RACE BETWEEN WILSON AND HINDENBURG
BIGGEST TRANSPORTATION JOB IN HISTORY--TWO MILLION TROOPS CARRIED
3,000 MILES OVERSEAS--FIRST CONVOYS ATTACKED BY U-BOATS NO AMERICAN
TROOP-SHIP SUNK, NOT ONE SOLDIER ABOARD LOST THROUGH ENEMY ACTION,
ON THE WAY TO FRANCE--NAVAL TRANSPORTS TOOK 911,000 TO EUROPE,
BROUGHT HOME 1,700,000--U. S. NAVY PROVIDED FOUR-FIFTHS OF ESCORTS.
What was the greatest thing America did in the World War?" That is a
question I have often been asked, and it is easily answered. It was
the raising and training of an army of 4,000,000 men, a navy of over
600,000, and the safe transportation of more than two million troops to
Europe. And all this was accomplished in eighteen months.
When the issue hung in the balance, in the spring of 1918, Lloyd George
said: "It is a race between Wilson and Hindenburg." Could America land
enough soldiers in France in time to check the German offensive? That
was the one vital question.
Carrying the American Expeditionary Force across the Atlantic
and bringing our troops home has been justly termed the "biggest
transportation job in history." Sailing through submarine-infested
seas, they constantly faced the menace of attack from an unseen foe,
as well as the perils of war-time navigation. Yet not one American
troop-ship was sunk on the way to France, and not one soldier aboard a
troop transport manned by the United States Navy lost his life through
enemy action.
That achievement has never been equalled. It was not only the most
important but the most successful operation of the war. The Germans
never believed it could be done.
When Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves, commander of the Cruiser and
Transport Force, came to Washington for his final instructions, just
before the first troop convoys sailed for Europe, as he was leaving my
office, I said to him:
Admiral, you are going on the most important, the most difficult,
and the most hazardous duty assigned to the Navy. Good bye.
That was not overstating it in any particular. No nation in history had
ever attempted to transport so huge an army overseas. It would have
been difficult enough under the most ideal conditions, with nothing to
hinder or molest.
The German navy could have no greater object than to prevent our troops
from getting to France. There could have been no greater victory for
them than to have sunk a transport loaded with American soldiers. Words
can hardly express the strain of those anxious days when our first
transports were running the gauntlet to France; or our relief when we
received the news that they had all arrived safely at St. Nazaire.
Sailing in a dense fog on June 14, 1917, the first group arrived on
June 26th; the last, the cargo ships, on July 2nd. The first group,
Gleaves reported, was attacked by submarines the night of June 22nd, at
10:15 p. m.; the second group encountered two, and a torpedo was fired
at the fourth group on June 28th. That they had escaped the submarines
was an added cause for rejoicing. Not a ship was damaged or a man
injured, and an officer reported: "We didn't lose but one horse, and
that was a mule."
"The German Admiralty had boasted that not one American soldier should
set foot in France," Gleaves said. "The bluff had been called, and it
could not have been called at a more psychological moment."
The question of the hour had been successfully answered; France, as
well as America, celebrated the event in a very delirium of rejoicing.
This was the beginning of that vast stream of troops and supplies that
poured across the Atlantic until the Germans were overwhelmed.
Getting that first group of transports together was a job. The army
had only a few troop-ships, none of them fitted for trans-Atlantic
service. The Navy had only three--the _Henderson_, just completed;
the _Hancock_, and the former German commerce raider, _Prince Eitel
Friedrich_, which we converted into an auxiliary cruiser and renamed
the _DeKalb_. The Army secured fourteen mail and cargo steamships,
and hastily converted them. It had to be quick work. We had not
contemplated sending troops so soon. From a military standpoint it
would have been better, many experts in this country and Europe held,
to have retained the regulars for a while to aid in training the new
officers and raw recruits, and not to have begun transportation until
we had a larger army.
But war-weary France, grimly holding back the Germans, and England,
beset by submarines, needed cheering up; needed visible evidence that
reënforcement was certain, that the Americans were coming. Marshal
Joffre asked that some troops be sent at the earliest possible
moment--"a regiment or two, if possible a division." He told Secretary
Baker that he looked forward to the day when the United States should
build up its "splendid army of 400,000 or 500,000." What must he
have thought when he saw an American army of 4,000,000 men, with two
millions of them in France! He appreciated the necessity, he said, of
retaining the regulars to train the new army, and knew that few could
be spared. But the very sight of American troops on French soil, of
our men marching through the streets of Paris, would be a tremendous
inspiration to all France. The wise old Marshal was right.
Secretary Baker immediately began his preparations to send troops. When
he told Congress he would have an army of 500,000 men in France in the
summer of 1918, a leading senator declared it was "impossible." It was
impossible to those without vision. But the Secretary of War's figures
were increased three-fold.
