GUARDING THE COAST OF FRANCE
BREST THE CENTER OF GREAT SYSTEM UNDER COMMAND OF WILSON--PATROL
SQUADRON SENT OVER IN JUNE, 1917--ARMED YACHTS AND DESTROYERS
ENABLED TROOPS TO REACH PORTS SAFELY--"STEWART" PLOWED THROUGH
BLAZING AMMUNITION TO RESCUE SURVIVORS OF "FLORENCE H."--WRESTLE
WITH DEPTH-BOMB.
On the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille, the French national
holiday, July 14, 1917, our naval forces began work with the French,
whose vessels under DeGrasse had, 136 years before, given such signal
aid to America in its struggle for liberty.
France was the center of American activities, military and naval, and
our most important operations in Europe were in French waters. It was
the vast system built up by the Navy, the splendid work of our armed
yachts and destroyers and aircraft, which kept the sea lanes clear,
protected transports, and enabled American troops and supplies to reach
French ports in safety.
Sending naval vessels to France, and establishing bases were two of the
first things considered by the Navy Department. They were discussed
with the French mission, with Marshal Joffre and Admiral Chocheprat,
when they reached Washington in April. They recommended Brest and
Bordeaux as the principal ports to be used by the Americans, and we
decided to establish bases there as well as at St. Nazaire, where our
first troops landed.
Preparations were at once begun to send patrol craft, and for this
purpose, the largest and best of American yachts, stripped of their
luxurious fittings, were armed and converted into men-of-war. A special
force was organized under command of Rear Admiral William B. Fletcher,
and on June 9, the first of the "U. S. Patrol Squadrons Operating in
European Waters," sailed from New York for France. In this group were
the _Noma_, (Lieutenant Commander L. R. Leahy); _Vedette_, (Lieutenant
Commander C. L. Hand); _Christabel_, (Lieutenant Commander H. B.
Riebe); _Kanawha_, (Lieutenant Commander H. D. Cooke); _Harvard_,
(Lieutenant Commander A. G. Stirling), and the _Sultana_, (Lieutenant
Commander E. G. Allen). Proceeding by way of the Azores, they reached
Brest July 3. Two speedier yachts, the _Corsair_ (Lieutenant Commander
T. A. Kittinger), and the _Aphrodite_ (Lieutenant Commander R. P.
Craft), sailed from New York with the first troop convoy June 14,
reaching St. Nazaire June 27, and arriving at Brest July 2.
Protection of vessels carrying troops was the primary mission of our
forces in France, and after that the storeships loaded with munitions,
materials and supplies for the Army. But this was by no means all their
work. They escorted convoys sailing from Verdon, vessels coming from
Bordeaux, Pauillac and other points up the Gironde river; from Brest;
from Quiberon Bay (St. Nazaire); ships of all kinds sailing along the
coast of France, for England or southern ports.
With headquarters at Brest, where the American admiral had his offices
next to those of the French Chief of the Brittany Patrol, Vice Admiral
Schwerer, who acted directly under Vice Admiral Moreau, senior Allied
naval officer, an organization was built up extending all along
the French coast. Working in closest coöperation with the French,
our forces were always under American command, first under Admiral
Fletcher, and then under Admiral Henry B. Wilson, who succeeded him on
Nov. 1, 1917.
Captain T. P. Magruder was made senior naval officer at Lorient,
with a division of mine-sweepers to keep clear the approaches to St.
Nazaire. Captain N. A. McCully commanded the Rochefort district, which
extended from the Lorient line to the Spanish coast. Six yachts were
based at Rochefort, to give prompt service to convoys entering the
Gironde River, for Bordeaux or Pauillac. The Brest district, from Cape
Brehat to Penmarch Point, was in command of Captain H. H. Hough, and
the Cherbourg district, north of this, was assigned to Commander David
Boyd. Naval port officers, stationed at Brest, Havre, Cherbourg,
Rouen, St. Malo, Granville, St. Nazaire, Nantes, Quiberon Bay, Sables
d' Olonne, Bordeaux, La Pallice, Rochefort, Royan, Verdon, Pauillac and
St. Jean de Luz, kept in touch with Army officials and shipmasters,
expediting dispatch of vessels and the flow of transportation and
commerce. Military and naval officers pulled together with a will, and
the saying was: "There is no Army and Navy at Brest. It's all one gang!"
From Brest radiated lines of command, communication, and
coöperation--to our own forces, and the French naval commanders on the
coast; our naval representatives and naval attaché in Paris, and the
French Ministry of Marine; through the superintendent of ports and
coding officer to Army officials, those in charge of troops and supply
transport; to the Chief of Aviation and the American and French air
forces; and to U. S. Naval Headquarters in London.
