General Pershing and his staff sailed May 28th on the Baltic and arrived at Liverpool June 8, reaching France at Boulogne, June 13th. The troop convoys sailed from New York the next day. Admiral Gleaves, on his flagship, the cruiser Seattle, was in command. The vessels were arranged in four groups, which sailed six hours apart:
Group 1—Transports: Saratoga, Havana, Tenadores, Pastores. Escort: Seattle, armored cruiser; DeKalb, auxiliary cruiser; Corsair, converted yacht; Wilkes, Terry, Roe, destroyers.
Group 2—Transports: Henderson, Momus, Antilles, Lenape. Escort: Birmingham, scout cruiser; Aphrodite, converted yacht; Burrows, Fanning, Lamson, destroyers.
Group 3—Transports: Mallory, Finland, San Jacinto. Escort: Charleston, cruiser; Cyclops, fuel ship; Allen, McCall, Preston, destroyers.
Group 4—Transports: Montanan, Dakotan, El Occidente, Edward Luckenbach. Escort: St. Louis, cruiser; Hancock, cruiser transport; Shaw, Parker, Ammen, Flusser, destroyers.
No convoy that ever sailed had a stronger escort or was more closely guarded. Their protection was our supreme duty. Before they left, I cabled Admiral Sims: "I hereby instruct you to furnish escorts, to consist of one division of destroyers for each convoy group from the point of meeting to the point of debarkation."
Submarines were reported operating in the area that had to be crossed. Three of the groups encountered U-boats, Admiral Gleaves reported, and Admiral Sims cabled on June 30th, "First group attacked by submarines, longitude 25 degrees 30, before arriving at first rendezvous; second group attacked longitude 8"; and the next day he cabled: "It is practically certain that enemy knew position of the first rendezvous and accordingly sent a submarine to intercept before juncture with destroyers."
About 10:15 p. m., June 22, the officer of the deck and others on the bridge of the Seattle, which was leading the first group, saw a white streak about 50 yards ahead of the ship, crossing from starboard to port. The cruiser was immediately run off 90 degrees to starboard at full speed. The officer of the deck said, "Report to the admiral a torpedo has just crossed our bow." General alarm was sounded, torpedo crews being already at their guns. When Gleaves reached the bridge, the DeKalb and one of the transports astern had opened fire, the former's shell fitted with tracers. Other vessels of the convoy turned to the right and left. The destroyer Wilkes crossed the Seattle's bow at full speed and turned toward the left column in the direction of the firing.
Two torpedoes passed close to the DeKalb from port to starboard, one about 30 yards ahead of the ship and the other under her stern, as the ship was turning to the northward. Captain Gherardi stated that at 10:25 the wake of a torpedo was sighted directly across the DeKalb's bow. A second torpedo wake was reported ten minutes later by the after lookouts.
The torpedoes fired at the Havana passed from starboard to port about 40 yards ahead of the ship, leaving a distinct wake which was visible for 400 or 500 yards.