OCS'B LIBRARY 1 VENETIA ^Avenger of the J^usitania r VENETIA ^Avenger of the J^usitania BEING A NARRATIVE OF THE ADVENTURES AND CAREER OF THE YACHT "VENETIA" DURING THE WORLD WAR AS AN AUXI LIARY CRUISER, INCLUDING SUCH PROOF AS EXISTS OF HER CON NECTION WITH THE EXPIA TION OF ITS MOST UNFORGIVABLE TRAGEDY BASED UPON THE CRUISER'S OFFICIAL LOG AND THE DIARIES OF SOME OF HER OFFICERS BY CLAY M. GREENE WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY C. D. ROBINSON, W. A. COULTER AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS SAN DIEGO 1919 COPYRIGHT, 1919 BY JOHN D. SPRECKELS 300 copies of this book have been printed for private distribution. FOREWORD HIS BOOK has been com- piled out of material 'to hie h, from the Very nature of its subject-matter, had to be col- let-ted from sources 'toidely separated and at Very remote distances. Some of this re- moteness has been, in a sense, impenetrable. Those from Vohom information upon certain points in the narrative 'toas expected, either could not be reached, or 'toere so engrossed in the exacting business of the sea that they felt small concern in the business of bookmaking. ^/Ifew atoms of conjecture are obviously unavoidable in a . V. J^icolinifor^aluable infor- mation and photographs; and to tJ&iss (Constance I. Sandisonfor instructive criticism and assistance in the preparation of copy. C.M.G. SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, October 24, 1919. (vi) PRELUDE xix CHAPTER I FROM YACHT TO WARSHIP Delivery at Mare Island Long delays unexplained Dis- mantling and outfitting Placed in commission. CHAPTER II REGULAR AND "TENDERFOOT" Venetids officers and crew Departure from the navy yard- In "Man-o '-War's Row" CHAPTER III WARDROOM PERSONNEL Venttias officers Sketches of their lives ii CHAPTER IV SOUTHWARD HO! Reserves versus the Regular Navy An old salt "called down" Brief touch at San Diego Bound for Panama ... 24 [vn] V E N E T I CHAPTER V INTENSIVE TRAINING Along the coast Exhaustive drills Second-hand armament Dotter practice First baptism of bad weather Treacherous Tehuantepec 29 CHAPTER VI THE WORLD'S GREAT WATERWAY Arrival at Panama Through the Canal The American plan fully justified Arrival at Colon 35 CHAPTER VII THROUGH THE CARIBBEAN Departure from the isthmus More intensive drills- Regular Service and Reserves again Ships that pass in the night From the Caribbean into the Atlantic 40 CHAPTER VIII TOWARD THE WINTER-TIME Headed north'ard The guns still rebellious A placid "off Hatteras" League Island Navy Yard A boy who forgot. . . 46 CHAPTER IX A MENIAL ASSIGNMENT Delay at Philadelphia Captain La Roche Venetia is made a towboat! To New York and back 53 CHAPTER X CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR Towing submarine chasers Dull stay at Bermuda De- merit winners New Year's Eve 57 vm CONTENTS CHAPTER XI AMERICAN HUMOR Captain La Roche and the lily farmer A conflict of au- thority Almost a tragedy 64 CHAPTER XII IN THE "ROARING FORTIES" Transfer of officers Again under way Bermudan scenery contrasted with that of California 68 CHAPTER XIII WAVES MOUNTAIN HIGH Staunchness of the Venetia Humors of the gale Trouble with the chasers 74 CHAPTER XIV TRULY A "SUICIDE FLEET" The storm increases Depth charges awash Venetia s dan- gerous duty The squadron separated 79 CHAPTER XV THE LOST SUBMARINE CHASERS Arrival at Ponta Delgada Venetia alone unscathed An officer's collapse Shore leave at Ponta Delgada 84 CHAPTER XVI ENTERING THE WAR ZONE The first shot A question of veracity A merited promotion Testing Oporto port Off for " Gib " 90 [IX] V E N E T A CHAPTER XVII THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR Doubts as to its impregnability Amazing war conditions Unpatriotic hucksters A fake bull-fight and a real one First departure from Gibraltar Composition of the first convoy To Bizerta, Tunis, and return 103 CHAPTER XIX Eventless convoying becomes monotonous A game of baseball Transfer of Ensign "Nick" Losing a convoy ... ill CHAPTER XX THE FIRST ENCOUNTER The unforgetable April 22nd Navigation by moonlight or in darkness equally dangerous Discussing the first battle A day of target practice Another elusive submarine 121 CHAPTER XXI A SECOND NIGHT ATTACK A fusillade of depth charges French merchantman tor- pedoed Venetia prepares for hand-to-hand conflict Enemy submerges to avoid ramming A suspicious sail 129 CHAPTER XXII A SUCCESSION OF THRILLS The sixth departure for Bizerta A daylight attack Ap- parent certainty that Venetia bags her first submarine A sur- prise in the night and the ship abandoned A collision and not a torpedo "Something on the skipper" 135 [] CONTENTS CHAPTER XXIII THE AFTERMATH OF BATTLE A search for the scattered convoy Another victim of the attack An intrusion into neutral waters Fresno raisins and the Malaga brand Rumors of fresher duties 144 CHAPTER XXIV HAS THE "LUSITANIA" BEEN AVENGED? Letters from home A board of inquiry concerning the recent battles Preponderance of evidence in favor of Venetia A scouting cruise to the Azores 153 CHAPTER XXV INTERESTING DIVERGENCIES A passenger for the Azores A quick return to Gibraltar An experience in colonial Church English In mourning for a dull Fourth of July 160 CHAPTER XXVI AN AMUSING SIDE TRIP Watchers from aloft The dirigible versus the airplane A companionable Frenchman The distinguishing charac- teristic of Arab towns 168 CHAPTER XXVII THRILLING DAYS AGAIN Uneventful return to Gibraltar The Venetia is transferred to the Genoa convoy route Two days of excitement A fusillade of depth charges Two freighters torpedoed . . . 175 CHAPTER XXVIII GENOA TO GIBRALTAR "Doing" the birthplace of Columbus Varied impressions A gale in the Gulf of Lyons Change of commanders 182 [XI] I V E N E T I CHAPTER XXIX UNDER A NEW COMMANDER Captain Howell introduces himself Brief sketch of his career Courteously businesslike And then Bizerta again!. . . 188 CHAPTER XXX DRY-DOCK DAYS Off on leave Revival of the belief that the Venetia avenged the LusitaniaA collision necessitates repairs In the halls of the Alhambra Ready for service 195 CHAPTER XXXI TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE Dull days at "Gib" Another gale in the Gulf of Lyons A hide-and-seek convoy Homesick nurses enlivened 204 CHAPTER XXXII THE APPROACH OF VICTORY Appearance of influenza Glorious news from the front- Singular disposition to minimize America's share To Madeira and the Azores Rumors of an armistice The "Flu" interferes with participation in the glorification in CHAPTER XXXIII DAYS OF REJOICING From the Azores to Gibraltar Continued Allied jealousy A pleasure trip to Lisbon Portuguese hospitality A foodless banquet A regretful farewell 221 CHAPTER XXXIV QUEST OF THE GOLD STAR Anxious days at Gibraltar No news from Admiral Sims- Persistence of an adverse claimant Homeward-bound orders delayed Authority for the gold star on the funnel arrives Who avenged the Lusitania? 230 CONTENTS CHAPTER XXXV HOMEWARD BOUND Good-bye to the war zone Towing little fellows home Another Christmas at sea A real American New Year's Eve A busy run to the Virgin Islands 238 CHAPTER XXXVI ANOTHER LAP HOMEWARD Brief stay at St. Thomas A strange celebration of annexa- tion to the United States Many interesting jaunts Blue- beard's castle Guantanamo and Panama 245 CHAPTER XXXVII GOLDEN GATE AND HOME Over night at Balboa The police unfriendly to the Navy The last lap begun Even the gale sings of home Call at San Diego Home at last The final call to "colors" 252 ADDENDA 259 INDEX 265 ILLUSTRATIONS THE CAMOUFLAGED "VENETIA" Frontispiece FACINO PAGE J. D. SPRECKELS, OWNER OF THE "VENETIA" xix VENETIA RESPONDS TO THE CALL I COMMANDER L. B. PORTERFIELD, U. S. N 10 LIEUT. FRANK M. PERRY, U. S. N. R. F. (Chief Engineer) ... 14 LIEUT. PAUL M. DRAKE (The Doctor) 18 LIEUT. (J. G.) J. B. ARMSTRONG 18 LIEUT. (J. G.) W. G. DONOVAN 18 ENSIGN D. V. NICOLINI 18 ENSIGN VOLNEY E. HOWARD, U. S. N. R. F 20 LIEUT. S. S. SCHNETZLER (Paymaster) 20 LIEUT. (J. G.) W. L. DE CAMP 20 ENSIGN VOLNEY E. HOWARD 20 TARGET PRACTICE 32 AFTER A STORM 32 THROUGH CULEBRA CUT 36 IN SAN MIGUEL LOCKS 38 [xv] '",;i7 V E N E T I A DOCKS AT COLON 38 EACH MORNING'S "SWABBING DOWN" 42 CARIBBEAN HEAD SEAS 42 UNIFORM ON THE DELAWARE 50 LEAGUE ISLAND NAVY YARD 50 THROUGH WINTRY SEAS 56 To ICY BROOKLYN 56 SUBMARINE CHASER No. 67 60 OFF WATCH 60 CONTRAST THIS WITH 64 WINTER MEMORIES 64 IN PHILADELPHIA 64 PLOWING ANGRY SEAS 68 DEPTH CHARGES AND GUNS FROM ALOFT 68 LIEUT. MARK A. MANGAN, U. S. N. R. F 70 IN THE "ROARING FORTIES" (in Color) 78 HARBOR OF PONTA DELGADA 84 WATER GATE, PONTA DELGADA ... 84 RAPID DELIVERY IN PONTA DELGADA 86 CAPTAIN LA ROCHE 86 ENSIGN DONALD MACKENZIE 86 THE RIVER AT OPORTO 92 PUBLIC SQUARE, OPORTO 92 GIBRALTAR AT SUNRISE 94 THE TOWN FROM "THE ROCK". . 98 [xvi] ILLUSTRATIONS "THE ROCK" FROM THE TOWN 98 REFUSING TO BE INFURIATED 102 PATIENTLY AWAITING DEATH 102 ENTERING BIZERTA 108 BIZERTA'S RESTFUL POPULATION 108 DISTANT VIEW OF A CONVOY 112 THE WATCHFUL EYE ABOVE 112 BASEBALL AT GIBRALTAR 1 16 "THE MANLY ART OF "SELF-DEFENSE" 116 LYING IN WAIT (in Color) 1 20 "LET 'ER Go!" 130 THE EXPLOSION 130 THE WAKE OF A TORPEDO 138 THE STRICKEN "SCULPTOR" 138 "FULL SPEED AHEAD!" 148 THE REASON WHY 148 THE PARK, BIZERTA 170 MARKET-PLACE, BIZERTA 170 BAB-BENAT GATE, TUNIS 174 BARRACKS AT TUNIS 174 DESTRUCTION . . . .___._._. ,_-. 178 EXPIATION 178 GENOA 182 THE TRANSFER OF COMMANDERS 186 CAPTAIN CHARLES F. HOWELL 190 xvn I V E N E T I THE EVEN CHANCE FOR AMERICA 194 ALL ONE WAY FOR SPAIN 194 JAUNTING IN SPAIN 198 GENERAL VIEW OF THE ALHAMBRA 198 MASQUERADING AT THE ALHAMBRA 200 SINKING OF H. M. S. "BRITANNIA" 220 THE QUAY AT LISBON 226 IN THE PALACE 226 THE BURNING OF S. S. "OPHIR" 228 ENSIGN C. H. BENHAM 232 MOLES AND DOCKS AT "Gis" 236 HOMEWARD BOUND! 236 LIBERTY PARTY LANDING 240 THE CONCEALED BEAUTY OF PONTA DELGADA 240 THE HARBOR OF ST. THOMAS 244 LEAVING ST. THOMAS 244 TOUCHING AT GUANTANAMO 250 THE FIRST GOLD STAR IN THE CANAL 250 HOME AGAIN 256 JOHN D. SPRECKELS, OWNER OF THE "vENETIA" PRELUDE ATE IN JULY, 1917, . "John T>. Spreckels re- ceived official notification from the ^avy 'Department at Washington that his steam yac/itVENETiA had been ac- cepted by the (government for _ _ immediate conversion into an auxiliary cruiser, and^as to be delivered at the ^hCare Island J^avy Tard as soon as expedient, there being an urgent demand at the time forces sels of her type. ^Although designed solely for pleasurable Voyages across friendly Waters to ports of peace, she had been reported peculiarly ^ell adapted to the Warlike activities intended for her. Her sturdy build, tested to the full in many angry seas, especially fitted her heavy deck^beams for gun-platforms, and she must cer- tainly prove of great lvalue as a dispatch-boat, owing to her somewhat unusual speed and cruising radius. (^Core- over, the solid rigidity of her long stern overhang could not fail to be of inestimable ^alue in launching the (xix) V E N E T I A destruction-dealing depth charges 'fohile sleuthing for the predatory submarine and putting it out of business. T/'VENETIA could have become endowed at that moment "toitb thought, instinB, and freedom of speech, it is not to be doubted that, true to the love for luxurious ease so inherent in her sex, she might have interposed an objection full of garrulous protest, punctuated by floods of indignant tears. Without these compellingforces of femininity, ^hat "tooman can adequately express "tohat is intended by her during her impulsive bursts of dis- pleasure, or tones of imperious command? Born at J^eith, Scotland, ^ith an unusually elaborate golden spoon in her mouth, and educated,as has been said, fora life of luxurious ease, she could scarcely have been expeledto regard ^eith anything like serene contentment the disappointing and altogether alarming intelligence that she 'teas, ^illy-nilly, to be arbitrarily stripped of her gorgeous attire and dispatched into the zones of bellig- erent danger in the sombre habiliments of a ship of 'tear. 'True, however, to one never-to-be-disputed charac- teristic of the supposedly Weaker sex, it is equally certain that she ^ould be notoriously braver and more patient than the supposedly stronger one in moments of tribula- tion and pain. For now, stirred to patriotic fervor by the news from Washington, her fear ^ould at once have fled, her keen disappointment changed to keener delight, and she ^poould have responded to her President's call to the colors Without a quiver in her graceful body of rigid steel. It may also be said WM some security of conviction that (xx) PRELUDE if some contemplative poet had been present during that J>ery commendable change of mental attitude, he might have smiled 'foith admiring fervor upon this lady of the sea of such perfect mould, and inspired his : INTERESTING DIVERGENCIES almost dense enough to conceal a small fleet. Captain Porterfield rushed to the telephone and rang up the engine-room with even more than his usual alacrity. "Who gave any orders for a smoke-screen what's the matter down there?" " It's that new Gibraltar oil, sir ! " replied the " Chief." "If it doesn't get better we shan't be able to make steam." Then, when it was noticed that the galley funnel was emitting smaller but equally dense clouds of smoke, inquiry developed the fact that it was impossible even to start a fire that would cook anything, and all that day and night both wardroom and forecastle were com- pelled to subsist on uncooked "chow." The next morning the smoke was as dense as ever, and the Chief reported that he was unable longer to continue the specified speed. Then came a peremptory signal from Captain Osterhaus of the Wheeling to stop that smoke or the convoy would expose its position to any enemy that might be lying in wait for it. The skipper, ever ready with a caustic reply, signaled back to Osterhaus: " We'll stop it when you can send us some good Amer- ican oil in place of that Bolshevik stuff somebody palmed off on us at Gibraltar. We've already pumped nearly two thousand gallons overboard." "All right; do the best you can," was the reply. "As if we didn't always do that," thought the skipper. "No doubt he thinks we've gone into mourning for this dull Fourth of July." Careful manipulation of burners supplied the ship with sufficient steam to make Bizerta, but it was some time before the wardroom teasers ceased twitting the Chief over his smoke-screen. CHAPTER XXVI AN AMUSING SIDE TRIP WATCHERS FROM ALOFT THE DIRIGIBLE VERSUS THE AIRPLANE A COMPANIONABLE FRENCHMAN THE DISTINGUISHING CHARAC- TERISTIC OF ARAB TOWNS. S Bizerta was approached, some of those keen watchers from aloft, in the shape of two airplanes and French dirigible A.T. 8 , appeared from out of the mists in the direction of Sebra Bay. The dirigible assumed a position ahead of the con- voy, preserving the same approximate speed, while the two planes made graceful circles above the convoy, at an altitude so low that the throbbing of their engines could be distinctly heard. Too much cannot be said in respect to the value of these vastly varying pilots of the air in safeguarding a convoy from attack from afar, because of their widely spreading range of vision, which is much more than twice as far-reaching as any that is possible from the bridge or crow's-nest of a ship. Then too, except when at too great an altitude, it is often an easy matter to detect the outlines of a submerged U-boat far below the surface, something that is never possible from the deck of a vessel, where the vision is a glancing one that does not penetrate through a single ripple of the sea. [168] AN AMUSING SIDE TRIP Again there arose an oft-repeated discussion among careful observers as to the relative merits of the two systems of aerial navigation, and each had its sup- porters. Some declared distinctly in favor of the airplane because of its superior speed; others held as closely to the dirigible because of its greater cruising radius, while the adherents to the rules of safety first preferred the lighter- than-air machine because a collapsing wing or a rebellious motor