The development of this organization brought such success in
anti-submarine operations as the French coast had never known, changing
the entire situation in these waters, not only for our vessels but
for all Allied shipping. Here is a chart record of vessels sunk by
submarines on the west coast of France for six months and it tells the
story:
October, 1917 24
November, 1917 13
December, 1917 4
January, 1918 9
February, 1918 1
March, 1918 0
Describing an evening with Admiral Wilson, Reginald Wright Kauffman
wrote:
The Admiral and his staff sleep in rooms just below their office.
That is, they say they sleep. I asked the Admiral's orderly if he
had ever seen him in bed, and he said, "No, sir."
The Admiral, after a long day's work, spoke of how good it was to
draw his chair close to the open fire. One of the three guests had
to leave early, because, although he is our host's nephew, he had
volunteered as a common seaman and had to be aboard ship betimes.
That orderly of the commander, a Lehigh graduate with six months'
experience of the service, muttered in the hall:
"This is the most democratic Navy I ever saw; an Admiral helping a
gob on with his coat!"
That intimate view of Admiral Wilson shows the side of his character
which makes officers and men love him. Strict in discipline, firm in
administration, a master of his profession, he illustrates the military
truth that he is the greatest officer who is the best shipmate. It was
this combination of qualities which enabled him to do the big job in
France, where he was beloved and honored by the French as well as the
Americans.
What Mr. Kauffman described at Brest was characteristic of our Navy
in the war, as it was of our crews on the French coast. In one gun's
crew a young New York millionaire served with a former mechanic and
an erstwhile clerk from the East Side. In the crew of a yacht was
a Philadelphia policeman and a Texas ranger; the first boatswain's
mate had his sheepskin from Cornell; there was a Lehigh senior in the
forecastle and a Harvard post-graduate assisting in the radio room.
Several young men served as sailors on ships their fathers owned, and
had turned over to the Government for war use.
They were nearly all reservists or recent recruits, the crews of the
armed yachts and sub-chasers. But they put it over like veterans, and
took things as they came. And they had some lively brushes with the
"subs."
The yachts got a taste of U-boat warfare on the way over. The _Corsair_
was with the troop-ships when the group she was escorting was attacked
by submarines. Nearing the French coast on July 2, the _Noma_ sighted a
periscope, and with the _Kanawha_ circled the vicinity for some time,
but without result. The next evening the _Sultana_, which was somewhat
behind the other yachts, arrived at Brest, bringing 37 of the crew and
13 of the armed guard of the American steamship _Orleans_, which had
been sunk, apparently by the same submarine which had been sighted by
the _Noma_.
The day after they began patrol duty, the _Harvard_ brought into port
59 survivors picked up from two British ships that had been torpedoed.
A torpedo was fired at the _Noma_ on July 19, and on August 8th she
took part in a fight between a noted British decoy-ship--"Q-boats,"
they were called--and a submarine in the Bay of Biscay.
"SOS," came the distress call from the _Dunraven_, "Shelled by
submarine." The _Noma_ had just finished repairing one of her boilers,
but she put on all steam and headed for the scene. As she came up,
the vessel, torpedoed, seemed to be sinking. The submarine, which was
close to the steamer, was still shelling her. The _Noma_ headed for
the U-boat, attempting to ram her, but she submerged and the yacht
dropped depth-bombs around the spot. Then she turned attention to the
_Dunraven_. This decoy ship, commanded by Captain Gordon Campbell, most
noted of "Q-boat" captains, had pursued its usual tactics when the
"sub" was sighted, part of the crew, disguised as merchant sailors,
taking to the lifeboats, leaving hidden aboard the gunners ready to
fire shells or torpedo when the submarine ventured nearer. But this
time the U-boat got the best of it. One of its shells struck the
steamer and blew up a depth-bomb. Two more shots landed, and set the
ship afire. The flames swept down to where ammunition, shells and
torpedoes were piled, and they exploded, hurling gun and gun-crew into
the air.
Then came the torpedo, which as it hit the ship caused another big
explosion. But the _Dunraven_ fought on, and it was only after she had
fired two torpedoes at the "sub," and many of her crew were wounded,
that she sent out the distress call.
The "sub" driven off, the _Noma_ circled the vicinity, keeping a
sharp lookout for the enemy. Two British destroyers arrived shortly
afterward, and with the _Noma_ rescued the decoy-ship's crew. One
of them, the _Christopher_, took the _Dunraven_ in tow, the _Noma_
acting as escort until the next day, when she was relieved by a French
destroyer. But the _Dunraven_ was too badly damaged to remain afloat,
and sank before she reached port.
