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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, R.N., Commander, Naval Forces, Southern Ireland, to Thomas J. Macnamara, Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty

 

Admiral__

From:     Commanding in – Chief, Coast of Ireland.

To:       The Secretary of the Admiralty.

DATE:   25th January, 1918.   No. / W. 71. A.

____________________________________________

U. S. S. SANTEE - - Special Service Ship.1

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

          As U. S. S. SANTEE, Special Service Ship, is expected to leave shortly for Devonport, I wish to draw Their Lordships attention to the altered conditions of submarine warfare and recommend the following:-

(1)       That SANTEE shall be repaired and revert to her original status of cargo ship. Hersea [i.e. her sea] speed is about 9 knots.

(2)       That her U.S.Officers and men be sent to a fast big ship, having a sea speed of 15 knots, capable of carrying six 6" guns and able to cruise after the new cruiser submarines in the Azores and West Indies. A blue funneller which has passengers cabins on deck would be very suitable, as the cabins would act as admirable screens for the guns.

LEWIS BAYLY             

ADMIRAL                 

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF           

Source Note: Cy, DLC-MSS, William S. Sims Papers, Box 23. A filing notation in the upper-left corner reads: “Admiral Sims/Personal File.” and identification numbers “1/3/J” appear to the right in a ladder. A note at the end of the document indicates that Bayly also sent a copy to VAdm. William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters.

Footnote 1: Formerly H.M.S. Pargust, this ship was given to the Americans to use as a Mystery Ship, also known as a “Q-Ship.” She was renamed U.S.S. Arvonian, then finally U.S.S. SANTEE. She was torpedoed by a German submarine on 27 December 1917 and eventually returned to the British. See: Sims to Pratt, 21 November 1917; and Sims to Benson after 30 December 1917.

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