could not make a sudden plunge into the sea inevitable. Opinions seemed to be equally divided as to the relative efficiency of the two systems, so the verbal contest was eventually decided as are boxing bouts where a decision is difficult. A draw was declared: the dirigible was the safer guide for a convoy, while the airplane would prove infinitely more aggressive and far- reaching as a defender. Sebra Bay was reached with an utter absence of interest, for it had gotten to be an old story, owing to the great number of Bizerta-Gibraltar convoys in which the Venetia had been a doughty policewoman, or, to more delicately express it, a protectress. On leaving Gibraltar, however, there had been rumors spread to the effect that a change of route for the future was en- tirely probable, and those of the ship's company who had decided to combine routine duties with side trips ashore began to discuss such possibilities as might be interesting in that direction. Bizerta itself had been learned by heart from every viewpoint, and was now "stale, flat, and unprofitable." The cafes had lost whatever modicum of charm they once seemed to offer, because their habituees were on terms of at least nodding acquaintance with nearly everyone on board, and now seemed to regard with languorous indifference the cap-ribbons bearing the V E N E A name U. S. S. Venetia. The shopkeepers even, having learned by oft-repeated experiment whom they could "trim" the easier, were courteous only to those par- ticular individuals and welcomed them with open arms, while they calmly smoked their pipes and cigarettes, regarding all others with utter disdain. The French and Arab maidens now lavished such of their smiles as were alluring upon newer comers, probably because they had learned to distinguish the difference between the amateur jacky who had left a family behind him and the professional one to whom family is merely a side issue not to be made a dampener of such association or pastime as might offer itself during shore liberty. The environs of Bizerta, however, had not as yet been explored, and were said to offer many points of interest well worth a visit. Having been deceived before by the assurances of clever and altogether biased regional boomers, it was decided to await a report from a group of venturesome pioneers, then in process of organization. This was composed of Paymaster Schnetz- ler, Lieutenants Armstrong and De Camp, and Ensign Howard, self-appointed pathfinders to blaze a trail toward pastures new to be invaded during possible future visits to Bizerta; that bailiwick having been definitely set down as being a dead one in so far as local attractiveness was concerned. There were openly expressed regrets on the part of most of the pathfinders as the intrepid group appeared at the railway station to board the 4:30 train for Tunis. The waiting-room was stuffy and dirty, the prospective passengers dirtier still, and the railway carriages ghastly ruins when placed in comparison with the most vener- able rolling stock of the poorest equipped railway in the United States. \ THE PARK, BIZERTA MARKET-PLACE, BIZERTA AN AMUSING SIDE TRIP "If this bus is any reflection of the policies of govern- ment ownership," said one of them as the already disgusted group climbed into the poorly ventilated compartment, "I'm for handing the American railroads back to the companies right away." The motion was carried without debate; and after a confusion of official voices on the platform, the slam- ming of the compartment door, the snorting of a long- unwashed little locomotive, and the shrill shriek of its piccolo whistle, the train pulled away and began to maintain a speed not appreciably greater than that of a loaded army truck. The pathfinders were somewhat pleased to note that they were not alone in the compartment, for above the brass-besprinkled dress uniform of the French Navy there beamed the countenance of a dapper little officer apparently of the rank of assistant surgeon which had stamped upon it all of the marks of gentleness, which seems always to be the prevailing characteristic of such part of his race as knows how to be polite. After the usually desultory conversation, touching upon scenery and the like, together with the obvious remarks regarding the indolence and evident squalor of the entire North African population, there came an interrupting query from the little Frenchman: "Pardon, messieurs. T a-t-il quelqu'un id qui parle fran$ais?" The fact that none of the Americans possessed more than a mere smattering of the Gallic tongue was duly communicated; but, not to be put aside through lack of any effort of his own, the stranger persisted in becoming acquainted by the more encouraging statement: "Eh bien, but eef you please I can to spik Inglees." V E N E T I A This claim was far from correct, as the reader may already have divined to his own satisfaction. Neverthe- less, it must be acknowledged that the labored precise- ness of his diction, together with its elaborateness of pantomime, made him quite intelligible and he was at once made thoroughly acquainted with the Americans, after a more or less intricate process of introduction. With increasing volubility in the delivery of what he believed to be "Inglees," he confided to the now deeply amused "Venetians" that he was a doctor in the French Navy, on leave, and about to visit a relative in Tunis. He was deeply grateful to have been so soon placed on terms of intimacy with officers of the great navy that had crossed the seas to the succor of his bleeding country, and forthwith appointed himself as guide and courier, to conduct them personally through the highways and byways of Tunis, all of which he had traversed many times. The acquaintance ripened into something like boon companionship during the three and a half hours con- sumed in the run to Tunis, and his earnest efforts to master the American songs "Uncle Sammy" and "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here" struck the American sense of the ridiculous as being side-splitting to a degree that shoved the proverbial box of monkeys far into the shade. On arrival at Tunis, "Doc" a sobriquet which offered him the most intense amusement detected his relative anxiously waiting for him and at once confided what he had decided to do: "Eef he shall not saw me he shall not know zat I veel come. I veel find heem to-morrow, but to-night I am for you. You veel find me on ze ozzaire side of la gare." And, turning the cold shoulder to his waiting relative, he managed to lose himself in the crowd and was soon [7a] G SIDE TRIP seen hurrying into concealment behind the railway station, to be soon joined by his new acquaintances, who were already deeply appreciative of his preference for their company. The "Doc" soon established himself among the Americans as being not only an amusing companion but a tower of strength as a courier and purchasing commis- sioner. His extreme volubility of speech, tinctured with innumerable faux pas in the struggle with a language almost entirely foreign to him, made him a continuous performance in vaudeville, while his intimate knowledge of the city, its hotel, and its shopkeepers quickly un- masked the interesting places of the one and disarmed the cupidity of the others. He was extremely liberal too, a fact deeply appreciated by the Americans, for it should be known that the pay of officers in the French Navy is relatively a mere pittance in comparison with that of our own. The sightseer at once clothes Tunis with the dignity of a real city, which is scarcely possible in defining the rank of Bizerta. It has many more and vastly better hotels than its smaller rival, and while its streets are no cleaner, or less malodorous, its examples of Moorish architecture are more numerous and its slums more intricate and noisome. This is scarcely complimentary to a city of minarets, domes, and gracefully waving palms which seems so poetically beautiful in photo- graphs taken from distant points of vantage; but the truth may as well be told, for these cities are all alike when considered from a purely sanitary point of view. The dinner at the hotel, with the "Doc" as caterer, was almost a revelation in gastronomy, and the adjourn- ment to the open-air street cafe for coffee disclosed a strange pageant of motley humanity, a very small per- ['73] V E N E T I A centage of which seemed to have the slightest notion that a great war was in progress at so short a distance beyond the northern sky-line. In the evening several "shows" were visited, most of which seemed still to cling to the " hootchee-kootchee" dance for their principal attraction, and then came an exhaustive inspection of the sordid squalor of night life in the Tunisian slums, which was not terminated until 3 A.M. At the hotel the "Doc" was most effusive in his regrets over the abrupt ending of an acquaintance which might easily have become a lasting friendship but for the exigencies of the war and the inevitable deterrent of distance. No doubt some knowledge that an expression of welcome or farewell by a kiss upon both cheeks is not a custom among American men prompted the little "Doc" to forego that -form of salute. But, after effu- sively, and almost hysterically, grasping his grateful guests by the hand, he said: "For all my heart I weesh I can to say au revoir, but I am moch to be afraid it must to have been adieu adieu!" It was confidently expected that the "Doc" would be at the 6:45 tram m the morning. But when it drew out of the station with him nowhere in sight, it was generally believed that possibly he had been sorely chided by his relative for the neglect of the evening before, and was now doing penance for it by a somewhat similar slight to his newer and less-lasting friends. [174] BAB-BENAT GATE, TUNIS BARRACKS AT TUNIS CHAPTER XXVII THRILLING DAYS AGAIN UNEVENTFUL RETURN TO GIBRALTAR THE "vENETIA" IS TRANS- FERRED TO THE GENOA CONVOY ROUTE TWO DAYS OF EXCITE- MENTA FUSILLADE OF DEPTH CHARGES TWO FREIGHTERS TORPEDOED. HE Tunisian pathfinders returned to the ship, after a hot and dusty ride through Tthe early morning hours, to find that a wm convoy of seven ships, mostly loaded with vegetables, was waiting for escort to Gibraltar. They were closely ques- tioned by their wardroom mates as to the advisability of making a liberty jaunt to Tunis in the event of a return to Bizerta. But while the report rendered by them was flattering in the extreme, a reading between its lines offered ample proof that any repetition of the outing would not justify the expense of it, in the absence of some person who would be competent to replace the "little French Doc." The run of four and a half days to Gibraltar had in it no outboard incident to disturb its zigzaggy monotony, except on the second day out, when a signal from the flagship directed the Venetia to investigate a suspicious- looking object that had been sighted by one of the merchantmen and its location verified by a dirigible V E N E T I A that had come out of Algiers to act as the "watchful eye" of the convoy. In spite of the fact that the miser- able quality of the oil, which was worse in Bizerta than that obtained in Gibraltar, rendered it impossible to retain any uniform pressure in the boilers, this bellig- erent detour was accepted without complaint, except from the chief engineer, whose objections, however pyrotechnically emphatic, were not conveyed to the captain. This digression from the routine formation proved to be another of those precautionary wild-goose chases. Nothing was found in the direction indicated, and it was generally conceded that, if there had been an enemy submarine there, he was not of the kind to "stand out and fight in the open," so had discretely submerged. All the way to Gibraltar the fuel oil gave constant trouble, and had it not been for the foresight that had installed a capacious "steamer" in the galley, all hands would have been compelled to subsist on cold "chow," for the range positively refused to burn. An officer who came on deck immediately after one of Chief Perry's splenetic criticisms of both French and English oil profiteering reported that had his last outburst been conveyed to the home governments there must have resulted either his "resignation for the good of the service" or a severance of friendly relations between those countries and the United States. On arrival at the "Rock" it was learned that at last the Venetia was to be transferred to another convoy route, which was to be the vastly more interesting, and no doubt equally exciting, one to Genoa, Italy. To give added significance to this news rumors were heard to the effect that "The Painted Siren of Babylon" had become accredited with the enviable reputation of being THRILLING DAYS AGAIN altogether the real fighting ship in any escort of which she had formed a part. Then too, the belief that the Venetia would soon be acclaimed as the true avenger of the Lusifania, in disabling the submarine U-39, was gradually gaining ground, and proofs of that glorious achievement must soon be forthcoming. These proofs, however, not having yet lifted the story out of the realm of common gossip, and since no second conference had been called to determine the truth or falsity of it, the Venetia took her place at the "fighting end" of the first Gibraltar-Genoa convoy, of twelve ships, with every man aboard of her, from captain to oilers, morally certain that these gratifying rumors were utterly un- deniable. There were now two passengers aboard, which fact again provided the wardroom with the ever-welcome appearance at the mess of new faces. These were Sur- geons C. H. Weaver and G. S. Phillips, U. S. N., on leave and bound for Genoa, and it is no stricture upon the personal charm of comrades of long standing to con- fess that there is much relief in finding stranger smiles and newer voices to salute and return in the morning across the breakfast-table, in place of the usual per- functory salutation, if indeed there be any at all. It must be confessed that the morning meal is often begun and dispatched m grim silence, except when the commanding officer is in the mood for conversation or instruction, and as a rule the seeming impoliteness is, after all, excusable. The hours of sleep are brief enough at the best; but when one of these is broken by the un- necessary clatter of dishes, or chatter of garrulous ship- mates in the adjoining cabin, some sort of a breakfast- table "grouch" becomes a certainty. On the second day out a radio message was picked up [177] IfiJ V E N E T I A warning all guard-ships to be ready for immediate ac- tion, as two submarines had been sighted some miles ahead of the convoy. Any caution of this nature was scarcely necessary on board of the Venetia, for her skip- per had already satisfied himself that all guns were loaded and "sure fire," likewise that the detonating pistols and launching gear of the depth charges would be ready when wanted. The submarines failed to ap- proach within fighting distance during all of that night and the next day. But on the day following, shortly after sunset, that deadly muffled report and column of black- ened spray alongside of the British S. S. Messidor con- veyed the intelligence that she had been fatally struck, and then soon followed the fateful message to the effect that she was sinking and needed immediate assistance. Lieutenant Mangan, who was on watch, sounded "general quarters" and signaled the engine-room for full speed ahead. The Venetia plunged into the gathering darkness with every man at his post and Gunner Jacobus at the launching gear of the depth charges awaiting the order to "launch away." This soon came, for the ship was now within the calculated area of the submarine's action, and the first charge exploded so close to the stern that everyone forward believed she had surely been torpedoed. But reassurance came with the launch- ing of more charges so rapidly that, in considerably less than twenty minutes, twelve of them had churned the black waters into a mass of writhing foam. Sharp eyes