Our forces in French waters were reinforced in August and September by
nineteen more vessels, these being:
Second Patrol Division, Commander F. N. Freeman--_Alcedo_,
(Lieutenant Commander W. T. Conn); _Remlik_, (Lieutenant
Commander I. C. Johnson); _Wanderer_, (Lieutenant Commander P. L.
Wilson); _Guinevere_, (Lieutenant Commander Guy Davis); _Corona_,
(Lieutenant Commander L. M. Stevens); _Carola_, (Lieutenant
Commander H. R. Keller); and the _Emeline_, (Lieutenant Commander
R. C. Williams).
Third Division, Captain T. P. Magruder--_Wakiva_, (Lieutenant
Commander T. R. Kurtz), armed yacht; _Anderton_, (Boatswain H.
Miller); _Cahill_, (Lieutenant A. E. Wills); _Rehoboth_ and
_McNeal_, (Lieutenant C. N. Hinkamp); the _Lewes_, _James_,
_Douglas_, _Bauman_, _Courtney_, and _Hinton_, (Lieutenant A.
McGlasson), mine-sweepers; _Bath_, supply ship.
Sixteen American-built submarine chasers, which we had turned over to
the French Government, also arrived in September, and began patrol off
the French coast, and soon afterward the yachts _Nokomis_, (Commander
D. Boyd); _May_, (Commander F. T. Evans), and _Rambler_, (Lieutenant
E. G. Rose) and the mine-sweeper _Hubbard_ were added to our force at
Brest.
All along the French coast and in the Bay of Biscay our vessels were
kept busy, escorting convoys, troop and cargo ships and hunting
U-boats. This was done so effectively that we had no loss until
October, when a mine-sweeper, the _Rehoboth_, foundered, the Army
transport _Antilles_ and the yacht _Alcedo_ were sunk, and the
_Finland_ torpedoed.
Two days out from Quiberon Bay, on October 17th, the _Antilles_, bound
for America, was proceeding with the _Henderson_ and _Willehad_,
escorted by the _Corsair_ and _Alcedo_, when she was struck by a
torpedo. Shivering from stern to stern, she listed immediately to port
and began to sink. One of the lookouts in the main-top was thrown clear
over the five-foot canvas screen, and killed as he struck a hatch.
Everyone in the engine-room was killed or disabled except one oiler,
who crawled through the skylight just as the ship went down. Of the 21
men in the engine and firerooms, only three survived--the oiler, and
two firemen who escaped through a ventilator.
Commander Daniel T. Ghent, senior naval officer on board, gave the
order to abandon ship. Boats were lowered, distress signals sent out.
Guns were manned in the hope of getting a shot at the submarine. There
the gunners remained until ordered to leave, and two of them--John
Walter Hunt and J. C. McKinney--went down with the ship.
The vessel sank in four and a half minutes. Commander Ghent said:
The behavior of the naval personnel throughout was equal to the
best traditions of the service. The two forward guns' crews, in
charge of Lieutenant Tisdale, remained at their gun stations while
the ship went down, and made no move to leave until ordered to
save themselves. Radio Electrician C. L. Ausburne went down with
the ship while at his station in the radio room. When the ship
was struck Ausburne and McMahon were asleep in adjacent bunks
opposite the radio room. Ausburne, realizing the seriousness of
the situation, told McMahon to get his life preserver on, saying,
as he left to take his station at the radio key, "Good-bye, Mac."
McMahon, later finding the radio room locked and seeing the ship
was sinking, tried to get Ausburne out, but failed.
Radio Electrician H. F. Watson was also lost. He remained with
Commander Ghent on the bridge until the guns' crews were ordered to
leave, and was on his way to a lifeboat when last seen.
The _Alcedo_ rescued 117 and the _Corsair_ 50 of the 234 persons who
were on the _Antilles_. Sixty-seven were lost--4 men of the Navy, 16 of
the Army; 45 of the ship's merchant crew; a civilian ambulance driver
who had been serving with the French army, and a colored stevedore.
Rafts, set free by the blast of the explosion, were spread broadcast.
Men who had been unable to get into the boats swam for them, and for
boxes, planks or anything floating they could reach. As the _Corsair_
was picking up the survivors, a sailor was seen calmly roosting on a
box. As the yacht steamed for him, he stood up and, waving his arms,
wigwagged:
"Don't come too close, box contains live ammunition!"
