Kelly Miller's History of the World War for Human Rights Part 70

THE JACOB JONES.

Another incident in which the Negro displayed his constant willingness to die for the cause of America and its ideals was when the United States torpedo boat destroyer _Jacob Jones_ was destroyed by a torpedo fired from a German submarine. This s.h.i.+p was one of six of an escorting group which was returning independently from Brest, France, to Queensland, Ireland. The following extract from the report of its commanding officer gives in brief detail the manner in which the majority of its crew met their death in an effort to uphold the principles of democracy. On this vessel, as well as all others that were lost, the Negro served, bled, and died, side by side with white men in a desperate struggle to subdue the German U-boat.

"I was in the chart house and heard some one cry out, 'Torpedo.' I jumped at once to the bridge and on the way up saw the torpedo about eight hundred yards from the s.h.i.+p approaching from about one point abaft the starboard beam headed for a point about amids.h.i.+ps, making a perfectly straight surface run (alternately broaching and submerging to approximately four or five feet), at an estimated speed of at least forty knots. No periscope was sighted. When I reached the bridge, I found that the officer of the deck had already put the rudder hard left and rung up the emergency speed on the engine room telegraph. The s.h.i.+p had already begun to swing to the left. I personally rang up the emergency speed again and then turned to watch the torpedo. The executive officer left the chart house just ahead of me, saw the torpedo immediately on getting outside the door, and estimates that the torpedo when he sighted it was one thousand yards away, approaching from one point, or slightly less, abaft the beam and making exceedingly high speed.

"After seeing the torpedo and realizing the straight run, line of approach, and high speed it was making, I was convinced that it was impossible to maneuver to avoid it. The officer of the deck took prompt measures in maneuvering to avoid the torpedo. The torpedo broached and jumped clear of the water at a short distance from the s.h.i.+p, submerged about fifty or sixty feet from the s.h.i.+p and struck approximately three feet below the water-line in the fuel oil tank between the auxiliary room and the after crew s.p.a.ce.

THE SLOWLY SINKING s.h.i.+P.

"The s.h.i.+p settled aft immediately after being torpedoed to a point at which the deck just forward of the after deck house was awash, and then, more gradually, until the deck abreast the engine room hatch was awash.

A man on watch in the engine room attempted to close the water-tight door between the auxiliary room and the engine room, but was unable to do so against the pressure of water from the auxiliary room. The deck over the forward part of the after crew s.p.a.ce and over the fuel oil tanks just forward of it was blown clear for a s.p.a.ce athwarts.h.i.+ps of about twenty feet from starboard to port, and the auxiliary room was wrecked. The starboard after torpedo tube was blown into the air. No fuel oil ignited and apparently no ammunition exploded.

"The depth charges in the chutes aft were set on ready and exploded after the stern sank. It was impossible to get to them to set on safe as they were under the water.

"As soon as the torpedo struck, it was attempted to send out an S.O.S.

message by radio, but the mainmast was carried away and antennae falling and all electric power had failed. I then tried to have the gun sight lighting batteries connected up in an effort to send out a low power message with them, but it was at once evident that this would not be practicable before the s.h.i.+p sank. There was no other vessel in sight, and it was therefore impossible to get through a distress signal of any kind. Immediately after the s.h.i.+p was torpedoed every effort was made to get rafts and boats launched. Also, the circular life belts from the bridge and several splinter mats from the outside of the bridge were cut adrift and afterwards proved very useful in holding men up until they could be got to the raft.

STRUGGLING MEN IN THE WATER.

"The s.h.i.+p sank about 4:29 P.M. (about eight minutes after being torpedoed). As I saw her settling rapidly, I ran along the deck and ordered everybody I saw to jump overboard. At this time, most of those not killed by the explosion had got clear of the s.h.i.+p and were on rafts or wreckage. Some, however, were swimming and a few appeared to be about a s.h.i.+p's length astern of the s.h.i.+p, at some distance from the rafts, probably having jumped overboard very soon after the s.h.i.+p was torpedoed.

