designer of electric appliances and gyroscope stabilizer for
+ships and airplanes.
+
+Just what service this board has performed is in the keeping of the
+government. But that it has been a distinguished service we may not
+doubt. Seated in their headquarters at Washington, their minds centred
+upon the various problems of the sea which the war brought forth, they
+have unquestionably exerted a constructive influence no less vital than
+that played by the officers and men of the navy on the fighting front.
+Only one announcement ever came from this board, and that was when
+William L. Saunders gave forth the statement that a means of combating
+the submarine had been devised. This early in the war. Doubt as to the
+strict accuracy of the statement came from other members of the
+Inventions Board, and then the whole matter was hushed. Mr. Saunders
+said nothing more and neither did his colleagues.
+
+But whether emanating from the lucubrations of Mr. Edison's board, or
+wherever devised, we know that the American Navy has applied many
+inventions to the work of combating the under-sea pirate. A type of
+depth-bomb was developed and applied. This is one of the most efficient
+methods of beating the submarine that has yet been found. Explosive
+charges are fitted with a mechanism designed to explode the charge at a
+predetermined depth below the surface of the sea. The force of the
+explosion of a depth charge dropped close to a submarine is sufficient
+to disable if not sink it, and American boats have been fitted with
+various interesting means of getting these bombs into the water.
+
+Smoke-producing apparatus was developed to enable a vessel to conceal
+herself behind a smoke-screen when attacked by submarines and thus
+escape. Several types of screen have been invented and applied in
+accordance with the character of the vessel. After a study of the
+various types of mines in existence, there was produced an American mine
+believed to involve all the excellent points of mines of whatever
+nationality, while another extraordinary invention was the non-ricochet
+projectile. The ordinary pointed projectile striking the water almost
+horizontally is deflected and ricochets. A special type of shell which
+did not glance off the surface of the ocean was developed early in 1917
+and supplied to all vessels sailing in the war zone.
+
+The first year of the war saw also the development of the seaplane, with
+the adaption to this vehicle of the air a nonrecoil gun, which permits
+the use of comparatively large calibers, and of the Lewis gun. This year
+saw also the completion of the latest type of naval 16-inch gun,
+throwing a projectile weighing 2,100 pounds. Our newest battleships will
+mount them. In this connection it is interesting to note that broadside
+weights have tripled in the short space of twenty years; that the total
+weight of steel thrown by a single broadside of the _Pennsylvania_
+to-day is 17,508 pounds, while the total weight thrown from the
+broadside of the _Oregon_ of Spanish-American War fame was 5,600 pounds.
+
+The navy also went in vigorously for aviation and has done exceedingly
+well. After the expansion of private plants had been provided for, the
+navy decided to operate a factory of its own, and a great building 400
+by 400 feet was erected in Philadelphia in 110 days at a cost of
+$700,000. Contracts involving approximately $1,600,000 have been made
+which will more than treble the capacity of this plant.
+
+In addition to work of this sort and services including scores of
+specialized activities, such as medical development, ordnance and
+munitions manufacture, building of yards, docks, and all sorts of
+accessory facilities, the navy before the war had been a month under way
+had given contracts for the construction of several hundred
+submarine-chasers, having a length of 110 feet and driven by three
+220-horse-power gasoline-engines, to thirty-one private firms and six
+navy-yards. All of these craft are now in service, and have done
+splendidly both in meeting stormy seas and in running down the
+submarines. While the British prefer a smaller type of submarine-chaser,
+they have no criticism of ours. Many of these 110-footers, built of
+wood, crossed the ocean in weather which did considerable damage to
+larger craft, and yet were practically unscathed. The French are using
+many of them.
+
+Another larger type of chaser, corresponding to the destroyer, is the
+patrol-boat of the _Eagle_ class built at the plant of Henry Ford in
+Detroit.
+
+The most recent battleships laid down by the navy are the largest ever
+attempted. The biggest British battleship of which we have knowledge
+displaces 27,500 tons; the largest German, 28,448 metric tons (28,000
+American tons), while the largest Japanese battleship displaces 30,600
+tons. These may be compared with our _Arizona_ and _Pennsylvania_,
+31,400 tons; _Idaho_, _Mississippi_, and _New Mexico_, 32,000 tons;
+_California_ and _Tennessee_ 32,300 tons, _Colorado_, _Washington_,
+_Maryland_, and _West Virginia_, 32,600 tons, while six new battleships
+authorized early in the present year are designed to be 41,500 tons. Our
+new battle-cruisers of 35,000 tons and 35 knots speed will be the
+swiftest in the world, having a speed equal to the latest and fastest
+destroyers. They will also be the largest in the world with the
+exception of the four British battle-cruisers of the _Hood_ class, which
+are 41,200 tons.
+
+On April 1, 1917, the total number of civilian employees in the nine
+principal navy-yards was 29,708. On March 1, 1918, the total number of
+employees in the same yards was 58,026. The total number of mechanics
+now employed at all navy yards and stations throughout the country is
+more than 66,000.
+
+The Navy Powder Factory at Indianapolis, Ind., manufactures powder of
+the highest grade for use in the big guns; it employs 1,000 men and
+covers a square mile. Additional buildings and machinery, together with
+a new generating-plant, are now being installed. The torpedo-station at
+Newport, a large plant where torpedoes are manufactured, has been
+greatly enlarged and its facilities in the way of production radically
+increased. Numerous ammunition-plants throughout the country prepare the
+powder charge, load and fuse the shell, handle high explosives, and ship
+the ammunition to vessels in the naval service. Among recent additions
+to facilities is an automatic mine-loading plant of great capacity and
+new design.
+
+Schools of various sorts, ranging from those devoted to the teaching of
+wireless telegraphy to cooking, were established in various parts of the
+country, and from them a constant grist of highly specialized men are
+being sent to the ships and to stations.
+
+In these, and in numerous ways not here mentioned, the Navy Department
+signalized its entrance into the war. While many new fields had to be
+entered--with sequential results in way of mistakes and delays--there
+were more fields, all important, wherein constructive preparation before
+we entered the war were revealed when the time came to look for
+practical results.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+First Hostile Contact Between the Navy and the Germans--Armed Guards on
+Merchant Vessels--"Campana" First to Sail--Daniels Refuses Offer of
+Money Awards to Men Who Sink Submarines--"Mongolia" Shows Germany How
+the Yankee Sailorman Bites--Fight of the "Silvershell"--Heroism of
+Gunners on Merchant Ships--Sinking of the "Antilles"--Experiences of
+Voyagers
+
+
+In the way of direct hostile contact between the Navy Department and
+Germany we find the first steps taken in the placing of armed
+naval-guards on American merchantmen. While this was authorized by the
+government before war was declared, it was recognized as a step that
+would almost inevitably lead to our taking our part in the European
+conflict and the nation, as a consequence, prepared its mind for such an
+outcome of our new sea policy. Germany had announced her policy of
+unrestricted submarine warfare in February, 1917, and on February 10 of
+that month two American steamships, the _Orleans_ and the _Rochester_,
+left port for France in defiance of the German warning. Both vessels
+were unarmed and both arrived safely on the other side--the _Rochester_
+was subsequently sunk--but their sailing without any means of defense
+against attack aroused the nation and spurred Congress to action.
+
+On March 12 the first armed American merchantman, the _Campana_, left
+port with a gun mounted astern, and a crew of qualified naval marksmen
+to man it. In the following October Secretary Daniels announced that his
+department had found guns and crews for every one of our merchant
+vessels designated for armament and that the guards consisted of from
+sixteen to thirty-two men under command of commissioned or chief petty
+officers of the navy. When the work of finding guns for vessels was
+begun the navy had few pieces that were available. While there were many
+fine gunners in the naval force, there were not a sufficient number of
+them to enable the quick arming of merchantmen without handicapping the
+war-ships.
+
+So every battleship in the navy was converted into a school of fire to
+train men for the duty, and the naval ordnance plants entered upon the
+work of turning out guns qualified for service on merchant craft. There
+were guns in stock, as a matter of fact, but the number was insufficient
+for the purpose in hand because, before the submarine developed a new
+sort of sea warfare, it was not the policy of the nations to arm
+merchant vessels other than those used as naval auxiliaries. But, as
+already said, so expeditiously were affairs carried on that some six
+months after the decision to equip our freighters and passenger-liners
+with means of protection we had the sailors and the guns necessary to
+meet all demands.
+
+The following telegraphic correspondence, between two St. Louis business
+men and the Secretary of the Navy, gives a very fair idea of the spirit
+in which the citizens of this country accepted the decision of the
+government to arm our merchant marine:
+
+"St. Louis, Mo., April 11, 1917.
+
+"_Hon. Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D.C._
+
+"We will pay $500 to the captain and crew of the first American merchant
+ship to destroy a hostile submarine after this date. Money will be paid
+on award by your office."
+
+"BENJAMIN GRATZ
+
+"ANDERSON GRATZ."
+
+To which Mr. Daniels replied as follows:
+
+"I thank you for the spirit which prompted your offer. It is my distinct
+feeling that money rewards for such bravery is not in keeping with the
+spirit of our day."
+
+And neither it was. The American naval men were intent upon duty and
+their duty was merely to protect the dignity as well as the safety of
+our sea-borne commerce. The mercenary element was absent and that Mr.
+Daniels did well to emphasize this fact was the conviction of the navy
+as well as of the entire country; while, at the same time, as the
+secretary said, the spirit underlying the offer was appreciated.
+
+In the meantime the German Government--which no doubt had not expected
+such drastic action on the part of the United States--was profoundly
+disturbed, and it was stated that crews of American merchantmen who
+ventured to fire upon German submarines before a state of war existed
+between the two countries must expect to meet the fate of the British
+merchant captain, Charles Fryatt, who as will be recalled, was tried and
+executed in Germany for attempting to ram the German submarine 7-33 with
+his vessel, the Great Eastern Railway steamship, _Brussels_, in July of
+1916. This warning set forth in the _Neueste Nachrichten_, of Munich, is
+so ingenious that the reader interested in Teutonic psychology will no
+doubt be interested in the perusal thereof.
+
+"We assume," the newspaper said, "that President Wilson realizes the
+fate to which he is subjecting his artillerymen. According to the German
+prize laws it is unneutral support of the enemy if a neutral ship takes
+part in hostilities. If such a ship opposes the prize-court then it must
+be treated as an enemy ship. The prize rules specify as to the crews of
+such ships. If, without being attached to the forces of the enemy, they
+take part in hostilities or make forcible resistance, they may be
+treated according to the usages of war. If President Wilson, knowing
+these provisions of international law, proceeds to arm American
+merchantmen he must assume responsibility for the eventuality that
+American seamen will meet the fate of Captain Fryatt."
+
+All of which did not appear to frighten our government one bit. We set
+ourselves to the task of equipping our merchant craft with
+seamen-gunners and guns, and it was not long--April 25, in fact--before
+an incident occurred that brought forth a chuckle from Colonel
+Roosevelt, a chuckle accompanied by the historic remark: "Thank heaven!
+Americans have at last begun to hit. We have been altogether too long at
+the receiving end of this war that Germany has been waging upon us."
+
+This ebullition was occasioned by the report of the first real American
+blow of the war when, late in April, 1917, the crack American freighter
+_Mongolia_ showed the German Navy that the time had arrived when the
+long, strong arm of Uncle Sam was reaching out a brawny fist over the
+troubled waters of the Atlantic.
+
+The _Mongolia_ had left an American port after war had been declared,
+and she was guarded by a 6-inch gun, with a crew of seamen-gunners under
+command of Lieutenant Bruce Ware. Captain Emery Rice commanded the
+freighter, and the voyage across the Atlantic had proceeded without
+incident until the port of destination, an English port, lay just
+twenty-four hours away. In other words, the _Mongolia_ was in the war
+zone. The sea was untroubled, and the gun crew gathered at their
+stations and the lookouts on mast and deck were beginning to believe
+that the trip would end as uneventfully as it had begun. No doubt there
+was some disappointment in this thought; for, strange as it may seem,
+our armed freighters were rather inclined to hunt out the submarines
+than to dodge them. It has been the frequent testimony that our armed
+guards are always spoiling for fight, not seeking to avoid It.
+
+At all events, the freighter steamed through the light mists of the
+April afternoon--it was the anniversary of the battle of Lexington--and
+Captain Rice, who had been five days in his clothes, and Lieutenant Ware
+of the navy and his nineteen men, serving the two 4-inch forward guns
+and the 6-inch stern piece, casting their eyes over the vast stretch of
+water when at 5.30 o'clock the gruff voice of the first mate, who had
+been peering over the dodger rail of the bridge rumbled over the vessel.
+
+"Submarine. Two points off the port bow."
+
+There it was, sure enough, a periscope at least, practically dead ahead,
+her position with relation to the _Mongolia_ being such that the vessel
+offered a narrow target, a target hardly worth the wasting of a valuable
+torpedo. No, the submarine was either waiting for a broadside expanse or
+else was intent upon a gun-fight.
+
+Lieutenant Ware and his seamen were ready. In compliance to a sharply
+spoken order the three guns were turned upon the periscope. But quick as
+the gunners were, the submarine was quicker, and as the guns were
+brought to bear the periscope sank gently out of sight. Captain Rice
+almost pulled the engine-room signal telegraph-lever out by its roots in
+bringing the ship to full speed toward the spot where the periscope had
+last been seen, his idea of course, being to ram the lurking craft.
+
+For two minutes nothing was seen and then a shout from one of the
+lookouts heralded the reappearance of the submersible, this time a
+thousand yards to port, the _Mongolia_ offering to the Germans a fair
+broadside expanse of hull. Lieutenant Ware's voice arose and the next
+instant the 6-inch piece spoke. That periscope went into splinters; a
+direct hit. Watchers on the freighter saw the shell strike its mark
+fairly. A great geyser arose from the sea, and when it died there were
+evidences of commotion beneath the surface. Then gradually foam and oil
+spread upon the gentle waves.
+
+There was no doubt about the hit. Lieutenant Ware knew before the shell
+struck that the aim had been accurate. There was no guess-work about it.
+It was a case of pure mathematics. The whole affair was over in two
+minutes. The vessel did not stop to reconnoitre, but steamed away at
+full speed, sending ahead wireless reports of the fight against the
+undersea craft. The British naval officers who came bounding across the
+waters on their destroyers were extremely complimentary in their praise,
+and when the _Mongolia_ returned to New York there was a dinner in honor
+of Lieutenant Ware, an expression of the lingering emotions which had
+fired the nation when word of the incident was cabled to this country.
+Since that fight the Germans, enraged, seem to have marked the
+_Mongolia_; for in succeeding months she was set upon repeatedly by the
+submarine flotilla, seeking revenge for her temerity in sending one of
+their number to the bottom. But she is still afloat and ready for
+anything that comes out of the sea.
+
+None the less, the government began to feel that it would be wiser not
+to mention the names of ships engaged with submarines, and thus when the
+next good fight occurred the name of the vessel engaged was not given.
+Aside from hoping thus to keep a vessel from being marked it had been
+the experience of the British Government that when Germans had
+identified captured sailors as having belonged to vessels that had sunk
+or damaged submarines they subjected them to unusual severity. Our navy
+wished to avoid this in the case of our men.
+
+However, the name of the vessel which engaged in a fight on May 30, was
+given out the day after the Washington report by the French Ministry of
+Marine. It was the _Silvershell_, commanded by Captain Tom Charlton with
+a gun crew commanded by William J. Clark, a warrant-officer from the
+battleship _Arkansas_. The battle occurred on May 30, in the
+Mediterranean and in addition to strength added by an efficient gun
+crew, whose commander, Clark, had been a turret captain on the
+_Arkansas_, the _Silvershell_ was an extremely fast ship. As a
+consequence, when the submarine poked her nose out of the Mediterranean
+blue, expecting easy prey, she found confronting her a man's-size
+battle. In all sixty shots were exchanged, and the submarine not only
+beaten off, but sunk with the twenty-first shot fired from the
+_Silvershell_. It was a great fight, and Clark was recommended for
+promotion.
+
+While the government jealously guarded details of this and subsequent
+fights, the country had adequate food for pride in such announcements
+from the Navy Department as that of July 26, when certain gun-crew
+officers were cited for promotion and an outline of reasons therefor set
+forth.
+
+There was Andrew Copassaki, chief boatswain's mate, for instance, who
+was transferred from the battleship _Arkansas_ to take charge of the gun
+crew of the steamship _Moreni_. He commanded this crew when the _Moreni_
+was sunk by a German submarine on the morning of June 12. This gun crew
+put up a fight on the deck of that sinking vessel which was so gallant
+as to elicit words of praise from the commander of the attacking
+submarine. Copassaki, when the ship was in flames, from shellfire,
+rushed through the fire to the forward gun and continued to serve it
+against the submarine until the gun was put completely out of
+commission. This gallant hero was born in Greece, and had been in the
+navy twenty years.
+
+Then there was Harry Waterhouse, a chief turret captain, transferred
+from the dreadnought _New York_ to command the armed crew of the
+_Petrolite_ which was sunk by a U-boat on June 10. The vessel sank so
+rapidly after being torpedoed that the guns could not be used. The navy
+men, however, under the command of Waterhouse, assisted in getting out
+the boats and lowering them and getting the crew to safety, to a
+man--although the _Petrolite_ went over on her beam ends in less than a
+minute. No member of the armed guard left the sinking vessel until
+ordered to do so by Waterhouse. These are but a few of the instances of
+signal gallantry which have filled the records of our navy since we
+entered the war.
+
+And while our merchant crews were thus at work the navy was busy sending
+soldiers to the other side. Not a mishap had occurred on the eastbound
+traffic--and at this writing none has yet occurred--but on October 17,
+the transport _Antilles_, which had made several safe journeys with
+soldiers destined for General Pershing's expeditionary forces, was
+torpedoed and sunk when homeward bound with a loss of 70 lives out of
+237 men on board. The transport was sunk while under the convoy of
+American naval patrol-vessels, and she had on board the usual armed gun
+crew.
+
+Not only was the _Antilles_ the first American Army transport to be lost
+in the present war, but she was the first vessel under American convoy
+to be successfully attacked. She was well out to sea at the time and the
+convoy of protecting vessels was smaller for this reason, and for the
+fact that she was westbound, carrying no troops. The submarine was never
+seen and neither was the torpedo. There has been rumor that the
+explosion that sank her came from the inside, but so far as any one
+knows this is merely port gossip of such nature as arises when vessels
+are lost. Our second transport to be lost was the _President Lincoln_,
+taken over from the Germans when war was declared. She, too, was
+eastbound, well out to sea, and the loss of life was small. The third
+was the _Covington_, formerly the German liner _Cincinnati_, which was
+torpedoed in the early summer of this year while on her way to an
+American port.
+
+Life on merchantmen, freighters, liners, and the like, crossing the
+Atlantic, has been fraught with peril and with excitement ever since we
+went into the war. Even with armed guards there are of course all sorts
+of chances of disaster, chances frequently realized; but, on the other
+hand, in a great majority of cases the vessels of the transatlantic
+passenger service have crossed to and fro, giving their passengers all
+the thrills of an exciting situation without subjecting them to anything
+more serious.
+
+Let me quote in part a letter from a Princeton man, Pleasants
+Pennington, who was a passenger on the French transatlantic liner
+_Rochambeau_, on one of its trips late in 1917.
+
+"What about the submarines? They haven't put in an appearance yet. We
+haven't worried about them because we only got into the war zone last
+night; but I may have more to write about before we get into Bordeaux on
+Wednesday or Thursday. There are several people on board--especially
+ladies of the idle rich--who have been much concerned about the safety
+of the ship and incidentally their own skins.... The Frenchmen, the
+officers of the ship and especially the captain (his name is Joam) take
+a very philosophic view of the situation, and shrug their shoulders with
+Gallic fatalism. If they shall be torpedoed--_tant pis!_ But why
+worry?... I had a talk with our captain the second day out, and he
+seemed to have made a pretty thorough study of tactics for avoiding
+submarines. He said they did not go more than 800 miles from land, and
+that the best protection is to go fast and keep one's eyes open. The
+_Rochambeau_ had two beautiful new 6-inch guns mounted on the stern and
+a 3-inch gun in the bow.... As near as I can gather, our tactics seem to
+be to keep a lookout ahead and trust to getting a shot at any submarine
+that shows its head before it can launch a torpedo. I believe torpedoes
+are not accurate at over a mile, and the speed of a submarine is only
+nine knots while ours is nineteen.... I think the most distinctive
+feature of war-time travel is the fact that the boat must be perfectly
+dark at night to an outside observer. This rule is observed on the
+entire voyage, and results in heavy iron shutters being bolted on all
+port-holes and windows as soon as dusk falls so that the entire
+atmosphere of the cabins, smoking-room, reading-rooms, etc., becomes
+very vile in a surprisingly short time after dark.... We now sleep on
+deck and are very comfortable. The deck is crowded at night with people
+of different ages, sexes, and nationalities, sleeping in the most
+charming confusion and proximity."
+
+Well, the _Rochambeau_ arrived without untoward incident as she had done
+so often before and has done since. Another letter is that of a Yale
+senior, enlisted in the navy and one of the crew of a transport. "We
+looked very formidable as we steamed out of the harbor. An armored
+cruiser led the way and on either side a torpedo destroyer.... We
+proceed very cautiously. After sunset all lights go out. There is no
+smoking anywhere on board and not a light even in the stateroom. Then if
+we look out we see the other ships of the convoy--we hug one another
+closely--just stumbling through the water like phantom shapes--and
+that's the weirdest sight I have ever seen.... To-day we are having gun
+practice on board the transport--trial shots for the subs and the
+cruiser experimenting with balloon observers. Such are our interests....
+Last night I had a wonderful experience. It was delightful--one of those
+that tickle my masculine pride. I was detailed in charge of a watch in
+the forward crow's-nest--a basket-like affair on the very top of the
+foremast about 150 feet from the water.... From the nest you get a
+wonderful view--a real bird's-eye view--for the men walking on the deck
+appear as pigmies, and the boats following in our trail look like
+dories. Our duty is to watch with powerful glasses for any traces of
+periscopes, and we are connected up with telephones to the gunners who
+are always ready for the 'call' and eager for action. This is only the
+first of the thrilling experiences which I expect, or, rather, hope to
+have." But that convoy arrived safely, too.
+
+The convoy, by the way, was largely an American idea, a departure from
+the policy of protecting a single vessel. A group of craft about to
+cross, sometimes as many as a score or more, are sent forth together
+under adequate protection of destroyers and cruisers. At night
+towing-disks are dropped astern. These are white and enable the rearward
+vessels to keep their distance with relation to those steaming ahead.
+The destroyers circle in and about the convoyed craft, which, in the
+meantime, are describing zigzag courses in order that submarines may not
+be able to calculate their gun or torpedo fire with any degree of
+accuracy.
+
+The destroyers shoot in front of bows and around sterns with impunity,
+leaving in their trail a phosphorescent wake. Sometimes in the case of a
+fast liner the destroyers, what with the high speed of the craft they
+are protecting and the uncertain course, narrowly escape disaster. As a
+matter of fact, one of them, the American destroyer _Chauncey_, was lost
+in this manner. But she is the only one.
+
+Here is a letter from a Yale man, a sailor, which contains rather a
+tragic story, the loss of the transport _Tuscania_ under British convoy:
+
+"I could see a lighthouse here and there on the Irish and Scotch shores,
+and though I knew there were plenty of ships about not one was to be
+seen. (It was night, of course). All at once I saw a dull flare and a
+moment after a heavy boom. Then about half a mile away the _Tuscania_
+stood out in the glare of all the lights suddenly turned on. I could see
+her painted funnels and the sides clear and distinct against the dark.
+Another boom and the lights and the ship herself vanished. The next
+instant lights and rockets began to go up, red and white, and from their
+position I knew they must be from the _Tuscania_ and that she was
+falling out of the convoy. Then came a crash of guns and a heavier shock
+that told of depth-bombs and the blaze of a destroyer's
+search-lights--gone again in an instant--and then absolute silence."
+
+The sinking of the _Antilles_ was followed--October 25, 1917--by an
+announcement that thereafter bluejackets would man and naval officers
+command all transports. Up to that time, while there had been naval
+guards on the transports, the crews and officers of ships had been
+civilians. It was believed that highly disciplined naval men would be
+more effective than the constantly shifting crews of civilians. So it
+has proved.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+Destroyers on Guard--Preparations of Flotilla to Cross the
+Ocean--Meeting the "Adriatic"---Flotilla Arrives in Queenstown--
+Reception by British Commander and Populace--"We are Ready
+Now, Sir"--Arrival of the Famous Captain Evans on the American
+Flag-Ship--Our Navy a Warm-Weather Navy--Loss of the "Vacuum"
+
+
+When we entered the war the Navy Department had one definite idea
+concerning its duty with regard to the submarine. It was felt that it
+was more necessary to deal drastically with this situation than to meet
+it merely by building a large fleet of cargo-carrying vessels in the
+hope that a sufficient number of them would escape the U-boats to insure
+the carrying of adequate food and supplies to France and the British
+Isles. The view was taken that, while the ship-building programme was
+being carried out--there was of course no idea of not furthering the
+policy embodied in the plea of the British statesman for ships, ships
+and yet more ships--means should be taken of driving the submarine from
+the seas.
+
+We held the attitude that the nation which had given to the world a
+weapon so formidable as the undersea fighter had within it the ability
+to devise a means of combating it successfully. And, as a matter of
+fact, long before we went into the conflict the Navy Department had not
+ignored consideration of ways and means in this respect. As a
+consequence, when the British and French War Commissions arrived in this
+country they found our naval officers bristling with ideas, some of them
+apparently so feasible that the British naval representatives were both
+pleased and astonished.
+
+We do not know all that passed between the Americans and the British
+with regard to the submarine, but this we do know: that the British went
+back to England with a greater respect for our powers of constructive
+thought than they had when they reached this country. Among some of the
+early suggestions was the sowing of contact mines in waters through
+which the submarines would be obliged to pass in leaving and entering
+their bases. Then there was the scheme of protecting vessels in groups,
+and other excellent ideas which were soon put into effect.
+
+Immediately after the signing of the war resolution by President Wilson
+the Navy Department proceeded to put various plans into execution. At
+9.30 o'clock one warm April night commanders of various destroyers in
+service along the coast received orders to proceed at daylight to the
+home navy-yards and fit out with all despatch for distant service. None
+of the officers knew what was ahead, not definitely, that is; but all
+knew that the future held action of vital sort and with all steam the
+venomous gray destroyers were soon darting up and down the coast toward
+their various navy-yards, at Boston, New York, and elsewhere.
+
+Arriving here, the vessels went at once into dry dock while a force of
+men who were in waiting proceeded to clean and paint the hulls, while
+stores and provisions to last three months were assembled. In a few days
+the flotilla set forth. No commander knew where he was going.
+Instructions were to proceed to a point fifty miles east of Cape Cod,
+and there to open sealed instructions. One may imagine the thoughts of
+the officers and crews of the sea-fighters--which above all other craft
+had signally demonstrated the fact that they and they alone were
+qualified to bring the fear of God, as the navy saying is, to the
+Germans--as they ploughed through the seas to the point where orders
+might be opened and the way ahead made clear.
+
+"And when," said a destroyer commander, speaking of that trip, "I got to
+the designated point at midnight, I opened my orders and found that we
+were to make for Queenstown. You may be sure I breathed a fervent cheer,
+for I had been itching for a crack at the sub ever since certain events
+off Nantucket the preceding fall."
+
+The flotilla took ten days in making the journey, the time thus consumed
+being due to a southeast gale which accompanied the boats for the first
+seven days of the journey. There were various incidents, but nothing of
+the dramatic save the picking up and escorting of the big British liner
+_Adriatic_, and later the meeting 300 miles off the Irish coast of the
+brave little British destroyer _Mary Rose_, which had been sent out to
+meet the Americans. The _Mary Rose_, by the way, was sunk three months
+later by a German raider. The commander of the _Mary Rose_ assured the
+Americans that they would be welcome and that their co-operation would
+be highly appreciated.
+
+One may fancy so. Things were looking exceedingly black about that time.
+In the previous three weeks submarines had sunk 152 British merchant
+vessels, and patrol-vessels each day were bringing in survivors of the
+various victims. It was a situation which could not go on if the British
+cause were not to be very seriously injured. The question of supplies,
+food, munitions, and the like, for which both France and England were
+relying upon the United States to furnish, was looming vitally. This
+country had the things to send, all cargoes, of all sorts. But to send
+them to the war zone and then have them lost was a heart-breaking
+situation for every one concerned.
+
+One thus is able to imagine the emotions with which the British at
+Queenstown received our flotilla when it came in from the sea on the
+morning of May 13. Motion pictures of this eventful arrival have been
+shown in this country, with the result that we who were not there have
+an impression of a crowded waterfront, of American flags flying
+everywhere, of the American commander leaving his vessel and going
+ashore to call upon the British commander Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly and
+the Honorable Wesley Frost, the American Consul at Queenstown. The
+destroyers had steamed into the harbor in a long line and with great
+precision came to a stop at the designated moorings. All this, as said,
+we have seen on the film, as we have seen the British and American
+officers going through the motions of formal felicitation. What was
+said, however, came to us through another medium. Admiral Bayly, after
+the formal ceremony of greeting was ended, said with British directness:
+
+"When will you be ready for business?"
+
+The reply was prompt:
+
+"We can start at once, sir."
+
+Admiral Bayly did not attempt to conceal his surprise, but he made no
+comment until after he had completed a tour of the various American
+craft. Then he turned to the American commander:
+
+"You were right about being prepared."
+
+"Yes," returned the American; "we made preparations in the course of the
+trip over. That is why we are ready."
+
+"Very good," smiled the British commander. "You are a fine body of men
+and your boats look just as fit." As a matter of fact, while all
+equipment was found to be in excellent condition and the men ready and
+eager to go out after submarines, it was deemed best to send one or two
+of the craft to dry dock to have their hulls inspected and, if
+necessary, shorn of all barnacles or other marine growth that might have
+become attached to the plating on the journey across.
+
+In the meantime had occurred a very pretty incident which is now one of
+the stock stories in the ward-rooms of British and American sea-fighters
+in European waters. It seems that not long before the destroyers were
+due to arrive Captain Edward R. G. R. Evans, C.B., who was second in
+command of the Scott Antarctic Expedition, came up the Thames on board
+his battered destroyer, the _Broke_. Now, the _Broke_ on the night of
+April 20, off Dover, had been engaged in an action which stands as one
+of the glorious achievements at arms in the annals of sea-fighting. The
+_Broke_ that night was attacked by six German destroyers and, after a
+battle characterized by bulwark rasping against bulwark, by
+boarding-parties, hand-to-hand fighting, and all the elements that make
+the pages of Mayne Reid thrilling, defeated the six destroyers and
+proceeded to port with flags flying.
+
+With all this in mind the admiralty decided to pay the Americans the
+distinguished compliment of attaching Captain Evans to the American
+flag-ship as a sort of liaison officer. So when the American flotilla
+was reported, the British hero set forth and in good time boarded the
+flag-ship of the flotilla. He was accompanied by a young aide, and both
+were received with all courtesy by the American commander. But the
+British aide could see that the American had not associated his visitor
+with the man whose laurels were still fresh not only as an explorer but
+as a fighter.
+
+There was talk of quarters for Captain Evans, and the American commander
+seemed doubtful just where to put his guest. Finally he sent the British
+officer below with a lieutenant to see what could be done. When the two
+had disappeared Evans's aide turned to the American commander.
+
+"I don't think," he said, flushing rather diffidently, "that you quite
+grasped just who you have on board," and then with great distinctness he
+added: "He is R. G. R. Evans. He--"
+
+There came an exclamation from the American, and stepping forward he
+seized the young officer by the shoulders.
+
+"Do you mean to say that he is Evans of the _Broke_?" he cried.
+
+As the Briton nodded and was about to speak, the American leaped from
+his side, made the companion-ladder, and fairly tumbled below,
+Approaching Captain Evans, he said:
+
+"Captain Evans, my apologies; I didn't quite place you at first. I
+merely wish to tell you now not to worry about quarters. I say this
+because you are going to have my bunk--and I--I am going to sleep on the
+floor."
+
+And here is a little incident which occurred when the destroyers picked
+up and escorted the _Adriatic_ of the White Star Line. As may be
+imagined, the Americans on board were delighted to see a destroyer with
+an American flag darting about the great vessel like a porpoise, while
+the British appreciated to the full the significance of the occasion--so
+much so that the following message was formulated and wirelessed to the
+destroyer:
+
+"British passengers on board a steamship bound for a British port under
+the protection of an American torpedo-boat destroyer send their hearty
+greetings to her commander and her officers and crew and desire to
+express their keen appreciation of this practical co-operation between
+the government and people of the United States and the British Empire
+who are now fighting together for the freedom of the seas."
+
+One may imagine with what emotions the officers and men of the American
+war-ship, bound for duty in enemy seas and at the very outset having a
+great greyhound intrusted to their care, received this glowing despatch.
+
+There were many functions attending the arrival of the Americans at
+Queenstown, aside from those already set forth. Many of the seamen were
+granted shore-leave and were immediately captured by the townspeople,
+who took them to their homes and entertained most lavishly. They were
+the first American naval men that the Queenstowners had seen at close
+quarters in years, and the bluejackets were bombarded with questions.