They rescued him with care, and with due respect for the explosive as
well as for the gunner who considered the ship's welfare before he
thought of his own safety.
Eleven days later the _Finland_ was torpedoed, the explosion blowing in
her side for 35 feet, the V-shaped hole running down to the bilge-keel.
Three of the naval gun-crew, James W. Henry, Newton R. Head and Porter
Hilton; two men of the Army, a colored transport worker, and six of
the ship's merchant crew were lost. But the vessel, under the skilful
direction of the senior naval officer, Captain S. V. Graham, made port
under her own steam, was repaired and put back into service.
Repairing this ship was a striking example of the versatility of the
American Army in France. The repairs were undertaken by the French
naval arsenal, but man-power was scarce and the work was going slowly.
A regiment of U. S. Army engineers, stationed at a point not far
distant, offered assistance. Among them were a number of locomotive
boiler riveters, and structural workers. It was these American
"engineers" who came to the bat and actually repaired the _Finland_.
Neither the _Antilles_ nor the _Finland_ was a naval transport, both
being chartered by the Army, and manned by civilian crews, the only
Navy personnel aboard being the senior naval officer, the armed guard
and the radio operators. It was the experience with these undisciplined
crews which hastened the arrangement by which the Navy manned and
operated, as well as escorted, all American troop-ships.
Only one of our armed yachts in French waters was sunk, the _Alcedo_,
torpedoed at 1:45 a. m., November 5, 1917. She sank in eight minutes.
About 75 miles west of Belle Ile, she was escorting a convoy, when a
submarine was sighted, and then a torpedo, which struck the ship under
the port forward chain-plates. Boats were lowered, and as the vessel
began going down, Commander W. T. Conn, Jr., the commanding officer,
ordered the men who were still aboard to jump over the side, intending
to follow them. Before he could jump, however, the vessel listed
heavily to port, plunging by the head, and sank, carrying him down with
the suction. Coming to the surface, he swam to a raft, and later got
to a whaleboat, which, with several dories, went among the wreckage,
picking up survivors.
Half an hour after the _Alcedo_ sank, the submarine approached, but
after remaining twenty or thirty minutes steered off and submerged.
After searching the vicinity for three hours, Commander Conn's boat
and the others with him, containing 3 officers and 40 men, headed
for Penmarch Light. They rowed until 1:15 that afternoon, when they
were picked up by a French torpedo-boat. Reaching Brest at 11 p.
m., Commander Conn was informed that two other dories, containing
3 officers and 25 men, had landed at Penmarch Point. One of the
_Alcedo's_ officers, Lieutenant (junior grade) John T. Melvin of Selma,
Ala., and 20 enlisted men were lost.
This was the last American naval or troop-vessel sunk in many months by
the submarines, which were kept on the run by our forces. The _Wakiva_,
_Noma_, and _Kanawha_ fought off two U-boats and it is believed sank
one, which appeared as they were escorting the storeships _Köln_ and
_Medina_ on November 28, 1917. At 6:20 p. m., the lookout on the
_Kanawha_ reported a periscope on the port beam, heading towards the
_Medina_. It disappeared, but at 6:50 the _Noma_ saw a periscope on
her starboard beam. Twelve minutes afterward the _Wakiva_ sighted a
periscope heading towards the convoy. Swinging into position to fire a
torpedo at the _Wakiva_, the submarine crossed the yacht's wake. The
_Wakiva_ fired three shots, apparently striking the periscope, which
disappeared. She also let go two depth-charges.
As the _Wakiva_ approached, what appeared to be the conning tower of
the submarine emerged. The yacht fired at it, and the conning tower
sank. The _Wakiva_ dropped numerous depth-charges and after they
exploded her commander saw what seemed to be three men clinging to a
piece of wreckage. He hailed them, but received no response, and when
the yacht went near the place they had disappeared. In the meantime the
_Noma_ had continued search, and sighted a periscope on her starboard
bow, turned toward it, and let go several depth-charges. Officers were
convinced that there were two submarines, and that one of them was sunk
by the _Wakiva_.
The _Christabel_, smallest of the converted yachts, surprised her big
sisters by smashing up a submarine so badly that it was just able
to reach a Spanish port, where U-boat and crew were interned for
the remainder of the war. Escorting the _Danse_, a British steamer
which had fallen behind its convoy two miles from Ile de Yeu, on May
21, 1918, the _Christabel_ at 8:52 p. m. sighted a periscope, and
made for it, firing two depth-bombs. As the second charge exploded,
there followed another violent explosion which threw up, between the
_Christabel_ and the water column raised by the bomb, a large amount of
water and debris. Heavy black oil and a number of splintered pieces of
wood rose to the surface.
That was the last the _Christabel_ saw of the "sub," but three days
later the report came that the UC-56 had arrived at Santander, Spain,
too seriously damaged to attempt to return to Germany. Its officers and
men were glad enough to escape with their lives.
Fine as was the record of the armed yachts, it was more than equaled
by the destroyers, which bore the heaviest part in escorting the vast
number of troop and cargo ships sent to France. This duty was performed
at first by our force at Queenstown, but from October on, when the
tender _Panther_ (Commander A. M. Procter) and five destroyers
arrived, destroyers were sent to Brest as follows:
_Reid_, (Commander C. C. Slayton); _Flusser_, (Lieutenant Commander
R. G. Walling); the _Preston_, (Lieutenant Commander C. W.
Magruder); _Lamson_, (Lieutenant Commander W. R. Purnell); _Smith_,
(Commander J. H. Klein); _Monaghan_, (Lieutenant Commander J. F.
Cox); _Roe_, (Lieutenant Commander G. C. Barnes); _Warrington_,
(Lieutenant Commander G. W. Kenyon); _Whipple_, (Lieutenant
Commander H. J. Abbett); _Truxtun_, (Lieutenant Commander J. G.
Ware); _Stewart_, (Lieutenant Commander H. S. Haislip); _Worden_,
(Lieutenant Commander J. M. B. Smith); _Isabel_, (Lieutenant
Commander H. E. Shoemaker); _Nicholson_, (Lieutenant Commander J.
C. Fremont).
Recounting what they accomplished, Admiral Wilson said:
The record of the service of these vessels on the coast of France
furnishes one of the finest tributes in the history of our Navy
to the soundness of their construction and to the ability of the
personnel under trying conditions.
Until about the first of June, 1918, when the original lot of
destroyer captains was detached and ordered to the United States to
fit out new vessels, no American destroyers sent from France had
ever missed contact with a convoy; no destroyer dispatched with
a mission had ever returned to port before the completion of her
duty, and furthermore, during this period, after the torpedoing of
the _Finland_, on October 28, 1917, no vessel en route from America
to France or from France to America, when escorted by American
vessels based on France, had ever been torpedoed or successfully
attacked on the high seas.
The _Jarvis_ (Lieutenant Commander R. C. Parker), and the _Drayton_
(Lieutenant Commander G. N. Barker), two of the 740-ton oil-burning
destroyers, joined the force on February 15, 1918; then on March 4th,
the _Wadsworth_ (Lieutenant Commander C. E. Smith). The following
destroyers that had also previously operated out of Queenstown were
sent to Brest in June:
_Sigourney_, (Commander W. N. Vernou); _Wainwright_, (Commander R.
A. Dawes); _Fanning_, (Lieutenant Commander F. Cogswell); _Tucker_,
(Lieutenant Commander W. H. Lassing); _Winslow_, (Lieutenant
Commander F. W. Rockwell); _Porter_, (Lieutenant Commander A.
A. Corwin); _O'Brien_, (Commander M. K. Metcalf); _Cummings_,
(Lieutenant Commander O. Bartlett); _Benham_, (Lieutenant Commander
F. J. Fletcher); _Cushing_, (Commander W. D. Puleston); _Burrows_,
(Lieutenant Commander A. Steckel); _Ericsson_, (Lieutenant
Commander R. R; Stewart); and on July 23, the _McDougal_,
(Lieutenant Commander V. K. Coman).
The Navy Department had decided that all additional destroyers built
would be sent to Brest and to Gibraltar, and Admiral Wilson's forces
were augmented from time to time by these new destroyers:
_Little_, (Captain J. K. Taussig); _Conner_, (Captain A. G. Howe);
_Taylor_, (Commander C. T. Hutchins); _Stringham_, (Commander N. E.
Nichols); _Bell_, (Lieutenant Commander D. L. Howard); _Murray_,
(Lieutenant Commander R. G. Walling); _Fairfax_, (Lieutenant
Commander G. C. Barnes).
For more than a year American mine sweepers pursued their dangerous but
tedious task, sweeping up mines and keeping clear the channels leading
to ports. Mainly converted fishing boats, the constant duty along the
coast was not easy for them. The _Rehoboth_ foundered off Ushant in a
heavy sea October 4, 1917. Steaming in a fog near Concarneau, January
12, 1918, the _Bauman_ struck one of the numerous rocks that make
navigation in that region so dangerous. Though she was badly damaged,
Ensign P. J. Ford, her executive officer, and several of her crew
remained aboard, hoping to save her, and the _Anderton_ started to tow
her to Lorient, but she sank before reaching port. Soon afterwards, on
January 25, the _Guinevere_, attempting to get to Lorient in a dense
fog, ran on the rocks.