"Before the s.h.i.+p sank, two shots were fired from No. 4 gun with the hope of attracting the attention of some nearby s.h.i.+p. As the s.h.i.+p began sinking I jumped overboard. The s.h.i.+p sank stern first and twisted slowly through nearly one hundred and eighty degrees as she swung upright. From this nearly vertical position, bow in the air, to about the forward point, she went straight down. Before the s.h.i.+p reached the vertical position the depth charges exploded, and I believe them to have caused the death of a number of men. They also partially paralyzed, stunned, or dazed a number of others, some of whom are still disabled.

SAFEGUARDING THE SURVIVORS.

"Immediate efforts were made to get all survivors on the rafts and then get the rafts and boats together. Three rafts were launched before the s.h.i.+p sank and one floated off when she sank. The motor dory, hull undamaged but engine out of commission, also floated off and the punt and wherry also floated clear. The punt was wrecked beyond usefulness and the wherry was damaged and leaking badly, but was of considerable use in getting men to the rafts. The whale boat was launched but capsized soon afterwards, having been damaged by the explosion of the depth charges. The motor sailor did not float clear, but went down with the s.h.i.+p.

"About fifteen or twenty minutes after the s.h.i.+p sank, the submarine appeared on the surface about two or three miles to the westward of the raft, and gradually approached until about eight hundred or one thousand yards from the s.h.i.+p, where it stopped and was seen to pick up one unidentified man from the water. The submarine then submerged and was not seen again.

BY MOTOR DORY TO THE SCILLY ISLANDS.

"I was picked up by the motor dory and at once began to make arrangements to reach the Scillys in that boat in order to get a.s.sistance to those on the rafts. All the survivors then in sight were collected and I gave orders to one of the officers to keep them together. The navigating officer had fixed the position a few minutes before the explosion and both he and I knew accurately the course to be steered. I kept one of the officers with me and four men who were in good condition to man the oars, the engine being out of commission. With the exception of some emergency rations and a half bucket of water, all provisions, including medical kit, were taken from the dory and left on the rafts. There was no apparatus of any kind which could be used for night signalling.

"After a very trying trip, during which it was necessary to steer by stars and by direction of the wind, the dory was picked up about 1 P.M.

by a small patrol vessel about six miles south of St. Mary's. The commander informing me that the rest of the survivors had been picked up. I deeply regret to state that out of a total of several officers and one hundred and six enlisted men on board at the time of the torpedoing, two officers and sixty-four enlisted men were killed in the performance of duty. The behavior of the men under the most exceptional and trying conditions is worthy of praise, and the following cases are a sample of the spirit of the men under these conditions.

INSTANCE OF RARE SELF-DENIAL.

"One man removed parts of his clothing (when all realized that their lives depended upon keeping warm), to try to keep alive men who were more thinly clad than himself. Another man at the risk of almost certain death, remained in the motor sailor and endeavored to get it clear for floating from the s.h.i.+p. While he did not succeed in accomplis.h.i.+ng this act (which would have undoubtedly saved twenty or thirty lives) he stuck to his duty until the very last. He was drawn under the water with the boat, but later came to the surface and was rescued."

Wallace Simpson, a young Negro, was a petty officer aboard this vessel.

Young Simpson was a graduate of the high school, Denver, Colorado, and at the call of his country, when but in the prime of his life, made the supreme sacrifice in order that the world might be made safe for democracy.

NEGRO FIREMEN AND COAL Pa.s.sERS.

It seems that fate always throws the Negro in a line of service wherein he can by some method, peculiarly his own, have an opportunity to display his ability, loyalty and usefulness, in spite of prejudice and opposition. I particularly refer here to the positions of firemen and coal pa.s.sers, because of the physical strength required for work of that kind. The Negro can serve better in the American navy in this capacity than in any other, with the possible exception of the messman branch of service; but, nevertheless, in the former positions he has a decidedly better opportunity to bring into play originality and foresight, for the fire-room is the life of the s.h.i.+p and especially so when attacked.

