G P O The Boy with the U. S. Navy BOOKS BY FRANCIS ROLT-WHEELER "Cl. S. Service Series Illustrated. Large 12 mo. Cloth. Price $1.75 each. THE BOY WITH THE U. S. SURVEY THE BOY WITH THE U. S. FORESTERS THE BOY WITH THE U. S. CENSUS THE BOY WITH THE U. S. FISHERIES THE BOY WITH THE U. S. INDIANS THE BOY WITH THE U. S. EXPLORERS THE BOY WITH THE U. S. LIFE-SAVERS THE BOY WITH THE U. S. MAIL THE BOY WITH THE U. S. WEATHER MEN THE BOY WITH THE U. S. NATURALISTS THE BOY WITH THE U. S. TRAPPERS THE BOY WITH THE U. S. INVENTORS THE BOY WITH THE U. S. SECRET SERVICE THE BOY WITH THE U. S. MINERS THE BOY WITH THE U. S. DIPLOMATS THE BOY WITH THE U. S. RADIO THE BOY WITH THE AM. RED CROSS THE BOY WITH THE U. S. MARINES THE BOY WITH THE U. S. NAVY flDuseum Series 'Illustrated. Large i2mo. Cloth. Price $1.75 each. THE MONSTER-HUNTERS THE POLAR HUNTERS THE AZTEC-HUNTERS THE WRECK-HUNTERS THE SAHARA HUNTERS THE GEM-HUNTERS HUNTERS OF OCEAN DEPTHS THE NEWS-HUNTERS THE TUSK-HUNTERS THE WONDER OF WAR IN THE AIR THE WONDER OF WAR ON LAND THE WONDER OF WAR AT SEA THE WONDER OF WAR IN THE HOLY LAND With Illustrations from unusual War Photographs and Sketches. Large i2mo. Cloth. Price $1.75 each.’ THE BOYS’ BOOK OF THE WORLD WAR With Illustrations from Photographs and Diagrams. Large i2mo. Cloth. Price $2.50. THE BOOK OF COWBOYS Illustrated. Large i2mo. Cloth. Price $2.00. LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON The Stars and Stripes Forever! 'Old Glory” on the U. S. S. Rochester. U. S. SERVICE SERIES THE BOY WITH THE U. S. NAVY BY FRANCIS ROLT-WHEELER ‘A With Thirty Illustrations from Photographs, Many of which were Furnished by the U. S. Navy > ■» A ' ■ > > BOSTON LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. Copyright, 1927, By Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. All Rights Reserved The Boy with the U. S. Navy « « » Printed in U. S. A. IRorwooD ipress BERWICK & SMITH CO. Norwood, Mass. OCT 2i 1927 ©C1A1004811 PREFACE The sea has always held its romance, and the Navy in all times has been instinct with the spirit of courage and daring. These factors have not been dimmed by the development of the United States Navy into an organization equally admirable in peace and in war. The roster of naval heroes, alone, is one of which the .United States has just reason to be proud. Yet, in a measure, the Navy itself is greater than the work it has done either for peace or for war. It is greater because it has been, and it is—there is no reason to doubt that it always will be—one of the most sterling forces in the development of American manhood. The question is often asked: What is an American? A good answer would be: “The Navy man, enlisted man and officer alike! ” The splendor of these three aspects of the United States Navy, its work in peace, in war, and in the development of American manhood is rightly one of the nation’s proudest boasts. Never will the Stars and Stripes be dishonored while it floats over a naval v VI PREFACE vessel. To try to give some idea of the value and soundness of the U. S. Navy, and to urge some young Americans to join its superb ranks and all young Americans to hold it in the highest honor and esteem, is the aim and purpose of The Author. FOREWORD The Author desires to express his gratitude for the courtesies extended to him by the United States Navy Department in the giving of much valuable information and the use of many photographs. He desires, also, to acknowledge his indebtedness to the works of Lieut.-Commander Fitzhugh Green, whose books on U. S. Navy life have become a part of every American boy^s heritage. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE On a Coral Reef .... • 1 CHAPTER II Fighting the Breakers • . 14 CHAPTER III A Lighthouse Murder . • . 29 CHAPTER IV, A Cowardly Rescue • . 45 CHAPTER Vi The Bluejackets Come • . 60 CHAPTER VI Romances of Daring • . 75 CHAPTER VII 00 00 • Ironclads. • CHAPTER VIII Boots ”. 104 CHAPTER IX Aboard a Battleship • . 118 CHAPTER X At Sea. • . 135 • • • Vlll CONTENTS ix CHAPTER XI Fourteen-inch Babies . 148 CHAPTER XII Flashing Heroism ’ . 165 CHAPTER XIII Fighters, Old and New . 183 CHAPTER XIV Destroyer Men. 199 CHAPTER XV Naval War To-day . 218 CHAPTER XVI With the Submarines . 235 CHAPTER XVII Hawks Overhead! . 248 ILLUSTRATIONS The Stars and Stripes Forever! Frontispiece FACING PAGE In Memory of Gallant Comrades • • 28 Honoring Shipmates Gone • • 29 On Guard in China .... • • 74 Honor to Heroes of a Friendly Nation . 