On the Coast of France
UC-NRLF
Joseph Husbsmd
$B 7ME fl35
ON THE COAST OF FRANCE
Vice-Admiral Henry B. Wilson, U. S. N.
Commander United States Naval Forces in France
On the Coast of France
The Story of the United States Naval
Forces in French Waters
BY
JOSEPH HUSBAND
Ensign, U. S. N. R. F.
WITH PREFACE" BY
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS
CHICAGO
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1919
US
"ifw
Copyright
A. C. McCLURG & CO.
1919
Published, May 19X9
W. r. HALL PRINTING COMPANY, CHICASO
Wo
Vice-Admiral H. B. Wilson, U. S. N.
By whose fine professional ability a
great work was splendidly accom-
plished, and by whose rare personal-
ity the bond between two sister repub-
lics was the more firmly established
— Joseph Husband
441051
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I First Months of the War i
II Building the Machine ~ 24
III In the Path of the Submarine .... 37
IV The Converted Yachts 59
V The Destroyers 83
VI Other Activities 108
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Vice-Admlral Henry B. Wilson, JJ. S. N. .
Frontispiece
U. S. S. Noma 6
U. S. S. Christahel 6
U. S. S. Rambler 7
U. S. S. Wanderer 7
Brest. The old chateau and a bit of the harbor 14
The landing at Brest 15
The Leviathan 22
Troop ship at Brest 22
A French dirigible 23
German sea mines 23
A sea plane makes a bad dive 30
The destroyer Monaghan 30
The hammer-head bow of a destroyer ...31
Depth charges on the stern of a destroyer . 31
Destroyers waiting for an incoming convoy . 38
Troop ship escorted by a destroyer and two sea
planes 38
Observation balloon on a destroyer ... 39
The balloon going up 39
The British mystery ship Dunraven ... 46
The Dunraven sinking 46
The Philomel (British) after being torpedoed 47
The last of the Philomel 47
ix
Illustrations
PAGE
The Mount Vernon showing hole torn in her
side by a torpedo 54
The bow of the von Steuben after collision with
the Agamemnon 55
''Y" gun 62
Dropping a depth charge 6^^
The detonation of a depth charge .... 63
Picking up a lifeboat in the Bay of Biscay . . 76
Picking up a lifeboat from a torpedoed ship . 77
The Westward Ho being towed into Brest . 77
Rough weather on the destroyer Benham . . 84
Torpedo tubes on destroyer Benham ... 85
Four-inch gun crew on destroyer Benham . . 85
Where the destroyer Jarvis rammed the de-
stroyer Benham 94
The bow of the Jarvis after her collision with
the Benham . . 94
The side of the Benham after being rammed 95
Another view of the Jarvis after collision with
the Benham 95
The explosion of the Florence H 102
Thornycroft depth-charge thrower . . . .103
Destroyers alongside the Bridgeport at Brest . no
Another view of the destroyers showing camou-
flage no
Looking forward on a "flush deck" destroyer in
Looking aft on a " flush deck " destroyer . .111
The flag that flew 120
Group of French and American naval officers . 121
INTRODUCTION
NEVER in the history of the world has sea
power played so vital a part in the win-
ning of a war; and never, in proportion to the
magnitude of the forces and operations involved,
has the Navy played a part in which its prover-
bial silence has been as marked as in the activities
which terminated on November ii, 1918, with
the armistice between the Allied and the Central
Powers.
The war in its naval aspects, has been a war
of negative action; a series of checkmates, by
which the Allied navies secured the seas from
the interference of the grand fleets and raiding
squadrons of the enemy. But in this war the
submarine, a new weapon of offensive warfare,
imposed new conditions. Relatively secure in
its operations from the larger vessels of the
xii Introduction
Allied navies, which themselves were in many
instances its ready prey, the submarine directed
its activities against the troop and store ships by
which alone the men and means to prosecute the
war were made possible.
To meet the preying warfare of the submarine,
the smaller and faster vessels of our Navy were
required in European waters, to assure the safe
and uninterrupted passage of our '^ bridge of
ships." It is not the purpose of this narrative to
deal with the operations of the United States
Naval Forces in English waters or in the Med-
iterranean. In the north, the concerted action
with the British Navy, and in the south the co-
operation with the navies of France and Italy
developed operations of which it is impossible
at this early date to secure even casual data.
Of the activities of the United States Naval
Forces in France, it is possible, however, to ob-
tain more definite information, due primarily to
the fact that these operations were more sharply
defined and more distinctly our own. To keep
open the western coast of France was a task of
the most vital importance, involving a large and
Introduction xiii
capable organization and the utmost secrecy of
operation.
Due to this necessity for secrecy, little has been
known of the work of our Navy on the French
coast. To the majority of the American people
our men and stores have been transported with
a miraculous freedom from disaster, but the
means by which this security has been attained
have been unknown.
In no sense is this volume offered as a history
of the United States Naval Forces in France, for
a historic record of those splendid activities
would require a study of the complete operations
which is at the present time impossible. Rather,
it is the present purpose to afford, by a few side
lights on these activities of sixteen months, a gen-
eral view of the field and an impression of the
nature of the work involved. By these, our most
recent operations in the world's most historic
waters, the forces of the Navy not only secured
the desired safe passage of our troop and store
ships but by their cooperation with the French
Naval Forces and their association with the
people of the French nation, on land as on the
xiv Introduction
sea, established a sentiment of mutual affection
and esteem more permanent than can be obtained
by treaties or the written word.
More than the United States can ever realize,
does it owe to those who directed our naval
operations in French waters, a gratitude for past
performance and for future promise.
Brest, France, December 2, iQi8.
PREFACE
By Franklin D. Roosevelt
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
THE Navy was known during the war as
the " Silent Service." Little appeared in
official dispatches or in the public press regard-
ing the operations of the United States Naval
Forces either in Europe or on our own coast.
In fact, in only a handful of instances, where a
transport was torpedoed or where an enemy sub-
marine was definitely accounted for, was any
mention made of our naval work. Generally
speaking, the people at home knew only that
their Navy was successfully manning the trans-
ports and escorting the troops, munitions, and
supplies in safety to the shores of France.
How very much more these operations in-
volved is only now coming out. On our entrance
into the Great War in the spring of 1917, steps
were immediately taken by the Navy Depart-
XV
xvi Preface
ment to build up an organization to be based on
the French coast, primarily for the purpose of
keeping the famous " Neck of the Bottle " as free
as possible from German submarines. The dis-
tance from Bordeaux to Brest is a comparatively
small one, and almost every ship entering the
French ports from the United States had, of ne-
cessity, to pass through a narrow strip of sea.
This small area had proved a famous hunting-
ground for enemy submarines, and it became
our obvious task to send over every possible
means of assistance to work with the French
Navy.
The story of what our officers and men did in
those early days is the best illustration of the all-
round efficiency of the Navy. A large propor-
tion of the officers and men came from civil
life, but were quickly and successfully indoctri-
nated into their naval duties by the regular offi-
cers of the service. The tools with which they
had to work were, in large part, makeshift.
Yachts were hurriedly converted to naval pur-
poses; all kinds of equipment was taken over for
possible use in France. From small beginnings
Preface xvii
the organization grew until by the summer of
19 1 8 the whole western coast of France was
guarded by a string of surface vessels and air-
craft.
Not only was the ''Neck of the Bottle" made
safe for our troop and supply ships, but the op-
erations were extended from the defensive type
to the offensive, and the very existence of enemy
submarines was rendered extremely unhealthy
long before the armistice came.
To the men who took part in this great work
too much credit cannot be given. Extraordi-
nary physical endurance was called for, and
more than that, imagination and a genius to meet
new conditions with untried weapons was essen-
tial to success.
During the summer of 1918 I had the pleas-
ure of visiting these French bases and of seeing
the work at first hand. No part of our naval
activities deserves higher credit than the part
they took. They have the satisfaction, at least,
of knowing that the Navy and the country are
proud of them.
Washington, D. C, April 25, IQIQ-
On the Coast of France
CHAPTER I
FIRST MONTHS OF THE WAR
WITH the entry of the United States into
the war with Germany and the Central
Powers, arose the immediate necessity of naval
participation and cooperation with the fleets of
the Allied nations. Never in the world's history
had been furnished an example so complete and
so convincing of the vital necessity of adequate
sea power to secure the desired victory over the
common foe. For three years the great fleets of
England had been holding in leash the German
Navy, but despite the assurance which England's
fleet had given for the protection of the seas
from the German High Sea Fleet, other grave
dangers were clearly existent. In the Channel,
on the west coast of Ireland, along the French
On the Coast of France
coast and in the Mediterranean, the German and
Austrian submarines were waging a successful
warfare against the Allied shipping. To hold
in port the powerful Navy of Germany, the
Grand Fleet of England was chained to its
guardianship of the Helgoland gates, and on a
similar duty the French fleet watched the har-
bors and naval bases of Austria in the Mediter-
ranean.
The entry of the United States into the war,
created new problems which it alone must solve;
problems of transportation of troops and sup-
plies to the practically unprotected ports of west-
ern France.
Tied hand and foot were the fleets of the Al-
lies. Not only did it devolve upon us to deliver
an army on French soil and the necessary stores
required by these hundreds of thousands of fight-
ing men ; but it also became necessary for us in
large measure, to protect the passage and arrival
of the vessels required for troop and store trans-
ports.
From Calais the French coast slips in a south-
westerly direction, embracing in its rugged coast
First Months of the War
line the ports of Boulogne, Le Havre and Cher-
bourg, to the rocky point of Finistere where in a
great sheltered harbor, at its western extremity,
rests the city of Brest, greatest of all French sea-
ports from the aspects of naval strategy. From
Brest, the coast runs southeasterly to the Spanish
line, including, from north to south, the harbors
of Lorient, Quiberon Bay, Saint-Nazaire, La
Rochelle, Rochefort, the Gironde River and
Bordeaux, the Adour River and Bayonne and
the little southern fishing port of Saint-Jean de
Luz almost in the shadow of the Pyrenees. Of
these ports, Brest, Lorient, Saint-Nazaire and
the Gironde offered the best facilities for the re-
ception of troops and stores ; and it was here that
the preliminary steps were taken to prepare for
their arrival. But the great work of the Navy
was apparently to be not on French soil or on the
wide Atlantic, but particularly in the submarine
danger zone which naturally centered at those
points on the French coast where the greatest
number of transatlantic lanes converged; in
other words, in the Bay of Biscay at Brest, and in
the Channel.
On the Coast of France
To understand more clearly the nature of the
convoy work, it may be divided into two general
classes :
First, the escorting into and out of port
through the danger zone of the transatlantic con-
voys; and, second, the escorting of the coastal
convoys from port to port. The mission of the
United States Naval Forces in France may thus
be crystallized into the following sentence : *^ To
safeguard United States troop and store ships
and to cooperate with the French naval authori-
ties."
Granted, therefore, the hypothesis that with
a limited number of ports of arrival in France
the enemy submarines would have only to watch
the immediate approaches to these ports, the
problem became simplified and the work re-
solved itself into a system of convoys, both
coastal and deep sea, so thorough in its char-
acter, that the submarines would be forced from
the entrances of the harbors and be compelled to
wait for the convoys at a considerable distance
off the coast and in the open sea where the chance
of meeting was materially reduced and where
First Months of the War
the attendant dangers and hardships were
greatly increased.
On the entire western coast of France and in
the Channel, German submarines were particu-
larly active; it was but logical to calculate that
this activity would increase as the volume of
American shipping was augmented. To meet
this submarine blockade and carry against it a
successful warfare, was especially required a
type of small and swift vessels capable of mount-
ing guns of intermediate caliber and of being
rapidly maneuvered and, at the same time, pos-
sessing sufficient seaworthy qualities to with-
stand the strains of continuous service in waters
notoriously tempestuous. For this work the de-
stroyer was unquestionably the ideal type, but
as the few destroyers available had been sent to
English waters, the yachts were taken over and
converted as far as possible to meet the require-
ments. Later, by the addition of a number of
destroyers, it was planned to provide a force of
sufficient strength and mobility to offset the sub-
marine activities and assure the safety required
to place our troops and stores on French soil. To
On the Coast of France
cooperate with the United States' Naval Forces,
the French Navy afforded a number of small
destroyers and fast patrol boats, suitably armed
and familiar with the waters in which the major
operations would necessarily take place. In ad-
dition, the French naval establishment possessed
adequate and most excellent mine-sweeping fa-
cilities and also a limited force of hydroplanes
and dirigibles for cooperation with the patrol
and escort vessels.
It is appropriate to recall at the beginning
of this narrative of our latest naval achievements
that it was in these same historic French waters,
that our Navy found its birth, and that in
Quiberon Bay the Stars and Stripes, flying from
the U. S. S. Ranger of John Paul Jones, received
its first salute from a foreign nation when the
guns of the fleet of the French Admiral le
Motte, thundered a welcome to this new-born
ensign of the new-born nation across the sea.
On June 4, 1917, a small fleet of six yachts left
the New York Navy Yard and steamed slowly
down the stream. This force, a handful of con-
verted pleasure vessels, bore the official designa-
U. S. S. NOMA
U. S. S. CHRTSTABEL
The smallest and oldest ship in foreign service. The white
star on the stack means official credit for a submarine
U. S. S. RAMBLER
U. S. S. WANDERER
First Months of the War
tion of the U. S. Patrol Squadrons Operating
in European Waters and constituted the first
American naval participation in the Great War,
actually to be established in French waters. The
yachts were :
U. S. S. Kanawha U. S. S. Vedette
U. S. S. Noma U. S. S. Christabel
U. S. S. Harvard U. S. S. Sultana
and also included in this force, but temporarily
under the orders of Rear- Admiral Gleaves, were
the U. S. S. Corsair and the U. S. S. Aphrodite.
For over a month work had been pushed to the
utmost to prepare the yachts for foreign service.
Furnishings and decorations of peaceful days
were removed and stored in Brooklyn ware-
houses. White sides and glittering brightwork
were hidden under coats of battle gray. Fore
and aft, three-inch guns were mounted, and gyns
of smaller caliber were located on the upper
decks. Cutlasses and rifles lined bulkheads of
panelled oak or mahogany. Everywhere about
the ships improvised quarters, in former smok-
ing-rooms, libraries and sun-parlors, housed
8 On the Coast of France
crews expanded by war-time necessity to four or
five times the original quota required to operate
the yachts in time of peace.
The six yachts anchored until the morning of
June 9 off Tompkinsville, S. I., New York, and
at 5 : 30 A.M. stood out to sea at a standard speed
of ten knots, enroute to Bermuda. On the
twelfth of June, the force arrived at St. George's
Bay, coaled; on the sixteenth again got under
way and shaped a course for the Azores.
The yachts arrived at Brest, France, on the
fourth of July, after a relatively uneventful
voyage, where they found the Corsair and the
Aphrodite, which had arrived ahead of them
due to their greater size which enabled them to
lay a direct transatlantic course. On July 14,
1917, the squadron commander, Captain W. B.
Fletcher, U. S. N., with his staff, secured quar-
ters on shore and began the first actual active co-
operation with the French Navy against the
enemy submarines. It is of historical interest to
note that a few hours before entering the harbor,
the Noma sighted a periscope. A few hours
later, the S. S. Orleans was torpedoed, probably
First Months of the War
by the same submarine which the Noma sighted,
and her thirty-seven survivors of the crew and
the thirteen members of the United States naval
armed guard were brought into Brest by the
Sultana.
During the month of July, the yachts received
a strenuous introduction to the patrol duty,
which consisted of a constant patrol of defined
areas of water, so continuous and so thorough
that the submarine activities, hitherto in a large
measure undisputed, were materially hampered
and the safety of the convoys passing through
these waters was proportionately increased. On
the afternoon of the twenty-ninth of August, the
U. S. S. Guinevere and the U. S. S. Carola IV, of
the Second Squadron of converted yachts, ar-
rived at Brest, and on the thirtieth, Commander
F. N. Freeman, U. S. N., with the yachts U. S. S.
Alcedo, U. S. S. Wanderer, U. S. S. Remlik,
U. S. S. Coronaj and U. S. S. Emeline came into
the harbor, delayed by storms and with badly
leaking decks.