The mine force was not infrequently called upon to reinforce coastal
convoys or go to the aid of vessels grounded or in distress. When the
U-boats began attacking coastal convoys near Penmarch in January, 1918,
the sweepers were sent out to patrol those waters at night. Lying in
darkness, they spent long hours listening through the "C" tubes for any
sound of a "sub." They were often hurried out to sweep mines discovered
at various points. In a heavy sea, the _Hinton_, _Cahill_ and _James_
swept up a mine field near Belle Ile in record time, the _James_
cutting four mines in fifteen minutes. These are only a few instances
of the fine work they continually performed.
Heroes? There were plenty of them in our forces in France, as there
were everywhere else in the Navy--men who feared no danger and, when
necessity arose, risked their lives without a thought of self. Hear
the story of the _Florence H._ The rescue of her survivors when that
munition ship blew up off Quiberon Bay, April 17, 1918, is one of the
war's most thrilling events.
The night was dark and cloudy, the sea smooth. Steaming along quietly,
the convoy was nearing port. At 10:45 someone was seen signaling with
a searchlight from the bridge of the _Florence H._ An instant later
the vessel burst into flames, which soon enveloped the ship, and rose
a hundred feet into the air. In ten minutes the vessel split open
amidships and five minutes later went down, blazing like a torch. Smoke
and flames prevented those on the ships around from seeing what had
occurred aboard the steamship. Survivors reported later that there was
a tremendous explosion in No. 2 hatch which lifted the deck and blew
out the ship's starboard side. Her chief engineer, John B. Watson,
said: "She just burned up and melted in about twenty minutes."
The whole thing occurred so suddenly that a naval commander, as he saw
the flash, remarked: "Not a living soul will get off that ship."
Rescue seemed almost hopeless. The waters around were covered with
flaming powder-cases and wreckage, so thickly packed that they spread
to leeward like enormous rafts. All over the vicinity ammunition was
exploding, shooting flame and gas ten to twenty feet into the air.
As soon as the fire broke out, two naval vessels started for the
stricken ship. As they got near, the ammunition on the deck of the
_Florence H._ began to explode, showering up like fireworks. Then her
guns went off. For the wooden yachts to venture into that sea of flame
was almost certain destruction. The destroyers, their decks laden
with depth-charges, were in almost equal danger. When the _Stewart_
drew near the ship, the senior commander signaled her to be careful.
It seemed hardly possible that any of the _Florence H.'s_ crew had
escaped. But Lieutenant Commander H. S. Haislip heard cries in the
water. That meant that there were men still alive, struggling in that
horror.
There was only one way to rescue them. That was to plough through the
blazing wreckage. Haislip knew what chances he was taking, risking
his ship and crew. But it was to save human lives and he did not
hesitate a moment. The _Stewart_ led the way, and the other destroyers,
the _Whipple_ and the _Truxtun_, followed. Pushing through bursting
powder-casks, and burning boxes, they made a path for the other ships.
Lines were thrown out and seamen jumped overboard to hold up men who
were blinded or drowning. Lifeboats put out from half a dozen ships.
The flames lit up the whole area so that it was almost as bright as
day. Men could be seen clinging to ammunition boxes, and the rescuers
rowed or swam to them.
Three men were found in a blazing lifeboat hemmed in by wreckage. A
naval vessel steamed alongside and pulled them aboard. F. M. Upton,
quartermaster third class, and J. W. Covington, ship's cook, plunged
overboard to rescue a sailor too exhausted to help himself. Chaplain
William A. Maguire assisted in the rescue, going out in a lifeboat
which had to pole its way through the smouldering wreckage. Surgeons J.
A. Flautt and G. E. Cram and Pharmacist's Mate W. Lorber were out in
small boats, giving aid to the wounded, many of whom were burned about
the head and arms.
Lieutenant (junior grade) M. L. Coon, took a boat into the wreckage
and rescued three men. A motor-boat in charge of Lieutenant H. R.
Eccleston ploughed its way through to a man who could not be reached
by the rowers. Other boats were assisting in the rescue, directed by
Lieutenant (junior grade) H. E. Snow, and Ensigns William O. Harris,
Sherburne B. Rockwell and R. A. Johnston.
All the naval vessels did splendid work--the destroyers _Stewart_
(Lieutenant Commander Haislip); _Whipple_ (Lieutenant Commander H. J.