General Pershing was chosen to command the forces to be sent to Europe,
and was summoned from the Mexican border. He arrived in Washington
May 10th. Preparations were already under way by both Army and Navy.
Officers of both services were working out in detail the system by
which they were to secure ships and coöperate in transportation.
I selected Gleaves, then in command of our destroyer force, to direct
the troop transportation, and I never had reason to regret this
choice. No man could have done a big job better; no job was ever better
done. On May 23, he was summoned to Washington and informed that he had
been chosen to command the first expedition to France.
General Pershing and his staff sailed May 28th on the _Baltic_ and
arrived at Liverpool June 8, reaching France at Boulogne, June 13th.
The troop convoys sailed from New York the next day. Admiral Gleaves,
on his flagship, the cruiser _Seattle_, was in command. The vessels
were arranged in four groups, which sailed six hours apart:
Group 1--Transports: _Saratoga_, _Havana_, _Tenadores_, _Pastores_.
Escort: _Seattle_, armored cruiser; _DeKalb_, auxiliary cruiser;
_Corsair_, converted yacht; _Wilkes_, _Terry_, _Roe_, destroyers.
Group 2--Transports: _Henderson_, _Momus_, _Antilles_, _Lenape_.
Escort: _Birmingham_, scout cruiser; _Aphrodite_, converted yacht;
_Burrows_, _Fanning_, _Lamson_, destroyers.
Group 3--Transports: _Mallory_, _Finland_, _San Jacinto_. Escort:
_Charleston_, cruiser; _Cyclops_, fuel ship; _Allen_, _McCall_,
_Preston_, destroyers.
Group 4--Transports: _Montanan_, _Dakotan_, _El Occidente_, _Edward
Luckenbach_. Escort: _St. Louis_, cruiser; _Hancock_, cruiser
transport; _Shaw_, _Parker_, _Ammen_, _Flusser_, destroyers.
No convoy that ever sailed had a stronger escort or was more closely
guarded. Their protection was our supreme duty. Before they left, I
cabled Admiral Sims: "I hereby instruct you to furnish escorts, to
consist of one division of destroyers for each convoy group from the
point of meeting to the point of debarkation."
Submarines were reported operating in the area that had to be crossed.
Three of the groups encountered U-boats, Admiral Gleaves reported, and
Admiral Sims cabled on June 30th, "First group attacked by submarines,
longitude 25 degrees 30, before arriving at first rendezvous; second
group attacked longitude 8"; and the next day he cabled: "It is
practically certain that enemy knew position of the first rendezvous
and accordingly sent a submarine to intercept before juncture with
destroyers."
About 10:15 p. m., June 22, the officer of the deck and others on the
bridge of the _Seattle_, which was leading the first group, saw a
white streak about 50 yards ahead of the ship, crossing from starboard
to port. The cruiser was immediately run off 90 degrees to starboard
at full speed. The officer of the deck said, "Report to the admiral a
torpedo has just crossed our bow." General alarm was sounded, torpedo
crews being already at their guns. When Gleaves reached the bridge, the
_DeKalb_ and one of the transports astern had opened fire, the former's
shell fitted with tracers. Other vessels of the convoy turned to the
right and left. The destroyer _Wilkes_ crossed the _Seattle's_ bow at
full speed and turned toward the left column in the direction of the
firing.
Two torpedoes passed close to the _DeKalb_ from port to starboard, one
about 30 yards ahead of the ship and the other under her stern, as the
ship was turning to the northward. Captain Gherardi stated that at
10:25 the wake of a torpedo was sighted directly across the _DeKalb's_
bow. A second torpedo wake was reported ten minutes later by the after
lookouts.
The torpedoes fired at the _Havana_ passed from starboard to port about
40 yards ahead of the ship, leaving a distinct wake which was visible
for 400 or 500 yards.
The submarine sighted by the _Seattle_ was seen by the _Wilkes_ and
passed under that ship, Lieutenant Van Metre reported, stating that the
oscillator gave unmistakable evidence of the presence of a submarine.
The radio operator at the receiver reported, "Submarine very close to
us." As the U-boat passed, it was followed by the _Wilkes_, which ran
down between the columns, chasing the enemy.
The _Birmingham_, leading the second group, encountered two submarines,
the first about 11:50 a. m., June 26, in latitude 47° 01´ N. longitude
06° 28´ W., about a hundred miles off the coast of France, and the
second two hours later. The _Wadsworth_ investigated the wake of the
first without further discovery. The _Cummings_ sighted the bow wave of
the second at a distance of 1,500 yards, and headed for it at a speed
of 25 knots. The gun pointers at the forward gun saw the periscope time
and again, but as the ship was zigzagging, it disappeared each time
before they could fire at it. The _Cummings_ passed about 25 yards
ahead of a mass of bubbles which were coming up from the wake and let
go a depth-charge just ahead. Several pieces of timber, quantities of
oil, bubbles and debris came to the surface. Nothing more was seen of
the submarine. The attacks on the second group occurred about 800 miles
to the eastward of where the attacks had been made on the first group.
