The transports themselves carried big guns fore and aft and were so equipped as to be able to give a good account of themselves should occasion arise; and as the voyage progressed a sharp lookout was kept aboard every vessel of' the flotilla, that a submarine might not come unheralded within striking distance of the transports or their convoy.
Much to the disappointment of Jack and Frank, they did not sail with the first section of the American troops; nor did they find themselves with the second. In fact, it seemed to both lads that they were to be denied the honor of the trip altogether. But in this belief they were wrong.
The British cruiser Lawrence, under command of Lord Hastings, with Jack as first officer and Frank the third in command, was ordered forth from a Canadian port as one of the convoy for the third section.
American troops were being transported to France by this northern route because naval authorities believed the route was less likely to be infested with German submarines. The channel was well defined and well protected. Thus, the American navy department had little fear that the troops would be landed safely.
It was a clear morning in May that the flotilla put to sea. The sailing was without ostentation, though the population of the port was aware that the start was being made. However, the sailing was kept secret from the rest of the world—even from the United States, except the naval authorities—for the navy department was doing everything possible to prevent word of the sailing from reaching the enemy.
But for this fact it is highly probable that the first contingent of American troops would not have reached France safely, or at least with more danger than attended their crossing, for the United States at that time was infested with German spies, who, through secret channels—via Argentina and Sweden, as it developed later—were able to flash their discoveries to the Imperial German government in Berlin.
There was no demonstration, then—such as had attended sailing of similar expeditions when Uncle Sam went to war—in the Canadian city the troops had just left. The city went about its business as though nothing out of the ordinary was going on.
The last of the troops had been ordered aboard the transports the night before and assigned to quarters. Therefore, some of the men were still asleep in their bunks when the flotilla lifted anchor and put to sea.
There were five transports filled with American soldiers. Three cruisers and a pair of torpedo boat destroyers showed the way. Strung out on either side of the transports, which proceeded singly one behind the other, were two cruisers and as many of the smaller craft. A pair of American cruisers brought up the rear. Altogether, it was a formidable armada that steamed swiftly across the Atlantic.
The Lawrence, aboard which Jack and Frank served as officers, had been
assigned a post of honor in the first line. To port was the destroyer
Halifax. To starboard was nothing but the expanse of the ocean. The
Lawrence was on the end of the first line.