+
+And while the jackies were thus being treated the American officers made
+a memorable visit to Cork. They journeyed up the River Lee in an
+admiral's barge accompanied by Captain Evans. At the Cork custom-house
+they were met by distinguished military officers, by the lord-lieutenant
+of the county, and by the lord mayor of Cork. It was a most memorable
+occasion, and when they returned they found the British and American
+seamen on such good terms that the two bodies had already tried each
+other out in friendly fisticuffs, the net results being common respect
+one for the other.
+
+Announcement of the arrival of the American vessels was made by the
+British Admiralty, the American Navy Department, with a modest reticence
+which ever since has been characteristic, saying nothing until the time
+came to confirm the admiralty's statement. In doing this Secretary
+Daniels announced that as a matter of fact an American flotilla of
+destroyers had arrived at an English port on May 4, and the vessels
+thereof engaged in the work of submarine hunting in both the Atlantic
+and in co-operation with the French in the Mediterranean. About the same
+time it was stated that a body of naval aviators, the first American
+fighting-men to serve from the shore, had been landed in England.
+
+Soon after this announcement came another from Washington, giving an
+interchange of wireless amenities between Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty,
+commander of the British Grand Fleet, to Rear-Admiral Henry T. Mayo,
+commanding the United States Atlantic Fleet:
+
+"The Grand Fleet rejoices that the Atlantic Fleet will share in
+preserving the liberties of the world and maintaining the chivalry of
+the sea."
+
+And Admiral Mayo's reply:
+
+"The United States Atlantic Fleet appreciates the message from the
+British Fleet, and welcomes opportunities for work with the British
+Fleet for the freedom of the seas."
+
+In confirming the British announcement of the arrival of the flotilla at
+Queenstown, Secretary Daniels said:
+
+"It has been the purpose of the United States Navy to give the largest
+measure of assistance to other countries at war with Germany that is
+consistent with the full and complete protection of our own coast and
+territorial waters."
+
+Within a week after the arrival of our flotilla at Queenstown, the
+vessels thereof ranging the seas side by side with the British,
+submarine losses showed a marked reduction, and it was even more marked
+the second week of our co-operation. It was also stated that more
+submarines had been sunk in the week of May 12 than in the previous
+month.
+
+In preparing for co-operation with the British destroyers, the American
+officers received lectures on the subject of effective submarine
+fighting, while depth-bombs and appliances for releasing them were
+supplied to the American boats, and all surplus gear and appurtenances
+of various sorts were taken from the American vessels and stored ashore.
+
+It was noted as a curious fact that the United States Navy had really
+been a warm-weather navy. The ships were sent south in winter for drills
+and target practice, usually in Guantanamo Bay; in the spring they
+engaged in manoeuvres off the Virginia Capes, and in summer went to
+Newport, Provincetown, and other New England points. Again, life in a
+destroyer on the wintry Atlantic was not the most comfortable life in
+the world. There were cold fogs, icy winds and fearful storms in the war
+zone, and the thin steel hulls of the destroyers offered little in the
+way of creature comforts. This fact perhaps gave color to the report
+from Queenstown that our men were prepared in every respect save that of
+clothing, a statement that was indignantly refuted by the Navy
+Department, and a list of the garments furnished the sailors was
+submitted. It was an adequate list and quite effectually silenced
+further rumors on that score. As a matter of fact, no complaint ever
+came from the jackies themselves. They had sea-boots, pea-jackets,
+short, heavy double-breasted overcoats, knitted watch-caps, heavy
+woollen socks, jerseys, extra jackets of lambskin wool, oil-skins, and
+navy uniform suits--a complete outfit surely. In the meantime the young
+women, elderly women, too, of the country were busily engaged in
+knitting helmets, sweaters, mittens, and the like. Some of the girls,
+more romantic than others, inserted their names and addresses in the
+articles they sent to the sailors. Here is a little _jeu d'esprit_ that
+one girl received from a sailor of Admiral Sims's command:
+
+  "Some sox; some fit!
+  I used one for a helmet.
+  And one for a mitt.
+  I hope I shall meet you
+  When I've done my bit.
+  But who in the devil
+  Taught you to knit?"
+
+The reader may be sure that other, many other, more appreciative
+messages were sent to the devoted young women of the country, and that
+in many cases interesting correspondence was opened.
+
+On May 25, 1917, Admiral Sims cabled to Secretary Daniels that Berlin
+knew of American plans for sending our destroyers to Europe four days
+before the vessels arrived at Queenstown, and that twelve mines had been
+placed across the entrance to the harbor the day before the destroyer
+flotilla reached their destination. The activity of British
+mine-sweepers prevented whatever might have occurred. This gave rise to
+considerable discussion in this country as to German spies here, and as
+an instance of their work in keeping in touch with naval affairs the
+following story was told in naval circles: When the oil-ship _Vacuum_,
+with Lieutenant Thomas and a naval gun crew on board, sailed from this
+country, the captain had instructions where to pick up British
+destroyers at a certain point off the Irish coast. The _Vacuum_ arrived
+at the designated spot, and before the war-ships arrived a submarine
+appeared out of the water.
+
+"I see," said the German commander, appearing out of the conning-tower,
+"that you kept your appointment."
+
+And then the _Vacuum_ was sent to the bottom. Later, under the convoy
+system, submarines began to be very wary in the matter of triumphant
+conversations with officers of merchantmen. In fact, this appears to
+have been the last interchange of the sort.
+
+Working with the British, the American destroyers patrolled the seas six
+days at a stretch, each craft being assigned to a certain area, as far
+out as three hundred miles off shore. Returning to port, the destroyers
+would lie at their moorings two and three days. Later the time in port
+was reduced. But it depended upon conditions. The orders to the
+Americans were: first, destroy submarines; second, escort and convoy
+merchant ships; third, save lives. And in all three respects the
+Americans from the very outset have so conducted themselves and their
+craft as to earn the highest encomiums from the Entente admiralties.
+
+The Americans entered very heartily into their work, and developed ideas
+of their own, some of which the British were very glad to adopt. Between
+the men of the two navies there has been the best sort of feeling.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+British and American Destroyers Operating Hand in Hand--Arrival of Naval
+Collier "Jupiter"--Successful Trip of Transports Bearing United States
+Soldiers Convoyed by Naval Vessels--Attack on Transports Warded Off by
+Destroyers--Secretary Baker Thanks Secretary Daniels--Visit to our
+Destroyer Base--Attitude of Officers Toward Men--Genesis of the
+Submarine--The Confederate Submarine "Hunley"
+
+
+A correspondent who visited the British base on the Irish coast a month
+after the arrival of the Americans, found the two fleets operating hand
+in hand and doing effective work. With the boats out four and five, and
+then in port coaling and loading supplies two and three days, the seamen
+were getting practically half a day shore-leave every week. The seamen
+endured the routine grind of patrol and convoy work, accepting it as the
+price to be paid for the occasional fights with submarines.
+
+An assignment to convoy a liner from home is regarded as a choice
+morsel, and the boats that get the job are looked upon as favored craft.
+The transatlantic passengers invariably make a fuss over the Americans,
+and the interchange of amenities gives our sailors concrete evidence of
+how their work is regarded in this country.
+
+On June 6, 1917, Secretary Daniels, with warrantable pride, announced
+the arrival in a French port of the naval collier _Jupiter_, with 10,500
+tons of wheat and other supplies. The _Jupiter_ is nearly as large as a
+battleship, and stands out of the water like a church. Nevertheless, the
+collier, completely armed and well able to take care of herself, made
+the trip without convoy. She was the first electrically propelled vessel
+of large size ever built, and her performance was so good that it led to
+the adoption of the electric drive for all our new battleships and
+cruisers.
+
+In the meantime, with our destroyers working valiantly in the fight
+against the submarines, Admiral Sims, their commander, had made himself
+indispensable to the British Admiralty, whose high regard was manifested
+on June 19, when, as already noted, he was appointed to take charge of
+operations of the Allied naval forces in Irish waters while the British
+commander-in-chief was absent for a short period. Washington had given
+wide powers to Admiral Sims to the end that he might be in a position to
+meet any emergency that might arise. While much of his time was spent in
+Paris and London, his home was at the Irish base, a fine old mansion 300
+feet above the town, with beautiful lawns and gardens, having been
+turned over to him.
+
+In June of 1917, June 4, it was announced in Washington that an American
+squadron had arrived in South American waters in accordance with the
+plan of relieving British and French cruisers of patrol duty in waters
+of the western hemisphere, merely one more instance of the scope of the
+plans which the Navy Department had formulated when we entered the war.
+
+On June 25 came word that the first American convoy (transports with
+American troops), under direction of Rear-Admiral Albert M. Gleaves,
+commander of our convoy system, had arrived safely at a port in France.
+On July 3 the last units of ships with supplies and horses reached its
+destination. The expedition was divided into contingents, each
+contingent including troop-ships and an escort of sea-fighters. An ocean
+rendezvous with American destroyers operating in European waters was
+arranged, and carried out in minutest detail.
+
+The convoy did not cross the seas without incident. In the newspapers of
+July 4 the country was electrified by a statement issued by the Creel
+bureau of a rather thrilling combat between war-ships attached to the
+convoy and German submarines, in which the U-boat was badly worsted.
+Details were given, and all in all the whole affair as presented was
+calculated to give the utmost unction to American pride. Next day,
+however, came a despatch from the American flotilla base in British
+waters which set forth that the story of the attack as published in the
+United States was inaccurate. There was no submarine attack, said the
+report, and no submarine was seen. One destroyer did drop a depth-bomb,
+but this was merely by way of precaution. Quite a stir followed, and it
+was not until Secretary Daniels some time later published facts as set
+forth in a cipher message from Admiral Gleaves that the country realized
+that, while the original account was somewhat overdrawn, there was
+substantial ground for the belief that several transports had had narrow
+escapes. To a correspondent who was on one of the transports we are
+indebted for the following narrative of the attack:
+
+[Illustration: POSITION OF SHIPS IN A CONVOY.]
+
+"It was past midnight. The flotilla was sweeping through a calm sea
+miles from the point of debarkation, and tense nerves were beginning to
+relax. The sky was cloudy and the moon obscured, but the phosphorescence
+of water common in these latitudes at this season marked the prow and
+wake of the advancing ships with lines of smoky flame. It was this,
+perhaps, that saved us from disaster--this and the keenness of American
+eyes, and the straightness of American shooting. From the high-flung
+superstructure of a big ship one of the eager lookouts noted an unwonted
+line of shining foam on the port bow. In a second he realized that here
+at last was the reality of peril. It could be nothing else than the
+periscope of a submarine. The Germans were not less swift in action.
+Almost at the moment that the alarm was given a gleaming line of
+bubbles, scarcely twenty feet from the bow of one of the transports
+wherein thousands were sleeping, announced the torpedo with its fatal
+burden of explosive. Then 'hell broke loose.' Firing every gun
+available, the big ship swung on a wide circle out of line to the left.
+A smaller war-ship slipped into the place of the big fighter, driving
+shells into the sea. Whether any landed or not may not be said. The
+Germans fired three, if not four, torpedoes. It was God's mercy that
+they all went astray among so many of our ships. The whole business
+lasted only a minute and a half. I know, because one of those Easterners
+from somewhere up in Maine coolly timed the mix-up with his stop-watch.
+But believe me, it added more than that time to my life. The second
+attack occurred next morning. Every living soul on the transports had
+been thrilled by the news of the night's events, and from early hours
+the decks were lined with amateur lookouts. The morning was fine, and a
+light breeze rippled up wavelets that twinkled in the sunlight. Suddenly
+about 10.30 o'clock there came a wild yell from one of the leading
+transports. Though the jackies affect to dispute it, I was assured that
+it was from a far-sighted youngster from Arizona, who first descried and
+then announced the deadly line of bubbles. No periscope was visible this
+time, and for the first moment those on the bridges of the destroyers
+were incredulous. Then the unmistakable bubble lines clean across the
+bows put the certainty of danger beyond question. Once again fortune
+favored us. The submarine was in front instead of in the deadliest
+position on the flank toward the rear. Perhaps the U-boat commander was
+rattled by the magnitude of his opportunity. Perhaps one of his excited
+pirates let go too soon. Anyway, it is agreed by experts that he would
+have been far more dangerous had he waited unseen until part of the
+flotilla at least had passed beyond him.
+
+"Dearly did the Germans pay for their error. Like a striking
+rattlesnake, one of our destroyers darted between a couple of
+transports. Her nose was so deep in the sea as to be almost buried,
+while a great wave at the stern threw a shower of spray on the soldiers
+massed at the transport's bow. That destroyer ran right along the line
+of bubbles like a hound following a trail, and when it came to the spot
+where the commander estimated the submarine must be lurking, he released
+a depth-bomb. A column of smoke and foam rose fifty feet in the air, and
+the destroyer herself rose half out of the water under the shock of the
+explosion. It is said that in the midst of the column of water were seen
+fragments of steel and wood, and oil also was reported on the water.
+This meant that at least one submarine had paid the supreme price for
+the spread of kultur on the high seas."
+
+As in all thrilling incidents of the sort, there was a note of comedy.
+It was supplied by a negro roustabout on one of the large transports.
+This darky throughout the trip had been very fearful of submarines, and
+when the actual moment of danger came he acted upon a predetermined
+course, and shinned up the mainmast as though Old Nick himself were at
+his heels. When the excitement was over an officer called up to him:
+
+"Hello, up there; come down. It's all over."
+
+"Me come down," came the voice from on high. "Mistah officah, I ain't
+nevah gwine to come down; no suh. De place fo man is on de dry land, yas
+suh. Ocean wa'nt nevah made for man; de ocean's fo fishes, dat's all.
+I'm gwine to stay up heah until I see de land. Den I'se gwine to jump."
+
+History fails to record how long he remained in his retreat. Probably
+until he became hungry.
+
+This, then, appears to be what happened to our first convoy. That there
+was an attack upon the convoy by submarines in force, as set forth in
+the original statement from Washington, now seems altogether unlikely,
+and whether our destroyers sunk one or more of the undersea assailants
+is a matter of opinion. It does, however, seem likely that the one
+waging the second attack was accounted for.
+
+The War Department was not slow to recognize the effectiveness with
+which our navy had transported the first oversea expedition to France as
+the following message from Secretary of War Newton D. Baker to Secretary
+Daniels will show.
+
+"War Department,
+
+"Washington, July 3.
+
+"Word has just come to the War Department that the last ships conveying
+Gen. Pershing's expeditionary force arrived safely to-day. As you know,
+the Navy Department assumed the responsibility for the safety of these
+ships on the sea and through the danger zone. The ships themselves and
+their convoys were in the hands of the navy, and now that they have
+arrived and carried without the loss of a man our soldiers who are first
+to represent America in the battle for Democracy, I beg leave to tender
+to you, to the admiral, and to the navy the hearty thanks of the War
+Department and of the army. This splendid achievement is an auspicious
+beginning, and it has been characterized throughout by the most cordial
+and effective co-operation between the two military services.
+
+"Cordially yours,
+
+"NEWTON D. BAKER."
+
+In the meantime Americans living in England had organized to do
+everything in their power to make the lives of the seamen of the
+destroyer fleet comfortable. Plans were at once formulated and work
+begun on a club, the United States Naval Men's Club at the American
+base. This club, which is now completed, contains dormitories,
+shower-baths, a canteen, and a billiard room with two pool-tables. There
+is an auditorium for moving-picture shows and other entertainments,
+reading-rooms, and in fact everything that would tend to make the men
+feel at home and divert their leisure hours.
+
+A correspondent for the Associated Press, who visited the club when it
+was completed, has testified to its great attractiveness, and from his
+pen also has come the most effective description of our destroyers as
+they return to their base from duty in the North Sea. One destroyer
+which he inspected had had the good fortune to be able to bring back the
+crews of two torpedoed merchantmen. The mariners were picked up on the
+fourth day out, and had the unique experience of joining in a lookout
+for their undoers before the destroyer returned to its base. Despite her
+battles with heavy seas and high winds, the destroyer was as fit as any
+of her sister craft lying at anchor near by. Her brass-work glistened in
+the sunshine, and her decks were as clean as a good housewife's kitchen.
+The crew, a majority of them mere boys, were going about their work with
+every manifestation of contentment.
+
+"They are," observed the commander, "the most alert sailors in the
+world." The destroyer carried five 4-inch guns, the type most used on
+destroyers. Ten feet behind the guns were cases of shells, each shell
+weighing sixty pounds. When firing upon a submarine the shells are
+passed by hand to the gunners--no small task when the sea is heavy. At
+the gun the gunner is equipped with a head-gear, like that worn by
+telephone girls, through which he receives sighting directions from the
+officer on the bridge. Speaking-tubes also convey messages from the
+bridge to the gunners.
+
+These "voice-tubes," as they are called, run to all the guns, but take
+the most circuitous routes, running way below deck in order that damage
+by shell-fire to the upper part of the vessel might not affect
+communication from the bridge to the gunners. On different parts of the
+deck were three canvas-covered boxes, each containing six loaded rifles,
+eighteen in all. These were for use against boarding-parties.
+
+The vessel also contained numerous torpedo-tubes, always loaded. The
+destroyer registered about a thousand tons, and carried a crew of
+ninety-five men, who were reported as "a great happy family." The
+commanding officer said that there was surprisingly little homesickness
+among the men, many of whom had never before been so far from their
+native land.
+
+"We invite questions and suggestions from our men," said one of the
+officers to the correspondent. "We want them to feel that no one is ever
+too old to learn."
+
+The seamen sleep on berths suspended from the steel walls of the
+destroyers, berths which, when not in use, can be closed very much after
+the manner of a folding bed. When "submarined" crews are rescued the
+sailors willingly give up their comfortable berths and do everything
+else in their power to make the shipwrecked mariners comfortable. The
+men receive their mail from home uncensored. It arrives about every ten
+days in bags sealed in the United States. Their own letters, however,
+are censored, not only by an officer aboard ship, but by a British
+censor. However, there has been little or no complaint by the men on the
+ground of being unable to say what they wish to their loved ones.
+
+"The men," wrote an officer recently, "look upon submarine-hunting as a
+great game. The only time they are discontented is when a situation
+which looks like an approaching fight resolves itself into nothing. The
+seas of the war zone are, of course, filled with all sorts of flotsam
+and jetsam, and very often that which appears to be a periscope is
+nothing of the sort. But when a real one comes--then the men accept it
+as a reward."
+
+In view of all that has been said thus far and remains to be said
+concerning the submarine, it might be well to digress for a moment and
+devote the remainder of this chapter to a consideration of the undersea
+fighter, its genesis, what it now is, and what it has accomplished. We
+all know that the submarine was given to the world by an American
+inventor--that is to say, the submarine in very much the form that we
+know it to-day, the effective, practical submarine. The writer recalls
+witnessing experiments more than twenty years ago on the Holland
+submarine--the first modern submarine type--and he recalls how closely
+it was guarded in the early days of 1898, when it lay at Elizabethport
+and the Spanish war-ship _Viscaya_, Captain Eulate, lay in our harbor.
+This was a month or so after the destruction of the battleship _Maine_
+in Havana Harbor, and threats against the Spanish had led, among other
+precautions, to an armed guard about the _Holland_ lest some excitable
+person take her out and do damage to the _Viscaya_. There was no real
+danger, of course, that this would happen; it merely tends to show the
+state of public mind.
+
+Well, in any event, the _Holland_, and improved undersea craft
+subsequently developed, converted the seemingly impossible into the
+actual. To an Englishman, William Bourne, a seaman-gunner must be
+credited the first concrete exposition of the possibilities of an
+undersea fighter. His book, "Inventions or Devices," published in 1578,
+contains a comprehensive description of the essential characteristics of
+the undersea boat as they are applied to-day. From the days of the
+sixteenth century on down through the years to the present time,
+submarine construction and navigation have passed through various stages
+of development. Captain Thomas A. Kearney, U.S.N., in an interesting
+monograph published through the United States Naval Institute at
+Annapolis, says that of the early American inventors, particular mention
+should be made of the work of David Bushnell and Robert Fulton, both of
+whom have been termed the "father of the submarine." Bushnell's boat,
+completed in 1775-6, was much in advance of anything in its class at the
+time. The boat, which was, of course, water-tight, was sufficiently
+commodious to contain the operator and a sufficient amount of air to
+support him for thirty minutes. Water was admitted into a tank for the
+purpose of descending and two brass force-pumps ejected the water when
+the operator wished to rise. Propulsion was by an oar astern, working as
+the propeller of a vessel works to-day. Practically Bushnell in one
+attempt to destroy a British war-ship in the Hudson River was able to
+get under the British frigate _Eagle_ without detection, but was unable
+to attach the mine which the boat carried.
+
+Fulton's inventive genius directed toward a submarine took tangible
+shape in 1800 when the French Government built the _Nautilus_ in
+accordance with his plans. Both France and the United States carried on
+experimental work with Fulton's designs, under his personal supervision,
+but there is no record of any marked achievement.
+
+The first submarine within the memory of men living to-day, the first
+practical, albeit crude, undersea boat, was the _H. L. Hunley_, built at
+Mobile, Ala., under the auspices of the Confederate Navy and brought
+from that port to Charleston on flat cars for the purpose of trying to
+break the blockade of that port by Federal war-ships. The _Hunley_ was
+about forty feet long, six in diameter, and shaped like a cigar. Its
+motive power came from seven men turning cranks attached to the
+propeller-shaft. When working their hardest these men could drive the
+boat at a speed of about four miles an hour.
+
+Several attempts to use the _Hunley_ were unsuccessful, each time it
+sank, drowning its crew of from eight to ten men. These experiments,
+which were carried on in shallow water at Charleston, mark one of the
+bright pages in our seafaring annals, as crew after crew went into the
+boat facing practically certain death to the end that the craft might be
+made effective. Each time the vessel sank she was raised, the dead crew
+taken out, and a new experiment with a new crew made. In all
+thirty-three men were sacrificed before it was finally decided that the
+boat could make her way out to the blockading line. It was on the night
+of February 17, 1864, that the _Hunley_ set out on her last journey. The
+vessel submerged, reached the side of the United States steamship
+_Housatonic_, and successfully exploded a mine against the hull of the
+Federal war-ship, sending her to the bottom.
+
+But in the explosion the submersible herself was sunk and all on board
+were lost. The commander of the expedition was Lieutenant George E.
+Dixon, of Alabama, who with his crew well appreciated their danger. It
+is supposed that the _Hunley_ was drawn down in the suction of the
+sinking war-ship; she could not arise from the vortex, and that was the
+last of her and of her brave crew. The North was tremendously excited
+over the incident and the South elated, but no other ship was attacked
+from beneath the water in the course of the war.
+
+Holland's boat, built in 1877, was the first to use a gas-engine as a
+propulsive medium, but it was not until the final adoption of the
+gas-engine for surface work, followed later by the internal-combustion
+gasoline-engine and the use of electric storage-battery for subsurface
+work, as well as the invention of the periscope and various other
+devices, that the submarine was developed to a present state of
+effectiveness, which sees it crossing the Atlantic from Germany,
+operating off our shores and returning to Germany without being obliged
+to put into port; which, also, sees it capable of navigating under water
+at a speed of from seven to nine knots, with torpedoes ready for use in
+the tubes and guns of effective caliber mounted on deck. It has, indeed,
+been asserted that the airplane and the submarine have relegated the
+battleship to the limbo of desuetude: but as to that the continued
+control of the seas by Great Britain with her immense battle-fleet,
+supplemented by our tremendous engines of war, certainly argues for no
+such theory. What the future may bring forth in the way of submarines,
+armored and of great size, no man may say. But at present the submarine,
+while tremendously effective, has not done away with the battleship as a
+mighty element in the theory of sea power.
+
+As to life on a submersible, let us construct from material which has
+come to us from various sources in the past three years a little story
+which will give a better knowledge of the workings of the German
+undersea boat than many pages of technical description would do. An
+undertaking of the sort will be the more valuable because we of the
+Allies are inclined to consider the submarine problem only in relation
+to our side of the case, whereas the fact is that the submarine operates
+under great difficulties and dangers, and in an ever-increasing degree
+leaves port never to be heard from again. We may, then, begin the
+following chapter with a scene in Kiel, Zeebrugge, or any German
+submarine base.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+On a German Submarine--Fight with a Destroyer--Periscope Hit--Record of
+the Submarine in this War--Dawning Failure of the Undersea Boat--Figures
+Issued by the British Admiralty--Proof of Decline--Our Navy's Part in
+this Achievement
+
+
+A first lieutenant with acting rank of commander takes the order in the
+gray dawn of a February day. The hulk of an old corvette with the Iron
+Cross of 1870 on her stubby foremast is his quarters in port, and on the
+corvette's deck he is presently saluted by his first engineer and the
+officer of the watch. On the pier the crew of the U-47-1/2 await him. At
+their feet the narrow gray submarine lies alongside, straining a little
+at her cables.
+
+"Well, we've got our orders at last," begins the commander, addressing
+his crew of thirty, and the crew look solemn. For this is the U-47-1/2's
+first experience of active service. She has done nothing save trial
+trips hitherto and has just been overhauled for her first fighting
+cruise. Her commander snaps out a number of orders. Provisions are to be
+taken "up to the neck." Fresh water is to be put aboard, and engine-room
+supplies to be supplemented.
+
+A mere plank is the gangway to the little vessel. As the commander,
+followed by his officers, comes aboard, a sailor hands to each of the
+officers a ball of cotton waste, the one article aboard a submarine
+which never leaves an officer's hands. For of all oily, grimy, greasy
+places the inside of the submarine is supreme. The steel walls, the
+doors, the companion-ladders all sweat oil, and the hands must be wiped
+dry at every touch. Through a narrow hole aft the commander descends by
+a straight iron ladder into a misty region whose only light comes from
+electric glow-lamps. The air reeks with the smell of oil. Here is the
+engine-room and, stifling as the atmosphere is with the hatches up, it
+is as nothing compared to what the men have to breathe when everything
+is hermetically sealed.
+
+Here are slung hammocks, where men of one engine-watch sleep while their
+comrades move about the humming, purring apartment, bumping the sleepers
+with their heads and elbows. But little things like that do not make for
+wakefulness on a submarine. The apartment or vault is about ten feet
+long; standing in the middle, a man by stretching out his arms may
+easily have his fingers in contact with the steel walls on either side.
+Overhead is a network of wires, while all about there is a maze of
+levers, throttles, wheels, and various mechanical appliances that are
+the dismay of all but the mind specially trained in submarine operation.
+
+The commander very minutely inspects everything; a flaw will mean a long
+sleep on the bottom, thirty men dead. Everything is tested. Then,
+satisfied, the commander creeps through a hole into the central
+control-station, where the chief engineer is at his post. The engineer
+is an extraordinary individual; the life of the boat and its
+effectiveness are in his care. There must be lightning repairs when
+anything goes wrong on an undersea craft, and in all respects the
+chief's touch must be that of a magician.
+
+Exchanging a word or two with the chief engineer, the commander
+continues his way to the torpedo-chamber where the deadly "silverfish,"
+as the Germans have named the hideous projectiles, lie. Perhaps he may
+stroke their gleaming backs lovingly; one may not account for the loves
+of a submarine commander. The second-in-command, in charge of the
+armament, joins him in the torpedo-room and receives final instructions
+regarding the torpedo and the stowing of other explosives. Forward is
+another narrow steel chamber, and next to it is a place like a cupboard
+where the cook has just room to stand in front of his doll-house
+galley-stove. It is an electric cooker, of course. Housewives who
+operate kitchenettes in Manhattan will appreciate the amount of room
+which the cook has. And, by the way, this being a German submarine, the
+oily odors, the smell of grease, and the like are complicated by an
+all-pervading smell of cabbage and coffee. Two little cabins, the size
+of a clothes-chest, accommodate the deck and engine-rooms officers--two
+in each. Then there is a little box-cabin for the commander.
+
+As the sun rises higher the commander goes into his cabin and soon after
+emerges on deck. His coat and trousers are of black leather lined with
+wool, a protection against oil, cold, and wet weather. The crew are at
+their stations.
+
+"Machines clear," comes a voice from the control-station.
+
+"Clear ship," comes the order from the bridge, followed by "Cast off."
+
+The cables hiss through the water and slap on the landing-stage; the
+sound of purring fills the submarine which glides slowly into open
+water. Into the bay comes another U-boat. Stories of her feat in sinking
+a steamship loaded with mutton for England has preceded her. There has
+been loss of life connected with that sinking, but this makes no
+difference to the Teutonic mind, and the officer of the U-47-1/2 shouts
+his congratulations.
+
+Now the submarine is out in the open sea, the waves are heavy and the
+vessel rolls uncomfortably. The craft, it may be remarked, is not the
+craft for a pleasant sea-voyage. The two officers hanging onto the rails
+turn their eyes seaward. The weather increases in severity. The officers
+are lashed to the bridge. There they must stay; while the boat plies the
+surface the bridge must not be left by the commander and his assistant.
+Sometimes they remain thus on duty two and three days. Food is carried
+to them and they eat it as they stand.
+
+It may be that the commander is trying to balance a plate of heavy
+German soup in his hand as a cry comes from a lookout.
+
+"Smoke on the horizon, off the port bow, sir."
+
+The commander withdraws from his food, shouts an order and an electric
+alarm sounds inside the hull. The ship buzzes with activity. The guns on
+deck are hastily housed. Bridge appurtenances are housed also, and
+sailors dive down through the deck-holes. The commander follows. Water
+begins to gurgle into the ballast-tanks while the crew seal every
+opening. Down goes the U-47-1/2 until only her periscope shows, a
+periscope painted sea-green and white--camouflaged. The eyes of the
+watch-officer are glued to the periscope.
+
+"She is a Dutchman, sir," he says at length. The commander steps to the
+periscope and takes a look. The Dutchman has no wireless and is bound
+for some continental port. It is not wise to sink every Dutch boat one
+meets--although German submarines have sunk a sufficient number of them,
+in all conscience. At all events, the steamship goes in peace and the
+submarine comes to the surface. The commander is glad, because electric
+power must be used when the vessel is moving under water and there must
+be no waste of this essential element.
+
+So the submarine proceeds on her way, wallowing and tumbling through the
+heavy graybacks of the North Sea. At length after fifty-four hours the
+necessity of sleep becomes apparent. The ballast-tanks are filled and
+the craft slowly descends to the sandy bottom of the sea. It is
+desirable that the crew go to sleep as quickly as possible, because when
+men are asleep they use less of the priceless supply of oxygen which is
+consumed when the boat is under water. However, the commander allows the
+men from half an hour to an hour for music and singing. The phonograph
+is turned on and there on the bottom of the North Sea the latest songs
+of Berlin are ground out while the crew sit about, perhaps joining in
+the choruses--they sang more in the early days of the war than they do
+to-day--while the officers sit around their mess-table and indulge in a
+few social words before they retire.
+
+In the morning water from the tanks is expelled and the boat rises to
+greet a smiling sea. Also to greet a grim destroyer. The war-ship sees
+her as she comes up from a distance of perhaps a mile away. All steam is
+crowded on while the leaden-gray fighter--the one craft that the
+submarine fears--makes for her prey. Sharp orders ring through the
+U-boat. The tanks are again filled, and while the commander storms and
+ejaculates, everything is made tight and the vessel sinks beneath the
+surface. The electric-motors are started and the submarine proceeds
+under water in a direction previously determined, reckoned in relation
+to the course of the approaching destroyer.
+
+Presently comes a dull explosion. The destroyer arriving over the spot
+where the undersea boat was last seen, has dropped a depth-bomb, which
+has exploded under the surface at a predetermined depth. The submarine
+commander grins. The bomb was too far away to do damage, although the
+craft has trembled under the shock. There comes another shock, this time
+not so palpable. Eventually all is quiet.
+
+For an hour the submarine proceeds blindly under water, and then
+cautiously her periscope is thrust above the surface. Nothing in sight.
+Orders sound through the vessel and she rises to the surface. She could
+have remained below, running under full headway, for six hours before
+coming to the surface. So the day goes on. Toward nightfall smoke again
+is seen on the horizon. It proves to be a large freighter ladened,
+apparently, with cattle. Two destroyers are frisking about her, crossing
+her bow, cutting around her stern. The steamship herself is zigzagging,
+rendering accurate calculations as to her course uncertain.
+
+By this time, of course, the submarine has submerged. The watch-officer
+and the commander stand by the periscope, watching the approaching
+craft. The periscope may not be left up too long; the watchers on the
+destroyers and on the deck of the vessel, which is armed, are likely to
+spy it at any time. So the periscope is alternately run down and run up.
+The submarine has moved so that the steamship will pass her so as to
+present a broadside. Up comes the periscope for one last look. The
+observer sees a puff of smoke from the deck of a destroyer and a quick
+splash of water obscures the view momentarily.
+
+"They have seen us and are firing."
+
+But the steamship is now within a mile, within fairly accurate torpedo
+range. An order rolls into the torpedo-room and the crew prepare for
+firing. In the meantime a shower of shells explode about the periscope.
+There comes a sudden vagueness on the glass into which the observer has
+been gazing.
+
+"The periscope has been hit."
+
+Thoughts of launching the torpedo vanish. Safety first is now the
+dominant emotion. Additional water flows into the tanks and the craft
+begins to settle. But as she does so there is a sudden flood of water
+into the control-room; a hoarse cry goes up from the crew. The officers
+draw their revolvers. Evidently the injured periscope has caused a leak.
+Before anything can be done there is a tremendous grinding, rending
+explosion; the thin steel walls contract under the force of the released
+energy. Above them the destroyer crew gazing eagerly at the geyser-like
+volume of water arising from the sea descry pieces of metal, dark
+objects of all sorts. The sea quiets and up from the depths arise clouds
+of oil, spreading slowly over the waves. The U-47-1/2 has joined many a
+nobler craft upon the wastes of subaqueous depths.
