WITH THE GRAND FLEET AT ROSYTH
SURRENDERED GERMAN SUBMARINES TIED UP AT PORTLAND TWO AMERICAN SUBMARINES ARE WITH THEM
Christmas Day of 1918 was spent in this English harbor of Portland and the occasion was not as joyous as might have been, although the Corsair’s log of December 24th contained this entry:
Received the following general stores: 118 lbs. geese, 23 lbs. ducks, 12 bunches celery, 100 lbs. cauliflower, 50 lbs. Brussels sprouts, 85 lbs. beets, 700 lbs. bread, 5040 lbs. potatoes.
The home-made poetry inspired by this Christmas in exile seemed to lack the punch of former ballads as sung by the bluejackets’ glee club. One of the productions went like this, with a perceptible tinge of pathos:
“It was Christmas on the Corsair,
’Neath England’s cold, gray skies,
And one and all on board her
Hove long and pensive sighs.