France
France
Posted on Jun 26, 2017
American Expeditionary Forces - WW1 HD color
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Jun 6 1917 to Dec 31 1917
First American Expeditionary Forces Arrive in France
While the youth of America were rallying to the colors in the spring of 1917, and preparations were under way to shape them into an invincible Army, France and England together were imploring the United States to dispatch troops across the sea without delay, for the moral influence their mere presence would exert upon the war-weary legions in the Western trenches. With the arrival of the French Mission in America, General Joffre added his personal prayer that America come quickly to the assistance of the sorely pressed Allied armies. Yielding to these entreaties, President Wilson, on May 19th, announced that one division of the Regular Army, together with nine regiments of Army Engineers, would be sent to France at the earliest possible moment. On the same day, the Secretary of the Navy announced that 2,600 Marines would accompany General Pershing.
Pershing a Full General
The command of this expeditionary force, numbering 30,000 men, was given to Major-General John J. Pershing, a distinguished officer who had won his laurels in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War, and in 1914 commanded the American Expedition into Mexico which sought to capture Villa. By Congressional decree, on May 26, 1917, he was advanced to the full rank of General, an honor hitherto held only by Washington, Grant, Sherman and Sheridan, and named Commander-in-Chief of the American Army. General Pershing was ordered to proceed to Europe in advance of the Expeditionary Force, select the ports of debarkation for the Army, and oversee the training areas.
Pershing Meets King George
With his staff of 53 officers and 146 men, including privates and civilian attaches, General Pershing secretly embarked on the White Star liner Baltic, sailing for England. Arriving at Liverpool, on June 6, 1917, he was received with much ceremony by General Sir Pitcairn Campbell, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool and Admiral Spellman, then by special train to London. There he was received by Lord Derby, Secretary of State for War, General Sir John French, United States Ambassador Page and Admiral Sims of the United States Navy. On the following day, he was presented to King George V at Buckingham Palace. A round of receptions, dinners and formal calls followed for several days. General Pershing, on June 13, 1917, took boat for France, debarking at Boulogne. On the landing quay he was welcomed by General Dumas, General Pelletier and General Dupont, and by a detachment of French Infantry fresh from the trenches. In Boulogne, General Pershing was formally received by a large deputation representing the French Government and the French and British Navies. The populace greeted the American Commander with tremendous enthusiasm.
Royal Welcome in Paris
Proceeding on to Paris, General Pershing was accorded a royal welcome, all France thundering its welcome. Millions thronged the streets, waving American flags, and the two-mile route along which the cortege passed was patrolled by French soldiers. Marshal Joffre, General Foch, Premier Painleve, M. Viviani, General Brugere, General Dutail, Ambassador Sharp and other distinguished officers and officials greeted our General. A dinner at the American Embassy was tendered General Pershing that evening, attended by the chief members of the French Cabinet and officers of the Army and Navy.
Handles Napoleon's Sword
The culminating honor paid to General Pershing was reserved for June 14, 1917, when he was escorted to the Invalides to visit the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte. Conducted by Marshal Joffre, General Pershing and his staff were admitted to the crypt where the sarcophagus of Napoleon reposes. The privilege of entering this crypt had hitherto been restricted to kings or the rulers of states. After inserting the key in the brass door, the French escort stepped aside, leaving Pershing to turn the key and open the door. Entering an alcove of the crypt, the Governor of the Invalides reverently removed Napoleon's sword from the case in which it had reposed for a century and passed it to General Pershing, who held it at salute and kissed the hilt. Another relic, the Cross of the Cordon of the Legion of Honor, was then placed in General Pershing's hand. This was the supreme honor that France could bestow upon any man, for previously no foreign king, no dignitary of France, had ever been permitted to touch the historic relics. From the Invalides, General Pershing went to the Executive Mansion, where he was received by President Poincare. A visit to the Chamber of Deputies followed. As General Pershing entered the diplomatic box, the deputies arose and stood cheering. Premier Ribot and M. Viviani then extolled the United States in eloquent orations.
"Lafayette, We Are Here"
From a balcony of the Military Club, on June 15, 1917, General Pershing received the plaudits of the Paris multitudes. In the afternoon of the same day he visited Picpus Cemetery, where he placed a wreath of American Beauty roses on the tomb of Lafayette. After a few words of welcome had been spoken by the Marquis de Chambrun, a descendant of Lafayette, General Pershing approached the tomb and said with much feeling: "Lafayette, we are here." The concluding honor paid to General Pershing was his reception by the French Senate, in which the statesmen of France vied each with the other in testifying their affection for the American Republic.
100,000 Americans Already Fighting
The social amenities having been duly observed, General Pershing applied himself without further delay to the work of preparation for war, establishing his modest headquarters in the rue de Constantino. There were as yet no regular American troops in France, but various special units of the American Army had preceded General Pershing to France. As early as May 24th, the first United States combatant troops, mostly Cornell University undergraduates, had gone to the front under Captain E. I. Tinkham and Lieutenant Scully of Princeton. Detachments from other American colleges were undergoing training for war in France. A statement issued by the British War Office, on May 28, 1917, indicated that, inclusive of those serving with the British and French Armies, there were nearly 100,000 Americans on the battle front in France.
General Pershing selected as the ultimate base of operations for the American Army, a sector of the Western front centering in Verdun, as most convenient to the available ports of debarkation. The ports finally reserved for the American Army's exclusive use were those at Brest, Nantes, La Pallice and Bordeaux. Temporary barracks were erected at each port for the use of the troops and additional wharves were constructed. Some few railroad lines already existed which were barely adequate for the transportation of the American Expeditionary Force to the training area in the Verdun sector.
Expeditionary Force Lands in France
The first contingent of the American Expeditionary Force, comprising four regiments of Regulars, recently withdrawn from the Mexican border, and one regiment of Marines, all under command of Major-General W. L. Sibert, embarked from New York on June 14, 1917. So secretly and swiftly had the move been made that not even the families of the soldiers knew that they had been sent overseas. Preceded by the naval collier Jupiter, and escorted by a convoy of destroyers, the troopships steamed into the harbor of St. Nazaire, France, on June 26, 1917.
Admiral Cleaves, in command of the convoys, reported that the troopships had been attacked on two occasions by German U-boats. The first attack was on the night of June 22, 1917, when a torpedo missed by 20 feet the bow of one of the transports. The ships immediately changed their courses and every gun was put into action, but the submarine apparently had fled. Early the next morning the periscope of a submarine was sighted. An American destroyer quickly dropped a depth bomb over the spot, utterly destroying the submarine.