+
+But not always has the outcome of a submarine attack been so fortunate
+for us. There have been thousands of instances--many more of them in the
+past than at present, fortunately--where the U-boat returned to her base
+with a murderous story to tell. While it is certain that when the totals
+for the present year are compiled an engaging tale of reduced submarine
+effectiveness will be told; yet--as the British Government has
+announced--any effort to minimize what the submarine has done would work
+chiefly toward the slowing up of our ship-building and other activities
+designed to combat directly and indirectly the lethal activities of the
+submarine. And from a naval standpoint it is also essential that the
+effectiveness of the undersea craft be fully understood.
+
+It was on January 31, 1917, that the German Government suddenly cast
+aside its peace overtures and astonished the world by presenting to the
+United States Government a note to the effect that from February 1 sea
+traffic would be stopped with every available weapon and without further
+notice in certain specified zones. The decree applied to both enemy and
+neutral vessels, although the United States was to be permitted to sail
+one steamship a week in each direction, using Falmouth as the port of
+arrival and departure. On February 3 President Wilson appeared before
+Congress and announced that he had severed diplomatic relations with
+Germany on the ground that the imperial government had deliberately
+withdrawn its solemn assurances in regard to its method of conducting
+warfare against merchant vessels. Two months later, April 6, as already
+noted, Congress declared that a state of war with Germany existed.
+
+The German people were led to believe that an aggregate of 1,000,000
+tons of shipping would be destroyed each month and that the wastage
+would bring England to her knees in six months and lead to peace. The
+six months went by, but the promises of the German Government were not
+fulfilled. Instead the submarine war brought the United States into the
+struggle and this, in the words of Philipp Scheidemann, leader of the
+German majority Socialists, has been "the most noticeable result."
+
+None the less, the submarine, used ruthlessly, without restrictions,
+proved itself to be an unrivalled weapon of destruction, difficult to
+combat by reason of its ability to stalk and surprise its quarry, while
+remaining to all intents and purposes invisible. It has taken heavy toll
+of ships and men, and has caused privation among the peoples of the
+Entente nations; it is still unconquered, but month by month of the
+present year its destructiveness has been impaired until now there may
+be little doubt that the number of submarines destroyed every month
+exceeds the number of new submarines built, while the production of ship
+tonnage in England and the United States greatly outweighs the losses.
+In other words, the submarine, as an element in the settling of the war
+in a manner favorable to Germany, has steadily lost influence, and,
+while it is not now a negligible factor, it is, at least, a minor one
+and growing more so.
+
+Secret figures of the British Admiralty on submarine losses and world
+ship-building issued in March, 1918, show that from the outbreak of war,
+in August, 1914, to the end of 1917, the loss was 11,827,080 tons.
+Adding the losses up to April of the present year--when the submarine
+sinkings began to show a markedly decreased ratio--and we get a total of
+13,252,692 tons. The world's tonnage construction in the four years
+1914-17 was 6,809,080 tons. The new construction in England and the
+United States for the first quarter of 1918 was 687,221 tons, giving a
+total from the beginning of the war to April 1 of 1918, 7,750,000 tons
+built outside of the Central Powers since the beginning of the war, with
+a final deficit of about 5,500,000 tons. Of this deficit the year 1917
+alone accounted for 3,716,000 tons.
+
+[Illustration: _From a photograph copyright by Enrique Midler_. A U. S.
+SUBMARINE AT FULL SPEED ON THE SURFACE OF THE WATER.]
+
+From the last quarter of 1917, however, the margin between construction
+and loss has been narrowing steadily. In the first quarter of 1918 the
+construction in Great Britain and America alone was over 687,000 tons
+and the losses for the whole world were 1,123,510 tons. Here is a
+deficit for three months--the first three months of the present year--of
+436,000 tons, or an annual average of 1,750,000 tons, which is a deficit
+one-half less than that of the black year of 1917. When figures at the
+end of the present year are revealed we may find that we have reckoned
+too little upon the ship-building activity of both England and the
+United States, in which event the deficit may prove to be even less. But
+in any event the dry figures as set forth are worth perusal inasmuch as
+they point not only to the deadly effectiveness of the submarine in the
+first year of unrestricted activity, but show how valiantly the Allied
+sea power has dealt with a seemingly hopeless situation in the present
+year.
+
+In the House of Commons not long ago a definite statement that the trend
+of the submarine war was favorable to the Allies was made. The one
+specific item given was that from January 1 to April 30, 1917, the
+number of unsuccessful attacks upon British steamships was 172, a weekly
+average of 10. Last year in the ten weeks from the end of February to
+the end of April there were 175 unsuccessful attacks, or a weekly
+average of 18. This statement was not exactly illuminating. For of
+itself a decline in the weekly number of unsuccessful attacks would
+imply an increase in the effectiveness of the U-boat--which we know is
+not so. What the House of Commons statement really meant, of course, was
+that the number of _successful_ attacks had been declining as well as
+the number of unsuccessful attacks--or, in other words, that the German
+sea effort as a whole was declining. The U-boats are not hitting out as
+freely as they did a year ago. This argues that there are fewer of them
+than there were in 1917. For actual tonnage losses we have the word of
+the French Minister of Marine that the sinkings for April, 1918, were
+268,000 tons, whereas in April of the previous year they were 800,000
+tons, an appalling total.
+
+"The most conclusive evidence we have seen of the failure of the enemy's
+submarine campaign is the huge American army now in France, and the
+hundreds of thousands of tons of stores brought across the Atlantic,"
+said James Wilson, chairman of the American labor delegation, upon his
+return to England last May from a visit to France and to the American
+army. "Less than twelve months have passed since General Pershing
+arrived in France with 50 men. The developments that have taken place
+since seem little short of miraculous."
+
+Georges Leygues, Minister of Marine of France, in testifying before the
+Chamber of Deputies in May said that in November of 1917 losses through
+the submarine fell below 400,000 tons, and since has diminished
+continuously. He said that the number of submarines destroyed had
+increased progressively since January of the present year in such
+proportion that the effectiveness of enemy squadrons cannot be
+maintained at the minimum required by the German Government. The number
+of U-boats destroyed in January, February, and March was far greater in
+each month than the number constructed in those months. In February and
+April the number of submarines destroyed was three less than the total
+destroyed in the previous three months. These results, the minister
+declared, were due to the methodical character of the war against
+submarines, to the close co-ordination of the Allied navies; to the
+intrepidity and spirit animating the officers and crews of the naval and
+aerial squadrons, to the intensification of the use of old methods and
+to the employment of new ones.
+
+We may lay to ourselves the unction that the reduced effectiveness of
+the submarine coincided with the entrance of our naval forces into the
+war. This is taking nothing from the French, British, and Italian
+navies; as a matter of truth, it would be gross injustice to ignore the
+fact that the large share of the great task has been handled through the
+immense resources of the British. But the co-ordinated effort which
+began with the arrival of our vessels on the other side, the utter
+freedom with which Secretary Daniels placed our resources at the service
+of the British was inspiring in its moral influences throughout the
+Entente nations, while practically there may be no doubt that our craft
+have played their fair share in the activities that have seen the steady
+decline of deadliness on the part of the U-boat. We may now consider the
+methods which our navy in collaboration with Allied sea power have
+employed in this combat for the freedom of the seas.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+How the Submarine is being Fought--Destroyers the Great Menace--But
+Nets, Too, Have Played Their Part--Many Other Devices--German Officers
+Tell of Experience on a Submarine Caught in a Net--Chasers Play Their
+Part--The Depth-Bomb--Trawler Tricks--A Camouflaged Schooner Which
+Turned Out To Be a Tartar--Airplanes--German Submarine Men in Playful
+Mood
+
+
+When the submarines first began their attacks upon British war-ships and
+merchant vessels the admiralty was faced by a state of affairs which had
+been dealt with more or less in the abstract, the only practical lessons
+at hand being those of the Russo-Japanese War, which conflict, as a
+matter of fact, left rather an unbalanced showing so far as the undersea
+boat and the surface craft were concerned; in other words, the
+submersible had by all odds the advantage.
+
+But England tackled the problem with bulldog energy, utilizing to that
+end not only her immense destroyer fleet, but a myriad of high-speed
+wooden boats, many of which were built in this country. They were called
+submarine-chasers, and while the destroyer and the seaplane, as one of
+the most effective weapons against the submarine, came to the fore, the
+chaser is employed in large numbers by England, France, and the United
+States.
+
+The great usefulness of the destroyer lay not only in patrolling the
+seas in search of the U-boats, but of serving in convoys, protecting
+passenger and freight vessels, and in rescuing crews of vessels that had
+been sunk. There may be other methods of reducing Germany's sum total of
+submarines which are equally--if not more--effective than the destroyer;
+but, if so, we have not been made aware of that fact. Certain it is,
+however, that aside from the destroyer, steel nets, fake fishing and
+merchant sailing vessels, seaplanes and chasers have played their
+important part in the fight, while such a minor expedient as blinding
+the eye of the periscope by oil spread on the waters has not been
+without avail.
+
+The United States Navy appears to have figured chiefly through its
+destroyer fleet. It has been stated that half the number of sailors who
+were in the navy when we entered the war were sent to European waters.
+The system of training them involves a number of training-bases in
+Europe constantly filling up from American drafts. Each new destroyer
+that steams to Europe from our shores in due course sends back some of
+her men to form a nucleus for the crew of another new destroyer turning
+up in American waters. Their places are taken by drafts from the
+training-bases in Europe. The destroyer referred to as turning up in
+this country makes up her complement from the battleships and other
+naval units here. The training-bases in this country are established at
+Newport, Chicago, San Francisco, and Pelham Bay, N.Y. Here the men have
+many months' instruction. As their training approaches completion they
+are sent where needed, and thus the work of creating an immense army of
+trained seamen qualified for any sort of a task proceeds with mechanical
+precision.
+
+Submarine hunting is very popular with our young jackies, and great is
+their satisfaction when some submarine falls victim to their vigilance,
+their courage, and their unerring eyes.
+
+"But," said a young sea officer not long ago, "the submarine is a
+difficult bird to catch. He holds the advantage over the surface craft.
+He always sees you first. Even when he is on the surface he is nearly
+awash, and when submerged only his periscope appears above the water.
+The submarine is not after animals of our breed--destroyers--and when he
+can he avoids them. We may go several weeks without putting an eye upon
+a single U-boat. When we do there is action, I can tell you. We start
+for him at full speed, opening up with all our guns in the hope of
+getting in a shot before he is able to submerge. But you may believe he
+doesn't take long to get below the surface. Anyway, the sub doesn't mind
+gun-fire much. They are afraid of depth charges--bombs which are
+regulated so that they will explode at any depth we wish. They contain
+two or three hundred pounds of high explosive, and all patrol vessels
+and destroyers carry them on deck and astern. When we see a submarine
+submerge we try to find his wake. Finding it, we run over it and drop a
+bomb. The explosion can be felt under water for a distance of several
+miles, but we have to get within ninety feet of the hull to damage it.
+This damage may or may not cause the undersea boat to sink. Inside of
+ninety feet, though, there isn't much doubt about the sinking.
+
+"Patrol duty is a grind. The sea where we work is filled with wreckage
+for a distance of 300 miles off shore, and you can take almost any
+floating object for a periscope. Yes, we shoot at everything; ours is
+not a business in which to take chances. Convoy work is more interesting
+and more exciting than the round of patrol. The advantage of the convoy
+over the picking up and escorting of a merchantman by a patrol-boat is
+that in the convoy from six to ten destroyers can protect from ten to
+thirty merchantmen, while under the patrol system one destroyer watches
+one merchant craft. Convoy trips take our destroyers away from their
+base from six to eight days, and they are all trying days, especially so
+in dirty weather. On convoy duty no officer, and no man, has his clothes
+off from start to finish. Too many things may happen to warrant any sort
+of unpreparedness. Constant readiness is the watch-word.
+
+"At night difficulty and danger increase, chiefly because of the
+increased danger of collision. Collisions sometimes occur--what with the
+absence of lights, the zigzag course of the ships of the convoy, and the
+speed with which we travel. But as a rule the accidents are of the
+scraping variety, and all thus is usually well. The convoy is purely a
+defensive measure. The patrol is the offensive; in this the destroyers
+and other craft go out and look for the U-boats, the idea being to hound
+them out of the seas."
+
+Then there are netting operations in which our sailors have played some
+part. The netting most often used is made of stout galvanized wire with
+a 15-foot mesh. This is cut into lengths of 170 feet, with a depth of 45
+feet. On top of this great net are lashed immense blocks of wood for
+buoys. Two oil-burning destroyers take the netting, and hanging it
+between them as deep down in the water as it will go, are ready to seine
+the 'silverfish.' The range of a submarine's periscope is little over a
+mile in any sort of sea. Vessels that are belching clouds of smoke may
+be picked up at distances of from three to five miles, but no more. In
+other words, watchful eyes gazing through binoculars may see a periscope
+as far as that periscope sees. The destroyers, bearing their net between
+them, then pick up a distant periscope. They chart the submarine's
+direction (this may be told by the direction in which the periscope is
+cutting the water) and calculate her speed. Then they steam to a point
+directly ahead of the submarine, and the lashings are cut away from the
+net. While it thus floats in the submarine's path the destroyers speed
+away out of eye-shot. In a large majority of cases it is claimed the
+submarine runs into that net, or one like it. Results are a probable
+disarrangement of her machinery and her balance upset. She may be thrown
+over on her back. If she comes up she goes down again for good and all
+with a hole shot in her hull; if not, it is just as well, a shell has
+been saved.
+
+Submarines occasionally escape by changing their course after the nets
+have been set; but there appears to have been no instance of the
+destroyers themselves having been picked up by the periscope. This
+because they set pretty nearly as low as a submarine, and with their
+oil-burning propulsion give forth no telltale cloud of smoke. Other nets
+are hung from hollow glass balls, which the periscope cannot pick up
+against the sea water. These nets are set in profusion in the English
+Channel, the North Sea, or wherever submarines lurk, and they are tended
+just as the North River shad fishermen tend their nets. When a
+destroyer, making the rounds, sees that a glass ball has disappeared,
+there is more than presumptive evidence that something very valuable has
+been netted.
+
+Naval Lieutenant Weddingen, of the German submarine U-17, has related
+the following experience with the British net system. The U-17 had left
+her base early in the morning and had passed into the North Sea, the
+boat being under water with periscope awash. "I looked through the
+periscope," said Weddingen, "and could see a red buoy behind my boat.
+When, ten minutes later, I looked I saw the buoy again, still at the
+same distance behind us. I steered to the right and then to the left,
+but the buoy kept on following us. I descended deeply into the water,
+but still saw the buoy floating on the surface above us. At last I
+discovered that we had caught the chain of the buoy and that we were
+dragging it along with us.
+
+"At the same time, also, I saw through the periscope that a strange
+small steamer was steering a course directly behind us and the buoy. At
+this time my sounding apparatus indicated that a screw steamer was in
+the vicinity. Observation revealed that five enemy torpedo-boats were
+approaching from the north. I increased the speed of the boat in the
+expectation of being able to attack one of them. The five torpedo-boats
+arranged themselves in a circle. I sank still deeper and got ready for
+eventualities.
+
+"At this juncture my boat began to roll in a most incomprehensible
+manner. We began to rise and sink alternately. The steering-gear
+apparently was out of order. Soon afterward I discovered that we had
+encountered a wire netting and were hopelessly entangled in it. We had,
+in fact, got into the net of one of the hunters surrounding us.
+
+"For an hour and a half the netting carried us with it, and although I
+made every effort to get clear of it, it seemed impossible. There was
+nothing to do but increase the weight in the submarine as much as
+possible so that I might try to break the netting. Fortunately, when we
+had started I had pumped in from five to six tons of water, filling all
+the tanks. I increased the weight of the boat to the utmost, and
+suddenly we felt a shock and were clear of the netting. I then descended
+as deeply in the water as I could, the manometer showing thirty metres.
+We remained under water for eighteen hours. When I wanted to ascertain
+where we were I noticed that my compass was out of order. For a time I
+steered by the green color of the water, but at last I had to get rid of
+the ballast in order to rise. I then discovered that the manometer
+continued to register the same depth, and was also out of order.
+
+"I had, therefore, to be very careful not to rise too high and thus
+attract the attention of the torpedo-boats. Slowly the periscope rose
+above the surface, and I could see the enemy in front of me, and toward
+the left the east coast of England. I tried to turn to starboard, but
+the rudder did not work. In consequence, I had to sink again to the
+bottom of the sea, where I remained for six hours, at the end of which
+time I had succeeded in putting the compass in order, and also in
+repairing the steering-gear. But upon rising this time, we were detected
+by a torpedo-boat, which made straight for us, forcing me to descend
+again." (This apparently was before depth-bombs came into use.) "I
+remained submerged for two hours, then turned slowly outward, and at a
+distance of some fifty metres from the leading enemy craft, passed
+toward the open sea. At 9 o'clock in the evening we were able to rise
+and proceed in safety."
+
+Here is a human document, is it not? It is the experience of the tarpon
+at the undersea end of the line, or, in human terms, the hidden drama of
+man against man, drama of the sort made possible by the ingenuity of
+this modern age.
+
+Submarine-chasers are shallow craft, capable of a speed of thirty-five
+miles an hour or more, mounting guns fore and aft. Some of our chasers
+measure more than 200 feet over all (_Eagle_ class), while others
+measure 110 feet. The British, as already said, like the 80-footer,
+although using all sizes. Well, in any event, the chaser cruises about
+looking for surface waves. Now, the surface wave is the path marked by a
+submarine on the surface of the water. Even when she is fifty feet below
+the surface she leaves this palpable pathway up above. And few
+submarines travel at a depth of sixty feet. Then besides this track
+there are air-bubbles and spots of oil, all confirming the presence
+beneath the water of the U-boat.
+
+So thereafter the chaser simply follows that surface wave until the
+submarine comes to the surface, as she must do sooner or later to get
+her bearings and look about for prey. When she does come up--she goes
+down for good. The hunt of the chaser has been aided in the past year or
+so by the depth-bomb, which did not exist in the first two and a half
+years of war. Equipped with this, she need not necessarily follow a
+surface wave all day; she simply drops the bomb down through this wave;
+at least she does under certain conditions.
+
+[Illustration: _From a photograph by Brown Brothers_. A
+SUBMARINE-CHASER.]
+
+[Illustration; _From a photograph by Brown Brothers_. A
+TORPEDO-DESTROYER.]
+
+This depth-bomb, by the way, is a wonderful invention, and with its
+perfection began the great decrease in submarine losses. The bomb is
+cylindrical and has in the top a well in which is fitted a small
+propeller. As the water comes in contact with the propeller the sinking
+motion causes it to revolve. As it revolves it screws down a detonator
+which comes in contact with the charge at ten, fifteen, twenty, or forty
+or more feet as designated by the hand of an indicator on the bomb. The
+hand of this indicator is, of course, set by the officer before the bomb
+is released either from a gun or from tracks along the deck.
+
+Then there have been a number of tricks; some of them Yankee tricks,
+some of them the creatures of the equally fruitful British tar. One day
+in the North Sea a British patrol-vessel came across a trawler. It
+resembled the ordinary British trawler, but there were points of
+difference, points that interested the inquisitive--and
+suspicious--commander of the war-vessel. Chiefly there were a lot of
+stores upon her deck. She flew the Norwegian flag, and her skipper said
+he was neutral. But the British commander decided to take a chance. He
+arrested the crew, placed them in irons, and manned the trawler with a
+crew of French and English navy men.
+
+The trawler hovered about in the same locality for three days, and then
+one morning, lo and behold, a periscope popped up close alongside.
+Seeing the waters clear of enemy ships, the U-boat came to the surface
+and frisked blithely up to the trawler. She was greeted by a shower of
+machine-gun bullets, and surrendered without ado. There was really
+nothing else for the surprised skipper to do. For when he had last seen
+that trawler she was the parent ship of the submarine flotilla operating
+in that vicinity. In all, before the week was over, that trawler had
+captured six submarines without the loss of a life, and no one injured.
+
+Thereafter the parent-ship trawler was seized whenever the British could
+capture one, and the same expedient was tried. But after a time the
+Germans became wary of approaching parent-ships until they were
+convinced that their parenthood was more real than assumed.
+
+Then one day after the Americans arrived a three-masted schooner was
+commandeered. They put a deck-load of lumber on her; at least it was an
+apparent deck-load. It was really a mask for a broadside of 3-pounder
+guns, different sections of the deck-load swinging open to admit of free
+play of the guns, as levers were pulled.
+
+The schooner, commanded by a Maine skipper and his crew, was turned
+loose in the North Sea. Astern towed a dingy; from the taffrail flew the
+American flag. Before long out popped a submarine. Aha! A lumber-laden
+vessel--American! The German commander, grinning broadly, stepped into a
+gig with a bombing crew; torpedoes were not wasted on sailing-vessels.
+
+"Get into your dingy," he cried, motioning toward the craft dangling
+astern.
+
+The Maine skipper, in his red underclothes, besought, and then
+cursed--while the German grinned the more broadly. Finally, however, the
+irate--sic--skipper and his crew of five clambered into their dingy as
+ordered by the commander of the submarine. And then! No sooner had the
+schooner crew cleared the wind-jammer than the deck-load of lumber
+resolved itself into a series of doors, and out of each door protruded a
+gun. It was the last of that submarine, of course. The schooner got five
+submarines before another submarine happened to witness the destruction
+of a companion craft.
+
+Next day when the schooner approached a submarine the undersea boat let
+drive with a torpedo, and the joyous days of that particular wind-jammer
+were at an end. But thereafter the Germans seldom tried to bomb a
+sailing craft.
+
+Airplanes have played their important part in the work of our navy in
+combating the submarine. Seaplanes are sent on patrol from regular bases
+or from the deck of a parent-vessel, a steamship of large size. Flying
+at a height of 10,000 feet, an airplane operator can see the shadow of a
+submarine proceeding beneath the surface. Thus viewing his prey, the
+aviator descends and drops a depth-bomb into the water. Our airmen have
+already won great commendation from the British Admiralty and aerial
+commanders. Whatever may have been the delays in airplane production in
+this country, the American Navy has not been at fault, and Secretary
+Daniels's young men went into British seaplanes when American planes
+were not at hand. From British Admiralty sources have come many tales of
+the skill and courage of the American aviators. There was one recent
+instance noted of an American pilot scouting for submarines who spotted
+a periscope. He dropped a bomb a few feet astern and a few feet ahead of
+that periscope, both bombs falling perfectly in line with the objective.
+He circled and then dropped a bomb in the centre of a disturbance in the
+water. Up came oil in great quantities.
+
+Another American pilot managed the rare feat of dropping a bomb
+precisely upon the centre of the deck of a submarine, and had the
+unhappy experience of seeing it fail to explode--as recently happened in
+the submarine fight off Cape Cod, near Chatham.
+
+In hunting for the submarines the American destroyers have patrolled an
+area as wide as that bounded roughly by the great V formed by New York,
+Detroit, and Knoxville, Tenn. And while patrolling they have become
+skilled in the use of the depth charges, in establishing smoke screens
+so as to hide vessels of a convoy from the periscope eye, and in
+marksmanship. One gun crew not long ago saw the spar of a sunken ship
+which they at first took to be a periscope. They shattered that spar at
+a distance of 2,000 yards--more than a mile.
+
+Filled with the enthusiasm of each new encounter with the enemy, the
+Americans have not been slow to build upon their experience, devising
+more effective methods against the next affray. For example, two
+officers working on designs for new destroyers have introduced many new
+ideas gained from their experiences in submarine-hunting. Suggestions
+relating to improved gun-fire and the like are always arising from the
+men of the fleet, and often they are accepted and applied.
+
+A new appliance--I don't know by whom invented--is an improved
+microphone, by which the revolutions of a propeller are not only heard,
+but the direction also is indicated, while the force of the under-water
+sound-waves are translated on an indicator in terms of proximity. The
+great drawback to this is that the submarines are also equipped with
+microphones of the sort--or at least are said to be.
+
+It is usually a grim business on both sides; but occasionally a bit of
+humor comes out of the seas. A case in point was the message received
+almost every night by an American destroyer in European waters. The
+radiogram said:
+
+"My position is ---- degrees north, and ---- degrees west. Come and get
+me; I am waiting for you."
+
+"HANS ROSE."
+
+Now Hans Rose was the name of the German submarine commander who visited
+Newport, October, 1917, as we have already narrated. Twice the destroyer
+proceeded swiftly to the location, but never did Hans Rose keep his
+appointment. If he had the American sailors would not have given Captain
+Rose's crew beer upon that occasion, as they did when Rose and his
+U-boat dropped into Newport harbor.
+
+Then there is a submarine commander known throughout the American
+flotilla as "Kelly." He commands a mine-laying submarine, which pays
+frequent visits to the district patrolled by the American destroyers.
+When he has finished his task of distributing his mines where they will
+do the most harm, he generally devotes a few minutes to a prank of some
+sort. Sometimes, it is a note flying from a buoy, scribbled in schoolboy
+English, and addressed to his American enemy. On other occasions Kelly
+and his men leave the submarine and saunter along a desolate stretch of
+Irish shore-line, always leaving behind them a placard or other memento
+of their visit.
+
+But the most hazardous exploit, according to gossip of American
+forecastles, was a visit which Kelly made to Dublin, remaining, it is
+said, for two days at one of the principal hotels, and later rejoining
+his boat somewhere on the west coast.
+
+His latest feat was to visit an Irish village and plant the German flag
+on a rise of land above the town. One may imagine how the Irish
+fisherfolk, who have suffered from mines, treated this flag and how
+ardently they wished that flag were the body of Kelly.
+
+But Kelly and his less humorously inclined commanders have been having a
+diminishing stock of enjoyment at the expense of the Allied navies in
+the past year. Senator Swanson, acting chairman of the Naval Committee
+in Congress, said on June 6, after a conference with Secretary Daniels
+and his assistants, that the naval forces of the Entente Powers had
+destroyed 60 per cent of all German submarines constructed, and that
+they had cut the shipping losses in half. Lloyd George in his great
+speech last July, said that 150 submarines had been sunk since war began
+and of this number 75 were sunk in the past 12 months. Truly an
+extraordinary showing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+Perils and Triumphs of Submarine-Hunting--The Loss of our First
+War-Ship, The Converted Gunboat "Alcedo"--Bravery of Crew--"Cassin"
+Struck by Torpedo, But Remains in the Fight--Loss of the "Jacob
+Jones"--Sinking of the "San Diego"--Destroyers "Nicholson" and "Fanning"
+Capture a Submarine, Which Sinks--Crew of Germans Brought Into Port--The
+Policy of Silence in Regard to Submarine-Sinkings
+
+
+But as in the pursuit of dangerous game there is always liable to be two
+angles to any experience--or say, rather, a reverse angle, such as the
+hunted turning hunter--so in the matter of our fight against the
+submarine there are instances--not many, happily--where the U-boat has
+been able to deal its deadly blow first.
+
+The first of our war-ships to be sunk by a submarine was the naval
+patrol gun-boat _Alcedo_, which was torpedoed shortly before 2 o'clock
+on the morning of November 5, 1917, almost exactly seven months after we
+entered the war. She was formerly G. W. Childs Drexel's yacht _Alcedo_,
+and Anthony J. Drexel Paul, an officer in the Naval Reserve, was on her
+at the time. The vessel was the flag-ship of one of the
+patrol-flotillas, and for months had performed splendid service in the
+North Sea.
+
+The torpedo that sunk the vessel came without warning, and so true was
+the aim that the war-ship went down in four minutes, carrying with her
+one officer and twenty of the crew. Commander William T. Conn, U.S.N.,
+who commanded the vessel, in telling later of the experience, paid a
+high testimonial to the coolness and bravery of the crew. Eighty per
+cent of the men were reserves, but regulars could have left no better
+record of courage and precision.
+
+"Here," said Commander Conn, "is a story that indicates the kind of men
+we have in the navy. I had a young lad in my crew, a yeoman, and one day
+I sent for him and told him that if we were ever torpedoed he was to
+save the muster-roll, so that when it was all over it would be possible
+to check up and find who had been saved. Well, the _Alcedo_ was
+torpedoed at 2 o'clock one morning, and in four minutes she disappeared
+forever. Hours afterward, when we were waiting to be picked up, I saw my
+yeoman, and I said:
+
+"'Son, where is my muster-roll?'
+
+"'Here it is,' he replied, as he reached inside his shirt and pulled it
+out.... And that same boy, in the terrible minutes that followed the
+loss of our ship, found a broken buoy. He was holding on to it when he
+saw one of our hospital stewards, who was about to give in. He struggled
+to the side of the steward and with one hand held him above the water
+while with the other he clung to the buoy. He held on until both were
+saved."
+
+While the _Alcedo_ was the first war-vessel to be sunk by a submarine,
+the first war-ship to be stricken in torpedo attack was the destroyer
+_Cassin_, one of the vessels that raced out of Newport to rescue the
+victims of the ravages of the German U-boat off Nantucket, in October,
+1916. The _Cassin_ was on patrol duty and had sighted a submarine about
+four miles away. The destroyer, in accordance with custom, headed for
+the spot, and had about reached it when the skipper, Commander Walter H.
+Vernon, sighted a torpedo running at high speed near the surface, and
+about 400 yards away. The missile was headed straight for the midship
+section of the war-ship. Realizing the situation, the commanding officer
+rang for the emergency full speed ahead on both engines, put the rudder
+hard over, and was just clear of the torpedo's course when it broached
+on the water, turned sharply and headed for the stern of the vessel.
+Here stood Osmond Kelly Ingram, gunner's mate, at his gun. He saw that
+if the torpedo struck at the stern it would, aside from working initial
+damage, cause the explosion of munitions stored on the after deck.
+
+Thereupon, knowing that the torpedo was going to strike about where he
+stood, he ran to the pile of munitions and tumbled them into the sea.
+The explosion occurred as he was at work, and he was blown into the
+ocean and lost. But he had not died in vain, for the secondary explosion
+that he feared was averted by his act of supreme sacrifice.
+
+Fortunately, only one engine was disabled by the explosion, and the
+destroyer was thus permitted to remain under way. She zigzagged to and
+fro, hoping to get a chance at her assailant, and in about an hour the
+German submarine commander decided that it was a good time to come to
+the surface for a better look at the destroyer. As the conning-tower
+came into view the _Cassin's_ gunners delivered four shots, two of which
+fell so close to the U-boat that she submerged and was not seen again.
+In the meantime the crew, with splendid team-work, set about repairing
+the damage and attending to the five men who were wounded, none
+seriously.
+
+After a while British war-ships came up and the _Cassin_ returned to
+port. Admiral Sims mentioned Commander Vernon and his officers in
+despatches to Secretary Daniels, and more than a score of the seamen
+were cited for coolness and efficiency.
+
+Our second war-ship definitely known to be sunk by the German submarines
+was the destroyer _Jacob Jones_, which was struck at 4.12 o'clock on the
+afternoon of December 6, last. The destroyer was on patrol, and nothing
+was known of the proximity of the submarine until the torpedo hit the
+vessel. The _Jacob Jones_, which was commanded by Lieutenant-Commander
+David Worth Bagley, a brother-in-law of Secretary Daniels and brother of
+Ensign Worth Bagley, who was killed on the torpedo-boat _Winslow_ in the
+fight at Cardenas in the Spanish-American War, went down in seventeen
+minutes after she was struck. Gunner Harry R. Hood was killed by the
+explosion, but the remainder of the company got safely overside in rafts
+and boats. The submarine appeared after the sinking and took one of the
+survivors aboard as a prisoner. Lieutenant-Commander Bagley, with five
+others, landed in a small boat on the Scilly Islands while other
+survivors reached shore in various ways. The _Jacob Jones_ was regarded
+by superstitious navy men as something of a Jonah, she having figured in
+one or two incidents involving German spies while in this country.
+
+The first and to date the only American war-ship lost in American waters
+as a result of submarine attack was the armored cruiser _San
+Diego_--formerly the _California_--which was sunk by a mine off Point o'
+Woods on the Long Island coast on the morning of July 19, 1918. Facts
+associated with the disaster, involving the loss of some fifty lives,
+are illuminated with the light of supreme heroism, gallantry, and utter
+devotion. In no single instance was there failure on the part of
+officers or crew to meet the unexpected test in a manner quite in
+accordance with the most glorious annals of the United States Navy.
+
+Point will perhaps be given to this if we picture Captain Harley H.
+Christie pushing his way about the welter of wreckage in a barrel,
+reorganizing some 800 of his men, who were floating about on every
+conceivable sort of object, into the disciplined unit that they had
+comprised before they were ordered overside to take their chances in the
+ocean. Or again, taking the enlisted-man aspect of the situation, there
+was the full-throated query of a husky seaman, clinging to a hatch as
+the _San Diego_ disappeared:
+
+"Where's the captain?"
+
+Then a chorus of voices from the water:
+
+"There he is! See his old bald head! God bless it! Three cheers for the
+skip!"
+
+There they all were, some 800 men, survivors of a company numbering
+thirteen-odd hundred, in the water, out of sight of land, not a ship in
+sight--and twelve life-boats among them, cheering, singing, exchanging
+badinage and words of good hope.
