United States. Navy -- History -- World War, 1914-1918; World War, 1914-1918 -- Naval operations, American
A water buoy, with 50-fathom wire cable, was dropped near the spot,
lanterns were hung on it; and the chasers got into position for
the night. At times the listeners reported that the U-boat crew made
attempts to start their motors. The next morning a few faint sounds
were heard, and at last there came a noise of firing as if from
revolvers or rifles, first three, then 22 shots. After this, nothing
was heard, though the chasers remained on the scene all afternoon. They
had been there thirty hours from the time the attack began. The chaser
crews firmly believed that the U-boat's crew perished in their steel
tomb, which sank to the bottom, never to rise again.
The best evidence of the good work done by our vessels at Plymouth is
the fact, shown by official records, that from June 30th to the end
of August, during which time our sub-chasers were covering the area
between Start Point and Lizard Head, not a single Allied or merchant
ship was attacked nor were any mines laid by the U-boats. This was
in a section where some months before sinkings were of almost daily
occurrence. After August, when many of our boats were withdrawn for
duty farther to the westward, several ships were attacked and sunk, and
mine-laying, though on a small scale, was resumed. This is regarded as
conclusive proof that it was our little sub-chasers which made that
area safe for Allied shipping in that important period.
While at Gibraltar, on their way to Corfu, the thirty chasers under
command of Captain Nelson engaged in several hunts, on May 17, 1918,
locating and chasing a U-boat to a point 12 miles northeast of
Gibraltar. On June 13th, four of them formed patrol line to guard the
commercial anchorage against a submarine which had been sighted.
Eighteen sub-chasers were sent to the Mediterranean to patrol the
Gibraltar Barrage, and though they were on that duty only from Nov.
6th to 11th, Admiral Niblack reported that they made four contacts and
three attacks, and that one was particularly well conducted and it was
"highly probable submarine was damaged, and possibly destroyed."
This group closed its war service with two exciting experiences.
On November 10th the S. C. 126, 190 and 353, while on patrol, were
mistaken for enemy submarines and were fired upon by the steamship
_Bahia_. The next day, about the time the armistice went into effect,
a British vessel, without waiting for recognition signals, fired on
the S. C. 214. Luckily the shells missed and the sturdy little boats
escaped unscathed.
The organization of our sub-chaser service in European waters was:
At U. S. Naval Headquarters. London--Captain R. H. Leigh, Commander
Sub-chasers, Distant Service; Lieutenant Commander W. R. Carter,
detection devices; Lieutenant Commander E. C. Raguet, communication
officer; Lieutenant Commander R. M. Griffin, sub-chasers; C. F.
Scott, technical expert, devices; E. L. Nelson, technical expert,
radio.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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