Department of the Navy
General Board
Washington, August 22, 1919
Dear Sir:
Your letter of August 12th with reference to the war story of Mr. J. P. Morgan’s yacht Corsair reached me while absent on leave. My only opportunity to observe the Corsair was in a very short trip during which I was a passenger on board, but I do not hesitate to say that I received a most favorable impression as to the condition of the ship and the efficiency of the personnel at that time, and that the reports as to the general efficiency and good work of the vessel during her service on the French coast were of an extremely high character.
(Signed) Henry T. Mayo
CHAPTER XI
IN THE RADIO-ROOM
In this strange warfare against an enemy who fought, for the most part, under the sea, there was no more effective agency than the wireless telegraph or radio. It enabled the convoys to receive warnings and to steer safe courses, it brought help to hundreds of ships in distress, and as an offensive weapon enabled the Allied naval forces to locate and destroy a large number of German submarines. Without the highly developed employment of radio communication, it would have been impossible to protect the transportation of troops, food, and material. More than any other factor, the radio won the war at sea.
As soon as directional wireless was perfected and used, it became practicable to fix the position of a U-boat by means of the messages sent from it, and, as Admiral Sims has said, “Their commanders were particularly careless in the use of wireless. The Germanic passion for conversation could not be suppressed, even though this national habit might lead to the most serious consequences. Possibly also the solitary submarine felt lonely; at any rate, as soon as it reached the Channel or the North Sea, it started an almost uninterrupted flow of talk. The U-boats communicated principally with each other, and also with the Admiralty at home, and in doing this they gave away their position to the assiduously listening Allies. The radio direction-finder, by which we can instantaneously locate the position from which a wireless message is sent, was the mechanism which furnished much of this information. Of course, the Germans knew that their messages revealed their locations, for they had direction-finders as well as we, but the fear of discovery did not act as a curb upon a naturally loquacious nature.”
The radio service of the Corsair was considered unusually efficient by no less an authority than Admiral Wilson, who had occasion to write the following commendation:
Brest, France
29 April, 1918
From: Commander U.S. Naval Forces in France.
To: Commanding Officer U.S. Corsair.
Subject: Forwarding of radio dispatch.