USS CHRISTABEL

HMHS GLENART CASTLE

U56

NAVY

In port, circa 1918-1919
Taken by Carl A. Stahl, Photographer, USN
U.S. Navy photo NH 300

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: Christabel (No. 162),

an iron yacht, was built in 1893 by D. and W. Henderson, Glasgow, Scotland;

purchased by the Navy 30 April 1917 from Irving T. Bush;

commissioned at New York Navy Yard 31 May 1917, Lieutenant H. B. Riebe in command;

and assigned to U.S. Patrol Squadrons Operating in European Waters.

Clearing New York 9 June 1917 Christabel put in at Brest, France, 4 July.

Throughout the war she had escort and patrol duty off the coast of France.

She returned to the United States in December 1918 and served with the reserve antisubmarine squadrons in training operations at New London, Conn., until 19 May 1919 when she was placed out of commission at the Marine Basin, Brooklyn, N.Y.

She was sold 30 June 1919.

Brest

17 April 1918

On 17 April 1918, cargo ship Florence H. lying in harbor at Quiberon Bay, France,

suddenly exploded with a cargo of 2,200 tons of smokeless powder on board.

Stewart (Destroyer No. 13) and armed yachts Sultana, Corona (S. P. 813), Wanderer (S. P. 132), and Christabel headed to the scene of the accident, but the wooden yachts could not enter

the area of burning water;

Stewart and Whipple (Destroyer No. 15) and Truxtun (Destroyer No. 14) steamed into the wreckage looking for survivors; several crewmen from Stewart and the other ships involved rescued the Florence H. survivors.

Christabel lowered her power whaleboat with a volunteer crew and a doctor to look for survivors.

In conducting their search, they pulled three survivors from amidst the flames and floating

boxes of smokeless powder.

Chief Pharmacist Mate Louis Zeller later received the Navy Cross for diving into the water

to rescue a badly burned seaman.

Quiberon

Histoire

Chief Pharmacist Mate Louis Zeller.

Naval History and Heritage Command

Photograph NH 63045

21 May 1918

Christabel, on the afternoon of 21 May 1918, was escorting a slow ship which had dropped behind the northbound convoy from

La Pallice, France, to Quiberon Bay.

This vessel, British steamer Danae, was about eight miles behind the convoy, making about seven and a half knots, with Christabel on her port bow.

The sea was smooth, the weather clear with no wind.

When the converted yacht reached a position about two miles outside of Ile de Yeu, a lookout sighted a well-defined oil slick on the port bow.

Christabel cruised around it, but saw nothing definite.

At 5:20 p. m., the officer of the deck and the lookout suddenly sighted a wake, about 600 yards distant on the port quarter, Christabel at this time being about 300 yards on Danae’s port bow.

The yacht headed for it, making all possible speed, about ten and a half knots, whereupon the wake disappeared amidst a number of oil slicks.

Lt. Millington B. McComb, the yacht’s commanding officer who conned the ship from the foretop, followed this oil as well as he could and at 5:24 p. m., believing that his ship steamed nearly ahead of the submarine, dropped a depth charge.

Although the charge exploded, no results were obtained.

At 7:00 p. m., the convoy changed course following the contour of the land and at about

nine knots. Christabel patrolled astern, making about 11 knots to catch up.

At 8:52 p. m., Christabel sighted a periscope about 200 yards off the starboard beam.

She turned and headed for it, whereupon the periscope disappeared.

At 8:55 p. m. she dropped a depth charge which functioned in ten seconds, followed by a second one a few moments afterwards.

Nothing followed the explosion of the first charge, but following the explosion of the second, a third and very violent explosion shot skyward between Christabel’s stern and the water column raised by the second charge, an enormous amount of water and debris.

Christabel then turned and cruised in the vicinity and noticed a quantity of heavy black oil and splintered pieces of wood, with very large oil bubbles rising to the surface.

During the engagement, part of Christabel’s allowance of depth charges came loose about the deck as a result of the explosion of a depth bomb dropped near the submarine.

Ens. Daniel A.J. Sullivan, USNRF, one of the ship’s officers, managed to fall on the rolling charges and secure them, “thus saving the ship from disaster, which would inevitably have caused great loss of life.

" For his actions, Sullivan received the Medal of Honor.