The voyage of the third group, Admiral Gleaves reported, was
uneventful; but the _Kanawha_, with the fourth group, on June 28th,
fired on what was believed to be a submarine. The _Kanawha's_ commander
saw the object; and a minute or two later the port after gun's crew
reported sighting a submarine, and opened fire. The lookouts said they
saw the U-boat under the water's surface, about where the shots were
landing. Lieutenant (junior grade) Lee C. Carey, in charge of the
firing, reported that he saw the submarine fire two torpedoes in the
direction of the convoy, which sheered off when the alarm was sounded.
"All the officers and men aft had observed the torpedoes traveling
through the water and cheered loudly when they saw a torpedo miss a
transport," reported the _Kanawha's_ commander.
When he was in Paris Admiral Gleaves was shown a confidential bulletin
of information issued by the French General Staff, dated July 6, which
contained the following:
Ponta Delgada was bombarded at 9 a. m., July 4. This is undoubtedly
the submarine which attacked the _Fern Leaf_ on June 25, four
hundred miles north of the Azores and sank the _Benguela_ and
_Syria_ on the 29th of June 100 miles from Terceira (Azores). This
submarine was ordered to watch in the vicinity of the Azores at
such a distance as it was supposed the enemy American convoy would
pass from the Azores.
"It appears from the French report just quoted above and from the
location of the attack that enemy submarines had been notified of our
approach and were probably scouting across our route," Gleaves said.
On the evening of July 3rd, I had the pleasure of announcing the safe
arrival of all our convoys, without the loss of a man. This occasioned
general rejoicing in France, England and Italy, as well as America. For
us, the national holiday that followed was truly a glorious Fourth.
Secretary Baker wrote the thanks of the Army, adding: "This splendid
achievement is an auspicious beginning, and it has been characterized
throughout by the most cordial and effective coöperation between
the two military services." In replying, "in behalf of the men whose
courage gave safe conduct to courage," I said that the Navy waited "in
full confidence for the day when the valor of your soldiers will write
new and splendid chapters in the history of our liberty-loving land."
The policy of the Department, with reference to the safety of ships
carrying troops to France, was laid down in this cablegram which I
wrote with my own hand:
Washington, D. C., July 28, 1917.
Admiral Sims:
The paramount duty of the destroyers in European waters is
principally the proper protection of transports with American
troops. Be certain to detail an adequate convoy of destroyers and
in making the detail bear in mind that everything is secondary to
having a sufficient number to insure protection to American troops.
JOSEPHUS DANIELS.
From the small beginning was built up the great Cruiser and Transport
Force which took to France 911,047 American soldiers, and brought
home 1,700,000--a total of 2,600,000 carried across the Atlantic in
naval transports. In less than a year this Force grew to a fleet of
83 vessels, and after the armistice comprised 142 vessels carrying
troops, with facilities for 13,914 officers and 349,770 men. Rear
Admiral Gleaves' headquarters were at Hoboken, N. J., where most of the
transports docked. His chief of staff was Captain De W. Blamer. The
Newport News Division was commanded by Rear Admiral Hilary P. Jones,
now commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet, with Captain J. F. Hines
as his chief of staff.
Of the 194,965 troops which sailed before the end of 1917, 113,429 were
carried in American vessels, all but 8,535 of these in our transports;
and 75,500 were taken in British ships. In January, February and March,
1918, British vessels carried 57,399; U. S. naval transports, 123,917.
Foreign shipping in large quantity did not become available until
after the famous "March drive" made by the Germans in 1918. Then the
most important thing to all the Allies was getting American soldiers
to Europe, and British, French and Italian ships in numbers were
furnished. In April, 1918, 67,553 sailed in U. S. transports, 47,362
in British ships. In May the British carried more than we did, 133,795
to our 99,561, besides 12,127 carried in Italian vessels leased by the
British. In the next five months up to the armistice, 520,410 were
carried in U. S. naval transports, and 28,973 in other American ships;
British vessels carried 692,931; British-leased Italian ships 53,493
and French, Italian and other foreign ships, 38,218.
The records of the Cruiser and Transport Force show that, in all,
2,079,880 American troops were transported to France before the
armistice--952,581 in American vessels, 911,047 of these in U. S.
naval transports; 1,006,987 in British ships; 68,246 in British-leased
Italian vessels; 52,066 in French, Italian and other foreign ships.
American vessels carried 46.25 per cent, 43.75 of this in U. S. Naval
transports; British vessels 48.25 per cent; British-leased Italian
ships, 3 per cent; French, Italian and others, 2.5 per cent.
