Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-12-15
Army and Navy News

TN the month OF April, 1918. the
allies were SO hardly driven that
President Wilson asking for l10.-
900 infantry and machine gunners.
and because this nation had not the
shipping tonnage. the President could
only reply: IF you will send ships.
We will send the men," A month
later. in Washington. a British repre-
sentative asked board Of American
officers: How many men can you
furnish if We produce ships to carry
them?" He was almost stunned at
the answer: 1.-TWO hundred thousand
a month '1f you can do that" he
said, you will save the day"
The British never had to send that
tonnage, for the United States,
through the embarkation service
managed to raise $4,000 of its own
and raised the number of men to 300.-
900 a month.
The only available transports. when
America entered the war. were seven
old ships in the Quartermaster Corps,
and soon after the declaration the mi
tial move for transporting American
forces and supplies to Europe was an
authorization to the Quartermaster
general to purchase thirty more
steamships for the transport serv-
ice. They became available about the
middle of August. 1917. Then traffic
WAS in state of chaos. The rail-
roads were at the beginning Of their
breakdown: the terminals, never suf-
hcient in number or equipment, were
congested with war freight. Cargo
transportation did not flow through
the ports; it trickled. Finally the
war Department was led to do some
thing In sn In the way of an effort to clear
issued order &C. o. 1923 organizing
an embarkation service. Brig. Gen.
T. j. Herman, it's first chief. was soon
detailed to foreign service. and his
successor, Brig. Gen. G. M. Baker.
was succeeded by Brig. Cen. Frank
u. Hines. who has filled the position
since that time.
When the division was created it
had one officer and a clerk and it has
expanded until in July it had 81 OFF,
GERS and 30S clerks, all necessary to
the handling of the vast business Of
the greatest transatlantic feet the
world has known. Coincident with
the creation of the embarkation serv-
ice the War Department made two
primary transportation ports-Hobo-
ken and Newport News The New
OF Maj. Gen. E. &c. ShRnks for the in
spection, reception ana embR rkation
of troops and the forwarding Of car
goes. It was fed from Camps Mer-
rift. Mills and Upton. with a capacity
of lo0,e00 men, ana Included Port
Newark, the Bush terminals and an
engineer depot. Eighty-five per cent
Of the troops and 65 per cent of the
supplies for the Army passed through
this port. Nearly all the other sup
plies Of men and cargoes passed
through Newport News and Norfolk.
Va, through various camps under
Brig. Gen. Crote Hutchinson, although
every port from Portland. Ne, to Gal
weston, Tex, was used for cargo pur-
poses IL freights Narrated their
choice, and special overseas depots
were created at Boston. Philadelphia
ite aeet had expanded to q capacity
OF $4,000 men ana a cargo tonnage of
10000 ead-weight tons. In July, 1918,
after the call had come from the
allies, it was operating 10 troopshfps
with monthly capacity OF Ill. 500 men
i,SaS. 900 dead weight tactual tonnage
about Lob. 0eO tons). Z animal ships.
tankers and 50 smaller ships for
cfaanel service. 1t had drawn these
vessels from all parts OF the world.
1t had taken all that the shipping
board could provide. all the German
TRANSATLANTIC liners. the impounded
Dutch shipping and chartered vessels
from Japan, China. France, Italy and
South America,
To this feet England had added and
put at the disposal OF the service so
Of her great troopships. with ca
pacfty Of $50 eco men a month These
were the ships that Lloyd George had
talked about in April. When the
armistice came, permitting the men
who had been operating this fleet a
slight relaxation from the strain, the Y
had under their direction 500 vessels,
with capacity OF assoc. oB0 tons.
Gen. March said that when he re-
turned FROM France in March, 1918,
he saw as the fundamental necessity
a vast increase Of the shipment of
troops to France and that such ship
ment must have priority over every
thing else. Up to February. 1918, the
organization of the War Department
Sence. This is not the place to discuss
reasons for change of method, but
the first practical step to organization
was in the appointment of Mai Gen.
Goethals as quartermaster general of
the Army with enlarged powers; and
the second was the calling back of
Gen. March from France and making
him chief of staff with direction to
reorEaniZe the department Az n re-