During the first three months of war duty, June, July, and August, the _Corsair_ steamed 11,738 miles, which was the greatest distance logged by any of the yachts during the same period. There was little time or opportunity for the grooming and tinkering which a pleasure craft is presumed to receive. Blow high, blow low, she went to sea at the appointed hour and the fires were never dead under the boilers. In her forward deck-house was a couplet, carved on a panel of wood, which she was living up to in full measure: “_North, East, South and West, The Corsair sails and knows no rest._” The first cruise of August took the yacht to Saint-Nazaire, on the 4th, in company with the _Aphrodite_, _Kanawha_, and _Noma_, to escort a group of empty transports to sea. This was safely accomplished, and the _Corsair_ returned to Brest where the _Celtic_ was waiting to be guarded through the danger zone. For lack of destroyers it was the business of the yachts to take the big ships out after they had discharged their troops or supplies. Having parted company with the _Celtic_ at Fourteen West and wished her good luck, the _Corsair_ hastened back for coal and further orders, which were to cruise in the regular patrol area. The American steamer _Carolyn_ was expected, inbound and running alone, and the _Corsair_ searched a waste of waters until the magic of the radio found the unseen ship and whispered to her this comforting message: I am thirty miles west of you. Pass north of Belle Isle and I will intercept you at daylight, in time to escort you into Quiberon Bay. The skipper of the _Carolyn_ had become a trifle confused in his bearings and was glad to be led to a safe anchorage where he could join a coastwise convoy for Bordeaux and so reach his destination. To the _Corsair_ then fell the experience of protecting a cargo steamer whose speed was so slow that she crept through the dangerous stretch of sea like a rheumatic snail and was a tempting target for any prowling submarine. It was all in the day’s work, although a bit trying to the nerves, and Commander Kittinger’s report indicates the nature of the task: The _Corsair_ was assigned to escort duty with the American steamer _Manto_ bound from Saint-Nazaire, France, to America. A conference was held with the captain of the _Manto_ at Saint-Nazaire on the evening of August 22nd, the day before sailing. The _Manto_ is a small, low-powered steamer under charter by the Navy Department. The captain stated that he could make between eight and nine knots in favorable weather, but with a head sea and a stiff breeze he could not make more than six knots.