The _Jarvis_ (Lieutenant Commander R. C. Parker), and the _Drayton_ (Lieutenant Commander G. N. Barker), two of the 740-ton oil-burning destroyers, joined the force on February 15, 1918; then on March 4th, the _Wadsworth_ (Lieutenant Commander C. E. Smith). The following destroyers that had also previously operated out of Queenstown were sent to Brest in June: _Sigourney_, (Commander W. N. Vernou); _Wainwright_, (Commander R. A. Dawes); _Fanning_, (Lieutenant Commander F. Cogswell); _Tucker_, (Lieutenant Commander W. H. Lassing); _Winslow_, (Lieutenant Commander F. W. Rockwell); _Porter_, (Lieutenant Commander A. A. Corwin); _O'Brien_, (Commander M. K. Metcalf); _Cummings_, (Lieutenant Commander O. Bartlett); _Benham_, (Lieutenant Commander F. J. Fletcher); _Cushing_, (Commander W. D. Puleston); _Burrows_, (Lieutenant Commander A. Steckel); _Ericsson_, (Lieutenant Commander R. R; Stewart); and on July 23, the _McDougal_, (Lieutenant Commander V. K. Coman). The Navy Department had decided that all additional destroyers built would be sent to Brest and to Gibraltar, and Admiral Wilson's forces were augmented from time to time by these new destroyers: _Little_, (Captain J. K. Taussig); _Conner_, (Captain A. G. Howe); _Taylor_, (Commander C. T. Hutchins); _Stringham_, (Commander N. E. Nichols); _Bell_, (Lieutenant Commander D. L. Howard); _Murray_, (Lieutenant Commander R. G. Walling); _Fairfax_, (Lieutenant Commander G. C. Barnes). For more than a year American mine sweepers pursued their dangerous but tedious task, sweeping up mines and keeping clear the channels leading to ports. Mainly converted fishing boats, the constant duty along the coast was not easy for them. The _Rehoboth_ foundered off Ushant in a heavy sea October 4, 1917. Steaming in a fog near Concarneau, January 12, 1918, the _Bauman_ struck one of the numerous rocks that make navigation in that region so dangerous. Though she was badly damaged, Ensign P. J. Ford, her executive officer, and several of her crew remained aboard, hoping to save her, and the _Anderton_ started to tow her to Lorient, but she sank before reaching port. Soon afterwards, on January 25, the _Guinevere_, attempting to get to Lorient in a dense fog, ran on the rocks. The mine force was not infrequently called upon to reinforce coastal convoys or go to the aid of vessels grounded or in distress. When the U-boats began attacking coastal convoys near Penmarch in January, 1918, the sweepers were sent out to patrol those waters at night. Lying in darkness, they spent long hours listening through the "C" tubes for any sound of a "sub." They were often hurried out to sweep mines discovered at various points. In a heavy sea, the _Hinton_, _Cahill_ and _James_ swept up a mine field near Belle Ile in record time, the _James_ cutting four mines in fifteen minutes. These are only a few instances of the fine work they continually performed.