The purely naval duty was escorting these vessels, guarding them
against attack by raiders or submarines. Of this the British navy
performed 14.125 per cent, the French 3.125, and the United States Navy
82.75 per cent, over four-fifths. Of the total number of troops, 61,617
were under French escort, 297,903 under British escort, and 1,720,360
sailed under the escort of the United States Navy.
But that is only half the story. When hostilities ended, that vast
army had to be brought back from Europe. For this, very little foreign
shipping was available. Of the 1,933,156 Americans returned from
November 11, 1918, to the end of September, 1919, the Navy brought home
1,675,733; all other vessels, American and foreign, 257,423. During
hostilities we had returned 11,211 sick, wounded, casuals, etc.; some
were returned after September, so that the total number brought by the
Navy from Europe to America ran well over 1,700,000.
Of the total troop and official passenger movement incident to the war,
approximately 4,000,000, the Navy transported more than 2,600,000. Not
only did the Navy man and operate the United States transports, but
provided the food for this vast army of soldiers en route. And during
the entire war period, four-fifths of all the American troops who
sailed were guarded by American cruisers, destroyers and patrol craft.
This country could not have sent over nearly so many troops as it did,
if we had not been aided by the British, French and Italian vessels.
This was no gift, of course. The United States Government paid for
every soldier transported on a foreign vessel. The aid of our Allies
was invaluable, and highly appreciated. They should be given full
credit for all they did; but this should not detract one iota from
the great task performed by our Navy, which was the biggest factor in
putting through this biggest job of the war.
Not a single vessel of the Cruiser and Transport Force was torpedoed on
the way to France. Two, the _President Lincoln_ and the _Covington_,
were sunk returning, as was also the _Antilles_, an Army chartered
transport not manned by the Navy. Two American transports were
torpedoed, the _Finland_, manned by a civilian crew, and the _Mount
Vernon_, manned by the Navy; but both were successfully navigated
to port and repaired. The _Tuscania_ and the _Moldavia_, sunk while
carrying American troops to Europe, were British chartered vessels, as
was also the _Dwinsk_, which was sunk while returning.
The first transport lost was the _Antilles_, October 17, 1917, two days
out of Brest. Eleven days later the _Finland_ was struck by a torpedo.
In both cases there was loss of life and confusion among the civilian
crews. After these experiences, it was decided to man all American
troop-ships entirely by naval personnel; and it was not until May 31st
that another was lost.
Returning to America, in company with the _Susquehanna_, _Antigone_
and _Rijndam_, the _President Lincoln_ (Commander P. W. Foote), was
steaming along, 500 miles from land. At 9 o'clock a terrific explosion
occurred on the port side of the _Lincoln_, 120 feet from the bow. In
an instant there was another explosion in the after part of the vessel.
The ship had been struck by three torpedoes, fired in a salvo from a
submarine. Two struck together near the bow, the other near the stern.
Officers and lookouts had sighted the wakes, but the torpedoes were so
close that it was impossible to avoid them.
There were 715 persons on board, including 30 officers and men of the
army, a number of whom were sick, two helpless from paralysis. It was
realized that the vessel could not long remain afloat, but there was no
confusion. Crew and passengers coolly waited for and obeyed orders.
Boats were lowered and life-rafts placed in the water. Fifteen minutes
after the torpedoes struck, all hands except the guns'-crews were
ordered to abandon the ship.
Gunners stood at their stations, awaiting any opportunity for a shot
at the submarine. Commander Foote and several other officers remained
aboard. All the rest of the ship's company were in the boats or on the
rafts. When the guns began firing, they broke into cheers. The firing
was kept up until the water covered the main deck, and the gunners did
not leave their posts until they were ordered off just before the ship
sank.
With her colors flying, twenty-five minutes after the torpedoes
exploded, the _Lincoln_ went down. Three officers and 23 men were
lost. Seven working below decks were either killed by the explosion,
or drowned by the inrush of water. Sixteen men on a raft alongside
were caught by the current and carried under as the ship went down.
The officers lost were Passed Assistant Surgeon L. C. Whiteside, the
ship's medical officer; Paymaster Andrew Mowat, the supply officer, and
Assistant Paymaster J. D. Johnson. Dr. Whiteside and Paymaster Mowat
had seen that the men under their charge had gotten away safely, the
doctor having attended to placing the sick in the boat provided for
them. Paymaster Johnson was on the raft which was pulled down as the
ship plunged.
Admiral Sims cabled that the "small loss of life is due to thorough
discipline of ship's company, and excellent seamanship of Commander
Foote." This he said was "evidenced by actual results even after the
ship had sunk and the personnel was adrift in boats and on rafts."
Admiral Gleaves wrote to Foote: "Your action and judgment under such
trying conditions were in accord with the best traditions of the
service." Half an hour after the ship went down a large submarine
emerged, and went among the boats and rafts, seeking the commander
and other senior officers, whom they wished to take prisoners. The
Germans could identify only one officer, Lieutenant Edouard Victor M.
