Preserved Memory Project:
WWI troopers AEOLUS, DANUBE, KROONLAND, 1917-1919
by J. McSherry
U.S.S. AEOLUS (ex GROSSER KURFURST), Marin Cox collection
Jack McSherry
text supplied by Patrick McSherry, grandsonDuring the early part of World War One and before being transferred to a troop ship AEOLUS, we were on a cruiser USS COLUMBIA, and sometime during the summer of 1917, our ship was sent to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to convoy a British transport loaded with troops from that port to Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was just at a time when there was supposed to be German submarines all over the Western Atlantic Ocean. Just before we left Cuba to return to Halifax, I was transferred with two signalmen and one radioman over to the British transport to make the trip to Halifax on that vessel. Our duty on there was to handle communications, both visual and radio between the two ships. We were treated excellently on the British ship. The name of the ship was DANUBE. I spent most of the time on the bridge, took a turn at steering occasionally just to help pass the time away, and, of course, we had signals to handle between the two ships. From the talks that I had with the ship's officers, I could very well tell that they considered steaming in large convoys would be dangerous, especially at night and running dark. They seemed to be very well pleased to have the cruiser along with them, but I could very well see that they would get a little uneasy if the cruiser got within a quarter mile of them. Well, their ship was scheduled to leave Halifax for France as part of a large convoy, so I imagine that they got used to steaming in close quarters. (I was glad that I made that trip to Guantanamo Bay because I had a younger brother on a ship that was anchored there at that time. That was in September, 1917 and it was the first that we had seen each other since April of 1911, about six and a half years. After I bad re-enlisted in April, 1911, he was certain that the navy must be a pretty good place, so in September, 1911, he went in the Navy and now is on the retired list, also).
After World War One was over and lots of times while talking to men that bad been overseas, I would ask them what kind of a crossing they had; if it was a stormy trip or if they were lucky enough to have nice weather and calm seas. I always got the same answer, rough all the way, both going and returning. I knew that it was possible to have bad weather in the North Atlantic at anytime of the year. I had crossed the Atlantic thirty-five times and the Pacific three times and I can state honestly that most of those crossings were made with the weather good and the sea calm or nearly so. There were two times that we were lucky and saw a rainbow, by moonlight; one time while crossing the Pacific and another in the Atlantic. In the Pacific, it appeared that we would go directly under the rainbow if it would stay visible for that long. I do not know if that is something rare or not.
One Sunday morning, while sitting in church I was talking to an army veteran that I knew had been overseas. (Of course, we were talking before the service started.) While holding that conversation we discovered that be had returned from Europe on the same transport that I was stationed on. As we talked, it dawned on me that here is a man that I can check up on. Before the service began, I asked him if he remembered what kind of weather we had on our way back from France and he replied that it was terrible, cold wind and rough seas just about all the way, even snowed someÉI never did keep much of a personal log but did have a few notes that I could look over. When we arrived home after the service, I dug out the information on that crossing and sure enough, it was a rough, stormy trip-rough seas, cold rain, even snowed some, but it was December so we could expect to have just about any kind of weather, Some place in the North Atlantic on that trip, we were hailed by one of those large fishing boats; they bad a sick man on their craft and would like for us to take him aboard so that he could get some medical attention. After we got him aboard and the doctors bad examined him, they discovered that be had appendicitis. They operated on him and soon after we arrived in New York, he was able to be returned to his home. He was a very happy and thankful fisherman when be left the ship to go to his home in Massachusetts. The veteran that I was talking with in church was one of the lucky ones that was able to return home so soon after the shooting was over.
The duty on those transports carrying troops back and forth from our country to Europe was sort of good, at least it was on the Steamship KROONLAND. The Captain was the kind of person that we like to serve with and I think the navigator was just about the best one that I ever worked with. On August tenth of 1919, when we left New York, for France, we were told that this would be our last trip to Europe on this duty of returning troops home, and that the KROONLAND would remain in Brest long enough for two groups of the ship's crew to go to Paris for a five-day visit. We were all very glad to get that news. Most anyone would like to have a chance to see that great city. In the evening of August 20, 1919, we left the ship to go to Paris by train and arrived there sometime the next day. While we were in that city, we were on our own. No staying in groups and no supervision. I believe that everyone that made the trip enjoyed those five days. I was with a man in our crew that could talk the French language just about as well as my Frenchman could and that made everything just about perfect. We bad accommodations at the Hotel Lutetia, the address was forty-three Boulevard Raspail Square du Bon Marche; our hotel bill came only to twenty dollars and twenty-five cents for the three days that we were there. We thought that was very reasonable since that also included some food and drink. We had two nights on the train, one going and one returning. We did a lot of looking around, walked to the top of the Eiffel Tower, but returned on the elevator; saw the Venus-de-Milo and Mona Lisa at the Louvre. We also took a ride out to Chateau-Thierry and Rheims and walked over the battlefield at Belleau-Wood. Another place that we were in was the Palace of Versailles and saw where the members of the Peace Conference had their meetings. On one of the nights, we went to see the Follies Belgere that was a good showÉI believe that we all enjoyed that Paris visit, also the train ride gave us a chance to see a lot of the French countryside during the daylight part of the trip. The train fare, both going and returning, for the two separate groups was paid from funds that had built up in the ship's welfare fund. The Chief Petty Officer who was chairman of the welfare committee, had planned on having funds enough in the account to take care of those expenses.
Bibliography:
McSherry, Jack CPO, USN, Ret'd, _ Things We Remember _ (Private family memoir printed in 1966. McSherry joined the Navy in 1907, and retired for the last time - after having been recalled seven months prior to Pearl Harbor - in November of 1946. He had served during the Great White Fleet Cruise, the Mexican Campaign of 1914, WWI, and WWII. Please note that during his long period of service he had gained the habit of using the word "we" instead of "I", a habit he never lost. McSherry passed away in 1973).
added 1999
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