CHAPTER VII
THE LONDON FLAGSHIP
I
While our naval forces were thus playing their parts in several areas, the work of creating the central staff of a great naval organization was going forward in London. The headquarters for controlling extensive naval operations in many widely dispersed areas, like the headquarters of an army extending over a wide front, must necessarily be located far behind the scene of battle. Thus, a number of remodelled dwelling-houses in Grosvenor Gardens contained the mainspring for an elaborate mechanism which reached from London to Washington and from Queenstown to Corfu. On the day of the armistice the American naval forces in European waters comprised about 370 vessels of all classes, more than 5,000 officers, regulars and reserves, and more than 75,000 men ; we had established about forty-five bases and were represented in practically every field of naval operations. The widespread activities of our London headquarters on that eventful day presented a striking contrast to the humble beginnings of eighteen months before.
From April to August, 1917, the American navy had a very small staff organization in Europe. During these extremely critical four months the only American naval
representatives in London, besides the regular Naval Attache and his aides, were my personal aide, Commander J. V. Babcock, and myself ; and our only office in those early days was a small room in the American Embassy. For a considerable part of this time we had no stenographers and no clerical assistance of our own, though of course the Naval Attaché, Captain W. D. MacDougall, and his personnel gave us all the assistance in their power. Com-
204
