Commodore Guy R. Gaunt, British Naval Attaché at Washington, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 7/4/1917
Commodore Guy R. Gaunt, British Naval Attaché at Washington. to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations
C O P Y :-
From: Commodore Gaunt, R.N.,
British Embassy, Washington, D.C.
To:- Admiral Benson, U.S.A.
Date: 4th July, 1917.
On the whole subject of guns for merchant ships, I have received a telegram from Their Lordships, asking me to convey their thanks for the very kind offer of additional armament for merchant ships.1 In view of the larger number of ships that still require effective long range guns, they are afraid that the question of providing any ship with a second gun cannot be considered at present, but that if the offer which I telegraphed,2 of six 4.7 guns is unconditional, it is gladly accepted, and I am directed to replace the 4" gun now mounted in the CRETIC and CANOPIC, with a 4.7. The guns released should then be sent to JAMAICA, for mounting on homeward vessels. The four remaining 4.7 guns to be allocated as follows:-
To WAR CAPTAIN now completing at New York, - 1 gun.
To FARN at Bermuda - 1 gun.
To WAR MAJOR and WAR TUNE, at Montreal – 1 gun each.3
Gun's crews for the 4.7's can be drawn by you from Halifax.
Guy R. Gaunt
Footnote 1: "Their Lordships" were the British Lords of the Admiralty. For their instructions to convey thanks and the directions concerning disposition of the guns, see, Richard Webb to Gaunt, 3 July 1917, UK-KeNA, Adm. 137/656.
Footnote 2: See: Gaunt to British Admiralty, 26 June 1917. It was not just a shortage of guns that caused the British to allot only one per merchant ship, but rather that the British believed that a merchant ship sighting a submarine should attempt to flee meaning that only the stern gun would be of any use. They also believed that the stern of a ship provided a more stable gun platform than the bow. Stackhouse, "Anglo-American Atlantic Convoy System in WWI": 343-44.
Footnote 3: While the British accepted the offer of guns, at the same time First Sea Lord Adm. Sir John R. Jellicoe argued that arming merchantmen with such guns was an ineffective defense against submarine attack; see, Jellicoe to Gaunt, 30 June 1917, UK-KeNA, Adm. 137/656.
Commodore Guy R. Gaunt, British Naval Attaché at Washington, to British Admiralty, 7/1/1917
Commodore Guy R. Gaunt, British Naval Attaché at Washington, to First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John R. Jellicoe, 7/1/1917
Captain Arthur de K. L. May, Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff, to Vice Admiral Montague E. Browning, Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station, 7/1/1917
Memorandum from Sir Colville A. R. Barclay, Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of Great Britain in Washington, D. C., 7/1/1917
Draft Proposal for the Inter-Allied Munitions Council, 7/2/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Richard H. Jackson, American Naval Representative to Paris, 7/2/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Officers Under His Command, 7/2/1917
President Woodrow Wilson to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 7/2/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces in Europe, to Captain William V. Pratt, Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, 7/3/1917
Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels to Secretary of State Robert M. Lansing, 7/3/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in Europe, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 7/3/1917
Secretary of War Newton D. Baker to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 7/3/1917
Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves, Commander, Convoy Operations in the Atlantic, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 7/4/1917
First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John R. Jellicoe to Commodore Guy R. Gaunt, British Naval Attaché at Washington, 7/4/1917
President Woodrow Wilson to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 7/4/1917
Lieutenant Commander John H. Boesch, Commander, Orion, to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, 7/4/1917
Commander Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Chief of Staff, Destroyer Flotillas, Queenstown, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 7/4/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Commander Powers Symington, Commander, USS Tacoma, 7/4/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Richard H. Jackson, American Naval Representative to the Ministry of Marine, 7/5/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Lieutenant Commander Joseph F. Daniels, U.S.S. Melville, 7/5/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels., 7/5/1917
Memorandum from Captain William W. Fisher, Director, Anti-Submarine Warfare, 7/5/1917
Commodore Guy R. Gaunt, British Naval Attaché at Washington, to Secretary of the Admiralty Sir William Graham Greene, 7/5/1917
Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves, Commander, Convoy Operations in the Atlantic, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Forces Operating in European Waters, 7/5/1917
Commodore Guy R. Gaunt, British Naval Attaché at Washington, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters., 7/5/1917
Alfred C. W. Harmsworth, First Viscount Northcliffe, to Imperial War Cabinet, 7/5/1917
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom Walter Hines Page to Secretary of State Robert Lansing, 7/5/1917
Vice Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, Commander, Southern Ireland, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 7/6/1917
Lieutenant Commander Thomas A. Kittinger, Commander, Coarsair, to Captain William B. Fletcher, Force Commander, Special Patrol Squadron, 7/6/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain William V. Pratt, Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, 7/6/1917
Lieutenant Kenneth Whiting, Commander, First Aeronautic Detachment, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 7/7/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels 7/7/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Bureau of Steam Engineering, 7/7/1917
