E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Thomas Amrhein, David King,
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
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AMERICA IN THE WAR
OUR NAVY IN THE WAR
BY
LAWRENCE PERRY
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1919[Pg iv]
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Published October, 1918
THIS BOOKIS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THEHON. JOSEPHUS DANIELS
A NEWSPAPER MAN WHO BROUGHT TO HIS TASK AS SECRETARY OF THENAVY THOSE GREAT QUALITIES OF MIND AND CHARACTER WHICH FITTEDHIM TO MEET WITH SUCH SIGNAL SUCCESS THE IMMENSE PROBLEMSWHICH THE WAR IMPOSED UPON HIS OFFICE. TO HIS FAR-SEEING VISION,HIS BREADTH OF VIEW, HIS FREEDOM FROM ALL BIAS, HIS JUDGMENT OFMEN AND OF AFFAIRS, AND TO THE STERN COURAGE OF HIS CONVICTIONSARE DUE TO-DAY THE MAINTENANCE OF THOSE HIGH TRADITIONS OF THEUNITED STATES NAVY OF WHICH AMERICANS HAVE EVER BEEN PROUD.[Pg vii]
CONTENTS
First Experience of Our Navy with the German U-Boat—Arrivalof Captain Hans Rose and the U-53 atNewport—Experiences of the German Sailors inan American Port—Destruction of Merchantmanby U-53 off Nantucket—Our Destroyers to theRescue—Scenes in Newport—German Rejoicing—TheNavy Prepares for War
Our Navy Arms American Merchant Vessels—Deathof our First Bluejacket on Service in the WarZone—Vice-Admiral Sims—We Take Over Patrol ofWaters of Western Hemisphere—The Naval AdvisoryBoard of Inventions—Work of this Body—OurBattleships the Largest in the World—Widespread Operations
First Hostile Contact Between the Navy and theGermans—Armed Guards on Merchant Vessels—"Campana"First to Sail—Daniels Refuses Offer ofMoney Awards to Men Who Sink Submarines—"Mongolia"Shows Germany How the Yankee SailormanBites—Fight of the "Silvershell"—Heroism ofGunners on Merchant Ships—Sinking of the"Antilles"—Experiences of Voyagers
Destroyers on Guard—Preparations of Flotilla toCross the Ocean—Meeting the "Adriatic"—-FlotillaArrives in Queenstown—Reception by BritishCommander and Populace—"We are Ready Now,Sir"—Arrival of the Famous Captain Evans on theAmerican Flag-Ship—Our Navy a Warm-WeatherNavy—Loss of the "Vacuum"
British and American Destroyers Operating Hand inHand—Arrival of Naval Collier "Jupiter"—SuccessfulTrip of Transports Be