These were taken from
the vessels of the fleet and, of course, had to be replaced as soon as
possible. Work was expeditiously carried forward, and hardly had the
order for armed guards been issued than the American freighter _Campana_
was sent to Europe well-laden with cargo and prepared to make matters
interesting for any submarine that saw fit to attack by the then
prevailing method of shell-fire. Other vessels soon followed, and the
country witnessed the anomalous condition of the navy in war service in
the European war zone before war was declared.
The navy, in fact, had its first death in service before we went to war,
when on April 1, John Espolucci, of Washington, D.C., one of the armed
guard of the steamship _Aztec_, was killed in the course of events
attending the destruction of that vessel by a submarine. By this time
active hostilities had seemed inevitable and before the sinking of the
_Aztec_ the Navy Department had sent Admiral William S. Sims abroad to
get in touch with the British and French Admiralties for the purpose of
discussing the most effective participation of our war-ships in the
conflict. Later, when war was actually declared, Sims was promoted to
vice-admiral, and made commander of the United States naval forces
operating in European waters.
No better man for this post could have been selected. A graduate of the
Naval Academy in the class of 1880, his career in the navy had been one
sequence of brilliant achievement. As naval attache at Paris and
Petrograd, in the course of his distinguished service he had ample
opportunities for the study of European naval conditions, and later he
was intrusted with the important duty of developing gunnery practice and
marksmanship in our battle-fleet.
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