This does not mean that American ships and sailors went clear of danger and disaster, but almost never was the chance offered to fight the hidden foe. The fine destroyer, Jacob Jones, of the Queenstown flotilla, was blown to pieces by a torpedo and sixty-four officers and men died with her. The Coast Guard vessel Tampa was blown up and vanished with all hands, a crew of more than a hundred. Many a time the naval guard of a merchant steamer stood by their guns and were drowned when the ship went down. These, and the yacht Alcedo, and all the other brave ships which are listed upon the American Navy’s roll of honor, were worthy of the spirit and the traditions of John Paul Jones, although to them was denied the privilege of signalling the enemy, “We have not begun to fight.”
THE CHEERY FRENCH PILOT, LIEUT. MEJECK
CHIEF QUARTERMASTER BENTON
The badly damaged Corsair required a long and costly overhauling to make her ready and fit for service, and this work was undertaken, and well done, by the organization of the Portuguese naval docks and arsenal. With a most admirable spirit of friendship and coöperation between two allies in the struggle against a mutual enemy, the Government of Portugal refused to accept any payment whatever, although every effort was made to obtain a bill for services rendered. Commander Kittinger explains this handsome incident in the following report:
The U.S.S. Corsair arrived at Lisbon, Portugal, on December 19, 1917, in need of repairs to make her seaworthy. The matter was taken up with the Portuguese naval authorities by the American Consul-General and the Commanding Officer. An engineer and a naval constructor were immediately sent off to the ship from the Naval Arsenal to estimate and report. The same day the Director of the Arsenal stated that he could and would do the work, and that the ship would be berthed at the Arsenal on the following day.
As promised, the Arsenal workmen came on board and started the work, and in the afternoon the ship was moored to the Arsenal dock. An estimate of time and cost was requested. The time was estimated at from one month to six weeks, but the cost estimate could not be given. It was suggested that the cost be made actual for labor and material, plus a reasonable overhead. To this the Director replied that the Minister of Marine had ordered the work done free of charge to the U.S. Government, stating that repairs had been done to British and French Government vessels gratis.
The work proceeded rapidly and efficiently. I made periodical calls at the office of the Chief Engineer and Naval Constructor to obtain a cost estimate. This was promised for my information, but never received. Finally I was told that if the Consul-General would write a letter on the subject to the Minister of Marine, the estimate would be given and a basis of payment arranged, but that the money would be turned over to the Red Cross.
The reply to the Consul-General’s letter is herewith attached, the substance of which is a refusal on the part of the Portuguese Government to accept payment.