United States. Navy; World War, 1914-1918 -- Naval operations
Figures giving some idea of the records attained by convoys carrying our
soldiers may now be presented, and they are immensely interesting. In
the three months of July, August, and September of 1918, 7 American
soldiers with equipment arrived every minute of the day and night in
England or France. The banner month was July, when 317,000 American
soldiers were safely landed. In September, 311,219 American troops,
4,000 American sailors, and 5,000 Canadians were successfully
transported across the Atlantic. The largest single convoy of this month
carried to France 31,108, and to England 28,873. Of the troops
transported in this month American vessels carried 121,547; British
vessels 175,721, and French 13,951.
All in all, in patrol, in convoy duty, in actual combat, our navy in the
war accomplished with utter precision a stupendous task, a task of
multifarious phases--all performed in that clean-cut, vigorous,
courageous, painstaking, large-minded way which we, throughout ail the
years, have been proud to regard as typical of the American Navy.
SECRETARY DANIELS'S REPORT OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE NAVY IN THE WAR[1]
[Footnote 1: Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy, issued an official
report on December 8, 1918, in which he presented the following full
account of the work of the navy during the war.]
The operations of our navy during the world war have covered the widest
scope in its history. Our naval forces have operated in European waters
from the Mediterranean to the White Sea. At Corfu, Gibraltar, along the
French Bay of Biscay ports, at the English Channel ports, on the Irish
Coast, in the North Sea, at Murmansk and Archangel our naval forces have
been stationed and have done creditable work. Their performance will
probably form the most interesting and exciting portion of the naval
history of this war, and it is the duty which has been most eagerly
sought by all of the personnel, but owing to the character of the
operations which our navy has been called upon to take part in it has
not been possible for all of our naval forces, much as they desired it,
to engage in operations at the front, and a large part of our work has
been conducted quietly, but none the less effectively, in other areas.
This service, while not so brilliant, has still been necessary, and
without it our forces at the front could not have carried on the
successful campaign that they did.
Naval men have served on nearly 2,000 craft that plied the waters, on
submarines, and in aviation, where men of vision and courage prevent
surprise attacks and fight with new-found weapons. On the land, marines
and sailors have helped to hold strategic points, regiments of marines
have shared with the army their part of the hard-won victory, and a
wonderfully trained gun crew of sailors has manned the monster 14-inch
guns which marked a new departure in land warfare.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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