Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-12-07
The Victory at Sea z ~ A2 sss!ss.
MOTHER officer who contributed
greatly to the efficiency of the

~ greatly to the efficiency or the
~ American forces was Capt r.
r. G. r. Evans, z. NJ, who was
detailed by the British admiralty to act
as liais0n officer with our destroyers,
No more fortunate selection could have
been made. Capt. Evans had earned
fame as second in command of the Scott
antartic expedition: he had spent much
time in the United States and knew our
people well; indeed. when war broke out
he was lecturing in our country on his
polar experiences.
A few days before our division arrived
Capt. Evans had distinguished himself
in one Of the most brilliant naval actions
Of the war He was commander OF the
destroyer leader Broke-a destroyer
leader being q destroyer Of unusually
large size; and In this battle three Brit
ish vessels of this type fought six Ger
man destroyers. Capt. Evans ship sank
one German destroyer and rammed an
other, passing clear over its stern and
cutting 1t nearly In two.
- -
On May II q second American de-
stroyer flotilla Of six ships arrived at
Queenstown. From that date until July
s a new division put In nearly every
week. The six destroyers which es-"
corted our first troopships from America
to France were promptly assigned to
duty with our forces In Irish waters.
Meanwhile other ships were added. On
May 20 the Melville, the mother ship
OF the destroyers, arrived and became
the flagship of all the American vessels
stationed at Queenstown. This repair
and supply ship practically took the
place of q dockyard, SO far as our de-
stroyer forces were concerned.
Queenstown had been almost aban-
doned as a navy yard many years be-
fore the European war and its facili-
ties for the repair Of warships were
consequently very inadequate. The Mel
willie relieved the British authorities Of
many responsibilities of this kind. She
was able to do three-Quarters OF all this
work, except major repairs and those
which required docking. Her resources
for repairing destroyers, or for providing
tho wants and comforts Of our men,
aroused much admiration in British
naval circles The rspidity with which
eur forces settled down to work and the
seamanly skin which they manifested
from the very beginning, likewise made
the most favorable impression. BY July
S we had thirty four destroyers at
Queenstown force that remained
practically at that strength until No
yember, 1918. Much OF the work of
patrolling the seas to the west and south
of Ireland and Of conveying ships-the
area which, in many ways, was the
most important field of submarine war
Sare-fell upon these American ships.
The officers and crews began this
work with such zest that, by June /,
was justified in making the following
statement to the Navy Department:
''It Ia gratifying to be able to report
TINT the operations Of our forces tn
these waters have proved not only
very satisfactory, but also Of marked
value to the allies In overcoming the
submarine menace. The equipment
and construction of our ships have
proved adequate and SUFFICIENT and
the personnel has shown an unusually
high degree of enthusiasm and ability
to cope with the situation presented"
It 10 impossible to, exaggerate the
enthusiasm which the arrival Of these
vessels produced upon the British
public. America itself experienced
somethinS Of thrill when the news
was frst published that our destroy
ere had reached European waters, but
this was mild compared with the Joy
which spread all over the British
Isles. The feeling Of Americans was
mainly one Of pride; our people had
not yet suffered much from the Eu-
ropean cataclysm, and. despite the fact
that we were now active participants.
the war still seemed very far Off and
unreal.
For this reason those American de-
stroyers at Queenstown Immediately
became a symbol in the minds Of the
British people. They represented not
only tho material assistance which
our limftiess resources and our almost
inexhaustible supply of men would
bring to cause which was really in
desperate straits. they stood also for
a great spiritual fact, for the kinship
of the two great Angio-Saxon peoples,
which, although separated politically,
had now Joined hands to fight for the
ideals upon which the civilization of
both nations rested.
Almost iAstinctively the minds of
the British people turned to the day.
nearly three hundred years before,