THE S.S. MANTO, WHICH SPED THROUGH THE WAR ZONE AT FIVE KNOTS
Up to the time of darkness the convoy and escort were making so little progress that a hostile submarine would have been able to manœuvre and attain any position desired for attack. After darkness the lack of visibility was the best protection that could be had. I believe that the best scheme for getting a low speed vessel of the Manto type through the danger zone from Saint-Nazaire would be to have her proceed from thence to the Brest rendezvous with the convoy using the protected inshore waters. After arrival at Brest she should await favorable weather so that she could be escorted through the danger zone at her best speed.
By way of variety, the Corsair was next ordered to the English Channel to pick out the American supply ship Erny from a convoy escorted by H.M.S. Devonshire and carry her into Saint-Nazaire. This was the first taste of the Channel Patrol, of cruising in those black and crowded waters where the numerous routes of traffic crossed and converged, and ships ran blind with no lights showing, and the risk of collision was much greater than the chance of submarine attack. The yachts regularly assigned to this coastwise escort duty saw more of it than the Corsair, but she learned to know the meaning of that lusty chantey of the war zone, “On the Channel Run”:
“If promotion means nothing to you,
And comfort you can forswear,
And you’re willing to be forgotten,
And to work every day in the year;
If you’re fond of taking your chances,
And the praises of Admirals you shun,