and keen visions peered long into the night for the signs of another enemy destroyed. But none appearing, attention was paid to the sinking Messidor^ which suddenly dived out of sight at 10:40, and all but one of her crew of thirty-four were saved by the British trawler Kadania. It was learned that this single fatality DESTRUCTION EXPIATION THRILLING DAYS AGAIN was a fireman, who must have been killed on the first impact of the torpedo, for his vessel was struck immedi- ately under the boilers, and it was most fortunate that her entire engine-room force had not met a similar fate. The Venetia was now many miles astern of her defen- sive position off the starboard quarter of the convoy which of course was not anywhere in sight and while in search of it an inspection was made of the stern to determine what damage, if any, had been caused by the close inboard explosions of her own depth charges. Fortunately, however, the damage to the hull was not serious enough to create any alarm; but the shock in itself was so severe as to crack mirrors and jar away the tiling in bathrooms and about the wardroom fireplace. The ship was now "secured from general quarters," and all on board, save only those in the routine watches, retired to dream of another possible destruction of an enemy submarine, and to record in their memories one more night battle bravely fought by their now more than ever beloved Venetia. At daylight the next morning before the ship had overhauled the convoy, there were sounds of heavy cannonading ahead, which continued for many minutes, and there were many pangs of disappointment because another opportunity for added glory must have been missed. Just before the convoy was reached, the firing ceased as suddenly as it had begun, and when the Venetia had returned to her formation position, it was discovered that the supposed naval battle had been precipitated by a false alarm that had plunged every vessel of the convoy into a panicky cannonading. The presence of one or more submarines was known, because during the night the S. S. Rutlinglin had been torpedoed and sank in twenty minutes. At daylight one of the ships naturally a merchant- man had signaled that a submarine had been sighted close by, and immediately began firing. Then followed perhaps a hundred shots or more, discharged at nothing but their wakes or innocent porpoises, a large school of which was passing at the time. This decidedly sham battle caused considerable amusement in the convoy when the several accounts were radioed about from ship to ship, and one account . was to the effect that the Wenonah had fired several shots into her own wake. This latter story may be with safety set down as being alto- gether authentic, since it was duly recorded in the official deck log of the Venetia and commented upon at length in the diaries of two of the officers. Early in the forenoon of the next day two French trawlers hove in sight at such a rate of speed for vessels of that class and build that for a time they were mis- taken for enemy gunboats. But when their signals were made out and the reason for their hasty approach duly wigwagged, it developed that they had been sent to escort two of the merchantmen into Marseilles. The detaching of the two vessels was effected without any further ceremony than their turning out of formation and proceeding to the north without even displaying a good-bye pennant. The interest attendant upon this purely perfunctory ceremony was now diverted toward two destroyers approaching the convoy from the direction of the Italian coast. They proved to be under the flag of our Roman allies, and since the convoy had already, in the opinion of those most concerned, been provided with adequate protection, the new arrivals were regarded as having been politely dispatched by the Italian authorities to escort the Venetia and her less important assistants to [180] THRILLING DAYS AGAIN the enviably historic port of Genoa for the first time. There was a real thrill of excitement again that after- noon when, during luncheon, "general quarters" was sounded and gastronomic activities were suspended for those of promised warfare. Three merchantmen were signaling the presence of a close-by submarine, and Captain Porterfield mechanically lifted his binoculars to make out the usual signal, "Venetia will proceed to investigate ahead," or, to employ the vernacular of the forecastle, "Get busy and bag that sub." The expected signal was already floating from the halliards of the flagship, and the Venetia appeared jauntier than ever in her response as she proceeded in the direction signaled, to find that she had again been dispatched to establish that some characteristically hysterical merchantman had perpetrated another false alarm. m CHAPTER XXVIII GENOA TO GIBRALTAR 'DOING" THE BIRTHPLACE OF COLUMBUS VARIED IMPRESSIONS A GALE IN THE GULF OF LYONS CHANGE OF COMMANDERS. HORTLY after sunrise on July 26, the justly famed and truly beautiful harbor of Genoa was entered with the convoy in a long, single-line formation, many miles in length owing to the narrowness H of the entrance channel and the con- gested condition of the mooring places, for there are no anchorages where a vessel may "drop her hook" and swing to and fro with the tide. It was so crowded with all types of marine craft, lying close together, that one of the men, who hailed from Alameda, compared it with the lying-in basin of Oakland Creek, during the idle months, when all the Alaska salmon fleet, sealing and whaling vessels are in winter quarters there. More than two hours were consumed in stretching cables from bow and stern to the bow or stern of the nearest vessel, and even then the mooring was not free, for the U. S. S. Wenonah was secured alongside of the Venetia. While this was not comfortable, or quite safe in the estimations of those who had previously supposed that free and unrestricted anchorage was necessary to berthing comfort, it provided a close neighbor for the [181] GENOA TO GIBRALTAR Venetian humorists. These bantering souls neglected no opportunity to crack jokes over the sudden attack of hysteria that fell upon the Wenonah on the morning of the 24th, when she mistook her own wake for that of an enemy submarine and venomously discharged into it many precious projectiles from her three-inch guns. It was noted that the replies to these sallies were neither courteous nor polite, indicating a strangely unreceptive sense of humor on the part of the WenonaHs crew. Therefore, during the rest of the twenty-four-hour stay in Genoa, communication between the two vessels was confined to mere nodded salutations or desultory con- versation on subjects not so provocative of ridicule. The knowledge that the stay in Genoa must be very brief, lasting only until the following morning, made applications for shore liberty very numerous. The streets of the home town of Columbus were soon filled with sightseeing officers and sailors in the American uniform, bent variously upon a change of food in its many excellent cafes, visits to its numerous points of interest, or mental relaxation in its theatres and moving- picture houses. The magnificent Columbus monument was visited first in most instances, perhaps out of re- spect for the prevailing Italian notion that but for Italy and her adventurous son America would up to this very day be peopled by her aboriginal races. If at that mo- ment the men from the Venetia had been on a sightseeing jaunt in Florence, however, true Florentine eloquence would no doubt have so assailed their sentimental beliefs that, after being shown the alleged former resi- dence of one Amerigo Vespucci, they must willy-nilly give credence to the claim that to Florence, and not Genoa, must be accorded the glory of having through a favored son won the distinction of being alone respon- V E N E T I A sible for having placed the Western Hemisphere on the map of the world. Such is fame, and so are the confusing differences of opinion in the writing of medieval history! The point of interest which attracted the most atten- tion, and which is the one almost invariably first visited by the sojourner in Genoa, was of course that singular admixture of art and artifice known as the Public Cemetery. Here, above the graves of venerated dead, have been erected some of the best examples of modern sculpture, to be almost submerged in the mass of con- glomerate crudity which mechanically betrays, ac- cording to the tastes or beliefs of the builders, the different stages of gloom and adulation. This was, naturally enough, the principal topic of discussion on the deck of the Venetia that night before "Taps," and while the criticisms were numerous and strangely varied, the prevailing impression seemed to be to the effect that the Genoese graveyard is the most surprising art exhibition in all the world, which it cer- tainly is. There were other criticisms, too, and few of them altogether complimentary to the much-vaunted fame of the city where Columbus was probably born, but which utterly withheld its admiration until he had done something worth while under the more speculative standard of Ferdinand and Isabella. One enthusiastic exponent of the virtues of spaghetti as a nutritious article of diet complained that in several places he had inquired for his favorite food in vain. He had gone ashore full of a long-unfulfilled ambition to feast upon the "Wop's indispensable dish in the Wop's own land." But nobody seemed to know what spaghetti meant, and he was compelled to satisfy his appetite with some other form of pasta, prepared after a fashion not to be at all placed in favorable comparison with the old- [184] GENOA TO GIBRALTAR familiar spaghetti to be had at all times in restaurants at the foot of Telegraph Hill in San Francisco for the small sum of twenty-five cents. There were emphatic complaints, too, from those who had gone ashore determined to disagree with Secretary Daniels in his ideas as to what forms of beverages should be used in the navy. Sweet vermouth and sour wine seemed to be the only drinks to be had for a price com- mensurate with the pay of a sailor, while the vini spumenti, as Italian champagnes are called, were too expensive, and the brandies so full of "kick" as to render the "call to the mast" almost inevitable on the following morning. For reasons best known to themselves, the reported impressions of the officers following their first visit to Genoa were almost unanimously flattering, and most of them felt tinges of regret in contemplation of their return to Gibraltar on the following morning, with a possibility of Bizerta revisited in prospect. In explana- tion of this favorable impression of Genoa, however, it should be said that such of the officers as made the tour of the city were, as a rule, guided about and financially managed by Lieutenant Krump, of the Red Cross, who had all the sights worth seeing at his finger-tips, could speak Italian fluently, and disarmed the gouging pro- clivities of the cafe proprietors by making preliminary dickers for supplies that in most cases gave the pur- chaser decidedly the best of it. These "shore feeds" were almost invariably managed on the "Dutch treat" principle, share and share alike for everything consumed. This system had already gained many converts away from the hospitable but often burdensome American habit of indiscriminate treating, which permits the remittance man to flaunt his I V E N E T I A \ wealth ostentatiously, while it keeps the depender upon pay always in debt or in danger of being included on the list of the penurious. At 9:30 on the following morning Genoa was cleared with a convoy of twenty ships bound for Gibraltar, and the Venetia in the scouting and fighting position astern. The night passed without incident, but the next day was marked by a more than ordinarily stiff gale in crossing the Gulf of Lyons, which soon placed the hitherto regularly formed convoy in such hopeless confusion that its lost members were not found and guided back into their stations for twenty-four hours. The safety-rail of the maintop crow's-nest was carried away during the night, so the service of a lookout in that station was necessarily dispensed with until it could be repaired when daylight should serve. The only other damage sustained during this stormy passage of the Gulf of Lyons which many mariners have termed "Biscay the Second" was reported the next day when the flagship signaled the Venetia to stand by her, as she had broken down. The convoy proceeded on its way half protected until hasty repairs could be made to the flagship's engines, when it was soon over- taken, and Gibraltar reached on the following morning without further mishap of any kind and no ceremony except the usual setting of the ship's clocks an hour ahead. Greenwich mean time (G. M. T.) is always used at sea, while the clocks are changed to shore time on en- tering a port. To illustrate this almost daily changing of time on some runs, be it said that in both Genoa and Bizerta the shore time is two hours ahead of G. M. T. during the summer, and an hour ahead in the winter, as at these ports they use Central Europe time. [186] THE TRANSFER OF COMMANDERS GENOA TO GIBRALTAR On the day after arrival in Gibraltar (August 2) much surprise was created by the announcement that Captain Porterfield, who had so ably commanded the Venetia during the most exacting incidents of her career, was to be detached to command the U. S. S. Wheeling, being replaced by Captain Charles F. Howell, who had gained an enviable reputation through many years of service in the U. S. Coast Guard. Whether the change was made "for the good of the service" or effected through per- sonal request was not known, and what was said with reference to it was merely conjecture and the unsatis- factory speculations of rumor. It was no one's business anyway except his own, and it may be said without fear of contradiction that there were few aboard among officers or crew who were not sorry to see him one of the two main figures in the ceremonies of the transfer. These were simple, with an atmosphere of the serious about them, giving them an official solemnity that was most attractive to the uninitiated. Officers and crew, arrayed in clean white uniforms, dressed for inspection on the boat deck in two columns. After the usual routine inspection, Captain Porterfield read his orders from the Navy Department transferring him to the Wheeling, and Captain Howell read his assigning him to the command of the Venetia. Then, after a thorough inspection of the ship by the two officers, followed by general drills, Captain Porterfield waved good-bye to all, quietly descended the gangway to a waiting launch amid the cheers of the assembled crew, and the Venetia was now commanded by a new captain, who had good-fellowship mingled with deter- mined authority stamped on every feature of his pleasant face. CHAPTER XXIX UNDER A NEW COMMANDER CAPTAIN HOWELL INTRODUCES HIMSELF BRIEF SKETCH OF HIS CAREER COURTEOUSLY BUSINESSLIKE AND THEN BIZERTA AGAIN! APTAIN HOWELL lost no time in placing himself in close touch with his roster of officers and outlining to them his intentions and policies. Immediately following the cermonies of assuming command, he assembled all commis- sioned officers in the wardroom, acquainted himself with the name of each of them, and then addressed them in a pleasant, chatty way, carrying with it a certain sort of manly authority that was most attractive to his hearers. He said that he had no friends aboard, and would endeavor to make none, since it was always his custom to avoid the playing of favorites. All he required was constant service and strict attention, and so long as he knew that everyone was performing his duty to the best of his ability, there would be no complaints from him, and he hoped that no one would annoy him with petty complaints concerning small matters. The meet- ing adjourned with everyone convinced that the change of commanders had not been for the worse in an ex- ecutive way, and he withdrew with a pleasant smile that [188] UNDER A NEW COMMANDER gave promise of much cordiality during the off-watch hours, when the junior officer places a high estimate upon an exchange of pleasantries or a brief conversation with the skipper. Charles Frederick Howell was born in Bordentown, N. J., March 19, 1881, and educated himself with a view of entering permanently into the stirring and ever- shifting business of the sea. At the age of eighteen he entered the U. S. Revenue Cutter Service (now known as the Coast Guard), and received his commission two years later. He has made many cruises in Atlantic, Pacific, and Alaskan waters, and is well known in San Francisco, where he has made many friends both in and out of the service. On the outbreak of hostilities with Germany, he was entrusted with the duty of locating radio and submarine bases in the Caribbean Sea. Subse- quently he was sent overseas and commanded an escort for convoys from Gibraltar to England, Wales, and Portugal, until his assignment to the Venetia. It had taken both officers and crew some little time to accustom themselves to the stern, authoritative bearing of Captain Porterfield, trained into him during his four years' course at the Naval Academy, where the curriculum with respect to discipline may be said to be more or less undemocratic. But after a few months the snappy emphasis of his commands and the earnest but aggressive method of describing anything he wanted done were accepted as a matter of course, coming as they did from a Government-made naval officer. With Captain Howell, however, it was not difficult to make a mental photograph of his nature and character almost with the rapidity of a snap-shot. Having worked his way in his chosen service from its rudimentary stages to the dignity of a commission, his official bearing at [189] \(& V E N E T I A once gave the impression that he was a man who would be the captain of his own craft in its strictest sense. This, too, with an utter absence of anything approach- ing "side"; and that impression became strengthened with each of his official acts until the Venetia finally went out of commission. His first concern after the meeting in the wardroom was to become thoroughly familiar with his ship, and the Venetia was carefully inspected, with the assistance of the mechanical force, from stem to stern and from conning-tower to keelson. This inspection revealed the necessity of an early going into dry dock for repairs, cleaning, and overhauling, which must be attended to as soon as his request for them could be officially ap- proved. This would probably be done immediately after the already organized convoy had been escorted to its destination and another one brought back to Gibraltar. The announcement that the Venetia was to be restored to the Bizerta run, at least temporarily, was not re- ceived with the least sign of pleasure by anyone aboard. Strange to relate, the numerous swimming parties that went ashore seemed to betray the existence of a general impression that thorough cleanliness was a glaring es- sential for a comfortable return to the more or less unwholesome purlieus of Northern Africa. Chief Perry, having learned that oil of good quality was to be had at the supply station, ordered 40,000 gallons of it, sufficient for a cruising radius of 3500 miles, and the water-tanks were filled with an excellent quality of that indispensable liquid from the great storing res- ervoirs high up on the precipitous sides of the "Big Rock." The Chief was asked why it was that crude petroleum was sold by the gallon and pure water by the ton; but he offered no explanation, and a somewhat [190] CAPTAIN CHARLES F. HOWELL UNDER A NEW COMMANDER scathing reference to " Foolish Question 1323" was over- heard as he disappeared down the hatchway to the torrid lairs of his "Black Gang." The first departure under a new commander was made four days after his coming abroad, or, to be more precise, on the 6th of August. The Venetia moved to her old station on the port quarter of the convoy of nine ships, and the run to Bizerta was effected with monoto- nous regularity, never having been once interrupted even by the almost .inevitable signal to zigzag some- where out of formation and investigate a "suspicious object." Smaller interest than ever was expressed for unfra- grant Bizerta, and scarcely anyone applied for liberty, except the old "mossbacks," to whom the privilege has become an incurable habit and is demanded immediately on entering a port, whether they really want it or not. Remembering the interesting experiences of the run over to Tunis on the last Bizerta visit, another similar jaunt was organized by "Pay," Howard, Armstrong, and De Camp, with a further purpose of visiting ancient Carthage as a new side trip out of Bizerta. It seemed to this adventurous quartette a most promising omen that in the railway compartment with them there was another French naval surgeon, who was at once made guide and purchasing commissioner, vice the "little Doc," lost, strayed, stolen, or passed into oblivion. He proved an excellent substitute in the more ma- terial duties of his temporary office, for he was truly a master of the gentle art of preventing extortion, and always cheerfully produced his one-fifth of all expendi- tures relating to appetites affecting either liquid or solid substances. But he lacked the humor, celerity, and exactness of "Doc," and after enfolding a panorama of '> N E T I V E A Tunis by gaslight which did not improve on second acquaintance, he finally succeeded in removing what- ever good impressions had been formed of him by hurrying his charges to a train. This arrived at Bizerta too late in the morning to make the Carthage visit possible, and the return convoy was scheduled to steam away at noon. The weather was balmy but distressingly hot, and the progress of the convoy of twelve ships at a speed of seven knots was altogether too slow to create one of those cooling breezes that invariably accompany speed on land or sea. Worst of all, if any air whatever was stirring it came from astern, rendering automatic ven- tilation impossible. Fortunately, however, our old friend Suspicious Object was signaled from the flagship, and the Venetia, speeding up, zigzagged herself into a delicious breeze, which burned away as she returned to the convoy after investigating an innocent nun-buoy, no doubt wrenched loose by the sea from some close-by harbor. The same kind of relief came on the following day probably the hottest Sunday in the memory of anyone aboard when the "suspicious object" demanding official investigation under full speed proved to be a life-raft, "unpeopled and alone, on the glassy swells of a breezeless sea." Wash day dawned with splashing ripples playing about the cutwater and along the sides, while nature's own blessed ventilation was present in the form of a spanking breeze dead ahead. Then came radio messages, both from headquarters ashore and a far-distant diri- gible, warning the convoy of the presence in the neigh- borhood of several submarines, and directing that it proceed in single-line formation into the forbidden [192] UNDER A NEW COMMANDER neutral waters along the Spanish coast. "Happily, the Venetias allotted division was composed of speedy vessels, so Captain Howell telegraphed the Chief to " hit 'er up," and the division arrived at Gibraltar on Wednesday, many hours in advance of the remainder of the convoy. Immediately on arrival at the "Rock," Captain Howell buckled on his sword and donned all of the regalia permitted by the brass-detesting Secretary of the Navy to attend the ceremonies consequent upon the assuming of command at the Gibraltar base by Sir Herbert Guthrie-Smith, in place of Sir Rupert Miles, transferred. The elaborateness of this affair gave it an atmosphere of true monarchial pomp when placed in comparison with the perfunctory simplicity of the exchange of command- ers on board of the Venetia only a few days before. There was a reviewing-stand, approached by a carpeted path, and decorated with much British bunting together with a display of the colors of the Allied nations, in which the Stars and Stripes were not altogether in- conspicuous. Apparently the entire population of Gibraltar was assembled on the parade-ground, and the army barracks and naval craft in the harbor had been denuded of soldiers, sailors, and marines, who passed in review to the music of a melodious aggregation of brass bands. Speeches were made which were altogether inaudible to the assembled multitude; the orders of the incoming and outgoing governors-general were read by their sec- retaries; Sir Rupert shook hands with Sir Herbert with stolid dignity; the crowd cheered as the military stood at "present arms"; and, then, while the pageant was melting away, the two dignitaries were either com- miserated or congratulated by the assembled officers, iii V E N E T I A with all of the brilliant ceremonial of a presentation at Court. When Captain Howell returned aboard he announced that the Venetia would within a day or two go into dry dock, perhaps for a period of thirty days. Not that there were any "outward and visible signs" of defects that could impair her efficiency in any way ; but she had now been in the service for considerably more than a year, subjected to the most strenuous activities ever yet exacted of a vessel of her type, and the new skipper very considerately thought that a thorough "tuning and resting up" was long overdue. CHAPTER XXX DRY-DOCK DAYS OFF ON LEAVE REVIVAL OF THE BELIEF THAT THE "vENETIA" AVENGED THE "LUSITANIA" A COLLISION NECESSITATES RE- PAIRSIN THE HALLS OF THE ALHAMBRA READY FOR SERVICE. knowledge that the protracted period of activity attendant upon overhauling would require greatly restricted duties from both officers and crew brought the first visions for extended liberty that had come since leaving the home port. The opportunity was grasped with avidity at once. In this regard Captain Howell was most liberal, for he be- lieved that men can become rusty from too much ex- posure as can steel plates and machinery. His keen perception had told him that there were several cases of fag and nervousness among the officers, while the morning police court ceremonies "at the mast" were becoming more and more frequent. He knew that change of scene and as unrestricted liberty as could reasonably be expected would restore the morale of his personnel to its original excellent standard, and so encouraged jaunts to points of historical interest by those who could afford it, while liberty on the Gibraltar "Beach" was made general, albeit with an increased shore patrol. r V E N E T I A Naval shore patrol is necessary owing to the fact that the naval force in a port is made responsible for the behavior of the personnel of its several ships, and a com- missioned officer is detailed to act as an extemporized captain of police, while a certain number of enlisted men are detailed to make arrests for any infractions of local laws or navy regulations. The offenders are taken to their own ships for judgment and punishment, instead of being tried and imprisoned by the local authorities, and this custom is general in all countries. No one who does not select that very essential kind of duty as a live- lihood likes to be made a police officer, so the detail as officer of patrol is generally regarded as being the most ungrateful duty of naval routine. But nearly everyone above the grade of enlisted man is likely to be assigned to it, and generally takes his medicine without com- plaint, for he knows that it would profit him nothing if he made one. The first to "shove off" on ten days' leave were " Doc" Drake and young De Camp, who apparently had not yet surfeited themselves with the allurements of North Africa, and so hurried aboard of an eastbound convoy for Oran and Algiers. The other officers began to discuss pairing off for similar jaunts in the near future, con- ferences as to routes and the probable cost being first an unavoidable feature. Admiral Niblack came aboard, inspected the ship with great care, and unhesitatingly pronounced her to be without the slightest doubt the stanchest and most efficient converted yacht that had yet come under his observation. He furthermore sent thrills of patriotic pride into the souls of officers and jackies by the reiter- ation of his firm belief that the Venetia had by her own depth charges made herself the true avenger of the DRY-DOCK DAYS Lusitania, such assistance as was claimed by other vessels being largely negative. There seemed now to be but little doubt that the German submarine U-39 the officially accredited destroyer of the Lusitania now hopelessly disabled and interned in the Spanish port of Cartagena, had been placed hors de combat by the Venetia, and within a short space of time that fact would be duly recognized by both the British and United States governments. The main points of evidence he was not yet at liberty to divulge, but all known details had been forwarded to Admiral Sims, who had in turn forwarded them to the British Admiralty, and a full report would be soon rendered. This truly exhilarating fund of information was of course impossible of concealment in the breasts of the wardroom officers, for among naval volunteers and reserves there is much more cordiality than could pos- sibly exist in the regular navy, and it spread about the ship with the celerity and conviction of news from a village gossip at a church sewing circle. Small wonder then that the shore patrol was busier than usual that night, that commissioned officers themselves did not altogether escape its vigilance, and that the punish- ments "at the mast" the next morning were meted out with the usual preponderance of dignity, but accom- panied by a singular moiety of severity. There now occurred an accident which placed the Venetia in a condition requiring not only refitting and cleaning but absolute repairs of a more or less elaborate kind. The basin inside the mole in which the ship was moored was considerably congested, and H. M. S. Jeannette II was moored alongside. Then, under tow, U. S. S. Seneca, in attempting to moor in her place as she was towed away, lost steering way, and her stern V E N E T I A struck the Venetia a heavy blow well forward, breaking the telescope from Number 3 gun, tearing away part of the rail, dislodging the foretopmast, bringing it hurtling down upon her own deck, and so damaging the Venetia s foremast itself that a new one was made necessary. The decks now swarmed with the only kind of dock- yard workmen possible in those days when the good men were either at the front or enlisted aboard of the ships, so the Spanish neutrals known as "spiggs" were employed. These were slow, surly, dirty, and venial, and as the lily farmer contemplated the first shift of them that shuffled aboard, he laughed sneeringly and said: "Why, one of those Yaqui peons down in Mexico is sure a speed-king alongside one o' these ducks." On the 26th of August, the Venetia, "slightly dis- figured but still in the ring," entered Dry Dock No. i, followed by U. S. S. Seneca, whose uncontrollable stern had wrought the damage. There was deep satisfaction in the breast of everyone aboard that the wound en- forcing this temporary idleness had not been inflicted by a Hun projectile, and there was an added compensation in the reflection that the Seneca herself was a companion cripple in the dry dock. Prior to entering the dock all ammunition had been removed from the magazines, and these, as well as state- and store-rooms were thoroughly cleaned and painted where necessary, and rust in every part of the ship "chipped away" and similarly covered. While all of this work was progressing it was decided that the Venetia s personnel should shine in social as well as athletic func- tions, and after a game of baseball with a team from the Seneca and Castine and won by the latter there occurred the long-to-be-remembered Venetia Dance which was given in the "Assembly." JAUNTING IN SPAIN GENERAL VIEW OF THE ALHAMBRA D R Y-D O C K DAYS In addition to officers and enlisted men, not absent on leave, invitations had been issued to all Gibraltar officials whose names were obtainable, and when in the "wee sma' hours" the bugle called "all ceremonies off," it was unanimously pronounced altogether the most enjoyable social function given at Gibraltar since the beginning of the war, because it was given after the true American democratic way, with an entire absence of stiffness and more or less of a disregard of conventions. There being now no need of more than one or two officers aboard the laid-up Venetia> the prearranged extended leaves began to depart, commencing with Schnetzler and Howard, who took the evening boat for Algeciras, bound for Granada and the wondrous Al- hambra, to be soon followed by Bussell and Mangan. There were misunderstandings with reference to the arrival and departure of trains by both couples, and the four officers came suddenly together at Bobadilla and boarded the train for Granada. The first tour out of a distressingly indifferent hotel, whose genuine Spanish provender was unanimously pronounced to be vastly inferior to the cheapest Mexican table d'hote in Los Angeles, was sadly unpropitious owing to the inefficiency of a surly Castilian who surely must have been the worst guide in all Spain. After numerous disputes he was detached and paid off; another one secured, who was a grade or two better; and after tickets were bought entitling the party to ad- mission to all buildings and palaces of interest, the tour of one of the most beautiful historical cities in all the world was begun. This continued through two beautiful days full of fascination over the wonderfully preserved speci- mens of Moorish architecture, and gardens almost as full of gorgeous bloom as suburban California. ['99] V E N E T I A It is not in the province of this volume to descend to the advertising propensities of the guide-book author, since its mission is to record the incidents in a war- vessel's exciting career. But a few of these side trips are touched upon for the purpose of showing that war is not all horror, and that its searchers after martial glory may find relief from its sickening vicissitudes amid the odors of flowers, and where the battered citadel can be replaced by wondrous vistas of palaces whose wars are now ghostly memories among the pictures of, let us hope, eternal peace. Four days in all were spent by the four Venetia boys in, about, and around the glorious mysteries of Gra- nada's Alhambra, and that they might supply their shipmates with adequate descriptions of its many beauties some of them studied "The Conquest of Granada" most assiduously on the return train. But, after standing once more on the deck of their home craft, still swarming with loitering workmen and un- comely in the smoky environment of the dry dock, the obvious retort of the officer first addressed as to how he enjoyed the trip was the handing over of the book, with the words: "You fellows can read all about it in 'The Conquest of Granada,' and to prove that we were there here's a photograph of the four of us taken on the spot. But if you expect any of us to give a wardroom lecture about it that would be any good why it can't be done." It was the i4th of September before the repairs were finally made and the regenerated Venetia moved saucily to a harbor mooring to be assigned to her station in the convoy ready to start for Genoa. She now no longer wore the gaudy camouflage habili- ments designed for her by the imaginative Mr. Fisher [ 200] r^ji W *s?5i: .- ;* ' ^:H^ MASQUERADING AT THE ALHAMBRA SCHNETZLER, MANGAN, BUSSELL, AND HOWARD DRY-DOCK DAYS and worn by her on many courses, calm and turbulent, peaceful and warlike. Her singular but confusing garb of many colors and to confuse is the purpose of camou- flage had made her so conspicuous as to cause her to be mentioned in German dispatches captured from prisoners, and as a consequence orders were issued that she be painted in the familiar ante-wartime battleship gray. It was also said that Captain Howell did not see as much humor in her several notorious nicknames as Cap- tain Porterfield had, and so had himself asked permis- sion to make the change. At all events the change was made and she looked all the better for it. Her former colors had been false as sirens are false ; she was now no longer pointed at as the "Painted Jezebel" or "Vampire of Babylon," but was a modestly attired, inconspicuous converted yacht, done over for renewed activities. As the Venetia moved out into the stream one of the swarthy and diminutive mess attendants was made out gesticulating madly from the dock and in his polyglot dialect begging to be taken aboard. He hailed from those beautiful island possessions in the Far East which enjoy the distinction of being the only country in all history that was occupied by right of conquest and then paid for by an indemnity of $20,000,000, as though the con- querors were the real malefactors who had brought about the war and the consequent victory of Dewey at Manila Bay. Moved by the manana instincts of his race, he had either forgotten that his vessel was scheduled to sail that morning or had become imbued with those ideals of personal independence which have been en- couraged into his race by a super-altruistic adminis- tration and supposed that, of course, he could take his own time in getting aboard. A few days later the Venetia had responded to an order from the commodore of the [201] ill V E N E T I A convoy to investigate a "suspicious object" with the usual fruitless results. The object proved to be a water- logged ship's-boat, and after the return to station in the formation the lily farmer was heard to remark: "I sure am disappointed. I'd have bet even money it was going to be that Filipino risking starvation in an open boat rather than neglect his duty." The Venetias duty in this convoy of eleven ships was to zigzag astern of it with an incessant frequency that kept the watch officer's nerves continually on edge. For the first time since she had been actively engaged in convoying there was a foreign commodore, and, being Italian, he must have been imbued with all of the explosive excitability of his race, for he was continually wigwagging or wirelessing instructions, and insisted upon these interminable and wearing changes of direc- tion in all sorts of weather and under all conditions of light or darkness. This insistence on zigzagging at night by the guard- vessels no matter what their station in the convoy almost resulted in dire calamity on the night before reaching Genoa. The Venetia was "wobbling" along, feeling her way through the impenetrable black of night, when suddenly one of the merchantmen, the War Drake, loomed up directly across her bows, almost close enough to have heaved a biscuit on her deck. Lieutenant Bussell, who had the watch at the time, telegraphed " full speed astern," put the helm hard over to the right, and almost grazed the port quarter of the War Drake before he passed astern of her. Had the merchantman been sunk Bussell would have been subjected to the record-clouding humiliation of a general court martial, with the probable resultant re- duction of several numbers in rank, and through no DRY-DOCK DAYS fault of his own. But Captain Howell had already ven- tilated his indignant amazement over this system of night zigzagging, congratulated Bussell for his quickness of thought and action, and expressed his keen satis- faction when, a few days later in Gibraltar, Bussell received his commission as a "bull" lieutenant. 1 This run to Genoa was accomplished within five days, when the news came aboard that a convoy was waiting and would move to the westward on the following morning. As a consequence, nothing was reported in the way of adventure or sightseeing, barring a few indul- gences in "beach chow" 2 and one or two drives along the interesting cliff drive east to Genoa. This convoy formed and was gotten under way at 8 130 and Gibraltar was reached without interruption or incident of any kind, through balmy weather, a smooth sea, and a close adherence to the Italian system of continuous zig- zagging. l .\ slang phrase almost invariably used in the navy for the rank of a full lieutenant. 2 Meals ashore. i i [203] CHAPTER XXXI TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE DULL DAYS AT "GIB*' ANOTHER GALE IN THE GULF OF LYONS A HIDE-AND-SEEK CONVOY HOMESICK NURSES ENLIVENED. G IBRALTAR was becoming more and more trite and uninteresting every day. All places and side trips of interest had been done over and over again; bull- fights had long since been tabooed as being altogether out of harmony with the American notions of fair play; English cricket did not appeal, and but for an occasional boxing-match and game of baseball there would have been no attractive outdoor amusement; there had been no recent encoun- ters with submarines to brag about; and there seemed to exist in all quarters that attitude of indifference that seems irremovable from the demeanor of stranger folk with whom one comes into contact nearly every day. In this connection, too, it may be stated, with no fear of successful contradiction, that cases of close intimacy between Americans and the service personnels of other nations must be regarded as being glaring exceptions to what is almost undeniably a general rule. There is no cohesion of tastes, habits, or sense of humor, nor any ac- cord whatever in the appreciation of things material or the viewpoint from which a subject is discussed. [204] TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE When the American forces first came overseas to strengthen the shattered battlefronts and render in- vincible the insufficient Allied navies, they were received with the enthusiasm and acclaim of veritable redeemers from certain disaster. But constant association of dif- fering natures and temperaments; the sallies of the American joker, always considered as impertinent by those who have never learned how to take a joke, soon engendered a resentment that grew into dislike, and then came what is much worse to the American nature absolute indifference and patronizing disdain. So, long before the signing of the armistice, it became all too apparent, the other Allied forces not being as good "mixers" or humorists as the Americans, that the English, French, and Italians did not like the Ameri- cans; while the Americans entertained similar senti- ments toward the English, French, and Italians. There was at least a temperamental impediment to the personal realization of the altruistic ideal evolved by President Wilson ; namely, the arming of over three million men to secure a democratic brotherhood for all the world. In this connection it is related that as the next convoy moved toward Genoa our friend the lily farmer closed a conversation to the above purport with the character- istic aphorism: "Oh, well, history repeats itself. Wasn't it Julius Caesar who once said there were no good sports but Romans ? That goes double with me to-day with refer- ence to the Americans." And then there ensued that smiling silence that always signifies approval. For the first three or four days out of Gibraltar the convoy of eighteen ships progressed smoothly, with the Venetia zigzagging patiently on its port flank. Then, like a hawk above a flock of hens, the appearance ahead of a [205] V E N E T I A dirigible balloon suddenly plunged the merchantmen into so hopeless a tangle of formation that it was not megaphoned or wigwagged into alignment for twenty- four hours. "Submarines ahead" had been radioed from the dirigible, and as most of the convoy was composed of Italian vessels, with an Italian commodore in com- mand of it, this nervous hysteria of caution was quite unavoidable. On the fifth day the falling barometers indicated approaching bad weather, and it came in the shape of a veritable gale immediately upon entering the frequently turbulent Gulf of Lyons, rendering zigzagging impos- sible, and even straightaway navigation difficult. Long before midnight the velocity of the wind increased to sixty miles an hour, accompanied by such thick weather that not one of the ships of the convoy was visible from the deck of any other. In the morning the Venetia found herself alone in the midst of the angry waters, and it at once devolved upon her to assist in the retrieving of the scattered flock of derelict argosies. Finally six of the ships were made out "hove to" many miles astern, and, while the term is in no sense nautical, it must be said that the Venetia speeded astern of them and fairly "shooed" them under way in the teeth of the now slackening gale. Smoke ahead indicated the presence of the remainder of the convoy beyond the horizon, and before nightfall it was overhauled, standing still, as though awaiting developments of the nature of which the commodore seemed to be in serious doubt. Now, however, his dismembered command being again in at least approximate formation, he signaled it to proceed, for the gale had almost entirely abated, and the Italian liking for short zigzagging was again mani- fested to its utmost. But the lights of Genoa soon hove [206] TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE in sight, so the ships and their escorts were directed to kill time with independent maneuvers until the fol- lowing morning. Then the more-than-ever-congested harbor was entered in single file, and the Venetia^ after much backing, filling, and warping, accompanied by the hysterical yelling of the Genoese harbor pilots, was finally comfortably moored by the stern to the munici- pal dock, which proved to be a marked improvement over any of her former berths. There now seemed to exist an impression in the minds of the more convivially inclined among the wardroom officers that after the tempestuous experiences afloat of two days before some of the sunshine of adventure ashore would be not only quite excusable but hygieni- cally desirable. Accordingly, four of the more venture- some of the officers "shoved off" for the "Beach," there separated into ones and twos, and began individual tours of inspection, having for their purpose a general meeting for conference later in the afternoon. Then it was intended that a plan of action for the single night in Genoa would be duly set forth and perfected from such suggestions as the several conspirators might have to make. The selected base from which all necessary supplies and information could be secured was the Red Cross Headquarters, where a former acquaintance with Major Crump could be renewed and the project for the even- ing's entertainment submitted to him for advice and possible active enlistment in it. The major not only had several attractive suggestions to make, but insisted upon commanding or directing such plan of operations as might be adopted. The first move was the commandeering of a Red Cross ambulance a greatly glorified example of the [207] \ V E N E T I A Ford "Fliver" and a drive to the American Convales- cent Hospital. Here, it was believed, the only members of the gentler sex speaking in a familiar tongue might possibly be induced to consent to an evening's furlough from their none too cheerful duties. This hospital, donated by an Italian duke and placed under the super- vision of the American Red Cross, was a gorgeous villa in the center of a luxurious estate and fitted by Ameri- can skill and efficiency for the care of the sick and wounded of any of the Allies. Three of the officers and the major made a tour of the villa and its gardens, but the "Kid" so called because he was much the youngest of all the wardroom officers became separated in some way, and no doubt was making a tour of inspection on his own account. The others had decided to look him up in order that a conference might be held, when suddenly he burst upon them with his face wreathed in smiles, and conveyed the information that he had not been idle. "It's all fixed," said the "Kid." "I've found three delightful little nurses who are quite as ill from home- sickness as any of their patients are with