July Fourth Celebrated in France
The second contingent arrived a week later, reporting that a submarine had fired two torpedoes at the transports without effect. The third contingent landed in France without mishap on July 2, 1917. The Fourth of July was enthusiastically celebrated throughout France. In Paris, the chief feature was the parade of the Second Battalion, 16th Infantry. A vast crowd collected and the enthusiasm reached its highest pitch when General Pershing, escorted by Marshal Joffre and President Poincare, reviewed the American troops.
American Training Camps
On July 6, 1917, it was announced that the American Army would immediately begin its training for the line. General Sibert moved his command by rail from St. Nazaire to the Gondrecourt area, where the five regiments were billeted in the neighboring villages. Their training in warfare was begun on July 25, 1917, under the direction of French officers. Offensive and defensive tactics were employed; sham battles were staged with grenades, bombs, bayonets and trench mortars; dummies were provided for practice in bayonet thrusts; the best methods of resisting gas attacks were taught; route marching was daily indulged in, the men's packs being increased in weight until they tipped the scales at 50 pounds; all the soldiers were supplied with steel helmets.
Stupendous Work at Debarkation Ports
Meanwhile, the American Engineering Corps were advancing their preparations for the landing of the Great American Army at the ports of debarkation. Hundreds of barracks were being erected; miles of wharves were under way; the harbors were being deepened ; hundreds of miles of branch railroads and sidings were being constructed ; labor-saving machinery was being installed; a force of negroes was brought over to handle freights ; much equipment was also transported; immense warehouses were to be built; huge cold storage plants were planned; and all preparations were made for the transportation of the great supplies of food, clothing and medicines needed for the soldiers, besides fodder for the horses, supplies for the Red Cross, the Y. M. C. A., the Knights of Columbus, the Salvation Army and the Jewish Welfare Committee.
The French people looked on in amazement as these gigantic engineering works developed under the magic impulse of American initiative and genius. No such stupendous undertakings had ever been witnessed in Europe before. Thousands of Americans, including many college graduates, toiled at this work with a zest that was wonderful to see. While the work at the debarkation ports was in progress, American engineers were working like beavers on the construction of a great aviation camp and school in France. This was completed in a few months and here our "birdmen" received the finishing touches of their training under the tutelage of French military aviators.
"Yankee" Division First to Arrive
The second great movement of United States troops in France took place in September. First to arrive, on September 21, 1917, was the 26th (Yankee) Division of National Guard units from New England, in command of Major-General Clarence R. Edwards, which transferred at once to the training area, with headquarters at Neufchateau. The Yankee Division, having already been trained in the United States, took over the work of the 5th Marines as Military Police and Lines of Communication Troops, in making preparations for the Army that was to arrive.
2nd Division Formed in France
With the arrival of the 9th and 23d Regiments of Regulars, a new division, the Second, was formed by uniting with the Regulars the 3d Infantry Brigade and the 4th Marine Brigade. This division was organized during the last three months of 1917, with headquarters at Bourmont (Haute Marne). Brigadier General Doyen commanded the Second Division until November 7th, when Major General Bundy was assigned to the command.
Rainbow Division Arrives
The 42d (Rainbow) Division, composed of National Guard units from almost every state in the Union, arrived in France on October 29, 1917, and was first assembled in the Vaucouleurs Area, where it remained until December ll, 1917, then transferring to the La Fauche Area. Major-General Menoher relieved Major-General Mann in command of the 42d Division. On Christmas Day, in a blizzard, the Rainbow Division began a march of 47 miles over ice-coated roads, accomplishing the feat in three days. Many of the troops lacked overcoats and gloves, but though chilled to the bone and leaving a red trail of blood in the snow, they pluckily pushed through.
41st Division Broken Up
The 41st Division, National Guard, all Western boys, under command of Major General Hunter Liggett, arrived in France on December 7, 1917. After being assembled in the St. Aignan Training Area, near Tours, and designated as the First Depot Division, the 41st was broken up into training cadres for the instruction of replacements for combat divisions on the front. The 66th Artillery Brigade, however, was left intact and became on July 1st the Corps Artillery of the First American Army Corps. As such it served throughout the three big American campaigns of the War.
Within Hearing of the Guns
So, at the close of the year 1917, the United States had organized four combat divisions in France; the 1st and 2d Regulars, with Marines, and the 26th and 42d National Guard. In addition there was the 41st, now known as the Depot Division. These were all made a part of the First American Army Corps, commanded by Major-General Liggett, with headquarters at Neufchateau. All four American combat divisions were located in one large area, centering in the triangle formed by Chaumont, Bar-le-Duc and Neufchateau. They were already within hearing of the guns on the front, with St. Mihiel, the nearest point, only 20 miles distant.
French and British Artillery Provided
The Artillery brigades for all four divisions had also reached France and were being trained by French officers in the use of the French 75-millimeter gun and 155-millimeter howitzer. By arrangement, the French and British Governments supplied the American Army during the ensuing year with all the field, medium and heavy artillery used by our gunners.
First American Shot Fired
The first American division to complete its preliminary training and go to the front was the 1st Division of Regulars, which was assigned to the quiet Sommerville sector, southeast of Nancy. During the night of October 20, 1917, one battalion of each of the four regiments relieved alternate French battalions holding their allotted sectors of the line. Each American battalion spent ten days in the trenches, with one company in the front line and the others in support and reserve. The American divisional artillery, their training finished, had previously gone into position in support of the infantry along with the French artillery. American and French gunners eagerly sought the opportunity of firing the first shot. The honor fell to Battery C, 6th United States Field Artillery, on October 23, 1917. This was the first hostile artillery shot fired by American troops in the War. The gun was later sent to West Point, where it now forms part of the collection of trophies of the Military Academy, while the brass case was sent to President Wilson.
First German Raid on American Trench
The Germans for three years had been quite inactive in this sector, but learning that American soldiers were in the trenches, they now planned a little surprise for our boys. On the night of November 3, 1917, the German artillery laid down a barrage on that part of the front occupied by the 16th Infantry Regiment, isolating an advanced post. In the wake of this barrage a German raiding party, crossing the space of a mile or more which separates the lines, blew a gap in the barbed wire and captured the few men in the outposts. Our boys sprang from their trenches to rescue their comrades, but the Germans eluded them, returning to their lines.