Isaacs, who was taken on board and carried away. The submarine--it was
the U-90,--remained in the vicinity for two hours, and returned again
in the afternoon, evidently seeking to attack other vessels of the
convoy. But they were far away, having, in accordance with standard
instructions to avoid attack, put on all steam and left the scene as
soon as the _Lincoln_ was hit.
The U-boat was so menacing that some feared it would fire upon the
life-craft. When several of the crew went to its gun, apparently
preparing it for action, a man in one of the boats exclaimed: "Good
night! Here come the fireworks!"
By dark the boats and rafts had been lashed together. Lighted lanterns
were hoisted and flares and signal lights burned every few minutes.
None knew when aid would arrive. Distress signals had been sent out,
but the nearest destroyers were 250 miles away, protecting another
convoy. Military necessity might prevent their being detached.
Five hundred miles from land, waiting for aid until far in the night,
the men cheered and sang such songs as "Over There," "Keep the Home
Fires Burning," "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here," and "Where do we
go from here, boys?" At 11 p. m. the destroyers _Smith_ (Lieutenant
Commander Kenyon) and _Warrington_ (Lieutenant Commander Klein)
arrived. With only the wireless distress message sent at 9 a. m. to
guide them, they had located the life-craft in the middle of the night,
though boats and rafts had drifted 15 miles. The hundreds of survivors
were taken aboard the destroyers, which remained until daylight to
search for survivors, departing at 6 a. m.
Though their decks were crowded with the _Lincoln's_ officers and men,
the _Smith_ and _Warrington_ made a fast run to Brest, arriving there
next day. En route they sighted the wake of a periscope and rained
depth-bombs on the very submarine which had sunk the _Lincoln_, but by
descending to a great depth the U-90 escaped.
[Illustration:
From the painting by Frank Dana Marsh
THE SINKING OF THE PRESIDENT LINCOLN
The U. S. S. President Lincoln, commanded by Captain P. W. Foote, was
one of the two vessels of the Cruiser and Transport Force which were
sunk by submarines. She was lost on May 31, 1917, going down with
colors flying twenty-five minutes after the torpedoes struck her. Of
the 715 persons on board, all but 26 were saved.]
[Illustration: THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY WITH CAPTAIN DISMUKES AND THE
MEN WHO SAVED THE MOUNT VERNON]
[Illustration: THE MOUNT VERNON, FORMERLY THE GERMAN LINER
KRONPRINZESSIN CECILIE, SAFELY IN PORT AFTER BEING TORPEDOED, SEPTEMBER
5, 1918.]
That it was the same U-boat was learned positively when, months
afterward, Lieutenant Isaacs escaped from prison. His experiences
aboard the submarine and in Germany make a thrilling story. Describing
his capture, after the sinking of the _Lincoln_, and his being taken
aboard the U-boat, Lieutenant Isaacs said:
We passed north of the Shetlands into the North Sea, the Skagerrak,
the Cattegat, and the Sound into the Baltic. Proceeding to Kiel, we
passed down the canal through Heligoland Bight to Wilhelmshaven.
On the way to the Shetlands we fell in with two American
destroyers, the _Smith_ and the _Warrington_, who dropped 22
depth bombs on us. We were submerged to a depth of 60 meters and
weathered the storm, although five bombs were very close and shook
us up considerably. The information I had been able to collect was,
I considered, of enough importance to warrant my trying to escape.
Accordingly in Danish waters I attempted to jump from the deck of
the submarine, but was caught and ordered below.
The German Navy authorities took me from Wilhelmshaven to
Karlsruhe, where I was turned over to the army. Here I met officers
of all the Allied armies, and with them I attempted several
escapes, all of which were unsuccessful. After three weeks at
Karlsruhe I was sent to the American and Russian officers' camp
at Villingen. On the way I attempted to escape from the train by
jumping out of the window. With the train making about 40 miles an
hour, I landed on the opposite railroad track and was so severely
wounded by the fall that I could not get away from my guard. They
followed me, firing continuously. When they recaptured me they
struck me on the head and body with their guns until one broke his
rifle. It snapped in two at the small of the stock as he struck me
with the butt on the back of the head.
I was given two weeks solitary confinement, for this attempt to
escape, but continued trying, for I was determined to get my
information back to the Navy. Finally, on the night of October 6,
assisted by several American Army officers, I was able to effect an
escape by short-circuiting all lighting circuits in the prison camp
and cutting through barbed-wire fences surrounding the camp. This
had to be done in the face of a heavy rifle fire from the guards.
But it was difficult for them to see in the darkness, so I escaped
unscathed.
In company with an American officer in the French Army, I made my
way for seven days and nights over mountains to the Rhine, which
to the south of Baden forms the boundary between Germany and
Switzerland. After a four-hour crawl on hands and knees I was able
to elude the sentries along the Rhine. Plunging in, I made for the
Swiss shore. After being carried several miles down the stream,
being frequently submerged by the rapid current, I finally reached
the opposite shore and gave myself up to the Swiss gendarmes, who
turned me over to the American legation at Berne. From there I made
my way to Paris and then London and finally Washington, where I
arrived four weeks after my escape from Germany.
It was my pleasure to greet Lieutenant Isaacs on his return,
congratulate him on his escape, and commend him for the heroic courage
and enterprise he had displayed under such trying circumstances.
The _Covington_ (Captain R. D. Hasbrouck) was torpedoed July 1st at
9:15 p. m., the torpedo smashing a hole in the vessel's side and
throwing into the air a column of water higher than the smokestacks.
Engine and fire rooms quickly filled, the ship lost headway rapidly and
in fifteen minutes lay dead in the water.
Listing heavily to port, it was feared the vessel might take a lurch
and sink suddenly. Twenty-one boats were lowered, three had been
smashed by the explosion. "Abandon ship," was ordered. The bugle
sounded "Silence," and silently the men went down the Jacob's ladders
as if they were at drill. The destroyer _Smith_ stood close by, taking
the men from the boats. Thirty officers and men remained aboard with
the Captain until an hour after the torpedo struck.
Hoping to save the transport, a salvage party was organized, to go
on board as soon as the men could be collected from rafts and boats.
The little _Smith_, which in addition to its own crew of one hundred,
had aboard 800 of the _Covington's_ officers and men, encircled the
transport to keep off the submarine and prevent it from firing another
torpedo.
Another destroyer, the _Reade_, came to the rescue; at 4:20 a. m. the
British salvage tugs, _Revenger_ and _Woonda_ arrived, and at 5:30
o'clock the American tug _Concord_ reached the scene. The _Smith_,
which was ordered to take to port all the crew not needed, at 5:20 left
for Brest. By 6 o'clock the three tugs had the _Covington_ in tow,
and were making from five to six knots through the water. Two more
destroyers joined shortly after to guard the crippled ship from attack.
She was then listed about twenty degrees to port, and about noon took a
quick list of ten degrees more.
By 1:30 p. m. she had heeled to an angle of 45 degrees. Sensing sinking
conditions, the working party was directed to leave the ship, the
_Nicholson_ taking them off. At 2:30 the _Covington_ began to sink
rapidly by the stern and disappeared two minutes later. The ship went
down with her colors flying.
The only fighting ship of the Cruiser and Transport Force that was
sunk--in fact, the only large United States naval vessel lost during
the war--was the armored cruiser _San Diego_ (Captain H. H. Christy)
sunk by a mine off Fire Island, N. Y., July 19, 1918.
Proceeding from Portsmouth, N. H., to New York, the cruiser was
steering what was regarded as a safe course to avoid the submarines,
then operating in Atlantic waters, and the mines they had laid.
Lookouts, gun-watches, fire control parties were at their stations, the
whole crew on the alert. There was no sign of any U-boat or mine.
Suddenly, at 11:05 a. m., there was an explosion at frame No. 78,
on the port side well below the water line. "Full speed ahead," was
rung by the Captain, who hoped the ship could be kept afloat, and the
starboard engine operated until it was stopped by rising water.
Machinist's Mate Hawthorne, who was at the throttle in the port engine
room, was blown four feet under a desk. He got up, closed the throttle
on the engine, which had already stopped, and then escaped up the
ladder. The lieutenant on watch in the starboard engine room, closed
the water tight doors, and gave instructions to the fireroom to protect
the boilers.
The vessel listed to port so heavily that water entered the gun ports
on the gun deck. Listing 8 degrees quickly, the vessel hung for seven
minutes; then gradually turned until 35 degrees was reached. At this
time the port quarter-deck was three feet under water. The cruiser then
rapidly turned turtle and sank.
Captain Christy was last to leave the ship. Going from the bridge down
two ladders to the boat deck, he slid down a line to the armor belt,
then dropped four feet to the bilge keel, and thence to the docking
keel. From there he jumped into the water. The men cheered their
captain as he left the ship. On the rafts they sang "The Star Spangled
Banner" and "My Country 'Tis of Thee," and more cheers arose when the
United States ensign was hoisted on the sailboat.
Two dinghies with six officers and twenty-one men pulled to shore,
arriving at 1:20 p. m. The steamer _Malden_ picked up 370 officers and
men, the _Bossom 708_; the _E. P. Jones 78_. Six men were lost, three
of these being killed by the explosion. The court of inquiry reported
that "the conduct of the Captain, officers and crew was in the highest
degree commendable," and that "the remarkably small loss of life was
due to the high state of discipline maintained on board."
