The battle occurred on May 30, in the
Mediterranean and in addition to strength added by an efficient gun
crew, whose commander, Clark, had been a turret captain on the
_Arkansas_, the _Silvershell_ was an extremely fast ship. As a
consequence, when the submarine poked her nose out of the Mediterranean
blue, expecting easy prey, she found confronting her a man's-size
battle. In all sixty shots were exchanged, and the submarine not only
beaten off, but sunk with the twenty-first shot fired from the
_Silvershell_. It was a great fight, and Clark was recommended for
promotion.
While the government jealously guarded details of this and subsequent
fights, the country had adequate food for pride in such announcements
from the Navy Department as that of July 26, when certain gun-crew
officers were cited for promotion and an outline of reasons therefor set
forth.
There was Andrew Copassaki, chief boatswain's mate, for instance, who
was transferred from the battleship _Arkansas_ to take charge of the gun
crew of the steamship _Moreni_. He commanded this crew when the _Moreni_
was sunk by a German submarine on the morning of June 12. This gun crew
put up a fight on the deck of that sinking vessel which was so gallant
as to elicit words of praise from the commander of the attacking
submarine. Copassaki, when the ship was in flames, from shellfire,
rushed through the fire to the forward gun and continued to serve it
against the submarine until the gun was put completely out of
commission.
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