C. L. O'Connor, water tender, was thrown to the floor and enveloped in gas flames from the furnaces. Instead of rushing to escape, he turned and endeavored to shut a water-tight door leading into a large bunker abaft the fireroom, but the hydraulic lever that operated the door had been damaged and failed to function. Three men at work in this bunker were drowned. If O'Connor had succeeded in shutting the door, all would have been saved. Caught in the swirl of inrushing water, O'Connor was thrust up a ventilator leading to the upper deck. The torpedo exploded on a bulkhead separating two firerooms, the explosive effect being apparently about equal in both firerooms, yet in one fireroom not a man was saved, while in the other two of the men escaped. The explosion blasted through the outer and inner skin of the ship and through an intervening coal bunker and bulkhead, hurling overboard 750 tons of coal. The two men saved were working the fires within 30 feet of the explosion and just below the level where the torpedo struck. How they escaped is a miracle. One of the men, P. Fitzgerald, landed on the lower grating. Groping his way through the darkness, trying to find the ladder leading above, he stumbled over the body of a man apparently dead. Finding he was only unconscious, Fitzgerald aroused him and took him to safety. The man would have been lost, for the water rose 10 feet above this grating as the ship settled. Shortly after the Mt. Vernon arrived at Brest, Captain Dismukes received this letter from Brigadier General George H. Harries, U. S. A.: Sorrow mingled with pride, for those who died so nobly. Congratulations on the seamanship, discipline and courage. It was a great feat you accomplished. Passengers whom I have seen this morning are unable to fully or fitly voice their praises of your always worthy self or of your ship's company. The best traditions of our Navy have been lifted to a higher plane. What a fine thing it is to be an American these days! The olive drab salutes the blue. Every American vessel available was pressed into service to bring the troops home after the war. Fifty-six cargo vessels were converted into troop-carriers. Nine of the German vessels turned over under the armistice were assigned to us--the _Imperator_, _Kaiserin Augusta Victoria_, _Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm_, _Zeppelin_, _Cap Finisterre_, _Graf Waldersee_, _Patricia_, _Pretoria_, and _Mobile_. The capacity of all our transports was considerably increased.