The old Naval Auxiliary Service included such transports, supply vessels, colliers, and other vessels as were assigned to it by the Navy Department and were manned by merchant officers and crews. These vessels were governed by the laws of the United States, by the Navy Regulations as far as they were applicable, and by the “Regulations for the Naval Auxiliary Service.”
When war was declared, April, 1917, the Naval Auxiliary Service was operating nineteen vessels and had a personnel of about 230 officers and 1,100 men on active duty. In addition there had been about 800 merchant officers who had seen service on naval auxiliaries and had either resigned, or had been placed on indefinite furlough without pay-
The Naval Auxiliary Service vessels (April, 1917) were:
Abarcnda, Master H. M. Bostwick
Ajax, Master R. B. Powers
Aretliusa, Master W. R. Kennedy
Brutus, Master J. R. Driggs
Cæsar, Master I. F. Shurtleff
Cuyama, Master I. B. Smith
Cyclops, Master Geo. Worley
Jason, Master H. T. Merriwether
Kanawha, Master Richard Werner
Mars, Master Jas. D. Smith
Nanshan, Master W. S. Prideaux
Nereus, Master Jos. Newell
Nero, Master W. J. Kelton
Orion, Master F. E. Horton
Proteus, Master N. S. Hansen
Sterling, Master P. M. Gadeburg
Saturn, Master M. P. Nash.
Vulcan, Master D. A. McBain
Solace (hospital ship)—Master F. C. Seibert.
These vessels were engaged in transporting fuel and supplies for the Navy on the various stations but most of them were on the Atlantic, on account of large naval forces on that station. The supervisor of naval auxiliaries was usually a captain in the Navy, with headquarters in the Post Office Building, Norfolk, Virginia. He was charged with the general duties of the inspection, care, and supervision of the vessels of this service and was held responsible for the efficient and economical administration of the service, and for the management and security of all property.
He inspected the naval auxiliaries on the Atlantic coast at least once every six months. The inspections on the Asiatic and the Pacific stations were made semi-annually under the direction of the commander- in-chief of each station.
Officers of the Naval Auxiliary Service were classed as masters, first officers, second officers, third officers, chief engineers, first assistant engineers, second assistant engineers, third assistant engineer, electricians (radio), and clerks. The complement of each vessel usually consisted of one officer of each of the above grades, with the addition of one electrician (radio), and in the larger ships an additional third officer and third assistant engineer were allowed.
All officers were required to be citizens of the United States, and, with the exception of clerks, were required to hold United States license. Before appointment, they were required to pass a physical examination before a medical officer of the Navy, and, upon appointment, executed an oath of office and signed an agreement to serve at least one year, unless sooner released or discharged.
Masters were appointed by the Secretary of the Navy. All other officers were appointed by the chief of the bureau of navigation, upon the recommendation of the supervisor. Appointments to the grade of third officer, third assistant engineer, electricians (radio), and clerks were made from enlisted men in the service, or from civil qualified enlisted men in the service, or from civil life. All applications for such appointments were filed with the supervisor, and each application was accompanied by the license, discharge from the U. S. Navy, Army, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, or Coast Survey, and letters of recommendation. From these applications the supervisor made his recommendation for appointments to the chief of the bureau of navigation.
Vacancies in the upper grades were filled by promotions. In making promotions, due regard was given to length of service and record. Necessary license was also required.
The crews of the naval auxiliaries varied from about thirty to ninety men and were classified as follows:
Petty officers: boatswain, quartermaster, carpenter, oiler, water tender, blacksmiths, plumbers, and stewards.
Other ratings: winchmen, seamen, firemen, coal passers, first cook, second cook, messman, and cabin boy.
Petty officers and other members of the crew were shipped for a term of three years, with the privilege of requesting their discharge at the end of one year. The crew were shipped and discharged in the presence of a commissioned officer of the Navy, or a U. S. consul in a foreign port, when practicable. The men were required to pass a physical examination before a medical officer of the Navy before shipment. All members of the crew were required to be citizens of the United States, or of the insular possessions, or to have taken out their first intention papers. Great effort was made to thoroughly Americanize all the crews.
Quartermasters were obtained from the state nautical training ships, when practicable. Quite a number entered from the Navy. Other petty officers and enlisted men were obtained from the same sources that the merchant ships get their crews.
The only punishment a master could inflict upon an officer was private reprimand or suspension from duty and confinement for not more than ten days. If the offense was serious, it was investigated, upon report, by a board of naval officers.
The master could recommend to the supervisor the dismissal of an officer, with a full report of the charges, and a statement from the officer concerned. The supervisor then made his recommendation to the Department.
No punishment was inflicted upon a member of the crew other than that authorized by the navigation laws of the United States, and all punishments so inflicted were required to be strictly in accordance with those laws.
Officers were allowed one dollar per day for their subsistence. They elected their own mess caterer. All stores, however, were purchased by the master, who was the only bonded person on board. On the larger ships there were three messes. The master usually messed alone; the senior officers’ mess consisted of all officers except the third officer, third assistant engineer, and radio electrician, who comprised the junior officers’ mess. The clerk usually messed with the senior officers.
The master was allowed forty-five cents per day each for the subsistence of the crew.
Stores for the several messes were obtained from the supply officers of navy yards and purchased from naval contractors in the same manner as supplies are obtained for Navy ships.
All officers and men were checked twenty cents per month for the hospital fund, and in return they received the same treatment in the naval hospitals that was given the regular Navy. While undergoing treatment at the naval hospital, officers and men received half pay, unless the sickness was due to their misconduct, in which case no pay was allowed.
Officers were allowed leave of absence not to exceed thirty days each year on full pay.
It is interesting to note the Naval Auxiliary Service pay table of June 19, 1916, which was increased in 1917 from $5 to $25 in each grade.
| PAY NAVAL June 19,1916 |
Master | $200.00 |
First Officer | 125.00 |
Second Officer | 105.00 |
Third Officer | 85.00 |
Chief Engineer | 175.00 |
First Assistant Engineer | 125.00 |
Second Assistant Engineer | 105.00 |
Third Assistant Engineer | 85.00 |
Electrician (Radio) | 65.00 |
Boatswain | 60.00 |
Carpenter | 50.00 |
Quartermaster | 43000 |
Seaman | 35-00 |
Watertender | 45.00 |
Oiler | 45.00 |
Fireman | 40.00 |
Coalpasser | 35.00 |
Steward | 70.00 |
First Cook | 55.00 |
Messman | 25.00 |
Cabin Boy | 23.00 |
Few can appreciate the difficulties that the Naval Auxiliary Service operated under just prior to the war, due to the high wages paid both officers and men in the merchant service, with extra pay for overtime and no restrictions. A greater part of the time in port was spent by the captain and chief engineer in chasing up crews. In addition to the above, the colliers carried small crews, which made the work very hard, especially in operating with the fleet.
The Naval Reserve bill, August 29, 1916, provided that:
Hereafter, in shipping officers and men for service on board United States auxiliary vessels, preference shall be given to members of the Naval Reserve Force, and, after two years from the date of approval of this Act, no person shall be shipped for such service who is not a member of the Naval Reserve Force herein provided.
All the officers on active duty with few exceptions enrolled in the reserve, but for various reasons very few men enrolled, principally on account of the very low wages paid in the Navy as compared with the merchant service.
On May 1, 1917, all the reserves on the auxiliaries were called to active duty with the exception of the hospital ships, which continued to carry Naval Auxiliary Service officers on account of the Geneva convention. This placed the auxiliaries in regular commission in the Navy and ended the Naval Auxiliary Service.
The records show that the Naval Auxiliary Service officers “made good” during the war. They formed a valuable nucleus in the first part of the war when so many ships were taken over, as they were familiar with the Navy routine. As long as they held out, usually one deck officer and one engineer were put on board the cargo ships when taken over to assist in getting things into the Navy routine. It is unfortunate that a larger number did not have the Naval Auxiliary Service training.
The Asiatic fleet under Admiral Dewey had no “train” when he received orders to mobilize his vessels at Hong Kong and be ready to proceed to the Philippines on the declaration of war with Spain. To fill this deficiency, he bought on April 6, 1898, the Nanshan, with 3,000 tons of coal on board. On April 9, the Zafiro was bought and loaded with supplies for the fleet. The merchant officers and crews were engaged, and a naval officer ordered to each—Lieutenant B. W. Hodges to the Nanshan and Lieutenant Walter McLean to the Zafiro. This was really the first of the Auxiliary Service.
During the war with Spain other colliers and supply vessels were bought, and were used after the war to supply our vessels in the Asiatic waters.
Captain Albert Ross on January 8, 1904, was made inspector of colliers with an office at Baltimore, as the contract was let in Baltimore and the colliers loaded there.
Captain Adolph Marix, June 19, 1905, reported as supervisor of naval auxiliaries, and the office was moved from Baltimore to New York—the contract for coal had been shifted there.
The below named supervisors followed: Captain E. B. Barry, September 19, 1907; Rear Admiral L. C. Heilner, April 18, 1909; Captain Benjamin Tappan, February 6, 1911; Captain W. A. Gill, February 25, 1913; Captain A. T. Long, March 4, 1914; Captain E. A. Anderson, January 8, 1917; Rear Admiral H. Osterhaus, April 19, 1917; Commander W. S. Whitted, July 6, 1918.
The office of supervisor was now shifted to Norfolk, Virginia, on account of the coal contract shifting to Hampton Roads.
The reasons for the existence of the Naval Auxiliary Service were the lack of regular naval officers and men to man these ships, economy, and the objection of many officers then to serving on non-combatant ships.
Should a shortage of naval officers and men occur again and our auxiliaries have to be manned from other sources, reserve officers and reserve crews should be used. It would be unwise to use merchant officers and crews with the merchant laws governing only, for the navigation laws are such that the ships could not be operated efficiently with the fleets. At a most critical time, a ship might be tied up for lack of officers or men, with no redress. The actual cost of operating a ship with a merchant crew is less, due to the small number of men carried, but in upkeep and other ways little would be gained in the long run by using merchant crews.