History of the 151st field artillery, Rainbow Division, by Louis L. Collins, lieutenant governor of Minnesota. Edited by Wayne E. Stevens, PH. D. Pub. by the Minnesota War records commission.

DOCUMENTS 205 necessary to give up the submarine attack. Plenty of room should be given for the operations of the destroyers. If the torpedo has been fired, the first thing that you will probably see will be the torpedo wake. A torpedo wake looks just like a white streak in the water. In case the submarine has its periscope above water, the first thing you are likely to see will be the " Periscope wake." This makes a wave, very much like the one made at target practice the other day, only not so pronounced, as this was being towed through the water at greater speed than a submarine generally makes. The submarine may be traveling only two knots: just enough to keep it horizontal. The thing that you see might not be a submarine. It might be drifting mines or boats or casks. All these things should be reported. They might not be anything but barrels; they may be perfectly harmless, or they may have mines in them. Boats have been found over here with mines in them. NOTES ON LOOKOUTS The bow lookout is manned entirely by the Navy. Right back of that is a house on either side. This is manned by both the Navy and Army. The Army's interest in that is one Army officer. The different watches for lookout duty may be arranged to suit the individuals on lookout, but it is best not to be on the lookout for more than an hour at a time. The next stations are the two tops (indicating), the upper and the lower top. The upper top is manned entirely by the Navy and in the lower top we have two Army officers. The lower top has the communications: loud speaking telephone to bridge, and quite a large megaphone, which I think you will find quite serviceable. Next, the wings of the bridges and the fire control station on top. This is all Navy. Next are the two stations on either side of deck " B." This is to be manned entirely by the army and there are to be two officers in each station, and an enlisted man to look out for the communications, telephones and voice pipes. The next station is No.2. The sectors that you will have to guard in this station will be given you by the Gunnery Officer, Mr. Olendorf. The next station aft is No.4 (Indicating). That is all Navy. Station 5, on this side, (indicating), just forward of the guns. If we should be torpedoed, the main object of the Navy crew would be to get all the troops safely off in boats and rafts. The Navy crew are supposed to stand by the ship and save her if we can, but, with one or more compartments filled with water, it is hard to determine whether it will be possible to save her. If we had lots of rescue vessels around us immediately, it would be better to let all the troops off at once. The torpedo might hit and never explode at all. Cases have been known where merchant ships have been abandoned and the crew had returned to see that the ship had not sunk. The first thing for the Captain to do is to stop the ship. The ship should be practically dead in the water, before any lowering of boats or life rafts is undertaken. With two compartments filled with water, I think this ship would float for two hours, and with only one compartment filled I do not think she would sink at all. The alarm will be sounded when the torpedo or periscope wake is sighted, or when something suspicious is discovered. The radio operator has the latitude and longitude at all times, and he will, if directed by the Captain, sound the "S.O.S." message, and probably draw a number of ships for our help in a very short time. I appreciate that this also diverges from the subject of our discussion. The idea is, however, to get all the means to save life in order before anybody is given a chance to come down the sides. It is extremely dangerous to life to jump overboard, and it should not be allowed. All men who show signs of desiring to jump overboard should be restrained by force. With a perfectly orderly crowd, the chances are that there would not be any loss of life at all. The main thing is to remember that, in case the alarm should prove false, or the danger to the ship be obviated, the ship is more comfortable than the life boats or rafts and that she should be stuck by. It is also well to remember that there will be lots of alarms which will turn out to be nothing.

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Title
History of the 151st field artillery, Rainbow Division, by Louis L. Collins, lieutenant governor of Minnesota. Edited by Wayne E. Stevens, PH. D. Pub. by the Minnesota War records commission.
Author
Collins, Louis Loren, 1882-
Canvas
Page 205
Publication
Saint Paul: [McGill-Warner company],
1924.
Subject terms
World War, 1914-1918 -- Registers
World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns
United States. -- Army. American Expeditionary Forces. 42d division

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"History of the 151st field artillery, Rainbow Division, by Louis L. Collins, lieutenant governor of Minnesota. Edited by Wayne E. Stevens, PH. D. Pub. by the Minnesota War records commission." In the digital collection The United States and its Territories, 1870 - 1925: The Age of Imperialism. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/adm3959.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 23, 2025.
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