Due to the unusually fantastic scheme of
camouflage which disguised the ships of the Sec-
lO On the Coast of France
ond Squadron, these yachts were commonly
known as the '' Easter Egg Fleet/' every conceiv-
able color having been incorporated in a riotous
speckled pattern on their sides/
On the fifteenth of August, the Noma reported
the first actual engagement with any enemy sub-
marine as follows: ''At 2: 17 P.M. in position
Lat. 47° 40' N. Long. 5° 05' W. sighted a sus-
picious object bearing about 245° (per standard
compass), distance about 6,000 yards. Object
was made out to be a submarine on the surface
heading about 320° psc. A discharge was being
emitted by the submarine, very much like smoke
and was very misleading. Submarine was evi-
dently charging her batteries. At 2:20 P.M.
went to " general quarters " and closed in on sub-
marine. At 2:24 P.M. opened fire with port
battery, distance about 4,000 yards. Fired ten
shots. Submarine fired three shots at this ship,
lU.S.S. Corsair — Lieut. Com. T. A. Kittinger, U.S.N. U.S.S.
Aphrodite —Lieut. Com. R. P. Craft, U.S.N. U.S.S. Noma —
lieut Com. L. R. Leahy, U.S.N. U.S.S. Kanawha — Lieut. Com.
H. D. Cooke, U.S.N. U.S.S. FedetU — Lieut. Com. C. L. Hand,
U.S.N. U.S.S. Christab el— Lieutenant H. B. Riebe, U.S.N. U.S.S.
Harvard— Lieutenant A. G. Stirling, U.S.N, U.S.S. Sultana —
Lieutenant E. G. Allen, U.S.N. Captain William B. Fletcher,
U.S.N., squadron commander.
First Months of the War II
one striking about 500 yards ahead of the ship
and the other two shots well over and on the
quarter. At 2:27 P.M. the submarine sub-
merged. Proceeded to vicinity of submarine,
but did not see her again. At 2:35 P.M. re-
sumed our course."
Although the foregoing was the first actual
engagement, the Noma on August 8, in response
to an S. O. S. call, joined the S. S. Dunraven,
which was badly disabled by gunfire from a sub-
marine. This ship had been shelled from astern
by the submarine, one shell having exploded in
the after magazine and disabled the steering
gear. Soon after, the submarine approached
closer to the Dunraven and fired a torpedo. The
submarine was in this position when the Noma
came up on the opposite side of the torpedoed
vessel. Two depth charges were dropped by the
Noma on the spot where the submarine sub-
merged, but these being of the early type, failed
to detonate.
The next squadron of the patrol force, Captain
T. P. Magruder, U. S. N., in command, reached
Brest on the afternoon of September 18, and con-
12 On the Coast of France
sisted of the yacht U. S. S. Wakiva, the supply
ship U. S. S. Bath, and the trawlers U. S. S.
Anderton, U. S. S. Lewes, U. S. S. Courtney,
U. S. S. McNeal, U. S. S. Cahill, U. S. S. James,
U. S. S. Rehoboth, U. S. S. Douglas, U. S. S.
Hinton, and U. S. S. Bauman. With these also
arrived six no-foot patrol vessels, under the
French flag. Due to the construction of the
trawlers, which was soon proved to be entirely
unsuited for the hard sea service required, they
were withdrawn after a few weeks from escort
duty and fitted for mine-sweeping.
It was during this period that the United
States armed transport Antilles in convoy with a
group of three transports and store ships and
escorted by the Corsair, Alcedo, and Kanawha,
was torpedoed and sunk, on the seventeenth of
October, outside of Quiberon Bay. No sign of
a submarine was seen. The total number of
persons on board the Antilles was 237, of whom
167 were rescued by the escorting yachts.
During the month of October, 1917, the coal-
burning destroyers U. S. S. Smith, U. S. S.
Preston, U. S. S. Lamson, U. S. S. Flusser, and
First Months of the War 13
U. S. S. Reid, arrived from Queenstown where
they had been receiving training. They were
accompanied by the U. S. S. Panther, a supply
ship, which had acquired historical interest as a
transport in 1898 during the war with Spain.
The addition of this small destroyer flotilla was
of inestimable value, for the yachts, until this
time, had been required to perform the entire
patrol and escort duty, including the deep-sea
troop convoys for which they were structurally
wholly unsuited and inadequate.
It is interesting to imagine the hopes and fears
of those early days of our participation. In the
ancient port of Brest but a few remnants of the
French fleet remained. The streets of the gray
town were deserted. Gone were the seamen that
for centuries had given it its glory; gone too
were the young men, now fighting and dying
on the northern lines of France. Small indeed
must have seemed these first contributions from
the great ally beyond the Atlantic. A few con-
verted yachts, a few destroyers; that was all.
And yet, within the brief span of a year this
almost deserted harbor was to become dense with
14 On the Coast of France
shipping. Great transports were to swing at
moorings beyond the breakwater. Wasplike de-
stroyers were to ride at their buoys in the inner
harbor in rapidly increasing numbers. Khaki-
clad soldiers by the hundred thousand were to
look upon the gray town and pass on to their
duty in the north. And from nothing, the estab-
lishment of the United States Naval Forces
in France was to expand, with characteristic
American enterprise, into a vast coherent or-
ganization, embracing in its manifold ramifica-
tions the complete machinery for the successful
accomplishment of the tremendous work in
hand.
The first six months of our activities on the
French coast were in a large part a period of
experiment. The force was entirely inadequate;
the ships soon proved unsuited for the work re-
quired and the officers and men of the reserve
force were new to the work. There has been
little glory credited to the work that was per-
formed, for it was at no time a kind of work
with which glory associates most freely. Here
was drudgery and danger; a silent service
The landing at Brest
First Months of the War 15
secretly to be performed. It was work for which
a destroyer flotilla of the largest and fastest ves-
sels would have been none too good. But such
vessels were not available. The yachts were
sent. As months passed by came slowly the coal-
burning destroyers. Later came the great oil
burners, and the yachts disappeared into the
obscurity of hazardous coastal convoys and the
deep-sea convoys of merchantmen in the rough
waters of Biscay.
On October 21, 1917, Captain Fletcher was
detached, and shortly after, Rear-Admiral
Henry B. Wilson arrived to take up the com-
mand. To Captain Fletcher should be given
the credit for the inception and early organiza-
tion of our naval forces on the French coast,
credit which alone can offset the trials and dis-
appointments of those early days. With the ar-
rival of Rear-Admiral Wilson began the second
and final period; a period of constant organiza-
tion and amplification. Fortunately endowed
in generous measure with those executive qu^ali-
ties characteristic of an American naval officer,
Admiral Wilson was still further happy in the
i6 On the Coast of France
possession of a diplomatic nature and keen sym-
pathy with the French people. With the limited
tools available, he planned and executed a pro-
gram which proved itself in its attainment of the
desired end. And, as the means for prosecuting
his purpose were increased, he developed his
plans the further to assure their more perfect
accomplishment.
On November 27, 19 17, the destroyers U. S. S.
Roe and U. S. S. Monaghan arrived at Brest
from Saint-Nazaire. Utilized previously for
deep-sea escort duty from the United States they
had never before touched at a French port, turn-
ing always in mid-Atlantic and returning to the
United States. On this occasion, however, they
had been assigned to escort the U. S. S. San
Diego, on which Secretary of War Baker made
passage to France, and arriving at Saint-
Nazaire, found it necessary to proceed north to
'Brest for coal. As this duty was unforeseen,
they were without coastal charts and proceeded
to explore their way through the perilous mine
and submarine zones with a large ocean chart as
their only guide. Ignorant of the coast, they
First Months of the War 17
first explored the Bay of Douarnenez, but find-
ing no city there, they kept on up the coast. In-
asmuch as their ocean chart did not show the
channel of Raz de Sein, they did not find it, and
passed around it into the Iroise. A message was
sent to them to avoid the Iroise, but as that also
was not shown on their chart, they were forced
to ignore the warning. Happily, they finally
reached Brest without accident, where they were
later permanently joined to the destroyer force
there. The destroyer U. S. S. Warrington
joined the Brest forces at about the same time.
In the middle of December, the torpedo boats
U. S. S. Truxton and U. S. S. Whipple reached
Brest, and shortly after, arrived the U. S. S.
Wadsworth^ the first thousand-ton destroyer to
be assigned to the French waters.
In the forepart of 19 18, the Stewart and Wor-
den, two of our oldest torpedo boats, made a
hazardous but successful transatlantic passage in
the extreme weather of midwinter. On Febru-
ary 18, 1918, the repair ship Prometheus, the
torpedo boat Macdonough and the converted
yacht Isabel moored in the harbor, and with the
l8. On the Coast of France
passing months the fleet was further augmented
by the arrival of the destroyers Porter, Wain-
write, Jarvis, O^Brien, Benham, Winslow, Dray-
ton, Gushing, Tucker, Burrows^ Cummihgs,
Ericsson, Fanning, and McDougal. These were
followed later by the first of the new flush-deck
destroyers: Little, Sigourney, and Conner; and
about a month before the signing of the armi-
stice these were followed by the Taylor, String-
ham, Bell, Murray, and Fairfax. A fourth
flotilla of yachts arrived during February, under
the command of Commander David F. Boyd,
U. S. N., and included the U. S. S. Nokomis,
U. S. S. Rambler, and U. S. S. Utowana and the
tug Gypsum Queen. Another yacht, the U. S. S.
May, was also added to the force, having pro-
ceeded to Brest from Portugal, where she had
left a number of submarine chasers which she
had escorted across the Atlantic. In addition
to these vessels were also added during the fore-
part of the year, the tugs Barnegat and Concord
and the repair ship Bridgeport. On the eleventh
of November, 191 8, when hostilities were sus-
pended by the armistice, the United States
First Months of the War 19
Naval Forces in France comprised a total of
thirty-five destroyers, five torpedo boats, eight-
een yachts, eight tugs, nine mine-sweepers,
three repair ships and one barracks ship, three
tenders, and one salvage vessel.
Much has appeared in magazines and news-
papers of the actual debarkation of American
troops on French soil. Of those landing in Eng-
land, or the ports of other countries, we are not
here concerned. It is the purpose of this narra-
tive to deal solely with the activities of the Amer-
ican Naval Forces in France, and accordingly
only with those troop ships and store ships
which sailed from American ports directly to
ports in France. The first American troops
reached Saint-Nazaire on June 26, 1917. Per-
haps never in the world's history, has the deeper
and finer sentiment of a nation been so thor-
oughly aroused as on that famous day when
the first few thousands of khaki-clad soldiers
touched foot on the soil of France. A nation by
nature of the deepest sentiment, the people of
this seaport town, realized in this slender van-
guard the vivid expression of a friendship begun
20 On the Coast of France
in our own struggle for national freedom and
sustained for a century and a half with almost
unbroken continuity.
During the second half of 1917, a constantly
increasing flood of American soldiers were
transported in safety to the shores of France.
With the new year, a greater volume began to
arrive and in the month of January, 25,280 men
were landed. February showed a slight loss,
with a total of 17,483, which was offset by the
total of 53,043 in March and 62,615 in April.
In May, the full flood began with a total of
119,110. In June, 104,249 were landed, a num-
ber which increased in July to 133,993. There
was a sudden drop in August to 93,376, but the
September quota of 143,253, established a new
record, closely followed by a total of 107,547
in October. The grand total for the ten months
of 19 1 8 was 859,949.
There is no more inspiring sight than the
arrival of a troop convoy and the description
of a single instance may illustrate, as character-
istic, any of the one hundred and two troop con-
voys which arrived during these ten months of
First Months of the War 21
19 1 8. At dawn the convoy of eight troop ships
which had been proceeding in a double line of
four ships each, formed single column, with
three destroyers on either flank. The sea was
calm and the sun rose in a soft-blue, cloudless
sky. On the eastern horizon a white lighthouse
lifted sharply from the thin line of the coast.
The great troop ships, famous liners of other
days, rose and fell heavily on the low swells,
their high sides stripped and blocked in a strange
dress of blue, gray, white and black camouflage,
their decks brown with a solid mass of soldiers
straining their eyes to catch a first glimpse of
France. High overhead, two great yellow
French dirigibles moved with smooth rapidity.
From four gray hydroplanes, soaring in wide
circles, came the distant reverberation of motors.
On either hand the destroyers, lean, lithe sea-
whippets, shook their dipping bows and rolled
in the swells with a quick jerking motion. Over
the water came the sound of nfiusic; an Army
band was playing on board the nearest transport.
The convoy passed into the channel. On the
south, great brown rocks lifted from the sea,
22 On the Coast of France
and on either side of the entrance to the harbor,
the black cliffs of Finistere, like twin Gibraltars,
marked the approach. The convoy, steaming
slowly, moved up the channel. The broad blue
harbor of Brest unfolded, crowded with ship-
ping. In the outer harbor great steamers
swung at their moorings, and behind the break-
water the water was gay with camouflaged ves-
sels, clusters of destroyers and the gray hulls of
two great repair ships. Beyond the harbor
swung the circle of the green hills of Finistere,
and on the left the gray and ancient city of Brest
rose sharply from the historic fortress at the
water's edge. Quietly the destroyers slipped into
the inner harbor and the transports anchored
outside the breakwater. They were " over ; " de-
livered safely through the danger zone by the
United States Naval Forces in France.
Such, in general, was the work of the Navy in
French waters during the sixteen months of its
activity. It was a labor unenlivened by those in-
spiring engagements between ships of a class
which marked our naval activities in these
waters a century and a half before. Rather, it
THE LEVIATHAN
i l/ ^X'^
^^^HHkA » "niirniiiii 1 III 1 'f^^^^l
TROOP SHIP AT BREST
A FRENCH DIRIGIBLE
GERMAN SEA MINES
First Months of the War 23
was a struggle with a force secretive, elusive,
and mysterious. There were thrusts in the dark
from an unseen enemy; there were engagements
fought and won between ships invisible to each
other. Never could there be a moment of re-
laxation ; never did an empty ocean, blue under
a summer sky or gleaming in the moonlight,
assure the absence of the enemy. Great vessels
under escort were torpedoed, vessels of coast-
wise convoys and vessels of the deep-sea traffic
were sunk, but small was the percentage of loss
compared with the numbers of the mighty argo-
sies that in safety sailed the sea and of greatest
significance stands the fact that not one loaded
transport was destroyed or the life of a single
passenger lost. Few were the absolute confirma-
tions of the destruction of submarines, but later
events have disclosed a mortality that does com-
pliment to Yankee perseverance and the depth
charge, that frightful enemy of the submarine,
which took lavish toll of the sea-wolves of the
underseas.
CHAPTER II
BUILDING THE MACHINE
THE arrival of Rear- Admiral Henry 'B.
Wilson at Brest on Thursday, November
I, 1917, and the hoisting of his flag on the U. S.
S. Panther, marked the beginning of the second
and final period of our naval activities in French
waters. On the staff of the Admiral were Com-
mander John Halligan, Jr., U. S. N. Chief of
Staff, Lieutenant Mahlon S. Tisdale, U. S. N.,
and Lieutenant J. G. F. Reynolds, U. S. N. R. F.,
who had accompanied Admiral Wilson from
Gibraltar. Admiral Fletcher's staff was assimi-
lated and this small nucleus grew to some
seventy officers before the armistice was signed.
It is impossible adequately to chronicle the
development of these months of organization and
accomplishment. From the first establishment
of Captain Fletcher, the organization was con-
24
Building the Machine 25
sistently developed to meet new requirements
constantly arising, requirements necessitating
the occupation of quarters on shore which finally
extended to the complete equipment which
existed at the final suspension of hostilities.
Offices were acquired and new space was con-
stantly added. Quarters for men on shore duty
were provided. Offices for the pay department
were secured; a department that at the close of
the war was in itself a complete organization,
handling a volume of business undreamed of by
any of our own Navy Yards, with the probable
exception of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, in the
former days of peace. To maintain good order
throughout the city, a naval patrol was estab-
lished. A great post office, which in one day
received fifteen thousand sacks of mail, was
created. Coal, oil, and water facilities for the
ships were planned and arranged for. Com-
munication systems were instituted. And in all
these various activities, a cooperation was main-
tained with the French authorities, both mari-
time and civil, unbroken in the consistent spirit
of enthusiastic friendliness.
