The only criticism of the Navy voiced during the war was that it was too insistent upon holding on to peace-time competition and economies. One officer complained that I "held up an order for torpedoes." He was correct. It was held up long enough to secure a conference with the makers. By a few days' delay on one order, $5,000,000 was saved, and we always had an abundant supply. In one order for shells $200,000 was saved. Such instances could be multiplied many times. Insistence upon competition, where possible, and strict inspection in other cases, enabled the Navy to close the war with the assurance that naval expenditures were as free from extravagance as they were untainted by graft or favoritism. CHAPTER XXXV "SIRS, ALL IS WELL WITH THE FLEET" TWO THOUSAND VESSELS IN SERVICE--200,000 MEN OVERSEAS OR TRANSPORTING TROOPS AND SUPPLIES ACROSS ATLANTIC--373 SHIPS, 81,000 OFFICERS AND MEN IN EUROPEAN FORCES--VISITS OF ROOSEVELT, BENSON, MAYO AND CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE--PERSHING'S TRIBUTE. With more than two thousand vessels in service and 533,000 officers and men, the largest personnel ever possessed by any Navy, our naval operations in the World War literally belted the globe. Operating with the Allies from the Arctic to the Adriatic, from Corfu to the Azores, we manned and operated the vast fleet of American transports carrying troops, munitions and supplies across the Atlantic, and furnished man-of-war escort to protect them. Patrolling our own coasts and the Western Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, our vessels also kept watch in South American waters and guarded the approaches to the Panama Canal. Our ships in South American waters, commanded by Admiral W. B. Caperton, coöperated with the naval forces of our sister republics and gave insurance against possible raiders and submarines. Ships under Caperton, the squadron under Anderson in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, and Mayo's ships further north maintained the patrol throughout the war on this side of the Atlantic. Guarding against raiders and German activities in the Pacific, our operations extended from our west coast to Hawaii, Guam and the Philippines, and our vessels in the Orient coöperated with the Japanese and other Allied naval forces from Manila to Vladivostok. The destroyers sent from Cavite, which voyaged twelve thousand miles through the Straits, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, met at Gibraltar the forces from the other side of the world. Eight hundred and thirty-four vessels and two hundred thousand men of the United States Navy were either serving in European waters or engaged in transporting troops and supplies to Europe, before hostilities ended. This was more than twice as many ships and nearly three times as many officers and men as were in naval service before the war.