SHIP’S LOG
| The ship’s log August 31st, 1918, Meridian to 4 P. M. | |
|---|---|
| Draft—Ford. 42´ 0´´, Aft. 40´ 10´´—Mean 41´ 5´´. | |
| 1:19 P. M. | Hauled out F. deck gangway. |
| 1:26 P. M. | Let go all lines. |
| 1:40 P. M. | Started astern. |
| 1:47 P. M. | All clear of dock. |
| 2:06 P. M. | Passed Statue of Liberty. |
| 2:48 P. M. | Passed Governor’s Island. |
| 3:08 P. M. | Passed Robbins Reef. |
| 3:15 P. M. | Passed Staten Island. |
| 3:38 P. M. | Entered Ambrose Channel. |
| 3:59 P. M. | Passed Romer Shoal. |
| 4 P. M. to 8 P. M. | |
| 4:25 P. M. | Passed fairway buoy. |
| 4:38 P. M. | Stopped to discharge pilot and put paravanes over. |
| 4:44 P. M. | Proceeded. |
| 4:57 P. M. | Ambrose Channel Light Vessel abeam. |
| 5:12 P. M. | Standard speed 130 revolutions. |
| 5:29 P. M. | C/c (change course). |
| 5:51 P. M. | Increased speed to 150 revolutions. |
| 4-5 P. M. | Ave. rev. all shafts 78.1, steam 220 lbs., injection 70. |
| 5-6 P. M. | Ave. rev. all shafts 121.2, steam 220 lbs., injection 74. |
| 6-7 P. M. | Ave. rev. all shafts 140.3, steam 215 lbs., injection 72. |
| 6:45 P. M. | Commenced zig-zag. |
| 8 P. M. to Midnight | |
| 8:30 P. M. | Stopped zigzagging. |
| 10:15 P. M. | Cut out boiler No. 3 in No. 2 fireroom and No. 7 in No. 4 fireroom. |
| 8-9 P. M. | Ave. 2 rev. all shafts 150.1, steam 215 lbs. |
| 9-10 P. M. | Ave. 2 rev. all shafts 150.0, steam 215 lbs. |
| 10-11 P. M. | Ave. 2 rev. all shafts 150.1, steam 215 lbs. |
| 11-12 P. M. | Ave. 2 rev. all shafts 149.9, steam 215 lbs. |
Troops, 10,541; 142d Field Artillery; Evacuation Hospital No. 16; Base Hospital No. 54, Female; Base Hospital No. 63; Base Hospital No. 81; Base Hospital No. 82; Infantry Auto Replacement Draft; 59th Pioneer Infantry; 808th Pioneer Infantry; Colonel Wm. G. Ownbey.
Upon our reaching Sandy Hook the pilot boat approached and launched a small row boat which made for our gangway. This boat came to get the pilot who had seen us safely through the channel, and to take him to another ship coming into New York. Pilot McLoughlin waved good-bye to the troops on board and was cheered as he left.
Immediately before proceeding to sea the paravanes were lowered over the ship’s side. The paravanes are ingenious torpedo-shaped contrivances so constructed as to fend off from the ship’s side dangerous floating objects such as mines. The upper section of a paravane is equipped with a jaw-shaped arrangement, so made as to clip the cable extending between a mine and its anchor. The “P. V.’s,” as they are sometimes called, are launched over the side from the forward part of the vessel and while in the water are supported by a wire cable from the deck of the ship and by a heavy chain extending upward from the keel.
We were now fully set and ready for our voyage, the Great Northern taking up a position on our starboard beam and the Northern Pacific on our port beam. The three ships in line presented a formidable appearance as they plowed the smooth seas at a rate of twenty knots per hour. Zigzag plans were communicated to the Great Northern and Northern Pacific by the Leviathan, the senior ship, and from dawn to dark on this day and every day thereafter until reaching port all three ships, upon the ringing of the zigzag clock, sheered off simultaneously, first to port, then to starboard, then to port again, the zigzag pennant on our yard-arm dipping as each change of course was made.
On September 2d, the Captain of the Great Northern signaled to us that his aft gun crew had sighted the feather of a periscope about two miles astern of us, which had disappeared almost immediately and so no shots were fired at her.
A few days later, through signals exchanged between ourselves and the Great Northern, we learned that we were to lose Captain Bryan upon reaching New York, and that Captain Phelps of the Great Northern was to be his successor. Captain Bryan, we learned, was to take up a station somewhere in Brazil.