Sent home to join the armored cruiser _West Virginia_, Lieutenant Kittinger was an assistant engineer officer in 1906 and again made the long voyage to the Far East and the Pacific. He became gunnery officer of the same ship before the tour of sea duty ended and he was appointed assistant inspector of ordnance at the Naval Gun Factory, Washington. In 1910-13 he was senior engineer officer of the battleship _Minnesota_, visiting Europe and then to Cuba and Vera Cruz. Again ashore, he was in charge of the smokeless powder works at Indian Head and executive officer of the station of the Naval Proving Ground, going from there to the Fore River Shipyard as naval inspector of machinery. Then came two years of sea service in a destroyer. As executive officer of the _Corsair_, Lieutenant Commander Porter was an uncommonly experienced and capable seaman and navigator and, of course, knew the ship from keel to truck and what she could do in all weathers. Third on the list was Lieutenant Robert E. Tod as navigating officer. He was one of the foremost yachtsmen of the United States, a commodore of the Atlantic Yacht Club, and a licensed master mariner who had sailed his own large vessels without the aid of a skipper. The gunnery officer, Ensign A. K. Schanze, was a graduate of the Naval Academy who welcomed the opportunity to return to the Service. The chief engineer of the _Corsair_, J. K. Hutchison, who had been in her for several years, decided to stand by the ship through thick and thin, as did his assistants, A. V. Mason and W. F. Hawthorn. This was true also of Lieutenant R. J. McGuire who had been the first officer of the yacht and of Boatswain R. Budani and a number of the enlisted force. The day’s work of making the _Corsair_ ready for sea, the unaccustomed drudgery and the uncertainty which filled the ship with rumors, are reflected in the letters and diaries of the youthful seamen whose motto was, “We don’t know where we’re going but we’re on our way.” One of them wrote as follows: _April 3rd. 1917._ The President of the United States to-day declared this nation to be at war with Germany.... _4th._ Have determined that I had better join the Army or Navy, as we are really at war. Most of my friends are going to try to go to Plattsburg and get commissions. I do not think I shall do this.... _6th._ A lot of men are planning to go to the Mosquito Fleet school at Newport. I can’t see it. Will go on a foreign-bound ship or none. Have decided to learn radio and join the Navy as an operator if I can learn it soon.