They all knew what that meant. If the firing mechanism should hit, sending off that bomb; if its 300 pounds of TNT should explode, the Remlik would be shattered.
To catch and hold that heavy bomb, with the vessel rolling and pitching as it was, seemed almost impossible. Even to venture into that part of the ship was to risk life. The seas were breaking over it, threatening to sweep off anyone who went down the deck. All knew the ship faced destruction; that anyone who went after that bomb risked being swept overboard or blown to pieces. But quickly a voice rang out:
"Watch me; I'll get it!"
Mackenzie dashed down the deck and flung himself upon the plunging cylinder. He almost had his arms around it, when it broke away. He jumped for it again, and again it tore loose from him.
"Hey!" he yelled. "Stand by and lend a hand. It won't do for this colt to get away from me."
As he grabbed for it the third time, the big charge lurched, and falling, came near crushing him. But he caught his footing, and on the fourth attempt got a firm grip on it. Exerting all his strength, he heaved the "can" up on end, and then sat on it and held it down. Holding on firmly, he managed to retain his grip until lines could be run to him, and the bomb lashed down. Mackenzie had risked his life, but he had saved his ship and shipmates.
Recommending that the Medal of Honor be bestowed on Mackenzie, the first reservist to whom it was awarded, the commanding officer of the Remlik said:
Mackenzie, in acting as he did, exposed his life and prevented serious accident to the ship and probably loss of the ship and entire crew. Had this depth-charge exploded on the quarter-deck with the sea and wind that existed at the time, there is no doubt that the ship would have been lost.
There was no more striking instance of resourcefulness and good seamanship than the double service of the Americans in rescuing the survivors of the French light cruiser Dupetit Thouars, and salvaging and taking 350 miles to port the American steamship Westward Ho. The steamer was in a convoy from New York to the Bay of Biscay which had been escorted across the Atlantic by the French cruiser. At 10 o'clock, the night of August 7, 1918, the Dupetit Thouars was torpedoed, and soon sank. The destroyers Winslow, Porter, Drayton, Tucker, Fanning and Warrington went to her aid and rescued the survivors.
The next morning at 6:40 the destroyers caught a distress signal, found that the Westward Ho had been torpedoed, and took aboard her crew. The American yachts May and Noma and the French sloop Cassiopee soon afterwards arrived and found the ship still afloat. But she was apparently in a sinking condition, so deep in the water that attempts to tow her failed. A volunteer crew from the May headed by Lieutenant T. Blau, went aboard and though they had no experience with oil burning or turbine machinery, got up steam, started the pumps, and at last got the engines going. She was so deep in the water forward that they could not make much headway steering the ship bow first. So the volunteer crew turned her around, and with the two yachts towing and the French sloop looking out for submarines, ran that big steamship backwards three hundred and fifty miles, and got her safely into harbor.