BANQUET. 325 



coiucutrated on them, they would have found a relatively small number of ships, all of 

 hi^h speed, hence difficult to attack. Furthermore, they would have encountered a de- 

 stroyer escort three times as strong as the escort protecting cargo vessels. 



"Having taken the foregoing steps for the protection of troops, it was practically cer- 

 tain that submarines would be forced to confine their attacks almost exclusively to cargo 

 vessels, and this was borne out by the experience of the war." 



In other words, we have all heard of the wonderful troop transport service. All the 

 passenger ships were used for the transport of troops, and the shipments of supplies were 

 made on the slower vessels. Any ship which could make 15 knots went into the troop trans- 

 port business, and the slow ships bore the brunt of the war. The captains and crews of 

 those ships thus took their lives in their hands and, in convoys at night, were in constant 

 danger of being run into. They were anxious times. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, 

 a ship would be torpedoed, and in some cases the ships sank inside of two minutes, with all 

 hands on board. These men had to bear the strain of the war in a most terrible way. It 

 appears to me incredible that such men as the average merchant ship captains were able, in 

 so short a time, to adapt themselves to these new conditions and to meet the situation in such 

 an excellent way. They deserve all credit for it. I therefore want to take my hat off to the 

 merchant captains of the war. (Applause.) 



It will be some years before these facts come out. Whatever you see in the press is 

 always in praise of the passenger service. It was the merchant captains who really bore the 

 burden of the war in this remarkable yvay. The supplies had to go through, they were in 

 slow ships, and they stood the brunt of it. 



There was a fund started in England as a tribute to the British merchant marine, and 

 donations to this fund were asked in this country as a tribute to the British merchant ma- 

 rine, much to the regret and much to the displeasure of the British people. They felt it was 

 not a proper thing to be raising money in America for a fund for the British merchant ma- 

 rine. The plan for this fund has now been enlarged and turned into a fund for the British 

 and American merchant marine, to take care of the widows and orphans and the people who 

 were left destitute from the loss in the war of their husbands and sons on whom they were 

 dependent, in these terrible sinkings, and I, for one, feel that if the American merchant* 

 marine has been fortunate in escaping the heavy losses that the British sustained, it is be- 

 cause we learned tO' counteract the submarine menace by means of the depth charges and 

 the convoy system. I thank you. (Applause.) 



The President : — It is a great privilege and honor for this Society to express its ap- 

 preciation of the magnificent work performed by the merchant marine in the Great War. 

 I am sure that we are all very glad that Admiral Niblack could be with us and, on our be- 

 half, pay this tribute. Coming from a naval officer, with his personal knowledge of condi- 

 tions, it is especially appropriate. 



Our next toast, gentlemen, is "Shipbuilding and Commerce." This Society is rich in 



