This gallant hero was born in Greece, and had been in the
navy twenty years.
Then there was Harry Waterhouse, a chief turret captain, transferred
from the dreadnought _New York_ to command the armed crew of the
_Petrolite_ which was sunk by a U-boat on June 10. The vessel sank so
rapidly after being torpedoed that the guns could not be used. The navy
men, however, under the command of Waterhouse, assisted in getting out
the boats and lowering them and getting the crew to safety, to a
man--although the _Petrolite_ went over on her beam ends in less than a
minute. No member of the armed guard left the sinking vessel until
ordered to do so by Waterhouse. These are but a few of the instances of
signal gallantry which have filled the records of our navy since we
entered the war.
And while our merchant crews were thus at work the navy was busy sending
soldiers to the other side. Not a mishap had occurred on the eastbound
traffic--and at this writing none has yet occurred--but on October 17,
the transport _Antilles_, which had made several safe journeys with
soldiers destined for General Pershing's expeditionary forces, was
torpedoed and sunk when homeward bound with a loss of 70 lives out of
237 men on board. The transport was sunk while under the convoy of
American naval patrol-vessels, and she had on board the usual armed gun
crew.
Not only was the _Antilles_ the first American Army transport to be lost
in the present war, but she was the first vessel under American convoy
to be successfully attacked.
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