The Victory At Sea - free ebook by Burton Jesse Hendrick

REAR-ADMIRAL W. S. SIMS U.S. NAVY

G. Vandyk Ltd. photographers Rear Admiral William Sowden Sims U.S. Navy...

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PREFACE

This is not in any sense a history of the operations of our naval forces in Europe during the Great War, much less a history of the naval operations as a whole. That would require not only many volumes, but prolonged and careful research by competent historians. When such a work is completed, our people will realize for the first time the admirable initiative with which the gallant personnel of our navy responded to the requirements of an unprecedented naval situation. But in the meantime this s

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CHAPTER I

I In the latter part of March, 1917, a message from the Navy Department came to me at Newport, where I was stationed as president of the Naval War College, summoning me immediately to Washington. The international atmosphere at that time was extremely tense, and the form in which these instructions were cast showed that something extraordinary was impending. The orders directed me to make my visit as unostentatious as possible; to keep all my movements secret, and, on my arrival in Washington, n

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CHAPTER II

I The morning of May 4, 1917, witnessed an important event in the history of Queenstown. The news had been printed in no British or American paper, yet in some mysterious way it had reached nearly everybody in the city. A squadron of American destroyers, which had left Boston on the evening of April 24th, had already been reported to the westward of Ireland and was due to reach Queenstown that morning. At almost the appointed hour a little smudge of smoke appeared in the distance, visible to the

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CHAPTER III

I All this time that we were seeking a solution for the submarine problem we really had that solution in our hands. The seas presented two impressive spectacles in those terrible months of April, May, and June, 1917. One was the comparative ease with which the German submarines were sinking merchant vessels; the other was their failure materially to weaken the Allied fleets. If we wish a counter-picture to that presented by the Irish Sea and the English Channel, where merchant shipping was const

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CHAPTER IV

I Our first division of destroyers reached Queenstown on a Friday morning, May 4, 1917; the following Monday they put to sea on the business of hunting the submarine and protecting commerce. For the first month or six weeks they spent practically all their time on patrol duty in company with British destroyers, sloops, and other patrol vessels. Though the convoy system was formally adopted in the latter part of May, it was not operating completely and smoothly until August or September. Many tro

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CHAPTER V

I My chief purpose in writing this book is to describe the activities during the World War of the United States naval forces operating in Europe. Yet it is my intention also to make clear the several ways in which the war against the submarine was won; and in order to do this it will be necessary occasionally to depart from the main subject and to describe certain naval operations of our allies. The most important agency in frustrating the submarine was the convoy system. An examination of the t

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CHAPTER VI

I Who would ever have thought that a little wooden vessel, displacing only sixty tons, measuring only 110 feet from bow to stern, and manned by officers and crew very few of whom had ever made an ocean voyage, could have crossed more than three thousand miles of wintry sea, even with the help of the efficient naval officers and men who, after training there, convoyed and guided them across, and could have done excellent work in hunting the submarines? We built nearly 400 of these little vessels

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CHAPTER VII

I While our naval forces were thus playing their parts in several areas, the work of creating the central staff of a great naval organization was going forward in London. The headquarters for controlling extensive naval operations in many widely dispersed areas, like the headquarters of an army extending over a wide front, must necessarily be located far behind the scene of battle. Thus, a number of remodelled dwelling-houses in Grosvenor Gardens contained the mainspring for an elaborate mechani

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CHAPTER VIII

I It is not improbable that I have given a false impression concerning the relative merits of the several methods which were developed for fighting the submarine. Destroyers, patrol boats, subchasers, and mystery ships all accomplished great things in solving the most baffling problem presented by the war. The belief is general that the most successful hunter of the submarine was the destroyer, and, so far as absolute figures are concerned, this is true. Destroyers, with their depth charges and

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CHAPTER IX

I Was there no more satisfactory way of destroying submarines than by pursuing them with destroyers, sloops, chasers, and other craft in the open seas? It is hardly surprising that our methods impressed certain of our critics as tedious and ill-conceived, and that a mere glance at a small map of the North Sea suggested a far more reasonable solution of the problem. The bases from which the German submarines found their way to the great centres of shipping were Ostend and Zeebrugge on the Belgian

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CHAPTER X

It was in the summer of 1918 that the Germans made their only attempt at what might be called an offensive against their American enemies. Between the beginning of May and the end of October, 1918, five German submarines crossed the Atlantic and torpedoed a few ships on our coast. That submarines could make this long journey had long been known. Singularly enough, however, the impression still prevails in this country that the German U-boats were the first to accomplish the feat. In the early au

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CHAPTER XI

The Allied navies were harrowing the submarines not only under the water and on the surface, but from the air. In the anti-submarine campaign the several forms of aircraft—airplane, seaplane, dirigible, and kite balloon—developed great offensive power. Nor did the fact that our fighters in the heavens made few direct attacks which were successful diminish the importance of their work. The records of the British Admiralty attribute the destruction of five submarines to the British air service; th