Intense Suffering of Troops in Trenches
THE winter of 1917-1918 was unusually severe, entailing intense suffering on the part of the American troops in the Lorraine sector. In the sleet and bitter cold, through deep snow and over the frozen hills of Lorraine during that awful winter, the young Americans were trained in open warfare, while the French remained in the shelter of their trenches. The junior officers were frequently on the point of mutiny, freely criticizing the generals for their supposed incompetence. General Pershing, however, insisted upon practice in open warfare, and his justification came in the following year when our troops won immortal glory by their impetuous attacks on the Germans.
200,000 Americans on French Soil
The American Army in France continued to grow. In May, 1917, only 1718 were sent across. In June 15,059 additional troops had arrived, in July 15,000, in August 20,000, in September 33,000, in October 40,000, in November 23,000, in December 50,000. Thus by the first of January, 1918, there were 200,000 American soldiers in training on French soil, a larger army than McClellan commanded in the first year of the Civil War. England provided the troopships and convoys to carry a third of the troops to France. These troops were at once sent to the training camps where they were given six months' intensive training under French and British officers. Not only were they given instruction by experts in bombing, trenching, bayonet practice and scouting; they were also given the benefit of all the newest discoveries in airplane work, in artillery fire, range finding, communication work, and secret service methods. School of warfare was opened where every branch of the science was taught. As soon as each unit of the American Expeditionary Force had absorbed instruction, the men were given trial experiences in front line trenches and in reserve lines. Following this work, they were drilled in the evolution of divisions, so as to be prepared for the day when America should have several Armies in the line.
Colonel Roosevelt Offers to Raise a Division
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, former President of the United States, had offered to raise and lead a volunteer force of four infantry divisions to fight in France. He named several of the most effective officers of the Regular Army whom he desired to serve under him. After much discussion, Congress gave the desired authority, but the President refused to sanction the project, on the ground that a volunteer force such as Colonel Roosevelt planned to raise, would be recruited from the ranks of men of advanced ages who were not physically fit for warfare, whereas the best opinion of army experts, "on both sides of the water," was that only men of 21 to 30 years of age should be chosen and qualified for service according to scientific rules laid down by the drill-masters of the Army. In a word, only trained soldiers were to be used in this War, not a motley of patriotic volunteers. Though Colonel Roosevelt was denied the privilege of taking part in the War, it was a consolation for him to know that all four of his sons entered the Army and gained merited distinction.
Source: King’s Complete History of the World War, W.C. King, published 1922, pages 315 - 320 Added by: Brian Hand
On June 4, 1917, a small fleet of six yachts left the New York Navy Yard and steamed slowly down the stream. This force, a handful of converted pleasure vessels, bore the official designation of the U. S. Patrol Squadrons Operating in European Waters and constituted the first American naval participation in the Great War, actually to be established in French waters. The yachts were:
U.S.S. Kanawha
U.S.S. Vedette
U.S.S. Noma
U.S.S. Christabel
U.S.S. Harvard
U.S.S. Sultana
and also included in this force, but temporarily under the orders of Rear-Admiral Gleaves, were the U.S.S. Corsair and the U.S.S. Aphrodite.
For over a month work had been pushed to the utmost to prepare the yachts for foreign service. Furnishings and decorations of peaceful days were removed and stored in Brooklyn warehouses. White sides and glittering brightwork were hidden under coats of battle gray. Fore and aft, three-inch guns were mounted, and guns of smaller caliber were located on the upper decks. Cutlasses and rifles lined bulkheads of paneled oak or mahogany. Everywhere about the ships improvised quarters, in former smoking-rooms, libraries and sun-parlors, housed crews expanded by war-time necessity to four or five times the original quota required to operate the yachts in time of peace.
The six yachts anchored until the morning of June 9, 1917 off Tompkinsville, S. I., New York, and at 5: 30 A.M. stood out to sea at a standard speed of ten knots, en route to Bermuda. On the twelfth of June, the force arrived at St. George's Bay, coaled; on the sixteenth again got under way and shaped a course for the Azores.
The yachts arrived at Brest, France, on the fourth of July, after a relatively uneventful voyage, where they found the Corsair and the Aphrodite, which had arrived ahead of them due to their greater size which enabled them to lay a direct transatlantic course. On July 14, 1917, the squadron commander, Captain W. B. Fletcher, U. S. N., with his staff, secured quarters on shore and began the first actual active cooperation with the French Navy against the enemy submarines. It is of historical interest to note that a few hours before entering the harbor, the Noma sighted a periscope. A few hours later, the S. S. Orleans was torpedoed, probably by the same submarine which the Noma sighted, and her thirty-seven survivors of the crew and the thirteen members of the United States naval armed guard were brought into Brest by the Sultana.
During the month of July, the yachts received a strenuous introduction to the patrol duty, which consisted of a constant patrol of defined areas of water, so continuous and so thorough that the submarine activities, hitherto in a large measure undisputed, were materially hampered and the safety of the convoys passing through these waters was proportionately increased. On the afternoon of the twenty-ninth of August, the U.S.S. Guinevere and the U.S.S. Carola IV, of the Second Squadron of converted yachts, arrived at Brest, and on the thirtieth, Commander F. N. Freeman, U. S. N., with the yachts U.S.S. Alcedo, U.S.S. Wanderer, U.S.S. Remlik, U.S.S. Corona, and U.S.S. Emeline came into the harbor, delayed by storms and with badly leaking decks.
Due to the unusually fantastic scheme of camouflage which disguised the ships of the Second Squadron, these yachts were commonly known as the ''Easter Egg Fleet,” every conceivable color having been incorporated in a riotous speckled pattern on their sides. (Note: U.S.S. Corsair - Lieut. Com. T. A. Kittinger, U.S.N., U.S.S. Aphrodite - Lieut. Com. R. P. Craft, U.S.N,. U.S.S. Noma - Lieut Com. L. R. Leahy, U.S.N., U.S.S. Kanawha - Lieut. Com. H. D. Cooke, U.S.N., U.S.S. Fedette - Lieut. Com. C. L. Hand, U.S.N., U.S.S. Christabel - Lieutenant H. B. Riebe, U.S.N., U.S.S. Harvard - Lieutenant A. G. Stirling, U.S.N,, U.S.S. Sultana - Lieutenant E. G. Allen, U.S.N., Captain William B. Fletcher, U.S.N., squadron commander.)
On August 15, 1917, the Noma reported the first actual engagement with any enemy submarine as follows: ''At 2: 17 P.M. in position Lat. 47° 40' N. Long. 5° 05' W. sighted a suspicious object bearing about 245° (per standard compass), distance about 6,000 yards. Object was made out to be a submarine on the surface heading about 320° psc. A discharge was being emitted by the submarine, very much like smoke and was very misleading. Submarine was evidently charging her batteries. At 2:20 P.M. went to "general quarters" and closed in on submarine. At 2:24 P.M. opened fire with port battery, distance about 4,000 yards. Fired ten shots. Submarine fired three shots at this ship, one striking about 500 yards ahead of the ship and the other two shots well over and on the quarter. At 2:27 P.M. the submarine submerged. Proceeded to vicinity of submarine, but did not see her again. At 2:35 P.M. resumed our course."
Although the foregoing was the first actual engagement, the Noma on August 8, in response to an S. O. S. call, joined the S. S. Dunraven, which was badly disabled by gunfire from a submarine. This ship had been shelled from astern by the submarine, one shell having exploded in the after magazine and disabled the steering gear. Soon after, the submarine approached closer to the Dunraven and fired a torpedo. The submarine was in this position when the Noma came up on the opposite side of the torpedoed vessel. Two depth charges were dropped by the Noma on the spot where the submarine submerged, but these being of the early type, failed to detonate.
The next squadron of the patrol force, Captain T. P. Magruder, U. S. N., in command, reached Brest on the afternoon of September 18, 1917, and consisted of the yacht U.S.S. Wakiva, the supply ship U.S.S. Bath, and the trawlers U.S.S. Anderton, U.S.S. Lewes, U.S.S. Courtney, U.S.S. McNeal, U.S.S. Cahill, U.S.S. James, U.S.S. Rehoboth, U.S.S. Douglas, U.S.S. Hinton, and U.S.S. Bauman. With these also arrived six 110-foot patrol vessels, under the French flag. Due to the construction of the trawlers, which was soon proved to be entirely unsuited for the hard sea service required, they were withdrawn after a few weeks from escort duty and fitted for mine-sweeping.
It was during this period that the United States armed transport Antilles in convoy with a group of three transports and store ships and escorted by the Corsair, Alcedo, and Kanawha, was torpedoed and sunk, on the seventeenth of October, outside of Quiberon Bay. No sign of a submarine was seen. The total number of persons on board the Antilles was 237, of whom 167 were rescued by the escorting yachts.
During the month of October, 1917, the coal-burning destroyers U.S.S. Smith, U.S.S. Preston, U.S.S. Lamson, U.S.S. Flusser, and U.S.S. Reid, arrived from Queenstown where they had been receiving training. They were accompanied by the U.S.S. Panther, a supply ship, which had acquired historical interest as a transport in 1898 during the war with Spain. The addition of this small destroyer flotilla was of inestimable value, for the yachts, until this time, had been required to perform the entire patrol and escort duty, including the deep-sea troop convoys for which they were structurally wholly unsuited and inadequate.
It is interesting to imagine the hopes and fears of those early days of our participation. In the ancient port of Brest but a few remnants of the French fleet remained. The streets of the gray town were deserted. Gone were the seamen that for centuries had given it its glory; gone too were the young men, now fighting and dying on the northern lines of France. Small indeed must have seemed these first contributions from the great ally beyond the Atlantic. A few converted yachts, a few destroyers; that was all. And yet, within the brief span of a year this almost deserted harbor was to become dense with shipping. Great transports were to swing at moorings beyond the breakwater. Wasp-like destroyers were to ride at their buoys in the inner harbor in rapidly increasing numbers. Khaki-clad soldiers by the hundred thousand were to look upon the gray town and pass on to their duty in the north. And from nothing, the establishment of the United States Naval Forces in France was to expand, with characteristic American enterprise, into a vast coherent organization, embracing in its manifold ramifications the complete machinery for the successful accomplishment of the tremendous work in hand.
The first six months of our activities on the French coast were in a large part a period of experiment. The force was entirely inadequate; the ships soon proved unsuited for the work required and the officers and men of the reserve force were new to the work. There has been little glory credited to the work that was performed, for it was at no time a kind of work with which glory associates most freely. Here was drudgery and danger; a silent service secretly to be performed. It was work for which a destroyer flotilla of the largest and fastest vessels would have been none too good. But such vessels were not available. The yachts were sent. As months passed by came slowly the coal-burning destroyers. Later came the great oil burners, and the yachts disappeared into the obscurity of hazardous coastal convoys and the deep-sea convoys of merchantmen in the rough waters of Biscay.
On October 21, 1917, Captain Fletcher was detached, and shortly after, Rear-Admiral Henry B. Wilson arrived to take up the command. To Captain Fletcher should be given the credit for the inception and early organization of our naval forces on the French coast, credit which alone can offset the trials and disappointments of those early days. With the arrival of Rear-Admiral Wilson began the second and final period; a period of constant organization and amplification. Fortunately endowed in generous measure with those executive qualities characteristic of an American naval officer, Admiral Wilson was still further happy in the possession of a diplomatic nature and keen sympathy with the French people. With the limited tools available, he planned and executed a program which proved itself in its attainment of the desired end. And, as the means for prosecuting his purpose were increased, he developed his plans the further to assure their more perfect accomplishment.
On November 27, 1917, the destroyers U. S. S. Roe and U. S. S. Monaghan arrived at Brest from Saint-Nazaire. Utilized previously for deep-sea escort duty from the United States they had never before touched at a French port, turning always in mid-Atlantic and returning to the United States. On this occasion, however, they had been assigned to escort the U. S. S. San Diego, on which Secretary of War Baker made passage to France, and arriving at Saint-Nazaire, found it necessary to proceed north to Brest for coal. As this duty was unforeseen, they were without coastal charts and proceeded to explore their way through the perilous mine and submarine zones with a large ocean chart as their only guide. Ignorant of the coast, they first explored the Bay of Douarnenez, but finding no city there, they kept on up the coast. Inasmuch as their ocean chart did not show the channel of Raz de Sein, they did not find it, and passed around it into the Iroise. A message was sent to them to avoid the Iroise, but as that also was not shown on their chart, they were forced to ignore the warning. Happily, they finally reached Brest without accident, where they were later permanently joined to the destroyer force there. The destroyer U. S. S. Warrington joined the Brest forces at about the same time.
In the middle of December, the torpedo boats U. S. S. Truxton and U. S. S. Whipple reached Brest, and shortly after, arrived the U. S. S. Wadsworth, the first thousand-ton destroyer to be assigned to the French waters.
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First American Expeditionary Forces Arrive in France
While the youth of America were rallying to the colors in the spring of 1917, and preparations were under way to shape them into an invincible Army, France and England together were imploring the United States to dispatch troops across the sea without delay, for the moral influence their mere presence would exert upon the war-weary legions in the Western trenches. With the arrival of the French Mission in America, General Joffre added his personal prayer that America come quickly to the assistance of the sorely pressed Allied armies. Yielding to these entreaties, President Wilson, on May 19th, announced that one division of the Regular Army, together with nine regiments of Army Engineers, would be sent to France at the earliest possible moment. On the same day, the Secretary of the Navy announced that 2,600 Marines would accompany General Pershing.
Pershing a Full General
The command of this expeditionary force, numbering 30,000 men, was given to Major-General John J. Pershing, a distinguished officer who had won his laurels in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War, and in 1914 commanded the American Expedition into Mexico which sought to capture Villa. By Congressional decree, on May 26, 1917, he was advanced to the full rank of General, an honor hitherto held only by Washington, Grant, Sherman and Sheridan, and named Commander-in-Chief of the American Army. General Pershing was ordered to proceed to Europe in advance of the Expeditionary Force, select the ports of debarkation for the Army, and oversee the training areas.
Pershing Meets King George
With his staff of 53 officers and 146 men, including privates and civilian attaches, General Pershing secretly embarked on the White Star liner Baltic, sailing for England. Arriving at Liverpool, on June 6, 1917, he was received with much ceremony by General Sir Pitcairn Campbell, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool and Admiral Spellman, then by special train to London. There he was received by Lord Derby, Secretary of State for War, General Sir John French, United States Ambassador Page and Admiral Sims of the United States Navy. On the following day, he was presented to King George V at Buckingham Palace. A round of receptions, dinners and formal calls followed for several days. General Pershing, on June 13, 1917, took boat for France, debarking at Boulogne. On the landing quay he was welcomed by General Dumas, General Pelletier and General Dupont, and by a detachment of French Infantry fresh from the trenches. In Boulogne, General Pershing was formally received by a large deputation representing the French Government and the French and British Navies. The populace greeted the American Commander with tremendous enthusiasm.
Royal Welcome in Paris
Proceeding on to Paris, General Pershing was accorded a royal welcome, all France thundering its welcome. Millions thronged the streets, waving American flags, and the two-mile route along which the cortege passed was patrolled by French soldiers. Marshal Joffre, General Foch, Premier Painleve, M. Viviani, General Brugere, General Dutail, Ambassador Sharp and other distinguished officers and officials greeted our General. A dinner at the American Embassy was tendered General Pershing that evening, attended by the chief members of the French Cabinet and officers of the Army and Navy.
Handles Napoleon's Sword
The culminating honor paid to General Pershing was reserved for June 14, 1917, when he was escorted to the Invalides to visit the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte. Conducted by Marshal Joffre, General Pershing and his staff were admitted to the crypt where the sarcophagus of Napoleon reposes. The privilege of entering this crypt had hitherto been restricted to kings or the rulers of states. After inserting the key in the brass door, the French escort stepped aside, leaving Pershing to turn the key and open the door. Entering an alcove of the crypt, the Governor of the Invalides reverently removed Napoleon's sword from the case in which it had reposed for a century and passed it to General Pershing, who held it at salute and kissed the hilt. Another relic, the Cross of the Cordon of the Legion of Honor, was then placed in General Pershing's hand. This was the supreme honor that France could bestow upon any man, for previously no foreign king, no dignitary of France, had ever been permitted to touch the historic relics. From the Invalides, General Pershing went to the Executive Mansion, where he was received by President Poincare. A visit to the Chamber of Deputies followed. As General Pershing entered the diplomatic box, the deputies arose and stood cheering. Premier Ribot and M. Viviani then extolled the United States in eloquent orations.
"Lafayette, We Are Here"
From a balcony of the Military Club, on June 15, 1917, General Pershing received the plaudits of the Paris multitudes. In the afternoon of the same day he visited Picpus Cemetery, where he placed a wreath of American Beauty roses on the tomb of Lafayette. After a few words of welcome had been spoken by the Marquis de Chambrun, a descendant of Lafayette, General Pershing approached the tomb and said with much feeling: "Lafayette, we are here." The concluding honor paid to General Pershing was his reception by the French Senate, in which the statesmen of France vied each with the other in testifying their affection for the American Republic.
100,000 Americans Already Fighting
The social amenities having been duly observed, General Pershing applied himself without further delay to the work of preparation for war, establishing his modest headquarters in the rue de Constantino. There were as yet no regular American troops in France, but various special units of the American Army had preceded General Pershing to France. As early as May 24th, the first United States combatant troops, mostly Cornell University undergraduates, had gone to the front under Captain E. I. Tinkham and Lieutenant Scully of Princeton. Detachments from other American colleges were undergoing training for war in France. A statement issued by the British War Office, on May 28, 1917, indicated that, inclusive of those serving with the British and French Armies, there were nearly 100,000 Americans on the battle front in France.
General Pershing selected as the ultimate base of operations for the American Army, a sector of the Western front centering in Verdun, as most convenient to the available ports of debarkation. The ports finally reserved for the American Army's exclusive use were those at Brest, Nantes, La Pallice and Bordeaux. Temporary barracks were erected at each port for the use of the troops and additional wharves were constructed. Some few railroad lines already existed which were barely adequate for the transportation of the American Expeditionary Force to the training area in the Verdun sector.
Expeditionary Force Lands in France
The first contingent of the American Expeditionary Force, comprising four regiments of Regulars, recently withdrawn from the Mexican border, and one regiment of Marines, all under command of Major-General W. L. Sibert, embarked from New York on June 14, 1917. So secretly and swiftly had the move been made that not even the families of the soldiers knew that they had been sent overseas. Preceded by the naval collier Jupiter, and escorted by a convoy of destroyers, the troopships steamed into the harbor of St. Nazaire, France, on June 26, 1917.
Admiral Cleaves, in command of the convoys, reported that the troopships had been attacked on two occasions by German U-boats. The first attack was on the night of June 22, 1917, when a torpedo missed by 20 feet the bow of one of the transports. The ships immediately changed their courses and every gun was put into action, but the submarine apparently had fled. Early the next morning the periscope of a submarine was sighted. An American destroyer quickly dropped a depth bomb over the spot, utterly destroying the submarine.
July Fourth Celebrated in France
The second contingent arrived a week later, reporting that a submarine had fired two torpedoes at the transports without effect. The third contingent landed in France without mishap on July 2, 1917. The Fourth of July was enthusiastically celebrated throughout France. In Paris, the chief feature was the parade of the Second Battalion, 16th Infantry. A vast crowd collected and the enthusiasm reached its highest pitch when General Pershing, escorted by Marshal Joffre and President Poincare, reviewed the American troops.
American Training Camps
On July 6, 1917, it was announced that the American Army would immediately begin its training for the line. General Sibert moved his command by rail from St. Nazaire to the Gondrecourt area, where the five regiments were billeted in the neighboring villages. Their training in warfare was begun on July 25, 1917, under the direction of French officers. Offensive and defensive tactics were employed; sham battles were staged with grenades, bombs, bayonets and trench mortars; dummies were provided for practice in bayonet thrusts; the best methods of resisting gas attacks were taught; route marching was daily indulged in, the men's packs being increased in weight until they tipped the scales at 50 pounds; all the soldiers were supplied with steel helmets.
Stupendous Work at Debarkation Ports
Meanwhile, the American Engineering Corps were advancing their preparations for the landing of the Great American Army at the ports of debarkation. Hundreds of barracks were being erected; miles of wharves were under way; the harbors were being deepened ; hundreds of miles of branch railroads and sidings were being constructed ; labor-saving machinery was being installed; a force of negroes was brought over to handle freights ; much equipment was also transported; immense warehouses were to be built; huge cold storage plants were planned; and all preparations were made for the transportation of the great supplies of food, clothing and medicines needed for the soldiers, besides fodder for the horses, supplies for the Red Cross, the Y. M. C. A., the Knights of Columbus, the Salvation Army and the Jewish Welfare Committee.
The French people looked on in amazement as these gigantic engineering works developed under the magic impulse of American initiative and genius. No such stupendous undertakings had ever been witnessed in Europe before. Thousands of Americans, including many college graduates, toiled at this work with a zest that was wonderful to see. While the work at the debarkation ports was in progress, American engineers were working like beavers on the construction of a great aviation camp and school in France. This was completed in a few months and here our "birdmen" received the finishing touches of their training under the tutelage of French military aviators.
"Yankee" Division First to Arrive
The second great movement of United States troops in France took place in September. First to arrive, on September 21, 1917, was the 26th (Yankee) Division of National Guard units from New England, in command of Major-General Clarence R. Edwards, which transferred at once to the training area, with headquarters at Neufchateau. The Yankee Division, having already been trained in the United States, took over the work of the 5th Marines as Military Police and Lines of Communication Troops, in making preparations for the Army that was to arrive.
2nd Division Formed in France
With the arrival of the 9th and 23d Regiments of Regulars, a new division, the Second, was formed by uniting with the Regulars the 3d Infantry Brigade and the 4th Marine Brigade. This division was organized during the last three months of 1917, with headquarters at Bourmont (Haute Marne). Brigadier General Doyen commanded the Second Division until November 7th, when Major General Bundy was assigned to the command.
Rainbow Division Arrives
The 42d (Rainbow) Division, composed of National Guard units from almost every state in the Union, arrived in France on October 29, 1917, and was first assembled in the Vaucouleurs Area, where it remained until December ll, 1917, then transferring to the La Fauche Area. Major-General Menoher relieved Major-General Mann in command of the 42d Division. On Christmas Day, in a blizzard, the Rainbow Division began a march of 47 miles over ice-coated roads, accomplishing the feat in three days. Many of the troops lacked overcoats and gloves, but though chilled to the bone and leaving a red trail of blood in the snow, they pluckily pushed through.
41st Division Broken Up
The 41st Division, National Guard, all Western boys, under command of Major General Hunter Liggett, arrived in France on December 7, 1917. After being assembled in the St. Aignan Training Area, near Tours, and designated as the First Depot Division, the 41st was broken up into training cadres for the instruction of replacements for combat divisions on the front. The 66th Artillery Brigade, however, was left intact and became on July 1st the Corps Artillery of the First American Army Corps. As such it served throughout the three big American campaigns of the War.
Within Hearing of the Guns
So, at the close of the year 1917, the United States had organized four combat divisions in France; the 1st and 2d Regulars, with Marines, and the 26th and 42d National Guard. In addition there was the 41st, now known as the Depot Division. These were all made a part of the First American Army Corps, commanded by Major-General Liggett, with headquarters at Neufchateau. All four American combat divisions were located in one large area, centering in the triangle formed by Chaumont, Bar-le-Duc and Neufchateau. They were already within hearing of the guns on the front, with St. Mihiel, the nearest point, only 20 miles distant.
French and British Artillery Provided
The Artillery brigades for all four divisions had also reached France and were being trained by French officers in the use of the French 75-millimeter gun and 155-millimeter howitzer. By arrangement, the French and British Governments supplied the American Army during the ensuing year with all the field, medium and heavy artillery used by our gunners.
First American Shot Fired
The first American division to complete its preliminary training and go to the front was the 1st Division of Regulars, which was assigned to the quiet Sommerville sector, southeast of Nancy. During the night of October 20, 1917, one battalion of each of the four regiments relieved alternate French battalions holding their allotted sectors of the line. Each American battalion spent ten days in the trenches, with one company in the front line and the others in support and reserve. The American divisional artillery, their training finished, had previously gone into position in support of the infantry along with the French artillery. American and French gunners eagerly sought the opportunity of firing the first shot. The honor fell to Battery C, 6th United States Field Artillery, on October 23, 1917. This was the first hostile artillery shot fired by American troops in the War. The gun was later sent to West Point, where it now forms part of the collection of trophies of the Military Academy, while the brass case was sent to President Wilson.
First German Raid on American Trench
The Germans for three years had been quite inactive in this sector, but learning that American soldiers were in the trenches, they now planned a little surprise for our boys. On the night of November 3, 1917, the German artillery laid down a barrage on that part of the front occupied by the 16th Infantry Regiment, isolating an advanced post. In the wake of this barrage a German raiding party, crossing the space of a mile or more which separates the lines, blew a gap in the barbed wire and captured the few men in the outposts. Our boys sprang from their trenches to rescue their comrades, but the Germans eluded them, returning to their lines.
Intense Suffering of Troops in Trenches
THE winter of 1917-1918 was unusually severe, entailing intense suffering on the part of the American troops in the Lorraine sector. In the sleet and bitter cold, through deep snow and over the frozen hills of Lorraine during that awful winter, the young Americans were trained in open warfare, while the French remained in the shelter of their trenches. The junior officers were frequently on the point of mutiny, freely criticizing the generals for their supposed incompetence. General Pershing, however, insisted upon practice in open warfare, and his justification came in the following year when our troops won immortal glory by their impetuous attacks on the Germans.
200,000 Americans on French Soil
The American Army in France continued to grow. In May, 1917, only 1718 were sent across. In June 15,059 additional troops had arrived, in July 15,000, in August 20,000, in September 33,000, in October 40,000, in November 23,000, in December 50,000. Thus by the first of January, 1918, there were 200,000 American soldiers in training on French soil, a larger army than McClellan commanded in the first year of the Civil War. England provided the troopships and convoys to carry a third of the troops to France. These troops were at once sent to the training camps where they were given six months' intensive training under French and British officers. Not only were they given instruction by experts in bombing, trenching, bayonet practice and scouting; they were also given the benefit of all the newest discoveries in airplane work, in artillery fire, range finding, communication work, and secret service methods. School of warfare was opened where every branch of the science was taught. As soon as each unit of the American Expeditionary Force had absorbed instruction, the men were given trial experiences in front line trenches and in reserve lines. Following this work, they were drilled in the evolution of divisions, so as to be prepared for the day when America should have several Armies in the line.
Colonel Roosevelt Offers to Raise a Division
Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, former President of the United States, had offered to raise and lead a volunteer force of four infantry divisions to fight in France. He named several of the most effective officers of the Regular Army whom he desired to serve under him. After much discussion, Congress gave the desired authority, but the President refused to sanction the project, on the ground that a volunteer force such as Colonel Roosevelt planned to raise, would be recruited from the ranks of men of advanced ages who were not physically fit for warfare, whereas the best opinion of army experts, "on both sides of the water," was that only men of 21 to 30 years of age should be chosen and qualified for service according to scientific rules laid down by the drill-masters of the Army. In a word, only trained soldiers were to be used in this War, not a motley of patriotic volunteers. Though Colonel Roosevelt was denied the privilege of taking part in the War, it was a consolation for him to know that all four of his sons entered the Army and gained merited distinction.
Source: King’s Complete History of the World War, W.C. King, published 1922, pages 315 - 320 Added by: Brian Hand
On June 4, 1917, a small fleet of six yachts left the New York Navy Yard and steamed slowly down the stream. This force, a handful of converted pleasure vessels, bore the official designation of the U. S. Patrol Squadrons Operating in European Waters and constituted the first American naval participation in the Great War, actually to be established in French waters. The yachts were:
U.S.S. Kanawha
U.S.S. Vedette
U.S.S. Noma
U.S.S. Christabel
U.S.S. Harvard
U.S.S. Sultana
and also included in this force, but temporarily under the orders of Rear-Admiral Gleaves, were the U.S.S. Corsair and the U.S.S. Aphrodite.
For over a month work had been pushed to the utmost to prepare the yachts for foreign service. Furnishings and decorations of peaceful days were removed and stored in Brooklyn warehouses. White sides and glittering brightwork were hidden under coats of battle gray. Fore and aft, three-inch guns were mounted, and guns of smaller caliber were located on the upper decks. Cutlasses and rifles lined bulkheads of paneled oak or mahogany. Everywhere about the ships improvised quarters, in former smoking-rooms, libraries and sun-parlors, housed crews expanded by war-time necessity to four or five times the original quota required to operate the yachts in time of peace.
The six yachts anchored until the morning of June 9, 1917 off Tompkinsville, S. I., New York, and at 5: 30 A.M. stood out to sea at a standard speed of ten knots, en route to Bermuda. On the twelfth of June, the force arrived at St. George's Bay, coaled; on the sixteenth again got under way and shaped a course for the Azores.
The yachts arrived at Brest, France, on the fourth of July, after a relatively uneventful voyage, where they found the Corsair and the Aphrodite, which had arrived ahead of them due to their greater size which enabled them to lay a direct transatlantic course. On July 14, 1917, the squadron commander, Captain W. B. Fletcher, U. S. N., with his staff, secured quarters on shore and began the first actual active cooperation with the French Navy against the enemy submarines. It is of historical interest to note that a few hours before entering the harbor, the Noma sighted a periscope. A few hours later, the S. S. Orleans was torpedoed, probably by the same submarine which the Noma sighted, and her thirty-seven survivors of the crew and the thirteen members of the United States naval armed guard were brought into Brest by the Sultana.
During the month of July, the yachts received a strenuous introduction to the patrol duty, which consisted of a constant patrol of defined areas of water, so continuous and so thorough that the submarine activities, hitherto in a large measure undisputed, were materially hampered and the safety of the convoys passing through these waters was proportionately increased. On the afternoon of the twenty-ninth of August, the U.S.S. Guinevere and the U.S.S. Carola IV, of the Second Squadron of converted yachts, arrived at Brest, and on the thirtieth, Commander F. N. Freeman, U. S. N., with the yachts U.S.S. Alcedo, U.S.S. Wanderer, U.S.S. Remlik, U.S.S. Corona, and U.S.S. Emeline came into the harbor, delayed by storms and with badly leaking decks.
Due to the unusually fantastic scheme of camouflage which disguised the ships of the Second Squadron, these yachts were commonly known as the ''Easter Egg Fleet,” every conceivable color having been incorporated in a riotous speckled pattern on their sides. (Note: U.S.S. Corsair - Lieut. Com. T. A. Kittinger, U.S.N., U.S.S. Aphrodite - Lieut. Com. R. P. Craft, U.S.N,. U.S.S. Noma - Lieut Com. L. R. Leahy, U.S.N., U.S.S. Kanawha - Lieut. Com. H. D. Cooke, U.S.N., U.S.S. Fedette - Lieut. Com. C. L. Hand, U.S.N., U.S.S. Christabel - Lieutenant H. B. Riebe, U.S.N., U.S.S. Harvard - Lieutenant A. G. Stirling, U.S.N,, U.S.S. Sultana - Lieutenant E. G. Allen, U.S.N., Captain William B. Fletcher, U.S.N., squadron commander.)
