Evening star., 1921-05-11
BY JOSEPHCs DANIELS.
Former Secretary Of the Navy.

aR11I1sE
Mystery has always attached itself
to the sea, and romance to the lives OF
those who go down to the sea in ships
This article is to deal with what
was, in a way. prosaic branch of the
service, but it will tell of both mys-
terry and romance.
The initials ~. o. T. S" may no,
be as familiar TO the Iandsman reader
as some others which were in frequent
use during the war. but every sailor
knew them well!-not only the sailors
of our own country, but of all other
countries having ships on the Atlantic
in 1918,
~ O. T. s" stood for the larges,
cargo fleet on earth operating under
single management-the naval over
Seas transportation service.
January 1. 1918, it did not have even
n paper existence; January it was
formally organized and named: by
I July 1t comprised 19S vessels. and
when the armistice came in November
its fleet consisted of $50 assigned
ships, of which 31S were in actual
operation and the rest in course of
construction or preparing to go into
commission. Its total maximum ton
mage was 3,S00.000 deadweight.
:.5 900 Men In Service.
This was development of the
Nays work which got less attention
than its magnitude and Importance
1nerted. 1t was one of the biggest
things we did. and among the chief
reasons why We had to raise and
train such an enormous personnel.
There were some five thousand off,
GERS and thirty thousand men in this
Service.
Had the war continued through
1919. according to our estimates we
would have required at least 10000
oihcers and 100000 men for this
branch of the service alone. The Ship
Ting Board schedule for 1853 con-
templated the delivery of, 1924 YES
s"ls. the large majority of which
would have been put into war service
and manned by the Navy.
y. o. I. :. was the ferry to France"
carrying millions of tons of NUM-
tions. guns, food. fuel, supplies, ma
terials to our Army and naval forces
abroad. Five tons of supplies a year
were required for each soldier
But ] am not going to burden YOU
with statistics. The story of what
this prosaic ferry service meant to
the men engaged in it may best be
told by giving you the log" of one
ship-a typical ship and a typical ex-
perience in the y. o. T. S.
The George G. Henry-prosaic. mat
ter-of-fact name-had made seven
round trips to France, averaging
s.Xty-seven days to the trip. which
:iiiows for loading and unloading-a
hne record for a cargo steamer.
Tackles q U-Boat.
She was on her eighth trip and far
under full speed. when she sighted a
I-boat about 5000 yards distant. This
was at $50 in the morning of SEN
1ember %, 1918.
Full left wheel was ordered. Gen
eral quarters" was sounded. The for
ward gun went into action and the
after gun followed quickly. Then the
mbs rine opened fire. Some shots
1eIi short. others went over the
Henry. The latters shells were drop
pLns IN pretty lively fashion around
the sub and presently IL withdrew
beyond range. but kept in pursuit
For two hours il followed. firing an
occasional shot but giving small
chance to the Henry.
Then IL scored a hitZa real hit
six-inch she'll struck the Henry
pierc' ng the after deck 1t plunged
ciagonaHy downward, breaking The
exhaust pipe of the steering gear and
e1pioding against a magazine filled
with powder and shells.
Ship Soon In Flanes
Inc ammunition exploded. spread
ing destruction. The whole after mar,
OF tne snip was soon in flames. The
AItef gun the one bearing on the
enemy was for. the time being useless.
me crew turned to lighting the fre.
smoke bombs were exploded. and a
dense smoke screen oyerhune the
stern. '"e
Thinking he had crippled the shin
the I-boat sailed past the weather
end OF the smoke screen, redoubling
T,s nre. using shrapnel and solid shot.
ihoush the vessel was not hit again
the shrapnel exploding over IL de,
<cended In rain on the decks and
fourteen men Of the crew were struck
by nying fragments.
ny steering the vessel obliauely the
hehry brought its forward gun to
near: out the sub ran out Of range
AL le:l1. the fire having been got
under control. two shells were fired
from the after. gun. both striking