When the _Corsair_ arrived on the French coast there was nothing to indicate the vast American organization, military and naval, which was soon to be created with a speed and efficiency almost magical. Supply bases, docks, fuel stations, railroads were, at the outset, such as France could provide from her own grave necessities. Marshal Joffre and Lord Balfour had convinced the Government at Washington that if the United States delayed to prepare, it might be too late. Troops were demanded, above all else. Man power was the vital thing. And so these early divisions were hurried overseas to Pershing with little more than the equipment on their backs. The Navy was aware of its own share of the problem which was to extend its fighting front to the shores of France as well as to the Irish Sea. To protect the ocean traffic to and from the United States, small, swift ships were required by the dozens and scores, but they could not be built in a day, and, as a British admiral expressed it, “This rotten U-boat warfare had caught all the Allies with their socks down.” Of the naval escort with the First Expeditionary Force, the cruisers returned to the United States for further convoy duty and the destroyers went either with them or were ordered to join the flotilla at Queenstown. For a short time the _Corsair_ and another large yacht, the _Aphrodite_, were left to comprise the American naval strength on the French coast. On June 30th, Commander Kittinger received the following instructions from Rear Admiral Gleaves: When in all respects ready for sea, proceed with the vessel under your command to Brest, France, and report to the Senior French Naval Officer for duty. Exhibit these orders to the Senior United States Naval Officer in Brest. Upon the arrival of Captain W. B. Fletcher, U.S. Navy, report to him for duty. The tenor of these orders indicated the wise and courteous policy which Vice-Admiral Henry B. Wilson was later to develop with brilliant success—that of coöperation with and deference to the French naval authorities instead of asserting the independence of command which, in fact, he exercised. At this time Captain Fletcher had been appointed to organize the American “Special Patrol Force,” and he was daily expected to arrive in the yacht _Noma_. The ancient port of Brest was selected as the chief naval base because the French had long used it for this purpose, maintaining dockyards, repair shops, and arsenals, and also because the largest transports afloat could be moored in its deep and spacious harbor. Saint-Nazaire and Bordeaux became the great entry ports for cargo steamers during the war, while into Brest the huge liners carried twenty thousand or forty thousand troops in a single convoy. [Illustration: WINNING BOAT CREW IN FOURTH OF JULY RACE WITH APHRODITE] [Illustration: “THE BRIDGE GANG”]