As I read on, the circular further stated “that men detailed as operators will be eligible to be promoted to higher ratings when they qualify as operators and have served the required probationary time under the regulations through the successive grades to chief electricians at $60 per month when they prove their ability to take charge of the wireless telegraph station and interior communication on board ship and have been assigned to duty.”
A man who knew nothing about wireless but wanted to become an operator was given a course of instruction at some naval wireless school or wireless telegraph shore station and when he was proficient enough he was assigned to a cruising ship either in charge of a station or else as an assistant to the electrician in charge.
As expert wireless operators were always in demand in the Navy I was at once assigned to the Alabama as an assistant operator and it was not long before I was rated as a first class electrician.
I joined the Alabama over at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, at New York, where she had been in dry-dock undergoing repairs and the next day we rode down the East River, through New York Bay and out to sea where we joined the North Atlantic Fleet under the command of Rear-Admiral Fletcher.
Surely enough, we got the news from Arlington on the 18th that Huerta had put off saluting the flag though still agreeing he would do so; President Wilson was heartily tired of it all and he finally sent an ultimatum to the sly old fox at Mexico City. This was to the effect that if he did not salute the flag by 6 o’clock of the afternoon of the 19th he (President Wilson) would ask Congress the next day to permit him to send the army and navy to Mexico to force him (Huerta) to do so.
To see that this was done on schedule time we received orders by wireless to sail on the 14th to Mexico. The North Atlantic Fleet was formed of some thirty-six warships, and these were manned by no less than 15,000 blue jackets and marines.
We were soon heading south. Talk about cleaning up Mexico! Why, we had a fleet that could have cleaned up the world, and a mighty pretty sight did she make, too. When we got there the fleet was split up into two squadrons, one going to Tampico and the other, to which the Alabama belonged, going to Vera Cruz, the Atlantic port nearest to Mexico City.
From what I gathered from the officers the purpose of President Wilson was not to make war on poor old war-ridden, moth-eaten Mexico, but simply to blockade the ports of Tampico and Vera Cruz and take over their customs houses until such time as Huerta could see the necessity of ordering the Commander of the Mexican Army to salute.
Two days later when we were steaming at full speed for Mexican waters, I caught the message that Huerta had again agreed to salute and since he knew we were coming I believed that he would do it this time sure and that our next orders would be to steam to northern waters. I was out of luck, that’s all. But we kept right on going just the same.
What Huerta really said was that if his Army fired the salute it would be right, he thought, for our Navy to salute in turn. Huerta was informed that this was always the custom when salutes of this kind were fired and that our Navy would, of course, return it.