+
+The _San Diego_, which was one of the crack shooting-ships of the navy,
+and had made seven round trips to France in convoy work without ever
+having seen a submarine, was on her way from the Portsmouth, N.H.,
+navy-yard, where she had been completely overhauled in dry-dock and
+coaled, to New York, where her crew were to have had short liberty,
+preliminary to another voyage to France. She carried a heavy deck-load
+of lumber which she was to take to France for the Marine Corps. She had
+in her bunkers some 3,000 tons of coal.
+
+On the morning of July 19, the cruiser, shortly after 11 o'clock, had
+reached a point about seven miles southeast of Point o' Woods. The sun
+was shining brilliantly, but the coast-line was veiled in a heavy haze.
+There was a fair ground-swell running, but no sea. The _San Diego_ was
+ploughing along at a fifteen-knot clip, not pursuing the zigzag course
+which it is customary for vessels to follow in enemy-infested waters.
+
+No submarine warning had been issued, and, as the vessel was only seven
+miles offshore, there may be no doubt that the officers of the war-ship
+did not consider the trip as any more hazardous than the hundreds of
+journeys she had made along our coast from port to port. The crew were
+engaged in the usual routine, with the added labor of getting the vessel
+ship-shape after the grimy operation of coaling at Portsmouth. The
+explosion came without warning at 11.15 o'clock. It was extremely heavy,
+accompanied by a rending and grinding of metal and by the explosion of
+the after-powder magazine, which destroyed the quarter-deck and sent the
+mainmast, with wireless attached, crashing overboard. The torpedo, or
+whatever it was, wrecked the engine-room, demolished the boilers, and
+put the electric dynamos out of order.
+
+The thunderous explosion was followed immediately by the insistent whine
+of bugles and the clanging of alarm-bells, calling the crew to
+battle-stations. And the crew went quietly, without the slightest
+disorder. Down in the bunkers, four decks below, was an officer, with a
+party of seamen, setting things to rights after the coaling. As the
+explosion occurred and the vessel heeled, these men, as though
+instinctively, formed into a line, and then without excitement or hurry
+climbed the four upright steel ladders to the deck, the officer, of
+course, following last of all.
+
+On deck the 6-inch starboard and port batteries were blazing away, not
+only at objects that might turn out to be periscopes or submarines, but
+in order to call assistance; for the wireless was out of commission, and
+there was not a sail or a hull in sight.
+
+After a few minutes, the bugles sounded the order "Prepare to abandon
+ship." This applied to every one but the gun crews, who had to remain at
+their stations for at least five minutes after the process of
+abandonment was put into operation. The post of one of the gun-crew
+officers was in the fighting-top of the basket-mast forward, his duty
+being that of spotter of his crew. As he hurried along the deck to his
+station the crew lined up along the port rail with life-preservers and
+were jumping into the sea as ordered.
+
+There were comrades who had been killed or maimed by the shifting
+deck-load of lumber; there were comrades who, in jumping into the sea,
+had struck their heads against the steel hull, breaking their necks, and
+yet there the rest stood in line, waiting for the orders that would send
+them overboard.
+
+"Isn't this a crime," laughed one of the seamen, "just after I had got
+on my liberty blues and was all set for the high spots in New York!"
+
+"Gripes! My cigarettes are all wet! Who's got a dry one?"
+
+"Look out there, kid; be careful you don't get your feet wet."
+
+Twelve life-boats were overside, set adrift in the usual manner to be
+filled after the men were in the water. Then, of course, the sea was
+littered with lumber and all sorts of debris which would keep a man
+afloat.
+
+While the abandonment of the ship was under way, the officer who had
+been in the bunkers, and whose station was in the fighting-top, hurried
+upward to his post. The port guns were still being served, but their
+muzzles were inclining ever downward toward the water. In his
+battle-station this officer directed the firing of the port guns until
+their muzzles dipped beneath the surface of the sea. There were three
+officers with him in the fighting-top and three seamen. Below they saw
+the perfect order which obtained, the men stepping into the sea in
+ranks, laughing and cheering.
+
+Presently this officer sent one of the seamen down the mast to get
+life-belts for the group of men in the spotting-station. By the time he
+returned the bugles were ordering the total abandonment of the vessel.
+
+So the little group made their way, not to the deck, which was now
+straight up and down, but to the starboard side of the hull, upon which
+they could walk, the vessel then being practically on her beam ends.
+Trapped at their stations on the port side were members of the 6-inch
+port battery. One of them was seen by a comrade just before rising
+waters shut him from view. The sinking man nodded and waved his hand.
+
+"Good-by, Al," he said.
+
+As the officer who had been in the fighting-top jumped clear into the
+sea, the vessel began to go down, now by the head. Slowly the stern
+rose, and as it did so, he says, the propellers came into view, and
+perched on one of the blades was a devil-may-care American seaman,
+waving his hat and shouting.
+
+The vessel, the officer says, disappeared at 11.30 o'clock, fifteen
+minutes after the explosion occurred. There was some suction as the _San
+Diego_ disappeared, but not enough, according to the calculation of the
+survivors with whom I talked, to draw men to their death.
+
+In the course of another hour, Captain Christie had collected as many of
+his officers as he could, and the work of apportioning the survivors to
+the twelve boats and to pieces of flotsam was carried on with naval
+precision. One man, clinging to a grating, called out that he had
+cramps. A comrade in one of the boats thereupon said the sailor could
+have his place. He leaped into the sea and the man with cramps was
+assisted into the boat.
+
+While this was going on a seaplane from the Bay Shore station passed
+over the heads of the men in the water. The seamen did not think they
+had been seen, but they had been, and the aviator, flying to Point o'
+Woods, landed and used the coast-guard telephone to apprise the Fire
+Island coast-guards of the disaster. From this station word was sent
+broadcast by wireless. In the meantime, Captain Christie had picked two
+crews of the strongest seamen and had them placed in No. 1 and No. 2
+life-boats. These men were ordered to row south-west to Fire Island and
+summon assistance.
+
+In one boat thirteen men were placed; in the other fourteen. As the
+captain got the boat-crews arranged, his barrel began to get waterlogged
+and became rather precarious as a support; whereupon a floating seaman
+pushed his way through the water with a ladder.
+
+"Here, sir," he said, "try this."
+
+Thus it was that Captain Christie transferred to a new flag-ship.
+
+The boat-crews left the scene of the disaster at 12.35, and they rowed
+in fifteen-minute relays from that hour until quarter past three. Before
+they had gone four miles merchant ships were rushing to the spot, as set
+forth in the wireless warning. These merchantmen got all of the men
+afloat in the water--or a vast majority of them--and took them to the
+naval station at Hoboken.
+
+At the time of the disaster and for twenty-four hours thereafter there
+was some doubt whether or not the _San Diego_ had been lost through
+contact with a mine, or was struck by a torpedo launched from a
+submarine. Submarine activities off Cape Cod the following Sunday,
+however, gave proof that the undersea boats had made their second
+hostile visit to our shores.
+
+But later belief was that the cruiser was sunk by a mine planted by the
+submarine. One of our most illustrious exploits, indeed, occurred hardly
+a fortnight before the loss of the _Jones_, when two destroyers, the
+_Nicholson_ and _Fanning_, steamed into their base with flags flying and
+German prisoners on their decks.
+
+It was a clear November afternoon, and the destroyer _Fanning_ was
+following her appointed route through the waters of the North Sea. Off
+to starboard the destroyer _Nicholson_ was plunging on her way, throwing
+clouds of black smoke across the horizon. Near by was a merchant vessel,
+and the destroyers were engaged in taking her through the dangerous
+waters to safety. The air was so clear that minutest objects on the
+horizon were easily picked up by the questing binoculars of the men on
+watch. Suddenly came a cry from one of the forward lookouts:
+
+"Periscope, two points off the starboard bow!"
+
+The call sounded from stem to stern, and instantly the alarm to general
+quarters was sounded while the helm was thrown hard over. The signalman
+bent over his flag-locker and, in compliance with the order of the
+commander, bent flags onto the halyards, giving the location of the
+submarine to the _Nicholson_, while heliograph flashes from the bridge
+summoned her to joint attack. The waters were smooth, with a long swell,
+and the lookout had seen a scant eighteen inches of periscope, which had
+vanished immediately it fell under his vision. Undoubtedly the observer
+at the other end of the submarine's periscope had seen the _Fanning_ at
+about the same time the presence of the undersea craft was detected. It
+had appeared about 400 yards from the destroyer's course.
+
+In less time than it takes to tell, the _Fanning_, with throttles
+suddenly opened, plunged into the waters where the periscope had last
+been seen. And at the proper moment the commander, standing tensely on
+the bridge, released a depth-bomb from its fixed place. The explosive,
+300 pounds in weight, sank with a gentle splash into the rolling wake of
+the destroyer and, at the depth as regulated before the bomb was
+released, it exploded with a terrific report.
+
+Up from the ocean rose a towering column of water. It hung in the air
+for a moment like a geyser, and then gradually fell back to the level of
+the sea. A score of voices proclaimed the appearance of oil floating
+upon the water. Oil is sometimes released by a submarine to throw an
+attacking destroyer off the scent; but this time there were bubbles,
+too. That was quite significant. Then while the _Fanning_ circled the
+spot wherein the explosion had occurred, the _Nicholson_ stormed up, cut
+across the supposed lurking-place of the submarine, and released one of
+her depth charges. She, too, circled about the mass of boiling,
+oil-laden water.
+
+For several minutes the two destroyers wheeled in and out like hawks
+awaiting their prey, and then suddenly there was a cry as a disturbance
+was noted almost directly between the two craft. The rush of water grew
+in volume until, as the men of the destroyers watched with all the ardor
+of fishermen landing trout, the U-boat came to the surface like a dead
+whale.
+
+But the Americans were cautious. While stricken the undersea craft might
+show fight. So with guns and torpedo-tubes trained upon the submarine,
+they waited. But there was no fight in that boat. The depth charges had
+done their work thoroughly. While the visible portion of the hull
+appeared to have been uninjured, it was perfectly clear that the vessel
+was not under perfect control. Her ballast-tanks were damaged, which
+accounted for a bad list.
+
+The explosions of the depth-bombs had hurled her to the bottom, where
+she retained sufficient buoyancy to catapult to the surface. As the
+conning-tower came into sight the _Nicholson_ fired three shots from her
+stern gun. The U-boat then seemed to right herself, making fair speed
+ahead. The _Fanning_ headed in toward her, firing from the bow gun.
+After the third shot the crew of the German vessel came up on deck,
+their hands upraised.
+
+While approaching the craft both the destroyers kept their guns trained
+for instant use, but, as it turned out, precautions were unnecessary.
+Lines were thrown aboard the submersible and were made fast; but the
+U-boat, either stricken mortally or scuttled by her crew, began to
+settle. Lines were hastily cast off, and the boat sought her long rest
+upon the bottom of a sea to which no doubt she had sent many harmless
+vessels.
+
+The crew of the U-boat, all of whom had life-preservers about their
+waists, leaped into the water and swam to the _Fanning_; most of them
+were exhausted when they reached the destroyer's side. As the submarine
+sank, five or six men were caught in the wireless gear and carried below
+the surface before they disentangled themselves. Ten of the men were so
+weak that it was necessary to pass lines under their arms to haul them
+aboard. One man was in such a state that he could not even hold the line
+that was thrown to him.
+
+Chief Pharmacist's Mate Elzer Howell and Coxswain Francis G. Connor
+thereupon jumped overboard and made a line fast to the German. But he
+died a few minutes after he was hauled aboard.
+
+Once aboard, the prisoners were regaled with hot coffee and sandwiches,
+and so little did they mind the change to a new environment that,
+according to official Navy Department report, they began to sing. They
+were fitted with warm clothes supplied by the American sailors, and in
+other ways made to feel that, pirates though they were, and murderers as
+well, the American seafaring man knew how to be magnanimous.
+
+The submarine bore no number nor other distinguishing marks, but her
+life-belts were marked on one side "Kaiser," and on the other "Gott."
+The _Fanning_ steamed to port at high speed, and at the base transferred
+the prisoners under guard, who as they left the destroyer gave three
+lusty hochs for the _Fanning's_ men. Then the _Fanning_ put out to sea a
+few miles, and after the young American commander had read the burial
+service, the body of the German seaman who had died was committed to the
+depths. The commander of the _Fanning_ was Lieutenant A. S. Carpender, a
+Jerseyman, who in his report gave particular praise to Lieutenant Walter
+Henry, officer of the deck, and to Coxswain Loomis, who first sighted
+the submarine.
+
+This was by no means the first time a submarine had been sunk by an
+American destroyer, but in accordance with the British policy, the
+Americans had withheld all information of the sort. However, this was
+such a good story, and the capture of prisoners so unusual, that by
+agreement between the Navy Department and the British Admiralty, the
+salient details of this encounter were given to the public.
+
+The idea of secrecy was devised by the British at the very outset, the
+purpose being to make the waging of submarine warfare doubly
+objectionable to the men of the German Navy. It is bad enough to be lost
+in a naval engagement, but at least the names of the ships involved and
+the valor of the crews, both friend and enemy, are noted. But under the
+British system, a submarine leaves port, and if she is sunk by a
+patrol-vessel or other war-ship, that fact is never made known. The
+Germans know simply that still another submarine has entered the great
+void.
+
+It adds a sinister element to an occupation sufficiently sinister in all
+its details. There may be no doubt that the policy of silence has had
+its effect upon the German morale. That crews have mutinied on the high
+seas is undoubted, while we know of several mutinies involving hundreds
+of men that have occurred in German ports--all because of objections to
+submarine service. It is even said that submarine service is now one of
+the penalties for sailors who have offended against the German naval
+regulations, and there are stories of submarines decked with flowers as
+they leave port, a symbol, of course, of men who go out not expecting to
+return--all for the glory of the man known throughout the American Navy
+as "Kaiser Bill."
+
+It is thus unlikely that such success as might--or may--attend the
+efforts of our coast-patrol vessels to dispose of the submarines which
+come here will not be published unless the highly colored complexion of
+facts warrants it. One may imagine that service in a submarine so far
+from home is not alluring, and still less so when submarines sent to the
+waters of this hemisphere are heard from nevermore.
+
+Just how unpopular the service has been may be adduced from chance
+remarks of German submarine prisoners who come to this country from time
+to time. The men of the U-boat sunk by the _Fanning_ made no effort to
+conceal their satisfaction at their change of quarters, while Germans in
+other cases have told their British captors that they were glad they had
+been taken.
+
+There is the story of the storekeeper of the German submarine which sunk
+several vessels off our coast last June. He said he had formerly served
+on a German liner plying between Hoboken and Hamburg, and his great
+regret was that he had not remained in this country when he had a
+chance. Life on a submarine, he said, was a dog's life.
+
+Even under peace conditions this is so. The men are cramped for room, in
+the first place. In a storm the vessel, if on the surface, is thrown
+almost end over end, while the movement of stormy waves affects a boat
+even thirty feet below the water-level. Cooking is very often out of the
+question, and the men must live on canned viands. They have not even the
+excitement of witnessing such encounters as the vessel may have. Three
+men only, the operating officers, look through the periscope; the others
+have their stations and their various duties to perform. If a vessel is
+sunk they know it through information conveyed by their officers. There
+was a story current in Washington before we entered the war, of a
+sailor, a German sailor who had had nearly a year of steady service on a
+submarine. He was a faithful man, and as he was about to go ashore on a
+long leave, his commanding officer asked what he could do for him.
+
+"Only one thing," was the reply. "Let me have one look through the
+periscope."
+
+In the past year the Allies have been employing their own submarines in
+the war against the German undersea peril. This has been made possible
+by the perfection of the listening device before referred to by which
+the presence of a submarine and other details may be made known. But it
+is a dangerous business at best, and not largely employed, if only for
+the reason that patrol-vessels are not always likely to distinguish
+between friend and foe. We have in mind the tragic instance of the
+American cruiser which fired upon a submarine in the Mediterranean,
+killing two men, only to find that the vessel was an Italian undersea
+boat. Of course our deepest regrets were immediately forthcoming, and
+were accepted by the Italian Government in like spirit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+Our Battleship Fleet--Great Workshop of War--Preparations for Foreign
+Service--On a Battleship During a Submarine Attack--The Wireless That
+Went Wrong--The Torpedo That Missed--Attack on Submarine Bases of
+Doubtful Expediency--When the German Fleet Comes Out--Establishment of
+Station in the Azores
+
+
+When the German fleet of battleships and battle-cruisers sallies forth
+into the North Sea for a final fight against the British Grand Fleet,
+they will find American dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughts ready and
+eager to lend the material weight of their assistance to the Allied
+cause. A substantial number of our capital ships, under command of
+Rear-Admiral Hugh Rodman, are with the Grand Fleet, and have been for
+some months. Both in Washington and in London a German sea offensive on
+a grand scale has long been regarded as a possibility, and the admiralty
+authorities at the Entente capitals are anxious for the supreme test,
+and confident concerning its outcome. We have already noted Admiral
+Beatty's action in assigning American battleships to the place of honor
+in the line of sea-fighters which went forth to meet a reported German
+attack some time ago. It was a false report, but the honor done our
+naval fighters stands.
+
+The expansion of the United States Navy has also included an enormous
+increase in our battleships and battle-cruisers; definite details are
+withheld, but it is not too much to say that we are thoroughly equipped
+to assist Great Britain very vitally in this respect. In the summer of
+1917 Secretary Daniels announced that the Atlantic Fleet--our Grand
+Fleet--had been reorganized into two divisions, officially known as
+"forces." Battleship Force One had as commander Vice-Admiral Albert W.
+Grant, and Battleship Force Two was commanded by Vice-Admiral DeWitt
+Coffman. Admiral Henry T. Mayo remained as commander-in-chief.
+
+"There are," said Secretary Daniels in announcing the new
+arrangement--July 18, 1917--"as many battleships in commission as we
+ever had before; in fact, every battleship we have is in commission. The
+whole purpose of the new organization is to keep our battleship fleet in
+as perfect condition as possible, to put it in the highest state of
+efficiency and readiness for action."
+
+Eventually an appreciable number of our best fighters were sent to the
+Grand Fleet--which, however, is by no means to be understood as implying
+that our own coasts are unprotected. Not at all. The Navy Department has
+a view-point which embraces all possible angles, and nothing in the way
+of precaution has been overlooked. At the same time it has been the
+theory of Secretary Daniels that the way to beat the submarine and the
+German Navy in general was to go to the base of things, "to the neck of
+the bottle," and this as much as anything--more, in sooth--accounts for
+the hundreds of war-ships of various sorts that now fly our flag in the
+war zone.
+
+The orders dividing the fleet into two "forces" and despatching a
+representation of our greatest fighters to the North Sea was preceded by
+a period of preparation the like of which this country--perhaps the
+world--never saw. The Atlantic Fleet was, indeed, converted into a huge
+workshop of war, turning out its finished products--fighting men. A
+visitor to the fleet, writing under date of May 14, expressed amazement
+at the amount of well-ordered activity which characterized a day on
+every one of the battleships. Here were men being trained for
+armed-guard service on merchantmen, groups of neophytes on the after
+deck undergoing instruction on the loading-machines; farther along a
+group of qualified gunners were shattering a target with their 5-inch
+gun. Other groups were hidden in the turrets with their long 14 and 12
+inch guns, three or two to a turret. Signal-flags were whipping the air
+aloft--classes in signalling; while from engine-room and fighting-tops
+each battleship hummed with the activities of masters and pupils
+teaching and learning every phase of the complicated calling of the
+modern navy man.
+
+And there were days when the great fleet put to sea for target practice
+and for battle manoeuvres, the turrets and broadsides belching forth
+their tons upon tons of steel and the observers aloft sending down their
+messages of commendation for shots well aimed. It is the statement of
+those in a position to know that never were jackies so quick to learn as
+those of our war-time personnel. Whether the fact of war is an incentive
+or whether American boys are adapted, through a life of competitive
+sport, quickly to grasp the sailorman's trade, the truth remains that in
+a very short space the boy who has never seen a ship develops swiftly
+into a bluejacket, rolling, swaggering, but none the less deft, precise,
+and indomitable.
+
+"They come into the navy to fight," said one of the officers of the
+fleet, "and they want to get into the thick of it. We turn out qualified
+gun crews in three months--and that is going some." A large majority of
+the new men of the fleet come from farms, especially from the Middle
+West. More than 90 per cent of the seamen are native-born, and on any
+ship may be heard the Southern drawl, the picturesque vernacular of the
+lower East or West side of New York City, the twang of New England, the
+rising intonation of the Western Pennsylvanian, and that indescribable
+vocal cadence that comes only from west of Chicago.
+
+Not only gunners were developed, but engineers, electricians, cooks,
+bakers--what-not? They are still being developed on our home ships, but
+in the meantime the fruits of what was done in the time dating from our
+entrance into the war to the present summer are to be noted chiefly in
+the North Sea, where our vessels lie waiting with their sisters of the
+British Fleet for the appearance of the German armada.
+
+Let us transfer ourselves for the time being from the general to the
+particular: in other words, to the deck of a great American dreadnought,
+which, together with others of her type, has been detached from the
+Atlantic Fleet and assigned to duty with Admiral Beatty's great company
+of battleships and battle-cruisers. This battleship has entered the war
+zone, en route to a certain rendezvous, whence all the American units
+will proceed to their ultimate destination in company.
+
+It is night. It is a black night. The stars are viewless and the ocean
+through which the great steel hull is rushing, with only a slight hiss
+where the sharp cutwater parts the waves, is merely a part of the same
+gloom. Aloft and on deck the battleship is a part of the night. Below
+deck all is dark save perchance a thin, knife-like ray emanating from a
+battle-lantern. The lookouts, straining their eyes into the black for
+long, arduous stretches, are relieved and half-blind and dizzy they
+grope along the deck to their hammocks, stumbling over the prostrate
+forms of men sleeping beside the 5-inch guns, exchanging elbow thrusts
+with those of the gun crews who are on watch.
+
+The trip this far has been a constant succession of drills and
+instruction in the art of submarine fighting--all to the tune of general
+alarm and torpedo defense bells. And the while preparations for sighting
+the enemy have never been minimized. They involved precautions not
+dissimilar to those on board a destroyer or other patrol-vessel, but
+were of course conducted on a vastly greater scale. As suggesting an
+outline of measures of watchfulness, we may regard this battleship as
+the centre of a pie, with special watches detailed to cover their given
+slice of this pie. These slices are called water sectors, and each
+sector, or slice, extends at a given angle from the course of the ship
+out to the horizon. Of course as the vessel is constantly moving at a
+rapid rate, the centre of the pie shifts, too. In this way every foot of
+water within the great circle of the horizon is under constant
+supervision night and day by a small army of lookouts, armed with
+binoculars and gun telescopes.
+
+And so our battleship goes on through the night. On the bridge all is
+quiet. Officers move to and fro with padded footfalls, and the throb of
+the great engines is felt rather than heard. The wind begins to change,
+and presently the captain glancing out the door of the chart-house
+clucks his chagrin. For the night has begun to reveal itself, thanks, or
+rather, no thanks, to the moon, which has torn away from a shrouding
+mass of clouds and sends its rays down upon the waters of the sea. It
+had been a fine night to dodge the lurking submarine, but now the silver
+light of the moon, falling upon the leaden side of the battleship,
+converts her into a fine target.
+
+"Nature is certainly good to the Germans," chuckles an officer to a
+companion, taking care that the captain does not hear.
+
+"Yes," comes the sententious reply. The lookouts grow more rigid, for
+whereas formerly they could see nothing, objects on the water are now
+pencilled out in luminous relief.
+
+Deep down below the water there is a listening "ear"--a submarine
+telephone device through which a submarine betrays its presence; any
+sound the undersea boat makes, the beating of the propellers, for
+instance, is heard by this ear, and in turn by the ear of the man who
+holds the receiver.
+
+Presently the man who is on detector watch grows tense. He listens
+attentively and then stands immobile for a moment or so. Then he steps
+to a telephone and a bell rings in the chart-house where the captain and
+his navigating and watch officers are working out the courses and
+positions.
+
+"I hear a submarine signalling, sir," comes the voice from the depths to
+the captain who stands by the desk with the receiver at his ear.
+
+"What signal?" barks the skipper.
+
+"MQ repeated several times. Sounds as if one boat was calling another."
+(The sailor referred to the practice which submarines have of sending
+subaqueous signals to one another, signals which are frequently caught
+by listening war-ships of the Allies.)
+
+The captain orders the detector man to miss nothing, and then a general
+alarm (to quarters) is passed through the great vessel by word of mouth.
+This is no time for the clanging of bells and the like. The lookouts are
+advised as to the situation.
+
+"I hope we're not steaming into a nest." The captain frowns and picks up
+the telephone. "Anything more?" he asks.
+
+"Still getting signals, sir; same as before; same direction and
+distance."
+
+Down to the bridge through a speaking-tube, running from the top of the
+forward basket-mast comes a weird voice.
+
+"Bright light, port bow, sir. Distance about 4,000 yards." (Pause.)
+"Light growing dim. Very dim now."
+
+From other lookouts come confirmatory words.
+
+"Dim light; port bow."
+
+"The light has gone."
+
+"It's a sub, of course," murmurs an officer. "No craft but a submarine
+would carry a night light on her periscope. She must be signalling." A
+thrill goes through the battleship. In a minute the big steel fighter
+may be lying on her side, stricken; or there may be the opportunity for
+a fair fight.
+
+The captain sends an officer below to the detector and changes the
+course of the ship. Every one awaits developments, tensely.
+
+The wireless operator enters the chart-house.
+
+"I can't get your message to the ---- (another battleship), sir. I can't
+raise her. Been trying for ten minutes."
+
+The officer who has been below at the detector comes up and hears the
+plight of the wireless man. He smiles.
+
+"In exactly five minutes," he says, "you signal again." The radio man
+goes to his room and the officer descends to the detector. In precisely
+five minutes he hears the signal which had bothered the man on detector
+watch. He hurries to the bridge with the solution of the incident. The
+wireless had become disconnected and its signals had come in contact
+with the detector. So there was no submarine. Everything serene. The
+battleship settles down to her night routine.
+
+The dark wears into dawn, and the early morning, with the dusk, is the
+favorite hunting-time of the submarine, for the reason that then a
+periscope, while seeing clearly, is not itself easily to be discerned.
+The lookouts, straining their eyes out over the steely surge, pick up
+what appears to be a spar. But no. The water is rushing on either side
+of it like a mill race. A periscope.
+
+There is a hurry of feet on the bridge. The navigating officer seizes
+the engine-room telegraph and signals full speed ahead. While the ship
+groans and lists under the sudden turn at high speed, the
+ammunition-hoists drone as they bring powder and shell up to gun and
+turret. From the range-finding and plotting-stations come orders to the
+sight-setters, and in an instant there is a stupendous roar as every gun
+on the port side sends forth its steel messenger.
+
+Again and again comes the broadside, while the ocean for acres about the
+periscope boils with the steel rain. It is much too hot for the
+submarine which sinks so that the periscope is invisible. From the
+plotting-stations come orders for a change of range, and on the sea a
+mile or so away rise huge geysers which pause for a moment, glistening
+in the light of the new sun, and then fall in spray to the waves, whence
+they were lifted by the hurtling projectiles. The shells do not
+ricochet. "Where they hit they dig," to quote a navy man. This is one of
+the inventions of the war, the non-ricochet shell. One may easily
+imagine how greatly superior are the shells that dig to those that
+strike the water and then glance. Then comes the cry:
+
+"Torpedo!"
+
+All see it, a white streak upon the water, circling from the outer rim
+of shell-fire on a wide arc, so as to allow for the speed of the
+battleship. With a hiss the venomous projectile dashes past the bow,
+perhaps thirty yards away. Had not the battleship swung about on a new
+course as soon as the vigilant lookout descried the advancing torpedo,
+it would have been a fair hit amidships. As it was, the explosive went
+harmlessly on its way through the open sea. A short cheer from the crew
+marks the miss, and the firing increases in intensity. The battleship so
+turns that her bow is in the direction of the submarine, presenting,
+thus, a mark which may be hit only through a lucky shot, since the
+submarine is a mile away. Accurate shooting even at a mile is expected
+of torpedo-men when the mark is a broadside, but hitting a "bow-on"
+object is a different matter.
+
+Two more torpedoes zip past, and then over the seas comes bounding a
+destroyer, smoke bellying from her funnels. She is over the probable
+hiding-place of the submarine, and a great explosion and a high column
+of water tell those on the battleship that she has released a
+depth-bomb. Suddenly a signal flutters to the stay of the destroyer. The
+crew of the battleship cheer. There is no more to fear from that
+submarine, for oil is slowly spreading itself over the surface of the
+ocean--oil and pieces of wreckage.
+
+The dawn establishes itself fully. The battleship resumes her course
+toward the appointed rendezvous.
+
+Our navy has always held the idea that the Germans could be routed out
+from their submarine bases, has believed that, after all, that is the
+one sure way of ridding the seas of the Kaiser's pirates for good. It
+may be assumed that the recent attacks of the British upon Ostend and
+Zeebrugge, as a cover to blocking the canal entrances through sinking
+old war-ships, were highly approved by Vice-Admiral Sims. Secretary
+Daniels has considered the advisability of direct methods in dealing
+with the German Navy. No doubt the temptation has been great, if only
+because of the fact that with the British and American and French navies
+combined, we have a force which could stand an appreciable amount of
+destruction and yet be in a position to cope with the German fleet. Yet,
+of course, that is taking chances. And:
+
+"It is all very well to say 'damn the torpedoes,'" said Secretary
+Daniels, in discussing this point, "but a navy cannot invite
+annihilation by going into mined harbors, and ships can do little or
+nothing against coast fortifications equipped with 14-inch guns.
+Experience at Gallipoli emphasizes this fact. And yet"--here the
+secretary became cryptic--"there is more than one way to kill a cat. No
+place is impregnable. Nothing is impossible."
+
+The British showed how damage might be dealt naval bases supposedly
+secure under the guns of fortifications, but something more than a sally
+will be necessary to smoke out the German fleet, or to root out the
+nests of submarines along the coast of Belgium. Again, there is the
+theory that eventually the Germans will come out and give battle. There
+is a psychological backing for this assumption, for the irksomeness of
+being penned up wears and wears until it is not to be borne. At least
+this seems to have been the case in blockades in past wars, notably the
+dash of Admiral Cervera's squadron from Santiago Harbor.
+
+But when the Germans come it will be no such forlorn hope as that--at
+least not according to the German expectation; what they expect,
+however, and what they may get are contingencies lying wide apart.
+
+In connection with our far-flung naval policy the establishment of a
+naval base on the Azores Islands was announced last spring. The
+arrangement was made with the full consent of Portugal, and the design
+was the protection of the Atlantic trade routes to southern Europe. Guns
+have already been landed on the island, and fortifications are now in
+process of construction. The station, besides being used as a naval base
+for American submarines, destroyers, and other small craft, will serve
+as an important homing-station for our airplanes, a number of which have
+already been assembled there.
+
+The establishment of this station greatly simplifies the task of
+protecting the great trade routes, not only to southern Europe and the
+Mediterranean, but also returning traffic to South American and southern
+Gulf ports in the United States.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+Great Atlantic Ferry Company, Incorporated, But Unlimited--Feat of the
+Navy in Repairing the Steamships Belonging to German Lines Which Were
+Interned at Beginning of War in 1914--Welding and Patching--Triumph of
+Our Navy With the "Vaterland"--Her Condition--Knots Added to Her
+Speed--Damage to Motive Power and How It Was Remedied--Famous German
+Liners Brought Under Our Flag
+
+
+In an address delivered not long ago, Admiral Gleaves,
+commander-in-chief of the United States Cruiser and Transport Force,
+referred to "The Great Atlantic Ferry Company, Incorporated, but
+Unlimited." He referred to our transport fleet, of course, a fleet
+which, under naval supervision and naval operation, has safely
+transported more than a million of our soldiers to France. When the
+history of the war finally comes to be written, our success in the
+handling of oversea transportation will not be the least bright among
+the pages of that absorbing history.
+
+When the European nations first went to war in 1914 I happened to be at
+the Newport Naval Training Station, and I asked an officer what would
+happen if we went into the war.
+
+"Not much," he said. "We would stand on our shores and the Germans on
+theirs and make faces at each other."
+
+Events have proved that he was not looking into the future wisely, not
+taking into account the enormous energy and get-things-doneness of
+Secretary Daniels and his coadjutors. Not only did the Navy Department
+send our destroyer fleet to the war zone--the Allied officers, believing
+co-operation of the sort not feasible, had neither requested nor
+expected this--but performed many other extraordinary feats, among them
+the equipping of transports to carry our men to France, and the conduct
+of the service when they were ready.
+
+We had only a fair number of American steamships adapted for the
+purpose, but lying in our ports were interned German and Austrian
+vessels aggregating many hundreds of thousands of tons. From 1914 until
+we entered the war commuters on North River ferry-boats seemed never
+weary of gazing at the steamships lying in the great North German Lloyd
+and Hamburg-American line piers in Hoboken. There was a small forest of
+masts and funnels appearing above the pier sheds, while many a graceful
+stern protruded out beyond the pier lines into the river.
+
+Among them was the great _Vaterland_, the largest vessel in the world,
+and the outward and visible expression of that peaceful maritime rivalry
+between Great Britain and the German Empire, which in the transatlantic
+lanes as in the waters of all the seven seas had interested followers of
+shipping for so many years. There was, so far as passenger traffic was
+concerned, the rivalry for the blue ribbon of the sea--the swiftest
+ocean carrier, a fight that was waged between Great Britain and Germany
+from the placid eighties to the nineties, when the Germans brought out
+the _Deutschland_, and later the _Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse_, the
+_Kaiser Wilhelm II_--all champions--whose laurels were to be snatched
+away by the _Mauretania_ and the _Lusitania_--the two speed queens--when
+war ended competition of the sort.