When one of the vessels of our navy had been hit with one torpedo from an enemy submarine and was about to be hit with a second, the commanding officer had the following statement to make: "I realized that the immediate problem was to escape a second torpedo. To do so, two things were necessary, to attack the enemy, and to make more speed than he could submerged. The depth charge crew jumped to their stations and immediately started dropping depth bombs. A barrage of depth charges was dropped, exploding at regular intervals far below the surface of the water. This work was beautifully done. The explosions must have shaken the enemy up, at any rate he never came to the surface again to get a look at us.

"The other factor in the problem was to make as much speed as possible, not only in order to escape an immediate attack, but also to prevent the submarine from tracking us and attacking us after nightfall.

"The men in the fire rooms knew that the safety of the s.h.i.+p and our lives depended on their bravery and steadfastness to duty. It is difficult to conceive a more trying ordeal to one's courage than was presented to every man in the fire room that escaped destruction. The profound shock of the explosion, followed by instant darkness, falling soot and particles, the knowledge that they were far below the water level, practically enclosed in a trap, the imminent danger of the s.h.i.+p sinking, the added threat of exploding boilers--all these dangers and more must have been apparent to every man below, and yet not one man wavered in standing by his post of duty.

WONDERFUL DEVOTION TO DUTY.

"No better example can possibly be given of the wonderful fact that with a brave and disciplined body of American men, white or black, all things are possible. However strong may be their momentary impulses for self-preservation in extreme danger, their controlling impulses are to stand by their stations and duty at all hazards.

"In at least two instances in this crisis below, men who were actually in the face of death did actually forget or ignored their impulse of self-preservation and endeavored to do what appeared to them to be their duty. One man was in one of the flooded fire rooms. He was thrown to the floor and instantly enveloped in flames from the burning gases driven from the furnaces, but instead of rus.h.i.+ng to escape, he turned and endeavored to shut a water-tight door leading into a large bunker abaft the fire room. But the hydraulic lever that operated the door had been injured by the shock and failed to function. Three men at work at this bunker were drowned. If this man had succeeded in shutting the door, the lives of these men would have been saved as well as considerable buoyancy saved to the s.h.i.+p. The fact that he, though profoundly stunned by the shock and almost fatally burned by the furnace gases, should have had presence of mind and the courage to endeavor to shut the door is a great example of heroic devotion to duty as is possible for one to imagine. Immediately after attempting to close the door he was caught in the swirl of inrus.h.i.+ng water and thrust up a ventilator leading to the upper deck.

STRANGE EFFECT OF THE EXPLOSIONS.

"The torpedo exploded on a bulkhead separating two fire rooms, the explosive effect being apparently equal in both fire rooms, yet, in one fire room not a man was saved, while in the other fire room two of the men escaped. The explosion blasted through the outer and inner skin of the s.h.i.+p and through an intervening coal bunker and bulkhead, hurling overboard seven hundred and fifty tons of coal. The two men saved were working the fires within thirty feet of the explosion and just below the level where the torpedo struck.

"It is difficult to see how it was possible for these men to have escaped the shower of debris, coal and water that must instantly have followed the explosion. However, the two men were not only saved but seemed to have retained full possession of their faculties. Both of them were knocked down and blown across the fire room. Their sensations were at first a shower of flying coal, followed by an overwhelming inrush of water that swirled them round and round and finally thrust them up against the gratings of the top of the fire rooms."

THE ATTACK UPON THE TORPEDO BOAT Ca.s.sIN.

