Group Operation Order No. 2.
Force:—Group D.—Corsair, Aphrodite.
American convoy, speed 12 knots, escorted, should arrive Saint-Nazaire 27 July. Make preparations so that it can be piloted to destination without anchoring and without stopping at sea. Saint-Nazaire has been informed. Proceed in company as far as practicable, 28 July, to a position about 50 miles west of Belle Isle, relieving Kanawha and Noma.
Communicate with and join convoy. Radio FFK and FFL for IL (use AFR) the probable hour of the entrance into the Loire. Pilot the convoy as far as G’d Charpentier where river pilots will be ready. Unless otherwise ordered, steer to pass south of Belle Isle. The convoy must not stop at sea or anchor.
The Corsair’s log-book and the official War Diary, which was sent as a record to the Navy Department, are so laconic and technical that one might conclude the Breton Patrol to be lacking in all adventure. They serve to check up the yarns spun by the crew, however, and have the merit of accuracy. Omitting the daily entries of courses, position, and speed which could interest nobody, the commander’s record of the first cruise out of Brest reads like this:
July 14, 1917. Under way from Brest for patrol area. Spoke to British steamer Ardandeary bound for Falmouth with general cargo.
15th. Speed 14 knots to investigate intercepted S.O.S. Spoke to British steamer Itola for Falmouth with general cargo. Spoke to Danish steamer Alf from Montreal for Havre, course east, speed 9 knots, with general cargo. She was not zigzagging and was making a great deal of smoke.
16th. Exchanged recognition signals with three French destroyers, escorting cargo ships. Intercepted S.O.S. from British steamer Devon City, light, for Newport News. She had sighted a periscope and fired five rounds at same and it disappeared. Fired one shot from No. 2 gun at a floating barrel, making a hit, distance about 400 yards. Arrived south limit of patrol area. Changed course to west, parting company with steamer Devon City.
17th. Headed for steamer on horizon. Spoke to British steamer Medford for Plymouth with cargo of mineral phosphate. Changed course to escort Medford. Held target practice on floating wreckage. Changed course to east, speed 12 knots, making best of way to Brest.
18th. Moored at Base.
19th. Coaling ship.
20th. Cleaning ship and preparing for cruise.
Two more cruises were made in the month of July, but they furnished no thrilling episodes beyond the discovery of the burning American schooner Augustus Weld which, no doubt, had been shelled by a U-boat. What had become of her crew was left to conjecture. This noble four-master was one of many Yankee sailing vessels which dared the war zone, tempted by the chance of fabulous profits, until the War Risk Board refused to grant them insurance. The easiest marks in the world for submarines, they loafed along in infested waters, at the whim of the fickle winds, or drifted becalmed with towering canvas that was visible for many miles. Some of them were sailed by sun-dried skippers from Maine and Cape Cod who vowed they “would take her to hell and repeat if the bonus was big enough.” The episode of the blazing, derelict schooner profoundly impressed the crew of the Corsair. It was their first glimpse of the heartless havoc of the U-boat.