26 On the Coast of France
The rapidly increasing importance of the
United States Naval Forces in France required
a coherent and yet flexible organization under
single leadership, and on the twelfth of January,
1918, after calling Admiral Wilson to London
for conference the first definite amplification of
the organization of the United States Naval
Forces in France was outlined by Vice-Admiral
Sims, Commander United States Naval Forces
operating in Europe, to Rear- Admiral Wilson.
Under this new organization. Admiral Wilson
received the title of '^ Commander United
States Naval Forces in France" and took com-
mand of all United States naval vessels operat-
ing in French waters. As a result of this com-
prehensive command, the organization was nat-
urally divided into two parts: the naval forces
afloat, including all ships assigned to duty in the
Channel and the Atlantic coasts of France, and
the Port Organization and Administration,
comprising the three districts of Brest, Lorient,
and Rochefort, with an officer of captain's rank
in command of each of these districts.
Aviation, under the command of Captain H.
Building the Machine 27
I. Cone, was also included under the command
of Rear-Admiral Wilson, but due to the many
problems in this new branch of naval activities,
a free hand was given to Captain Cone in the
building up and perfecting of the naval avia-
tion service and it may be considered practically
a distinct organization during the phase of con-
struction and until the stations began to operate
against the submarines.
Commander W. R. Sayles, U. S. N. (naval
attache in Paris) was placed in command of the
Intelligence Service, and Captain R. H. Jack-
son, U. S. N., became an officer on Admiral Wil-
son's staff, to act primarily as liaison officer be-
tween the Admiral and the French authorities,
although the right naturally remained to Ad-
miral Wilson to deal directly with the French
Ministry of Marine if he should so desire. As
an addition to the Intelligence Service, a counter
espionage service was organized under the com-
mand of Commander Sayles, and in order to
clarify the work, the various activities were sep-
arated into six principal fields:
Naval Forces Afloat; Port Organization and
28 On the Coast of France
Administration; Aviation; Intelligence; Com-
munication; Supplies and Disbursements.
In regard to the control of shipping, it was
determined that all troop and cargo transports
and other vessels flying the American flag should
be escorted to their wharf, anchorage or buoy by
the Navy, and that thereafter, their subsequent
movements, until they should be ready to leave
port, should be controlled by the Army or Navy,
according to whom their cargo belonged, and
that, upon leaving port, they would again re-
vert to naval control.
In accordance with this outline, Admiral Wil-
son designated the three districts as follows:
Brest to include the territory extending
from Brehat to Penmarch, including Ushant;
Lorient, the territory from Penmarch to Fro-
mentine, including Belle-Ile, and Rochefort, the
territory extending from Fromentine to the
Spanish line and including the outlying islands.
The district commander in charge of each of
these districts received immediate control of
operations of all vessels placed under his com-
mand and was further charged with the re-
Building the Machine 29
sponsibility of repairing and supplying of
vessels assigned to his district; the development
and maintenance of adequate naval port facili-
ties; the establishment and maintenance of all
communication with the Commander United
States Naval Forces in France, the prefet mari-
time, the naval port officer of the district, and the
other district commanders and the supervision of
American shipping and of United States naval
personnel on merchant ships.
Naval port officers at all of the principal
ports, were established, reporting immediately
to their respective district commanders. The
duties of these port officers were primarily to
facilitate the berthing, discharging, and sailing
of United States troop and store ships, a duty
which included all of the arduous details which
constantly present themselves whenever ship-
ping in any quantity is present. Among the
many duties assigned to port officers, the follow-
ing were perhaps of major importance:
To cooperate with the United States Army
and the French authorities in the despatch of
vessels; to keep the Commander United States
30 On the Coast of France
Naval Forces in France and the district com-
mander promptly informed of the arrival and
the departure of all United States vessels; to
obtain from the commanding officers or masters
of these vessels upon their arrival, all interesting
information regarding the incidents of their
voyage and their particular needs; to inspect the
United States naval armed guard and radio
men on all United States vessels, other than those
regularly commissioned in the United States
Navy and report on their efficiency; to assist in
supplying these vessels with necessary fuel and
supplies; to pay the armed guard and furnish
them with clothing and small stores; to investi-
gate offences committed by United States naval
personnel on vessels other than those regularly
commissioned United States naval vessels; to
investigate and take action on all admiralty cases
involving United States Navy; to keep the
Commander United States Naval Forces in
France informed of the readiness of all vessels
and of the speed which they were capable to
maintain through the danger zone; to familiar-
ize the masters of ships with the precautions
J.
iJI^ w/m^^.
A sea plane makes a bad dive. Destroyers to the rescue
1— a—iiBWKt"' "".>..«.i»w^i!a
The destroyer Monaghan
The hammer-head bow of a destroyer
Depth charges on the stern of a destroyer
Building the Machine 3 1
and the prescribed convoy scheme to be followed
within the danger zone; to furnish each con-
voy and its escort commander, prior to sailing,
with the latest information regarding submarine
and mine activities and to keep the commander
in France constantly informed as to the amount
of Navy coal on hand, expended and received.
It has been ever a part of the Navy's duty to
stand ready to assume responsibility for the ful-
fillment of whatever work might be required to
prosper the best interests of the Nation, for
which the Navy has been and must continue to
be its outward manifestation throughout the
world. To create an organization, such as con-
ditions in France required, sufficient not only
to meet temporary needs, but also future re-
quirements and at the same time to carry on an
active warfare with a powerful enemy, was a
commission of the most grave responsibility, for
it required not only the abilities of trained men
of business, endowed with native American en-
ergy and promptness of decision, but there were
also required those traits which are presumed
to attach solely to trained diplomats. For in all
32 On the Coast of France
this tremendous operation and creation, it was
necessary to maintain the utmost harmony and
cordiality with a people speaking a different
tongue and accustomed to those more composed
and conservative methods of accomplishment
generally characteristic of an older nation.
Throughout the entire history of our naval co-
operation with the French nation, a spirit of
cordiality and cooperation was consistently
maintained. Nor were these relations broken by
a single incident to mar the perfect accord. The
following telegram was received by Admiral
Wilson on July i, 1918, from the French Vice-
Admiral Schwerer and seems particularly felici-
tous in the exact expression of the spirit exist-
ing between the two nations :
On July 4, 1917, there arrived in our waters the first eight
ships of war sent to France by the United States to fight with us
against the enemy's piracy. These vessels were the yachts Harvard,
Vedette, Kanaivha, Sultana, Christabel, Noma, Corsair and Aphro-
dite. Since that period these vessels have constantly collaborated
with us in the protection of convoys and we have all been wit-
nesses of the ardor and the devotion brought by their personnel
to the difficult and sometimes ungrateful tasks of the patrols.
This squadron was the vanguard of a flotilla of ships, each
day more numerous and more powerful, which arrived from the
other shore of the ocean to take part in the fight.
At the moment when the anniversary of the arrival in Brest
of this vanguard approaches, I am sure that I am the interpreter
Building the Machine 33
of all the officers, petty officers, and enlisted men of the divisions
of Bretagne, in addressing to our American comrades the expres-
sion of our fraternal esteem and of our warm admiration of your
great nation which has not hesitated to throw itself inta the most
terrible of wars for the defense of Right, of Liberty, and of
Civilization.
(Signed) Vice- Admiral Schwerer,
Commandant Suphieur des Divisions de Bretagne.
Brest, July i, 1918.
On July 4, 19 18, the following telegram was
received by the Commander United States
Naval Forces in France, from the Minister of
Marine:
At the moment when the magnificent battalions of the Ameri-
can Army are marching in Paris past the statues of our cities un-
justly occupied by the enemy, thus affiirming the high ideals of
justice which lead them to fight by the side of our soldiers, I am
particularly happy to. address to you my most cordial regards in
recognition of the perfect and devoted cooperation which our
naval forces in Brittany have not ceased to find with the Ameri-
can naval forces placed under your high direction and the system-
atic harmony of views and sentiments which has not ceased to
reign between us.
Rear-Admiral Wilson replied:
To the Minister of Marine:
It is a great honor and satisfaction to receive the cordial good
wishes expressed in your message of today. The American Navy
is proud of its privilege of working with the French Navy, a serv-
ice for which we have the highest admiration. Our personal asso-
ciation with the flag officers of your Navy has been an inspiration
to me.
(Signed) H. B. Wilson.
34 On the Coast of France
On September 21;, 19 18, Rear- Admiral Henry
B. Wilson, U. S. N., Commander United States
Naval Forces in France was promoted to the
rank of vice-admiral, U. S. N., and his flag
was hoisted on the flagship Prometheus,
There are times when only statistics can giye
a definite conception, and a few figures selected
from the mass of data relating to these impres-
sive operations may indicate in some measure
the scope of the accomplishment. From noth-
ing, on July I, 1917, the United States Naval
Forces in France had grown by October i, 19 18,
to an establishment of 22,111 officers and men;
of these 1,422 were officers. Afloat, the per-
sonnel numbered 601 officers and 7,480 men.
Of the shore forces, 160 officers and 2,187 men
were distributed among the three base organiza-
tions; 71 officers and 207 men among the port
offices, 578 officers and 9,789 men among the 16
naval air stations ; 24 officers and 488 men with
the naval railway battery; 18 officers and 556
men with the high power radio detachment and
27 officers and j;8 men on detached staff service.
During the first nine months of 191 8 an ap-
Building the Machine 35
proximate total of 752,402 troops was convoyed
safely through the danger zone and landed at
French ports. On one day alone sixteen ships
containing over forty thousand men were
brought in safety into a single port. Two hundred
and sixty convoys, comprising 1,499 vessels, were
convoyed, during the same period through the
zone, proceeding either to French ports or home-
ward bound. And this was accomplished by
a fleet, all told, which reached eighty odd ves-
sels only a few weeks before the armistice was
signed, and was manned by approximately eight
thousand officers and men.
During the closing months of the war, the ac-
tivities of the base at Brest assumed proportions
far in excess of the anticipation of any of those
who contributed to the early days of its estab-
lishment. Repairs to escort vessels, transports,
merchant ships, and vessels wrecked by storm or
collision, or torn by torpedoes, necessitated op-
erations similar to those required by the most
modern Navy Yards in the United States. Re-
pair shops afloat and on shore were working in
shifts, in order that the vast volume of work
36 On the Coast of France
might be accomplished. The administrative
force had been constantly increased to keep pace
with these developments and a continuously
growing number of enlisted men had required
additional barracks on shore.
CHAPTER III
IN THE PATH OF THE SUBMARINE
IN THE many engagements between Allied
vessels and German submarines in French
waters the fortitude of the officers and crews of
the smaller merchantmen and particularly of
the French fishing vessels afforded many dra-
matic instances. Due to the limited number of
French and American patrol vessels it was but
natural that many of the smaller vessels took a
"long chance" and endeavored to make their
way unescorted along the coast. Many of these
vessels were attacked and a large number were
destroyed; but out of the total number of en-
gagements there are several which particularly
illustrate the temper of the French seaman in
the face of almost overwhelming odds.
At about eleven o'clock of the morning of
December 4, 1917, the St. Antoine de Padoue,
S7
38 On the Coast of France
2i three-masted sailing vessel left Britton Ferry
for Fecamp. She was making about three pr
four knots in a S. S. E. direction when a shell
fell about two hundred meters off the starboard
bow and a violent explosion was heard astern.
The pilot who was standing on the poop deck
with the captain saw the submarine which was
headed N. E. at a distance of four thousand
meters on the port quarter. ^' General quarters "
was immediately sounded ; the captain ordered a
zigzag course to be followed in order to confuse
the aim of the submarine, and opened fire with
his own guns. After seventeen shots had been
fired by the St. Antoine, the submarine sub-
merged and disappeared. The engagement had
lasted fifteen minutes and no damage was done
to the sailing vessel. But fifteen minutes later
the submarine reappeared and resumed firing at
a slightly increased distance. The first shell fell
short on the starboard side. The captain
promptly responded with his stern gun and re-
sumed his zigzag, but within a few minutes the
sighting piece of the gun was shot away and
damage to the breech put the gun temporarily
Destroyers waiting for an incoming convoy
Troop ship escorted by a destroyer and two sea planes
Observation balloon on a destroyer
The balloon gonig up
In the Path of the Submarine 39
out of action. Undaunted, the captain maneu-
vered to bring his forward gun into action,
but a shot from the submarine struck the port
side of the sailing ship, inflicting severe damage.
In spite of the heavy fire which continued, the
men stuck to their posts and continued what
seemed to be a hopeless struggle. At the darkest
moment, however, a British hydroplane made its
appearance and caused the submarine to sub-
merge. This was the third time that the St.
Antoine had escaped after having been attacked
by German submarines and the captain had al-
ready been cited as a result of these engage-
ments.
On another occasion, the St. Antoine de Pa-
doue was engaged in fishing off Fecamp. While
the crew were attending to their nets, a small
boat with two leg-o-mutton sails appeared on the
horizon at a distance of two or three miles. In
waters frequented by fishing boats the appear-
ance of a craft of this nature would not normally
attract attention, but in this particular instance
the vessel sighted seemed to be pursuing a course
parallel to the course of the St. Antoine, at a
40 On the Coast of France
rate of speed in excess of that justified by the
small size of her sails. The suspicions of the
captain were promptly aroused and he sent his
crew to battle stations. Gradually the courses
of the two ships converged and the St, Antoine
fired a shot, hoping that the suspicious vessel
would show a signal. No signal, however, ap-
peared and a few minutes later the sails were
hauled down and a conning tower was clearly
seen in silhouette against the horizon. For some
reason unknown, no attack was offered, probably
due to the apparent readiness which the captain
of the St. Antoine showed for battle; and shortly
after the submarine disappeared and the St.
Antoine proceeded on her course.
Another interesting attack was reported as
having occurred on the ninth of January, 1917,
against the French steamer Barsac, bound from
Brest to Le Havre. The Barsac, entirely dark-
ened, was proceeding at a speed of about ten
knots, when at 6:35 P.M. a torpedo suddenly ex-
ploded against the side, opposite No. 3 hatch,
promptly filling the engine-room with water.
The ship filled rapidly by the stern and sank in
In the Path of the Submarine 41
three minutes. No one on board saw either the
submarine or the torpedo.
With the utmost calmness the crew manned
the boats, the captain alone remaining aboard
the stricken vessel. When the ship went down
the captain was dragged after her by the suction,
but coming to the surface was rescued about
twenty minutes later by one of the ship's boats.
The surviving members of the crew were finally
picked up by a patrol boat, but eighteen men
were lost
On December 21, at a little after one o'clock
in the morning the Portuguese steamer Boa Vista
in convoy with five other ships escorted by two
French patrol boats, the Albatros and the Sau-
terelle, were proceeding north, enroute for
Quiberon. The sea was calm and the night clear
and brilliant although there was no moon. No
sign of submarine activities appeared on the still
water. Suddenly, the Boa Vista was struck by
a torpedo on the starboard side a little forward
of the bridge. For half an hour the ship sank
slowly by the bow. The patrol boats " stood by,"
rescuing the crew and endeavoring to take in tow
42 On the Coast of France
the lifeboats which she had launched. Suddenly
the conning tower of the submarine appeared at
a distance of five thousand meters and fired a
second torpedo at the Boa Vista which sank
rapidly and disappeared five minutes later.
Early in January, the steam trawler St.
Mathieu left Brest on her way to the fishing
grounds about one hundred miles S. S. W. of
Raz de Sein. In the morning of the sixth, when
seventy-seven miles S. W. of Belle-Ile, the look-
out sighted a boat on the horizon and a few
seconds afterward a shell passed over the St.
Mathieu. The captain promptly hauled in his
nets, sent his crew to battle stations and heading
for the enemy, opened fire with his bow gun.
A few minutes later, a shell from the submarine
shattered the upper part of the bridge, wound-
ing the man at the wheel and another near the
bow. Encouraging his crew, the captain of the
trawler continued his action until another shell
from the submarine mortally wounded three of
the guns' crew, but undaunted, the only survivor
continued to fire until the ammunition was ex-
hausted. The submarine was now relatively
In the Path of the Submarine 43
near the trawler and her fire was extremely ac-
curate. By this time, out of a total crew of thir-
teen on board the trawler, four were killed, four
badly wounded, and all of the remaining were
suffering from minor injuries.
It was now necessary to abandon ship and the
captain with the survivors put off in a small boat.
