aval bases supposedly
secure under the guns of fortifications, but something more than a sally
will be necessary to smoke out the German fleet, or to root out the
nests of submarines along the coast of Belgium. Again, there is the
theory that eventually the Germans will come out and give battle. There
is a psychological backing for this assumption, for the irksomeness of
being penned up wears and wears until it is not to be borne. At least
this seems to have been the case in blockades in past wars, notably the
dash of Admiral Cervera's squadron from Santiago Harbor.

But when the Germans come it will be no such forlorn hope as that--at
least not according to the German expectation; what they expect,
however, and what they may get are contingencies lying wide apart.

In connection with our far-flung naval policy the establishment of a
naval base on the Azores Islands was announced last spring. The
arrangement was made with the full consent of Portugal, and the design
was the protection of the Atlantic trade routes to southern Europe. Guns
have already been landed on the island, and fortifications are now in
process of construction. The station, besides being used as a naval base
for American submarines, destroyers, and other small craft, will serve
as an important homing-station for our airplanes, a number of which have
already been assembled there.

The establishment of this station greatly simplifies the task of
protecting the great trade routes, not only to southern Europe and the
Mediterranean, but also returning traffic to South American and southern
Gulf ports in the United States.

CHAPTER X

Great Atlantic Ferry Company, Incorporated, But Unlimited--Feat of the
Navy in Repairing the Steamships Belonging to German Lines Which Were
Interned at Beginning of War in 1914--Welding and Patching--Triumph of
Our Navy With the "Vaterland"--Her Condition--Knots Added to Her
Speed--Damage to Motive Power and How It Was Remedied--Famous German
Liners Brought Under Our Flag

In an address delivered not long ago, Admiral Gleaves,
commander-in-chief of the United States Cruiser and Transport Force,
referred to "The Great Atlantic Ferry Company, Incorporated, but
Unlimited." He referred to our transport fleet, of course, a fleet
which, under naval supervision and naval operation, has safely
transported more than a million of our soldiers to France. When the
history of the war finally comes to be written, our succes