submarine that had attacked her. There is Lieutenant Clarence C. Thomas,
commander of the gun crew on the oil-ship _Vacuum_. When the ship was
sunk he cheered his freezing men tossing on an icy sea in an open boat
far from land, until he at length perished, his last words those of
encouragement. There is Lieutenant S.F. Kalk, who swam from raft to raft
encouraging and directing the survivors of the destroyer _Jacob Jones_
after a torpedo had sent that vessel to the bottom. There are those two
gunners on the transport _Antilles_ who stood serving their gun until
the ship sank and carried them down. There is the freighter
_Silver-Shell_ whose gun crew fought and sank the submarine that
attacked the ship, and the gun crews of the _Moreni_, the _Campana_, and
the _J.L. Luckenback_--indomitable heroes all. There is Osmond Kelly
Ingram, who saved the _Cassin_ and lost his life. There is the glorious
page contributed to our naval annals, by the officers and crew of the
_San Diego_. History indeed is in the making--history that Americans are
proud to read.

In all that has been written in this foreword the design has been merely
to sketch, to outline some of the larger achievements of the United
States Navy in this war. In chapters to come our navy's course from
peace into war will be followed as closely as the restrictions of a wise
censorship will permit.




CHAPTER I

First Experience of Our Navy with the German U-Boat--Arrival of Captain
Hans Rose and the U-53 at Newport--Experiences of the German Sailors in