A few minutes later the submarine sank the
St. Mathieu by gunfire and promptly sub-
merged. Then followed thirty hours of great
suffering on the part of the crew of the trawler,
all of whom were more or less wounded. A
heavy sea was running and navigation was diffi-
cult. The night was very dark. Toward morn-
ing a patrol vessel heard the cries of the sailors,
but in her attempt to effect a rescue, ran into the
lifeboat and capsized it, with the result that four
of the crew were drowned. The survivors of
the St. Mathieu were landed at La Palice on the
morning of the eighth of January and later the
captain was awarded the Military Medal and all
of the members of the crew were cited in orders.
At about noon on the tenth of October, 19 17,
the captain of the French ship Transporteur,
44 On the Coast of France
was exchanging semaphore signals with the
Afrique II, a French patrol boat, when he no-
ticed in the sunlight, at a distance of about three
hundred meters, the wake of a torpedo coming
toward him, a little forward of the beam. He
immediately steamed "hard-right," reversed his
engine and warned his escort by whistle. Un-
fortunately his action, although prompt, proved
unable to avoid the path of the torpedo, which,
striking the ship at the water line, caused a ter-
rific explosion and brought down the forward
mast. The ship listed and forty seconds later
the water was almost even with the forecastle.
For a brief period the vessel remained standing
almost perpendicular, its propeller continuing to
turn rapidly in the air; then perpendicularly
and like an arrow shot from a great height,
it dived into the sea. Of the twenty-four men
comprising the crew, twenty-one survivors were
rescued by the Afrique II, while swimming in
the wreckage.
The engagement of the French steamer La
Ronce with an enemy submarine, is another ex-
ample of French fortitude. Sighting a torpedo
In the Path of the Submarine 45
on the port beam headed in a direction which
would undoubtedly bring it up opposite the en-
gine-room, the officer of the deck put his rudder
"hard-left" with the result that the torpedo ex-
ploded by No. 4 hatch, tearing a large hole in
the side of the vessel. The stern gun being de-
stroyed, the captain manned his forward gun,
but could not locate the submarine. Little by
little, the ship settled by the stern and the after
part of the deck being submerged, the water
began to enter the engine-room through the
hatchways. Seeing that it was impossible to
keep his vessel afloat much longer, the captain
ordered her to be abandoned and the crew em-
barked in boats in a heavy sea. As several of
the boats had been destroyed by the explosion,
those that were launched were overloaded and
when the order was given by the captain to
" push oflF," he realized their crowded condition
and remained on board the sinking ship with the
engineer officer and radio officer and with them
went down with the ship.
The Voltaire II was bound for Nantes. Sail-
ing from Gibraltar on the eighth of December,
46 On the Coast of France
1917, the captain opened his secret; instructions,
issued in the event of his leaving the convoy, and
proceeded about one hundred and forty miles
in a new direction. The night was very dark
and the ship was without lights. At twenty
minutes to four a torpedo struck the ship near
the stern, tearing loose the mainmast and throw-
ing it on the bridge. The wireless antenna was
carried away by the falling mast and the water
rose so rapidly that it became impossible to use
the auxiliary antenna. Due also to the rapidly
rising water, the boats were jammed against the
davit-heads and with the exception of the port
whaleboat, which was launched with four men,
none of them could be lowered. The ship dis-
appeared in three minutes, taking with her the
captain and the greater part of the crew. About
twenty-four sailors were rescued by the whale-
boat. Sail was made and the boat was headed
for Belle-Ile, in a heavy sea. It was cold and the
boat was so overloaded that it was difficult to
keep it afloat. The men for the most part, were
about half dressed and became rapidly ex-
hausted. During the evening of the twelfth, the
The British mystery ship Dunraven, under fire from a sub-
marine. The white smoke at the stern is from
an exploding shell
The Dunraven sinking
, Is -.fci 'te-St"-* -ti i?liife
The Philomel (British) sinking after being torpedoed
The last of the Philomel
In the Path of the Submarine 47
light of Penmarch was seen, but soon after the
mast broke and it became necessary to continue
with the oars. A few hours after, they passed a
convoy and later a single ship, but their signals
of distress were unnoticed. Finally, at noon they
were sighted by the French trawler which res-
cued the men and took them to Lorient. Two
died from the cold and exposure. At no time
before or after the torpedoing did anyone see
the submarine or its periscope.
On her way from St. Malo, to join a convoy
of sailing vessels, the French schooner Jermaine
was attacked by a submarine which opened with
four shells and followed with a volley of fire,
meanwhile circling the sailing vessel. The
Jermaine was ably commanded by a former
sergeant of colonial infantry who promptly
organized the crew and prepared to defend the
ship at all hazards. The sea was running so
high that it was impossible to see the submarine
except at rare intervals. Climbing into the rig-
ging, in order personally to watch the shots
which were fired by the Jermaine whenever the
enemy became visible between the troughs of
48 On the Coast of France
the sea, the captain tacked to run with the wind
in order to make use of his two guns. So ac-
curate was the fire of the sailing ship that at the
fourth shot from the Jermaine, the submarine
abandoned the struggle and rapidly changed its
course.
The British ship Austradale left Milford
Haven on the sixteenth of October, 1917, in a
convoy of twenty-five ships, proceeding in
columns of eight. Her position was No. i in the
left column. About three days out, the Austra-
dale sighted at a distance of approximately three
miles, an object which appeared to be a capsized
fishing boat. The captain gave the signal ^' Sus-
picious object sighted " and now believes it was
put there by the submarine in order to divert
his attention from the subsequent attack which
came from the opposite side. At all events,
while watching the object, the ship was suddenly
torpedoed on the port side, on a line with the
engine-room, and sank in three minutes. The
forty-five surviving members of the crew em-
barked in a whaleboat and two dinghies. The
boats were well provided with food ^d as
In the Path of the Submarine 49
danger was imminent, the convoy proceeded and
the small boats were soon lost in the night. For
seven days, the crew navigated their small craft
in heavy seas, covering a distance of 330 miles.
During this period, one man becarne insane and
jumped into the sea. Leaks developed which
required constant baling and reduced the sur-
vivors to a state of almost complete exhaustion.
Two of the dinghies reached Port Kerrel, but
one of the men later died of exhaustion. The
whaleboat, containing twenty-four men, was
never heard from.
On September 16, 1918, the Rambler rescued
forty-one survivors from the British S. S. Philo-
mel and carried them into Lorient. The Philo-
mel was the leading ship of the right column of a
south-bound convoy from Brest to La Palice and
the Rambler was one of the escorting vessels.
No submarine or torpedo was seen at any
time, nor was the submarine detected by the lis-
tening devices. The Philomel was struck on the
starboard side, under the bridge, and, following
the explosion, she swung to starboard out of the
column and was immediately abandoned. At
50 On the Coast of France
6:14 P.Mv about thirty minutes after being
struck, the Philomel began to sink by the bow,
taking a very sharp angle until her bow seemed
to rest on the bottom. A minute later she dis-
appeared from sight, with steam escaping and
her whistle blowing.
Relatively few were the disasters which befell
American troop and store ships. And of those
sinkings which occurred, the large majority were
among the empty vessels homeward bound.
Perhaps the slightly inferior escorts which took
out the returning ships may have been the reason,
but it is more probable to suppose that the enemy
found a resistance on the part of the eastward-
bound convoys which would have been unmeas-
urably intensified by the knowledge, on the part
of the officers and crews of both escort and con-
voy that American lives other than their own
and property necessary for the prosecution of
the war were resting in their protection below
the vessels' decks.
Particularly to the credit of all concerned,
was the salvaging of the ships West Bridge,
Westward Ho, and Mount Vernon. Only
In the Path of the Submarine 51
through the indomitable perseverance of the
officers and men were these wounded vessels
brought into port. The story of their rescue is
one of the silent epics of the war.
The torpedoing and rescue of the Westward
Ho has been told in a previous chapter but the
incidents attendant on the attacks on the West
Bridge and Mount Vernon deserve mention in
this narrative.
There was unusual activity of enemy sub-
marines to the west of the Bay of Biscay during
the early part of August, 1918, and three vessels,
the U. S. S. A. C. T. Montanan of 6,659 tons
gross, the U. S. S. A. C. T. West Bridge of 8,800
tons gross, and the U. S. S. A. C. T. Cubore of
7,300 tons gross were torpedoed.
The Montanan was struck when proceeding in
convoy at about 7 P.M. on August iS and sank at
3 P.M. on the following day. The yacht Noma,
acting in the escort, took aboard eighty-one sur-
vivors and reported that five of the personnel
were missing.
The U. S. S. A. C. T. Montanan reported that
three torpedoes were fired. Of these she sue-
52 On the Coast of France
ceeded in dodging two, but was hit by the third
torpedo abreast of the after end of the engine-
room. The explosion smashed a boat and put
the radio completely out of commission. The
ship settled rapidly and it was in abandoning
ship that the two members of the armed guard
were drowned.
At one o'clock in the morning on August i6,
the West Bridge was torpedoed within a few
miles of the spot where the Montanan was sunk.
She was proceeding in the same convoy, but
had fallen back due to engine trouble and for
some hours prior to her attack her engines had
stopped entirely. While lying in this extremely
vulnerable position, she was struck by two tor-
pedoes in quick succession, the second torpedo
being visible at the moment when the first tor-
pedo went home. The Concord, Smith, and
Barnegat were despatched to her assistance, but
the destroyers Drayton and Fanning which were
standing by her, were required to leave her on
the afternoon of August i6 to join a convoy. One
officer and three men were missing, probably
killed by the explosion in the engine-room. The
In the Path of the Submarine 53
ninety-nine survivors were taken into Brest by
the U. S. S. Burrows.
At the time of the arrival of the West Bridge
in Brest, it was calculated that only one per cent
of the normal buoyancy of the hull before load-
ing, remained. The calculated buoyancy having
been reduced from ten thousand tons to one
hundred tons.
The Cubore was struck on August 15 at
ten o'clock in the evening and sank an hour
later. Fifty survivors including the captain and
the armed guard were taken off by the French
gunboat Etourde.
The Westover of the Naval Overseas Trans-
portation Service was torpedoed on the morn-
ing of the eleventh of July, 1918, and sank
forty minutes later. The vessel left New York
in convoy, but it had been forced to drop behind
because of engine troubles; due primarily to the
inexperience of her engineer force with turbine
machinery. These troubles were later overcome
and at the time she was torpedoed, the Westover
was making her speed and endeavoring to over-
take the convoy. She was struck by two tor-
54 On the Coast of France
pedoes. The first struck on the starboard side,
abaft No. 3 hatch and the second aft on the port
side. Her cargo contained 1,000 tons of steel,
2,000 tons of flour, 10 locomotives and 14 motor
trucks, a deck load of 400 piles and 250 tons of
second-class mail.
The Warrington arrived on the scene within
a few hours of the time of the sinking of the
vessel. Five boats containing the survivors made
the French coast in the vicinity of Brest; but
three officers and eight enlisted men were lost.
On September 5, 191 8, the U. S. S. Mount
Vernon, westward bound 'from Brest for the
United States was proceeding in company with
the U. S. S. Agamemnon. At a little before
eight in the morning, her watch sighted a sub-
marine forward of the beam, in a position be-
tween the Mount Vernon and the Agamemnon.
The Mount Vernon immediately dropped five
depth charges and fired one shell in the direction
of the periscope. Ten seconds later the ship re-
ceived the torpedo amidships on the starboard
side, between fire-rooms three and four, killing
thirty-five of the engine- and fire-room force and
The bow of the
'Oil Steuben after collision with the
Agamemnon
In the Path of the Submarine 55
wounding twelve. The Mount Vernon accom-
panied by three destroyers started to return to
Brest at a speed of six knots, which was later
increased to fourteen knots, arriving at Brest
about midnight; the Agamemnon continued her
voyage westward.
On receipt of the news of the disaster, the
Sigourney, with two other destroyers and the
U. S. S. Barnegat and Anderton were sent
out from Brest to assist in escorting the Mount
Vernon into port. At the time of her departure
from Brest, the Mount Vernon was drawing
twenty-nine feet aft. On her return she was
drawing thirty-nine feet, five inches aft and
thirty-three feet forward; four of her fire-rooms
being completely flooded. She was also listing
10° to port. From the time the torpedo struck
the ship until its arrival in dock, in Brest, all of
the officers and men worked untiringly on
pumps, handy-billies, and buckets, putting addi-
tional shores on the bulkheads and reinforcing
hatches and doors. The Mount Vernon docked
at Brest, repaired and later was again put into
commission.
56 On the Coast of France
The U. S. S. Buenaventura, an American
cargo transport of 8,200 tons, sailed from Le
Verdon in convoy on the fourteenth of Septem-
ber, 19 1 8, and was struck by two torpedoes and
sank in six minutes, shortly after the convoy had
been dispersed and the escort had left on its way
to the rendezvous of the incoming convoy. So
sudden was the attack and the final plunge of the
vessel that only three boats were able to get
away. All reports indicate that the behavior
of the officers and crew was excellent; the cap-
tain devoted his entire efforts to save his crew,
declining to the very last to make any effort to
leave the sinking ship. A motor sailer and an-
other boat which succeeded in getting away
were picked up by the French destroyer Teme-
raire, and brought into Brest, and a third boat,
containing the commanding officer, the executive
officer, and twenty-seven men reached Corunna,
Spain, after a number of days at sea.
One of the last cargo carriers to meet de-
struction by a submarine was the U. S. S. A. C.
T. Joseph Cudahy, which was struck by two tor-
pedoes on the seventeenth of August, 19 18. The
In the Path of the Submarine 57
first torpedo struck the Cudahy in the fuel tank;
the second in the engine-room. Two submarines
took part in the action. After abandoning ship,
the captain of the Cudahy was taken on board
one of the submarines and questioned concerning
the destination and whereabouts of the convoy.
Sixty-two members of the crew were lost.
A study of the circumstances, surrounding the
torpedoing of the Justicia, President Lincoln,
Covington, Tuscania, Antilles, and Tippecanoe,
as well as a number of other vessels, shows that
all of these were sunk by quartering shots. This
indicates that the probable procedure of the sub-
marine was to submerge in advance of the con-
voy and at right angles to its course, having esti-
mated from previous bearings the convoy's gen-
eral direction and the probable nature of the
zigzag, emerging when its hydrophones indi-
cated that the convoy had passed. From such a
position, the danger to the submarine would be
materially reduced, inasmuch as the convoy
would be soon in advance of the position occu-
pied by the submarine; provided, of course, that
no escort was occupying a position astern of the
58 On the Coast of France
convoy. High speed on the part of the vessels
attacked, would naturally, from this supposition,
prove a great asset of safety.
Large as were the dangers due to the sub-
marine, it is to the credit of the yachts and de-
stroyers on the French coast that the record
of the American debarkation in France was
achieved, and also, that of the ships which were
lost, the great majority were homeward bound
and hence empty of troops or cargo.
CHAPTER IV
THE CONVERTED YACHTS
IT IS fair to presume that in the years to come
the part which the United States Navy
played in the Great War will be in a large part
judged by the safe conduct of troop and store
ships to and from the coast of France. As the
territory stretching from Switzerland to the Bel-
gian coast formed the front line of our land
forces, so the fighting front of the United States
Navy may be considered, in the large part, the
western coast of France.
During the long months of submarine warfare
bodies of troops were safely transported across
the Atlantic, escorted through the submarine
danger zone and landed on foreign soil, in num-
bers never exceeded by any similar instance in
the history of the world. Not only was an army
thus convoyed in safety, but, and of equal im-
59
6o On the Coast of France
portance, were the vast quantities of stores neces-
sary for its subsistence and for the prosecution
of the war carried safely through an area in-
fested with enemy submarines. To meet the
enemy two classes of vessels were assigned to the
work. Of these the destroyers were by their con-
struction best fitted for the duty required and
their service for this reason was in many ways
of paramount value, but credit must not be
slighted to the yachts, which although manned
in a large measure by relatively inexperienced
reserve officers, and themselves being by con-
struction entirely unfitted for the service, per-
formed a duty the value of which can never be
adequately estimated.
In the preceding chapters has been briefly
sketched the story of the arrival of the fleet of
converted yachts and the general nature of the
duties they were required to perform. To the
average conception a yacht is primarily a grace-
ful pleasure craft, immaculate with white paint
and gleaming brightwork, with snowy decks and
awnings and pillowed wicker chairs on the after
deck. The yacht is by birth and breeding a
The Converted Yachts 6i
member of a wealthy aristocracy; a frequenter
of social gatherings. She is a vessel found only
on summer seas, in sparkling harbors gay with
flags; at regattas and in those places where
wealth and fashion meet.
