Well, while the German waged their unrestricted warfare on the sea,
those German vessels lay at Hoboken and at other ports of the country,
gathering the rust and barnacles of disuse. Then one day Congress spoke
definitely, and the next morning North River ferry voyagers saw lying
off the German docks a torpedo-boat destroyer flying the American flag.
Some days later the American flag floated over the taffrails of the
_Vaterland_, the _Kaiser Wilhelm II_, and other Teutonic craft. Their
employment in the way of providing transportation of our soldiers, of
course, was contemplated. In fact, the accession to our marine of such a
large number of hulls seemed to provide for us all the necessary means
which otherwise we would have lacked.
But not so fast. When our officers began to look over these German craft
they found that they were in a woful condition, not so much because of
disuse as because of direct damage done to them by the German crews who
had been attached to the ships ever since they were laid up in 1914.
There is evidence in Washington that the German central authorities
issued an order for the destruction of these ships which was to be
effective on or about February 1, 1917--simultaneous, in other words.
with the date set for unrestricted warfare. There is not the slightest
doubt that the purpose of the order was to cause to be inflicted damage
so serious to vital parts of the machinery of all German vessels in our
ports, that no ship could be operated within a period of time ranging
from eight months to two years, if at all.
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