South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-05-06
Daniels Tells of Thrilling Days
When U-BoatS SheUed u. S. Coast;
Macy Organized Into 2 Big Fleets

When the U-boats came 10
America-The Sunday sensation
ard the Monday alarm-'Why
don't you recall our destroyers
from Europe How we kept
the open lanes OF transportation
open-not a day lost-All rec
ords broken for carrying troops
while subs played IT, our front
yard-Story OF the SIX that
crossed the sea-De utschland.
our friendly visitor ia 1916.
comes with guns and torpedoes
in 1913.
Why there should be an At
lantic and Pacific feet-Naval
force or United States organized
as two fleets for immediate
combination II C ssaIy -
"Onion-eyed knockers are
squarely answered - Strategy
and efficiency demanded a feet
In each ocean-Mahan's funda-
mental principle IS not violated.
BY JOSEPHUS DANIELS.
Former Secretary of the Navy-191S
TO 1921.
One OF the liveliest days OF the
whole war for the navy department
was Monday. June o. 1918. II Will
be many a year before ] forget II.
Sunday a U-boat had suddenly
bobed up about forty or fifty miles
off the New Jersey coast and sunk
four schooners.
That was hard hitting for a war
Alphabetically 5000 miles away.
IL certainly stirred things up in
our corner OF Washington. When /
received the newspaper correspond
snts that Monday morning / faced
a FIRE OF questions as rapid as that
OF any machine gun in France.
What IS the navy doing TO pro-
tect our shipping?"
why did it let the submarine
sink those vesels2"
Have you sunk the U-boat?"
Won't you recall our destroyers
from EuroDe?"
Gets 5000 Calls.
While I did my best with the
eager. inquisitve and persistent gen
tlemen OF the press. kilograms were
pouring into the department by the
hundred. and the telephones were
ringing without cessation. In
twenty-fOur hours. 5000 kilograms,
radio messages. phone calls and
other inquiries were handled by the
navy. The halls and offices OF the
department were thronged with
anxious people. shippers and ship
owners. and friends and relatives of
captains and crews. And everybody
wanted information.
There was general alarm along
the coast. from Cape Cod 10 Cape
Sable. IL one U-boat was over here,
two might be. or three. or four.
There was no saying where the en-
envy would strike next. Such was
the feeling and. OF course. we heard
from il.
The last OF the four questions
which I have given as coming from
the newspaper correspondents came
from all over the country, but espe-
cialIy from the coast:
Won't you recall our destroyers
from Europe ?"
Nor was il always phased so po-
litely or as difidently as this Some
times it passed from the interroga-
tive 10 the imperative, and became
an emphatic demand.
No Recall OF DcstrOyers.
obviously il was quite Impossible
for the department 10 satisfy all
these inquiries. or TO answer the
very pointed questions Of the news
papermen. We could not tell the
public what we were doing; what
ships were being sent out. and
where We might just as well have
cabled the information TO Germany
Most Of our destroyers and other
patrol craft were in European
waters. hut we had no idea of re-
calling them.
In the first place. TO cover every
point where submarines might APP
pear. to patrol adequately the waters
Of our long coast line and 10 convoy
all coastwise shiping-which was
what excited individuals were insist