Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-11-23
uRING the period of prepara-
ton there were certain es-
sential preliminaries; it was

-~"s N"AAop T" CCE TAIN amount OIL
tea drinking was inevitable. and there
were many invitations to dinners and
to clubs that could not be ignored.
Our officers made state visit to Cork,
going up in Admiral Bayly's barge,
and returned the Fluctuations of the
mayor and his retinue.
b Naturally both the Americans and
their ships became an object of great
interest to their new allies. 1t was,
: think, the first time that destroyer
,notilla had ever visited Great Britain,
ana the very appearance of the yes-
sells themselves aroused the greatest
curiosity. They bore only a general
resemblance to the destroyers of the
British navy. The shape of their
huus, the number and location Of
smokepipes, the position Of guns,
torpedo tubes. bridges, deckhouse and
other details gave them quite a con-
trasting profile. The fact that they
were designed to operate under DIFF.
ferent conditions from the British
ships accounted for many of these
Emergencies. We build our DESTROY
ers with the widest possible cruising
radius; they are expected to 60 to
the West Indies, to operate from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, and in general
10 Feel at home anywhere in the great
stretch of waters that surround our
continent.
British destroyers, on the other
hand. are intended to operate chiefly
in the restricted waters around the
British Isles, where the fueling and
renting facilities are so extensive
that they do not have to devote much
space to supplies Of this kind. The
result is that our destroyers can keen
the sea longer than the British: on the
other hand, the British are faster than
ours. and they can also turn more
quickly.
These differences were, of course, a
subject of much discussion among
the observers at Queenstown, and
even OF animated argument. Natural
ly. the interest Of the destroyer Of
ficers of the two services in the re-
spective merits Of their vessels was
very keen. They examined infinitely
all features that were new to them
in the design and arrangement of
guns, torpedoes, depth charges and
machines. freely exchanged informa-
tion and discussed proposed improve
ments In the friendliest possible
spirit. Strangely enough, although
the American destroyers carried
greater fuel supplies than the British,
they were rather more dainty and
graceful in their lines--a fact which
inspired famous retort which rapid
.ly passed through the ranks of both
navies.
you know" remarked British Of
ficer to an American, II like the Brit
ish destroyers better than the Ameri-
can. They look SO much sturdier.
Yours. seem to me rather feminine in
appearance"
YES" replied the American. that's
SO. but you must remember what
Kipling says: The female of the
species is more deadly than the
male NO.
The work of the Americans really
began on, the Sunday following their
arrival; by this time they had sstab-
lished cordial relations with Admiral
Bayly and were, prepared to trust
themselves unreservedly in his hands.
He summoned the officers on this
Sunday morning to have short talk
with them before they started for the
submarine zone;s the time of their
departure had been definitely fixed
for the next day. In the matter of
ceremonial greetings the admiral was
not strong. but when it came to dis
cussing the business in hand he was
the master of q convincing eloQuence.
The subject of his discourse was the
responsibility that lay before our
men; he spoke in sharp. staccato
tones. making his points with the ut
most precision, using no verbal -four
ishes or unnecessary words-looking
at our men perhaps little fiercely,
and certainly impressing them with
the fact that the work which lay be-
fore them was to be no summer holi-
day.
X -..a.
As soon as the destroyers passed
beyond the harbor defenses the dan
ger began; death constantly lay be-