Home › The American Army in Europe › The American Army in Europe: Paymaster

The American Army in Europe: Paymaster

Of the 715 men present all told on board, it was found after the muster that 3 officers and 23 men were lost with the ship and that 1 officer, Lieutenant Isaacs, above mentioned, had been taken prisoner. The three officers were Passed Assistant Surgeon L.C. Whiteside, ship's medical officer; Paymaster Andrew Mowat, ship's supply officer; and Assistant Paymaster J.D. Johnston, United States Naval Reserve Force.

Two officers taken down with the ship.

The loss of these officers was peculiarly regrettable, as they could have escaped. Both Dr. Whiteside and Paymaster Mowat had seen the men under their charge leave the ship, the doctor having attended to placing the sick in the boat provided for the purpose, and they then remained in the ship for some unexplainable reason, as testified by witnesses who last saw them, and apparently these two excellent officers were taken down with the ship. Paymaster Johnston got on a raft alongside the ship, but in some way was caught by the ship as she went under, as C.M. Hippard, ship's cook, third class, United States Navy, states that he was on the raft with Paymaster Johnston and that they were both drawn under the water, but when he came to the surface, Paymaster Johnston could no longer be seen. Men working below decks.

Of the 23 men who were lost, the following 7 men were engaged in work below decks in the forward end of the ship, and they were either killed by the force of the explosion of the two torpedoes which struck in that vicinity, or were drowned by the inrush of the water.

H.A. Himelwright, storekeeper, second class, United States Navy; F.W. Wilson, jr., yeoman, second class, United States Naval Reserve Force; B. Zanetti, coxswain, United States Navy; A.S. Egbert, seaman, second class, National Naval Volunteer; G.B. Hoffman, seaman, United States Navy; J.A. Jenkins, seaman, second class, United States Navy; F.A. Hedglin seaman, second class, United States Navy.

One raft probably went down.

The remaining 16 men were apparently caught on the raft alongside the ship and went down, this being probably caused by the current of water which was rushing into the bighole in the ship's side, as the men were on rafts which were in this vicinity.

Danger from submarine.

Although the German submarine commander made no offers of assistance of any kind, yet otherwise his conduct for the ship's company in the boat was all that could be expected. We naturally had some apprehension as to whether or not he would open fire on the boats and rafts. I thought he might probably do this, as an attempt to make me and other officers disclose their identity. This possibility was evidently in the minds of the men of the crew also, because at one time I noticed some one on the submarine walk to the muzzle of one of the guns, apparently with the intention of preparing it for action. This was evidently observed by some of the men in my boat, and I heard the remark, "Good night, here comes the fireworks." The spirit which actuated the remark of this kind, under such circumstances, could be none other than that of cool courage and bravery.

Instances of self sacrifice.

There were many instances where a man showed more interest in the safety of another than he did for himself. When loading the boats from the rafts one man would hold back and insist that another be allowed to enter the boat. There was a striking case of this kind when about dark I noticed that Chief Master-at-Arms Rogers, who was rather an old man, and been in the Navy for years, was on a raft, and I sent a boat to take him from the raft, but he objected considerably to this, stating that he was quite all right, although as a matter of fact he was very cold and cramped from his long hours on the raft.

The Balsa rafts excellent.

Fortunately, the splendid type of life raft known as the Balsa raft, as it was made of balsa wood, had been furnished the ship, and these resulted in saving a great many men who might otherwise have been lost, due to exhaustion in the water.

Inspiring conduct of the men.

The conduct of the men during this time of grave danger was thrilling and inspiring as a large percentage of them were young boys, who had only been in the Navy for a period of a few months. This is another example of the innate courage and bravery of the young man hood of America. The Germans, hard pressed by the Americans and French in the Meuse-Argonne, and by the British in Flanders, at last saw the futility of further resistance, and asked for an armistice, on November 11. The terms of this armistice, dictated by the Allies, were as follows: