Bit by bit was put together an organization of equipment and personnel which extended from Brest to a dozen other bases and separate patrol divisions, each with its own subordinate commander. Gradually it came to embrace such a list of departments and responsibilities as these: Coastal convoy escorts Harbor tug fleet Naval Port Officer Marine Superintendent Supply office Repair shops Repair ship Barracks Personnel Pay Office Public Works. Yard Boatswain’s Office Radio repair shop Naval magazine Naval hospitals Shore patrol Docks Canteens Oiling stations Coastal stations Coaling stations [Illustration: THE SHIP’S COOKS AND THE WARDROOM STEWARD] [Illustration: THE NOBLE JOB OF PEELING “SPUDS”] All this was not set in motion in a week or a month. Admiral Wilson had to build almost from the foundation. The French organization was depleted and worn. Vice-Admiral Moreau and Rear-Admiral Grout achieved everything in their power to assist the American undertaking, with men, ships, and material, but it was unfair to expect too much of them. When the Queenstown destroyers came into Brest and the officers found time to go ashore, you might have heard them boast, in the most gentlemanly terms, of the splendid efficiency of their own base and the extraordinary ability of Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, who directed their operations. At this, an officer from the _Corsair_ was likely to fling back that the Queenstown outfit ought to get on, with the vast resources of the British Admiralty at its disposal and a base that had nothing much more than a fleet of destroyers on its mind. The whole French coast was cluttered up with transports and cargo boats, from Brest to Bordeaux, and it was some job to keep them moving, not to mention chasing Fritz. And as for Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, K.C.B., he was said to be a fine old bird, but he wasn’t the only two-fisted, “iron-bellied” admiral in the war zone, and the doctrine of the Breton Patrol was “Wilson, that’s all.” In such manner was voiced the spirit of friendly rivalry between the Navy men of Brest and Queenstown and it was the kind of loyalty which you might expect. French opinion of the work of the American naval forces found expression in the newspapers. Admiral Wilson was held in the highest regard, personally and officially, and _L’Illustration_ said of him: