In a carefully documented album of postcards, snapshots, and entries, the 19-year-old author wrote of his two-week trip up the Atlantic coast from Jacksonville, Florida, where he and other members of the 2nd Battalion, Florida Naval Militia boarded the USS Louisiana for their first summer cruise. By 21 July 1916 the entire North Atlantic Fleet stood at anchor in Narragansett Bay off Newport, Rhode Island. The diary captures Militiaman Fernety's youthful optimism and gives a hint of 19th-century jingoism before America entered World War I. What follows is an abridged version of Fernety's battleship diary.
14 July 1916
We met at the Armory at the foot of Main Street at 0730. The boys have been looking forward to this day with the greatest enthusiasm and now that it is here, we are all happily packing our bags, lashing our hammocks, and putting everything in readiness for the long-expected cruise. At 1030, equipped with rifles and side arms, we paraded around the principal streets of the city, headed by a brass band. At 1300 we marched to the Union Depot to entrain for Portsmouth, Virginia.
A large crowd followed us to the station to see us off. Hundreds of relatives, friends, and spectators waved us a hearty farewell as the train pulled out of the station. It is evident that Uncle Sam intends for us to travel in comfort. The government chartered a special train of 11 coaches to carry us to Portsmouth with Pullman, dining, and sleeping cars at our service. After speeding through northern Florida without any special incidents we crossed the St. Mary's River and arrived at Savannah, Georgia at 1830. We stopped about ten minutes for orders and then continued our journey northward. Columbia, South Carolina, was our next stop, which we made sometime during the night.
15 July
Buzz Swinehard, the comedian of the battalion, woke us up at 0500. He had misplaced his cigarettes during the night and was passing from berth to berth calling for his favorite smoke. Many of the boys were indignant at his intrusion but I inwardly thanked him for awakening me for I wanted to be up early so as not to miss any of the beautiful scenes of the surrounding countryside. We are now traveling through North Carolina. We found the country prettier than the other states we had traversed. They have a rich clay soil here. Grapes, apples, Irish potatoes, and cotton are the principal products. In Virginia and North Carolina, the cultivation of tobacco was very much in evidence. We arrived at Raleigh. Many of the boys mailed cards home from here. The state penitentiary, considered one of the largest in the South, is located in Raleigh. About two miles from the city, we passed a quaint, old-fashioned house which was the home of President Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Abraham Lincoln after his assassination at Ford's Theater.
We arrived at Portsmouth at 1515. Our train carried us directly to the Navy Yards, whence we boarded the USS Louisiana—a first-class battleship, 450 feet in length, 16,500 tons, with a hull speed of 21 knots. Her armament consists of four 12-inch guns, eight 8-inch guns, 12 7-inch guns, 18 3-inch guns and four torpedo tubes. She carries 906 men and 58 officers. The USS Pennsylvania, also at anchor here just off the Louisiana, is Uncle Sam's latest super-dreadnought. At 33,000 tons she is regarded as the largest battleship afloat. The North Carolina Naval Militia also will cruise with us. They boarded the Louisiana Friday evening.
16 July
The Texas and Louisiana militias arrived this morning. There must be about 300 of them. The complement of the Louisiana for the cruise will be about as follows: a skeleton crew of 200 regulars; Texas and Louisiana's militias, 300; the Florida Militia, 275; and the North Carolina Militia, 125; making a total of some 900, not counting officers.
Our cruise began at 0600. We passed Fortress Monroe at Old Point Comfort at 0815. We are now sailing down the Chesapeake Bay. Charlie West and I are going up in the crow's nest on watch with one of the regulars, Brown by name. He is from Ohio. At 1100 we passed a British cruiser.
We see many British and French merchant ships, but no German. While at Portsmouth we did see the Kronprinz Wilhelm, the noted German raider, which is interned there. This Sunday we spent playing a Victrola, catching ball, and in the afternoon some of my mates and I took pictures with my Kodak.
17 July
The weather is fair today and the ocean calm; only two of the Florida boys are seasick. The Louisiana tested her speed between 1000 and 1200. She made 18 knots during the trials. This afternoon we saw a large shark swimming port of the ship. We had a fire drill at 1430.
At 1530 we anchored off the coast of New York, though we are entirely out of sight of land. We are to wait for other battleships to join us for maneuvers. At 1915 we have just sighted three battleships. They have signaled us to meet them, so we are again underway.
18 July
The three ships, the USS Rhode Island, the USS Alabama, and the USS Kearsarge, are now steaming directly in front of us. I had time for a shave and a haircut this morning in the ship's up-to-date barbershop. The cost for a shave is five cents and ten cents for a haircut. At 2100 we sighted another fleet of four ships.
19 July
The four ships that were spotted last night were the USS New Jersey, USS Virginia, USS Kentucky, and the USS Illinois. We are now steaming in a single column, a fleet of eight battleships. At 1130, the fleet dropped anchor at Montauk Point, Long Island, New York. We are only about a mile and a half away from the land. Cattle can be seen grazing on the hills in the distance. Fishing smacks are sailing to and fro' the island.
The Louisiana carries three 40-foot-long steamers, which make trips ashore or to other battleships when the fleet is at anchor and tow target rafts during gunnery practice. It is my good fortune to be assigned to one with five regulars. I have never met a better quintet of boys in my life. They have their nicknames. Harry Drone, the engineer, is "Duke." The others are "Skinny" O'Hara, from New York, "Rebel" Phagen, "Doc" Angel, and "Goo-Goo" Ward. At 1515 we were signaled to steam over to the Virginia to pick up a picture film. We are going to have movies aboard ship tonight.
When we returned we found many of our boys swimming. It was interesting to watch them dive in quick succession off the boom of the ship. There will be a regatta at 1700, with each ship of the fleet being represented in the race. We towed our crew to the starting point. The race aroused a great deal of interest. The Kearsarge came in first, the Rhode Island second, and, sorry to say, the Louisiana last. From 1900 to 2000 we had boxing bouts aboard.
At 2030 moving pictures were shown on board all the ships of the fleet. The ship band furnished the music. Many civilians who came out in skiffs, rowboats, and launches also took pictures by drifting close to the battleships.
20 July
The weather is very foggy this morning, not one of the other ships is visible, though they are all very close to us. It has begun to rain and the ocean is getting rough.
21 July
The same disagreeable weather as yesterday. I spent the morning polishing brass in the engine room of our steamer. The fleet is now under way. We are headed for Newport, Rhode Island. At 1430 we entered Narragansett Bay. The entire North Atlantic Fleet is at anchor here. There must be about 25 battleships, 30 torpedo destroyers, 15 cruisers, 10 colliers, but no submarines. We saw here all the latest editions to Uncle Sam's sea fighters. The most prominent among them are the super-dreadnoughts, the USS Oklahoma, the USS New York, the USS Texas, and the USS Wyoming.
We were granted liberty in Newport tonight, from 1630 till 0730 Saturday. When we landed, we found the streets crowded with Bluejackets. The restaurants, picture shows, billiard parlors, and cigar stands were doing a rushing business. After enjoying a nice lobster supper, Marion Hernandez, Bobby Caruthers, and I boarded a trolley car and rode to Providence, where we took in a vaudeville show. We were back on board ship at 2330.
22 July
Weather is very foggy. Our steamer made the first trip to Newport at 0530 for the boys who had stayed ashore overnight. We towed back two boatloads of them. At 1030 we made a trip over to the Naval Training Station. We were scheduled to play a baseball team from the Virginia this afternoon at the Naval Training Station field, but the game was cancelled because of rain.
23 July
The weather is awful! There has been a steady downpour since yesterday noon. I am very disappointed as I intended to take pictures of the North Atlantic Fleet at anchor. We are once more underway with Portsmouth as our destination. At 1800 the weather is now quite stormy and the ocean very rough. Many of the boys are now having their first experience with seasickness.
24 July
The storm is beginning to subside. All militiamen aboard received their pay at 1500 today. At 2130 we dropped anchor off the coast of Virginia.
25 July
It is raining again this morning. We arrived at Portsmouth at 1100. We are to leave the ship today, so we are packing our belongings. We are to return home by the Atlantic Coast Line Railway. As our train does not leave here until 2000, we have been granted liberty in Portsmouth from 1300 to 1730. Marion Hernandez, Charlie West, Happy Hart, and I crossed the river over to Norfolk, where we spent the afternoon sightseeing. There were two German sailors off the Kronprinz Wilhelm on the ferry with us. We were interested in the style of their uniforms, as they were so different from ours.
Our train pulled out from Portsmouth at 2030. The Virginians gave us a rousing ovation as we rolled away.
26 July
We found ourselves this morning at Florence, South Carolina. The train evidently made good time during the night. We are to go by Charleston and will arrive at Jacksonville sometime in the late afternoon. We passed through Savannah, Georgia, around 1630 and rolled into the best city in the world, Jacksonville, at 1900. We marched from the depot to the armory where we were dismissed after having experienced the most novel vacation of our lives! The 12 days spent aboard the USS Louisiana with her gallant crew were days of happiness long to be remembered by every member of the Florida Militia.