Abbett), and _Truxtun_ (Lieutenant Commander J. G. Ware); the yachts
_Wanderer_ (Lieutenant Commander P. L. Wilson); _Sultana_ (Lieutenant
Commander F. A. LaRoche); _Christabel_ (Lieutenant Commander M. B.
McComb), and _Corona_ (Lieutenant H. H. J. Benson). More than a dozen
officers and fifty enlisted men performed deeds for which they were
officially commended. Upton and Covington were awarded the Medal of
Honor. But Haislip, born in Virginia, appointed to the Naval Academy
from Wisconsin, his later home in California, won most distinction,
the highest honors we could bestow. The French Vice Admiral praised
his courage and decision, saying that he exhibited not only "superb
contempt of danger," but, "remarkable qualities of seamanship."
Thirty-two of the 77 men aboard the _Florence H._ were rescued. Had it
not been for the heroic work of these men of the Navy, not one would
have escaped alive.
Thrilling as Victor Hugo's description of the cannon which broke loose
and threatened the ship, was John Mackenzie's wrestle with a depth-bomb
on the _Remlik_. A storm was raging in the Bay of Biscay, and the
_Remlik_, patrolling off the French coast, was having a hard time
weathering the gale. Suddenly a periscope was sighted, and there was a
cry from the lookout: "Submarine 400 yards off starboard beam!"
"General quarters" alarm was sounded, and stations manned. Heavy seas
were breaking over the vessel, but the after gun's crew stayed at its
post, trying to get a shot at the U-boat. Before they could fire the
submarine submerged. Then followed one of the queerest of situations
at sea, patrol ship and submarine both so tossed by wave and wind that
they could not use their weapons against each other.
The U-boat poked up its double periscope three times, each time
submerging as she saw the patrol ship's guns turned toward her. She
could not launch a torpedo with any success in that raging sea; neither
could the _Remlik_ drop a depth-bomb on her, as the _Remlik_ could
make only two knots against the gale and a bursting depth-charge might
damage her as much as it would the "sub." There they maneuvered like
two tigers, unable to spring at each other. After a few minutes the
submarine, which had never shown enough of herself for our gunners to
plant a shell in her, finally submerged and stayed under. The Americans
kept sailing over the locality, hoping she would reappear; but, not
wanting to risk a gunfire contest, the "sub" had given up the fight.
Tossed about by that stormy sea, a more imminent danger threatened
the _Remlik_. The waves breaking over the stern tore loose one of the
huge depth-bombs. The box that held it fell overboard, but the bomb
was hurled in the opposite direction. There it went, rolling around
the deck, while the crew amidships watched it with the fascination of
danger.
[Illustration: BREST, CENTER OF THE GREAT SYSTEM OF NAVAL OPERATIONS IN
FRANCE]
[Illustration: A GERMAN "SUB" AND SOME OF ITS ENEMIES
Above: The German submarine UC-56 in internment at Santander,
Spain, where it was forced by the Christabel, the smallest of the
American armed yachts in European waters.
Inset: High officers of the French and American Navies. Left to
right: Vice Admiral Moreau, Assistant Secretary Roosevelt, Vice
Admiral Schwerer, Rear Admiral Benoit, Vice Admiral Wilson.
Below: Patrol Boats and Sub-Chasers at Finisterre Dock, Brest, Base
Section Number 5.]
"The safety-pin's come out!" some one shouted.
They all knew what that meant. If the firing mechanism should hit,
sending off that bomb; if its 300 pounds of TNT should explode, the
_Remlik_ would be shattered.
To catch and hold that heavy bomb, with the vessel rolling and pitching
as it was, seemed almost impossible. Even to venture into that part of
the ship was to risk life. The seas were breaking over it, threatening
to sweep off anyone who went down the deck. All knew the ship faced
destruction; that anyone who went after that bomb risked being swept
overboard or blown to pieces. But quickly a voice rang out:
"Watch me; I'll get it!"
Mackenzie dashed down the deck and flung himself upon the plunging
cylinder. He almost had his arms around it, when it broke away. He
jumped for it again, and again it tore loose from him.
"Hey!" he yelled. "Stand by and lend a hand. It won't do for this colt
to get away from me."
As he grabbed for it the third time, the big charge lurched, and
falling, came near crushing him. But he caught his footing, and on
the fourth attempt got a firm grip on it. Exerting all his strength,
he heaved the "can" up on end, and then sat on it and held it down.
Holding on firmly, he managed to retain his grip until lines could be
run to him, and the bomb lashed down. Mackenzie had risked his life,
but he had saved his ship and shipmates.
