The U-boat hunters

But men are not cast in that mould. We shall continue to have wars; and some day the world is going to have a war to which the present will serve only as a try-out.

When that war comes our country will probably have to bear the burden for the western hemisphere. In that war our navy will be our first line of defense; and what we do for our navy now will have much to do with what our navy will be able to do for us then.

Our navy to-day is made up of good ships and capable, courageous, hard-working officers and men. There are some fuddy-duddies and politicians among them, but most of them are on the job every minute. Their highest hope is the chance to serve their country. The chapters in this book which tell of their U-boat hunting only prove once more their great qualities.

There are chapters in this book which have nothing to do with U-boat hunting, but have much to do with the navy. Such are the two opening chapters and the three closing chapters. The motive of four of those chapters will probably be obvious; the chapter on the workings of a submarine is included in the hope of interesting our young fellows in that type of craft.

The need of such a chapter? Take this illustration of what people do not know about submarines: Three years ago an admiral on the other side was called into conference on the U-boat problem. When it came his turn to speak he said: "Gentlemen, it is child's talk to say that the U-boats will ever amount to anything! Disregard them utterly!" Only three years ago that was, and that naval officer was considered for commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet! Three years ago, and last year the U-boats sank 6,600,000 tons of shipping!

Right now Germany probably contemplates, or is actually constructing, U-boats with armor and guns heavy enough to engage on the surface any war craft up to the battle-cruiser class. How far from that to fighting the heaviest of surface craft--even to the battleships?

In the event of invasion--we might as well face that; refusing to think about it certainly will not eliminate the possibility,--in the event of invasion by a powerful foe our first line of defense will be our navy. The navy will always be our first line of defense; and so the need to-day of interesting in our navy young men,--progressive young men, who will learn from the past but prefer to live in the future.

J. B. C.

CONTENTS

PAGE NAVY SHIPS 1

NAVY MEN 12

SEEING THEM ACROSS 24

THE U-BOATS APPEAR 37

CROSSING THE CHANNEL 58

THE CENSORS 77

ONE THEY DIDN'T GET 92

THE DOCTOR TAKES CHARGE 108

THE 343 STAYS UP 127

THE CARGO BOATS 142

FLOTILLA HUMOR--AT SEA 157

FLOTILLA HUMOR--ASHORE 172

THE UNQUENCHABLE DESTROYER BOYS 186

THE MARINES HAVE LANDED-- 204

THE NAVY AS A CAREER 222

THE SEA BABIES 239

ILLUSTRATIONS

"Where you-all going?... Can't you-all see where you're going? Keep off--keep off" Frontispiece

FACING PAGE

She shoved out into the stream and kicked her way down the harbor, and as she did so ... everybody seemed to know 26

Our thirty-knot clip was eating up the road. We were getting near the spot 98

In the engine-room of a submarine 242

NAVY SHIPS

More than one-third of our naval force was being reviewed by the President. A most impressive assembly of men-o'-war it was, in tonnage and weight of metal the greatest ever floated by the waters of the western hemisphere.