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CHAPTER XII

Besides transporting American troops, the Navy, in one detail of its work, actually participated in warfare on the Western Front. Though this feature of our effort has nothing to do with the main subject, the defeat of the submarine, yet any account of the American navy in the war which overlooks the achievements of our naval batteries on land would certainly be incomplete. The use of naval guns in war operations was not unprecedented; the British used such guns in the Boer War, particularly at

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CHAPTER XIII

I In March, 1918, it became apparent that the German submarine campaign had failed. The prospect that confronted the Allied forces at that time, when compared with the conditions which had faced them in April, 1917, forms one of the most impressive contrasts in history. In the first part of the earlier year the cause of the Allied Powers, and consequently the cause of liberty throughout the world, had reached the point almost of desperation. On both land and sea the Germans seemed to hold the fu

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APPENDIX I

U.S. NAVAL WAR COLLEGE, NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND 14 June 1919. From: Rear-Admiral Wm. S. Sims, U.S. Navy. To: The Secretary of the Navy. Subject: Requests Permission to Publish a Book on the Activities of the U.S. Navy during The Great War. Reference (a): Paragraph 1534 of the Articles for the Government of the Navy of the United States. 1. In accordance with the provisions of reference (a) I request authority to publish in my name a book descriptive of the activities of the U.S. Naval Forces opera

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APPENDIX II

To: Secretary of the Navy. Sent April 14, 1917. Through: State Department. File No. 25-9-2. The situation is as follows: The submarine issue is very much more serious than the people realize in America. The recent success of operations and the rapidity of construction constitute the real crisis of the war. The moral of the enemy submarines is not broken, only about fifty-four are known to have been captured or sunk and no voluntary surrenders have been recorded. The reports of our press are grea

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APPENDIX III

London, England. April 19, 1917. From: Rear-Admiral Wm. S. Sims, U.S.N. To: Secretary of the Navy. Subject: Confirmation and elaboration of recent cablegrams concerning War situation and recommendations for U.S. Naval co-operation. 1. Reception : My reception in this country has been exceptionally cordial and significant of the seriousness of present situation and the importance to be attached to the United States' entry into the war. I was met at Liverpool by Rear-Admiral Hope, R.N., a member o

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APPENDIX IV

To: Secretary of the Navy. Through Admiralty. From Queenstown. Sent: June 28, 1917. Admiralty for Secretary Navy Washington, providing it meets Admiralty's full approval. From Admiral Sims. Referring to Department's opinion, reported in last two cables, to the effect that adequate armament and trained crews constitute one of the most effective defensive anti-submarine measures, I again submit with all possible stress the following based on extended [Allied] war experience. The measures demanded,

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APPENDIX V

London , June 29, 1917. From: Commander U.S. Naval Forces operating in European Waters. To: Secretary of the Navy (Operations). Subject: General report concerning military situation. 1. I feel that there is little to add to my recent cable despatches which, in view of the importance of the time element, have been made full and detailed. 2. To sum up my despatches briefly, I would repeat that I consider that the military situation is very grave indeed on account of the success of the enemy submar

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APPENDIX VI

From: Secretary of Navy. To: Vice-Admiral Sims, U.S.S. Melville . Received: July 10, 1917. The following letter from the Secretary to the Secretary of State is quoted for your information and guidance as an index of the policy of the Department in relation to the co-operation of our naval forces with those of our Allies. Quote: After careful consideration of the present naval situation taken in connection with possible future situations which might arise, the Department is preparing to announce

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APPENDIX VII

Office Vice-Admiral, Commanding U.S. Destroyer Forces European Waters. London , July 16, 1917. From: Vice-Admiral Sims. To: Secretary of the Navy. Subject: Concerning Policy of U.S. Naval co-operation in war, and allied subjects. 1. The Department's cablegram of July 10, 1917, quoting a letter which had been addressed to the Secretary of State concerning naval policy in relation to the present war, was received on July 10th. In view of the nature of certain parts of the policy set forth therein,

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APPENDIX VIII

During the twenty-one months of unrestricted submarine warfare from February, 1917, to October, 1918, inclusive, 3,843 merchant vessels (British fishing vessels included) of a total gross tonnage of 8,478,947 have been sunk by enemy action, a monthly average of 183 vessels totalling 403,760 gross tons. The October tonnage losses show a decrease from this average of 291,333 gross tons, or 72 per cent. The following gives the tonnage losses by months from February, 1917, to October, 1918, inclusiv

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APPENDIX IX

Construction of merchant shipping is shown in the following table, which gives tonnage completed since the beginning of the war for the United Kingdom, United States, and for other Allied and Neutral Nations....

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