BREST THE CENTER OF GREAT SYSTEM UNDER COMMAND OF WILSON—PATROL SQUADRON SENT OVER IN JUNE, 1917—ARMED YACHTS AND DESTROYERS ENABLED TROOPS TO REACH PORTS SAFELY—"STEWART" PLOWED THROUGH BLAZING AMMUNITION TO RESCUE SURVIVORS OF "FLORENCE H."—WRESTLE WITH DEPTH-BOMB.
On the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille, the French national holiday, July 14, 1917, our naval forces began work with the French, whose vessels under DeGrasse had, 136 years before, given such signal aid to America in its struggle for liberty.
France was the center of American activities, military and naval, and our most important operations in Europe were in French waters. It was the vast system built up by the Navy, the splendid work of our armed yachts and destroyers and aircraft, which kept the sea lanes clear, protected transports, and enabled American troops and supplies to reach French ports in safety.
Sending naval vessels to France, and establishing bases were two of the first things considered by the Navy Department. They were discussed with the French mission, with Marshal Joffre and Admiral Chocheprat, when they reached Washington in April. They recommended Brest and Bordeaux as the principal ports to be used by the Americans, and we decided to establish bases there as well as at St. Nazaire, where our first troops landed.
Preparations were at once begun to send patrol craft, and for this purpose, the largest and best of American yachts, stripped of their luxurious fittings, were armed and converted into men-of-war. A special force was organized under command of Rear Admiral William B. Fletcher, and on June 9, the first of the "U. S. Patrol Squadrons Operating in European Waters," sailed from New York for France. In this group were the Noma, (Lieutenant Commander L. R. Leahy); Vedette, (Lieutenant Commander C. L. Hand); Christabel, (Lieutenant Commander H. B. Riebe); Kanawha, (Lieutenant Commander H. D. Cooke); Harvard, (Lieutenant Commander A. G. Stirling), and the Sultana, (Lieutenant Commander E. G. Allen). Proceeding by way of the Azores, they reached Brest July 3. Two speedier yachts, the Corsair (Lieutenant Commander T. A. Kittinger), and the Aphrodite (Lieutenant Commander R. P. Craft), sailed from New York with the first troop convoy June 14, reaching St. Nazaire June 27, and arriving at Brest July 2.
Protection of vessels carrying troops was the primary mission of our forces in France, and after that the storeships loaded with munitions, materials and supplies for the Army. But this was by no means all their work. They escorted convoys sailing from Verdon, vessels coming from Bordeaux, Pauillac and other points up the Gironde river; from Brest; from Quiberon Bay (St. Nazaire); ships of all kinds sailing along the coast of France, for England or southern ports.
With headquarters at Brest, where the American admiral had his offices next to those of the French Chief of the Brittany Patrol, Vice Admiral Schwerer, who acted directly under Vice Admiral Moreau, senior Allied naval officer, an organization was built up extending all along the French coast. Working in closest coöperation with the French, our forces were always under American command, first under Admiral Fletcher, and then under Admiral Henry B. Wilson, who succeeded him on Nov. 1, 1917.
Captain T. P. Magruder was made senior naval officer at Lorient, with a division of mine-sweepers to keep clear the approaches to St. Nazaire. Captain N. A. McCully commanded the Rochefort district, which extended from the Lorient line to the Spanish coast. Six yachts were based at Rochefort, to give prompt service to convoys entering the Gironde River, for Bordeaux or Pauillac. The Brest district, from Cape Brehat to Penmarch Point, was in command of Captain H. H. Hough, and the Cherbourg district, north of this, was assigned to Commander David Boyd. Naval port officers, stationed at Brest, Havre, Cherbourg, Rouen, St. Malo, Granville, St. Nazaire, Nantes, Quiberon Bay, Sables d' Olonne, Bordeaux, La Pallice, Rochefort, Royan, Verdon, Pauillac and St. Jean de Luz, kept in touch with Army officials and shipmasters, expediting dispatch of vessels and the flow of transportation and commerce. Military and naval officers pulled together with a will, and the saying was: "There is no Army and Navy at Brest. It's all one gang!"
From Brest radiated lines of command, communication, and coöperation—to our own forces, and the French naval commanders on the coast; our naval representatives and naval attaché in Paris, and the French Ministry of Marine; through the superintendent of ports and coding officer to Army officials, those in charge of troops and supply transport; to the Chief of Aviation and the American and French air forces; and to U. S. Naval Headquarters in London.
The development of this organization brought such success in anti-submarine operations as the French coast had never known, changing the entire situation in these waters, not only for our vessels but for all Allied shipping. Here is a chart record of vessels sunk by submarines on the west coast of France for six months and it tells the story: