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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



LIFE OX BOARD i'HE SUB-CHASERS WAS CONCENTRATED HARDSHIP 



With the ships rolling and pitching incessantly, the crews lived largely on cold canned 

 foods, slept in wet bunks, in unheated compartments, and sank mines as fast as the sweepers 

 cut them up. Small as they are, the sub-chasers are marvelous sea boats and were able to 

 stay out in weather that would have driven far larger vessels into port. 



work required ! The sweeping itself was 

 fatiguing enough ; it was an all-hands' 

 job. But, after it was finished for the 

 day, to spend a part, sometimes all, of 

 the night in getting ready for the next 

 day's work was a task for nothing less 

 than iron constitutions. 



Nothing could have been more mag- 

 nificent than the splendid manner in 

 which the officers and men stood up 

 under the terrific strain. With never a 

 murmur, never a complaint, sometimes 

 going for months without setting foot on 

 shore, these officers and men toiled on 

 day after day. 



A comparison of the British mine- 

 sweepers with our own is interesting. 

 Their crews consisted entirely of volun- 

 teers and were given nearly double pay, 

 as well as a' large bonus for each mine 

 that thev destroved. We had no volun- 



teers ; it was the work of the Navy and 

 we took it as such. We received no extra 

 compensation nor any bonus for the 

 mines that we destroyed. 



On the 13th of September, 32 days 

 after leaving Kirkwall, the fleet returned 

 to port. Five and a half out of the six 

 remaining groups had been completed. 

 The British sweepers had not yet com- 

 pleted clearing their single line of mines 

 to the southward of Group 8, and there- 

 fore only the northern half of our group 

 could be cleared at that time. The Brit- 

 ish were expected to finish any day. after 

 which we would be free to sweep the 

 remainder of our group. When that was 

 done Admiral Strauss desired to make a 

 general test sweep of a large portion of 

 the barrage to prove definitely that our 

 work had been thoroughly done. 



Tt was now the critical season of the 