wounds or fevers, and they's for having a party." A hasty conference was at once held, two more home- sick heroines of the Red Cross enlisted, leave of absence until midnight was granted to them, and the glorified Ford was soon under way bearing a jolly group of Americans bent upon whatever form of clean adventure might suggest itself. The evening began with a jolly dinner at the Olympia Restaurant, the party by this time having been increased by the enlistment of Captain Williams of the Red Cross and Lieutenant McClay of U. S. S. Castine. This fin- ished, a dancing soiree was suggested to take place at [208] TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE the duke's villa, but the major regretted that the place contained no instrument fitted for the playing of dance music. McClay solved the problem by hurrying to the quay, calling a boat, rowing out to the Castine^ and re- turning with the ship's phonograph. This and all hands were crowded into the ambulance, a return was made to the villa, and dancing carried on until the stroke of mid- night, when the Red Cross Cinderellas hurried to their stations and the five Princes Charming to their somber quarters. This was pronounced to have been altogether the most enjoyable relaxation from routine that had been suggested since the Venetia had been in the service. The memory of it was all the more grateful for the reason that so favorable an opportunity had presented itself to provide these five brave little servitors of stricken heroes with an evening of pleasure and to replace the gloom of the hospital ward with the chatter of admiring countrymen and the merry strains of good old American "jazz." There was not one of those boys but went to sleep that night full of keen satisfaction that in his search for an adventure he had fallen upon one so fruitful in per- forming a gracious service for those self-sacrificing, overworked, unpaid, and heroic little homesick nurses of the American Red Cross. The next morning a start was made for the return trip to Gibraltar, with a convoy of twelve ships and the Venetia zigzagging on the starboard flank. Slow prog- ress was made that night owing to its inky blackness, and another day dawned with the Gulf of Lyons gale that had been passed through on the eastward trip still raging with renewed fierceness. The Venetia shipped several heavy seas, one of them tearing away the star- [209] \i i W - "~^ V E N E T I A board gangway, which for a time beat against the sides with such force as to threaten to make a breach through the bulkhead of the wardroom. Soon, however, the gangway floated clear, and with this assurance of safety came the knowledge that the convoy had again been scattered by the storm ; and it was not restored to for- mation until the following morning, when the mischie- vous and turbulent Gulf of Lyons had been passed and there was a smooth and speed-inspiring sea. Now radio messages were received giving warning of the presence of two submarines to the southward, and directing the convoy to seek safety in the neutral waters of the Spanish coast. Accordingly, the ships turned sharply to the north, in single-line formation, and, after two balmy days very close to the shore, Gibraltar was reached without further incident. Much sympathy spread about the Venetia when, on opening his mail, Captain Howell received a cablegram announcing the death of his wife, and when he went below to mourn his irreparable loss alone, the colors were lowered to half-staff on the stern of the Venetia for the first time. [210] CHAPTER XXXII THE APPROACH OF VICTORY APPEARANCE OF INFLUENZA GLORIOUS NEWS FROM THE FRONT- SINGULAR DISPOSITION TO MINIMIZE AMERICA'S SHARE TO MADEIRA AND THE AZORES RUMORS OF AN ARMISTICE THE "FLU" INTERFERES WITH PARTICIPATION IN THE GLORIFICATION. IMMEDIATELY following the arrival at Gibraltar, Doctor Drake reported Lieutenant Mangan down with influ- enza and one or two mild cases among the crew. The manner of its appearance and development was not made mani- fest by any process of scientific deduction as to whether the germs had been carried from Genoa or smuggled aboard by the first liberty party returning from "Gib." But it was held to be of small consequence how and whence it came, so long as it was prevalent, and a dis- creet silence with reference to its presence was advised lest publicity might lead to official interference from panicky departments of health, there being many cases in the port. This visitation, however, was soon forgotten in the excitement that followed accounts of the continued destruction of German submarines, and the glad tidings of victories following in rapid succession along the French fronts. St.-Mihiel, Chateau-Thierry, the Ar- [III] V E N E T I A gonne, and a threatened Metz were on the tongues of everyone afloat or ashore; and, while the new German front said to have replaced the now utterly effaced Hin- denburg Line might remain impregnable for months, there were hundreds who were so optimistic as to believe that sweeping victory was quite possible before the beginning of another year. It is to be sorely regretted that record must here be made of an apparently studied disposition to minimize the importance of the share of the United States in this complete reversal of war hopes and conditions in France. Naturally enough, the Americans, basing their opinions on the published reports, grew to believe and very justly too that but for the fierce onslaughts of the American legions the Hindenburg Line would still be intact and unbreakable, and that they, and they alone, were almost entirely responsible for these glorious re- vivals of the Allied hopes. Strange to say, however, none of the other Allied forces in and about Gibraltar seemed in the least inclined to indorse the American view of the situation, and, as a matter of fact, British cocksureness remained as stolidly immovable as the mighty "Rock" itself. Loud and angry disputes became notoriously prevalent on the docks, in the streets and cafes, and some of these re- sulted in personal clashes that demanded the inter- ference of the patrol. It must be confessed, too, that these acrimonious belittlements of Uncle Sam's victories at the front were by no means confined to representatives from the fore- castle and the barrack-room, for British officers them- selves were equally culpable in their ridicule of the, at least to them, utterly fantastic claim that America was winning the war. One evening at a club an American [212] "T I CTO R Y W officer, who was a guest, commented proudly upon the strong American predominance in the latest news from France, whereupon an English major made the sneering rejoinder: "Hysteria, my dear fellow, hysteria. You Americans have taken one or two villages and are jollying your- selves into the notion that all the rest of us are standing still." Whereupon another uncon vincible Briton re- marked: "It's all very nice for you Yankees to step in and claim all the glory after we've got 'em licked, isn't it now?" The American officer found himself incapable of framing an adequate reply to the exhibitions of palpable jealousy, so turned on his heel and walked away with the only obvious reply, "Oh, what's the use?" These incidents are here recorded to substantiate the oft-repeated claim that such resentment of American military supremacy existed long before the end came; increased in intensity after the signing of the armistice; and if any such claims of this supremacy be made in future history, they will be regarded as monumental jokes among such of our allies over the sea as have no knowledge of what has been written into Government records and distort their individual beliefs into recorded facts. The war records of both France and the United States will show that the mission of General Joffre to this country was for the sole purpose of demonstrating that only a declaration of war by the United States and the sending of vast armies to France could avert so awful a calamity as the domination of the whole of Europe by Germany; the records of both our Department of the Navy and the British Admiralty and War Offices will ! V E N E T I A show that similar pathetic pleas were made by the representatives of the British government sent for that purpose to Washington. In his vigorous and undeniably truthful autobiography, Admiral Sims declares that when he was sent on a secret mission to England he was assured by the Admiralty ministers that unless the United States should interfere the Allies could not possibly hold out for thirty days longer; and this startling confession was afterwards affirmed in an audience with King George V, who added his plea to those of his ministers. Small wonder, then, that Ameri- can soldiers and sailors abroad resented with voice and brawn the sneering personal taunts of French and English soldiers and sailors to the effect that they were merely eleventh-hour heroes who claimed a share of the victory already won. To return to the Venetia. Within a day or two after the last arrival from Genoa, orders came from the naval base to the effect that she was to be sent to Madeira and the Azores with mails and supplies, and possibly a pas- senger or two. This news was received with much satis- faction, that the beloved little craft was, to all intents and purposes, to return to the pleasurable activities of yachting, for convoying had for some time ceased to furnish any of the excitements of naval combat. The warnings of late with reference to the presence of submarines had been regarded as being the result of nervous suspicion, and there had not been a sinking in the Mediterranean for many weeks. It had come to be generally believed that now both German and Austrian U-boats were effectually bottled up in the Adriatic, and a mighty barrage of trawlers and gunboats now seemed to render impossible the passage of any submerged or floating enemy through the straits. OF VICTORY So the coming yachting cruise was welcomed with keen delight, for there is no more charming yacht haven along the entire European or African coasts than that offered by the port of Funchal; and what made the voy- age all the more like a pleasure junket was the fact that there was no slower vessel to convoy or tow. Once more, too, "a new face across the table" occasioned the usual grateful smiles of hospitality, in the person of Lieu- tenant Bouillot of the French Navy, whom the Venetia was to "passenger" to his latest assignment at Madeira. It must be said, however, that the extreme reticence of this new table companion was a matter of much disap- pointment, both to the bantering humorists and those who sought such information or gossip as might be secured from an officer in another service. In point of fact, the extent of his knowledge of English was never definitely established. His attempts in that language were confined almost exclusively to monosyllabic direc- tions to the mess attendants with reference to his menu selections, while conversations in his own tongue with those Americans who flattered themselves that they had been educated in it afforded considerable amusement to those who doubted it. This delightful run under full speed, unhampered by tow-line or convoy, had all of the exhilaration and rest- inspiring features of a veritable yachting cruise. There were the usual precautions of darkened ship at night, carefully manned lookouts, and the armament always ready for instant action; but both officers and crew went about their duties with the same precision and sense of security that characterize intensive drilling in times of peace. The three days' run to Madeira was marked by no incident of note save a brisk little gale which came one V E N E T I A day to relieve the pleasant monotony of balminess and sunshine. On the early morning of the third day Funchal hove in sight, with, above it, the tiny mountain ranges covered with verdure, which precipitated among officers and crew a series of projected jaunts, and possible feasts enlivened by introductions to the wines of Madeira in their native habitat. To the deep regret of everyone concerned, however, these were not to be, for, immediately on letting go the anchor, the quarantine officer came alongside and de- clared that no one must land from the Venetia, since it was known that there was "Flu" in Gibraltar, and it was not proposed that the scourge should be imported into Funchal or any other part of the islands. Captain Howell protested vehemently, declaring that, "Flu" or no "Flu," he must land. He had confidential mail and dispatches to deliver; he deemed it best that these should be delivered in person; and, despite the warnings of the quarantine official, ordered his boat alongside and shoved off. This, however, was met by further official interference, backed apparently by more determined authority, and the captain was forced to return to the ship, where he radioed to Gibraltar for definite instructions as to how to proceed. Both the American and British consuls came out for their confi- dential mail, amid inspiring roars of celebration from the shore, which bore all of the earmarks of a properly con- ducted noisy Fourth of July in the United States. There were bonfires, firecracker and other gunpowder explosions, followed by discharges of musketry and small cannon; and as if the glorious news had been flashed into the soul of everyone aboard, each voice cried out, "Germany has quit!" The two consuls, how- ever, who were not allowed to come aboard, shouted VICTORY from the safe distance decided upon by the harbor officials, that there had that morning come an unverified message to the effect that an armistice had been signed, which had plunged the entire population into a wild fever of celebration. The news had been contradicted almost as soon as received, but glorious rumor was pre- ferred to cold fact and the celebrations continued throughout the day. If the Venetla had been suddenly transformed into a detention hospital for the isolation of a hundred violent cases of influenza, instead of the two very mild cases aboard, she could not have become so enveloped in the atmosphere of disappointment and depression that pre- vailed everywhere. Not only had her personnel for a second time been thwarted in a desire to "do" the beautiful island of Madeira, for which so much had been promised, but here was a celebration going on ashore in which the American soul, born with a love of celebrant noises, might not participate. This state of depression was plunged into one of abject despair when through the mists of the next evening from the northeast there was flashed a message to the effect that at two o'clock on the morning of that never-to-be-forgotten nth of November, 1918, the armistice had actually been signed and the war was over, with the glorious light of victory glinting the banners of the Allied conquerors. There was, happily enough, a single ray of relief to the silence of depression, in the hysterical protests of Lieu- tenant Bouillot. These appealed very strongly indeed to the American sense of humor, always ready to secure a laugh from the discomfiture of someone else. It mat- tered not to him that the entire personnel of the Venetia had been forbidden to go ashore; his mission was of paramount importance and to detain him was a national [217] V E N E T I A outrage, which, in due time, France would most ade- quately avenge. At all events, this was the generally accepted translation of his mad flights of indignation, with an employment of English words in the approxi- mate ratio of one to ten. These protests were renewed with an increased volume of Gallic expletive and spleen when Captain Howell announced that, since no instructions or orders had come from Gibraltar, he had decided to wait no longer, but would steam for the Azores at once. This intelligence, being duly conveyed to the lieutenant, he hurried to the captain trembling with the fiery wrath of a commanding admiral whose orders had been disobeyed. "C'est impossible!" he shrieked. "Je suis un officier diplomatique de la France. C'est necessaire que