+
+But the contest in speed had, to an extent, been superseded by the
+rivalry of size, a struggle begun by the White Star Line when the great
+_Oceanic_ slipped past quarantine in the early 1900's, and carried on by
+that line, by the Atlantic Transport Line, and by the German companies
+with unceasing vigor. Great carrying capacity and fair speed were the
+desiderata, and the studious Germans were quick to see that it was a far
+more profitable battle to wage, since speed meant merely advertising,
+with a more or less slight preponderance in the flow of passenger
+patronage to the line which owned the latest crack greyhound, whereas
+size meant ability to carry greater cargoes, and thus enhanced earning
+capacity.
+
+So great hulls were the order of the years preceding 1914. There came
+the new _Baltic_, the new _Cymric_, the new _Adriatic_ of the White Star
+Line, and for the Germans there came the _Amerika_ and other craft of
+that type. Finally there was the _Titanic_ and her ill-fated maiden
+voyage; the Cunarder _Aquitania_, and the _Vaterland_, and the
+_Imperator_, which bore the German ensign. These facts, presented not
+altogether in chronological order, are necessary to give the reader an
+idea of the manner in which the Americans were taking back seats in the
+unceasing fight for commercial maritime supremacy. It is quite likely,
+so far back was our seat, that the Germans held little respect for our
+ability, either to man or to fit the immense number of German vessels in
+our harbors. In truth, the events that followed our entrance into the
+war showed just how supreme the contempt of the Germans was for our
+knowledge of things nautical.
+
+We are about to record just how erroneous that attitude of the Germans
+was, but wish first to point out that they had failed to take into
+consideration the fact that at Annapolis is situated a school of the sea
+that asks nothing of any similar school in the world, and that they had
+also failed to note that, while we had not gone in heavily for shipping,
+we have been rather effective in other lines which in event of emergency
+might be brought to bear upon the problem of correcting such
+deficiencies as might exist in our store of modern nautical tradition.
+
+Well, while the German waged their unrestricted warfare on the sea,
+those German vessels lay at Hoboken and at other ports of the country,
+gathering the rust and barnacles of disuse. Then one day Congress spoke
+definitely, and the next morning North River ferry voyagers saw lying
+off the German docks a torpedo-boat destroyer flying the American flag.
+Some days later the American flag floated over the taffrails of the
+_Vaterland_, the _Kaiser Wilhelm II_, and other Teutonic craft. Their
+employment in the way of providing transportation of our soldiers, of
+course, was contemplated. In fact, the accession to our marine of such a
+large number of hulls seemed to provide for us all the necessary means
+which otherwise we would have lacked.
+
+But not so fast. When our officers began to look over these German craft
+they found that they were in a woful condition, not so much because of
+disuse as because of direct damage done to them by the German crews who
+had been attached to the ships ever since they were laid up in 1914.
+There is evidence in Washington that the German central authorities
+issued an order for the destruction of these ships which was to be
+effective on or about February 1, 1917--simultaneous, in other words.
+with the date set for unrestricted warfare. There is not the slightest
+doubt that the purpose of the order was to cause to be inflicted damage
+so serious to vital parts of the machinery of all German vessels in our
+ports, that no ship could be operated within a period of time ranging
+from eight months to two years, if at all.
+
+But the Germans miscalculated, as already set forth. We took over the
+109 German vessels in April, and by December 30 of that year, 1917, all
+damage done to them had been repaired and were in service, adding more
+than 500,000 tons gross to our transport and cargo fleets. In general
+the destructive work of the German crews consisted of ruin which they
+hoped and believed would necessitate the shipping of new machinery to
+substitute for that which was battered down or damaged by drilling or by
+dismantlement.
+
+To have obtained new machinery, as a matter of fact, would have entailed
+a mighty long process. First, new machinery would have had to be
+designed, then made, and finally installed. These would have been all
+right if time was unlimited. But it was not; it was, on the other hand,
+extremely limited. The army wished to send troops abroad, the Allies
+were pleading for men, and the only way to get them over in time to do
+anything was to do quick repair jobs on the damaged vessels. But how?
+Investigation revealed how thorough the work of the German seamen--now
+enjoying themselves in internment camps--had been. Their destructive
+campaign had been under headway for two months, and they had thus plenty
+of time in which to do all sorts of harm, ranging from the plugging of
+steam-pipes to the demolition of boilers by dry firing.
+
+The Shipping Board experts were the first to go over the German craft,
+and as a result of their survey it was announced that a great deal of
+new machinery would have to be provided, and that a fair estimate of the
+work of remedying the damage inflicted would be eighteen months. But
+this was too long, altogether so. The officers of the Navy Bureau of
+Steam Engineering took a hand, and finally decided that it would be
+possible to clear the ships for service by Christmas of that year. (As a
+matter of record, the last of the 109 ships was ordered into service on
+Thanksgiving Day.)
+
+To accomplish the purposes they had in mind, the Navy Department engaged
+the services of all available machinery welders and patchers, many of
+whom were voluntarily offered by the great railroad companies. Most of
+the time that was required was due not so much to actual repair work as
+to the devious and tedious task of dismantling all machinery from bow to
+stern of every ship in order to make certain that every bit of damage
+was discovered and repaired. In this way all chance of overlooking some
+act of concealed mutilation was obviated.
+
+[Illustration: _From a photograph copyright by International Film
+Service._ REPAIRING A DAMAGED CYLINDER OF A GERMAN SHIP FOR FEDERAL
+SERVICE.]
+
+It would appear that explosives were not used in the process of
+demolition by the Germans, but at the time the engineers could not be
+sure of this, and as a consequence as they worked they were conscious of
+the danger of hidden charges which might become operative when the
+machinery was put to the test, or even while the work of dismantling and
+inspection was being carried on. There were, however, discovered, as a
+result of this rigid investigation of every mechanical detail, many
+artful cases of pipe-plugging, of steel nuts and bolts concealed in
+delicate mechanical parts, of ground glass in oil-pipes and bearings, of
+indicators that were so adjusted as to give inaccurate readings, of
+fire-extinguishers filled with gasoline--in fact, the manifold deceits
+which the Germans practised would make a chapter of themselves.
+
+Suffice to say, that through painstaking investigation every trick was
+discovered and corrected. On each vessel there was no boiler that was
+not threaded through every pipe for evidence of plugging, no mechanism
+of any sort that was not completely dismantled, inspected, and
+reassembled. On one ship the engineers chanced to find a written record
+of the damage inflicted. In every other case the search for evidence of
+sabotage was blind. This memorandum in the case of the one ship was
+evidently left on board through an oversight, and written in German, was
+a veritable guide-book for our engineers. In order that the reader may
+have some idea of the sort of damage done, the following extracts from
+that memorandum of destructiveness is herewith presented:
+
+"Starboard and port high pressure cylinders with valve chest; upper
+exhaust outlet flange broken off. (Cannot be repaired.)"
+
+"Starboard and port second intermediate valve chest; steam inlet flange
+broken off, (Cannot be repaired.)"
+
+"First intermediate pressure starboard exhaust pipes of exhaust line to
+second intermediate pressure flange broken off. (Cannot be repaired.)"
+
+"Starboard and port low pressure exhaust pipe damaged. (Cannot be
+repaired.)"
+
+Naval officers are pleased to recall that every single one of these
+supposedly irreparable injuries was not only repaired, but speedily
+repaired. Patching and welding were the answer to the problem they
+presented. Both these valuable methods had never been employed in marine
+engineering, although they had been used by the railroads for some
+fifteen years. There are three methods; or, rather, three methods were
+employed: electric welding, oxyacetylene welding, and ordinary
+mechanical patching. After repairs were effected tests of the machinery
+were first made at the docks with the ships lashed to the piers, the
+propellers being driven at low speed. Later each vessel was taken to sea
+for vigorous trial tests, and everything was found to be perfectly
+satisfactory. Indeed, it has been asserted that several knots were added
+to the best speed that the _Vaterland_--renamed _Leviathan_--ever made.
+
+Of course the crew of the _Vaterland_ had spared no pains in fixing that
+great ship so that she could not be used; even so they had less to do
+than the engine forces of other craft, for the reason that the vessel
+was in extremely bad repair as she was. As a consequence, she was one of
+the German ships that were least mutilated. When repairs were completed
+and it was time for her trial trip, her commander, a young American
+naval officer, was ordered to test the big craft in every way, to
+utilize every pound of steam pressure, and to try her out to the limit.
+For, if there was anything wrong with the vessel, the navy wished to
+know it before she fared forth with troops on board.
+
+The _Leviathan_ stood the test. And to-day we all know what a great part
+she has played in carrying our soldiers to France. She is in fact, a far
+better boat than on her maiden trip, for our engineers were surprised to
+find how sloppily she had been built in certain respects.
+
+In preparing her for sea the engineers found it necessary to overhaul,
+partially redesign and reconstruct many important parts of the
+_Leviathan's_ engines. As in her case, the most serious typical damage
+was done by breaking the cylinders, valve-chests, circulating pumps,
+steam and exhaust units in main engines; dry-firing boilers, and thus
+melting the tubes and distorting furnaces, together with easily
+detectable instances of a minor character, such as cutting piston and
+connecting rods and stays with hack saws, smashing engine-room telegraph
+systems, and removing and destroying parts which the Germans believed
+could not be duplicated. Then there was sabotage well concealed: rod
+stays in boilers were broken off, but nuts were fastened on exposed
+surfaces for purposes of deception; threads of bolts were destroyed, the
+bolts being replaced with but one or two threads to hold them, and thus
+calculated to give way under pressure. Piles of shavings and inflammable
+material with cans of kerosene near suggested the intention to burn the
+vessels, intentions thwarted by our watchfulness, while the absence of
+explosives has been accounted for purely on the ground of the risk which
+the crews would have run in attempting to purchase explosive materials
+in the open market.
+
+No great amount of damage was done to the furnishings or ordinary ship's
+fittings. Destructiveness was similar in character throughout all the
+vessels and involved only important parts of the propulsive mechanism or
+other operating machinery.
+
+We have spoken of the investigation of the vessels by Shipping Board
+engineers. They were appointed by the board not only to make a survey,
+but to superintend repairs. The collector of the port of New York also
+named a board of engineers (railroad engineers) to investigate the
+damage done the German ships, and to recommend repairs through the
+agency of welding. The railroad men, after due study, believed that
+their art could be applied to as great advantage on ships as upon
+locomotives. The Shipping Board engineers recommended, on the other
+hand, the renewal of all badly damaged cylinders. The railroad
+engineers, on the other hand, set forth their opinion that all damaged
+cylinders could be reclaimed and made as good as new.
+
+As a result of this difference of opinion, nothing was done until the
+larger German craft were turned over to the Navy Department to be fitted
+as transports, in July of 1917. It was then decided to use welding and
+patching on the vessels.
+
+In no cases were the repairs to the propulsive machinery delayed beyond
+the time necessary to equip these ships as transports. Electric and
+acetylene welding is not a complicated art in the hands of skilled men;
+for patching a hole, or filling the cavity of a great crack in a
+cylinder, say by electric welding, may be compared to a similar
+operation in dental surgery.
+
+Returning to the _Leviathan's_ faulty German construction, be it said
+that the opinion of the navy engineers who overhauled her, was that
+inferior engineering had been practised in her construction. There are
+on this craft four turbine engines ahead, and four astern, on four
+shafts. All the head engines were in good shape, but all the astern
+engines were damaged. But the main part of the damage had resulted more
+to faulty operation of the engines than to malicious damage. Cracks were
+found in the casing of the starboard high-pressure backing turbine,
+cracks of size so great as to make it certain that this engine had not
+been used in the last run of that vessel on transatlantic service in
+1914. There was discovered on the _Vaterland_, or _Leviathan_,
+documentary evidence to prove this, and it also appeared from this paper
+that on her last trip to this country the vessel had not averaged twenty
+knots. It may be that the German ship-builders had hurried too swiftly
+in their strenuous efforts to produce a bigger, if not a better,
+steamship than the British could turn out.
+
+Forty-six of the _Vaterland's_ boilers showed evidence of poor handling.
+They were not fitted with the proper sort of internal feed-pipes. All
+these defects, defects original with the steamship, were repaired by the
+Americans. In addition, evidences of minor attempts to disable the
+_Vaterland_ were found, such, for instance, as holes bored in sections
+of suction-pipes, the holes having been puttied and thus concealed.
+Things of the sort afforded ample reason for a thorough overhaul of the
+vast mass of machinery aboard the steamship. But eventually she was
+ready for her test and her performance on a trial trip to southern
+waters showed how skilful had been the remedial measures applied.
+
+Aboard the _Leviathan_ as other big German liners, such as the
+_Amerika_, _President Grant_, _President Lincoln_, (recently sunk by a
+German torpedo while bound for this country from France), the _George
+Washington_, and other vessels fitted as troop and hospital ships, and
+the like, naval crews were placed, and naval officers, of course, in
+command. They have proved their mettle, all. They have shown, further,
+that when we get ready to take our place, after the war, among the
+nations that go in heavily for things maritime, we shall not be among
+the last, either in point of resourcefulness or intrepidity.
+
+Civilian sailormen who have sailed on vessels commanded by naval
+officers have been inclined to smile over the minutia of navy discipline
+and have expressed doubt whether the naval men would find a certain
+rigidity any more useful in a given situation than the civilian seamen
+would find a looser ordered system. We can but base judgment on facts,
+and among the facts that have come under the writer's observation, was
+the difficulty which the German officers of the _Vaterland_ encountered
+in taking their vessel into her dock in the North River. The very last
+time they attempted it the great hulk got crosswise in the current in
+the middle of the stream, and caused all sorts of trouble.
+
+Our naval officers, however, made no difficulty at all in snapping the
+steamship into her pier. She steams up the Hudson on the New York side,
+makes a big turn, and lo! she is safely alongside her pier. Any
+seafaring man will tell you that this implies seamanly ability.
+
+Following is a list of the larger German ships which were repaired by
+the navy engineers, with the names under which they now sail:
+
+FORMER NAME              PRESENT NAME
+_Amerika_.................._America_.
+_Andromeda_................_Bath_.
+_Barbarossa_..............._Mercury_.
+_Breslau_.................._Bridgeport_.
+_Cincinnati_..............._Covington_[1] (sunk).
+_Frieda Lenhardt_.........._Astoria_.
+_Friedrich der Grosse_....._Huron_.
+_Geier_...................._Schurz_.
+_George Washington_........name retained.
+_Grosser Kurfurst_........._Aeolus_.
+_Grunewald_................_Gen. G. W. Goethals_.
+_Hamburg_.................._Powhattan_.
+_Hermes_...................name retained.
+_Hohenfelde_..............._Long Beach_.
+_Kiel_....................._Camden_.
+_Kaiser Wilhelm I_........._Agamemnon_.
+_Koenig Wilhelm II_........_Madawaska_.
+_Kronprinz Wilhelm_........_Von Steuben_.
+_Kronprezessin Cecelie_...._Mount Vernon_.
+_Liebenfels_..............._Houston_.
+_Locksun_.................._Gulfport_.
+_Neckar_..................._Antigone_.
+_Nicaria_.................._Pensacola_.
+_Odenwald_................._Newport News_.
+_President_................_Kuttery_.
+_President Grant_..........name retained.
+_President Lincoln_........name retained (sunk).
+_Prinzess Irene_..........._Pocahontas_.
+_Prinz Eitel Friedrich_...._DeKalb_.
+_Rhein_...................._Susquehanna_.
+_Rudolph Blumberg_........._Beaufort_
+_Saxonia_.................._Savannah_.
+_Staatsskretar_............_Samoa_.
+_Vaterland_................_Leviathan_.
+_Vogensen_................._Quincy_.
+
+[Footnote 1: Is not this rather a reflection upon a perfectly good
+American city?]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+Camouflage--American System of Low Visibility and the British Dazzle
+System--Americans Worked Out Principles of Color in Light and Color in
+Pigment--British Sought Merely to Confuse the Eye--British System
+Applied to Some of Our Transports
+
+
+While our naval vessels, that is to say war-ships, have adhered to the
+lead-gray war paint, the Navy Department has not declined to follow the
+lead of the merchant marine of this country and Great Britain in
+applying the art of camouflage to some of its transports, notably to the
+_Leviathan_, which, painted by an English camoufleur, Wilkinson, fairly
+revels in color designed to confuse the eyes of those who would attack
+her. A great deal has been written about land camouflage, but not so
+much about the same art as practised on ships. Originally, the purpose
+was the same--concealment and general low visibility--at least it was so
+far as the Americans were concerned. The British, on the other hand,
+employed camouflage with a view to distorting objects and fatiguing the
+eye, thus seriously affecting range-finding. The British system was
+known as the "dazzle system," and was opposed to the American idea of so
+painting a vessel as to cause it to merge into its background.
+
+The American camouflage is based on scientific principles which embody
+so much in the way of chromatic paradox as to warrant setting forth
+rather fully, even though at the present time, for good and sufficient
+reasons relating to German methods of locating vessels, the Americans
+have more or less abandoned their ideas of low visibility and taken up
+with the dazzle idea.
+
+A mural painter of New York, William Andrew Mackay, who had long
+experimented in the chemistry of color (he is now a member of the staff
+of navy camoufleurs), had applied a process of low visibility to naval
+vessels long before war broke out in Europe. The basis of his theory of
+camouflage was that red, green, and violet, in terms of light, make
+gray; they don't in pigment.
+
+The Mackay scheme of invisibility will be easily grasped by the reader
+if we take the example of the rainbow. The phenomenon of the rainbow,
+then, teaches us that what we know to be white light, or daylight, is
+composed of rays of various colors. If an object, say the hull of a
+vessel at sea, prevents these rays from coming to the eye, that hull, or
+other object, is of course clearly defined, the reason being that the
+iron mass shuts out the light-rays behind it. Mr. Mackay discovered that
+by applying to the sides of a ship paint representing the three
+light-rays shut out by the vessel's hull--red, green, and violet--the
+hull is less visible than a similar body painted In solid color.
+
+In a series of experiments made under the supervision of the Navy
+Department after we entered the war an oil-tanker ship was so
+successfully painted in imitation of the color-rays of light that, at
+three miles, the tanker seemed to melt into the horizon. The effect was
+noted in the morning, at noon, and in the evening. In the case of
+various big liners, more than 500 feet long, no accurate range could be
+made for shelling at from three to five miles--the usual shelling
+distance--while at eight miles the vessels melted into the ocean-mists.
+
+But the first trials of the system were conducted at Newport, in 1913,
+in conjunction with Lieutenant Kenneth Whiting, of the submarine
+flotilla. After a period experiments were continued at the Brooklyn Navy
+Yard. In 1915 Commander J. O. Fisher, U.S.N., painted the periscope of
+his submarine--the K-6--with the colors of the spectrum. Mr. Mackay got
+in touch with this officer and explained the work he had done with
+Lieutenant Whiting. Fisher, deeply interested, invited the painter to
+deliver a series of lectures to the officers of the submarine flotilla
+at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
+
+With the aid of a Maxwell disk--a wheel upon which colored cardboard is
+placed and then revolved--he demonstrated the difference between paint
+and light, as set forth in a book on the chemistry of color by the late
+Ogden N. Rood, of Columbia. He showed, for example, that yellow and blue
+in light make white, while yellow and blue in pigment make green. The
+bird colored blue and yellow will be a dull gray at a distance of 100
+feet, and will blend perfectly against the dull gray of a tree-trunk at,
+perhaps, a less distance. The parrot of red, green, and violet plumage
+turns gray at 100 feet or more, the eye at that distance losing the
+ability to separate the three color-sensations.
+
+It is upon this principle, then, that ships painted in several varieties
+of tints and shades form combinations under different lights that cause
+them to waver and melt into the sea and sky. They _seem_ to melt, to be
+more explicit, because the craft so painted is surrounded by tints and
+shades that are similar to those employed in painting the craft.
+
+Vessels thus painted, as seen at their docks, present a curious aspect.
+At their water-lines, and running upward for perhaps twenty feet, are
+green wave-lines, and above, a dappled effect of red, green, and violet,
+which involve not only the upper portions of the hull, but the
+life-boats, masts, and funnels.
+
+This, then, as said, was the American idea as first applied by Mr.
+Mackay, and which would have been greatly amplified had not listening
+devices been so perfected as to render it unnecessary for the Germans to
+see until their quarry was so near, say a mile or two, that no expedient
+in the way of low visibility would serve. It was then that our navy,
+which had been following experiments in camouflage, accepted the dazzle
+system for some of its transports, while retaining the leaden war-paint
+for other transports and for fighting craft.
+
+The dazzle system as applied on the _Leviathan_ and other vessels under
+jurisdiction of the navy, has for its idea the disruption of outline and
+deception as to the true course a vessel is following. The writer saw
+the _Leviathan_ under way shortly after she was camouflaged, and at a
+distance of two miles it was utterly impossible to tell whether she was
+coming or going; and the observer could not tell whether she had three
+funnels or six, or only one. It was noted that as her distance from the
+observer became greater the vessel assumed a variety of effects. Once it
+seemed as though both bow and stern had dropped off, and finally the big
+craft suggested in the morning haze nothing so much as a cathedral set
+in the middle of the bay.
+
+Effects of this sort are produced by vertical stripes of black and white
+at bow and stern, by long, horizontal lines of black and blue, and by
+patches of various hues. One funnel is gray, another blue and white,
+another all blue. There can be no question that the sum total of effect
+offends the eye and dazes the senses. Submarines have been known to make
+errors of eight degrees in delivering torpedoes at dazzle boats even at
+close range.
+
+In addition to camouflage experiments on one of our great inland lakes,
+the Navy Department also investigated other ideas relating to the
+self-protection of craft at sea. Among these was a device by which a
+vessel zigzags automatically as she proceeds on her ocean course. The
+advantage of such an invention when the war zone is filled with
+submarines waiting for a chance for pot shots at craft is obvious.
+
+The Navy Department, in short, has neglected nothing that would tend to
+enhance the safety of our ships on the sea, and many valuable schemes
+have been applied. But when all is said and done these defensive
+elements are and, it seems, must remain subsidiary to the protection as
+applied from without, the protection of swift destroyers with their
+depth-bombs, their great speed, and their ability quickly to manoeuvre.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+The Naval Flying Corps--What The Navy Department Has Accomplished And Is
+Accomplishing in the Way of Air-Fighting--Experience of a Naval Ensign
+Adrift in the English Channel--Seaplanes and Flying Boats--Schools of
+Instruction--Instances of Heroism
+
+
+In writing of aviation in the navy an incident which befell one of our
+naval airmen in the English Channel seems to demand primary
+consideration, not alone because of the dramatic nature of the event,
+but because it sets forth clearly the nature of the work upon which our
+flying men of the navy entered as soon as the United States took hostile
+action against Germany. Our navy aviators, in fact, were the first force
+of American fighters to land upon European soil after war was declared.
+Here is the story as told by Ensign E. A. Stone, United States Naval
+Reserve, after he was rescued from the Channel, where with a companion
+he had clung for eighty hours without food and drink to the under-side
+of a capsized seaplane pontoon. "I left our station in a British
+seaplane as pilot, with Sublieutenant Moore of the Royal Naval Air
+Service as observer, at 9 o'clock in the morning. Our duty was to convoy
+patrols. When two hours out, having met our ships coming from the
+westward, we thought we sighted a periscope ahead, and turned off in
+pursuit. We lost our course. Our engine dropped dead, and at 11.30
+o'clock forced us to land on the surface of a rough sea. We had no kite
+nor radio to call for assistance, so we released our two
+carrier-pigeons. We tied a message with our position and the word
+'Sinking' on each. The first, the blue-barred one, flew straight off and
+reached home. But the other, which was white-checked, lit on our machine
+and would not budge until Moore threw our navigation clock at him, which
+probably upset him so that he failed us.
+
+"Heavy seas smashed our tail-planes, which kept settling. I saw that
+they were pulling the machine down by the rear, turning her over. We
+tore the tail-fabric to lessen the impact of the waves. It wasn't any
+use. The tail-flat was smashed and its box filled with water.
+
+"This increased the downward leverage and raised her perpendicularly in
+the air. At 2.30 P.M. we capsized. We climbed up the nose and 'over the
+top' to the under-side of the pontoons. Our emergency ration had been in
+the observer's seat at the back, but we had been so busy trying to
+repair the motor and save ourselves from turning over that we didn't
+remember this until too late. When I crawled aft for food Moore saw that
+I was only helping the machine to capsize. He yelled to me to come back
+and I did, just in time to save myself from being carried down with the
+tail and drowned.
+
+"From then on for nearly four days, until picked up by a trawler, we
+were continually soaked and lashed by seas, and with nothing to eat or
+drink. We had nothing to cling to, and so to keep from being washed
+overboard we got upon the same pontoon and hugged our arms about each
+other's bodies for the whole time. We suffered from thirst. I had a
+craving for canned peaches. Twice a drizzle came on, wetting the
+pontoon. We turned on our stomachs and lapped up the moisture, but the
+paint came off, with salt, and nauseated us. Our limbs grew numb. From
+time to time the wreckage from torpedoed ships would pass. Two full
+biscuit-tins came close enough to swim for, but by then in our weakened
+state we knew that we would drown if we tried to get them. We did haul
+in a third tin and broke it open; it was filled with tobacco.
+
+"Every day we saw convoys in the distance and vainly waved our
+handkerchiefs. We had no signal-lights to use at night. Our watches
+stopped, and we lost all track of time. We realized how easy it was for
+a submarine out there to escape being spotted. On Sunday night we spied
+a masthead light and shouted. The ship heard and began to circle us. We
+saw her port light. Then when the crew were visible on the deck of the
+vessel, she suddenly put out her lights and turned away.
+
+"'She thinks we are Huns,' said Moore.
+
+"'I hope she does,' said I. 'Then they'll send patrol-boats out to get
+us. 'We couldn't be worse off if we were Germans.'
+
+"But no rescue came. The next afternoon a seaplane came from the east.
+It was flying only 800 feet overhead, aiming down the Channel. It seemed
+impossible that she could not sight us for the air was perfectly clear.
+She passed straight above without making any signal, flew two miles
+beyond, and then came back on her course.
+
+"'Her observer must be sending wireless about us,' I said.
+
+"'Yes, that is why we get no recognition,' said Moore, 'and now she's
+decided to go back and report.'
+
+"But that plane hadn't even seen us. Our spirits fell. We had been
+afraid of two things, being picked up by a neutral and interned, or
+captured by an enemy submarine. Now we even hoped that the enemy--that
+anything---would get us, to end it all.
+
+"We sighted a trawler about 6 P.M. on Tuesday. She had been chasing a
+submarine, and so did not seem to take us very seriously at first. We
+waved at her half an hour before she changed her course. We were both
+too weak to stand up and signal. We could only rise on our knees.
+Moore's hands were too swollen to hold a handkerchief, but I had kept my
+gloves on and was able to do so. The trawler moved warily around us, but
+finally threw a life-preserver at the end of a line, I yelled that we
+were too weak to grasp it. She finally hove to, lowered a boat, and
+lifted us aboard. Then we collapsed.
+
+"I remember asking for a drink and getting water. The skipper would let
+us take only sips, but he left a bottle alongside me and I drained it.
+He gave us biscuits, but we couldn't chew or swallow them. We felt no
+pain until our clothing was ripped off and blood rushed into our swollen
+legs and arms. Moore lost six toes from gangrene in the hospital. My
+feet turned black, but decay did not set in."
+
+When the pigeon released by Stone and Moore returned to the base every
+machine from that seaplane-station, as well as from a station on the
+French coast, was sent out to search for the missing seaplane, while
+destroyers and patrol-vessels were notified to be on the lookout. Which
+shows, after all, how difficult the job of detecting such small objects
+as submarines is. Stone had enlisted as a seaman, and was trained in
+aviation. On December 11, 1917, he was detached from the air-station at
+Hampton Roads and ordered to France for duty, arriving there January 21,
+1918. In February he was ordered to report to the commander of the
+United States naval forces at London for patrol duty in England.
+
+Which shows the way the Navy Department worked in with the French and
+British Admiralties, using either our own planes or those of our allies.
+
+When the navy's plans concerning the American Naval Flying Corps are
+completed, it will have an air service of fully 125,000 men, of which
+10,000 will be aviators. There will be 10 ground men for every aviator.
+Observers, inspectors and specialists of various sorts will fill out the
+total. These seaplanes are of immense value in the war zones. They leave
+bases for regular patrol duty, watching the ocean carefully, and
+locating submersibles at a great height. Once a submarine is thus
+located the seaplane descends to the surface and notifies vessels of the
+patrol-fleet of the location of the craft, or in cases when the undersea
+craft is on or near the surface, the aviator will drop bombs upon the
+vessel. Seaplanes are also sent from the decks of naval vessels to scout
+the waters through which a fleet may be travelling, while large vessels
+serving as parent-ships for the smaller seaplanes--from which they fly
+and to which they return--ply the infested waters. The service is a
+valuable one, and a thrilling one, and only the best types of men were
+selected by the Navy Department to engage in it.
+
+In 1917 Congress appropriated $67,733,000 for aviation for the navy, a
+sum which permitted the department to proceed on an extensive scale. And
+right here it may be said that the navy has fared much better than the
+army in the progressive development of air service. Within a year the
+flying personnel of the navy had grown to be twenty times greater than
+it was when we went to war, and where a year ago we had one
+training-school, we now have forty naval aviation-schools.
+
+The navy has not only strained every nerve to turn out aviators and to
+produce airplanes, but the development of improved types of planes has
+not been overlooked, and we now have abroad several fine types of
+seaplane as well as airplane. The seaplane is merely an airplane with
+pontoons, It starts from the ground or from the deck of a vessel.
+
+Then there is the flying-boat, developed under naval auspices. This boat
+takes wing from the water, and is regarded as the most desirable form of
+aircraft for sea purposes. It is a triumphant instance of our ingenuity,
+and is built in two sizes, both effective under the peculiar conditions
+which may dictate the use either of one or the other. The navy has also
+developed a catapult arrangement for launching seaplanes from the decks
+of war-ships. This is a moving wooden platform, carrying the seaplane,
+which runs along a track over the ship's deck. The platform drops into
+the sea, and the seaplane proceeds on its course through the air.
+
+[Illustration: _Copyright by Committee on Public Information_. SCENE AT
+AN AVIATION STATION SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA, SHOWING FIFTEEN SEAPLANES ON
+BEACH DEPARTING AND ARRIVING.]
+
+The progress of the navy was so great in arranging for the home
+coast-defense aerial service that Secretary Daniels agreed to establish
+air coast-patrol stations in Europe, and it was not long before our
+naval aviators were rendering signal service both along the French and
+the British coasts. There is the understanding that the United States
+has already taken the lead in naval aviation, not in quantity, to be
+sure, but in quality and efficiency, as to which the presence of foreign
+experts studying our new improvements may be regarded as confirmatory
+evidence.
+
+The Navy Department now has an aircraft factory of its own at
+Philadelphia, and there flying-boats are now being turned out. Also,
+five private plants throughout the country are working on navy aircraft
+exclusively.
+
+The Aircraft Board, which succeeded the Aircraft Production Board, is
+made up in three parts: a third from the navy, a third from the army,
+and a third civilian. This board is under the joint direction of the
+Secretaries of War and the Navy.
+
+The naval flying-schools are located at Pensacola, Fla., Miami, Fla.,
+Hampton Roads, Va., Bay Shore, L.I., and San Diego, Cal. Some of the
+aviators are drawn from the regular naval forces, but the great majority
+are of the reserves, young men from civil life, college men and the
+like, who have the physical qualifications and the nerve to fly and
+fight above tumultuous waters.
+
+The men training in the naval aviation-schools are enrolled as Second
+Class Seamen in the Coast Defense Reserve. Their status is similar to
+that of the midshipmen at Annapolis. Surviving the arduous course of
+training, they receive commissions as ensigns; if they do not survive
+they are honorably discharged, being free, of course, to enlist in other
+branches of service. The courses last about six months, the first period
+of study being in a ground school, where the cadets study navigation,
+rigging, gunnery, and other technical naval subjects. Thence the pupil
+goes to a flight-school, where he learns to pilot a machine. Here, if he
+comes through, the young cadet is commissioned as an ensign. All pilots
+in the Naval Reserve Flying Corps hold commissions, but not all of the
+pilots in the regular navy are commissioned officers, a few rating as
+chief petty officers.
+
+The men who act as observers--who accompany the pilots on their trips,
+taking photographs, dropping bombs and the like--are not commissioned.
+They are selected from men already in the service, regular seamen,
+marines, reserves, or volunteers. Of course, these men have their
+opportunities of becoming pilots. The United States seaplanes carry
+extremely destructive weapons, which will not be described until after
+the war. The Germans, it may be assumed, know something about them.
+
+The spirit of our naval pilots, both students and qualified graduates,
+is of the highest, and foreign naval officers have been quick to express
+their appreciation of their services. When Ensign Curtis Read was shot
+down in February, 1918, while flying over the French coast, his funeral
+was attended by many British army and navy officers, and by
+representatives of both branches of the French service. Besides the
+company of American sailors there were squads of French and British
+seamen, who marched in honor of the young officer. The city of Dunkirk
+presented a beautiful wreath of flowers.