The submarine engaged by Christabel on 24 May 1918,

UC-56 (Kapitänleutnant der Reserve Wilhelm Kiesewetter commanding) emerged so heavily damaged from the encounter with the plucky yacht that she was unable to return to her base

at Zeebrugge, Belgium.

Forced to limp to neutral Spain, the German minelaying submarine arrived at Santander,

where the local authorities interned her.

Though there was some inquiry as to whether or not UC-56 was attacked and damaged by Truxtun (Destroyer No. 14), the British Admiralty stated in a memo dated

25 June 1918,”Submarine attacked by the Christabel was the UC-56 and it has been interned at Santander, Spain.”

A memo dated 12 September 1918, from Vice Adm. Henry B. Wilson, Commander,

U.S. Naval Forces in France, stated “You are authorized to paint a white star on the smokestack of the vessel under your command as a mark to denote the fact that the U.S.S. Christabel has successfully engaged and put out of action an enemy submarine…

” Vice Adm. William S. Sims, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces in European Waters, on 30 September 1918, in response to reports of American warships in France painting marks on their funnels indicating they had sunk a submarine, clarified that Fanning (Destroyer No. 37) and the yachts Christabel and Lydonia (S. P. 700) were officially credited with the destruction of a submarine, and that to ensure “that all awards and distinctions be uniform throughout the entire force under this command, it is desired that such questions be subject to the Force Commander’s approval after all of the evidence in the case has been submitted to him.”

Ultimately, the U-boat sinkings credited to the two armed yachts would be adjudicated otherwise and Fanningremained the only U.S. naval vessel with a confirmed U-boat sinking during the World War.

Towed into the navy yard at Brest by tugs on 13 June 1918, Christabel underwent repairs until 19 June and then moored alongside Prometheus (Repair Ship No. 2).

The armed yacht continued escort and antisubmarine duties through the Armistice

and the end of hostilities on 11 November.

Ile d'Yeu

Lieutenant Commander Daniel A.J. Sullivan, USNRF

Portrait photograph, taken circa 1920 showing the "overseas service" chevrons on his uniform sleeve.

Daniel Augustus Joseph Sullivan was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on 31 July 1884.

On 12 April 1917, a few days after the United States entered World War I,

he enrolled in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force and later was commissioned in the rank of Ensign. On 21 May 1918, while serving as an officer of Christabel, he exhibited "extraordinary heroism" in securing live depth charges that had come loose during combat with a German U-Boat.
Naval Historical Center photo NH 44173

Medal of Honor citation of Ensign Daniel A.J. Sullivan (as printed in the official publication "Medal of Honor, 1861-1949, The Navy", page 125):

"For extraordinary heroism as an officer of the U.S.S. Christabel in conflict with an enemy submarine on 21 May 1918. As a result of the explosion of a depth bomb dropped near the submarine, the Christabel was so badly shaken that a number of depth charges which had been set for firing were thrown about the deck and there was imminent danger that they would explode. Ensign Sullivan immediately fell on the depth charges and succeeded in securing them, thus saving the ship from disaster, which would inevitably have caused great loss of life."

Santander

U-56 at Harbor of Santander, Spain for repairs July 1918

MID photo NARA111-SC-41651-ac

Source of Photograph: National Archives RG 111

Hospital ship "Glenart Castle"

torpedoed and sunk by U56

26th February 1918

HS_Glenart_Castle_torpedoed_and_sunk_26.

26 February 1918

At about four in the morning, , when in the neighbourhood of Lundy Island, outward bound,

she was struck by a torpedo.

She had all her Red Cross lights burning brightly.

There could be no mistaking her.

She sank in five minutes.

So quickly had the disaster come that several of the boats which were being lowered could not be cast off in time and were dragged down with the sinking ship.

Practically all the crew, medical officers, and nurses, were precipitated into the water,

many of them to cling to rafts that had been put over the side.

The submarine was seen to come up, she passed within 50 feet of some of the rafts, two officers being visible in the conning tower.

About twelve hours later some survivors were picked up from the rafts by an American destroyer

and a French vessel.

Out of the 200 men and women in the ship 38 only were saved.

It is believed that the submarine attacked the survivors in some of the boats or rafts, for bodies

were found with wounds on them that could only have been inflicted by firearms.'