Another instance of self-sacrifice and unparalleled heroism is contained in the account of the attack upon the torpedo boat _Ca.s.sin_ by a German submarine, while on patrol duty off the coast of Ireland. The following is the story briefly related in the official report of her commanding officer:

"When about twenty miles south of Minehead, at 1:30 P.M., a German submarine was sighted by the lookout aloft four or five miles away, about two points on the port bow. The submarine at this time was awash and was made out by officers of the watch and the quartermaster of the watch, but three minutes later submerged. The _Ca.s.sin_ which was making fifteen knots continued on its course until near the position where the submarine had disappeared. When last seen the submarine was heading in a southeasterly direction, and when the destroyer reached the point of disappearance the course was changed, as it was thought the vessel would make a decided change of course after submerging. At this time the commanding officer, the executive officer, engineer officer, officer of the watch, and the junior watch officers were all on the bridge searching for the submarine.

THE ATTACK.

"About 1:57 P.M., the commanding officer sighted a torpedo apparently shortly after it had been fired, running near the surface and in a direction that was estimated would make a hit either in the engine or fire room. When first seen the torpedo was between three or four hundred yards from the s.h.i.+p, and the wake could be followed on the other side for about four hundred yards. The torpedo was running at high speed, at least thirty-five knots. The _Ca.s.sin_ was maneuvering to dodge the torpedo, double emergency full speed ahead having been signalled from the engine room and the rudder put hard left as soon as the torpedo was sighted. It looked for the moment as though the torpedo would pa.s.s astern. When about fifteen or twenty feet away the torpedo porpoised, completely leaving the water and sheering to the left. Before again taking the water the torpedo hit the s.h.i.+p well aft on the port side about frame one hundred sixty-three and above the water line. Almost immediately after the explosion of the torpedo the depth charges, located on the stern and ready for firing, exploded. There were two distinct explosions in quick succession after the torpedo hit.

"But one life was lost. Osman K. Ingram, gunner's mate, first cla.s.s, was cleaning the muzzle of number 4 gun, target practice being just over when the attack occurred. With rare presence of mind, realizing that the torpedo was about to strike the part of the s.h.i.+p where the depth charges were stored and that the setting off of these explosions might sink the s.h.i.+p, Ingram, immediately seeing the danger, ran aft to strip these charges and throw them overboard. He was blown to pieces when the torpedo struck. Thus, Ingram sacrificed his life in the performance of a duty which he believed would save his s.h.i.+p and the lives of the officers and men on board."

TORPEDOING THE PRESIDENT LINCOLN.

One of the most spectacular and thrilling incidents of our naval warfare in which more than a score of colored men bravely and heroically partic.i.p.ated, was the attack and sinking of the _U.S.S. President Lincoln_, the commanding officer of which reports as follows:

"On May 31, 1918, the _President Lincoln_ was returning to America from a voyage to France, and was in line formation with the _U.S.S.

Susquehanna_, _Antigone_, and _Ryndam_, the latter being on the left flank of the formation and about eight hundred yards from the _President Lincoln_. The s.h.i.+ps were about five hundred miles from the coast of France and had pa.s.sed through what was considered to be the most dangerous part of the war zone. At about 9 A.M. a terrific explosion occurred on the port side of the s.h.i.+p about one hundred and twenty feet from the bow and immediately afterwards another explosion occurred on the port side of the s.h.i.+p about one hundred and twenty feet from the stern, these explosions being immediately identified as coming from torpedoes fired by a German submarine.

"It was found that the s.h.i.+p had been struck by three torpedoes, which were fired as one salvo from the submarine, two of the torpedoes striking practically together near the bow of the s.h.i.+p and the third striking near the stern. The wake of the torpedo had been sighted by the officers and lookouts on watch, but the torpedoes were so close to the s.h.i.+p as to make it impossible to avoid them; and it was also found that the submarine at the time of firing was only about eight hundred yards from the _President Lincoln_. There were at the time seven hundred and fifteen persons on board, some of these were sick and two men were totally paralyzed.