d 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.
The Oronsa, which was torpedoed in April, contained 250 men and all were
saved except three of the crew. The Moldavia came next with five hundred
troops, of whom fifty-five were lost. On September 6th the troopship
Persic with 2,800 American soldiers was torpedoed but American
destroyers rescued all on board, and the Persic, which was prevented
from sinking by its water-tight bulkheads, was afterwards beached.

Several American ships, including the troop transport Mount Vernon, were
torpedoed on return trips and a number of the men of their crews were
lost, and several naval vessels were lost, including the destroyer Jacob
Jones, and the patrol vessel Alcedo. The Cassin was torpedoed, but
reached port under its own steam and later returned to service.

In September and October three more American transports were added to
the list of American losses. On September 26th the United States steamer
Tampa was torpedoed and sank with all on board, losing 118 men. On
September 30th the Ticonderoga was also torpedoed, eleven naval officers
and 102 enlisted men being lost.

In addition to these submarine losses several ships and a number of men
were lost through collision. The United States steamer Westgate was sunk
in a collision with the steamer American on October 7th, with the loss
of seven men. On October 9th the United States destroyer Shaw lost
fifteen men