Recommending that the Medal of Honor be bestowed on Mackenzie, the
first reservist to whom it was awarded, the commanding officer of the
_Remlik_ said:
Mackenzie, in acting as he did, exposed his life and prevented
serious accident to the ship and probably loss of the ship and
entire crew. Had this depth-charge exploded on the quarter-deck
with the sea and wind that existed at the time, there is no doubt
that the ship would have been lost.
There was no more striking instance of resourcefulness and good
seamanship than the double service of the Americans in rescuing the
survivors of the French light cruiser _Dupetit Thouars_, and salvaging
and taking 350 miles to port the American steamship _Westward Ho_. The
steamer was in a convoy from New York to the Bay of Biscay which had
been escorted across the Atlantic by the French cruiser. At 10 o'clock,
the night of August 7, 1918, the _Dupetit Thouars_ was torpedoed, and
soon sank. The destroyers _Winslow_, _Porter_, _Drayton_, _Tucker_,
_Fanning_ and _Warrington_ went to her aid and rescued the survivors.
The next morning at 6:40 the destroyers caught a distress signal, found
that the _Westward Ho_ had been torpedoed, and took aboard her crew.
The American yachts _May_ and _Noma_ and the French sloop _Cassiopee_
soon afterwards arrived and found the ship still afloat. But she was
apparently in a sinking condition, so deep in the water that attempts
to tow her failed. A volunteer crew from the _May_ headed by Lieutenant
T. Blau, went aboard and though they had no experience with oil burning
or turbine machinery, got up steam, started the pumps, and at last got
the engines going. She was so deep in the water forward that they could
not make much headway steering the ship bow first. So the volunteer
crew turned her around, and with the two yachts towing and the French
sloop looking out for submarines, ran that big steamship backwards
three hundred and fifty miles, and got her safely into harbor.
A week later another surprising feat was accomplished. Proceeding in
convoy 400 miles from the French coast, the _West Bridge_, on August
15, stripped her main turbine and lay helpless. She had hardly sent
a radio to Brest, asking assistance, when the convoy was attacked by
a submarine. The _Montanan_ was torpedoed, and after she went down,
the U-boat turned its attention to the _West Bridge_. Struck by two
torpedoes, she was apparently about to founder. But the destroyer
_Smith_ went to her aid, and a volunteer crew under Lieutenant R. L.
Connolly went aboard the disabled steamer. There was no possibility
of raising steam. She had to be steered by hand. Eventually four tugs
arrived and with the yacht _Isabel_ started to tow. The well-deck
forward of the ship's bridge was flush with the sea, the waves broke
over her in a constant roar. Holds, engine and fire rooms were flooded.
Keeping her afloat and keeping her moving was slow and hard work. For
five days and nights those men struggled to save that ship, and at last
they got her to port. When she reached Brest they beached her on a
flat. The officers who examined her for repairs declared she did not
have a hundred tons of positive buoyancy, hardly enough to keep her
up an hour. Yet those Navy men had kept her afloat for five days and
pulled her four hundred miles to port!
The spirit of America in Europe, its high ideals, the attitude of
officers and men could not have been better expressed than in this open
letter of Admiral Wilson to the forces under his command in France:
We are guests in the house of another people. Our home will be
judged by our conduct in theirs. We still live under the rules,
laws, and spirit of the place from which we come.
Every great nation in history has stood for some one definite idea:
Greece for beauty, Rome for law, Israel for religion. America, in
the eyes of the world, stands preëminently for freedom and the
ideal of manhood. We must not shake that opinion but do all that we
can to strengthen it.
We have come to this side of the world to record, by the indelible
imprint of arms, our protest against that which is brutal, wicked,
and unjust, to give expression to that measure of indignation
stirred in the hearts of America by the deeds of terror which the
enemy has written across the face of France. Our Nation stands for
everything that is contrary to the spirit of arrogant power and
tyranny. Let us prove that by our lives here.
The only history of America that many of the people of Europe will
ever read is that which is recorded by our lives.
Live here the proud, manly existence that is justly expected.
Be courteous, temperate and self-controlled.
We fight against the Hun's ill-treatment of women; let no man be
tempted to do, by insinuation, what we charge our enemies with
doing by force. Let the women of France remember the men of America
as those who would shield them against all harm, even that which
might spring from their defenders.
You would fight the man who insulted your uniform; do not insult
it yourself. Let it not be carried into places of disrepute or
into any discrediting act. We are here for a great, high, and
solemn purpose. Let every personal desire be subordinated to that
righteous purpose, then we will return to our homes clean and proud
and victorious.