+
+"Nothing," wrote Ensign Artemus Gates, captain-elect of Yale's 1917
+football eleven, and a comrade of Read's in France, to the young
+officer's mother, "could be more impressive than to see a French
+general, an admiral, British staff-officers, and many other officers of
+the two nations paying homage."
+
+The death of Ensign Stephen Potter, who was killed in a battle with
+seven German airplanes in the North Sea on April 25, 1918, followed a
+glorious fight which will live in our naval annals. Potter was the first
+of our naval pilots to bring down a German airplane, and indeed may have
+been the first American, fighting under the United States flag, to do
+this. His triumph was attained on March 19, 1918. Between that time and
+his death he had engaged in several fights against German airmen,
+causing them to flee.
+
+And in this country our course of training has been marked by many
+notable examples of heroism and devotion, none more so than the act of
+Ensign Walker Weed, who, after his plane had fallen in flames at Cape
+May, N.J., and he had got loose from his seat and was safe, returned to
+the burning machine and worked amid the flames until he had rescued a
+cadet who was pinned in the wreckage. It cost Weed his life, and the man
+he rescued died after lingering some days; but the act is none the less
+glorious because the gallant young officer gave his life in vain.
+
+Related to the aviation service, to the extent at least that they
+observe from an aerial post, are the balloon men of the navy, officers
+who go aloft with great gas-bags, which, when not in use, are carried on
+the decks of the larger war-ships engaged in work. From the baskets of
+these sausage-shaped balloons the observers, armed with telescopes and
+binoculars, the ocean and the ships of the convoy lying like a map
+below, sweep the surface of the water for lurking submarines and enemy
+raiders. The balloons are attached to the war-ships, and are towed along
+through the air. Just how effective this expedient is, is known only to
+the Navy Department, but the fact that it is retained argues for its
+usefulness.
+
+Convoyed merchant vessels steam in a wedge or V-shaped formation. At the
+apex is a destroyer, following which is an armored cruiser of the
+_Colorado_ or _Tennessee_ type. Astern of the cruiser is another
+destroyer, which tows the captive balloon at the end of a very light but
+strong steel wire. This balloon-towing destroyer really forms the point
+of the wedge formation. Behind it are placed the two diverging lines of
+merchant ships, which follow one another, not bow to stern, but in a
+sort of echelon position. Down through the centre of the wedge is a line
+of armed trawlers, while armed vessels steam outside the V. Somewhat
+astern of the convoy is another destroyer, which tows another captive
+balloon. As a final means of protection, destroyers fly about on each
+wing of The convoy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+Organization Of The Naval Reserve Classes--Taking Over of Yachts For
+Naval Service--Work Among The Reserves Stationed at Various Naval
+Centres--Walter Camp's Achievement
+
+
+In expanding the navy to meet war conditions, the regular personnel was
+increased, naval militia units of various States were taken into the
+service under the classification National Naval Volunteers, and
+volunteers were accepted in the following classes: _Fleet Naval
+Reserve_, made up of those who had received naval training and had
+volunteered for four years. _Naval Auxiliary Reserve_, made up of
+seafaring men who had had experience on merchant ships. _Naval Coast
+Defense Reserve_, made up of citizens of the United States whose
+technical and practical education made them fitted for navy-yard work,
+patrol, and the like. _Volunteer Naval Reserve_, made up of men who had
+volunteered, bringing into service their own boats. And finally, the
+_Naval Reserve Flying Corps_.
+
+It is from these classes that have come the men to put our navy on a war
+footing; for while the reserve classifications brought thousands and
+hundreds of thousands of men into the service, the permanent enlisted
+strength was kept at the specified figure, 87,000, until last June, when
+Congress increased the allowance to 131,485. This action was regarded as
+one of the most important taken since the country entered the war,
+inasmuch as it gave notice to the world that the United States in the
+future intends to have a fleet that will measure up to her prominent
+position in the world's affairs. It means, too, that the number of
+commissioned officers would be increased from 3,700, as at present
+arranged, to some 5,500, which will no doubt mean an opportunity for
+officers who are now in war service in the various reserve
+organizations.
+
+When we entered the war, a decision to send a number of our destroyers
+to France imposed upon the Navy Department the necessity of protecting
+our own coast from possible submarine attack. We had retained destroyers
+in this country, of course, and our battle and cruiser fleet was here;
+but a large number of mosquito craft, submarine-chasers, patrol-boats,
+and the like were urgently demanded. Several hundred fine yachts were
+offered to the Navy Department under various conditions, and in the
+Third (New York) District alone some 350 pleasure craft adapted for
+conversion into war-vessels, were taken over. Some of these were sent
+overseas to join the patrol-fleet, more were kept here. Besides being
+used for patrol-work, yachts were wanted for mine-sweepers, harbor
+patrol-boats, despatch-boats, mine-layers, and parent-ships. They were
+and are manned almost exclusively by the Naval Reserves, and operated
+along the Atlantic coast under the direction of officers commanding the
+following districts: First Naval District, Boston; Second Naval
+District, Newport, R.I.; Third Naval District, New York City; Fourth
+Naval District, Philadelphia; Fifth Naval District, Norfolk, Va.
+
+Hundreds of sailors, fishermen, seafaring men generally, and yachtsmen
+joined the Naval Coast Defense Reserve, which proved to be an extremely
+popular branch of the service with college men. Most of the reserves of
+this class--there were nearly 40,000 of them--were required for the
+coast-patrol fleet, and they had enlisted for service in home waters.
+But when the need for oversea service arose the reserves made no
+objection at all to manning transports and doing duty on patrol,
+mine-laying, mine-sweeping, and other craft engaged in duty in the war
+zone.
+
+In the course of taking over yachts by the Navy Department, Franklin D.
+Roosevelt, who has been so efficient and untiring in his capacity as
+Assistant Secretary of the Navy, charged that yachtsmen were not helping
+the government, and were holding their craft for high prices. Probably
+this was the case in enough instances to make Mr. Roosevelt impatient,
+but it would seem that the large body of yacht-owners did their best,
+not only donating their yachts to the government or selling them at a
+fair price, but by themselves enlisting in the service.
+
+There were yachtsmen who, in addition to giving their boats, defrayed
+the cost of maintenance. Great craft such as G. W. C. Drexel's _Alcedo_
+(already noted as sunk by a torpedo), A. Curtiss James's _Aloha_, J. C.
+and A. N. Brady's _Atlantic_, A. C. Burrage's _Aztec_, I. T. Bush's
+_Christabel_, H. A. Loughlin's _Corona_, J. P. Morgan's _Corsair_,
+Robert T. Graves's _Emeline_, E. P. and J. W. Alker's _Florence_, Edgar
+Palmer's _Guinevere_, George F. Baker, Jr.'s _Wacouta_, W. L. Harkness's
+_Cythera_, Robert Goelet's _Nahma_, J. G. Bennett's _Lysistrata_, John
+Borden's _Kanawha_, Henry Walter's _Narada_, Howard Gould's _Niagara_,
+Horace G. Dodge's _Nokomis_, Vincent Astor's _Noma_, Mrs. E. H.
+Harriman's _Sultana_, Morton F. Plant's _Vanadis_, P. W. Rouss's
+_Winchester, Aphrodite_, the O. H. Payne estate; F. G. Bourne's
+_Alberta_, and Edward Harkness's _Wakiva_--these great yachts among
+other steam-driven palaces, passed into the hands of the Navy Department
+in one way or another, and have performed valiant service. Some of them,
+indeed, have ended their careers violently in service.
+
+The government ripped out the costly interiors and converted these
+panelled floating abodes of the wealthy into serviceable fighters, and
+no doubt will retain those that survive when the war is ended. There
+were instances where the owners of yachts and the Navy Department could
+not agree on prices to be paid. The naval authorities finally suggested
+that the owners should name one representative, and the Navy Department
+another, and terms thus agreed upon. It was not, however, until the
+Department appointed a special board, whose duty was to secure suitable
+boats without further delay, that affairs began to proceed smoothly. The
+first move was to have the International Mercantile Marine Company's
+shipping experts act as agents of the special board, and from that time
+on there was no further trouble.
+
+The Mercantile Marine experts not only brought about the transfer of
+yachts to the navy, but superintended alterations above and below deck,
+arming, outfitting, coaling, painting, and provisioning the converted
+war-ships. While this was in progress the Navy Department was having
+built a fleet of submarine-chasers of the 110-foot class, which,
+together with the yachts taken over, offered abundant opportunities for
+oversea service, which the sailors enrolled in the Coast Defense
+Division were not slow to accept after they were requested to transfer
+their enrollment from Class 4 to Class 2, under which classification
+they were eligible to be sent abroad. Thus thousands of young men who
+had enlisted for coast-patrol duty, were sent aboard transports,
+submarine-chasers, and war-ships generally, for service in the European
+war zones.
+
+And with this constant outflow of trained men from the various naval
+training-stations of the country, the influx of newly enlisted reserves
+into these schools gives assurance that the Navy Department will never
+be embarrassed for lack of material wherewith to man its boats. And
+there is the likelihood that as our new merchant vessels are launched
+and put into commission, they will be manned by reserves from the navy
+training-schools with officers furnished by the Deck School at Pelham
+Bay and the Engineers' School at Hoboken. The government, of course, is
+in complete control of the merchant marine; but in our present condition
+many American ships have to be manned by aliens. It will be surprising
+if this state of affairs will not be corrected as swiftly as the Navy
+Department is able to do so, and thus we may expect to see our young
+seamen diverted in ever-increasing numbers to merchant vessels, the
+precise degree, of course, to be dependent upon the needs of the
+fighting vessels. Young officers, no doubt, will receive commands, and
+in general a thriving mercantile marine will be in readiness for
+operation when war ends.
+
+Our naval training-stations are models of businesslike precision and
+well-ordered proficiency. Herein are taught everything from bread-baking
+and cooking to engineering, gunnery, and other maritime accomplishments.
+Long before we had entered the war a determination had been reached by
+individuals and organizations external to the Navy--and
+Army--Departments, to bring to the naval stations as many and as
+complete comforts and conveniences of civilization as possible.
+
+Almost immediately after the American declaration of war, the purposes
+of the authors of this scheme were presented to Congress, and permission
+for them to carry out their mission was given through the formation of
+the sister commissions, the Army and the Navy Commissions on Training
+Camp Activities.
+
+Although entirely separate in their work--one dealing entirely with the
+men in the army, the other with those in the navy camps--the same
+authority on organized humanitarian effort, Raymond B. Fosdick of New
+York City, one of the original group with whom the plan originated, was
+chosen chairman of both. Each commission's work was divided among
+departments or subcommissions.
+
+In the Navy Commission, one group, the Library Department, supplied the
+enlisted men of the navy stations, as far as possible, with books,
+another with lectures, another with music, vocal and instrumental,
+another with theatrical entertainments, including moving-pictures, and
+another subcommission directed the recreational sport.
+
+Mr. Walter Camp, for thirty years the moving spirit, organizer, adviser,
+and athletic strategist of Yale, was chosen chairman of the Athletic
+Department, with the title General Commissioner of Athletics for the
+United States Navy.
+
+Taking up his task in midsummer, 1917, three months after declaration of
+war by the United States, Mr. Camp at once brought his ability,
+experience, and versatility into play in organizing recreational sport
+in the navy stations. By this time every naval district was fast filling
+with its quota of enlisted men, and the plan of the Navy Department to
+place an even hundred thousand men in the stations before the close of
+the year was well along toward completion.
+
+Swept from college, counting-room, professional office, and factory,
+often from homes of luxury and elegance, to the naval stations, where,
+in many cases arrangements to house them were far from complete, the
+young men of the navy found themselves surrounded by conditions to which
+they pluckily and patiently reconciled themselves, but which could not
+do otherwise than provoke restlessness and discomfort.
+
+[Illustration: _From a photograph copyright by International Film
+Service_. CAPTAIN'S INSPECTION AT NAVAL TRAINING STATION, NEWPORT, R.I.]
+
+Under these conditions the work of the Navy Commission was particularly
+timely and important, and that of Mr. Camp was of conspicuous value
+through the physical training and mental stimulus which it provided for
+patriotic, yet half homesick young Americans, from whom not only
+material comfort and luxury, but entertainment of all kinds, including
+recreational sport, had been taken.
+
+Mr. Camp defined the scope of the Athletic Department of the Commission
+as follows, in taking up his duties:
+
+"Our problem is to provide athletics for the men in order to duplicate
+as nearly as possible the home environment, produce physical fitness
+with high vitality, and in this we feel that we shall have the most
+generous and whole-souled co-operation from the Y.M.C.A., the Knights of
+Columbus, the War Camp Community Service, and all the agencies that are
+established in and about the camps."
+
+Launching the movement to "duplicate home conditions" in recreational
+sport, Mr. Camp appointed athletic directors in the largest districts
+during the fall, and in every one the programme of seasonal sport was
+carried out, comparable in extent and quality with that which every
+enlisted man in the stations would have enjoyed as participant or
+spectator in his native city or town, school or college, had he not
+entered military service.
+
+The athletic directors who were chosen were, in every case, experienced
+organizers of all-round sports, and several of them were former college
+coaches or star athletes. In the First District at Boston, George V.
+Brown, for thirteen years athletic organizer for the Boston Athletic
+Association, was named; in the Second at Newport, Doctor William T.
+Bull, the former Yale football coach and medical examiner; in the Third,
+Frank S. Bergin, a former Princeton football-player; in the Fourth, at
+League Island, Franklin T. McCracken, an athletic organizer of
+Philadelphia; and at the Cape May Station Harry T. McGrath, of
+Philadelphia, an all-round athlete.
+
+In the Fifth District, Doctor Charles M. Wharton, of Philadelphia, a
+prominent neurologist and University of Pennsylvania football coach,
+took charge late in the fall, resigning in April, 1918, to become
+field-secretary of the Navy Commission on Training Camp Activities, and
+being succeeded by Louis A. Young, of Philadelphia, a former University
+of Pennsylvania football-player, captain, and all-round athlete.
+
+In the Sixth District, at Charleston, S.C., Walter D. Powell, a former
+University of Wisconsin football-player, and later athletic director at
+Western Reserve University, was placed in charge of the programme, and
+at the Great Lakes Station, Herman P. Olcott, who had been football
+coach at Yale and athletic director at the University of Kansas, began
+his work in October.
+
+Arthur C. Woodward, formerly interscholastic athletic organizer in
+Washington, was placed in charge of the Puget Sound Station in
+Bremerton; and Elmer C. Henderson, athletic director in Seattle high
+schools, was appointed to the Seattle Station.
+
+David J. Yates, of New York City, an all-round athlete and athletic
+supervisor, was appointed director at Pensacola, combining the work of
+athletic organization with the physical training of the aviators in that
+station.
+
+Intensely practical and stimulating as well as picturesque and almost
+fascinating programmes in their attractiveness were carried out during
+the fall at the larger stations. The Newport football eleven, captained
+by "Cupid" Black, the former Yale gridiron star, and containing such
+all-American players as Schlachter, of Syracuse; Hite, of Kentucky;
+Barrett, of Cornell; and Gerrish, of Dartmouth; the Boston team,
+including in its membership Casey, Enright, and Murray, of Harvard; the
+League Island eleven, captained by Eddie Mahan, the former Harvard
+all-round player; and the Great Lakes team, largely composed of
+representative Western gridiron stars, played a series of games on the
+fields of the East and the Middle West, which lifted, temporarily, the
+curtain which seemed to have fallen on the college football heroes when
+they passed into naval service, and allowed the sport-loving public of
+America to again see them in athletic action.
+
+During the winter the value of the athletic department of the Commission
+on Training-Camp Activities to the Navy became clearer as the indoor
+programmes, which were organized by Commissioner Camp and his
+lieutenants, the athletic directors, were carried out. Boxing,
+wrestling, swimming, hockey, basket-ball, and other athletic instructors
+were appointed to develop every kind of indoor sport until there were no
+nights when, in the large auditoriums of the navy stations, some
+programme of winter sport was not being given for the entertainment of
+the thousands of young men in camp. Mass sports were favored, the
+general rule being laid down that the chief value of every game lay in
+accordance with its ability to attract a larger or a smaller number of
+participants or spectators.
+
+Among the sports which were tried, boxing proved its value as the chief.
+Attracting crowds limited only by the size of the auditoriums, the
+boxing-bouts which were held, usually semi-weekly in all the stations,
+were a most diverting feature of winter life in camp. One reason for
+their popularity can be directly traced to their enforced use in the
+physical training of the stations. Lending themselves ideally to mass
+instruction, the boxing exercises were taught to classes usually
+numbering between 150 and 200 persons, and the fact that every marine
+studied boxing contributed to the size and the interest of the crowds
+that packed the ringsides at the frequent bouts.
+
+The teaching of boxing was also emphasized for its life-saving value in
+a military sense. The maxim is taught that "every move of the boxer is a
+corresponding move by the bayonet-fighter." Thus, the "jab" corresponds
+to the "lunge," and the "counter" to the "parry." To illustrate this
+boxing instruction, and to apply it to bayonet-drill, a set of admirable
+moving-pictures was made, such clever pugilists as Johnnie Kilbane,
+Bennie Leonard, Kid McCoy, and Jim Corbett posing for the boxing, and
+Captain Donovan, the eminent English bayonet instructor, for the bayonet
+films, which were exhibited for instruction purposes in every navy
+station. Boxing tournaments, station championships, and army-navy
+championship bouts were given with crowded houses everywhere.
+
+Early in the winter Commissioner Camp gave directions for standardized
+sets of instruction in both boxing and wrestling, and as a result, in
+every camp in the country the groups of navy men were taught the same
+methods of rudimentary boxing for their value in a military sense, as
+well as their value as recreational sports.
+
+Soon after the thousands of young men began gathering in the navy camps,
+the discovery was made that not half the number was able to swim. For
+men destined for sea life, this was a vital handicap, and early in the
+spring of 1918 a campaign was launched to increase the number of
+swimming instructors and the facilities which were available for the
+instruction of the young men both in sea and river, as well as in pools
+and tanks, and it was decided to hold station tournaments, races, and
+all varieties of swimming events during the season, in conjunction with
+such individual instruction as it was necessary to give novices in the
+art of swimming.
+
+Rowing was developed during the season of 1918 to the extent which was
+made possible by the presence of cutters in the different stations.
+Wherever possible, crews were coached in the rudiments of rowing by old
+oarsmen. Racing between the cutter crews in whatever station was ordered
+for every available date, and sometimes as many as twenty boats were
+lined up abreast, and were shot away for the brushes between the cutter
+crews in some of the larger stations, furnishing a variety of sport
+comparable only with the brilliant scenes at the inter-collegiate races
+over the Thames course at New London, or the Hudson at Poughkeepsie.
+
+As football reigned supreme in the fall programme of recreational sport,
+and boxing in the winter, baseball furnished the greatest solace for the
+men of the navy marooned from city and college games. Scattered through
+the stations were former major and minor league and college players in
+abundance, and nines, vying in their intrinsic strength with
+major-league champions, were organized in every station. Jack Barry in
+the Boston District, "Toots" Schultz in the Newport, Phil Choinard in
+the Great Lakes, Davy Robertson in the Norfolk, Jack Hoey in the
+Charleston, and Paul Strand in the Seattle Districts, were a few of the
+stars of national reputation who headed the teams. More valuable,
+however, to the true purpose of the organization of recreational sports
+than the individual stars and the district teams were the leagues which
+were formed in the respective stations, for they kept every naval base
+engrossed in a wholesome athletic interest, and furnished natural
+relaxation from the exacting drill and drudgery of every-day routine.
+
+Track athletic stars of college and amateur athletic organizations were
+scattered through every station, and the organization of track meets was
+begun as soon as the men of the navy reached the camps. In October,
+1917, before some 15,000 people, the track men of the Boston Station
+took part in games on Boston Common, a track carnival was held in the
+Harvard Stadium a month later, and in every station of the country track
+tournaments were held during the season of 1918.
+
+For April 19, the anniversary of the battle of Lexington, a patriotic
+team relay race was ordered for every station in the country by
+Commissioner Camp. In the First District the route lay over the historic
+Marathon course from Ashland into Boston, and most of the teams
+represented either the army cantonment at Camp Devens or the First Naval
+District. In most instances the races were run from an army to a navy
+camp, messages being carried from the commanding officer in one to the
+similar officer in the other. Secretary Daniels of the navy witnessed
+the First District event.
+
+In most cases the races were conducted as a feature and auxiliary in the
+Third Liberty Loan campaign, which was nearing its height, and proved a
+valuable factor in promoting the success of the drive. It is believed
+that this is the first national race which was ever held in every
+section of the United States at the request of one individual, and it
+was appropriate that the first of a series of such athletic events
+should be of a purely patriotic scope and a part of the national
+military service.
+
+Closely related to the work of Commissioner Camp in the naval stations
+was his successful attempt to secure for the aviators the use of skilful
+flight surgeons and college trainers to safeguard the physical condition
+of the airmen. At the annual conference of the National Collegiate
+Association, which was held in New York City in December, 1917, Mr. Camp
+called attention to the fact that the conditioning of the aviators was
+similar to that of college athletes, and was just as vital; and,
+inasmuch as the physical safety of football-players and other college
+athletic contestants was successfully guaranteed by experienced
+trainers, he recommended that several of the best be selected from
+leading American universities to go to the aviation-fields and take
+charge of the conditioning of the fliers. Two months later,
+recommendation was made by the aviation department that from ten to
+fifteen such trainers be named by Mr. Camp to go at once to the
+aviation-stations and pass judgment on the condition of the fliers
+before they were allowed to leave the ground. An unusually large number
+of deaths took place in the United States during practise flights of the
+aviators early in the spring of 1918, and in May the government
+authorized the appointment of an adequate number of college trainers to
+carry out the work of conditioning the airmen. Before this time reports
+of conditions in England and France established the fact that more
+deaths of aviators had been caused by the flight of the airmen when in
+poor physical condition than by any defect in the flying-machine.
+
+In all, Mr. Camp's work has been adequately recognized by the Navy
+Department as of the greatest benefit, and the constant stream of
+testimony from the reserve seamen attached to the various stations that
+"there is no place like the navy," is, in some part due to the
+activities of this veteran Yale athlete and his associates.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+The United States Marine Corps--First Military Branch Of The National
+Service To Be Sanctioned By Congress--Leaving For The War--Service Of
+The Marines in Various Parts of the Globe--Details of Expansion of
+Corps--Their Present Service All Over The World
+
+
+When orders came for some 2,700 United States marines to go to France
+there was little circumstance, or general fuss and feathers, at the
+League Island Navy Yard, in Philadelphia. The Marine Corps, which is
+under control of the Navy Department, was quite used to such things.
+Through all the years when trouble had occurred in our island
+possessions, in the West Indies, Central America, or where not, it was
+the marines who received orders to start out and settle things. As a
+consequence, orders to go to France were merely in the line of the
+customary day's work.
+
+Thus the only ceremony characterizing the departure of Colonel Charles
+A. Doyen and his men from the navy-yard at Philadelphia, was a brief
+speech by Major-General George Barnett, commandant of the corps, to the
+officers of the field and staff of the overseas outfit, and to the
+company officers. No colors were unfurled. No reporters or press
+photographers were present. The regimental bandsmen went to war with
+their instruments cased and rifles over their shoulders. On the
+navy-yard parade-ground a sailor baseball nine from one of the
+battleships was at practice. The marines slipped away so quietly that
+the ball-players did not know until afterward that they had missed
+seeing the departure of 2,700 men bound for the battle-front.
+
+At 2.30 o'clock that afternoon the baseball-players had the
+parade-ground to themselves, and no one was in sight on the street in
+front of the home of the post commander of marines but a small boy in
+rompers, playing with a fox-terrier. A few seconds later the head of a
+column of soldiers of the sea, clad in khaki, and in heavy marching
+order, swung into that brick-paved street. The major-general commandant
+and a group of officers from headquarters took up posts on the turf of
+the parkway beside the curb. A sergeant of marines, in khaki, came
+running across the parade-ground, set up a motion-picture camera, and
+began to crank. Another sergeant was snapping "stills" as the column
+came to a halt and faced about toward the group of officers.
+
+The company officers of the battalion stepped out in front of
+Major-General Barnett and saluted. Then the general spoke for a few
+minutes in an every-day, conversational tone. He told the men that he
+trusted them, that he knew they would uphold the honor and high
+traditions of the corps when fighting in France under General Pershing.
+The officers saluted and stepped back to their places. The battalion
+stood at rigid attention for a moment. Then with a snap, rifles jumped
+to shoulders, squads swung into column formation, and the line passed
+swiftly down the street to the gate of the navy-yard.
+
+No cheering crowd greeted the marines as they emerged from the gateway,
+and only a few persons saw them board a train of day-coaches for a
+near-by port. The sun-browned fighting men, all veterans of campaigning
+in Hayti and Santo Domingo, waved their campaign hats from the windows
+and the train moved away.
+
+Half an hour later another battalion marched briskly down the same
+street from the end of a tree-lined vista, and formed on the
+parade-ground. The bluejacket nine was still at baseball practice, but
+the marines were at the far end of the field, too distant to attract
+particular attention. A third battalion formed and stacked arms in front
+of the barracks. Presently, without so much as a bugle-note for warning,
+the two battalions formed, picked up their arms, and defiled out of
+sight, back of a screen of shade-trees.
+
+A quarter of an hour later a rumor came to the bluejacket ball-players
+that the marines were boarding ship. The jacky beside the home plate
+dropped his bat and ran toward the street, his team-mates close behind
+him. They were too late to catch even a glimpse of the rear-guard. The
+marines, just as swiftly and quietly as if they were on their way to
+Hayti, Santo Domingo, Vera Cruz, or Nicaragua, had departed.
+
+We all know what they did and what subsequent regiments of marines sent
+to the front has done. Their fighting in the region of Torcy in the
+German drive of last June, when the Teutonic shock troops got a reverse
+shock from the marines, has already become a part of our brightest
+fighting tradition. The marines are fighters, have always been so--but
+it took their participation in this war to bring them prominently before
+the public.
+
+"Who and what are the marines?" was the question frequently asked when
+the communiques began to retail their exploits. Ideas were very hazy
+concerning them, and indeed, while we all are by this time quite
+familiar with what they can do, there are many of us even now who do not
+quite know what they are.
+
+[Illustration: _From a photograph copyright by International Film
+Service._ AMERICAN MARINES WHO TOOK PART IN THE MARNE OFFENSIVE ON
+PARADE IN PARIS, JULY 4, 1918.]
+
+Be it said, then, that the United States Marine Corps was authorized by
+the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775, and therefore has the
+distinction of being the oldest military branch in the United States
+service. The corps served valiantly throughout the Revolutionary War,
+and was disbanded at the close of the war, April 11, 1782. But the corps
+was reorganized and permanently established July 11, 1798. From that day
+to this, its officers have been zealous participants in every expedition
+and action in which the navy has engaged, and in many trying campaigns
+they have won distinction with their brethren of the army. Their motto
+is _Semper Fidelis_, and ever have they lived up to it in war and in
+peace.
+
+The marines serve both on land and sea. They are trained, clothed, and
+equipped very much as are soldiers of the land forces. In their
+preliminary instruction on shore, at navy-yards and naval-stations, they
+are instructed and drilled in the duties of infantry soldiers,
+field-artillery men, and as machine-gun companies. In preparation for
+their duties as landing-parties from ships of the navy, for
+expeditionary duty, and as defenders of naval advance bases, they are
+further trained in the use of portable search-lights, the wireless
+telegraph, the heliograph, and the various other methods of signalling.
+They study range-finding; erection, operation, and maintenance of
+telegraph and telephone lines; planting of land and submarine mines;
+handling of torpedoes; erection and demolition of bridges; building of
+roads; knotting and splicing of ropes; handling of heavy weights;
+fitting of gun-gear and the various methods of slinging and transporting
+ordnance, and the mounting in suitable shore positions of guns of 3, 5,
+and 6 inch caliber.
+
+In their service on battleships and cruisers, the marines form a part of
+the ship's complement for battle, manning the 6-inch, 5-inch, 3-inch,
+and 6-pounder guns of the intermediate and secondary batteries. They are
+trained and fully equipped for instant service as landing-parties for
+duty on shore.
+
+Great mobility and facilities for quick action are required of the
+marines, and they must be kept in readiness to move at a moment's notice
+and be prepared for service in any climate. They have seen service in
+Egypt, Algiers, Tripoli, Mexico, China, Japan, Korea, Cuba, Porto Rico,
+Panama, Nicaragua, Santo Domingo, Formosa, Sumatra, Hawaii, Samoa, Guam,
+Alaska, and the Philippine Islands.
+
+Lieutenant P. N. O'Bannon, of the Marine Corps, hoisted the first
+American flag ever flown over a fortress of the Old World when Derne, a
+Tripolitan stronghold, was taken by assault on April 27, 1805. The first
+regulars who entered the fortress of Chapultepec, in Mexico City, when
+it was taken by storm on September 13, 1847, were marines, under command
+of Major Levi Twigg. Under command of Robert E. Lee, later commanding
+the Confederate Army, marines captured John Brown at Harper's Ferry, in
+1859. A battalion of marines under Captain John L. Broome, occupied New
+Orleans upon its surrender, and hoisted the American flag on the custom
+house, April 29, 1862. A battalion of marines, 646 officers and men,
+commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel R. W. Huntington, was the first American
+force that landed in Cuba in 1898, when it established a base for
+Admiral Sampson's fleet at Guantanamo, holding their position against
+Spanish regulars who were said to number 7,000.
+
+The United States Marines of the battleship _Oregon_, Captain John T.
+Myers commanding, were the first American troops to enter Peking just
+before the Boxer insurrection broke out in 1900. Lieutenant-Colonel
+Neville's marines were the first ashore at Vera Cruz in April, 1914.
+
+It will thus be seen that the Marine Corps of the navy is a highly
+useful organization, and that it has played a large part in carrying our
+flag to the fore in all our wars. Until 1883 officers in the corps were
+appointed from civil life. Beginning with that year, all vacancies were
+filled from graduates of the Naval Academy at Annapolis. This practice
+continued until 1898, when the increase in the corps was so rapid that
+the Academy could not furnish a sufficient number of officers. Since
+then, until 1915, appointments were made from civil life and by
+promotion from the ranks. In 1915 vacancies again began to be filled
+from Annapolis, but the entrance of our country into the war brought
+about the award of commissions on a broader scale. To-day, serving with
+the marines in France are a number of young officers who, a year or two
+ago, were well-known college athletes, such men as Eddie Mahan, of
+Harvard; Billy Moore, of Princeton; Harry LeGore, of Yale; Albert
+Baston, of Minnesota, and many other gridiron and diamond heroes, who
+were attracted to this branch of the service by the opportunities
+offered for quick action.
+
+There is a Marine Officers' School at Norfolk, to which young men
+appointed second lieutenants from civil life are sent for two years'
+intensive study before being assigned to regular duty. The course covers
+general subjects, and also all military branches, such as engineering,
+topography, gunnery, electricity, signalling, torpedo operation, and the
+like. In the case of college men appointed lieutenants for war service,
+the majority had just been graduated or were seniors in their respective
+institutions; as a consequence, little time was lost in the study of
+general subjects, the idea being to concentrate upon military subjects.
+In short, the Plattsburg idea was put into effect, with what results may
+be judged by the words of high praise which have been said concerning
+the marine subalterns in France.
+
+Since war began the corps has grown from a total of 13,266 enlisted men
+and 426 officers to a present strength of 38,629 enlisted men and 1,389
+officers. The increase in enlisted men has been through voluntary
+enlistment; in one instance a college battalion enlisted as a whole. The
+personnel represents all classes of the community; college and business
+men, athletes, mechanics, laborers, and in one instance a former
+Congressman, who, although slightly over the usual age, attained the
+rank of second lieutenant through his devotion to duty and application.
+
+The recruit depots at Port Royal, S.C., and Mare Island, Cal., have
+proved equal to the demands made upon them, and here the preliminary
+training of the mass of recruits has been accomplished. No detail of the
+training of a soldier has been neglected, and on the transfer of these
+new men to the concentration camp at Quantico, Va., the majority has
+worn the insignia of expert rifleman, sharpshooter, or marksman. Here at
+Quantico the men have completed their course of intensive training in
+the new organizations formed at that post for service overseas. Five
+regiments of infantry, with their attendant replacement units, have been
+organized in addition to a brigade of artillery, since the creation of
+this new post, in June, 1917.
+
+Besides the brigade of marines in France, it is necessary to maintain
+forces of marines in Santo Domingo, Hayti, the Virgin Islands, Guam,
+Cuba, China, the Philippines, Porto Rico, and Honolulu, while there is a
+small detachment in London. The fleet of battleships and cruisers
+absorbs a goodly percentage of the present force, while at the same time
+it has been necessary to supply men to augment the garrisons of the
+navy-yards, naval ammunition depots, radio-stations, and other posts of
+the country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+Scope Of The Navy's Work In Various Particulars--Food--Fuel--Naval
+Consulting Board--Projectile Factory--Expenditures--Increase Of
+Personnel
+
+
+In the way of progress in naval construction or appliance, it is not the
+opinion of our naval technicians that the war from its inception to the
+present time has developed any hitherto unknown feature. Guns and ships,
+to be sure, have increased in size, and details of the submarine and
+airplane have vastly improved these weapons of offense, but
+substantially no weapon hitherto known has been discredited by use in
+this war, and even all classes of war-ships built before the war have
+withstood the test of new conditions as to their usefulness along the
+lines for which they were originally designed.