This was the last loss sustained by the Cruiser and Transport Force
until September 5th. Then the troop-ship _Mt. Vernon_ (Captain D. E.
Dismukes) was torpedoed, but by splendid seamanship was taken to
port under her own steam. The _Mt. Vernon_, homeward bound, was 250
miles from the coast of France when she was struck. The explosion was
so terrific that for an instant it seemed that the ship was lifted
clear out of the water and torn to pieces. Men at the after guns and
depth-charge stations were thrown to the deck, and one gun thrown
partly out of its mount. The torpedo struck fairly amidship, destroying
four of the eight boiler-rooms and flooding the middle portion of the
vessel from side to side for a length of 150 feet. The vessel instantly
settled 10 feet increase in draft, but stopped there. This indicated
that the water-tight bulkheads were holding, and she could still afford
to go down two or three feet more before she would lose her floating
buoyancy. The immediate problem was to escape a second torpedo.
Depth-charge crews jumped to their stations, and started dropping a
depth-bomb barrage.
Men in the firerooms knew that the safety of the ship depended on them.
The shock of the explosion, followed by instant darkness, falling
soot and particles; the knowledge that they were far below the water
level inclosed practically in a trap; the imminent danger of the ship
sinking, the added threat of exploding boilers--all these dangers and
more must have been apparent to every man below, said Captain Dismukes,
and yet not one man wavered in standing by his post of duty.
C. L. O'Connor, water tender, was thrown to the floor and enveloped in
gas flames from the furnaces. Instead of rushing to escape, he turned
and endeavored to shut a water-tight door leading into a large bunker
abaft the fireroom, but the hydraulic lever that operated the door had
been damaged and failed to function. Three men at work in this bunker
were drowned. If O'Connor had succeeded in shutting the door, all would
have been saved. Caught in the swirl of inrushing water, O'Connor was
thrust up a ventilator leading to the upper deck.
The torpedo exploded on a bulkhead separating two firerooms, the
explosive effect being apparently about equal in both firerooms, yet
in one fireroom not a man was saved, while in the other two of the men
escaped. The explosion blasted through the outer and inner skin of
the ship and through an intervening coal bunker and bulkhead, hurling
overboard 750 tons of coal. The two men saved were working the fires
within 30 feet of the explosion and just below the level where the
torpedo struck. How they escaped is a miracle. One of the men, P.
Fitzgerald, landed on the lower grating. Groping his way through the
darkness, trying to find the ladder leading above, he stumbled over
the body of a man apparently dead. Finding he was only unconscious,
Fitzgerald aroused him and took him to safety. The man would have been
lost, for the water rose 10 feet above this grating as the ship settled.
Shortly after the Mt. Vernon arrived at Brest, Captain Dismukes
received this letter from Brigadier General George H. Harries, U. S. A.:
Sorrow mingled with pride, for those who died so nobly.
Congratulations on the seamanship, discipline and courage. It was a
great feat you accomplished.
Passengers whom I have seen this morning are unable to fully or
fitly voice their praises of your always worthy self or of your
ship's company.
The best traditions of our Navy have been lifted to a higher plane.
What a fine thing it is to be an American these days!
The olive drab salutes the blue.
Every American vessel available was pressed into service to bring the
troops home after the war.
Fifty-six cargo vessels were converted into troop-carriers. Nine of the
German vessels turned over under the armistice were assigned to us--the
_Imperator_, _Kaiserin Augusta Victoria_, _Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm_,
_Zeppelin_, _Cap Finisterre_, _Graf Waldersee_, _Patricia_, _Pretoria_,
and _Mobile_. The capacity of all our transports was considerably
increased.
But more was needed, and I gave orders to use our old battleships
and cruisers to carry troops. Naval officers objected, saying these
warships were not fitted for such duty. I was told the soldiers on
board would be uncomfortable, and would return home with a grouch
against the Government and the Navy. What happened? Army officers
and men were glad of the chance to come home on a warship. It was an
experience no other soldiers had enjoyed. Once aboard, they fell to and
made themselves thoroughly at home. Upon the arrival at Hampton Roads
of the first battleship bringing troops, the Army officers sent me a
letter of thanks for the fine voyage and the opportunity to return on a
naval vessel, and later other officers expressed themselves in similar
fashion.
In a few months we had in operation 142 vessels carrying troops with
facilities for 363,684 officers and men. The maximum was reached in
June, when 340,946 embarked from France, 314,167 of them in United
States transports. This exceeded the largest number carried overseas by
all American and Allied vessels in any one month during the war. By the
end of July, 1919, 1,770,484 men had been returned to America. The big
troop movement was virtually over by October 1st, at which time nearly
two million had been returned, 1,675,733 of them in naval transports.
Several thousands more came later, and 11,211 had returned previous to
the armistice.