Of the fleet that sailed originally from the
United States, three may be erased from the list
of active participants, for the Guinevere lies
broken on a reef and the Alcedo and Wakiva
rest somewhere beneath the restless surface of
the Bay of Biscay, the former torpedoed by the
enemy, the latter rammed by night by a ship of
her convoy. As the months passed there was
soon a noticeable change of aspect, soft white
decks became torn and dented by hob-nailed
boots and the heavy gear which was hauled over
them. Long rows of depth charges, ash-canlike
cylinders charged each with three hundred
pounds of high explosive filled the graceful
curve of their fantails. Squat " Y" guns, heavy
mortars to discharge simultaneously two depth
charges, one on either side of the vessel, crowded
the hand steering gear on the after deck. Saloon
windows repeatedly shattered by heavy seas or
62 On the Coast of France
the detonation of the guns and depth charge were
boarded up. Below decks similar changes ap-
peared in worn and battered furnishings re-
peatedly stained by sea water straining through
leaking decks.
A few months after her arrival the graceful
bowsprit of the Noma was removed and an acci-
dent later carried away the head of the golden
figure-head on her bow. But like She of Sam-
othrace, the headless goddess, in a coat of
battle gray, braved to the end each wave that
crashed over her dipping bow.
Down in the wide roadstead of the Gironde
six of the yachts were finally gathered, as one
by one the destroyers took over the troop ship
convoys into the northern ports. But if the safe-
guarding of human lives was denied them, their
new duty of the safe delivery of the ever increas-
ing fleet of store ships was of almost equal im-
portance. Manned for the most part by the
same crews but officered largely by newcomers
to the force the;r arduous, monotonous, and dan-
gerous work went steadily on.
Behind the white tower of the lighthouse at the
T3
a,
<u
■ft
a
o
The Converted Yachts 63
entrance to the Gironde a great arm of the land
holds back the sea from the sheltered roadstead
before Le Verdon. To the north of the entrance
the old seaport town of Royan fills a hollow of
the shore, and on the cliff that sweeps seaward
rise the high white villas of a fashionable sum-
mer colony. Two hours run up the muddy river
are the wharves of Trompeloup, where the great
naval air station was established, and where from
hog-backed colliers swinging hard to ebb or
flood in the swift stream, the yachts drew their
coal at the end of every run. Two or three hours
farther up the river were the great docks of
Bassin where the stout freighters discharged
their cargoes and where miles of American
tracks and hundreds of American cars assembled
by American mechanics in an American shop at
La Rochelle, received stores innumerable.
Still beyond, within sight of Bassin, lies Bor-
deaux, fan-shaped, its broad base against the
stone docks along the south bank of the river.
There were other ports from which and to which
the yachts escorted the merchant convoys; but in
the latter days of the war the bulk of their con-
64 On the Coast of France
voy work centered in the Gironde. Fifty and a
hundred freighters at a single time rode at
anchor before Le Verdon. Coal-burners and
oil-burners; ships of the lake type, built in
states far inland and launched in fresh water;
ships of standard design in which all sense of
elegance or line was subordinated to the grim
necessities of utility, tramp steamers, fruit
steamers, and passenger vessels that once
touched southern ports. Here were ships from
all the Allied world ; from the South American
republics; from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Japan,
France, England, Sweden, Norway, Denmark,
Russia. Here were ships flying the tricolor of
France, and most numerous of all were the ships
that flew the flag of the UNITED STATES.
Gray, battered, and still grimy with coal dust,
the yachts dropped down the river from a weari-
some night of coaling at Trompeloup. Like
gray shadows, they passed among the freighters
which, painted in a wild nightmare of camou-
flage, seemed like honest and stolid citizens too
consciously arrayed for some fancy carnival.
Slowly, with steam-wreathed bows, the heavy
The Converted Yachts 65
anchors of the store ships were lifted from the
muddy bottom of the river and they stood down
the channel to the sea, hoists of signal flags
flung from diminutive masts and semaphore sig-
nalmen waving madly from the bridges. Like
sheep dogs, the yachts and the small French
patrol boats herded the convoy consisting usually
of from ten to thirty freighters, " in ballast," to
the open sea. Overhead the seaplanes soared
like strange gray flying fish, too high above their
native element, motors snarling and throbbing
on the wind.
There were bright days when the harbor
seemed a gay picture, and there were all too
frequent days of low gray clouds and a heavy
green sea beyond the bar. Then followed long
days and longer nights of uneventful' monotony.
By day the convoys followed the zigzag course
prescribed by the escort commander; by night
the darkened ships held a straight course unless
a moon and a calm sea required a continuation
of the zigzag.
Clinging to an open bridge in seas so heavy
that they were constantly drenched with bucket-
66 On the Coast of France
fuls of spray the officers of the escorting yachts
watched their plunging charges wallow in the
sliding seas, now lost to sight behind a cresting
wave, now pitched high against the sky, half-
bared propellers churning the sea. There were
interminable nights of anxiety when the convoy
scattered in the blackness and four thousand-ton
freighters were running wild in a wilder sea;
invisible, ungovernable leviathans, careening far
out of their courses, liable without warning to
loom out of the darkness high above the bridge
of a yacht reeling on the flank or in the rear of
the convoy. There too were nights and days
of fog and rain; opaque days and nights when
the convoy became a nightmare. And there
were starlit nights and days of blue skies and
bluer seas. But the days and nights of fog and
darkness held the never-to-be-forgotten hours of
hardship.
All day and night, unremittingly, the eyes of
the watchers strained for a tell-tale sign of lurk-
ing submarine, a slick of oil along the surface
of the sea, a trail of bubbles, a cloud of birds
hovering above cast-up refuse or the fleeting
The Converted Yachts 67
periscope caught for a second and then lost
among the waves.
Two or three days out at sea the signals were
given and the yachts and French destroyers
abandoned the convoy to the comparative safety
of the open sea and stood ofif to the rendezvous
where they would intercept the incoming laden
convoy. Then at some hour of night or day the
contact would be made, and several days later
the shores of France would again rise on the
eastern horizon and another convoy with its al-
most priceless cargoes would be carried in safety
to the shelter of the harbor.
But better than a description in general terms
of the service performed by the yachts in the
long months of the war may be a brief recount-
ing of a few instances of the service which they
performed in maintaining intact " the bridge to
France." Spectacular as some of these adven-
tures may seem, they formed but incidents in a
dreary routine, and it is not exceeding truthful
statement to remark that these engagements and
disasters served to relieve a hardship which
otherwise would have been almost insufferable
68 On the Coast of France
At about two o'clock on the morning of No-
vember 5, 19 17, the converted yacht Alee do,
while proceeding on the starboard flank of a con-
voy, bound from Brest to Saint-Nazaire, ap-
proximately seventy miles west of Belle-Ile,
sighted a submarine on the surface at a distance
of about three hundred yards on the port bo\y.
The Alcedo turned with full right-rudder, but
was struck by the torpedo on the port bow and
sank almost immediately. One officer and
twenty men were killed or drowned in the dis-
aster. Due to the suddenness of the attack and
the darkness of the night, the other escorting
vessels were for a time ignorant of the Alee Jo's
fate and proceeded with the convoy. Putting
off from the sinking ship in two dories, three
officers and twenty-five men were picked up by
fishermen and towed to the vicinity of Pte.
de Penmarch. The remaining survivors in a
whaleboat and two dories pulled toward Pen-
march, and thirteen hours later were picked up
by the French torpedo boat No. 275 and were
taken into Brest.
The reports from all concerned indicate thai
The Converted Yachts 69
the action of the officers and crew of the Alcedo,
upheld the finest traditions of the service. The
following letter was received by Rear-Admiral
Wilson, from Vice-Admiral Schwerer, Com-
mandant Superieur des Petrouilles de UOcean
de la Mane he Centrale:
In the name of the entire personnel of the patrol squadrons of
the Channel, I seek to express to you the regret which we feel on
account of the loss of that good patrol ship the Alcedo and our
brave comrades who have disappeared with that ship.
They have joined in the struggle which we are waging together
for the victory of right and humanity and their deaths will go far
toward drawing closer the bonds which unite our two naval forces.
We shall cherish their memory and shall strive to avenge them.
Please accept my dear Admiral, my sympathy and my most
cordial good wishes.
On the twenty-eighth of November, 19 17, the
yachts Kanawha, Noma, and Wakiva were pro-
ceeding with a convoy consisting of the S. S.
Koln and S. S. Medina. The convdy had sailed
from Quiberon in the afternoon and were fol-
lowing the prescribed zigzag and formation. At
6: 20 P.M. the lookout on the Kanawha reported
a periscope on the port beam, very close and
headed for the Medina. The Kanawha made
the necessary signals, went full speed ahead and
turned left-rudder in the direction of the
70 On the Coast of France
submarine. Immediately the submarine sub-
merged, search by all three vessels of the escort
failed to locate it and signals were accordingly
made for the convoy to reform and proceed. At
6: 50 P.M. the Noma sighted a periscope on her
starboard beam, apparently steaming to the
northward. She immediately made signal and
swung with right-rudder, at the same time re-
leasing two depth charges. Twelve minutes
later the Wakiva again sighted a periscope, this
time at a distance of not more than a hundred
yards. The submarine drew rapidly aft and w|is
apparently steaming toward the convoy, but
quickly appeared to swing in order to bring to
bear a bow tube on the Wakiva. The Wakiva
turned promptly with left-rudder, forcing the
submarine to cross her wake, and at the same
time fired three shots from the port aft gun,
the third shot apparently striking the periscope.
Shortly after she also released two depth charges,
both of which functioned. A minute later the
conning-tower of the submarine emerged and
the Wakiva opened fire with her starboard for-
ward gun, the second shot detonating. The
The Converted Yachts 71
conning tower immediately sank, and as the
JVakiva passed over the spot a large number
of air bubbles were seen coming to the surface,
and a quantity of wreckage also appeared. The
Wakiva promptly let go two more depth charges
on the spot, and, turning, again passed near the
spot, when her commanding officer thought he
saw the shapes of three men clinging to a piece
of wreckage and hailed them but received no
answer. On passing near the place a fourth time
the men had disappeared.
Meanwhile the Noma continued her search
and at midnight, sighting a periscope on her
starboard bow, turned toward it and passing over
it, let go a number of depth charges but with no
results.
From the evidence, it appears that two sub-
marines were preparing to attack the convoy
and that one of these was destroyed by the
Wakiva. This is further confirmed by the fact
that about 8:45 P.M. the radio operator on the
Noma heard a vessel sending in German code
with low power and apparently in the imme-
diate vicinity. The vessel called three times,
72 On the Coast of France
sending the same message each time without
waiting for a reply. The sea was smooth
throughout the action and the moon was shining
dimly through a slightly overcast sky.
On the twenty-third of December, 1917, the
Norwegian S. S. Spro, of about 1,500 tons gross,
loaded with coal, was proceeding from Cardiff
to La Palice. At Brest, she joined a south-
bound convoy which was proceeding to Quib-
eron.
This convoy consisted of five vessels, the Spro
being No. 4. The last ship, a small French
steamer, was well in the rear. The yaghts
Sultana and Emeline formed the escort and were
proceeding on either flank of the convoy.
The sea was comparatively smooth and the
moon had risen about one point on the starboard
quarter in a slightly clouded sky. Suddenly the
officer of the deck of the Emeline felt a pro-
nounced jar passing through the ship, similar to
that caused when a gun is fired from the deck.
At the same instant a black column of water
and debris rose high above the masts of the Spro,
In less than a minute the stern of the Spro sank
The Converted Yachts 73
beneath the surface of the sea, and in another
minute and a half the vessel entirely disap-
peared, leaving a mass of wreckage floating in
a heavy oil slick. At the same time, a dark
object was observed about a hundred yards be-
yond the Emeline, to port of the column and to
windward, and a pronounced odor of exhaust
gases was perceptible on the breeze. The Eme-
line headed directly for the object but it quickly
disappeared. A boat was then launched in an-
swer to the cries of the men swimming in the
water, and the Emeline circled about the
spot where the Spro had gone down. Eight
men cleared the ship, one of whom was not
recovered.
On the fifth of January, 19 18, a convoy of
fifteen ships left Brest for Quiberon, escorted
by two American yachts, the Wanderer and the
Kanawha. The convoy was formed in two
parts, the S. S. Luckenbach being No. i in the
right column. The S. S. Le Cour, S. S. Dagny
and S. S. Kanaris being Nos. i, 4, and 7 respec-
tively in the left column. At about 1 1 : 30 A.M.
when approximately eight miles west of Pen-
74 On the Coast of France
march, the lookout at the port cathead of the
Le Cour saw a torpedo jump out of the water.
A second later the torpedo struck the ship abreast
No. 4 hatch and the Le Cour sank in forty-five
seconds. Half an hour later, a torpedo struck
the Luckenbach, the force of the explosion
throwing several men into the sea. The JVan-
derer which was nearest by saved twenty-five
members of the crew and remained in the vicin-
ity for several hours, but no trace of the sub-
marine could be found. At a quarter past one in
the morning the captain of the Dagny sighted a
submarine to the starboard. He immediately
began to zigzag, blew his whistle and fired two
lights to attract attention. Ten minutes later
the ship was struck on the starboard side and
sank in about two minutes. At two o'clock the
guns' crew on watch on the stern gun of the
Kanaris saw the wake of a torpedo about 45°
to starboard. The Kanaris was struck on the
starboard bow and sank rapidly.
The following letter was received by Lieu-
tenant-Commander P. L. Wilson, commanding
officer of the Wanderer:
The Converted Yachts 75
From: Commander U. S. Naval Forces in France.
To: Commanding Officer, U. S. S. Wanderer.
SUBJECT: Officers and men U. S. S. Wanderer, manner of
performance.
1. The Commander U. S. Naval Forces in France congratulates
the Commanding Officer U. S. S. Wanderer for the able manner in
which the officers and men under his comjmand performed their
duty under very trying circumstances in the presence of the enemy,
upon the occasion of the sinking of the S. S. Harry Luckenbach,
sunk by enemy submarines on the night of January 5-6, 1918.
(Signed) H. B. WlLsoN.
About a mile east of Pte. du Talut is a low-
lying reef which offers a constant danger to navi-
gation. On the twenty-seventh of January, 191 8,
a dense fog covered the water. The Guinevere
was returning from Quiberon, and was proceed-
ing at a speed of about nine knots, with the com-
manding officer and a French pilot on the bridge,
when she suddenly struck the reef tearing her
bottom so badly that within two hours her deck
was under water and the high swells were caus-
ing her to pound heavily on the reef, threaten-
ing her complete destruction. The ship was ac-
cordingly abandoned, as it was seen that the
case was hopeless, and later investigation proved
the impossibility of salvaging her. Today a torn
hull lies in French waters, a mute reminder of
76 On the Coast of France
the activities of an American pleasure yacht in
her strange mission of war.
On May 21, 1918, the Christabel sighted a
periscope on the starboard beam at a distance
of about three hundred yards. The crew im-
mediately went to ^^ general quarters" and a
number of depth charges were dropped, set at a
depth of seventy feet. Following the explosion
of the second charge there was a violent third
explosion which sent up an enormous quantity
of water. This explosion was distinct from the
usual double shock felt when the explosive force
of a depth charge reaches the surface. Imme-
diately afterward the Christabel crossed over the
spot and found the surface for an area of a
hundred feet in diameter covered with large air
bubbles, much heavy black oil and quantities of
splintered pieces of wood, evidence of the de-
struction of another enemy submarine.
The third of the yachts to meet her fate was
the Wakiva. On May 22, 19 18, she was proceed-
ing with a Le Verdon convoy. A heavy fog cov-
ered the sea, and due to a confusion of signals
resulting from the poor visibility, the S. S.
Picking up a lifeboat in the Bay of Biscay
Picking up a lifeboat from a torpedoed ship — four dead men
were in the partly swamped boat
The Westzvard Ho being towed into Brest with only one
per cent floatability
The Converted Yachts 77
Wabash made an unexpected change in course
and rammed the Wakiva. The yacht sank
rapidly and the Wakiva s officers and crew were
picked up by the Wabash, which vessel returned
with them under escort of the Isabel to Quiberon.
