The need of such a chapter? Take this illustration of what people do not know about submarines: Three years ago an admiral on the other side was called into conference on the U-boat problem. When it came his turn to speak he said: "Gentlemen, it is child's talk to say that the U-boats will ever amount to anything! Disregard them utterly!" Only three years ago that was, and that naval officer was considered for commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet! Three years ago, and last year the U-boats sank 6,600,000 tons of shipping! Right now Germany probably contemplates, or is actually constructing, U-boats with armor and guns heavy enough to engage on the surface any war craft up to the battle-cruiser class. How far from that to fighting the heaviest of surface craft--even to the battleships? In the event of invasion--we might as well face that; refusing to think about it certainly will not eliminate the possibility,--in the event of invasion by a powerful foe our first line of defense will be our navy. The navy will always be our first line of defense; and so the need to-day of interesting in our navy young men,--progressive young men, who will learn from the past but prefer to live in the future. J. B. C. CONTENTS PAGE NAVY SHIPS 1 NAVY MEN 12 SEEING THEM ACROSS 24 THE U-BOATS APPEAR 37 CROSSING THE CHANNEL 58 THE CENSORS 77 ONE THEY DIDN'T GET 92 THE DOCTOR TAKES CHARGE 108 THE 343 STAYS UP 127 THE CARGO BOATS 142 FLOTILLA HUMOR--AT SEA 157 FLOTILLA HUMOR--ASHORE 172 THE UNQUENCHABLE DESTROYER BOYS 186 THE MARINES HAVE LANDED-- 204 THE NAVY AS A CAREER 222 THE SEA BABIES 239 ILLUSTRATIONS "Where you-all going?... Can't you-all see where you're going? Keep off--keep off" _Frontispiece_ FACING PAGE She shoved out into the stream and kicked her way down the harbor, and as she did so ... everybody seemed to know 26 Our thirty-knot clip was eating up the road. We were getting near the spot 98 In the engine-room of a submarine 242 NAVY SHIPS More than one-third of our naval force was being reviewed by the President. A most impressive assembly of men-o'-war it was, in tonnage and weight of metal the greatest ever floated by the waters of the western hemisphere.