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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



the; few days in port between" the sweeping operations were equaeey as 



busy as the days at sea 



Besides fueling, watering, and filling up again with stores, the sweeping gear had to be 

 overhauled and repaired, the boilers cleaned, and as many of the leaks stopped as was possi- 

 ble without docking the ship. 



vicinity had cut their sweeps, rushed to 

 her assistance, and succeeded in rescuing 

 all except one officer and six men. 



an inspiring act of heroism 



A moment or two before the Bulkelcy 

 had disappeared from sight, one of those 

 inspiring deeds occurred which live for- 

 ever in our memories and glorify the 

 noblest traditions of the service. A man, 

 dazed by the shock of the explosion, 

 struggled to the deck. Seeing that he had 

 no life-belt, Commander Frank R. King. 

 U. S. N., took off his own, and, quickly 

 buckling it about the man, helped him to 

 get clear of the ship before she took her 

 final plunge. A moment later the Bulke- 

 lcy had disappeared, carrying down with 

 her, in the vortex of swirling water, this 

 gallant officer, who gave his life that an- 

 other might live. (To perpetuate his 

 memory, the Secretary of the Navy, a 

 few months later, named a new destroyer 

 in honor of Commander King.) 



The remainder of the operation was 

 completed without further serious acci- 

 dent. 



From a standpoint of time, the results 

 had been splendid ; our rate of sweeping 

 had actually been tripled. On the other 

 hand, the casualties had been enormous — 

 one ship sunk, one permanently disabled, 

 three damaged so badly that docking was 

 necessary, three forced to return to port 

 for repairs, while three had been able to 

 complete repairs on the mine field. 



A careful review of the accidents, how- 

 ever, showed that the majority had been 

 due to causes independent of the method 

 of sweeping, and the rapidity with which 

 they had occurred had been proportional 

 to the number of mines destroyed per 

 day; so, evidently the ultimate losses 

 would be equal, and the preference lay 

 decidedly with the more rapid method. 



One thing, however, was apparent ; it 

 was not safe to sweep with trawlers. Al- 

 though the British had successfully used 