Rear Admiral Roger Welles, Director of Naval Intelligence, to Captain William D. MacDougall, United States Naval Attaché at London, 7/8/1917
Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, to José Martí, Chief of Staff, Cuban Army, and President, Cuban Mission, 7/9/1917
Captain William R. Hall, Director, Intelligence Division, to Imperial War Cabinet, 7/9/1917
Lieutenant Commander Joseph F. Daniels to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 7/10/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Commander Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Chief of Staff, Destroyer Flotillas, 7/10/1917
VIce Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, Commander, Southern Ireland to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 7/10/1917
Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, Memorandum for Ship Owners, 7/10/1917
Lieutenant Fred M. Perkins, Destroyer Force Engineer Officer, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 7/10/1917
Raymond B. Fosdick, Chairman, Commission on Training Camp Activities, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 7/10/1917
Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels to General José Martí, Chief of Staff, Cuban Army, and President of Cuban Mission, 7/11/1917
Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, Memorandum to Naval Departments, 7/11/1917
Vice Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, Commander, Southern Ireland, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 7/11/1917
Captain Edwin A. Anderson, Commander, Squadron Three, Patrol Force, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 7/11/1917
Vice Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, Commander, Southern Ireland, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters., 7/12/1917
Captain Richard H. Jackson, American Naval Representative to the Ministry of Marine, to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 7/12/1917
Captain William B. Fletcher, Commander, United States Patrol Squadron, Patrol Instructions, 7/12/1917
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom Walter Hines Page to Secretary of State Robert Lansing, 7/13/1917
Captain Benton Decker, United States Naval Attaché at Madrid, to Office of Naval Intelligence, 7/13/1917
British Foreign Office to British Ambassador to the United States Sir Cecil Spring Rice, 7/14/1917
Lieutenant Arthur S. Carpender, Commander, Fanning, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 7/15/1917
Commander Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, Chief of Staff, Destroyer Flotillass, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 7/15/1917
Lieutenant Norman Wilkinson, to Rear Admiral Clement Greatorex, Director of Naval Equipment 7/16/1917
Diary of Commander Joseph K. Taussig, Commander, Destroyer Division Eight, 7/16/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain Benton C. Decker, United States Naval Attaché at Madrid, 7/17/1917
Commander William R. Sayles, United States Naval Attaché at Paris, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 7/17/1917
Report on the Sinking of Florence Creadick, 7/17/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Vice Admiral Lewis Bayly, Commander, Southern Ireland, 7/18/1917
Rear Admiral Ralph Earle, Chief of Bureau of Ordnance to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 7/18/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Captain William B. Fletcher, Force Commander, United States Patrol Squadron, 7/18/1917
Commodore Guy R. Gaunt, British Naval Attaché at Washington, to First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John R. Jellicoe, 7/20/1917
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 7/20/1917
Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves, Commander, Convoy Operations in the Atlantic, to Vice Admiral Henry T. Mayo, Commander, Atlantic Fleet, 7/20/1917
British Admiralty to Commodore Guy R. Gaunt, British Naval Attaché at Washington, 7/21/1917
Report by Commander Richard T. Down, 7/22/1917
Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operation, to Rear Admiral Albert G. Winterhalter, Commander, Asiatic Fleet, 7/24/1917
Third Assistant Secretary of State Breckinridge Long, "What the Navy Has Done Since the War Began", 7/24/1917
Memorandum from Commander Edward McCauley, Jr., Acting Director, Office of Naval Intelligence, 7/25/1917
Ministry of Marine to Captain Richard H. Jackson, American Naval Representative to the Ministry of Marine, 7/25/1917
Rear Admiral Samuel McGowan, Paymaster General, Intra-Bureau Order No. 201, 7/26/1917
Secretary of War Newton D. Baker to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 7/26/1917
Vice Admiral Williams S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Anne Hitchcock Sims, 7/26/1917
Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels to Captain Samuel S. Robinson, Commander, Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet, 7/26/1917
Lieutenant Commander Charles K. Belknap, Jr., Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, to Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, 7/26/1917
Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves, Commander, Convoy Operations in the Atlantic Ocean, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 7/27/1917
State Department to United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom Walter Hines Page, 7/30/1917
Lieutenant Commander Theodore G. Ellyson to Helen Ellyson, 7/30/1917
Commander Thomas A. Kearney, Acting Chief, Bureau of Ordnance, to Admiral William S. Benson, Chief of Naval Operations, 7/30/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, to Vice Admiral Ferdinand de Bon, Chief of Staff, Ministry of Marine, 7/30/1917
Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters to Commander Joel R. Poinsett Pringle, 7/31/1917
Acting Secretary of State Frank Polk to United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom Walter Hines Page, 7/31/1917
Captain William B. Fletcher, Commander, Special Patrol Squadrons, Patrol Instructions, 7/31/1917
William S Benson
Merchant Ships, Anti-Submarine Warfare
Additional Resources for July 1917