"The occupation of the Azores," said Admiral Dunn, "was of great strategic value from the mere fact that had it been in possession of the enemy, it would have formed an ideal base for submarines, and as our convoy routes passed north and south of the islands an enemy base would have been a very serious obstacle for the successful transport across the ocean of troops and supplies." All our submarine chasers, tugs and small craft sent to Europe stopped at the Azores for fuel, provisions and repairs. Our repair ship and station were found invaluable, particularly during the stormy winter when many merchant vessels broke down in the vicinity. Tugs were sent out to tow them in, repairs were promptly made, and they were sent on their way. In several instances, merchant vessels were rescued at distances of 400 to 500 miles from the islands. The relations between the American naval officers and Portuguese authorities in the Azores were most cordial, and this coöperation strengthened the ties between the United States and Portugal. If Portugal had not been in the war as an ally, it would have been a tremendously difficult problem to have gotten across any of the yachts and sub-chasers, and a large portion of our destroyers, because they did not have the steaming radius to cover the more than 3,000 miles of ocean between us and the coast of Europe. But for the base in the Azores and Portugal's coöperation, we would have lacked a place to re-fuel in mid-ocean. Before the Azores was open to us we were forced to establish a mobile oil base at sea, moving the oilers secretly to fuel our destroyers as they went across. Discovery of such an oil base by the Germans would have been fatal to us, as sinking tankers and oilers was a task at which their U-boats were most proficient. On May 20, 1919, the people of Ponta Delgada again did honor to men of the American Navy. On that day ships in the harbor were dressed, the town decked in flags, and there was general rejoicing at the arrival of the aviators on the first trans-Atlantic flight. A salute of twenty-one guns was fired by the Portuguese battery, and the Governor of the Azores and the Mayor of Ponta Delgada gave official welcome to Commander J. H. Towers and the officers and crews of the "Nancys," as those famous planes were called.