He told them that they were free to go ashore and the next day the lieutenants left for Copenhagen, from which they made their way to America.
Only eight N. O. T. S. vessels were lost by enemy action, and six from other causes during the war period. Though the Naval Overseas Transportation Service was not formally organized under that name until January 9, 1918, naval vessels had been performing such service from the beginning of the war. Commander Charles Belknap was the director of this service from its inception until January 17, 1919, when he was succeeded by Rear Admiral Hilary P. Jones. Six million tons of cargo were carried by Navy vessels from May, 1917, to December, 1918, following being the principal items:
Five hundred million pounds of meats, butter, etc., were carried to our forces overseas, only 4,000 pounds being lost on voyage.
In addition to 1,500,000 tons of coal carried overseas or from England to France, 700,000 tons of fuel oil and gasoline were taken to Brest, Queenstown, the Mediterranean, and the Adriatic. The N. O. T. S. also operated the mine-transports, which carried across the Atlantic 82,000 complete mine-units for the North Sea Barrage.
When rail transportation broke down in the cruel winter of 1917-18, threatening to close down New England's industries and cause widespread suffering, the Navy released large quantities of coal stored at supply bases, and naval vessels hauled to Boston and other ports the fuel which brought relief to that section.
During the war, when there was not enough merchant shipping for commerce in the western hemisphere, N. O. T. S. ships carried American goods, manufactures and other cargoes to and from the West Indies, Mexico, and the ports of Central and South America.
The activities of the N. O. T. S. did not end with the armistice. For many months the Navy continued to haul supplies and fuel to our forces abroad, took commercial cargoes wherever needed, and carried food to the distressed regions of Europe. Its vessels plied to nearly every quarter of the globe—to Russia, Germany, Holland, England, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Austria, Greece, Turkey and Arabia; to South America; to Hawaii, the Philippines and China, going as far as Burma, Ceylon, and the Dutch East Indies.