+
+Germany has not improved the submarine, except in detail. Undersea craft
+of that country which have been recently captured show little deviation
+from the original lines of the submarine as used in the German Navy four
+years ago. They are larger--the new ones, that is--but the principle of
+their construction is fundamental, and the development not unnatural.
+
+Our modern submarine-chasers are merely a modified form of the
+torpedo-boat destroyer. The depth-bomb was known before it was employed
+as one of the most effective weapons against the submarine.
+
+Naval authorities join in defending the big battleship which has come
+into action but little in the course of the war thus far. There is to be
+considered, however, the moral effect of Great Britain's big fleet,
+which has maintained control of the seas for four years. Similarly our
+American fleet is regarded as the first and decisive line of defense on
+our shores.
+
+Battleships, it is true, do not figure frequently in the official
+communiques, but none the less they are playing their part. Battleships
+are absolutely a necessary and vital element to every nation at war.
+They constitute the last great line of defense, and in this war they
+have succeeded in keeping the seas practically free of enemy menace save
+under the water.
+
+In this final chapter may be included various details, facts, and
+figures which are necessary as giving further point to the enormous
+scope of the war activities of the Navy Department. In 1916, then, the
+officers and enlisted men of the regular navy and the Marine Corps
+totalled 82,738. In March, 1918, the strength of the naval forces,
+including regular navy, marines, naval reserve force, national naval
+volunteers, and coast guard, was 349,997, and at this writing is more
+than 400,000. The total expenditures of the navy from the date of its
+establishment in 1794 to 1916, inclusive, were $3,367,160,591.77, only
+about $34,000,000 in excess of the appropriations real and pending since
+August 26, 1916. For the specific purposes of new construction
+appropriations totalling $295,000,000 have been made.
+
+On April 1, 1917, there were building 15 battleships, 6 battle cruisers,
+7 scout cruisers, 27 destroyers, 61 submarines, 2 fuel ships, 1 supply
+ship, 1 transport, 1 gunboat, 1 hospital ship, and 1 ammunition ship.
+Since that date contracts have been placed for 949 vessels, including
+100 submarine-chasers for co-belligerent nations. The Board of
+Construction and Repair has also prepared in co-operation with the
+Shipping Board, a number of preliminary designs of simplified merchant
+vessels, varying in length from 400 to 800 feet.
+
+In June of 1917, 180 acres of land were secured at South Charleston, W.
+Va., for a projectile plant, which is now in operation. An armor-plate
+factory will be constructed. In one plant manufacturing steel forgings
+the output was increased 300 per cent within two months after government
+managers were installed.
+
+The expansion of the naval establishment has necessitated a great
+increase in facilities for the assembling, housing, and distribution of
+stores, and these needs have been largely met at Boston, Philadelphia,
+and Hampton Roads by large emergency and permanent constructions.
+
+In the Commissary Department the effort has been to see that the naval
+forces continue to be what the surgeon-general has stated they are: the
+"best fed body of men in the world." Sailors are no poison squad, and
+all efforts to try upon the officers and seamen of the force any
+experimental or test food have been rigorously suppressed. The high cost
+of living has been reflected in the cost of the navy ration, but the
+price has been met. There were clothing shortages during the early weeks
+of the war, but prompt and efficient action by the Bureau of Supplies
+and Accounts has remedied all this.
+
+Fuel for the navy has been handled by means of allotments placed with
+the principal operators in coal-producing States, the prices being fixed
+by the Fuel Administrator. The navy's stocks of fuel have been
+maintained to capacity, and shipments have been made to the fleet within
+the time required in all cases. Fuel oil has been obtained in similar
+manner at the prices fixed by the Federal Trade Commission. The Medical
+Department of the navy passed quietly from a peace to a war footing on
+April 6, 1917, and has since continued to give adequate and satisfactory
+service. With the completion of a hospital ship now building, the navy
+will have four hospital ships as against one when war began. Prior to
+the war there were about 375 medical officers on duty. There are to-day
+1,675 medical officers in active service, and 200 more on reserve. Where
+30 dental surgeons were formerly employed there are now 245. The number
+of female nurses has increased from 160 to 880.
+
+The President at the outbreak of war directed the Navy Department to
+take over such radio-stations as might be required for naval
+communications, all others being closed. Fifty-three commercial
+radio-stations were thus taken into the Naval Communication Service.
+Because of duplications, twenty-eight of these stations were closed.
+Thousands of small amateur radio-stations were closed. At present no
+radio communication is permitted on United States territory (not
+including Alaska), except through stations operated by the Navy
+Communication Department or by the War Department,
+
+With the need of operators apparent, a school for preliminary training
+in radio-telegraphy was established in each naval district, and when the
+need for a central final training-school developed, Harvard University
+offered the use of buildings, laboratories, and dormitories for this
+purpose. The offer was accepted, and now the naval-radio school at
+Harvard is one of the largest educational institutions in the country.
+There is another final training-school at Mare Island, Cal. The navy
+supplies the operators for the rapidly increasing number of war vessels,
+and has undertaken to supply radio operators for all merchant vessels in
+transatlantic service.
+
+At Harvard and Mare Island the radio students are put through four
+months' courses, which embraces not only radio-telegraphy and allied
+subjects, but military training. Some 500,000 men have been undergoing
+courses at these two schools alone.
+
+When war occurred the Coast Guard was transferred from the Treasury
+Department to the Navy Department, and the personnel now consists of 227
+officers and 4,683 warrant officers and enlisted men.
+
+In the work of examining and considering the great volume of ideas and
+devices and inventions submitted from the public, the Naval Consulting
+Board has rendered a signal service. Beginning March, 1917, the Navy
+Department was overwhelmed with correspondence so great that it was
+almost impossible to sort it. Letters, plans, and models were received
+at the rate of from 5 to 700 a day. Within a year upward of 60,000
+letters, many including detailed plans, some accompanied by models, have
+been examined and acted upon. To do this work a greatly enlarged office
+force in the Navy Department was necessary, and offices were established
+in New York and San Francisco. While a comparatively small number of
+inventions have been adopted--some of them of considerable value--the
+majority has fallen into the class of having been already known, and
+either put into use or discarded after practical test.
+
+And thus the Navy Department is carrying on its share of the war, a
+share significant at the very outset as one of our most important
+weapons in the establishment of the causes for which the United States
+entered the great conflict.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+The beginning of the end--Reports in London that submarines were
+withdrawing to their bases to head a battle movement on the part of the
+German Fleet--How the plan was foiled--The surrender of the German Fleet
+to the combined British and American Squadrons--Departure of the
+American Squadron--What might have happened had the German vessels come
+out to fight
+
+
+In the early fall of 1913 an American naval officer, who enjoyed to a
+peculiar degree the confidence of certain officers of the British
+Admiralty, was attending to duties of an extremely confidential nature
+in London when one morning he was accosted by a friend, an officer high
+in the councils of His Majesty's Navy.
+
+"M----," he said, "I have rather an important bit of news. Within a few
+weeks--in fact, we cannot quite tell how soon--there is going to be the
+greatest naval engagement the world has ever seen. We are ready for
+them, though, and we shall win."
+
+The American was naturally curious, and in reply to his questions the
+Briton went on to say that from certain intelligence quarters word had
+come that the trend of German U-boats back to their bases--which had
+been noted for a week or so--contained a grim meaning. It meant, in
+fine, the emergence of the German fleet, headed by the submarines,
+prepared for a final battle to establish the question of sea power.
+
+One may imagine the tenseness that reigned at the Admiralty, and the
+code messages that flew back and forth between London and the flag-ship
+of the British and American battle fleet. As it happened, the German sea
+fighters never sallied forth in battle array, their final appearance
+being less warlike.
+
+But they would have come, it transpired later, had not the sailors of
+the fleet intercepted messages from German officers to their families,
+bidding a last good-by. They never expected to return from this last
+fight. But the seamen were of a different mind from their officers. They
+declined to go forth to a losing battle, and they struck. This, then,
+appears to be the reason why the German battleships and armored cruisers
+and the like did not come forth to battle--at least this is one of the
+stories told in navy circles.
+
+With the events that followed the cessation of hostilities on November
+11 almost every American is familiar. The armistice of that date
+demanded that Germany give her entire fleet to the keeping of England.
+For a discussion of the surrender the German light cruiser _Koenigsberg_
+brought representatives from the Soldiers' and Sailors' Council, which
+was then in nominal control of the German fleet, into the Firth of
+Forth. Admiral Beatty refused to deal with these representatives, and
+insisted that all arrangements be made through some flag-officer of the
+imperial fleet.
+
+Thereupon Admiral von Reuter, the commanding German officer, went aboard
+the _Queen Elizabeth_, and there arranged with Admiral Beatty and his
+flag-officers for the surrender. At dinner the German officers dined at
+one table, the British at another. After more discussion the
+_Koenigsberg_ departed for Kiel about ten that night. The
+commander-in-chief then issued an order to all his ships, prescribing
+the entire details of the surrender. The American battle squadron got
+under way about 4 A.M. November 21, 1918, and steamed from the Forth
+bridge out of the Firth into the North Sea.
+
+The entire Grand Fleet was here concentrated, formed in two long
+parallel lines steaming due east six miles apart, our American squadron
+being the second one in the northern line. By that time the Sixth Battle
+Squadron was composed of the _New York_, _Texas_, _Wyoming_, _Arkansas_,
+and _Florida_, the _Delaware_ having returned home. Our ships were led
+by the _New York_. About 9 A.M. the men crowding the decks sighted some
+smoke coming dead ahead out of the mist, and in a short time the German
+battle-cruisers were plainly seen leading the other German ships in
+their last trip at sea under their own flag. They were not flying
+battle-flags. At this time every one of the Anglo-American ships was at
+her battle station, turrets were fully manned, and all preparations made
+for treachery at the last minute.
+
+The German line, led by the _Seydlitz_, steamed slowly between the
+Allied lines, keeping perfect station, and when their flag-ship came
+abreast of the _Queen Elizabeth_ the signal was given for the whole
+Grand Fleet to make a turn of 180 degrees, and return into port with the
+humiliated enemy. The appearance of the enemy ships was very good. There
+is no doubt they were magnificent fighting ships, and that in action
+they would have acquitted themselves gallantly.
+
+Lieutenant W. A. Kirk, U.S.N., who witnessed the surrender from a point
+of vantage on the bridge of the battleship _New York_, standing just
+behind Admiral Rodman and Admiral Sims, said that it was exceedingly
+difficult at the time to grasp the significance of their surrender and
+feel duly impressed, as there was a lack of show or emotion of any kind.
+
+"The whole affair," he added, "was run exactly according to prearranged
+schedule, and was only another proof of the quiet, businesslike,
+efficient way the Royal Navy does things."
+
+Continuing, he said:
+
+"We proceeded into port in this formation, our lines gradually
+converging as we approached the entrance of the Firth of Forth. After
+reaching a point a short distance in the Firth the German ships dropped
+anchor, and Admiral Beatty on his flag-ship stood by to inspect them. As
+we passed within 500 yards of the enemy ships on our way to anchorage,
+we gave the British Admiral three rousing cheers. He returned them by
+waving his hat to Admiral Rodman. About three that afternoon Admiral
+Beatty sent his famous message, 'The German flag will be hauled down at
+sunset to-day, and will not be flown again until further orders.' The
+German ships a few days later, and after more inspection, were convoyed
+to their port of internment, Scapa Flow."
+
+The American battleships remained with the Grand Fleet for about two
+weeks after the surrender, and then departed, amid many felicitations
+and interchange of compliments, to Portland, where they joined the
+vessels assembled to escort President Wilson into Brest. This done, the
+American sea-fighters lay for a day in Brest, and then, spreading
+600-foot homeward-bound pennants to the breezes, the armada headed for
+the United States, where at the port of New York the men of the fleet
+paraded down Fifth Avenue, to the appreciative acclaim of tens upon tens
+of thousands of enthusiastic patriots who lined Fifth Avenue.
+
+Had the German fleet come out for battle a large percentage of it would
+unquestionably have been destroyed, and yet it is the theory of naval
+officers that some units, perhaps the swift cruisers, would in the very
+nature of the fighting (sea battles are fought upon the lines of two
+great arcs) have succeeded in shaking themselves loose, to the
+consequent detriment of our freight and transport traffic. Cruisers
+speeding free upon the face of the broad ocean are difficult to corner,
+and a great amount of damage might have been inflicted on the Allies
+before all were finally hunted down.
+
+As it was, the enemy fleet remained at its base, and in the end came
+forth peacefully, as has been described. Had the war gone on, had the
+German craft not appeared for battle, a plan to smother their base
+through the medium of clouds of bombing airplanes would unquestionably
+have been put into effect at a good and proper time. And at the same
+juncture, no doubt, our Sixth Squadron would have joined with the Grand
+Fleet in an attack upon Heligoland, plans for which are still in
+existence.
+
+In the waning months of the war it had become increasingly clear that
+the submarine as a weapon to decide the war was ineffective. Not only
+were the Allied destroyers and chasers, armed with their depth-bombs,
+waging a successful fight against the undersea boats, but other methods
+were beginning to have their effect. Chief among these were our
+mine-laying exploits, by which, in October of 1918, was established a
+mine-barrage across the North Sea, which proved a tremendous handicap to
+the German U-boats.
+
+Captain Reginald R. Belknap, U.S.N., commanding Mine Squadron I of the
+Atlantic Fleet, which operated in European waters, has compiled an
+interesting account of the important part played by the United States
+mine-laying squadron in planting mines in the North Sea. From the time
+the United States joined in the war, he says, our Navy Department urged
+strong measures, essentially offensive, to hem in the enemy bases, so
+that fewer submarines might get out, or, if already out, get back. A new
+American invention came to the notice of the Bureau of Ordnance, where
+its possibilities were quickly perceived. A few quiet but searching
+experiments developed it into a mine of more promising effectiveness
+than any ever used before, especially against submarines. This gave the
+United States Navy the definite means to offer an anti-submarine
+barrage, on the German coast or elsewhere, and the result was the
+northern mine-barrage in the North Sea, stretching from the Orkneys 280
+miles to Norway, which the Secretary of the Navy's annual report
+characterizes as "the outstanding anti-submarine offensive product of of
+the year."
+
+Manufacture of the mines in this country--they were of the non-sweepable
+variety--had been going on since December, 1917. The many parts were
+constructed by the thousands by numerous different contractors, who
+delivered them at Norfolk, where the mine spheres were charged with 300
+pounds of TNT, and loaded into steamers, managed by the Naval Overseas
+Transport Service. It required twenty-four steamers, running constantly,
+to keep the ten mine-planters supplied with mines. Only one fell a
+victim to a submarine.
+
+Our mine squadron arrived at Inverness May 26, 1918, and twelve days
+later started on its first mine-planting "excursion." On this excursion,
+June 7, the squadron planted a mine field 47 miles long, containing
+3,400 mines, in three hours and thirty-six minutes. One ship emptied
+herself of 675 mines without a single break, 1 mine every eleven and
+one-half seconds through more than two hours, the longest series ever
+planted anywhere.
+
+On the seventh excursion, August 26, the commander of the mine force,
+Rear-Admiral Strauss, U.S.N., went out, and on the next, by the American
+and British squadrons together, he was in command of them both, on the
+_San Francisco_. The mine field on this occasion closed the western end
+of the barrier off the Orkneys, making it complete across. Of the ninth
+excursion Rear-Admiral Clinton-Baker, R.N., was in command. Altogether
+the American squadron made fifteen excursions, the British squadron
+eleven, and when the barrage was finished, at the end of October, 70,100
+mines in all had been planted in it, of which 56,570 were American. The
+barrier stretched from off the northern Orkney Islands, 230 miles, to
+the coast of Norway, near Bergen. Its width averaged 25 miles, nowhere
+less than 15 miles--more than an hour's run for a submarine.
+
+The barrage began to yield results early in July, and from time to time
+reports would come of submarines damaged or disappearing. It may never
+be known definitely how many actually did come to grief there, but the
+best information gives a probable ten before the middle of October, with
+a final total of seventeen or more. In addition the squadron should be
+credited with two submarines lost in the field of British mines laid by
+the U.S.S. _Baltimore_, off the Irish coast.
+
+In summing up the work of the navy throughout the war one month after
+the armistice had been signed, Secretary Daniels paid the highest
+tribute to the widely recognized efficiency of Vice-Admiral Sims; he had
+also superlative praise for Rear-Admiral Rodman, who commanded our
+battleships attached to the Grand Fleet; for Vice-Admiral Wilson,
+commanding our forces in French waters; for Rear-Admiral Niblack, our
+Mediterranean commander, Rear-Admiral Dunn in the Azores, and
+Rear-Admiral Strauss in charge of mining operations.
+
+When the fighting ended our force in European waters comprised 338
+vessels, with 75,000 men and officers, a force larger than the entire
+navy before the war. The navy, in its operations, covered the widest
+scope in its history; naval men served on nearly 2,000 craft that plied
+the waters, on submarines, and in aviation, while on land, marines and
+sailors helped to hold strategic points. The regiments of marines shared
+with the magnificent army their part of the hard-won victory;
+wonderfully trained gun-crews of sailors manned the monster 14-inch
+guns--which marked a new departure in land warfare--while naval officers
+and men in all parts of the world did their full part in the operations
+which mark the heroic year of accomplishment.
+
+While the destroyers led in the anti-submarine warfare, the 406
+submarine chasers, of which 335 were despatched abroad, should have
+credit for efficient aid, also the American submarines sent to foreign
+waters.
+
+The transportation of 2,000,000 American troops 3,000 miles overseas,
+with the loss of only a few hundred lives, and without the loss of a
+single American troopship on the way to France, was an unparalleled
+achievement. From a small beginning this fleet expanded to 24 cruisers
+and 42 transports, manned by 3,000 officers and 41,000 men, these being
+augmented by 4 French men-of-war and 13 foreign merchant vessels, a
+grand total of 83 ships. In spite of the constant menace of submarines,
+only 3 of these troopships were lost--the _Antilles_, _Lincoln_, and
+_Covington_. All were sunk on the homeward voyage.
+
+Four naval vessels were lost as a result of submarine activity--the
+destroyer _Jacob Jones_, the converted yacht _Alcedo_, the coast-guard
+cutter _Tampa_, sunk with all on board, and the cruiser _San Diego_,
+sunk in home waters by striking an enemy mine. The loss of the collier
+_Cyclops_, bound for South America, whose disappearance is one of the
+unsolved mysteries of the seas, will probably never be explained.
+
+The notable achievements in naval ordnance, especially the work of the
+14-inch naval guns on railway mounts on the western front, which hurled
+shells far behind the German lines, have received adequate recognition
+from Allied authorities. These mounts were designed and completed in
+four months. The land battery of these naval guns was manned exclusively
+by bluejackets, under command of Rear-Admiral C. P. Plunkett, and work
+of the Bureau of Ordnance was conducted by Admiral Early, the chief of
+the bureau, one of our "ablest and fittest" officers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+Lessons Of The War--The Submarine Not Really a Submarine--French Term
+For Undersea Fighter--The Success of the Convoy Against
+Submersibles--U-Boats Not Successful Against Surface Fighters--Their
+Shortcomings--What The Submarine Needs To Be A Vital Factor In Sea
+Power--Their Showing Against Convoyed Craft--Record Of Our Navy In
+Convoying And Protecting Convoys--Secretary Daniel's Report
+
+
+Naval scientists learned much as a result of this war, but contrary to
+popular theory the events of the four and a half years strengthened
+belief in the battleship as the deciding element in sea power. The
+submarine was frightful, and did a vast amount of harm, but not so much
+as one might think. Against surface fighters it was not remarkably
+effective; indeed the war proved that the submarine's only good chance
+against a battleship or cruiser was to lurk along some lane which the
+big surface craft was known to be following, and strike her quickly in
+the dark. Within effective torpedo range a periscope, day or night, is
+visible to keen-eyed watchers, and all told not a dozen British and
+American sea fighters, of whatever class, were sunk as a result of
+submarine attack.
+
+In the battle of Heligoland Bight early in the war, as a matter of fact,
+a squadron of British battleships passed right through a nest of
+submarines and were not harmed. The most spectacular submarine success,
+the sinking of the three fine cruisers, _Aboukir_ and _Cressy_ and
+_Hawke_, was the result of an attack delivered upon unsuspecting craft,
+which were lying at anchor, or at all events under deliberate headway.
+The American Navy, as already pointed out, lost the _Jacob Jones_, a
+destroyer, the coast cutter _Tampa_, and the _Alcedo_, together with one
+or two smaller craft, but that is all.
+
+It will surprise many when the statement is made that, of all the
+Atlantic convoys, east or west bound, in the four years of the war,
+aggregating a gross tonnage of some eighty-odd millions, only 654,288
+tons were lost through submarine attack, considerably less than 1 per
+cent of the total tonnage crossing the war zone during the war--0.83 per
+cent, to be exact. Here are some specific figures:
+
+Atlantic convoys between July 26, 1917, and October 15, 1918, a total of
+1,027 convoys, comprising 14,968 ships east and west bound, were carried
+with a loss of 118 ships--0.79 of 1 per cent.
+
+For all seas, 85,772 vessels, 433 lost--0.51 per cent.
+
+It really boils down to the fact that the greatest feat of the submarine
+was in its success in _slowing up oversea freight traffic and in keeping
+neutral freighters in port_. In this respect the submarine most
+certainly was dangerously pernicious. But as a positive agency, as said,
+the undersea craft was not a decisive factor in the war.
+
+All of which, most naturally, is a graphic commentary upon the
+inadequacy of the submarine as a check to the manifestations of sea
+power. In truth, there is a vast deal of popular misconception about the
+submarine, a name which is really a misnomer. The French are more
+precise in their term, a submersible; for, as a matter of fact, the
+submarine, or submersible, is in essence a surface craft which is able
+to descend beneath the water, proceeding thus for a limited time.
+
+The amount of time which a submersible may run beneath the waves depends
+upon her speed. The best of the German undersea boats, it has been
+estimated, could not remain under more than three hours at high speed.
+They then had to come up, as the navy saying has it, for "more juice."
+To be more explicit, a submersible has a mechanical process, a
+combination motor and dynamo between the engine, which drives the boat
+when it is on the surface, and the thrust block through which the shaft
+runs to the propeller. This motor-dynamo, serving as a motor, drives the
+boat when she is beneath the water. When the electric power is exhausted
+the boat comes to the surface, the motor is disconnected from the shaft
+and is run as a dynamo generating power. Twelve hours are required in
+which to produce the amount of electricity required for use when the
+vessel next submerges. Thus, a great proportion of the time the
+submarine is a surface craft.
+
+Again, there are important defects in the lead battery system, which was
+generally used in the war. First of all, they are very heavy, and
+secondly the sulphuric acid in the containers is liable to escape--in
+fact, does escape--when the boat rolls heavily. Sulphuric acid mingling
+with salt water in the bilges produces a chlorine gas, which, as every
+one knows, is most deadly. Not only this: the acid eats out the steel
+plates of a hull.
+
+There is talk of using dry batteries, but these are heavy, too, and
+there are evils arising from their use which have made the lead
+batteries, objectionable though they may be, preferable in a great
+majority of cases. The British have a type of submersible propelled on
+the surface by steam.
+
+The Peace Conference at this writing is talking of the advisability of
+eliminating the submarine as a weapon of war. Whether by the time this
+is read such action will have been taken, the fact remains that before
+the submarine could hope to approach in formidability the surface
+fighter, she will have to experience a development which at the present
+time has not been attained. The vital need seems to be a single
+propulsive agency for progress on the surface and when submerged.
+
+An interesting table showing the success of the convoy system is
+herewith presented:
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+| Convoy     Atlantic convoys |No. of |No. of mer-|Losses in|  P.C.  |
+|         Homeward            |convoys|chant ships| convoy  |        |
+|-----------------------------|-------|-----------|---------|--------|
+| North Atlantic              |  306  |   5,416   |    40   |  0.74  |
+| Gibraltar                   |  133  |   1,979   |    30   |  1.5   |
+| West African ports          |  105  |     944   |     6   |  0.64  |
+| Rio de Janeiro              |   22  |     307   |     1   |  0.32  |
+|                             | ----- | --------- | ------- | ------ |
+|   Total                     |  566  |   8,646   |    77   |  0.89  |
+|                             |       |           |         |        |
+|          Outward            |       |           |         |        |
+| Various sailings from       |       |           |         |        |
+|     British ports           |  508  |   7,110   |    45   |  0.63  |
+|                             |       |           |         |        |
+|       Other convoys         |       |           |         |        |
+| Scandinavian (old system)   |  ...  |   6,475   |    75   |  1.15  |
+| Scandinavian (new system)   |  ...  |   3,923   |    16   |  0.41  |
+| French coal trade           |  ...  |  37,221   |    53   |  0.14  |
+| Local Mediterranean         |  ...  |  10,275   |   127   |  1.24  |
+| East Coast                  |  ...  |  12,122   |    40   |  0.33  |
+|                             | ----- | --------- | ------- | ------ |
+|   Grand total               |  ...  |  85,772   |   433   |  0.51  |
+|====================================================================|
+|          STATEMENT OF SHIPS IN ORGANIZED ATLANTIC CONVOYS          |
+|                   July 26, 1917-October 5, 1918                    |
+|                                SHIPS                               |
+|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
+|                             | Homeward  |  Outward  |    Total     |
+|                             |  bound    |   bound   |              |
+|-----------------------------|-----------|-----------|--------------|
+| Convoys                     |     539   |     488   |       1,027  |
+| Ships convoyed              |   8,194   |   6,774   |      14,968  |
+| Casualties                  |      74   |      44   |         118  |
+| Per cent of casualties      |     0.9   |    0.65   |        0.79  |
+|====================================================================|
+|                              TONNAGES                              |
+|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
+|                             |          (GROSS DEADWEIGHT)          |
+|                             |--------------------------------------|
+|                             | Homeward  |  Outward  |    Total     |
+|                             |  bound    |   bound   |              |
+|-----------------------------|-----------|-----------|--------------|
+| Convoyed                    | 59,062,200| 47,491,950|  106,554,150 |
+| Lost                        |    510,600|    378,100|      888,700 |
+| Per cent of losses          |       0.86|        0.8|         0.83 |
+|                             |--------------------------------------|
+|                             |           (GROSS TONNAGE)            |
+|                             |--------------------------------------|
+| Convoyed                    | 43,196,740| 33,860,491|   77,057,231 |
+| Lost                        |    364,842|    289,446|      654,288 |
+| Per cent of losses          |       0.84|       0.85|         0.85 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+Fifteen cargo ships with a deadweight tonnage of 103,692, were lost
+during 1918 by the Naval Overseas Transportation Service. The removal of
+the ban of secrecy, vital during the war as a protection to vessels and
+their crews, discloses that 6 ships, aggregating 42,627 tons, were
+destroyed by enemy activity, 5 vessels, representing a tonnage of 44,071
+tons, were sunk in collisions, and 4 vessels, totalling 16,994 tons,
+were destroyed by fire and explosion. Seventy-two ships were originally
+assigned to this service late in 1917, and when the armistice was
+signed, November 11, 1918, the cargo fleet numbered 453 vessels,
+including 106 ships ready to be taken over.
+
+Crews of naval cargo ships faced many perils, including the menace of an
+unseen foe, the danger of collision, and the liability to death by
+accidents from inflammable cargoes.
+
+Not only were these crews confronted with the normal perils of the sea,
+says the report, but they faced destruction from torpedo, collision, and
+other unforeseen accidents that might cause fire in inflammable cargoes.
+It took brave men to steam week in and week out through submarine and
+mine infested waters at eight knots an hour in a ship loaded with
+several thousand tons of depth charges, TNT, or poison gas, not knowing
+what minute the entire vessel was going to be blown to matchwood.
+
+It is on record that a convoy of fifty ships from New York was
+disintegrated by a violent storm in mid-Atlantic, and that only two of
+the number reached France under convoy. "Every ship for herself," the
+forty-eight others by luck, pluck, and constant vigil, all finally
+dropped their anchors in the protected harbors of their destination.
+
+The value of a cargo ship is realized when it is known that under
+existing war conditions each ship cost to operate $100 every hour. Good,
+bad, and indifferent ships, old or new, fast or slow, were transformed
+into serviceable craft. The personnel of the Naval Overseas
+Transportation Service at the time of the armistice included 5,000
+officers and 45,000 enlisted men.
+
+The world has been so deeply occupied with figures and facts relating to
+the havoc by the German submarine that little thought has been centred
+upon the work of the Allied submersibles. Yet in the way of accounting
+for war-ships one may fancy that they rivalled the Teutonic craft.
+Details may be given of the part which British submarines played during
+the war. This service destroyed 2 battleships, 2 armed cruisers, 2 light
+cruisers, 7 destroyers, 5 gunboats, 20 submarines, and 5 armed auxiliary
+vessels. In addition 3 battleships and 1 light cruiser were torpedoed,
+but reached port badly damaged. One Zeppelin also got back to port badly
+damaged after having been attacked by a submarine.
+
+Other enemy craft destroyed by British submarines were 14 transports, 6
+ammunition and supply ships, 2 store ships, 53 steamships, and 197
+sailing ships. In no case was a merchant ship sunk at sight. Care was
+taken to see that the crews of all vessels got safely away.
+
+In addition to carrying out their attacks on enemy war-craft, the
+submarines played an important part in convoy work. In the third year of
+the war one of the British submarine commanders carried out 24 cruises,
+totalling 22,000 miles, which probably constitutes a record for any
+submarine. In the first and second years of the war 7 British submarine
+commanders carried out a total of 120 cruises, extending for 350 days,
+all of which were actually spent in the enemy theatre.
+
+Our submarines, too, acquitted themselves nobly on the other side, and
+when the story of the navy's activities is finally presented by Mr.
+Daniels, we shall have in our possession details not now to be printed.
+We may, however, say that battles, submarine against submarine, have not
+been unknown in the war zone; the fact that in addition to moving ahead
+or astern the submarine has also the power of dodging up and down
+complicated these fights in many interesting ways.
+
+There has been, too, a great deal of misapprehension concerning the
+relative showing of the United States and Great Britain in conveying our
+soldiers to the theatre of war. At one time in the war, it is true, the
+British were carrying considerably more than half of our soldiers, but
+in the latter stages our transport service made gigantic strides, so
+that now the total of percentages is such as to enlist our pride.
+According to figures issued from the office of Admiral Gleaves, in
+charge of oversea transport for our navy, of the 2,079,880 American
+troops transported overseas, 46-1/2 per cent were carried in _American
+ships, manned by Americans_; 48-1/2 per cent in British vessels, and the
+small balance in French and Italian craft. Of the total strength of the
+naval escort guarding these convoys the _United States furnished 82-3/4
+per cent_, Great Britain 14-1/2 per cent, and France 2-1/8 per cent.
+
+Figures giving some idea of the records attained by convoys carrying our
+soldiers may now be presented, and they are immensely interesting. In
+the three months of July, August, and September of 1918, 7 American
+soldiers with equipment arrived every minute of the day and night in
+England or France. The banner month was July, when 317,000 American
+soldiers were safely landed. In September, 311,219 American troops,
+4,000 American sailors, and 5,000 Canadians were successfully
+transported across the Atlantic. The largest single convoy of this month
+carried to France 31,108, and to England 28,873. Of the troops
+transported in this month American vessels carried 121,547; British
+vessels 175,721, and French 13,951.
+
+All in all, in patrol, in convoy duty, in actual combat, our navy in the
+war accomplished with utter precision a stupendous task, a task of
+multifarious phases--all performed in that clean-cut, vigorous,
+courageous, painstaking, large-minded way which we, throughout ail the
+years, have been proud to regard as typical of the American Navy.
+
+
+
+
+SECRETARY DANIELS'S REPORT OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE NAVY IN THE WAR[1]
+
+[Footnote 1: Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy, issued an official
+report on December 8, 1918, in which he presented the following full
+account of the work of the navy during the war.]
+
+
+The operations of our navy during the world war have covered the widest
+scope in its history. Our naval forces have operated in European waters
+from the Mediterranean to the White Sea. At Corfu, Gibraltar, along the
+French Bay of Biscay ports, at the English Channel ports, on the Irish
+Coast, in the North Sea, at Murmansk and Archangel our naval forces have
+been stationed and have done creditable work. Their performance will
+probably form the most interesting and exciting portion of the naval
+history of this war, and it is the duty which has been most eagerly
+sought by all of the personnel, but owing to the character of the
+operations which our navy has been called upon to take part in it has
+not been possible for all of our naval forces, much as they desired it,
+to engage in operations at the front, and a large part of our work has
+been conducted quietly, but none the less effectively, in other areas.
+This service, while not so brilliant, has still been necessary, and
+without it our forces at the front could not have carried on the
+successful campaign that they did.
+
+Naval men have served on nearly 2,000 craft that plied the waters, on
+submarines, and in aviation, where men of vision and courage prevent
+surprise attacks and fight with new-found weapons. On the land, marines
+and sailors have helped to hold strategic points, regiments of marines
+have shared with the army their part of the hard-won victory, and a
+wonderfully trained gun crew of sailors has manned the monster 14-inch
+guns which marked a new departure in land warfare.
+
+In diplomacy, in investigation at home and in all parts of the world by
+naval officers and civilian agents, in protecting plants and labor from
+spies and enemies, in promoting new industrial organizations and
+enlarging older ones to meet war needs, in stimulating production of
+needed naval craft--these are some of the outstanding operations which
+mark the heroic year of accomplishment.