On August 15, 1917, the Noma reported the first actual engagement with any enemy submarine as follows: ''At 2: 17 P.M. in position Lat. 47° 40' N. Long. 5° 05' W. sighted a suspicious object bearing about 245° (per standard compass), distance about 6,000 yards. Object was made out to be a submarine on the surface heading about 320° psc. A discharge was being emitted by the submarine, very much like smoke and was very misleading. Submarine was evidently charging her batteries. At 2:20 P.M. went to "general quarters" and closed in on submarine. At 2:24 P.M. opened fire with port battery, distance about 4,000 yards. Fired ten shots. Submarine fired three shots at this ship, one striking about 500 yards ahead of the ship and the other two shots well over and on the quarter. At 2:27 P.M. the submarine submerged. Proceeded to vicinity of submarine, but did not see her again. At 2:35 P.M. resumed our course."
Although the foregoing was the first actual engagement, the Noma on August 8, in response to an S. O. S. call, joined the S. S. Dunraven, which was badly disabled by gunfire from a submarine. This ship had been shelled from astern by the submarine, one shell having exploded in the after magazine and disabled the steering gear. Soon after, the submarine approached closer to the Dunraven and fired a torpedo. The submarine was in this position when the Noma came up on the opposite side of the torpedoed vessel. Two depth charges were dropped by the Noma on the spot where the submarine submerged, but these being of the early type, failed to detonate.
The next squadron of the patrol force, Captain T. P. Magruder, U. S. N., in command, reached Brest on the afternoon of September 18, 1917, and consisted of the yacht U.S.S. Wakiva, the supply ship U.S.S. Bath, and the trawlers U.S.S. Anderton, U.S.S. Lewes, U.S.S. Courtney, U.S.S. McNeal, U.S.S. Cahill, U.S.S. James, U.S.S. Rehoboth, U.S.S. Douglas, U.S.S. Hinton, and U.S.S. Bauman. With these also arrived six 110-foot patrol vessels, under the French flag. Due to the construction of the trawlers, which was soon proved to be entirely unsuited for the hard sea service required, they were withdrawn after a few weeks from escort duty and fitted for mine-sweeping.
It was during this period that the United States armed transport Antilles in convoy with a group of three transports and store ships and escorted by the Corsair, Alcedo, and Kanawha, was torpedoed and sunk, on the seventeenth of October, outside of Quiberon Bay. No sign of a submarine was seen. The total number of persons on board the Antilles was 237, of whom 167 were rescued by the escorting yachts.
During the month of October, 1917, the coal-burning destroyers U.S.S. Smith, U.S.S. Preston, U.S.S. Lamson, U.S.S. Flusser, and U.S.S. Reid, arrived from Queenstown where they had been receiving training. They were accompanied by the U.S.S. Panther, a supply ship, which had acquired historical interest as a transport in 1898 during the war with Spain. The addition of this small destroyer flotilla was of inestimable value, for the yachts, until this time, had been required to perform the entire patrol and escort duty, including the deep-sea troop convoys for which they were structurally wholly unsuited and inadequate.
It is interesting to imagine the hopes and fears of those early days of our participation. In the ancient port of Brest but a few remnants of the French fleet remained. The streets of the gray town were deserted. Gone were the seamen that for centuries had given it its glory; gone too were the young men, now fighting and dying on the northern lines of France. Small indeed must have seemed these first contributions from the great ally beyond the Atlantic. A few converted yachts, a few destroyers; that was all. And yet, within the brief span of a year this almost deserted harbor was to become dense with shipping. Great transports were to swing at moorings beyond the breakwater. Wasp-like destroyers were to ride at their buoys in the inner harbor in rapidly increasing numbers. Khaki-clad soldiers by the hundred thousand were to look upon the gray town and pass on to their duty in the north. And from nothing, the establishment of the United States Naval Forces in France was to expand, with characteristic American enterprise, into a vast coherent organization, embracing in its manifold ramifications the complete machinery for the successful accomplishment of the tremendous work in hand.
The first six months of our activities on the French coast were in a large part a period of experiment. The force was entirely inadequate; the ships soon proved unsuited for the work required and the officers and men of the reserve force were new to the work. There has been little glory credited to the work that was performed, for it was at no time a kind of work with which glory associates most freely. Here was drudgery and danger; a silent service secretly to be performed. It was work for which a destroyer flotilla of the largest and fastest vessels would have been none too good. But such vessels were not available. The yachts were sent. As months passed by came slowly the coal-burning destroyers. Later came the great oil burners, and the yachts disappeared into the obscurity of hazardous coastal convoys and the deep-sea convoys of merchantmen in the rough waters of Biscay.
On October 21, 1917, Captain Fletcher was detached, and shortly after, Rear-Admiral Henry B. Wilson arrived to take up the command. To Captain Fletcher should be given the credit for the inception and early organization of our naval forces on the French coast, credit which alone can offset the trials and disappointments of those early days. With the arrival of Rear-Admiral Wilson began the second and final period; a period of constant organization and amplification. Fortunately endowed in generous measure with those executive qualities characteristic of an American naval officer, Admiral Wilson was still further happy in the possession of a diplomatic nature and keen sympathy with the French people. With the limited tools available, he planned and executed a program which proved itself in its attainment of the desired end. And, as the means for prosecuting his purpose were increased, he developed his plans the further to assure their more perfect accomplishment.
On November 27, 1917, the destroyers U. S. S. Roe and U. S. S. Monaghan arrived at Brest from Saint-Nazaire. Utilized previously for deep-sea escort duty from the United States they had never before touched at a French port, turning always in mid-Atlantic and returning to the United States. On this occasion, however, they had been assigned to escort the U. S. S. San Diego, on which Secretary of War Baker made passage to France, and arriving at Saint-Nazaire, found it necessary to proceed north to Brest for coal. As this duty was unforeseen, they were without coastal charts and proceeded to explore their way through the perilous mine and submarine zones with a large ocean chart as their only guide. Ignorant of the coast, they first explored the Bay of Douarnenez, but finding no city there, they kept on up the coast. Inasmuch as their ocean chart did not show the channel of Raz de Sein, they did not find it, and passed around it into the Iroise. A message was sent to them to avoid the Iroise, but as that also was not shown on their chart, they were forced to ignore the warning. Happily, they finally reached Brest without accident, where they were later permanently joined to the destroyer force there. The destroyer U. S. S. Warrington joined the Brest forces at about the same time.
In the middle of December, the torpedo boats U. S. S. Truxton and U. S. S. Whipple reached Brest, and shortly after, arrived the U. S. S. Wadsworth, the first thousand-ton destroyer to be assigned to the French waters.
https://worldhistoryproject.org/1917/6/6/first-american-expeditionary-forces-arrive-in-france
http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/arrival.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Expeditionary_Forces
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Great video and history share, thank you John for the share, good morning brother.
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