On the same day while escorting a north-
bound coastal convoy, the Christabel detected a
wake about three hundred yards from the con-
voy and running parallel to it. The Christabel
promptly steamed across the wake dropping a
number of depth charges. About three hours
later a submarine appeared near the convoy and
the Christabel again steamed toward it, and as
the submarine promptly submerged, crossed over
the spot and dropped two more depth charges,
both charges functioning. The first charge
brought up only clear water, but the second
brought up heavy oil bubbles and parts of heavy
wood and debris. Following the second depth
charge, an explosion was detected beneath the
surface, which was doubtlessly a mine or torpedo
in the submarine detonated by the concussion
of the second depth charge.
The U. S. S. A. C. T. Westward Ho, when
78 On the Coast of France
about three hundred miles off the French
coast on the eighth of August, was torpe-
doed. Replying promptly to an ^'AUo" the
destroyers Conner, Roe, and Ericsson, started
to the rescue and reaching her in a few hours,
took off surviving members of the crew. The
Westward Ho was apparently in a sinking
condition and as the destroyers had to pro-
ceed on their duties as convoy escorts she
was abandoned. The Westward Ho, however,
remained afloat during the night and at four
o'clock the following morning was discovered by
the yacht Noma. After investigating her condi-
tion the Noma put a salvage crew on board, and
a little later the yacht May and the French tor-
pedo boat Cassioppee having come up, the West-
ward Ho was taken in tow. Due to the fact that
she was apparently sinking by the head she was
taken in tow stern first by the two yachts and the
torpedo boat and a start was made for the French
coast. At about 2 P.M. the British tugs Epic and
Woonda joined up and relieved the yachts and
torpedo boats. Due primarily to the efforts and
ingenuity of the engineer officer of the Noma,
The Converted Yachts 79
Steam was started in the boilers of the Westward
Ho, and at 4 P.M. with reversed engines she was
started backing at good speed. At six o'clock on
the morning of August 10, the Concord and the
French torpedo boat Glaive joined up and the
Concord passed a third tow line. In this man-
ner the convoy proceeded to Brest where they
arrived at six o'clock on the evening of August
II, a distance of 31^ miles. The cargo of the
Westward Ho was extremely valuable and of an
important character, and her salvage under these
most extraordinary conditions reflected great
credit on all of the rescuing ships concerned.
The cargo consisted chiefly of aeroplanes, field
artillery parts, rifles, machine guns, ammuni-
tion, and large quantities of grain and hay.
In forwarding the officers' reports concerning
the salvage of the Westward Ho, the Com-
mander United States Naval Forces in France
commented in part as follows:
No criticism is made of the master of the Westivard Ho for
having abandoned his vessel, inasmuch as her condition was be-
lieved to be desperate and the destroyers which rescued her crew
were required for duty with troop transports and could not remain
in the vicinity.
The salvage of the vessel was a splendid feat of seamanship.
8o On the Coast of France
The party from the U. S. S. May and U. S. S. Noma, under the
direction of Lieutenant Thomas Blau, U. S. N. R. F., boarded the
vessel, raised steam, pumped compartments adjacent to No. i hold
and started the ship's propelling plant. The vessel was taken in
tow by the U. S. S. May and Cassioppee and subsequently by tugs
which had been dispatched from Scilly Islands and from Brest.
With the assistance of her engines she was towed stern first for
a distance of 315 miles.
It is recommended that the Navy Department address letters of
commendation to the following officers, who participated in this
enterprise :
Lieutenant-Commander C. C. Windsor, U. S. N., commanding
U. S. S. May, (Senior officer present) ;
Lieutenant H. H. J. Benson, U. S. N. commanding U. S. S.
Noma;
Lieutenant Thomas Blau, U. S. N. R. F., and
Lieutenant (j. g.) W* R. Knight, U. S. N. R. F., who took
charge of the machinery part of the vessel.
Another aspect of the hardships encountered
by the yachts in their convoy service may be
taken from the log of a single trip of the Noma.
While proceeding to a rendezvous she encoun-
tered a severe northerly blow and the seas which
were unusually short made it difficult for the
yacht to take them with ease. She proceeded to
the rendezvous, however, when she slowed down,
and soon after, a heavy sea on her bow smashed
in the forward skylight, causing a considerable
amount of water to leak through to the lower
deck. The same sea also caused the forward
deck houses to work considerably. An hour
The Converted Yachts 8 1
later while running with the sea abeam, at a
speed of about five knots in search for the convoy
another heavy sea struck the starboard side dent-
ing it and bending four frames; the same sea
carried away a davit and part of the gunwale.
Returning to port, having met the convoy, the
Noma began to roll deeply, the sea being abaft
the port beam, and the second lifeboat's strong-
back was carried away. By this time the entire
main deck had begun to work and the deck below
the main deck was wet from stem to stern, of-
ficers' rooms and the crew's living quarters were
thoroughly drenched and all of the bedding was
wet.
It was hard work; long were the hours and
brief the respite. Little has been told of the
merchant convoys, for theirs was a work that
required secrecy of movements, and secrecy
shrouded the wearisome voyages. Only at rare
intervals was the story of some sinking told by
the crowded press. But for the most part the
incidents of their story were incidents of negative
action rather than of active deed. Armed with
the dreaded depth charges the yacHts reduced
82 On the Coast of France
the submarine warfare against our merchant
shipping to a degree that rendered its effect neg-
ligible in comparison with the vast operations
which were carried through. In the coastwise
convoys there were more frequent losses, but
here a smaller individual tonnage offset the
losses incurred. Without exaggeration it may
be truly said that had it not been for the yachts
and the few destroyers which aided them in the
escort duty of the store ships, the German scheme
of submarine warfare would have succeeded to a
degree that would have rendered impossible the
maintenance for a single week of our Army on
the soil of France. And at the same time it must
be added, that without the destroyers, and in the
earlier days of the war the yachts as well, the
activities of the German submarines would have
rendered wholly impossible the transportation
of our Army across the sea.
CHAPTER V
THE DESTROYERS
IN THE first days of the United States naval
activities in French waters, it v^ill be re-
called that the duty of escorting both troop and
store ships fell to the converted yachts. With
the advent of the destroyers, the system v^as al-
tered; and, as the number of destroyers was in-
creased, the yachts were gradually withdrawn
from the troop convoys and detailed to the more
southern ports to act as escorts to coastwise con-
voys and to the great transatlantic convoys of
store ships which centered at the Gironde River.
Later, as the destroyer fleet was materially aug-
mented, a number of smaller coal-burning tor-
pedo boats were assigned to duty with the yachts,
considerably strengthening their force and com-
pensating for the yachts which had been lost or
from their months of hard service had so deterio-
83
84 On the Coast of France
rated that their usefulness was seriously im-
paired.
The destroyers were ideally suited for the im-
portant work of escorting the troop convoys.
Possessing the invaluable qualities of high speed,
practical armament, and seaworthiness, they
were able to cope with every emergency and
meet the submarine on a basis on which the
result was certain to terminate, in the large
majority of instances, in their favor.
Within the breakwater, which shelters the
inner harbor of Brest, the destroyers swung from
buoys, moored together in clusters, great rafts of
slender steel hulls above which lifted a tangle
of slim masts and wireless antenna. Painted in
fantastic camouflage and swarming with crews
which averaged more than a hundred men, the
destroyer flotilla that was based in the busy har-
bor afforded a constant picture of absorbing
interest and vitality.
A convoy is to leave at 2 P.M. and the Benham
casts off from the destroyers lying on either side
of her and backs swiftly out into the open water.
Sensitive and alert, she turns sharply, as her en-
Torpedo tubes on destroyer Benham
^
r^^
M
n
1 f • . i J
r m
Four-inch gun crew on destroyer Benham
The Destroyers 85
gines shoot her ahead, and with a white curve
of water, knifed up on either side of her chisel
bow, she steams rapidly through the narrow en-
trance. In the wide reaches of the outer harbor,
a convoy of camouflaged liners are lifting their
anchors, homeward bound. Slowly they stand
down the channel between the cliffs, the Ben-
ham and the other destroyers of the escort loafing
leisurely beside them. Outside, standard speed
is set and the convoy heads for the open sea.
There is no motion on land or sea comparable
to that of a destroyer. Rolling often in five-
second jerks at an angle sometimes over 50°,
there is combined with the roll, a quick and vio-
lent pitching which produces a sensation without
parallel on any other type of vessel. To those
familiar with the great buildings in our larger
cities, this pitching movement of a destroyer
may be compared with the abrupt starting and
stopping of an elevator operating at high speed;
a sudden sinking, in which the deck seems to
drop away beneath the feet and then an abrupt
upheaving motion, almost before equilibrium
can be regained.
86 On the Coast of France
Like maddened switchback cars, the de-
stroyers gyrate in the slightest sea. Grimy with
soot of fuel oil, reeking with oil gasses, they
reel and plunge at express-train speed. The
officers and men on the bridge, half choked with
frequent back drafts of gaseous oil smoke, and
the reek from the "Charley Noble" (galley
smokestack), peer ahead through a blizzard of
flying spray. In the wardroom, the colored mess
attendants balance like acrobats and with the ex-
pertness of long experience, perform almost im-
possible feats of juggling with plates and glasses.
Few are the days when meals can be served even
with racks on the tables. It is a hand to mouth
existence, a catch-as-catch-can game in which
the galley challenges the sea and the sea usually
holds the cards. Even personal cleanliness be-
comes impossible in an unstable world, where
water will invariably find its level when the
wash bowl slants at 45° or 50°. Chairs are
lashed to the bulkheads, and by night or day,
when opportunity offers, officers and men roll
into troubled bunks fully dressed, ready at a
moment's notice to appear on deck.
The Destroyers 87
Within the three-eighths-inch steel hull, the
great turbines, with the horsepower of a battle-
ship, throb and spin, driving the whirling screws.
There is not a foot of wasted space. In a swing-
ing and bucking world, crammed like a watch
case with a maze of machinery, the engineering
crew moves like magicians in a world of steel
and steam. Everything is steel. Everywhere
is the smell of oil; the ship is greased with it.
And day and night, rolling, pitching, slamming
over, through or under the heavy seas, the de-
stroyers brought in the convoys, meeting them
on some square mile of Atlantic, in the reek of
fog or the blackness of night, with unerring
mathematical precision.
There was a strange emotion that came to
more than a few of our sea-borne soldiers when
from some high deck on a stormy morning, they
first saw the destroyer escort shaking the great
green seas in clouds of spray from their swaying
bows. On these sea-whippets lived men in dun-
garees and rubber boots who met the sea and
mastered it; men who lived in oil and spray,
continuously balanced in a mad unstable world.
88 On the Coast of France
and of greatest importance in the eyes of the men
who watched from the transport's decks, was
the protective part in the great game of war that
the destroyer stood ready day and night to play.
To cast loose the depth charges, to man the
guns, to ram the submarine if possible; these
were the ultimate purposes of the destroyer es-
cort. And so thoroughly did they perform their
untiring service that our army was carried in its
vast entirety to its mission beyond the seas and
landed safely on the soil of France. In this
anti-submarine warfare the depth charges
proved to be the most efficient deterrent to sub-
marine activity. In appearance a cylinder about
two feet in diameter and about three feet in
height, each charge contained three hundred
pounds of high explosive and a hydrostatic ap-
paratus by which the explosive was detonated
which could be set for any depth from 50 to 250
feet, the force of the explosion over an area of
140 feet in diameter being sufficient to destroy
the submarine or force it, injured, to come to the
surface. On sighting a submarine, or locating
it by any of the tell-tale indications of its pres-
The Destroyers 89
ence, such as oil slicks, or a wake of bubbles, the
practice was immediately to drop a buoy, mark-
ing the spot and then to proceed on a widening
circle from this point, dropping a barrage of
depth charges in rapid succession covering the
entire area ahead, behind and on either side of
the submarine, thus anticipating its movements
of escape in any direction.
But there is no general description of the work
of the destroyers that can briefly convey an im-
pression of their labors so well as a few specific
incidents of the anti-submarine warfare waged
by them in the historic waters of the French
coast during the long months of war. It is im-
possible to recount all the engagements which
occurred; it is even more impossible to describe
the long periods when no break relieved the
grind of routine duty at sea. Day and night,
month after month, they kept their flags flying.
Their whole story, which may some day be told,
is a narrative of arduous duty conscientiously
performed.
On August 9, 1918, the Tucker, while leading
a column of ten destroyers, sighted a periscope
90 On the Coast of France
on her port bow at a distance of eight hundred
yards and gave chase. The submarine dived and
the Tucker, going ahead at full speed, dropped
two depth charges about two hundred yards
beyond the point of submergence. She then
dropped fourteen charges in a circle, when the
bow of the submarine broached and the Tucker
opened fire with four blunt-nosed shells, two of
which scored hits. The submarine then sub-
merged and the Tucker passed directly over the
spot, sighting her at a depth of twenty feet and
dropped two charges directly on her. A few
minutes later oil appeared on the surface of the
water and it was believed, with reason, that the
submarine was destroyed.
On the twenty-fourth of April, 1918, a south-
bound coastal convoy was proceeding slowly off
Penmarch with the Stewart acting as escort.
About two miles to seaward of the convoy's posi-
tion, two American naval avions were seen drop-
ping bombs. The Stewart immediately left the
escort and proceeded at full speed to the spot in-
dicated by the avions, where she was joined by
a French destroyer coming from the northward.
The Destroyers 91
One avion heading directly toward the Stewart,
dropped a buoy and the observer pointed with
his arm in the direction of the submarine. The
sea was smooth, with a slight swell and a clear
and distinct wake could be seen, with an object
just breaking the surface at the end of the wake.
The Stewart headed directly for the object and
followed it to seaward, but the wake suddenly
changed its direction as the object turned at
right-angles to its original course. One of the
avions promptly circled and dropped a smoke
bomb near the new position of the object which
had now submerged but was still visible in the
clear water from the bridge of the Stewart. The
Stewart passed within fifty feet and dropped
two depth charges in rapid succession each one
bringing up a column of water darkened with
a heavy oil which spread rapidly over the sur-
face. For a time after the explosion, the water
in the vicinity was streaked with a thick red sub-
stance, the nature of which could not be de-
termined. The depth charges were dropped so
close to the submarine, one on each side and
within fifty feet of it and the force of the ex-
92 On the Coast of France
plosion was so great that it seems impossible that
the submarine could have survived.
One of the many instances of timely interfer-
ence of an American destroyer, v^hich by its
presence undoubtedly saved an attacked ship,
occurred on the nineteenth of October, 19 17.
The American steamer J. L. Luckenbach was
about two hundred miles west of Brest when the
lookout sighted a suspicious ship about five miles
on the port beam and the captain immediately
changed his course to put the supposed enemy
astern. At a distance of about eleven hundred
meters the ship, which soon proved to be a sub-
marine, opened fire, keeping, however, well out
of reach of the Luckenbach^s guns. For a con-
siderable period heavy firing was maintained by
both vessels, the submarine endeavoring by her
fire to keep the Luckenbach at a distance and to
maneuver herself into a position from which she
might fire a torpedo. Meanwhile the Lucken-
bach attempted to prevent the submarine taking
this action. About two hundred shells were fired
by each ship, seven of the enemy's striking the
Luckenbach, At the beginning of the encouater.
The Destroyers 93
the Luckenbach sent an "Alio " by radio which
was picked up by the American destroyer
Nicholson (then attached to the United States
squadron based at Queenstown), who responded
that she was on her way. About the middle of
the engagement, the Nicholson sent a new signal
saying, "I am coming; make all possible smoke
to make yourself visible." Shortly after, a shell
struck the mount of the after gun of the Lucken-
bach forcing the captain to turn the ship to the
left in order to use his forward gun. At the end
of two hours' engagement, a shell from the sub-
marine struck the Luckenbach, damaging the en-
gines, cutting the smokestack and forcing the
vessel to stop. But an hour later, the Nicholson
appeared over the horizon and as she neared,
fired four shots at the submarine which sub-
merged and disappeared. After temporary re-
pairs, the Luckenbach continued her way and
reached Le Havre, leaking badly and with a fire
in the crew's quarters.
