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USS Jarvis arrived in Queenstown (now Cobh) in the south of Ireland on the 11th of June 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 Jarvis commenced operations within a week.

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 June 20th, 1917, USS Jarvis was escorting SS Mechinician. When in pos 51.54N, 07.28W, Jarvis spotted submarine headed for convoy. The Jarvis headed for enemy which submerged and was not seen again.

On the 8th of July, 1917, in pos 51.03N, 10.34W, USS Jarvis sighted submarine.

On July, 8th, 1917, Jarvis, at 9.29pm, 51.00N, 10.49W, found hulk of burning schooner, with boats and masts gone. No clue to her name, whereabouts of crew, or source of disaster.

Jarvis escorting Russian transport Dwinsk, 49.00N 15.00W (July 18) reports: Comunication with Dwinsk possible means of semaphore and international flags. Dwinsk not supplied with any code for radio communication. This is a severe handicap.

On the 25th of July, 1917, in pos 48.08N, 11.35W, USS Wilkes picked up 23 survivors of the SS Purley, sunk in this position. On the same day USS Jarvis picked up 32 survivors from the same ship and landed them at Queenstown.

On the week of the 27th of July, 1917 four ships containing valuable stores for the United States Army were met and safely escorted to their destination by USS Wilkes, Benham, Jarvis, Paulding, Ammen, and Perkins.

Nov 3rd, 1917. Jarvis, (Lt Commander L.P.Davis), of HS14 convoy after parting company a noon, received signal at 1.10pm that HMS Aubretia had sighted a submarine in pos 49.20N, 05.48W. This vessel ordered to chase. Joined Aubretia at 3pm. Submarine had submerged at 1.50pm and was not seen again

Nov 13.1917 Jarvis, (Lt Cdr L.P.Davis), Returning Brest to Queenstown after escorting troop convoy #10, at 7.45am, in foggy weather, sighted submarine broad on starboard bow, distant 1500 yards, just emerging from a fog bank. Submaine submerged at once. Headed for it but could find no trace of wake or oil slick. Due to fog, distance could not be judged with any accuracy. Searched vicinity till noon. Nothing further seen.

To be completed................

On the 26th of December, 1918. The last of the United States destroyers departed Queenstown (Cobh), on route to the USA, via the Azores. They were the Beale, Stockton, Wilkes, Duncan, Rowan,Kimberley, Allen, Davis, Sampson and Duncan . They were accompanied by the US tug Genesee. The press reported that the harbour was full of the whistles of other ships as the destroyers, flying their pennants were overflown by US Flying boats as they disappeared into the morning fog.

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.

Available to download here

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.