424 : The Atlantic 



for the death-dealing enemy diey had never seen and might never 

 see, knowing that a growing toll of vessels like themselves had been 

 hit without warning and sunk without trace. 



In April 1917 the Germans had at least 120 submarines and this 

 number was increasing month by month. In April 1917 875,000 tons 

 of Allied shipping were sunk. This exceeded by almost one-half the 

 rate which the Germans had set as a measure of assured victory. 



People in the Allied lands were generally aware of a high rate of 

 submarine sinkings but only the British Admiralty knew the exact 

 record or the extent to which this threatened the health and strength 

 of the British war effort. Once the American declaration of war was 

 made the Admiralty lost no time in presenting the picture to Rear 

 Admiral Wm. S. Sims in London so that he might fully inform 

 Washington. 



There was a desperate need for destroyers and for small fast anti- 

 submarine craft that could be quickly built, for nobody had fore- 

 seen the character and extent of unlimited submarine warfare. On 

 April 14 Sims requested the maximum available number of destroy- 

 ers. By May 24 six destroyers sailed from Boston under Commander 

 J. K. Taussig and reported to Vice-Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly in 

 Queenstown, Ireland, on May 4. This was a welcome addition to the 

 thirteen coal-burning sloops which together with hastily assembled 

 trawlers and drifters was all the force that Bayly had for the protec- 

 tion of merchantmen sailing to Liverpool or entering the English 

 Channel. 



In an attempt to relieve the desperate situation five aged coal- 

 burning destroyers were ordered to proceed from Manila to Gibraltar 

 by way of the Suez Canal and made the trip successfully. The first 

 fleet of destroyers from America was followed by seven submarines 

 and a tender and by the fall of 191 7 the American destroyer fleet, 

 assisting the British, had increased to thirty. Because it was promptly 

 delivered at the time it was most needed, this was one of the most 

 effective contributions that America made to World War I, 



Synchronizing with the arrival of the American destroyers, in 

 May 1 91 7 there came into use another effective antisubmarine device. 

 This was the development of the convoy system for merchant ves- 

 sels. Of course the convoy system had been known and effectively 

 employed for centuries, but it took time to realize that it might be 

 effectively employed against the submarine. There were, in fact, vio- 

 lent objections raised against the idea: collected merchant ships 



