The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1920-06-20

force was small consisting principal
ly of two antiquated warships, the
Baltimore and the San Francisco,
Captain Belknap had performed his
duties conscientiously and ably. and
his little squadron therefore gave us
an excellent foundation on which to
build. Before the World War, the
business of mine-laying had been un-
popular in the American Navy as well
as in the British; such an occupation,
as Sir Eric Geddes once said, had been
regarded as something like that of
rat catching;" as hostilities went on,
however, and the mine developed
great value as an anti-submarine
weapon, this branch of the service
began to receive more respectful at
tention. Captain Belknap's work,
however, merely provided the nucleus
out of which the great American
mine force was developed. The "ac
live front" of our mine-laying squad
ron was found in the North Sea; but
the initial headquarters lay in dozen
shipyards and several hundred manu-
featuring plants in the United States.
= We began this work with practi-
'cally nothing; we had to obtain ships
and transform them into mine-layers,
to enlist and to train their crews; to
manufacture at least 100000 mines to
create bases both in the United States
and Scotland; to transport all of our
supplies more than 5000 miles of win
try sea, part of the course lying in
the submarine zone; and we had to do
all this before the real business OF
planting could begin. The mere fact
that the navy made contracts for 100.-
- 1od
had the opportunity of thoroughly
testing the design under service condi-
tions shows the great faith of the
Department in this new invention.
More than 500 contractors and sub
contractors, located in places as far
west as the Mississippi River, under
took the work of filling this great or
der. Wire rope mills, steel factories.
foundries. machine shops. electrical
works, and even candy makers, en-
gagged in this great operation; all had
their troubles with labor unions, with
the railroads, and with the weather
that was the terrible winter OF 1917-18;
but, in a few months, train loads of
mine cases-great globes of steel-and
other essential parts began to arrive
at Norfolk, Virginia This port was
the place where the mine parts were
loaded on ships and sent abroad. The
plant which was ultimately construct
ed at this point was able to handle
1000 mines day; the industry was
not a popular one in the neighbor-
hood, particularly after the Halifax
explosion had proved the destructive
powers OF the materials in which 1t
dealt Yet in a few months this es-
adjustment had handled 25,000,000
pounds of INT. The explosive was
melted in steel kettles until it
reached about the density of hasty
pudding; with the aid of automatic
devices it was then poured into the
mine cases, 800 pounds to a case, and
thence moved on a mechanical con-
veyor to the end of the pier. Twenty
four cargo vessels, for the most part
taken from the Great Lakes. carried
these cargoes to the western coast of
Scotland. Beginning in February,
1918, two or three of these ships sailed
every eight days from Norfolk, armed
against submarines and manned by
naval crews. The fact that these ves-
sells were slow made them an easy
prey for the under water enemy; one,
indeed. was sunk, with the loss of
forty-one men; regrettable as was
this mlSndp, IL represented the only
serious loss to the whole expedition.
The other vital points were New
port. Rhode Island. where the six
,nyne- layers were assembled; and Fort
William and Kyle of Loeb Ash on the
western coast of Scotland. which
were the disembarking points for the
ships transporting the explosives.
Captain BeIlxnap's men were very
rsany details they represented an i'm
provement over anything which had
been hitherto employed in such a SER
vice. At this point I wish to express
my very great appreciation OF the loyal
and devoted services rendered by Cap
tain Belknap. An organizer of rare
ability, this officer deserves we'll of
the nation for the conspicuous part
which he played in the development
of the North Sea Mine Barrage from
start to finish. Originally, these mine
layers had been coast-wise vessels;
two OF them were the Bunker Hill
and the Massachusetts,, which for
years had been outside line" boats.
running from New York to Boston; all
had dropped the names which had
served them in civil life and were re-
christened for the most part with
names which eloquently testified to
their American orgin-Canonicus, |
Shawmut, Quinnebaug, Housatonic, |
Saranac, Roanoke, Avoostook and
Canadaigua. This change in name |
was entirely suitable. for. by the /
time our force had completed their
alterations, the ships bore few re-
semblances to their former state. The |
cabins and saloons had been Quilted, |
leaving the hulls little more than |
empty shells; three deck for carrying |
mines had been installed; on all these
decks little railroad tracks had been |
built on which the mines could be
rolled along the lower decks to the |
elevators and along the upper mine /
deck to the stern and dropped into the
yea. Particularly novel details, some
hing entirely new in mine-layers.
we're the elevators, the purpose of /
which was to bring the mines rapidly i
rom the lower decks to the launching
rack.