In 1916 he was President of the Naval War
College. He was made Rear-Admiral in 1916 and Vice-Admiral in 1917 and
assigned to the command of all American war vessels abroad.
Immediately upon their arrival the American vessels began operation in
the submarine zone. Admiral Beatty then addressed the following message
to Admiral Henry T. Mayo of the United States Atlantic Fleet:
The Grand Fleet rejoices that the Atlantic fleet will now share in
preserving the liberties of the world and in maintaining the chivalry of
the sea.
Admiral Mayo replied:
The United States Atlantic Fleet appreciates the message from the
British fleet and welcomes opportunities for work with the British fleet
for the freedom of the seas.
It may also be noted, as a fact which is not without significance, that
the losses by submarine which had reached their highest mark in the last
week in April began from that time steadily to diminish.
One of the main duties of the Navy was to convoy transports and supplies
across the Atlantic. This was done with the assistance of Allied vessels
with remarkable success. For a long period it seemed as if the U-boats
would not be able to penetrate through the Allied convoy, but during
1918 four transports were torpedoed. The first was the Tuscania which
was sunk in February off the north coast of Ireland, with 1,912 officers
and men of the Michigan and Wisconsin guardsmen, of whom 204 were lost.
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