At 9:45 A.M. on the thirty-first of May, 191 8,
the U. S. S. President Lincoln was torpedoed
and sunk. On the first intimation of disaster,
94 On the Coast of France
calls were sent out to the destroyers who pro-
ceeded promptly to the rescue of the survivors,
the Warrington being the first one to arrive,
reaching the spot at u :oi; A.M. Shortly after,
the, Smith appeared above the horizon and joined
the Warrington, There were twelve boat loads
of survivors and a number of life rafts.
A moderate swell was running but no diffi-
culty was experienced in effecting the rescue.
The officers and men of both the Warrington and
Smith showed great devotion to duty and initia-
tive in handling a very difficult and unusual
situation, particularly in rescuing the men off
the life rafts and received a letter of commenda-
tion from the Commander United States Naval
Forces in France. In all, 685 Navy and Army
officers and enlisted men were rescued. Four
naval officers and twenty-three naval enlisted
men were counted missing. Of these, one officer.
Lieutenant E. V. M. Isaacs, U. S. N., was taken
on board the submarine and later escaped from
a German prison camp.
On the first of July, 1918, at a quarter after
nine in the evening, the U. S, S. Covington
Where the destroyer Jarvis rammed the destroyer Benham
The bow of the Jarvis after her colHsion with the Benham
1 ft
HSk^^llJi
R' *
^' * 9m^
1 '•- 'rf 1
K
"m
ii-
The side of the Benham after being rammed by the Jarvis
Bow of the destroyer Jarvis after colHsion with the Benham
The Destroyers 95
which had left Brest for the United States on
the morning of the same day, was torpedoed in
latitude 47° 24' N. longitude 7° 44' W., by a
submarine which was not seen before or after the
attack. Prior to the explosion, however, the
wake of a torpedo was seen by the executive of-
ficer, close to the ship. When struck, the Cov-
ington was zigzagging in the front line of a(i
eight-ship convoy, escorted by seven destroyers.
The blow was a quartering shot, just forward of
the engine-room bulkhead, in No. t; bunker on
the port side. The bulkhead was damaged and
the engine-rooms and fire-rooms were rapidly
flooded. The ship took a strong list to port, but
stayed afloat until 3:32 P.M. of July 2, 1918,
when she sank very rapidly in the final plunge.
Immediately after the torpedo struck, the U.
S. S. Smith opened a depth-charge barrage and
circled the Covington. Meanwhile, as the tor-
pedoed ship was helpless and liable to be hit
again, she was abandoned by the officers and
crew in excellent order and all the known sur-
vivors were taken on board the Smith. At day-
light the captain and officers and twenty-two
96 On the Coast of France
men, together with one officer and eight men of
the U. S. S. Reid, which had arrived on the
scene, returned to the Covington to supervise sal-
vage operations. The Smith was later joined by
the Wadsworth, Shaw, and Nicholson and the
French gunboats Conquerante and Engageante.
At five in the morning of July 2, 1918, the Cov-
ington was taken in tow by the U. S. S. tug Con-
cord and the British tugs Revenger and Woonda,
but the gradual sinking of the ship finally made
progress impossible and after towing her ap-
proximately twenty-five miles, the ship was
abandoned by her salvage crew and sank in
twenty minutes after the last man was taken off.
The Smith, with 74-^ survivors, proceeded to
Brest; and the Nicholson with the captain of
the Covington and the salvage crew, arrived at
the same port a few hours later. Of the entire
crew of the Covington, only three were unac-
counted for and three were drowned. The dis-
cipline and courage of all of the officers and
crew of the Covington were excellent and crews
of the fire-room and engine-room on watch at
the time, showed particular fortitude.
The Destroyers 97
Illustrative of the dangers of navigation, when
navigating without lights and in crowded waters,
was the collision of the destroyers Benham and
Jarvis. The night was very dark and there was
a heavy fog. Both vessels were making high
speed. Suddenly the rudder of the Jarvis
jammed, she sheered quickly toward the Benham
and overrode her abreast of the bridge, tearing a
great hole in her side extending half way
through the wardroom. The force of the blow
tore away the bow of the Jarvis almost com-
pletely. Fortunately, the injuries to the Benham
were largely above wind and water and the col-
lision bulkhead of the Jarvis held sufficiently to
permit her to follow the Benham to Brest.
Many were the instances of engagements be-
tween destroyers and submarines in which the
final outcome remains unknown. In a large
number of instances, however, it is highly prob-
able to presume that the submarine made a suc-
cessful escape; but there were also many times
when the prompt action of the destroyers must
have proved fatal to the submarine, although no
tangible evidence of its fate appeared.
98 On the Coast of France
In a smooth sea, with the sky partly overcast
and a new moon low in the sky, the destroyer
Cummings sighted what appeared to be the wake
of a torpedo crossing about fifty yards ahead of
her bow. The rudder was put " hard-left; " the
crew sent to "general quarters" and the Cum-
mings shot forward at full speed and followed
the wake which was very straight and unbroken,
and marked with a wake of bubbles when first
sighted. As the Cummings advanced, dense
smears of oil were perceived on the surface,
terminating at a distance of three hundred yards
in a large slick. A barrage of twenty depth
charges at ten-second intervals was dropped and
the destroyer circled in the vicinity for half an
hour, but no evidence of the submarine appeared.
Another instance comes from the Benham.
On the morning of July 9, the junior officer of
the deck sighted a periscope on the starboard
bow of one of the ships of the convoy. Steaming
at full speed, depth charges were dropped sev-
eral hundred yards before the spot was reached,
in order to check the submarine and prevent her
firing her torpedoes. The destroyer then circled
The Destroyers 99
and dropped a barrage of depth charges, but no
wake, oil slick, or other disturbances were seen
on the water.
Another story of a submarine comes from the
Reid, which was proceeding with a west-bound
convoy on July 17. The Nicholson, which also
was with the escort, was seen shelling an object
to the northward and the Reid promptly pro-
ceeded toward the point of fire, where what
appeared to be the wash of a moving periscope
was visible. When about a mile from the point
and fifteen hundred yards from the Nicholson,
the Reid saw an object break water on her port
bow with a perceptible white wash and splash
and a minute later the officers on the bridge
saw a torpedo headed in her direction and to-
ward the convoy. The Reid immediately began
to drop depth charges to deflect, or if possible,
destroy the torpedo, which was proceeding, at
times broaching bright in the sunlight, at a high
speed. After about ten minutes, a wake was
sighted and a number of depth charges were
dropped. The depth charge next to the last one
appeared to counter-mine and exploded what
lOO On the Coast of France
was thought at the time, to be another charge
which might have been let go at approximately
the same time. This second explosion was near
the surface and caused a heavy dull shock and
concussion over a wide area. Later, it was found
that two charges had not been let go simultane-
ously and it was therefore presumed that the
dull shock was caused by an explosion within the
submarine.
The two words, " suspicious object," appeared
frequently in the reports of the destroyers, for
whenever a suspicious object was sighted, action
by the destroyers invariably followed. During
one of the summer months of 191 8, the Mc-
Dougal sighted a dark slate-colored object like
a low mound, at a distance of about seven miles.
She proceeded immediately at a speed of about
thirty knots toward the object, which began to
move in a northwesterly direction. The crew
were sent to "general quarters," manning the
guns and torpedo tubes, depth-charge throwers
and releases. By this time the object showed a
second low hump about sixty feet to the left,
but no periscope, gun, or deck line was visible.
The Destroyers loi
and a few minutes later the object disappeared.
Heading for the spot, two depth charges were
dropped on a slight oil slick which appeared,
but there were no other indications of the pres-
ence of a submarine.
At about sunrise on the morning of the fifth
of October, while standing into the harbor at
Brest, a torpedo was sighted by the Bridgeport
about one hundred and twenty-five yards from
the ship, running so close to the surface that its
whole outline could be seen. It was at first
thought that the torpedo would strike the ship in
the vicinity of the mainmast, but it finally passed
clear of the rudder and so close, that it was
seen by a number of people looking over the fan-
tail. Upon sighting the torpedo, the speed of
the Bridgeport was increased and the rudder
swung "hard-left," which prompt action un-
doubtedly saved the ship.
The Fanning which was escorting the Bridge-
port, immediately dashed through the convoy at
a speed of twenty-two knots and headed in the
direction from which the torpedo was fired,
searching for traces of oil. A small patch of
I02 On the Coast of France
oil was finally discovered and six depth charges
were dropped at ten-second intervals. On sight-
ing some more oil ahead, the Fanning dropped
a number of additional depth charges, and then
perceiving a heavy oil wake about a thousand
yards ahead, followed it at full speed. Ap-
proaching the slick, a clearly marked zigzag was
perceptible, as if the submarine were going
deeper and slowing down. The oil was heavy
and a strong oily smell was noticeable. More
depth charges were dropped and the search was
continued for a number of hours but no further
indications of the presence of a submarine ap-
peared.
It is now believed that the submarine which
attacked the Bridgeport was later sunk by a
French patrol boat with a three-hundred pound
American depth charge in a position about seven
miles north of He de Sein, in about thirty
fathoms of water. The patrol boat sighted the
periscope of the submarine at a considerable dis-
tance on the bow and passing over the spot
where the submarine submerged, dropped depth
charges. The listening apparatus established the
' • • « . •
Thornycroft depth-charge thrower
The Destroyers 103
fact that the submarine remained on the bottom
and additional depth charges which were re-
leased produced a heavy persistent oil patch.
The patrol boat remained in the vicinity all
night and the submarine w^as not heard to move.
There is another story in the following extract
from the diary of the flotilla, a simple statement
ungarnished by details, of a trip that is probably
not yet forgotten by those who participated in its
stormy adventures:
The Roe, Monagkan, and Warrington returned from danger zone
escort duty with troop and store ships, having weathered the gale
of the past few days. The Monaghan lost her foremast and the
Roe her mainmast. Both vessels lost boats. The Warrington lost
her liferafts.
Such was the weather off Finistere on the nine-
teenth of December, 1917.
The story of American naval activities in
French waters is relatively free from those dis-
asters which seem an almost certain part of any
great activity, and the single grave disaster, the
burning of the Florence H. gives emphasis to
our great good fortune in this respect, in spite
of the constant dangers, other than those of the
submarine, to which our ships were constantly
I04 On the Coast of France
subjected while in port; dangers due primarily
to the vast quantities of high explosives and in-
flammable stores with which they were loaded.
The Florence H. was anchored in convoy at
Quiberon Bay on the seventeenth of April, 1918.
At a quarter to eleven in the evening, a violent
explosion on board wrecked the vessel. The
cause has never been determined, but as she was
loaded with powder and there is little likelihood
that a submarine could have penetrated into
Quiberon Bay it seems plausible that the ex-
plosion was internal.
The Florence H. had been at anchor about
half an hour when the explosion occurred. At
the moment of the disaster the destroyer Stewart
was passing at high speed. From the descrip-
tion later made by the Stewart's commanding of-
ficer, the Florence H. burst suddenly into flame,
like a flare of flashlight powder. At intervals
the flame died down sufficiently to permit the
outline of the ship to be clearly visible, then sud-
denly, the incandescent glare increased again
until nothing could be seen but a mass of flame
rising from the water. In about five minutes the
The Destroyers 105
forward part of the ship began to break up aod
at rapid intervals loud explosions of ammunition
occurred. Then the sides of the vessel fell out-
ward and the surrounding water was strewn with
burning boxes of powder. The Stewart turned
from her course and headed in toward the after
section of the Florence H. which had still held
together, with the hope of rescuing the survivors
of the crew. In addition to the Stewart, the de-
stroyers Whipple and Truxton and the yachts
Wanderer, Christahel, Sultana, Emeline, Co-
rona, and Rambler, aided in the rescue; and
gallant work was performed by the rescuing
parties who proceeded in small boats from the
various ships as close as possible to the burn-
ing ship. Of seventy-five people on board the
Florence H. at the time, thirty-four were res-
cued, although many of the survivors were
severely burned.
In a very few minutes after the fire had broken
out, great masses of burning wreckage spread
over the sea to the leeward and burst into sud-
den flame as the ammunition and powder cases
exploded, shooting long tongues of fire and
io6 On the Coast of France
bursts of gasses into tHe air with a roar which
rose above the sound of the burning ship. But
the rescue parties from the various ships pushed
fearlessly into the burning mass of wreckage,
ignoring the powder cases which were constantly
exploding around them, and by their prompt
work were responsible for the saving of the sur-
vivors.
On May 3, Vice-Admiral Moreau, prefet
maritime of Brest, boarded the U. S. S. Stewart
and with the crew drawn up for muster pinned
on Lieutenant H. S. Haislip, the commanding
officer of the Stewart the croix de guerre for his
splendid work in rescuing the survivors of the
S. S. Florence H. under very dangerous circum-
stances at the time of her destruction. Admiral
Moreau then addressed the ship's company and
complimented them in the warmest terms on the
fine work which they had accomplished.
And on September 26, 1918, a second interest-
ing ceremony took place on board the Stewart,
in the harbor of Brest, when Frank Upton, quar-
termaster, third class, U. S. N. and Jesse W.
Covington, ships cook, third class, U. S. N., were
The Destroyers 107
decorated with the Congressional Medal of
Honor for their heroic action in jumping over-
board and saving the wounded from the Flor-
ence H. at the time of her explosion and destruc-
tion by fire. In presenting these medals, the
Commander United States Naval Forces in
France, said in part:
While the department has designated these two men, the honors
were not limited to these; for the whole ship's company, with their
ship, have all consistently distinguished themselves.
CHAPTER VI
OTHER ACTIVITIES
THE chief work of the Navy in France was
naturally to patrol the sea and to wage an
anti-submarine warfare; but there were also
other activities of the naval forces which should
be included in an account of its work abroad
during the war. Books could, and doubtless will
be written covering fully these activities, and it
is with reluctance that only such brief mention
can be given here. But at least this slight nar-
rative may give some intimation of the con-
stant dangers and hardships in which the officers
and enlisted men of our naval forces in France
participated.
For centuries the surface of the sea has alone
afforded the setting for naval activities ; but with
the entrance of the hydroplane and the dirigible
balloon into modern warfare strange tales of new
io8
Other Activities 1 09
adventures and achievements in another element
have been written into the annals of the sea.
But as the purpose of this narrative is to deal
primarily with the activities of the men who
went down to the sea in ships, and as by the close
of the war the naval air establishment had
reached a size and scope which would require an
entire volume adequately to describe, it seems
advisable to give here only a brief resume of this
important work and a few graphic instances of
naval cooperation on the sea and in the air.
The aviation forces of the United States Navy
in France made its first establishment on the
French coast under the general command of the
Commander United States Naval Forces in
France, with Captain Hutch I. Cone in imme-
diate command. Organized originally to com-
prise three air stations situated at Dunkirk and
at the entrances to the rivers Loire and Gironde,
the number was constantly increased until at the
close of the war a continuous fringe of United
States and French naval air stations for hydro-
planes and dirigibles lined the coast from Dun-
kirk to the Spanish boundary. Due to the fact
I lo On the Coast of France
that the French aviators and planes were in a
large measure withdrawn from the coastal work
in the earlier months of the war for land service
on the German lines, the arrival of the American
forces afforded an invaluable and greatly to be
desired assistance at a time when the im-
measurably increased coastal and deep-sea traffic
due to the entrance of the United States into the
war created a proportionate increase of subma-
rine activity.
By the close of the war the entire coast was
included in a comparatively complete system of
air patrols, and plans were nearing completion
for a series of fifty American and French stations
to control intensively the entire seacoast.
At the beginning, the work of the American
forces was purely of reconnaissance, and the con-
voy patrols were carried on entirely by the
French avions from their bases at the larger
ports. Later, a proportion of the convoy work
was undertaken by the American aviators and
three kite-balloon stations were established at
Brest, Lorient, and La Trinite.
The value of the hydroplane and the dirigible
Destroyers alongside the Bridgeport at Brest
Another view of the destroyers showing camouflage
:, .k^^
V
^mPM
Other Activities in
in naval warfare cannot be overestimated. Pos-
sessing a high speed, a wide range of operation,
a relative safety from attack and operating at
an altitude from which observation over a vast
area is possible, the aviator is now able to direct
the movements of fleets and guide their opera-
tions against an enemy invisible from the level
of the sea. As the swift frigate was to Nelson
and the cruiser to Togo, so to the admirals of the
present war the hydroplane has made possible a
knowledge of enemy operations far in advance
of the actual contact, and as sea power in past
ages has been the key to national security, so in
the future years must sea power be assured by
air supremacy.
