This was the only ship lost out of a convoy with which the Corsair operated during the long period of this service in and out of the Gironde, from June to November of 1918. On several occasions steamers were attacked and sunk or damaged just before joining or just after leaving the escort. These included the Montanan, the Westbridge, the Westward Ho, the Cubore, and the French cruiser Dupetit Thouars. When the S.O.S. calls came, the Corsair hurried to stand by, but other naval vessels happened to be nearer the scene and were able to save the survivors, or the ship managed to remain afloat, as in the case of the Westward Ho. A cruise in August, beginning on the ill-omened 13th, turned out to be anything but monotonous, from start to finish. The air was full of tragic messages from torpedoed ships. It was like a dying flurry of the German submarine campaign.
The excitement began with this entry in the Corsair’s record:
S.S. Tivives (third ship in right-hand column) signalled “Torpedo just passed our stern from starboard.” This ship notified Aphrodite by radio. Went to general quarters and searched but saw nothing except whales and porpoises. Wind was light and sea smooth. French destroyer Aisne, which was astern of us, apparently intercepted radio as he was observed to be searching.
A little later in this voyage came the following tale of disaster, as caught by the radio:
Intercepted from Marseilles, “Montanan torpedoed.”
Intercepted from Noma, “Westbridge torpedoed.”
Intercepted from Aphrodite, “Cubore torpedoed, 10 P.M. Friday.”
The Corsair and Aphrodite had left their outward-bound convoy at this time, according to orders, to steer for the rendezvous and make contact with a fleet of fourteen ships bound in for France. During the night a green Véry light flared against the cloudy sky to the southward. The Corsair headed for it at full speed, but could find no ship in distress and it was later conjectured that the signal might have come from the French destroyers which had remained to pick up the survivors of the Cubore.
Soon after this, several lights were sighted close to the water. It is hard to realize how unusual and arresting was such a phenomenon as this upon an ocean where ships had long shrouded themselves in darkness, screening every ray and glimmer lest it might betray them to a lurking enemy. The vision of officers and lookouts had so adapted themselves to these conditions that they were able to discern a shadow of a ship a mile away. In this instance, when vessels’ lights, several of them, were boldly displayed, the Corsair approached warily until it was possible to make them out as showing aboard a little flock of Breton fishermen. It was known that a French submarine was operating in this patrol area and the officers of the Corsair plausibly assumed that the lights might be a decoy for Fritz, so they concluded not to meddle with the situation.
Next morning another bevy of fishing vessels was seen, and the French submarine was with them, while a steamer was also standing by. Meanwhile the Corsair and Aphrodite had found the inbound convoy which had also a destroyer escort, and one of these, the Lamson, ran down to investigate the startling picture of a submarine calmly loafing about. The Frenchman promptly exploded a smoke bomb as the proper recognition signal, for he was taking no chances with a venomous Yankee destroyer which was known to be exceedingly quick on the trigger when a periscope or conning tower was etched against the horizon. It was agreed that there were much more healthy pursuits than to be ranging the Bay of Biscay in a French submarine.