The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1919-05-25

down that they could come and take
II down. The Scorpion was cleared fol
action. and for several weeks, the at
mosphere was tense, The anticipation
Of the men shown in the following
paragraph from Howse's log:
Would Sink Ship
I'VE are preparing to sink the ship
II the Turks want to take IL, Oul cap
tain said, We will sink her before we
will give her to the Turks We have
prepared two big bombs, one forward
and one in the engine room and every
thing of Importance Is ready TO throw
overheard, our boilers are fun OF pine
wood, and plenty of kerosene to burn
them up. We are all on the watch, 50
/ fthey come it win be over in u very
short time"
The ship moved up into the Bosphor.
4 Us one day, while the scorpion lay at
anchor near Constantinople, "A souvenir
Seeking officer took a snap shot of a
/ Turkish submarine that was going up
| the Straight. This act was looked upon
by the Turks with such great suspi.
cion that the government ordered the
American ship to move up into the
Golden Horn, where the entire crew
would be under the eagle eye of the
empire.
Upon the entrance OF the United
States into the war. in April, 1917, the
Scorpion was taken n prisoner of war
and turned over to the Turkish navy
who moved her up into the navy yards
took down her colors, completely dis
armed her. and put her under a very
close guard. Howse says that the first
days were hard ones; that the guards
they had would not do the slightest
favor for them without bribcs. \ pro
test was made by the officer of the
Scorpion, however and soon new guards
weer placed over the boys. who were
kinder and better liked.
Every afternoon the men We're given
liberty, under heavy guard and were
allowed to 80 on shore where they en-
gagged in ball games. or joined classes
that had been arranged for their bene-
tit by ther officers.
The log mentions frequent air
raids over Constantinople, which
very often started fires i'm the city.
Other mention was made of the life and
the spirit of the people in war time.
Ship is Returned
In October, conditions began to look
as if Turkey would soon be out of the
war. On October %. number of
Turkish officials came ON hoard the
Scorpion had a great day of thanks
the men all day liberty. On November
/. when Turkey made a separate peace,
all prisoners Of war were released The
SCORPION had a great day of thanks
giving, the Stars and Stripes were
again raised. the guns and ammuni-
ton We're restored. and immediate pre-
parations We're made to begin repair
ing the ship for departure.
The ship was visited 10y men from
England, Australia, and New Iceland,
who had been held as prisoners of war
BY the Turks Some of them told stories
of great abuse that had been dealt
them in the prisons. Three English
officers came on board and held a con
ference with The officers of the ScDr-
pion making arrangements for some
of the men of the allies who had been
Turkish prisoners of war.
In lptteilbeIt lut S'oip iploH crew Nd9
to another ship, which took
them to Italy, where they were sent
to France by rail. After a great many
delays. they were put on a passenger
ship. and on February 10th they ar
rived in New York.
Percy Howse. who wrote the log"
is 2S years old. and is now serving his !
bird period Of enlistment In the Unit. |
I'd States Navy, and he bears on his |