75 Historic Combat between Monitor and Mer- rimac. 90 With the American Fleet at Winter Manoeu- vres. 91 Signalmen at Work .... • • 114 U. S. S. Nevada in Target Test • • 115 Target Repair Crews at Work • • 115 U. S. S. Maryland .... • • 134 Holystoning the Decks of a Battleship • • 135 Big Guns on the U. S. S. Colorado . • • 164 The Mouth of a Giant . • • 165 Electrical Control Room . • • 174 Operating Platform .... • • 175 A Battleship Foremast . • • 182 X ILLUSTRATIONS xl Launching a Battleship.183 “ Swimming Call .190 Tassie ’’.191 U. S. Naval Training Station, San Diego, Cali¬ fornia .198 A Torpedo-Boat Destroyer . .199 Destroyers Defeat Dreadnaughts . 220 Home Again! Pacific Fleet Returns . .221 The Hero of Nanking.234 U. S. Bluejackets.235 The Holder of the Depth Record . 246 The Victors and their Trophy .... 247 Combat Planes Prepare for Catapulting . 254 Scout Planes of the Battleships . 255 THE BOY WITH THE U. S. NAVY CHAPTER I ON A CORAL REEF “ Watch belo-o-w! All hands ’bout ship! ” Clem rolled over in his bunk, with a growl. It had been an ugly night, with the tail of a Texas norther” blowing, and a stiff sea runnmg. The watch below had turned in all standing,” that is, fully dressed save for sea-boots and oilskins. At the call, the boy tumbled up the fo’c’sle ladder, following the other man of the watch. On board the barquentine Preciosa^ every man was needed, even to the cook, when any work was to be done. Her crew numbered only seven men, all told: Cap¬ tain, mate, an able seaman, and an ordinary seaman on each watch, and the cook; a small crew for deep¬ water voyaging. The boy had held the second trick at the wheel, * The name of the vessel has been changed. Otherwise, this is an account of an actual shipwreck which happened to the Au¬ thor, when a boy. F. R-W. I 2 WITH THE U. S. NAVY the watch before, standing “ off and on,” keeping in sight a revolving light which he supposed to be one of the lights of the Honduras coast. The mate had warned him to watch his steering and had heaved the lead several times, for the Honduras coast has an evil reputation. It is studded with coral reefs, and possesses a sullen power of raising a tremendous surf under a capful of wind—^no place to be caught on a lee shore! Such places are the graveyards of the deep, and uncounted bones glimmer from the sands below through the translucent water. Clem,” the mate had asked him, toward the end of the watch, do you hear anything? ” The boy had listened, carefully. I^m not sure, sir,” he had answered; seems as though there were a fog-horn blowing, a long way off, very faint.” Breakers! ” said the mate, shortly. I thought so. Keep her away a bit! ” He muttered uneasily as he turned away. The mate was an old-timer in the Gulf of Mexico, and his anxiety communicated itself to the boy. The sound of breakers on a lee shore spells danger even to the most inexperienced, and Clem was only too ready to leave the wheel when eight bells had struck and the watch had been relieved. ON A CORAL REEF 3 When he got up on deck again, he saw that the reefs of the fore upper topsail had been shaken out since he went below. The main and the mizzen were single-reefed still, and the Preciosa was close- hauled on the port tack. The wind had dropped a little at dawn, but the ground swell was running heavily. A distant roar¬ ing reminded Clem of the maters words, and he cast a look to leeward. Yes, that line of white must be breakers! He went to the jib sheets, his station for ^bout ship,^’ and waited for the skipper^s orders. The other ordinary seaman, a young French Canadian named Claude, was standing by the lee fore-yard and fore- topsail-yard braces, one turn only around the be- laying-pin. The rest of the crew was ready to tad on the fore weather-braces. The sun was rising, astern. It was a fine clear morning after the blow, an ideal summer morning in the Gulf. The brightness helped to dispel the lad^s fears, though, as he passed the mate to take up his post, he saw that the old navigator was still uneasy. Right ahead, a sea-mile or so away, the low line of a small island—^which Clem learned afterward was named Nine Quays Island—showed up, looking ■v:^V 4 WITH THE U. S. NAVY very near. It was little more than a sun-smitten and spray-whipped strip of sand, semicircular in shape, with a straggling wild plantation of cocoanut palms at one end, a low stone lighthouse at the other.