je depart a Funchal!" " Je nong tong pas," was all the French that Captain Howell could command offhand at that particular moment, engrossed as he was with the more important matter of getting under way. But the lieutenant under- stood him and made a truly painful effort at framing a reply in English: "I forbid! You shall not go to ze Azore! I make spik for France!" Thereupon the captain smiled. "Sorry, sir," he said. "I'm speaking for the United States and I've just given orders to get under way." At that very moment the engines began to throb and the Venetia moved with rapidly increasing speed toward the open sea. The irate lieutenant tried to protest again, but his hysterical rage choked him and he strode fore and aft along the gun-deck, apparently threatening the most condign punishment for the entire United States Navy by outraged and insulted France. Two hours later he stood, with his face resting between his hands and [218] THE APPROACH OF VICTORY looking toward the fading land, the picture of woe and desolation. Then there came a radio message from the authorities at Madeira to the effect that arrangements had been made for the landing of Lieutenant Bouillot, so no al- ternative was left for Captain Howell but to return at once. As the harbor was again approached, a Portuguese patrol-boat relieved the Venetia of her unwilling guest, and he "shoved off" silently, without even a single gesture of farewell save a very perfunctory salute to Captain Howell and he paid no attention whatever to those of the jocularly inclined junior officers. Some weeks later it was learned through correspon- dence that the Madeira authorities, having received highly exaggerated reports of the influenza contagion on the Venetia^ confined the lieutenant for three whole days in a fumigating room before he was finally released. "I wonder what they did with that bunch of 'spinach,' " mused one of the younger officers in the wardroom that night, inelegantly referring to the magnificent and pro- digious beard worn by the French officer. "Why, fumigated it, of course," was the reply. "It would have been a crime to reap away a luxurious crop of silken whisker that has been nursed and fertilized ever since he refused his first shave." It was also learned from several of the kodak fiends aboard that many attempts to snap-shot this magnifi- cently bearded little Frenchman had met with unvarying failure, evidently because of the lack of seriousness on the part of the photographers. One of them told that he had once been almost on the point of pressing the button in bright sunshine, when the subject detected a knot of the sailors laughing at him and indignantly covered his face with his cap and hurried out of focus. [219] V E N E T I A On the way to Ponta Delgada, and while every soul on board of the Venetia was still bemoaning the denial of a share in the great victory celebration at Funchal, a radio message was picked up announcing the destruc- tion by a torpedo of the British battleship Britannia, with an appalling loss of life, on the day after the signing of the armistice. This was taken by all to have been an act of malignant revenge on the part of some submarine commander, and, while it was no doubt unauthorized, it served its purpose in again reflecting the spiteful sen- timent of a relentless and uncompromising foe. [ 220] CHAPTER XXXIII DAYS OF REJOICING FROM THE AZORES TO GIBRALTAR CONTINUED ALLIED JEALOUSY A PLEASURE TRIP TO LISBON PORTUGUESE HOSPITALITY A FOODLESS BANQUET A REGRETFUL FAREWELL. HE distress at having been denied the privilege of adequately celebrating in a T friendly island city the sweeping vic- , g tory that had come to the Allied arms began gradually to wear away, but, two days later, when Ponta Delgada was reached blazing with excitement, it was soon replaced by real exhilaration. It is told that, just before leaving Funchal, one of the officers, under stress of disgust at being quarantined, emphasized it by shaving off his mustache, which had been grown and fostered with such care and attention that it was one of the jokes of the wardroom. But such satisfaction as might have attached to this wanton destruction of a precious facial adorn- ment was at once removed by the assurance of his brothers of the mess that the operation had vastly improved his personal appearance, and so the joke was altogether at his expense. The day and a half at Ponta Delgada was not placed under the usual rigid rules by overcautious officials, so almost the entire ship's company hurried ashore to [221] V E N E T I A celebrate. One of the officers has said that it was more or less of a "delayed action" celebration, since its fervor was somewhat relaxed after three days of continuous glorification, but much of it was still going on, and the appearance ojf several scores of happy mariners bent upon excitement or trouble soon fanned what dying embers there were into the leaping flames of friendly jollification. It is not the purpose of this chronicler to record the exact extent of this glorification or the manner of mani- festing it. Suffice it to say that there is no entry in the deck log of the Venetia touching upon any untoward official action "at the mast" on the following morning. Further than this, it was admitted once in conversation that a certain officer of the deck, who was on watch as the liberty stragglers crept up the gangway after hours, found something of greater interest beyond the opposite side of the ship, and such mild offenders as there hap- pened to be passed quietly down to their quarters un- detected. In point of fact there seemed to be a general conviction in the minds of those in the different grades of authority that everyone who had been concerned in an achievement for which the world had been waiting for more than four horrifying years should be permitted to celebrate it in his own blessed way. To the infinite credit of the Portuguese people of Ponta Delgada, it must be said that they were vastly more cordial to the men of the Venetia than they had ever been before. These humble representatives of the smallest of the Allied nations manifested a disposition to magnify rather than to minimize the burdens borne by the United States in the winning of the war, which, unhappily for their sense of gratitude, cannot truthfully be said of any of the more important ones. This con- [ 222 ] DAYS OF REJOICING gratulatory attitude was noticed everywhere during the two days' stay in this usually sleepy little port, and it was several times declared that if ever the Venetia should happen to visit Lisbon, there would never enter into the soul of any of her company an atom of doubt as to Portugal's impressions concerning what the United States had done in the titanic effort to secure democ- racy for a dissatisfied and disrupted world. The reverse of this sentiment was again made all too apparent when, after a quick run of three days to the eastward, Gibraltar was reached again and the liberty parties hurried ashore. The first blaze of excitement immediately following the armistice had died *away to some extent, but everywhere there could be noticed a spirit of egotistic elation, which no one seemed inclined to share with anyone else. In all quarters there existed the undeniable proofs that a great victory had been won, and gigantic prepar- ations were under way already for the disintegration of the land and sea forces and as immediate a departure under the homeward-bound pennants as the congested state of transportation would permit. But with the fare- wells for all time almost on the lips of those brave souls of three Allied nations who had been fighting shoulder to shoulder and starboard side to port, all fired with the same laudable determination to crush an over-ambitious and greedy foe, there seemed a selfish reluctance among the men of one nation to yield to those of any other more than the merest modicum of glory. The Englishmen believed that they had flown to the succor of France and saved her from utter annihilation; the Frenchmen were more or less grateful for England's aid, but seemed to feel that in time they might have worked out their own salvation; the Americans very [223] V E N E T I A justly felt certain that, until the time when the United States thrust her reckless soldiers through the hitherto impregnable German lines and made the German blockade in the North Sea a substantial reality, there was no victory anywhere in sight for the Allied hosts. It is true that the Frenchmen were less antagonistic toward the American claims than were the Englishmen, and they seemed disposed to accord them some share of memory's loot of glory. But the latter were inflexibly determined not only to appropriate to themselves the lion's share of that, but to deny that the Americans were entitled to any greater share than might attach to an eleventh-hour interference after Germany had already been crushed. The conditions found this time in Gibraltar were the same as existed before the armistice plus more jeal- ousy and while, happily, personal encounters were infrequent because of the vigilance of the shore patrol, the verbal disputes were many indeed. The bad feeling already engendered was gradually increasing in in- tensity, and there was no little surprise, and much sat- isfaction, on board of the Venetia when it was announced that since the ship would not be ordered home for some days, it had been decided to pay a visit to Portugal for purposes of sightseeing and no doubt attendant cele- brations of the signing of the armistice. It was of course not definitely stated officially that this distinctly pleasure trip was for the purpose of searching warmth to replace the coldness of Gibraltar. But there certainly existed a general feeling aboard of the Venetia that no other condition or consideration could have inspired it, and there was a corresponding hearty approval of the order which seemed to render it more strongly advisable. This feeling continued during [224] DAYS OF REJOICING all of the daylight hours of the twenty-six consumed in the run to the mouth of the Tagus River, which pos- sesses the not unjust distinction, in the minds of those who have traversed its picturesque and ever-changing courses, of being perhaps the most beautiful, in a pic- torial sense, of all the rivers of the world. When the river-pilot came aboard and the ship's prow was pointed toward a rugged reach between villa- dotted hills, a Portuguese transport entered the river bearing what was believed to be almost if not altogether the entire army of Portugal, returning from France. Not much of a contingent, it is true, when compared with the massive forces of other lands, but it repre- sented what was perhaps all the fighting power that a struggling republic could afford to send away, and that republic was among the first, if not altogether the first, of the smaller nations to contribute her mite in support of the Allies. Cheers were exchanged again and again, which continued until the Venetia lost herself in the dis- tance, and everyone aboard of her regarded the welcome from that returning transport of soldiers who knew not for what they had fought, as a good omen indicative of a heartier welcome when the capital of Portugal should heave in sight. This omen was fulfilled to the utmost limit, for had the men of the Venetia been the sole conquerors of the Hun they could not have been more cordially welcomed or more lavishly entertained. It was a "wide-open" town opened wider for the especial benefit apparently of a receptive company of gallant American tars who were only too willing to pass through the "open door" of hospitality. The splendid clubs were opened to the officers; the most magnificent cafes yet visited by any of the crew were declared to be theirs during the entire [225] V E N E T I A stay of their ship at Lisbon ; and there was everywhere nothing but good feeling and a continuous riot of genu- ine conviviality. Naturally enough, those to whom the encouragement of unbridled revel is a trade lost no effort in getting next to the pay-rolls of the visitors and absorbing as much of them as was easily detachable. At the same time, the cupidity was not so blatantly "raw" as had been noticed among the races of Moorish or Arabian extraction, and in these day of mutual con- gratulation nobody minded much, anyway. In Lisbon, too, those of the Venetias youngsters who fancied an occasional wooing of the goddess of chance had their first opportunities for proving how unsafe an investment the roulette wheel is, amid the princely sur- roundings of the Palace Club and an equally splendid establishment know as Maxime's, in place of the smoky sordidness of the gambling dens of Bizerta and Tunis. Unlike the better known and more elaborate Casino at Monte Carlo, however, there was no limit placed upon time, and, instead of closing at eleven o'clock, every- thing remained in full blast until four in the morning. There were, of course, the usual stories told of how close someone had come to breaking the bank but had failed by making some false play, and no one who had wooed the fickle goddess had other than losses to report. For the first time since the Venetia had been in the service there were no restrictions placed upon social entertainment, and visitors of both sexes came aboard for tea and to listen to the narratives of actual experi- ences in encounters with submarines. It was pleasant to learn from several of these visitors that the Venetia was generally considered to have been the avenger of the Lusitania\ and since the proofs seemed to be almost beyond contradiction, much surprise was expressed [226] THE QUAY AT LISBON IN THE PALACE DAYS OF REJOICING when they were informed that as yet there had come no official announcement to substantiate the claim. These assurances, however, created the conviction in the minds of all the ship's company that on the return to Gibraltar the official notification must come that would accord the right for the placing of a golden star upon the funnel in proof of her glorious achievement. Thanksgiving Day was celebrated after the tradi- tional American fashion by an elaborate luncheon in the wardroom in the late afternoon, at which there were several guests, and, once again, the cabins of the Venetia resounded with the almost forgotten music of woman's delight-inspiring voice. This was scarcely ended when Captain Howell came aboard and announced that the entire roster of officers had been invited for the evening to a splendid banquet and ball to be given by the Portuguese government in honor of the victory of the Allies, and that all must wear swords and as complete full uniform as was permitted by war regulations. There were many who had deferred the eating of their Thanksgiving dinner until that much-to-be- desired feast could be dispatched in the company of the President of Portugal, and all proceeded to the great auditorium at the palace with appetites well whetted for the luscious menu to be laid before them by the democratic ruler of the Portuguese. To their dismay, however, instead of being seated at festive tables groan- ing under the weight of gastronomic luxuries, they were ushered into boxes of state, and looked on while hun- dreds of wounded soldiers, evidently ill at ease at having been placed on exhibition before the assembled elite of Lisbon, ate their meal in modest silence and looked as though they would have had a vastly better time alone at the barrack mess. I V E N E T I A The President arrived, and everyone in the great audience stood at salute, the now appallingly hungry officers from the Venetia feeling certain that now they must surely be escorted to the banquet tables. Instead of this, however, the President made a distressingly long speech (in Portuguese, of course), announced another speaker (also Portuguese), and the audience stood at salute again. Another speech, in this unknown tongue, longer than the President's, was cheered to the echo by those who understood it, and the rising, sitting, orating, and cheering continued for hours. Finally at 1 1 