Evening star., 1920-01-04
GN
N,ontinued from First Pase.l

itett'Hutt lIoiH fNSt tA6c.t
the American Navy in the great work
which II had undertaken at Gibraltar;
and on August 9Th the L. s. $. Sacrs
meute reached that port, followed
about a week afterward by the Blr-
minshanl. dying the nag OF Rear
Admiral Henry Il. Wilson. Admiral
Wilson remained as commander Of
this force until November. when ne
left to assume the direction OF affairs
at Erest On November % Rear Ad-
mrai Albert p. Niblack succeeded te
this command. which he retained
throughout the war.
Gibraltar was the gateway for
niore traffic than any other port in
the world. 1t was estimated that
more than onc-quarter of all the
conveys which reached the entente
nations either rendezroused at this
point or passed through these straits.
This was the great route to the East
by way OF the SueZ canal. From Gil
braltar extended the allied lines of
communication to southern France.
Italy. Sa,oniki. Egypt, Palestine and
Mesopotamia. There were other routes
to BiZerta iTunis). Algiers. the Island
of Milo. and a monthly service to the
Azores.
The allied forces that were detailed
70 Il, n inf
British and American. though they
were materially assisted by French.
Japanese and Italian vessels. They
consisted of almost anything which
the hard-pressed navies could as
sembic from all parts of the world
antiquAted destroyerB. yachts. slOops.
trawlers. drifters and the like. The
Gibraltar area was a long distance
from the main enemy submarine
bases. The enemy could maintain at
sea at any one time a relatively small
number Of submarines: inasmuch as
the zone off the British channel and
Ireland was the most critical one. the
allies stationed their main destroyer
force there. Because OF these fact :
we had great difficulty in finding ves-
sells to protect the important Gibraltar
area, and the force which we uiitm-
ately get together was therefore a
miscellaneous lot. The United States
gathered at this point forty-One ships.
and a personnel which averaged a14
officers and 1850 men. This American
aggregation contained varleGated
assortment of scout cruisers. gun
boats. coast guard cutters. yachts and
five destroyers Of antique type.
The straits to which We were re-
Gibraltar station-and the British
navy was similarly hard pressed
were Illustrated by the fact that we
placed these destroyers at Gibraltar.
They were the Decatur and four
similar vessels. each Of 4sS tons
the modern destroyer II n vessel OF
from 1.eSe to l.ee6 tons-and were
stationed. when the war broke out,
at Manila. where they were ccustd-
cred tlt only for local service. yet
the record which these doughty lit
tie ships made Is characteristic Of
the spirit OF Our young oflicers. This
Iittle squadron steamed 1900 miles
from Manila to Gibraltar, and that
they arrived in condition Immediate
ly to take UP their duties was due
to the excellent Judgment and sea-
manship displayed by their corn
mandins cfilcer. Lieut. Commander
tnOw Ccmmander) Harold X. Stark.
Subsequently they made 4s.00e miles
on escort duty. This makes $1,000
miles for vessels which in peace
times had been consigned to minor
duties: Unfortunately. ono Of these
gallant little vessels was subse :
Queatly cut down and sunk by a
merchant ship while escorting n con-
yoy.
4 y -
For more than a year this force
under Admiral Nibiack performed
service which reflected the highest
credit upon that commander. his
officers and his men. During this
period OF time IL escorted. In Coop
eratien with the British forces. 5S2
conveys. comprising q total or ie.47s
ships. Besides protecting commerce,
chasing submarines and keeping
them under the surface. many OF the
vessels making up this squadron
had engagements with submariu
that were classified rs "succexsful. ="
On May Is. 1913. the Wheeling. a