Evening star., 1921-05-12
DESTROYERS' GALLANT SERVICE
GUARDING ARMY. TRANSPORTS
--
Daniels Tells of Tireless Work of Ocean
Greyhounds Protecting Conveys and
Combating Submarines.

IN spite OF all enortS 10 reScultate MIN
he died
The Germans were given hot coffee
sandwiches and cigarettes. Men of the
Tanning loaned their warm clothing.
I and no prisoners were ever better treat
, cd. When they were in the boats that
were to take them ashore they Cheered
the Tanning and its crew.
This was one case in which the au-
thorities could not throw doubt on it by
any dubious credit of slightly dam
aged or possibly sunk There was no
doubt whatever that that submarine. the
r-5s, had gone to Davy Jones locker.
And the prisoners were glad enough to
escape with their lives.
The O'Brien. Trippe. Warrington. Jen-
kins. Wadsworth. Cummings. Wilkes.
Benham. Parker. Jacob Jones, Nc
| Dougal. Davis Conyngham. Allen, Reed.
! Stewart. Porter. Patterson. Beale. Bur-
rows. Sterrett ard Tucker were official
ly credited by the British admiralty
with successful attacks. and there We're
others which probably deserved it, but
were not able to present such clear
evidence. For tie authorities over there
required pretty good Evidence before
they gave airy cr. dis.
Good Work Of Armed Yachts.
The armed Yachts. those fine craft
belonging to wealthy Americans.
which, from Injurious private posses
sions. were turned to purposes OF war
the coast o. France, also played well
their part. and the Nonia, Wakiva.
Piqua. Christahel aud Lydonia were
accorded official praise io- damaging
or sending down submarines. The
subchasers at plymouth and Corfu
had their Victories.
But. wi;kc,. t vas the gallant de-
stroyers which dtd most 70 combat
the submarine menace They were
the bully boys who always kept the
subs on the run. ~ sea tWo-thirds
of the time, they escorted three
f"urths Of the transatlantic tonnage
in and out OF Europeda ports. Some
of them made astounding records.
The first year after wa catered the
war at least three. the Porter. Davis
and Conyrgh2E, stea med about $1,000
miles each. nearly three times the
distance around the globe, while the
Caldwell for some time averaged
$500 miles month. over $50 miles
day. 40 class of ship. big or little,
eVe- excelied this record.
"Give Him Anything He Wants."
Regarding the Caldwell. I must tell
you little story about Comma nder
Byron McCandless. At the beginning
OF the war he was my naval aid. and
when he begged to go to sea he was
assigned to this destroyer. then build
ing at Mare Island. He reached the
California navy yard not long after
the keel was laid. Impatient to get
his ship finished. he was on the job
day and night. He banged away at it
so persistently that the workmen
called him Capt. Bing Bang"
One day the acting chief of naval
operations came into my office with a
telegram from McCandless asking
that laundry be installed in the
Caldwell. He handed me a letter he
had prepared disapproving the re-
quest. Hold on. there. now" l said.
That officer is working overtime to
get his ship done. Give him anything
he wants. and send il by express"
Then the acting chief held out his
other hand 1t contained a dispatch
approving the request. Il knew you
would want this dispatch" Mr.. Sec
retary," he said. but / thought 1
would see first what 1 could do with
the letter.
Makes Double Record.
McCandless finished his ship in rec
ord time and for his trial trip made
another record by making the run
from San Francisco through the
Panama canal to Hampton at speed
of thirty knots an hour After
short rest he took her across the At
lantic and made another record in
the war zone.
That's just an exs mple of the way
our destroyer boys went at the Job,
and they kept it up until the last horn
blew
Their skill in navigating. in Iocat-
ing conveys or vessels in distress or
boats containing survivors was posi-
lively uncanny When the President
Lincoln was sunk 500 miles at sea
the Smith and the Warrington hur-
ried to the rescue. Other ships in
the convoy had sent by wireless the
location as they hurried away to es-
cape the submarine. The two de-
stroyers were ESQ miles from the
scene. That wireless message was
all they had to steer by. The Lincoln
was sunk about 9 o'clock in the morn
ing. and il was IL o'clock that night
when the rescuers reached the 1ocaI