The convoy system was inaugurated in the Mediterranean, by British Admiralty order, on July 22, 1917. Five days afterwards the first regular convoy of 14 ships sailed for England. August 6th the vanguard of the United States naval vessels, the cruiser _Sacramento_ (Captain T. T. Craven) reached Gibraltar. On the 17th Admiral Wilson arrived in the _Birmingham_ (Captain C. L. Hussey), followed next day by the _Nashville_ (Captain H. E. Yarnell). Other ships followed--the gunboats _Castine_ (Captain W. C. Asserson), _Machias_ (Commander Austin Kautz), _Wheeling_ (Commander H. W. Osterhaus), _Paducah_ (Commander H. H. Royall), the cruiser _Chester_ (Captain Philip Williams), the Coast Guard cutters _Seneca_ (Captain W. J. Wheeler), _Manning_ (Lieutenant Commander A. J. Henderson), _Tampa_ (Lieutenant Commander Charles C. Satterlee), _Ossipee_ (Lieutenant Commander W. H. Munter), _Yamacraw_ (Lieutenant Commander Randolph Ridgely), _Algonquin_ (Lieutenant Commander G. C. Carmine), the converted yachts _Yankton_ (Lieutenant G. E. Lake), _Nahma_ (Lieutenant Commander E. Friedrick), _Druid_ (Lieutenant Commander J. F. Connor), _Wenonah_ (Lieutenant Commander P. E. Speicher), _Arcturus_ (Lieutenant Commander C. F. Howell), _Lydonia_ (Lieutenant Commander R. P. McCullough), _Cythera_ (Lieutenant Commander W. G. Roper), _Wadena_ (Lieutenant Commander W. M. Falconer), and _Venetia_ (Commander L. B. Porterfield), the Coast and Geodetic Survey vessel _Surveyor_ (Commander R. E. Pope), the destroyers _Bainbridge_ (Lieutenant T. A. Thomson, Jr.), _Barry_ (Lieutenant H. P. Sampson), _Chauncey_ (Lieutenant Commander W. E. Reno), _Dale_ (Lieutenant Roy Pfaff), _Decatur_ (Lieutenant Ralph R. Stewart), _Gregory_ (Commander A. P. Fairfield), _Dyer_ (Commander F. H. Poteet), _Stribling_ (Commander G. C. Logan), _Luce_ (Commander R. C. Parker), _Israel_ (Lieutenant Commander G. N. Barker), _Maury_ (Commander J. H. Newton), _Lansdale_ (Lieutenant Commander C. W. Magruder), and _Schley_ (Lieutenant Commander R. C. Giffen), and the destroyer tender _Buffalo_ (Captain C. M. Tozer). American vessels took a prominent part in escort duty practically from the beginning of convoy in that region, becoming in a short time, the largest factor in the system. In the latter part of October, Admiral Wilson was ordered to command our forces on the French coast, and was succeeded by Admiral A. P. Niblack, who directed our forces at Gibraltar to the end of the war, with fine judgment and ability. He and his force became a tower of strength in that region, to the Allies as well as our own Navy.