+
+
+FIGHTING CRAFT
+
+The employment of the fighting craft of the navy may be summed up as
+follows:
+
+1. Escorting troop and cargo convoys and other special vessels.
+
+2. Carrying out offensive and defensive measures against enemy
+submarines in the Western Atlantic.
+
+3. Assignment to duty and the despatch abroad of naval vessels for
+operations in the war zone in conjunction with the naval forces of our
+allies.
+
+4. Assignment to duty and operation of naval vessels to increase the
+force in home waters. Despatch abroad of miscellaneous craft for the
+army.
+
+5. Protection of these craft en route.
+
+6. Protection of vessels engaged in coastwise trade.
+
+7. Salvaging and assisting vessels in distress, whether from maritime
+causes or from the operations of the enemy.
+
+8. Protection of oil supplies from the Gulf.
+
+In order to carry out successfully and speedily all these duties large
+increases in personnel, in ships of all classes and in the
+instrumentalities needed for their production and service were demanded.
+Briefly, then, it may be stated that on the day war was declared the
+enlistment and enrollment of the navy numbered 65,777 men. On the day
+Germany signed the armistice it had increased to 497,030 men and women,
+for it became necessary to enroll capable and patriotic women as yeomen
+to meet the sudden expansion and enlarged duties imposed by war
+conditions. This expansion has been progressive. In 1912 there were
+3,094 officers and 47,515 enlisted men; by July 1, 1916, the number had
+grown to 4,293 officers and 54,234 enlisted men, and again in that year
+to 68,700 in all. In granting the increase Congress authorized the
+President in his discretion to augment that force to 87,800. Immediately
+on the outbreak of the war the navy was recruited to that strength, but
+it was found that under the provisions of our laws there were not
+sufficient officers in the upper grades of the navy to do the war work.
+At the same time the lessons of the war showed it was impossible to have
+the combatant ships of the navy ready for instant war service unless the
+ships had their full personnel on board and that personnel was highly
+trained.
+
+In addition to this permanent strength recourse was had to the
+development of the existing reserves and to the creation of a new force.
+
+
+NAVAL VOLUNTEERS
+
+Up to 1913 the only organization that made any pretense of training men
+for the navy was the Naval Militia, and that was under State control,
+with practically no Federal supervision. As the militia seemed to offer
+the only means of producing a trained reserve, steps were at once taken
+to put it on a sound basis, and on February 16, 1914, a real Naval
+Militia under Federal control was created, provision being made for its
+organization and training in peace, as well as its utilization in war.
+As with all organized militia, the Naval Militia, even with the law of
+1914, could not, under the Constitution, be called into service as such
+except for limited duties, such as to repel invasion. It could not be
+used outside the territorial limits of the United States. It is evident,
+then, that with such restrictions militia could hardly meet the
+requirements of the navy in a foreign war, and to overcome this
+difficulty the "National Naval Volunteers" were created in August, 1916.
+
+Under this act members of Naval Militia organizations were authorized to
+volunteer for "any emergency," of which emergency the President was to
+be the judge. Other laws included the same measure, provided for a
+reserve force, for the automatic increase of officer personnel in each
+corps to correspond with increases in enlisted men, and for the Naval
+Flying Corps, special engineering officers, and the Naval Dental and
+Dental Reserve Corps. It also provided for taking over the lighthouse
+and other departmental divisions by the navy in time of war. Briefly,
+then, on July 1, 1917, three months after the declaration of war, the
+number of officers had increased to 8,038--4,694 regulars, 3,344
+reserves--and the number of enlisted men to 171,133--128,666 regulars,
+32,379 reserves, 10,088 National Naval Volunteers. The increase since
+that time is as follows:
+
+April 1, 1918   Officers     Men
+
+Regular Navy
+
+Permanent        5,441     198,224
+Temporary        2,519     .......
+Reserves        10,625      85,475
+Total           18,585     283,699
+
+
+November 9, 1918
+
+Permanent        5,656     206,684
+Temporary        4,833     .......
+Reserves        21,985     290,346
+Total           32,474     497,030
+
+
+THE NAVY THAT FLIES
+
+The expansion of aviation in the navy has been of gratifying proportions
+and effectiveness. On July 1, 1917, naval aviation was still in its
+infancy. At that time there were only 45 naval aviators. There were
+officers of the navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard who had been given
+special training in and were attached to aviation. There were
+approximately 200 student officers under training, and about 1,250
+enlisted men attached to the Aviation Service. These enlisted men were
+assigned to the three naval air stations in this country then in
+commission. Pensacola, Fla., had about 1,000 men, Bay Shore, Long
+Island, N.Y., had about 100, and Squantum, Mass., which was abandoned in
+the fall of 1917, had about 150 men. On July 1, 1918, there were 823
+naval aviators, approximately 2,052 student officers, and 400 ground
+officers attached to naval aviation. In addition, there were more than
+7,300 trained mechanics, and more than 5,400 mechanics in training. The
+total enlisted and commissioned personnel at this time was about 30,000.
+
+
+THE SHIPS
+
+On the day war was declared 197 ships were in commission. To-day there
+are 2,003. In addition to furnishing all these ships with trained
+officers and men, the duty of supplying crews and officers of the
+growing merchant marine was undertaken by the navy. There has not been a
+day when the demand for men for these ships has not been supplied--how
+fit they were all the world attests--and after manning the merchant
+ships there has not been a time when provision was not made for the
+constantly increasing number of ships taken over by the navy.
+
+During the year the energy available for new construction was
+concentrated mainly upon vessels to deal with the submarine menace.
+Three hundred and fifty-five of the 110-foot wooden submarine chasers
+were completed during the year. Fifty of these were taken over by France
+and 50 more for France were ordered during the year and have been
+completed since July 1, 1918. Forty-two more were ordered about the end
+of the fiscal year, delivery to begin in November and be completed in
+January.
+
+Extraordinary measures were taken with reference to destroyers. By the
+summer of 1917 destroyer orders had been placed which not only absorbed
+all available capacity for more than a year, but required a material
+expansion of existing facilities. There were under construction, or on
+order, in round figures, 100 of the thirty-five-knot type.
+
+During the year, including orders placed at navy yards, the following
+have been contracted for: Four battleships, 1 battle cruiser, 2 fuel
+ships, 1 transport, 1 gunboat, 1 ammunition ship, 223 destroyers, 58
+submarines, 112 fabricated patrol vessels (including 12 for the Italian
+Government), 92 submarine chasers (including 50 for the French
+Government), 51 mine-sweepers, 25 seagoing tugs and 46 harbor tugs,
+besides a large number of lighters, barges, and other auxiliary harbor
+craft. In addition to this, contracts have been placed for 12 large fuel
+ships in conjunction with the Emergency Fleet Corporation.
+
+Ships launched during the year and up to October 1, 1918, include 1
+gunboat, 93 destroyers, 29 submarines, 26 mine-sweepers, 4 fabricated
+patrol vessels, and 2 seagoing tugs. It is noteworthy that in the first
+nine months of 1918 there were launched no less than 83 destroyers of
+98,281 tons aggregate normal displacement, as compared with 62
+destroyers of 58,285 tons during the entire nine years next preceding
+January 1, 1918.
+
+There have been added to the navy during the fiscal year and including
+the three months up to October 1, 1918, 2 battleships, 36 destroyers, 28
+submarines, 355 submarine chasers, 13 mine-sweepers and 2 seagoing tugs.
+There have also been added to the operating naval forces by purchase,
+charter, etc., many hundred vessels of commercial type, including all
+classes from former German transatlantic liners to harbor tugboats and
+motorboats for auxiliary purposes.
+
+Last year the construction of capital ships and large vessels generally
+had been to some extent suspended. Work continued upon vessels which had
+already made material progress toward completion, but was practically
+suspended upon those which had just been begun, or whose keels had not
+yet been laid. The act of July 1, 1918, required work to be actually
+begun upon the remaining vessels of the three-year programme within a
+year. This has all been planned and no difficulty in complying with the
+requirements of the act and pushing rapidly the construction of the
+vessels in question is anticipated. Advantage has been taken of the
+delay to introduce into the designs of the vessels which had not been
+laid down numerous improvements based upon war experience.
+
+
+WORK OVERSEAS
+
+War was declared on April 6, 1917. On the 4th of May a division of
+destroyers was in European waters. By January 1, 1918, there were 113
+United States naval ships across, and in October, 1918, the total had
+reached 338 ships of all classes. At the present time there are 5,000
+officers and 70,000 enlisted men of the navy serving in Europe, this
+total being greater than the full strength of the navy when the United
+States entered the war. The destroyers upon their first arrival were
+based on Queenstown, which has been the base of the operations of these
+best fighters of the submarines during the war. Every facility possible
+was provided for the comfort and recreation of the officers and men
+engaged in this most rigorous service.
+
+During July and August, 1918, 3,444,012 tons of shipping were escorted
+to and from France by American escort vessels; of the above amount
+1,577,735 tons were escorted in and 1,864,677 tons were escorted out of
+French ports. Of the tonnage escorted into French ports during this time
+only 16,988 tons, or .009 per cent, were lost through enemy action, and
+of the tonnage escorted out from French ports only 27,858, or .013 per
+cent, were lost through the same cause. During the same period, July and
+August of this year, 259,604 American troops were escorted to France by
+United States escort vessels without the loss of a single man through
+enemy action. The particulars in the above paragraph refer to United
+States naval forces operating in the war zone from French ports.
+
+During the same time--July and August--destroyers based on British ports
+supplied 75 per cent of the escorts for 318 ships, totalling 2,752,908
+tons, and including the escort of vessels carrying 137,283 United States
+troops. The destroyers on this duty were at sea an average of 67 per
+cent of the time, and were under way for a period of about 16,000 hours,
+steaming approximately an aggregate of 260,000 miles. There were no
+losses due to enemy action.
+
+The history of the convoy operations in which our naval forces have
+taken part, due to which we have been able so successfully to transport
+such a large number of our military forces abroad, and so many supplies
+for the army, is a chapter in itself. It is probably our major operation
+in this war, and will in the future stand as a monument to both the army
+and the navy as the greatest and most difficult troop transporting
+effort which has ever been conducted across seas.
+
+(The Secretary says the convoy system was "suggested by President
+Wilson." He continues:)
+
+This entire force, under command of Rear-Admiral Albert Gleaves, whose
+ability and resource have been tested and established in this great
+service in co-operation with the destroyer flotilla operating abroad,
+has developed an anti-submarine convoy and escort system the results of
+which have surpassed even the most sanguine expectations.
+
+
+TROOPS CARRIED OVERSEAS
+
+American and British ships have carried over 2,000,000 American troops
+overseas. The United States did not possess enough ships to carry over
+our troops as rapidly as they were ready to sail or as quickly as they
+were needed in France. Great Britain furnished, under contract with the
+War Department, many ships and safely transported many American troops,
+the numbers having increased greatly in the spring and summer. A few
+troops were carried over by other allied ships. The actual number
+transported in British ships was more than a million.
+
+Up to November 1, 1918, of the total number of United States troops in
+Europe, 924,578 made passage in United States naval convoys under escort
+of United States cruisers and destroyers. Since November 1, 1917, there
+have been 289 sailings of naval transports from American ports. In these
+operations of the cruiser and transport force of the Atlantic fleet not
+one eastbound American transport has been torpedoed or damaged by the
+enemy and only three were sunk on the return voyage.
+
+Our destroyers and patrol vessels, in addition to convoy duty, have
+waged an unceasing offensive warfare against the submarines. In spite of
+all this, our naval losses have been gratifyingly small. Only three
+American troopships--the _Antilles_, the _President Lincoln_, and the
+_Covington_--were sunk on the return voyage. Only three fighting ships
+have been lost as a result of enemy action--the patrol ship _Alcedo_, a
+converted yacht, sunk off the coast of France November 5, 1917; the
+torpedoboat destroyer _Jacob Jones_, sunk off the British coast December
+6, 1917, and the cruiser _San Diego_, sunk near Fire Island, off the New
+York coast, on July 19, 1918, by striking a mine supposedly set adrift
+by a German submarine. The transport _Finland_ and the destroyer
+_Cassin_, which were torpedoed, reached port and were soon repaired and
+placed back in service. The transport _Mount Vernon_, struck by a
+torpedo on September 5 last, proceeded to port under its own steam and
+was repaired. The most serious loss of life due to enemy activity was
+the loss of the Coast Guard cutter _Tampa_, with all on board, in
+Bristol Channel, England, on the night of September 26, 1918. The
+_Tampa_, which was doing escort duty, had gone ahead of the convoy.
+Vessels following heard an explosion, but when they reached the vicinity
+there were only bits of floating wreckage to show where the ship had
+gone down. Not one of the 111 officers and men of her crew was rescued,
+and, though it is believed she was sunk by a torpedo from an enemy
+submarine, the exact manner in which the vessel met its fate may never
+be known.
+
+
+OTHER POINTS SUMMARIZED
+
+Secretary Daniels records many other achievements of ships and
+personnel, including those of the naval overseas transportation service.
+Of the latter he says in substance:
+
+In ten months the transportation service grew from 10 ships to a fleet
+of 321 cargo-carrying ships, aggregating a deadweight tonnage of
+2,800,000, and numerically equalling the combined Cunard,
+Hamburg-American, and North German Lloyd lines at the outbreak of the
+war. Of this number 227 ships were mainly in operation.
+
+From the Emergency Fleet Corporation the navy has taken over for
+operation 94 new vessels, aggregating 700,000 deadweight tons. On March
+21, 1918, by order of the President 101 Dutch merchant vessels were
+taken over by the Navy Department pending their allocation to the
+various vital trades of this country, and 26 of these vessels are now a
+part of the naval overseas fleet. This vast fleet of cargo vessels has
+been officered and manned through enrollment of the seagoing personnel
+of the American merchant marine, officers and men of the United States
+Navy, and the assignment after training of graduates of technical
+schools and training schools, developed by the navy since the United
+States entered the war.
+
+There are required for the operation of this fleet at the present time
+5,000 officers and 29,000 enlisted men, and adequate arrangements for
+future needs of personnel have been provided. The navy has risen to the
+exacting demands imposed upon it by the war, and it will certainly be a
+source of pride to the American people to know that within ten months of
+the time that this new force was created, in spite of the many obstacles
+in the way of its accomplishment, an American naval vessel, manned by an
+American naval crew, left an American port on the average of every five
+hours, carrying subsistence and equipment so vital to the American
+Expeditionary Force.
+
+One of the agencies adopted during the war for more efficient naval
+administration is the organization and development of naval districts.
+
+Secretary Daniels, in other passages of the foregoing report, declares
+that the record made abroad by the United States Navy, in co-operation
+with the navies of Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan, is without
+precedent in allied warfare. He pays a high tribute to the efficiency of
+Admiral Sims, Commander-in-Chief of American naval forces in European
+waters; of Rear-Admiral Rodman, in command of the American battleships
+with the British fleet; of Vice-Admiral Wilson, in France; Rear-Admiral
+Niblack, in the Mediterranean; of Rear-Admiral Dunn, in the Azores; of
+Rear-Admiral Strauss, in charge of mining operations, and other officers
+in charge of various special activities.
+
+The report tells of notable achievements in ordnance, especially the
+work of the 14-inch naval guns on railway mounts on the western front,
+which hurled shells far behind the German lines, these mounts being
+designed and completed in four months. The land battery of these naval
+guns was manned exclusively by bluejackets under command of Rear-Admiral
+C. P. Plunkett. The work of the Bureau of Ordnance is praised, and
+Admiral Earle, the Chief of the bureau, is declared "one of the ablest
+and fittest officers."
+
+An account is given of the mine barrage in the North Sea, one of the
+outstanding anti-submarine offensive projects of the year, thus closing
+the North Sea, and for which 100,000 mines were manufactured and 85,000
+shipped abroad. A special mine-loading plant, with a capacity of more
+than 1,000 mines a day, was established by the Navy Department.
+
+A star shell was developed which, when fired in the vicinity of an enemy
+fleet, would light it up, make ships visible, and render them easy
+targets without disclosing the position of our own ships at night.
+
+The Bureau of Ordnance, under the direction of Rear-Admiral Earle, is
+stated to have met and conquered the critical shortage of high
+explosives which threatened to prolong the time of preparation necessary
+for America to smash the German military forces; this was done by the
+invention of TNX, a high explosive, to take the place of TNT, the change
+being sufficient to increase the available supply of explosives in this
+country to some 30,000,000 pounds.
+
+In the future, it is stated, American dreadnoughts and battle cruisers
+will be armed with 16-inch guns, making these the heaviest armed vessels
+in the world.
+
+Depth-charges are stated to be the most effective antisubmarine weapons.
+American vessels were adequately armed with this new weapon.
+
+A new type was developed and a new gun, known as the "Y" gun, was
+designed and built especially for firing depth-charges.
+
+
+
+
+THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE MARINE CORPS
+
+BY JOSEPHUS DANIELS
+SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
+
+
+The United States Marine Corps, the efficient fighting, building, and
+landing force of the navy, has won imperishable glory in the fulfilment
+of its latest duties upon the battlefields of France, where the marines,
+fighting for the time under General Pershing as a part of the victorious
+American Army, have written a story of valor and sacrifice that will
+live in the brightest annals of the war. With heroism that nothing could
+daunt, the Marine Corps played a vital role in stemming the German rush
+on Paris, and in later days aided in the beginning of the great
+offensive, the freeing of Rheims, and participated in the hard fighting
+in Champagne, which had as its object the throwing back of the Prussian
+armies in the vicinity of Cambrai and St. Quentin.
+
+With only 8,000 men engaged in the fiercest battles, the Marine Corps
+casualties numbered 69 officers and 1,531 enlisted men dead and 78
+officers and 2,435 enlisted men wounded seriously enough to be
+officially reported by cablegram, to which number should be added not a
+few whose wounds did not incapacitate them for further fighting.
+However, with a casualty list that numbers nearly half the original
+8,000 men who entered battle, the official reports account for only 57
+United States marines who have been captured by the enemy. This includes
+those who were wounded far in advance of their lines and who fell into
+the hands of Germans while unable to resist.
+
+Memorial Day shall henceforth have a greater, deeper significance for
+America, for it was on that day, May 30, 1918, that our country really
+received its first call to battle--the battle in which American troops
+had the honor of stopping the German drive on Paris, throwing back the
+Prussian hordes in attack after attack, and beginning the retreat which
+lasted until imperial Germany was beaten to its knees and its emissaries
+appealing for an armistice under the flag of truce. And to the United
+States marines, fighting side by side with equally brave and equally
+courageous men in the American Army, to that faithful sea and land force
+of the navy, fell the honor of taking over the lines where the blow of
+the Prussian would strike the hardest, the line that was nearest Paris
+and where, should a breach occur, all would be lost.
+
+The world knows to-day that the United States marines held that line;
+that they blocked the advance that was rolling on toward Paris at a rate
+of six or seven miles a day; that they met the attack in American
+fashion and with American heroism; that marines and soldiers of the
+American Army threw back the crack guard divisions of Germany, broke
+their advance, and then, attacking, drove them back in the beginning of
+a retreat that was not to end until the "cease firing" signal sounded
+for the end of the world's greatest war.
+
+
+ADVANCING TO BATTLE
+
+Having reached their destination early on the morning of June 2, they
+disembarked, stiff and tired after a journey of more than seventy-two
+miles, but as they formed their lines and marched onward in the
+direction of the line they were to hold they were determined and
+cheerful. That evening the first field message from the 4th Brigade to
+Major-General Omar Bundy, commanding the 2d Division, went forward:
+
+Second Battalion, 6th Marines, in line from Le Thiolet through
+Clarembauts Woods to Triangle to Lucy. Instructed to hold line. First
+Battalion, 6th Marines, going into line from Lucy through Hill 142.
+Third Battalion in support at La Voie du Chatel, which is also the post
+command of the 6th Marines. Sixth Machine Gun Battalion distributed at
+line.
+
+Meanwhile the 5th Regiment was moving into line, machine guns were
+advancing, and the artillery taking its position. That night the men and
+officers of the marines slept in the open, many of them in a field that
+was green with unharvested wheat, awaiting the time when they should be
+summoned to battle. The next day at 5 o'clock, the afternoon of June 2,
+began the battle of Chateau-Thierry, with the Americans holding the line
+against the most vicious wedge of the German advance.
+
+
+BATTLE OF CHATEAU-THIERRY
+
+The advance of the Germans was across a wheat field driving at Hill 165
+and advancing in smooth columns. The United States marines, trained to
+keen observation upon the rifle range, nearly every one of them wearing
+a marksman's medal or, better, that of the sharpshooter or expert
+rifleman, did not wait for those gray-clad hordes to advance nearer.
+
+Calmly they set their sights and aimed with the same precision that they
+had shown upon the rifle ranges at Paris Island, Mare Island, and
+Quantico. Incessantly their rifles cracked, and with their fire came the
+support of the artillery. The machine-gun fire, incessant also, began to
+make its inroads upon the advancing forces. Closer and closer the
+shrapnel burst to its targets. Caught in a seething wave of machine-gun
+fire, of scattering shrapnel, of accurate rifle fire, the Germans found
+themselves in a position in which further advance could only mean
+absolute suicide. The lines hesitated. They stopped. They broke for
+cover, while the marines raked the woods and ravines in which they had
+taken refuge with machine-gun and rifle to prevent their making another
+attempt to advance by infiltrating through.
+
+Above, a French airplane was checking up on the artillery fire.
+Surprised by the fact that men should deliberately set their sights,
+adjust their range, and then fire deliberately at an advancing foe, each
+man picking his target, instead of firing merely in the direction of the
+enemy, the aviator signalled below: "Bravo!" In the rear that word was
+echoed again and again. The German drive on Paris had been stopped.
+
+
+IN BELLEAU WOOD
+
+For the next few days the fighting took on the character of pushing
+forth outposts and determining the strength of the enemy. Now, the
+fighting had changed. The Germans, mystified that they should have run
+against a stone wall of defense just when they believed that their
+advance would be easiest, had halted, amazed; then prepared to defend
+the positions they had won with all the stubbornness possible. In the
+black recesses of Belleau Wood the Germans had established nest after
+nest of machine guns. There in the jungle of matted underbrush, of
+vines, of heavy foliage, they had placed themselves in positions they
+believed impregnable. And this meant that unless they could be routed,
+unless they could be thrown back, the breaking of the attack of June 2
+would mean nothing. There would come another drive and another. The
+battle of Chateau-Thierry was therefore not won and could not be won
+until Belleau Wood had been cleared of the enemy.
+
+It was June 6 that the attack of the American troops began against that
+wood and its adjacent surroundings, with the wood itself and the towns
+of Torcy and Bouresches forming the objectives. At 5 o'clock the attack
+came, and there began the tremendous sacrifices which the Marine Corps
+gladly suffered that the German fighters might be thrown back.
+
+
+FOUGHT IN AMERICAN FASHION
+
+The marines fought strictly according to American methods--a rush, a
+halt, a rush again, in four-wave formation, the rear waves taking over
+the work of those who had fallen before them, passing over the bodies of
+their dead comrades and plunging ahead, until they, too, should be torn
+to bits. But behind those waves were more waves, and the attack went on.
+
+"Men fell like flies," the expression is that of an officer writing from
+the field. Companies that had entered the battle 250 strong dwindled to
+50 and 60, with a Sergeant in command; but the attack did not falter. At
+9.45 o'clock that night Bouresches was taken by Lieutenant James F.
+Robertson and twenty-odd men of his platoon; these soon were joined by
+two reinforcing platoons. Then came the enemy counter-attacks, but the
+marines held.
+
+In Belleau Wood the fighting had been literally from tree to tree,
+stronghold to stronghold; and it was a fight which must last for weeks
+before its accomplishment in victory. Belleau Wood was a jungle, its
+every rocky formation containing a German machine-gun nest, almost
+impossible to reach by artillery or grenade fire. There was only one way
+to wipe out these nests--by the bayonet. And by this method were they
+wiped out, for United States marines, bare-chested, shouting their
+battle-cry of "E-e-e-e-e y-a-a-h-h-h yip!" charged straight into the
+murderous fire from those guns, and won!
+
+Out of the number that charged, in more than one instance, only one
+would reach the stronghold. There, with his bayonet as his only weapon,
+he would either kill or capture the defenders of the nest, and then
+swinging the gun about in its position, turn it against the remaining
+German positions in the forest. Such was the character of the fighting
+in Belleau Wood; fighting which continued until July 6, when after a
+short relief the invincible Americans finally were taken back to the
+rest billet for recuperation.
+
+
+HELD THE LINE FOR DAYS
+
+In all the history of the Marine Corps there is no such battle as that
+one in Belleau Wood. Fighting day and night without relief, without
+sleep, often without water, and for days without hot rations, the
+marines met and defeated the best divisions that Germany could throw
+into the line.
+
+The heroism and doggedness of that battle are unparalleled. Time after
+time officers seeing their lines cut to pieces, seeing their men so
+dog-tired that they even fell asleep under shellfire, hearing their
+wounded calling for the water they were unable to supply, seeing men
+fight on after they had been wounded and until they dropped unconscious;
+time after time officers seeing these things, believing that the very
+limit of human endurance had been reached, would send back messages to
+their post command that their men were exhausted. But in answer to this
+would come the word that the line must hold, and, if possible, those
+lines must attack. And the lines obeyed. Without water, without food,
+without rest, they went forward--and forward every time to victory.
+Companies had been so torn and lacerated by losses that they were hardly
+platoons, but they held their lines and advanced them. In more than one
+case companies lost every officer, leaving a Sergeant and sometimes a
+Corporal to command, and the advance continued.
+
+After thirteen days in this inferno of fire a captured German officer
+told with his dying breath of a fresh division of Germans that was about
+to be thrown into the battle to attempt to wrest from the marines that
+part of the wood they had gained. The marines, who for days had been
+fighting only on their sheer nerve, who had been worn out from nights of
+sleeplessness, from lack of rations, from terrific shell and machine-gun
+fire, straightened their lines and prepared for the attack. It came--as
+the dying German officer had predicted.
+
+At 2 o'clock on the morning of June 13 it was launched by the Germans
+along the whole front. Without regard for men, the enemy hurled his
+forces against Bouresches and the Bois de Belleau, and sought to win
+back what had been taken from Germany by the Americans. The orders were
+that these positions must be taken at all costs; that the utmost losses
+in men must be endured that the Bois de Belleau and Bouresches might
+fall again into German hands. But the depleted lines of the marines
+held; the men who had fought on their nerve alone for days once more
+showed the mettle of which they were made. With their backs to the trees
+and boulders of the Bois de Belleau, with their sole shelter the
+scattered ruins of Bouresches, the thinning lines of the marines
+repelled the attack and crashed back the new division which had sought
+to wrest the position from them.
+
+And so it went. Day after day, night after night, while time after time
+messages like the following travelled to the post command:
+
+Losses heavy. Difficult to get runners through. Some have never
+returned. Morale excellent, but troops about all in. Men exhausted.
+
+Exhausted, but holding on. And they continued to hold on in spite of
+every difficulty. Advancing their lines slowly day by day, the marines
+finally prepared their positions to such an extent that the last rush
+for the possession of the wood could be made. Then, on June 24,
+following a tremendous barrage, the struggle began.
+
+The barrage literally tore the woods to pieces, but even its immensity
+could not wipe out all the nests that remained, the emplacements that
+were behind almost every clump of bushes, every jagged, rough group of
+boulders. But those that remained were wiped out by the American method
+of the rush and the bayonet, and in the days that followed every foot of
+Belleau Wood was cleared of the enemy and held by the frayed lines of
+the Americans.
+
+It was, therefore, with the feeling of work well done that the depleted
+lines of the marines were relieved in July, that they might be filled
+with replacements and made ready for a grand offensive in the vicinity
+of Soissons, July 18. And In recognition of their sacrifice and bravery
+this praise was forthcoming from the French:
+
+Army Headquarters, June 30, 1918.
+
+In view of the brilliant conduct of the Fourth Brigade of the Second
+United States Division, which in a spirited fight took Bouresches and
+the important strong point of Bois de Belleau, stubbornly defended by a
+large enemy force, the General commanding the Sixth Army orders that
+henceforth, in all official papers, the Bois de Belleau shall be named
+"Bois de la Brigade de Marine."
+
+Division General Degoutte,
+
+_Commanding Sixth Army_.
+
+On July 18 the marines were again called into action in the vicinity of
+Soissons, near Tigny and Vierzy. In the face of a murderous fire from
+concentrated machine guns, which contested every foot of their advance,
+the United States marines moved forward until the severity of their
+casualties necessitated that they dig in and hold the positions they had
+gained. Here, again, their valor called forth official praise.
+
+Then came the battle for the St. Mihiel salient. On the night of
+September 11 the 2d Division took over a line running from Remenauville
+to Limey, and on the night of September 14 and the morning of September
+15 attacked, with two days' objectives ahead of them. Overcoming the
+enemy resistance, they romped through to the Rupt de Mad, a small river,
+crossed it on stone bridges, occupied Thiaucourt, the first day's
+objective, scaled the heights just beyond it, pushed on to a line
+running from the Zammes-Joulney Ridges to the Binvaux Forest, and there
+rested, with the second day's objectives occupied by 2.50 o'clock of the
+first day. The casualties of the division were about 1,000, of which 134
+were killed. Of these, about half were marines. The captures in which
+the marines participated were 80 German officers, 3,200 men, ninety-odd
+cannon, and vast stores.
+
+But even further honors were to befall the fighting, landing, and
+building force, of which the navy is justly proud. In the early part of
+October it became necessary for the Allies to capture the bald, jagged
+ridge twenty miles due east of Rheims, known as Blanc Mont Ridge. Here
+the armies of Germany and the Allies had clashed more than once, and
+attempt after attempt had been made to wrest it from German hands. It
+was a keystone of the German defense, the fall of which would have a
+far-reaching effect upon the enemy armies. To the glory of the United
+States marines, let it be said that they were again a part of that
+splendid 2d Division which swept forward in the attack which freed Blanc
+Mont Ridge from German hands, pushed its way down the slopes, and
+occupied the level around just beyond, thus assuring a victory, the full
+import of which can best be judged by the order of General Lejeune,
+following the battle:
+
+France, Oct. 11, 1918.
+
+Officers And Men Of The 2d Division:
+
+It is beyond my power of expression to describe fitly my admiration for
+your heroism. You attacked magnificently and you seized Blanc Mont
+Ridge, the keystone of the arch constituting the enemy's main position.
+You advanced beyond the ridge, breaking the enemy's lines, and you held
+the ground gained with a tenacity which is unsurpassed in the annals of
+war.
+
+As a direct result of your victory, the German armies east and west of
+Rheims are in full retreat, and by drawing on yourselves several German
+divisions from other parts of the front you greatly assisted the
+victorious advance of the allied armies between Cambrai and St. Quentin.
+
+Your heroism and the heroism of our comrades who died on the battlefield
+will live in history forever, and will be emulated by the young men of
+our country for generations to come.
+
+To be able to say when this war is finished, "I belonged to the 2d
+Division; I fought with it at the battle of Blanc Mont Ridge," will be
+the highest honor that can come to any man.
+
+John A. Lejeune.
+
+Major-General, United States Marine Corps, Commanding.
+
+Thus it is that the United States marines have fulfilled the glorious
+traditions of their corps in this their latest duty as the "soldiers who
+go to sea." Their sharpshooting--and in one regiment 93 per cent of the
+men wear the medal of a marksman, a sharpshooter, or an expert
+rifle-man--has amazed soldiers of European armies, accustomed merely to
+shooting in the general direction of the enemy. Under the fiercest fire
+they have calmly adjusted their sights, aimed for their man, and killed
+him, and in bayonet attacks their advance on machine-gun nests has been
+irresistible.
+
+In the official citation lists more than one American marine is credited
+with taking an enemy machine-gun single-handed, bayoneting its crew, and
+then turning the gun against the foe. In one battle alone, that of
+Belleau Wood, the citation lists bear the names of fully 500 United
+States marines who so distinguished themselves in battle as to call
+forth the official commendation of their superior officers.
+
+More than faithful in every emergency, accepting hardships with
+admirable morale, proud of the honor of taking their place as shock
+troops for the American legions, they have fulfilled every glorious
+tradition of their corps, and they have given to the world a list of
+heroes whose names will go down to all history.
+
+_To Secretary Daniels's narrative may be added a brief account of the
+terms in which the French official journal cited the 4th American
+Brigade under Brigadier-General Harbord on December 8._
+
+The brigade comprised the 5th Regiment of marines, under Colonel (now
+Brigadier-General) Wendel C. Veille; the 6th marines, under Colonel (now
+Brigadier-General) Albertus A. Catlin, and the 6th Machine Gun
+Battalion, under Major Edward B. Cole. The citation says the brigade, in
+full battle array, was thrown on a front which the enemy was attacking
+violently and at once proved itself a unit of the finest quality. It
+crushed the enemy attack on an important point of the position, and then
+undertook a series of offensive operations:
+
+"During these operations, thanks to the brilliant courage, vigor, dash,
+and tenacity of its men, who refused to be disheartened by fatigue or
+losses; thanks to the activity and energy of the officers, and thanks to
+the personal action of Brigadier-General Harbord, the efforts of the
+brigade were crowned with success, realizing after twelve days of
+incessant struggle an important advance over the most difficult of
+terrain and the capture of two support points of the highest importance,
+Bouresches village and the fortified wood of Belleau."
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUR NAVY IN THE WAR***
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