"
And they were--allowing for the cleaning of a few hulls and the
effecting of minor repairs to one or two of the vessels. Other
destroyers remained here, of course, while a fringe of submarine-chasers
and swift, armed yachts converted into government patrol-vessels were
guarding our coast the day after the President signed the war
resolution. But more than a year and a half was to elapse before our
waters were again to know the submarine menace. Just why the Germans
waited may not be known. Probably they had all they could attend to in
foreign waters. In any event it was not until June, 1918, that a
coastwise schooner captain was both surprised and indignant when a shot
from a craft which he took to be an American submarine went across his
bows. It was not an American submarine; it was a German submersible and
that schooner was sent to the bottom, followed by other wind-jammers and
the Porto Rico liner _Carolina_.
Thus, what in the original instance was a test journey in the interests
of German submarine activity--the visit of the U-53 in October, 1916--as
well as a threat to this country bore its fruit in the development of
that test trip, and in the fulfilment of that threat. At this writing
the coastwise marauder, or marauders, are still off our shores, and
clouds of navy craft are seeking to destroy them. We are far better
equipped for such service than we were when Captain Hans Rose came here
in his submarine, and it is divulging no secret information to say that
this and further invasions of our home waters will be dealt with bravely
and rigorously without the necessity of subtracting from the number of
war-vessels that are engaged with Allied fighters in maintaining
commerce upon the waters of Europe.
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