As an enemy of the submarine the sky frigates
have, in the war immediately past, proved of
the greatest value, for from the plane of their
operations it was possible to scan a wide tract
of sea, and even in the depths of the water to de-
tect the presence of the submerged submarine.
Armed with bombs and machine guns they were
not limited to the work of scouting, but under
varied circumstances in a large number of in-
112 On the Coast of France
stances gave battle to the enemy and rendered an
invaluable service.
The comprehensive operations of the United
States Naval Air Force in France required an
amount of construction which had only reached
completion shortly before the termination of hos-
tilities. Had the war continued for even a few
months longer this branch of the service would
have played an enormously greater part in the
conflict with the submarine. As it was, the serv-
ice rendered was of a vital nature and the entire
organization is entitled to much commendation
for the work actually done and the compre-
hensive plan which was brought so nearly into
full operation.
The following instances have been selected as
characteristic of the work performed by the
aviation forces in conjunction with the Navy on
the French coast.
On the twenty-ninth of October, 19 17, a hydro-
plane on patrol duty with a convoy departing
from La Palice, sighted the American steamship
Alma proceeding along in the direction of
Rochebonne. Flying over the ship, the aviators
Other Activities 1 13
saw at a considerable distance the wake of a
submarine approaching the Alma. Passing over
the wake, the aviators dropped two bombs, which
fell near the wake, and a third which apparently
struck in close proximity to the submarine. The
submarine realizing the danger of its situation
promptly dived and disappeared.
On another day of the same month two hydro-
planes left Camaret on a scouting trip. Shortly
after passing Ouessant, about twenty-five miles
from He Verge, they picked up the wake of a
submarine. Heading for it, they perceived the
outline of the submarine bedow the surface,
apparently headed in the general direction of
several sailing ships. The afternoon was late,
it was growing dark and a strong breeze was
blowing. The two hydroplanes passed over the
submarine and as they saw the periscope each
dropped a bomb. The first bomb fell near the
mark and the second struck the superstructure
of the submarine. Passing over the mark again,
each hydroplane dropped a second bomb. The
submarine now disappeared giving off quantities
of oil that rapidly spread over the surface of the
114 On the Coast of France
sea. Then the periscope suddenly shot forth and
again disappeared and a heavy list was discern-
ible in the submarine. Seeing that their work
was accomplished, the hydroplanes warned the
patrols escorting the convoy and returned to
their base.
The dangers and hardships of the air service
find a good example in the experience of two
hydroplanes which put out from Treguier for
patrol duty off He de Batz. Late in the after-
noon motor trouble developed in one of the
hydroplanes and it was forced to light about
eight miles west of Treguier. The other ma-
chine descended slowly and threw a message
buoy to a fishing boat which was standing in
the vicinity. The buoy was picked up but the
message had become detached. The first hydro-
plane then released its carrier pigeons, but it
was found later that these for some reason failed
to arrive at their coop. The other machine then
returned to Treguier for help, and several patrol
boats went out and searched all night and during
the following morning for the missing hydro-
plane. Finally at the end of twenty-six hours the
Other Activities 1 15
two occupants of the hydroplane were picked up
by the French destroyer Durandol, floating help-
lessly in a rough sea. The machine was taken
in tow but the line parted and it sank before a
new line could be passed.
The following report of an attack on a sub-
marine is characteristic of a number of similar
engagements, and is quoted in the aviator's own
words from his report.
On Tuesday morning, April 23, 1918, at 10:33, hydroavions
No. 25 with Pilot R. H. Harrell and Observer H. W. Studer and
No. 22 with Pilot-Ensign K. R. Smith and Observer G. E. Williams,
left station He Tudy for the purpose of convoying and to search
for hydroavion No. 26 which was forced to land on account of
motor trouble, the incident of No. 26 having been reported on
return of No. 23, which two had been out on previous patrol and
convoy.
Leaving station, steered zigzag course toward Pte. de Penmarch.
At 10:58 A.M. sighted No. 26, three miles west of Pte. de Penmarch
tied astern of two-mast fishing smack. We circled over them to
ascertain if all was well. On finding them resting comfortably,
steered a course to the south along the shore to inform the motor-
boat crew which was sent out from station to tow them in. Upon
reaching the boat, dropped them a correspondence buoy, giving
them the location of No. 26 and informing them to follow us to her
position. Resuming course toward Pte. de Penmarch, circled over
No. 26 and signaled all was well.
Made contact with south-bound convoy of twenty ships at 11:30
A.M. six miles northwest of Pte. de Penmarch. Continued flight
towards northwest off starboard side of convoy, arriving at position
oflF end of last ship, circled to the southwest, remaining on starboard
side of ships.
At 11:43 A.M. observed an object on the surface of water,
bearing 280* off Pte. de Penmarch light and about eight milei
Ii6 On the Coast of France
from shore. Made signals to my pilot to steer for that point and
arriving over the object made a closer observation. Observed
water disturbance, bubbles, oily surface and small wash of sea
growth. Ensign K. R. Smith, my pilot, instructed me to arm the
bombs and bomb the spot. We then made a short circle over the
position, raising from seventy-five meters to two hundred. The
bombs were armed and everything made ready for bombing, and
upon coming over the location again observed a dark object and
apparently more oil.
The first bomb was dropped at 11:50 a.m. The results were
highly satisfactory, both in placing the shot and the bomb's effective-
ness— hitting the exact spot of disturbance and color. We then
circled for another shot which was dropped at 11:52 and hitting
ten feet farther westward than the previous shot.
During the bombing period No. 25 was circling the same posi-
tion and guarding our movements. The observer in plane No. 25
showed his presence of mind in dropping a phosphorus buoy marker,
thereby marking the exact location and giving notice of position to
an American destroyer, which was steaming to our position at full
steam.
We flew towards the American destroyer dropping a correspond-
ence buoy of our action. The destroyer steamed ahead to the
bombing position and upon arriving over the spot let go three depth
charges. At this juncture a French gunboat arrived at scene of
encounter, standing with all guns manned and searching for what
would appear of an enemy submarine.
We continued circling our position over spot, observing the
results of the bombs, seeing nothing but small particles of what
appeared to be cork, much sea growth, and oil. Left scene of action
at 12:30 P.M. and continued a course to the south.
At 12:35 again made contact with convoy which had arrived
twelve miles southwest of Pte. de Penmarch and were passing a
second convoy of sixteen ships bound north.
At 12:36 hydroavion No. 25 flew signal of motor trouble and both
headed for station, arriving at 12:48. The conditions were:
Weather, hazy; sea, heavy ground swells; visibility of air, poor;
visibility of water, good. The duration of flight was two hours
and fifteen minutes.
The use of kite balloons for observation pur-
poses proved of great practical value in con-
Other Activities II7
junction with the destroyers, but this means of
observation was not adopted until the closing
months of the war. Early in August, 19 18, a
trial trip with a kite balloon was made by the
Cushing. Extremely rough weather, a number
of minor defects (partly due to the new appa-
ratus) , the inexperience of the crew, and the sea-
sickness of the balloon personnel, rendered the
experiment in some respects unsatisfactory. The
balloon behaved perfectly, however, except at
one time when it became considerably deflated,
and, due to its violent plunging in the high wind,
could not be gassed. On this occasion the ob-
server was obliged to dive overboard out of the
basket as the only possible way by which he could
reach the destroyer.
The report of operations with a kite balloon
on the Ericsson the latter part of August gives
the information that the smoke of an approach-
ing convoy was detected at a distance of forty
miles and again, at the same distance, a passing
convoy was detected. The flying height was
from 640 to 660 feet.
Although the bluejacket is naturally asso-
Ii8 On the Coast of France
ciated primarily with the sea, almost every war
has contained memorable instances of the action
of seamen in land operations, and in our naval
operations in France the brief but important
work of the United States naval railway batteries
proved that even in modern warfare the am-
phibious nature of the Navy has not declined.
Early in 1918 it was determined to provide a
number of guns of large caliber mounted on rail-
way carriages to work in conjunction with our
land forces. The long familiarity of the Navy
with guns of this nature resulted in the prompt
decision to operate the batteries, officered by
naval officers and manned by bluejackets, as
naval units.
Each battery consisted of one fourteen-inch
fifty-calibex naval gun weighing approximately
178,000 pounds, mounted on a railway carriage
and accompanied by a complete train for its
operation and supply, consisting of a locomotive,
tender, fourteen-inch ammunition car, anti-air-
craft car, anti-aircraft ammunition car, battery
headquarters kitchen car, staff headquarters and
dispensing car, berthing car, staff radio car, fuel
Other Activities 119
car and staff quarters car. The expedition was
also accompanied by a construction car with a
heavy crane, a wrecking car, a staff officers car,
a spare parts car and a number of freight and
flat cars. The command of the expedition was
placed with Captain (later Rear- Admiral) C. P.
Plunkett, U. S. N., and Commander G. L.
Schuyler, U. S. N., second in command and gun-
nery officer.
The construction of the trains was undertaken
by the Baldwin Locomotive Works at Phila-
delphia, and a number of specially trained me-
chanics from this plant were enlisted in the Navy
and accompanied the expedition.
Early in August the guns and equipment be-
gan to arrive at Saint-Nazaire, and on the eight-
eenth of the month the first complete one-gun
battery was ready to leave for the Front. No.
2 battery was assembled and ready a short time
later, and by the latter part of September bat-
teries Nos. 3, 4, and ^ were ready for the field.
There had been considerable speculation re-
garding the possible effect on the railroad tracks
and bridges due to the enormous weight of the
I20 On the Coast of France
trains but no damage occurred, and the trains
proceeding at a reasonable speed arrived at their
destination without incident.
The honor of the first shot came to battery No.
2 which opened on a large enemy ammunition
dump near Fontenoy on September 14. For a
number of weeks, batteries i and 2, operating
under the control of the commanding general of
the first French Army, were employed in the
vicinity of Soissons and fired chiefly on Laon,
and at Mortiers near Saint-Quentin. The range
of these guns being approximately fifty thousand
yards, it was possible to spread destruction far
inside the enemy lines, and to increase their
effectiveness they were at all times placed in very
advanced positions which brought them under
more or less continuous fire.
The reports of battery No. i mention that on
one occasion a six-inch German shell exploded
within twelve feet of the gun, but slight damage
was done, and the matter was officially dismissed
with the remark that the enemy shell "pep-
pered'* the battery. In reply to this "hit" the
battery shortly after dropped a shell into a Ger-
THE FLAG THAT FLEW
Other Activities 12 1
man troop cinema creating over one hundred
casualties.
Early in October Nos. 3, 4, and ^ took up a
position at Thierville, in the Verdun Sector, and
they were later joined in the same general vicin-
ity by Nos. I and 2, where fire was maintained
on Montmedy, Mengiennes, Benestroff and Sar-
rebourg.
On October 27 an enemy shell exploded in the
vicinity of battery No. 5, wounding five men,
one of whom later died of his wounds. Due to
their advanced position which brought them
under constant fire of both the long-range and
smaller caliber guns of the enemy, it is remark-
able that the casualties were relatively few, and
especially as the night firing exposed the men
constantly to the enemy^s observation.
A most valuable service was given by the bat-
teries, and had the war continued they were des-
tined for a part which would have been of the
utmost importance. All the materiel withstood
the constant firing effectively and the highest
commendation was received by the officers and
men for their skill in operating the guns.
122 On the Coast of France
Mine-sweeping is perhaps one of the most im-
portant and at the same time one of the dan-
gerous and most disagreeable services rendered
by the naval forces in modern warfare. The ex-
periences of the little group of United States
mine-sweepers at Lorient was no exception. It
will be recalled that the fleet of United States
mine-sweepers in French waters consisted of
nine small vessels which were originally sent
over for patrol service, but being speedily con-
demned for this work, due to their unsuitable
construction, were later converted for mine-
sweeping.
In this department the French Naval Forces
were particularly active, the Tossizza scissors
apparatus, a French invention by which mines
caught by the sweeping gear were released and
allowed to rise to the surface where they might
be destroyed by gunfire, having proved highly
effective. So valuable, in fact, was this contribu-
tion to anti-mine work that it was adopted by
the British Navy for their own extensive opera-
tions.
The United States mine-sweepers concentrated
Other Activities 123
their operations at Lorient, and there worked in
conjunction with the French in keeping free the
channels and in destroying enemy mine fields
in the vicinity reported by ships or hydroplanes.
The German mines were laid, by necessity, en-
tirely by submarines, and only the constant, un-
tiring, daily sweeping of the channels could
assure the safety of the shipping passing through
them. These mines, of various types as the war
progressed, were in the large part anchored at a
depth of about fifteen feet, on high tide, beneath
the surface, to be exploded by the sides of the
passing vessel which, coming in contact with the
protruding horns detonated the mine.
The French mine-sweepers were built for this
particular duty and were a light-draft type of
vessel capable of proceeding with relative safety
over an existing mine field without striking the
submerged mines. The American sweepers, on
the other hand, were a converted craft and of a
draft which permitted their use for only a couple
of hours on the flood tide. At these times they
could pass safely over the mines, but at lower
water there would have been considerable dan-
124 On the Coast of France
ger of striking and detonating the mines encoun-
tered. In this work a number of sweepers
worked together advancing over a supposed field
dragging their sweeping gear astern. As the
wire cables which comprised the sweeps caught
on the anchoring cable of a mine, the scissors
either cut loose the mine or the mine was torn
loose from its anchorage and rose to the surface,
when it was promptly exploded by gunfire.
• In the earlier years of the war a type of mine
was employed by the German mine layers which
could be " dehorned," and after being thus ren-
dered innocuous, could be examined. Later,
however, the mines were so constructed that an
attempt to dehorn them resulted in their explo-
sion and the annihilation of several detachments
of enterprising French sailors.
The hazardous nature of this work, its mo-
notony and the discomforts of the vessels made
the duties of the mine-sweepers far from en-
viable and much credit should be given to the
men who uncomplainingly gave themselves to
this branch of the service.
The value of this service is indicated by the
Other Activities 125
following letter from the prefet maritime of the
third arrondissement, Vice-Admiral Aubrey, to
the district commander at Lorient.
The C. D. P. L. has recently informed me how much he appre-
ciates the services of the United States mine-sweepers in the daily
sweep and the destruction of enemy mines. He has spoken in par-'
ticular, of the zeal which these sweepers showed the second week
of July, when in conjunction with the French, they cleared the mine
field Guerandc shoal. This successful operation was carried out in
bad weather under very arduous and dangerous conditions.
I wish to express to you my sincere gratitude and will ask that
you kindly convey my thanks and appreciation to the officers and
crews of the Hinton and Cahill and most particularly to the James,
which alone sank four mines.
On a gray afternoon early in November the
sound of cheering greeted the destroyer Roe as
she slid out from her moorings and turned slowly
toward the opening in the breakwater. From
her slender mainmasts a hundred-foot pennant, a
single row of stars in its blue field and two long
stripes of red and white beyond, curved and
floated in the breeze. It was " homeward bound."
As the Roe stood out of the harbor cheers from
every vessel gave her a Godspeed as she passed.
From destroyer decks groups of men with home
longing in their eyes watched her steam on to-
ward the outgoing convoy. A destroyer signaled
126 On the Coast of France
"Give our regards to Broadway," and "Good
Luck, may you follow soon" came back from
the fluttering semaphore on her signal bridge.
She was the first to leave from France, and al-
though the armistice was declared but a week
later, there were few who watched her departure
on that gloomy afternoon, who dared to hope
that the end of actual hostilities was so near at
hand.
A week later the harbor was glittering in sun-
shine. It was noon and the crews of the hundred-
odd vessels in the great harbor of Brest were
knocking off their work for dinner. Suddenly
from the shore battery beside the ancient fortress
a puff of white smoke was followed by the dull
boom of a gun; another followed, another, and
then another. The heavy voices of the guns were
augmented by a high-pitched whistle from a
great French cruiser, and an enormous tricolor
broke out suddenly against the blue of the sky.
Other guns took up the challenge; deep-voiced
whistles and wailing, shrieking sirens. The ar-
mistice was signed ! On every ship men crowded
the decks and cheered madly. Great flags, the
Other Activities 127
unconquered emblem of America, broke out on
the breeze. The hostilities were ended. It was
over, *' Over There."
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