Evening star., 1921-04-30
BY JOSEPHIS DANIELS,
Former Secretary Of the Navy.


ARTICLE II.
CONSTANTINorIsE March - delayed -
The Scorpion veteran of the SwlniSh- Ameri
joined the allies. and now Admiral Bristol's
flagship. has been ordered sold by the Navy
hsarSmsnt The $corpon has Sot been & Stationed ms
came dispatch boat for the American en-
bassy. 1t is converted yacht
When the German cruisers Goeben
and BreSlau made their sensational
escape at the opening of the war. and
ia ced down the Mediterranean to de-
liver themselves to Turkey. it was an
American audience on an American
grandstand which watched the thrill
ing finish in the harbor of Constan-
tinople.
From the deck Of the eunboat Scor-
pion. flying the flag of the United
States, the officers and men. with no
little amusement. beheId the evident
ly Teutonic crews of the erStwhile
ships of the German navy, hastily
dotting their German caps and DON
ming MoSlem fezzeS as the Turkish
flag was hoiSted to the masthead.
Throughout the war the Scorpion
was a vantage point of observation
for the events which occurred in the
near east. When the United States
became 4 belligerent it quietly in
of war with Turkey. and nothing to
be gained by this little vessel risking
almost certain destruction by an ef-
fort to run the U-boat gantlet in
the Mediterranean in order to reach
the naval forces Of the allies.
Thrilling Times for Crew.
IhlS, however. does not mean that
the Scorpions wartime existence was
wholly monotonous. 1t had it's thrills
and its opportunities for service.
When Turkey entered the war the
crew of the Scorpion was invaluab bic
to Mr.. Morgenthau in guarding en-
basSies and helping to get the retir-
non-com ba tants-men, women and
out of the city.
The American flag was temporarily
holSted over the British embassy. and
men of the Scorpion stood on guard
about the building, because there We're
upon it, and MIR. Morgenthau had been
requested by the British government to
take charge of British interests.
But the most thrilling episode in the
Scorpions long sojourn in the Bosporus
occurred on May %. 1916.
Long lines of transports, with 10000
or $4,000 troops aboard. were at the
quays ready to sail for the re-enforce-
ment of the Ottoman armies at the
An escort of dcstroyers
and patrol boats had been sent ahead
into the Sea Of Marmora. and one or
two deStroyers Were racing about in the
Rosporus.
The opportunity for sudden blow by
the allies was excellent, if anybody
could get near enough to strike the
blow. Approach. however. meant run
ming the blockade OF mines and shore
guns and other defenSas which. thus
far. had made the DardanelIes impreg-
nabie.
So the Turks felt fairly safe.
Warning From Submarine.
A rumor spread. however. May a that
the skipper of d submarine had ad-
dressed letter to the neutral embas-
sizes requesting that all neutral ships
for their own protection, should imme-
diately withdraw from the open harbor
1t was said that the letter had been
given to the captain of q Greek tug
boat. This assertion, however, has
never been verified, nor has copy of
the letter ever been seen. So far as is
known it was never delivered. Suspi-
ciOn exists that il fell into Turkish
hands. This suspicion is Strengthened
by the fact that almost coincdently
several tugboat captains Of the Hellenic
race "dsappcared.'
1t was with a sense Of expectancy
qmckened by this rumor that the Scor-
pion's lookout watched the early morn
ing preparations of the Turkish trans
ports to sail.
The moment for departure had al
most arrived. when sudden shout
from the QuarteTmas ster Of the Scor-
pion brought all hands scrambling on
deck.
British submarine" rang out the
cry.
Sure enough. heading at full speed
for the troop ships. with the rifle
Of water white around it's periscope,
was a British submarine
. The Turks had made simulta neous
discovery Of it. and their artillery
opened fire. The marka ma nship was
poor, however, for all the shells fell
harmless.
Blows Up Turkish Craft.
The submarine made a full sweep
OF the harbor, and when only leO
yards from the Turkish field guns
fired its first torpedo.
A moment later there was q terrific
A Turkish lighter vanished
from the water. and presently fell
back again in fragments. a big hole
was blown in the side Of an empty
transport.
The first torpedo was followed al
most Immediately by a second The
SCORPIONS crew watched its white
on the port side. headed up the Bos-
porus 1t went under a small boat
and passed on upstream to sink with
out doing the foe any injury.
Meantime a Turkish torpedo boat
with no little intrepidity, had dashed
at full speed toward the hostile
visitor. evidently intent upon ram
ming it. But the British were too
quick, and when the Turks reached
the point where the submarine had
been, it was no longer there-sub-
mergence had carried it to safe
depths
All the harbor police and patrol
boats were rushing around looking
for the sub" Turkish naval officers
OF high rank grabbed rifles and put
out in motor boats, hoping. to get a
shot at the invader. The shore ar
tillery continued to rain shells around
Some of the shells menaced the neu-
trail shipping much more seriously
than they did the British enemy
They came so near the Scorpion"
said Lieut.. Commander Stewart +.
Bryant. one of its officers, that the
men had to be ordered below decks
The Scorpion, in the midst Of the ex-
element beat all its previous records
Tor getting up steam and shifting
position"
Stops Turk Expedition.
Nothing more was seen Of the sub
marine, which made it's escape with
out suffering any damage While the
British had not done any very serious
harm-there had been no loss of life
they had succeeded in producing a
profound effect The Turks did not
dare venture out with their trans
ports. All the troops were disem-
barked and the sea expedition to the
Dardanelles abandoned. The rein
forcemcnts proceeded to the trench
es either by rail or on foot.