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Perry, Lawrence, 1875-1954

"Our Navy in the War"

The transport _Finland_ and the destroyer
_Cassin_, which were torpedoed, reached port and were soon repaired and
placed back in service. The transport _Mount Vernon_, struck by a
torpedo on September 5 last, proceeded to port under its own steam and
was repaired. The most serious loss of life due to enemy activity was
the loss of the Coast Guard cutter _Tampa_, with all on board, in
Bristol Channel, England, on the night of September 26, 1918. The
_Tampa_, which was doing escort duty, had gone ahead of the convoy.
Vessels following heard an explosion, but when they reached the vicinity
there were only bits of floating wreckage to show where the ship had
gone down. Not one of the 111 officers and men of her crew was rescued,
and, though it is believed she was sunk by a torpedo from an enemy
submarine, the exact manner in which the vessel met its fate may never
be known.

OTHER POINTS SUMMARIZED
Secretary Daniels records many other achievements of ships and
personnel, including those of the naval overseas transportation service.
Of the latter he says in substance:
In ten months the transportation service grew from 10 ships to a fleet
of 321 cargo-carrying ships, aggregating a deadweight tonnage of
2,800,000, and numerically equalling the combined Cunard,
Hamburg-American, and North German Lloyd lines at the outbreak of the
war. Of this number 227 ships were mainly in operation.
From the Emergency Fleet Corporation the navy has taken over for
operation 94 new vessels, aggregating 700,000 deadweight tons.


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