The record of the ten leading vessels of the Cruiser and Transport
Force, in troops carried to Europe and passengers and sick and wounded
returned, was:
Transported Transported From Europe Total
to Europe Passengers Sick and Wounded Carried
Leviathan 96,804 93,746 10,913 192,753
America 37,768 46,823 4,668 86,801
George Washington 48,373 34,142 5,085 83,350
Agamemnon 36,097 41,179 4,425 78,249
President Grant 39,974 37,025 3,301 77,129
Mount Vernon 33,692 12,500 4,015 76,402
Siboney 20,299 34,702 5,307 55,169
Mongolia 19,013 34,813 2,707 54,337
Manchuria 14,491 39,501 6,186 54,230
Great Northern 28,248 22,852 5,522 54,085
-------- -------- -------- --------
374,679 427,283 52,129 812,505
These ships also brought back 2,366 passengers before the armistice,
which are included in the total numbers carried.
The other vessels used in transporting to France, as well as returning
troops were:
_Aeolus_
_Antigone_
_Calamares_
_Covington_
_DeKalb_
_Finland_
_Hancock_
_Harrisburg_
_Henderson_
_Huron_
_K. der Nederlanden_
_Kroonland_
_Lenape_
_Louisville_
_Madawaska_
_H. R. Mallory_
_Martha Washington_
_Matsonia_
_Maui_
_Mercury_
_Northern Pacific_
_Orizaba_
_Pastores_
_Plattsburg_
_Pocahontas_
_Powhatan_
_President Lincoln_
_Princess Matoika_
_Rijndam_
_Sierra_
_Susquehanna_
_Tenadores_
_Von Steuben_
_Wilhelmina_
_Zeelandia_
The battleships and cruisers employed in troop transportation brought
back more than 145,000 men, as follows:
Battleships--_Connecticut_, 4,861; _Georgia_, 5,869; _Kansas_,
7,486; _Louisiana_, 4,714; _Michigan_, 1,052; _Minnesota_, 3,955;
_Missouri_, 3,278; _Nebraska_, 4,530; _New Hampshire_, 4,900;
_New Jersey_, 4,675; _Ohio_, 778; _Rhode Island_, 5,303; _South
Carolina_, 4,501; _Vermont_, 4,795; _Virginia_, 5,784; total,
66,481.
Cruisers--_Charleston_, 7,704; _Frederick_, 9,659; _Huntington_,
11,913; _Montana_, 8,800; _North Carolina_, 8,962; _Pueblo_,
10,136; _Rochester_, 317; _Seattle_, 9,397; _South Dakota_, 3,463;
_St. Louis_, 8,437; total, 78,788.
Merchant ships converted into troop-carriers, and used in bringing
soldiers home were:
_Alaskan_
_Amphion_
_Ancon_
_Arcadia_
_Arizonian_
_Artemis_
_Black Arrow_
_Buford_
_Callao_
_Canandaigua_
_Canonicus_
_Cape May_
_Comfort_
_Dakotan_
_Eddelyn_
_El Sol_
_El Oriente_
_Etten_
_Eurana_
_Floridian_
_Freedom_
_Gen. Goethals_
_Gen. Gorgas_
_Housatonic_
_Iowan_
_Kentuckian_
_Lancaster_
_Liberator_
_E. F. Luckenbach_
_Edward Luckenbach_
_F. J. Luckenbach_
_Julia Luckenbach_
_Katrina Luckenbach_
_K. I. Luckenbach_
_W. A. Luckenbach_
_Marica_
_Mercy_
_Mexican_
_Minnesotan_
_Montpelier_
_Nansemond_
_Ohioan_
_Otsego_
_Panaman_
_Paysandu_
_Peerless_
_Philippines_
_Radnor_
_Roanoke_
_Santa Ana_
_Santa Barbara_
_Santa Cecilia_
_Santa Clara_
_Santa Elena_
_Santa Elisa_
_Santa Leonora_
_Santa Malta_
_Santa Olivia_
_Santa Paula_
_Santa Rosa_
_Santa Teresa_
_Scranton_
_Shoshone_
_Sol Navis_
_South Bend_
_Suwanee_
_Texan_
_Tiger_
_Troy_
_Virginian_
_Yale_
These converted cargo ships brought 441,986 passengers, 10,452 wounded;
total 452,438. The nine German passenger ships employed after the
armistice brought back 138,928.
When the troop movement was near its close, in September, 1918,
Admiral Gleaves, who had been in charge from the beginning, was made
commander-in-chief of the Asiatic fleet. He was succeeded by Captain
C. B. Morgan. The Cruiser and Transport Force, which at its maximum
comprised a fleet of 142 vessels, of 2,341,038 tons displacement,
carried across the Atlantic, going to or returning from Europe,
approximately 2,600,000 persons. And this without the loss, through
navigation or enemy action, of any soldier entrusted to its care.