Of the old crew, the crew which had sailed with Pershing’s First Expeditionary Force, only two officers and eighteen men watched the frowning headlands of Brittany sink into the sea as the _Corsair_ turned her bow to follow the long trail that led to the twin lights of Navesink and the skyline of New York. A day at the Azores for coal and she laid a course for Bermuda and another brief call before straightening out for the last stretch of the journey. On May 28th she steamed into her home port after an absence just a little short of two years. There was no uproarious welcome when the gray _Corsair_ slipped through the Narrows and sought a berth at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The war had ended more than half a year earlier. It was already an old story, but the ship had done her duty and was content with this. A few days later she ceased to be enrolled in the United States Navy. There was no ceremonious formality and the documents in the case were exceedingly brief, but they signified the end of a story which had added a worthy page to the annals of American manhood. “Ships are all right. It is the men in them,” said one of Joseph Conrad’s wise old mariners. This was true of the _Corsair_ and the other yachts of the Breton Patrol. And so the Navy Department spoke the last word in this concise order: _Headquarters of the Third Naval District, Brooklyn, New York_ _June 6, 1919_ From: Officer in Charge, Material Department. To: Commanding Officer U.S.S. Corsair, S.P. 159. Subject: Orders. Proceed to W. & A. Fletcher Shipyard, Hoboken, N.J., June 9, 1919. Place the vessel out of commission in accordance with orders enclosed herewith, and deliver the vessel to representative of the owner, Mr. J. P. Morgan. Have enclosed receipts in duplicate signed and return to this office. (Signed) C. L. ARNOLD, _Captain, U.S.N._ (Enclosure.) The U.S.S. _Corsair_ is hereby placed out of commission, June 9th, 1919. Her owner surmised that the _Corsair_ had been run to death and worn out in the Bay of Biscay, that she was to be regarded rather as a relic than a yacht; but in this Mr. Morgan was happily disappointed. The staunch ship was still fit to be overhauled and made ready for the peaceful and leisurely service of other days. In her old berth at Fletcher’s Yard she swarmed with artisans instead of bluejackets, and they found many things to be done besides restoring the furniture, fittings, partitions, and so on. [Illustration: _Copyright, 1899, by C. E. Bolles, Brooklyn_ THE CORSAIR WHEN IN COMMISSION AS A YACHT BEFORE THE WAR]