130, the President announced that the function was over and left the auditorium followed by the entire assemblage and amid the strains of the Portuguese national anthem, with the now almost famished Americans still unfed. Happily, however, there were taxicabs in plenty; several of them were at once commandeered, and a top-speed run made to Maxime's, where there were no considera- tions of governmental precedence nor any summary dismissal of guests until daybreak; shortly after which Venetias wardroom contingent strolled aboard, thor- oughly fed, completely entertained, and well rouletted. At 11:30 the pilot came abroad and the Venetia pro- ceeded down the beautiful Tagus, with every heart among her company full of gratitude for the cordiality of those five merry days in hospitable Lisbon. It has been told many times that their memories will ever hold those days as having been the jolliest in their war ex- perience, and all the more grateful because they were utterly unexpected. Before leaving the Tagus a message was brought from the radio-room announcing the burning at her docks of the splendid steamship Ophir y once operated under the flag of the Spreckels Companies. This message was sent [228] THE BURNING OF S. S. OPHIR DAYS OF REJOICING to the Venetia^ not only because of the one-time same ownership, but to announce the tragic death of an Oak- land boy who in the attempt to escape through a dead- light opening was caught as if in a vise and slowly burned to death. The photograph of the incident was given to the paymaster on the return to Gibraltar, and an eye- witness gave a stirring account of the gruesome tragedy and the almost superhuman efforts to avoid it. But the heat was so great and the hapless little victim so tightly wedged in the narrow diameter of the dead- light that the would-be rescuers could not remain long enough to widen the opening, nor could the victim extricate himself so that he might one day tell the friends at home of one of the narrowest escapes of the war. [229] CHAPTER XXXIV QUEST OF THE GOLD STAR ANXIOUS DAYS AT GIBRALTAR NO NEWS FROM ADMIRAL SIMS- PERSISTENCE OF AN ADVERSE CLAIMANT HOMEWARD-BOUND ORDERS DELAYED AUTHORITY FOR THE GOLD STAR ON THE FUNNEL ARRIVES WHO AVENGED THE "LUSITANIA"? S the port of Gibraltar was entered on the return from Lisbon the U. S. cruiser Wheeling passed out flying the home- ward pennant. Every heart aboard the Venetia throbbed with the sweet cer- tainty that she must soon follow, part- ing the waves on the vast stretch of leagues between a stranger land and home. Sundered hearts were to be reunited, severed ties made whole again, mourning fire- sides rekindled into happiness; and welcome cheers of friendship were to awaken the silence which had come at parting. The ship moved slowly to the assigned berth along- side the long mole, Captain Howell hurried ashore for consultation with the American admiral, and all hands waited patiently for the good news that it seemed cer- tain he must bring back with him. Their first thoughts naturally were of home, and then came another of paramount importance, not only to them, but to the service in which they had risked their lives: Was the QUEST OF THE GOLD STAR Venetia to be officially accredited as the true and only avenger of the Lusitania? The anxious hours of this waiting was relieved by the arrival of the mail, and the fortunate recipients of letters sought the solitude of quiet corners to read them. The armistice had not yet been declared when they were written, and nearly all of them expressed in tender words the pains of separation, soon to be dispelled by the tidings that they must end before the joyful replies could be dispatched. Captain Howell seemed more than usually thoughtful when he returned. The almost ever-present smile was not present, and those who tried to read his thoughts through his eyes imagined that behind them there was either unrelieved anxiety or keen disappointment. But that the tidings he bore were not secret ones became known when the officer of communications learned of them and they were spread about the ship. The date for departure had not yet been set, and Admiral Niblack had not received from Admiral Sims at London any news with reference to the just claims of the Venetia for one or more gold stars. All that was definitely known was that on some date, as yet undecided, the Venetia and Hannibal were to escort a fleet of American submarine chasers across the ocean. Soon these began to arrive, singly and in groups, from their base at the island of Corfu, until there were a score or more of them moored alongside the mole. It were idle to attempt to conceal the fact that the uncertainty of this information was disappointing to the men of the Venetia^ but they had long since dis- covered that service in the navy is a waiting game, and had learned how not to yield to the ill-temper that comes of overstrained anxiety. In place of this, all those whose official rating gave them the right to make in- V E N E T I A quiries exercised that right on their own account. The Surveyor was in port, and as the only rival to the Venetia in the claim of being the avenger of the Lusitania, her officers were sought out and questioned whenever the opportunities offered themselves. Captain Pope, her commander, would have been quite satisfied with a share of the glory, but her executive officer refused to concede any moiety of it to the Venetia or any other ves- sel, that refusal being based upon no uncontested facts but merely his own obstinate personal conviction. Some of the officers supported him in this strangely selfish belief, while there were one or two who distinctly op- posed him and declared that if in all fairness they were called upon to decide between the two vessels, their decision must be against their own. This dispute, it was now evident, must continue, gradually increasing in bitterness, until news should arrive from Admiral Sims; and all concerned now preferred to await that news rather than to depart for home. In the days that followed, nothing but dullness reigned aboard the Venetia, and there was no change of any kind except that a new and very welcome watch officer was added to the wardroom. This was Ensign C. H. Ben- ham, who, on the outbreak of hostilities, resigned a business position, entered the Naval Academy, and so applied himself to study that he earned a commission in four months. He at once became a favorite among officers and crew, and his own impressions with reference to his brief service on the Venetia are best described in his own words: "I was indeed glad to be ordered to the Venetia y for truly she is a wonder. I hugely enjoyed every moment of the five months I was aboard of her, for in every way she was a completely 'happy ship,' or, as the sailors [232] ENSIGN C. H. BENHAM QUEST OF THE GOLD STAR would say, she is a home, and that is always the limit of the 'gob's' admiration." 1 The dull days continued, and war-vessels under dif- ferent flags moved past the mole where the little gray lady from California lay, and passed Europa Point Light on their way homeward. The U. S. ships Wenonah y ArcturuS) and Druid stood out with flags flying, bidden Godspeed by the cheers of the friendly ; and there were wondering queries all about as to why it was that no definite orders of any kind had come for the Venetia. Someone ventured the opinion that perhaps Captain Howell, under instructions from Admiral Niblack, was awaiting a message from Admiral Sims at London, and then patience came again to the anxious ones who were chafing under the apparent neglect that was depriving them of their just share of glory. Closely following the other ships, the Surveyor now a bitter rival circled around the end of the mole and stood out to sea. There was a sigh or two of relief that whatever claims the Venetia might make in the future would not be disputed by any possible contestant, when there came a shout of joy from the lily farmer: " I win ! I made a bet with a Surveyor quartermaster that she wouldn't have a gold star on her stack before she sailed away, and it ain't there!" When he was reminded that there might be some difficulty in collecting his money, he replied: "Oh, I'll get it all right. I'll follow his trail, and if he happens to be in jail when I find him I'll be sent in after him, if I have to get arrested for stealing pennies from an organ monkey's pocket." It now became known that the ship's departure for home would not be delayed beyond a very few days, J Ensign Benham is still in the service in command of submarine chaser 307. [233] ( l8 5> I86 > J 93> 20 3> 2 4, 205, 210, 211, 224, 230. Giore, 105. Giuseppe, 105. Gold star, 135, 158, 250, 256, 257, 261; awarded to Venetia, 236; mounted on Venetia, 237. Graham, Third Engineer, 142. Granada, 199. Great Sound, 61, 71. Greene, Clay M., 259. Guantanamo, 250. Guarding convoys, 103, 105, in, 117, 124, 126, 148, 162, 164, 1 66, 176, 177, 1 86, 202, 205, 256. Gulf of Lyons, 186, 206, 209, 210. Gulf of Tehuantepec, 255; storm off of, 34. Guthrie-Smith, Sir Herbert, 193- Gyp, 105. Gypsum Queen, 57, 61, 71. H Hampton Roads, 58. Hannibal, 231, 239, 242, 243. Heliotrope, 122. Hesanger, 105. Howard, Ensign, V. E., vi, 33, 116, 170, 199, 259; biographi- cal sketch of, 19. Howell, Captain C. F., 188, 230, 231; assumes command of Venetia, 187; biographical sketch of, 189. Howell, Mrs., death of, 210. I Inspection of Venetia, 2, 190. lolanthe, 105. Isolde, 131, 139, 144. J J, L. Luckenbach, 162, 163. Jacobus, Gunner, 121, 122, 130, 138, 178. James Connelly, 162. Jeanette II, 197. Joyer, Captain, 243. K Kadania, 178. Karer Prince, 105. Kourek, 105. Krebs, Lieutenant W. G., 8, 41; biographical sketch of, 14; detached from Venetia, 68, 70. Krump, Lieutenant, 185. I La Lfnea, 101. [267] Lapwing, 242. La Roche, Commander, 53, 64- 67, 87, 99. League Island Navy Yard, 48, 49> SS> S 6 > 57- Leixos, 92, 93. Leviathan, 63. Liberty, deportment on, 62. Lily farmer, the, 65, 67, 80, 159, .205, 233. Liquor, restrictions on: See Daniels. Lisbon, 225, 226, 228; banquet at, 227, 228. Lusitania, avenging of, 135, 158; evidence that Venetia avenged, I S7> r 5 8 > I77> *97> 226 > 22 7> 231, 232, 235, 236, 259, 260, 261, 262. Lydonia, 57, 58, 164, 239, 242, 250. M McClay, Lieutenant, 208, 209. Machias, 151. MacKenzie, Ensign Donald, ap- pointed navigator of Venetia, 68; biographical sketch of, 69; collapses, 86; invalided home, 87. Madeira, 162, 214, 215, 217. Mangan, Lieutenant M. A., 92, 178; assigned to Venetia, 68; biographical sketch of, 69; ill with influenza, 211. Manning, 234. Man-o'-War's Row, 10, 257. Mare Island Navy Yard, xix, i, 2, 5, 9, 10, 257, 259. Marue de Larrinago, 105. Marsh, Captain C. C., 260. Mavisbrook, 157; torpedoed, 145. Meaford, 105. Messidor, 235, 262; torpedoed and sunk, 178. Miles, Sir Rupert, no, 156, 193. Milestone, Second Officer, 142. Miraflores lake, 251. locks, 36, 38. Montauk, 57, 58. Moulin Blanc, 112. N Nahant, 61, 71, 91. Naval Intelligence, Bureau of, 259. New Year's Day, 63, 241. Eve, 62. Niblack, Admiral, 99, 156, 157, 263. _ Nicolini, Ensign D. V., vi, i, 2, 66, 91, 146; biographical sketch of, 1 8; leaves Venetia, 114. Nokomis, 61, 67, 71, 77, 81, 82, 83> 87, 94. o Officers of Venetia, 5; biographi- cal sketches of, 11-23, 69, JI 4> 189. Ontario, 242. Ophir, burning of, 228. Oran, 196. Ossipee, 239, 242,^249, 250. Osterhaus, Captain, 167. Overseas Records, 260. [268] INDEX Pacific Transport, 105. Paducah, 122, 234. "Painted Jezebel," the, 55, 133, 2OI. "Painted Siren of Babylon," the, 176. Panama Canal, 35; Venetia en- ters, 36. Penobscot, 61, 71, 80, 83. Perdita, 124. Perry, Lieutenant F. M., 176, 190; biographical sketch of, 15. Personnel of Venetia, 5-7. Philadelphia, 55. Phillips, Dr. G. S., 177. Ponta Delgada, 84, 85, 87, 88, 162, 219, 221, 241. Pope, Captain, 138, 146, 232. Porterfield, Commander L. B., 5, 7,41, 68, 83, 108, 113, 119, 157, 161, 189, 263; biographi- cal sketch of, ii; commended, 260; detached from Venetia, 187. President of Portugal, 227, 228. Prometheus, 61. R Rank and rating, 6, 7. Ravenston, 105. Rescue of Sculptor's crew, 139. "Roaring Forties," the, 77, 93. "Rock," the: See Gibraltar. Roper, Captain, 148. Rut/ing/in, torpedoed and sunk, 179. S Sacramento, 234. Salina, 105. St. George's Channel (Ber- muda), 61. St. Thomas, 234, 244, 246, 247. San Diego, Venetia touches at, xxi, 27, 255, 256. San Francisco, Venetia at, 10, 257. San Miguel Lock, 251. Santo Domingo, 249. Schnetzler, Ensign S. S., 9, 66, 170, 199; biographical sketch of, 20. Sculptor, 139, 140, 142, 144, 145, I S7> 2 35> 262; crew rescued, 139; torpedoed, 137. Seaworthiness of Venetia,^, 84, 86. Serba Bay, 107, 147, 168, 169. Seneca, 198; collides with Venetia, 197. Shad well, 105. "Sherman Said a Mouthful!" 159. Shore patrol, 196, 246. Short Circuit, Article in, 261. Sims, Admiral, 197, 231, 233, 259; Confidential Bulletin of, 236, 259. Sonoma, 242. Spreckels, John D., xix, 4, 27, 256, 261. Storm in Atlantic, 72-74. off Gulf of Tehuantepec, 34. Submarine, destruction of French, 97; disabled by Venetia, 132, 135; encountered, 131; sighted, 148, 149. Submarine chasers, 57, 77, 78, 231, 239; (No. 67), 80, 81, 82; [269] V E N E T I A (No. 68), 81; (No. 172), 94; (No. 318), 90; (No. 350), 139; towing of, 54. Submarines, damaged, 156; in- terned at Cartagena, 1 56, 234, 236, 262. (See also U-boats.) "Suicide Fleet," the, 83, 56, 242. Susette Fraissinet, 130, 235, 260, 262; sinking of, 131; tor- pedoed, 129. Surveyor, 114, 138, 157, 232, 235, 236. Tagus River, 225, 228. Target practice, 31-33, 4 6 - Tehuantepec, Gulf of, storm off, 34. "Tenderfeet," 7, 8. Thanksgiving dinner, 227. Thompson, Captain "Al,"xxi, I. 'Times, Washington, article in, 261. Towing service, 54. squadron, 68, 70, 78; ships in, 57. -submarine chasers, 58. Tow-lines, use of, 72. Transfer of officers, 187. Tunis, 170, 172, 173, 175, 191, 192. Tunsdall, 105. u U-boats, (No. 39), 158, 177, 235, 260, 261; (No. 57), 235; (No. 59), 262; (No. 69), 158. (See also Submarines.) "Vampire of Babylon," the, 201. Van de Carr, Commander I. C., 160, 161. Venetia, armament of 3, 30; at Bermuda, 60-63; at Brooklyn Navy Yard, 51; at San Diego, xxi, 27, 255, 256; at San Francisco, 10, 257; built, xx; called to colors, xx; camou- flage of, 3; camouflage re- moved from, 200; collides with Corvi, 140; collides with Seneca, 197; crew of, 6; dam- age to, 142, 198; enters serv- ice, 9; equipped with depth charges, 70, 99; evidence that she avenged Lusitania, 157, !5 8 > J 77> i97 226 > 2 3!> 2 3 2 2 35> 2 3 6 > 2 59> 26 > 26l > 262 ; her first encounter, 122; gold star awarded to, 236; gold stars mounted on, 237; in dry dock, 190, 198; in towing squadron, 57; inspection of, 2, 190; leaves Mare Island, 10; leaves San Francisco, 24; leaves San Diego, 28; officers of, 5; papers of, 259; personnel of, 5; refitting of, 2, 103; re- pairs to, 49, 197; seaworthi- ness of, 72, 84, 86; serves as guard-ship, 103, 105, in, 117, 124, 126, 148, 162, 164, 166, 176, 177, 1 86, 202, 205, 256; torpedo misses, 130, tows sub- marine chasers, 54. Venetia dance, 198. Venus, 105. [270] INDEX Virgin Islands, 243, 244, 245, 246. w Wadena, 234. Wahnesnock, 105. War Drake, 202. Ward, Captain, 142. Weaver, Dr. C. H., 177. Wenonah, 180, 182, 233. Whatley Ha//, 146, 157, 235; tor- pedoed, 145. Wheeling, 166, 167, 187, 230. Williams, Captain, 208. Yankton, destroys French sub- marine, 97. Zamora, 112. Zigzagging, 76, 163, 202, 203. Zone police, 252, 253. [271] N THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF NOVEMBER, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND NINETEEN, WAS COMMITTED TO PRESS THIS HISTORY OF VENETIA, AVENGER OF THE LUSITANIA, BY CLAY M. GREENE, DESIGNED AND SU PERVISED BY PORTER GARNETT, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR BY C. D. ROBINSON AND W. A. COULTER, ORNAMENTS BY A. N. MERRYMAN, J NR MAND DECORATIVE END-PAPERS BY HAROLD VON SCHMIDT. THE PROCESS ENGRAVINGS BY THE SIERRA ART AND ENGRAVING COMPANY. THE PRINTING BY THE H. S. CROCKER COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF SAN FRANCISCO A 0006595%'