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USS Downes, arrived in Queenstown (now Cobh) in the south of Ireland, on the 17th of November, 1917. Queenstown was the centre for anti-submarine forces, on the Western Approaches, under the command of Admiral Lewis Bayley, Commander in Chief , Coast of Ireland. The Downes commenced operations immediately.
Initially there was uncertainty as to the most effective use of destroyers. At first they were given patrol areas which they would scout, singly or in pairs. Any stray incoming merchantmen seen, were to be escorted to near their destinations. This was a most ineffective use of the force, as the chances of coming across, and destroying a lone submarine in the vastness of the Western Approaches was virtually nil.
By Summer 1917, under the urging of commanders such as Admiral Sims, Commander of US Naval Forces in Europe, the convoy system was initiated. Groups of merchantmen were escorted through the war zone by flanking destroyer screens. This had the dual effect of reducing the amount of targets for German u-boats, and allowing destroyers and sloops to attack the harassing submarines. The priorities of the destroyers were to:
Destroy Submarines.
Protect and escort Merchantmen.
Save the crews and passengers of torpedoed ships.
Anti-submarine patrols did continue also for the duration of the war, especially in the Irish Sea and close to the coast of France, where u-boats would try to sink merchantmen as the convoys dispersed. In 1918, any destroyer in the Irish Sea, which was not actively convoying, came under the orders of The Irish Sea Hunting Flotilla, under the command of Captain Gordon Campbell VC based in Holyhead, Wales. US destroyers were also used to patrol the west coast of Ireland to hunt suspected gun-running ships, for Irish Republicans.
The destroyers , initially, were ill-equipped to fight submerged submarines. When they arrived in Europe they were armed with guns and torpedoes. The only undersea weapons supplied were single hand-launched 50lb depth charges which were particularly ineffective. It was the later fitting of dual depth charge racks on the sterns of the ships, Thornycroft depth charge throwers, and Y shaped charge throwers that turned them into a dangerous force. These were capable of dropping and firing a continuous patterned barrage of 200lb, charges around a submarine's suspected position. Most of the retro-fitting of these armaments was done at Cammel Laird in Birkenhead, England.
On December 14th, 1917, USS Downes was proceeding on Irish Channel patrol, with McDougal. At 12.59pm, after clearing the Daunt Channel, Downes sighted submarine on the surface. Submarine submerged and Downes was unable to follow any signs of the enemy.
On the week of 15th of January, 1918, USS Allen and Downes escorted SS Philadelphia from 48.50N, 16.00W to Liverpool
On the 21st of February, 1918, in position 54.00N, 04.57W, USS Downes sighted conning tower of submarine, dropped two depth charges- no result seen.
On 16th Mar, 1918, in pos, 52.49N, 05.30W, Periscope of submarine sighted by three destroyers and sloop. All four –Allen, Downes. Rowan, and HMS Aubretia dropped depth charges, results were inconclusive.
Commander Buchanan received a letter of commendation from Admiral Bayley, for exceptional smart performance, on March 20, 1918, in getting USS Downes underway quite unexpectedly.
On the 23rd of July, 1918, in position 50.41N, 08.36W, at 15.40hrs. HMS Marmora was torpedoed. USS Stockton USS Downes, tugs Warrior and Cynic went to her assistance. Marmora eventually sank at 17.35hrs. Survivors were taken to Milford Haven by HMS P67. USS Sterett searched for raft supposed to contain one man.
On the 25th of July 1918, USS Downes escorted SS Morinier from 12.30W, to Berehaven
On the 27th of July 1918 USS Downes escorted SS Gaspesian from 15.00W to Liverpool.
03rd August 1918, USS Stockton, Downes, Sampson, Cassin, and Ammen, escorted HMS Mauretania from 15.00W, to Liverpool. On August 15th 1918 ,USS Downes, was escorting incoming convoy HC 12. At 6.ooam the British Scout Class airship SSZ51, was sighted coming out from the land on the starboard beam of the convoy. She circled the convoy once and then passed down the portside of the convoy where USS Downes was escorting. USS Downes observed that she apparently required assistance, and proceeded promptly to her assistance. As the airship alighted on the sea surface, USS Downes secured her. This action saved the airship from destruction and saved the lives of the crew. She towed the SSZ51 into Holyhead. The Officers and crew of USS Downes were highly commended by the Btitish Admiralty for this action.
On the 24th August 1918, USS Conyngham, and Downes escorted SS Orca from Berehaven to 14.00W
On the 22nd of October 1918, USS Stevens, Downes, Conyngham, Terry, and Duncan, escorted HMS Olympic from Westward to Southampton.
On the 12th of December Downes joined the review of ships in Brest, France, by US President Woodrow Wilson.
.SOURCES
There have been a number of publications detailing the history of Queenstown (Cobh) during World War One. The standard reference works are those those listed below
Danger Zone. The story of the Queenstown Command.
By E.Keeble Chatterton
Little, Brown and Co, Boston 1934
(copy available in Cork City Library – local history section top floor)
The Victory at Sea. By Rear-Admiral William Sowden Sims, Doubleday, Page and Company, New York, 1921.
Simsadus London, The American Navy in Europe.
By John Langdon Leighton.
Henry Holt & Co, New York, 1921.
Available to download here
Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy
For the Fiscal Year, 1918
Available to download here
Officers and Enlisted Men of the US Navy who died during WW1
Available to download here
Bayley’s Navy,
by Vice Admiral Walter.S.Delany (Rtd)
Available to download here
American Participation in the Great War,
by Captain Dudley W.Knox.
Available to download here
Naval Aviation in WW1,
by Adrian O. Van Wyen.
Available to download here
For Operational Records Various files from the Public Records Office,of the United Kingdom, Kew are invaluable, especially records of ADM137, which were files bound for the official history of WW1 Naval Operations. None of these records are digitised yet, and can only be accessed by visiting the British Public Records Office, Kew, near London.
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
For photographs of the Queenstown Command, the following websites have many photographs available to download free of charge. Most of the aforementioned publications also have photographic illustrations.
US Naval History and Heritage Command website
www.history.navy.mil
United States National Archives Website
www.archives.gov/
The British Imperial War Museum
www.iwm.org.uk/research
This site contains many photographs of US and British Naval operations in Ireland. Importantly, it also has a number of copies of unique newsreel footage. These can be played on the site.