"Good heavens!" exclaimed the doubting Thomas, "if these little destroyers can come three hundred miles to sea in any kind of weather, keep their schedule, and locate a convoy on the dot, I will believe anything I hear regarding the Navy." That's just an example of the way our destroyer boys went at the job, and they kept it up until the last horn blew.
Their skill in navigation, in locating convoys or vessels in distress or boats containing survivors was positively uncanny. When the President Lincoln was sunk five hundred miles at sea, the Smith and the Warrington, two hundred and fifty miles away, hurried to the rescue. A wireless message stating the locality was all they had to steer by. It was 11 p. m. when they arrived. Boats and rafts had drifted fifteen miles. But so accurately had the destroyer officers estimated the drift that in the darkness they almost ran into the rafts!
American destroyers at Brest operated under direct command of Admiral Wilson and those at Gibraltar under command of Admiral Niblack. Though operating under Admiral Bayly and subject to his orders, our Destroyer Force at Queenstown had its own organization. The chief-of-staff was Captain J. R. P. Pringle, whose ability and untiring energy won the respect and regard of British and Americans alike. The senior commander was Commander David C. Hanrahan, of the Cushing, whose enterprise and energy were a fine example to his juniors.
The splendid work done by our vessels, the excellent condition in which they were maintained, the superb morale of the entire force, called for the highest praise. A year after the arrival of the first group, Admiral Bayly issued the following order:
On the anniversary of the arrival of the first United States men-of-war at Queenstown, I wish to express my deep gratitude to the United States officers and ratings for the skill, energy and unfailing good nature which they have all consistently shown and which qualities have so materially assisted in the war by enabling ships of the Allied Powers to cross the ocean in comparative freedom.
To command you is an honor, to work with you is a pleasure, to know you is to know the best traits of the Anglo-Saxon race.
A thrilling example of the courage, quick decision and prompt action that characterized the Destroyer Force was that of the Shaw October 9, 1918. Escorting the British transport Aquitania, the Shaw was just completing the right leg of a zigzag that brought her close to the convoy, when her rudder jammed. As the huge transport turned, the destroyer was aimed straight toward her side. Commander William Glassford, captain of the Shaw, saw that a collision was inevitable. Either destroyer or transport would be sacrificed. If the sharp-prowed Shaw struck the Aquitania, the big troop-ship, with eight thousand men aboard, might be ripped and sunk, with heavy loss of life.
THEY, TOO, WERE READY
Above, a view through the stem of the Cassin after she had been hit by a torpedo; although crippled, she continued the search for the submarine. Inset, Gunner's Mate Osmond K. Ingram, who gave his life to save the Cassin. Below, the U. S. S. Shaw alongside deck after her collision with the Aquitania.]