The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1917-08-04

the attacks by German submarines
upon the first expedition Of Ameri.
can troops sent to France became
known for the first time today. when
the report OF Rear Admiral Gleaves
commanding the naval convoy. was
made public by Secretary Daniels.
The first attack was made on Ad-
miral Gleaves' flagship, leading the
first group OF the expeditionary force,
and at least two submarines were
indicated to be engaged. The ad-
miral stated the belief that the u
boats had knowledge of the coming
Of the the troop ships and were on
watch for them.
The second group of transports
also were attacked by two subma-
rines. one Of which apparently was
sent to the bottom by bomb dropped
from an American destroyer.
There is disagreement among Off
GERS of the third group as to whether
they were attacked, but much evi.
dence is presented to indicate that
they also were assailed.
Report Laid Before
Senate Committee.
Secretary Daniels made the report
public, with certain military informa
ton deleted, after he had sent an
uncensored copy in confidence to the
Senate naval committee, members of
which recently inquired as to the
truth of charges in the Senate that
the official account of the attack pub
lished July 8 was greatly exagger-
ated.
The report was prepared by Ad-
miral Gleaves while at a French port
and was submitted to Admiral Mayo,
in command of the Atlantic fleet,
who forwarded IL to the navy de-
partment. It's full text as made
public follows:
Il. About 1915 p. m. June 90,
the first group of the expeditionary
force, of which the flagship was the
leader, encountered the enemy's
submarine-in Latitude N.
Longitude w.
go At the time 1t was extremely
dark, the sea unusually phosphore-
scent, fresh breeze was blowing
from the northwest which broke the
sea into white caps. The condition
was ideal for submarine attack.
"3. Paragraph gives the for
nation and names of the vessels. to-
gether with the speed they were
making and method of proceeding
and nothing else. 1t Ia therefore
omitted for obvious reasons.)
Flagship First
Attacked.
~. Shortly before the attack the
helm Of the flagship had jammed
and the ship took rank sheer to
starboard; the whistle was blown to
indicate this sheer. In a few min
utes the ship was brought back to
the course. At this time the Off
Ger OF the deck and others on the
bridge saw a white streak about so
yards ahead Of the ship. crossing
from starboard to port at right angle !
Of our course. The ship was immedi-
ately run off 90 degrees to star
board at full speed. was asleep |
in the chart house at the time. !
heard the officer of the deck say. |
Report to the admiral torpedo has
crossed our bow General alarm |
was sounded. torpedo crews being al
ready at their guns. When reached |
the bridge the A and one of the |
transports astern had opened fire,
the formen's shell fitted with tracers. |
Other vessels of the convoy turned |
TO the right and left, in accordance !
with instructions. b crossed our
bow at full speed and turned toward |
the left column in the direction of
the firing.
20. At first it was thought on
board the flagship that the wake was !,
that of torpedo, but from subse-
quent reports from other ships, AM !
in the opinion of the lieutenant X, !
who was on the bridge, it was prob
ably the wake of the submarine
boat itself.
Two torpedoes passed close to the
A from port to starboard, one about
thirty yards ahead of the ship and
the other under her stern, as the
ship was turning to the northward.
Captain Y reports the incident thus
Steaming in formation on zig
gag courses, with base course 10 de-
grees psc, standard speed. At 1925