The credit of the first shot fired on the American side in the Great War fell to the crew of the American ship, Mongolia. A narrative of this dramatic event is given in the chapter following.
AMERICA'S FIRST SHOT
J. R. KEEN
Gunners of the Mongolia hit a submarine.
April 19 has long been celebrated in Massachusetts because of the battle of Lexington, but henceforth the Bay State can keep with added pride a day which has acquired national interest in this war, for on that date the S. S. Mongolia, bound from New York to London, under command of Captain Emery Rice, while proceeding up the English Channel, fired on an attacking submarine at 5.24 in the morning, smashing its periscope and causing the U-boat to disappear.
Officers from Massachusetts.
The gun crew who made this clean hit at 1,000 yards were under command of Lieutenant Bruce R. Ware, United States Navy, and the fact of special interest in Massachusetts is that both Rice and Ware were born in that State, the Captain receiving his training for the sea in the Massachusetts Nautical School and the Lieutenant being a graduate of Annapolis.