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is about to be called for real service. And so they are mustered in. The state's sailors become Uncle Sam's man-o'-war's-men. The old "Granite State" is once more emptied of its crew. The decks are silent and the long, low gangways beneath the ancient deck beams are checked with squares of undisturbed yellow-light, as the sun streams through the square gun ports. The readers of this book can imagine the men on our great gray ships of war going through much the same routine followed by the "Yankee's" crew, for there has been but little change in the work and play of the man-o'-war's-men. So let us take off our caps and give the men of 1917 three cheers and a tiger. May they shoot straight, and keep fit. Pipe down. RUSSELL DOUBLEDAY April, 1917 Nineteen years ago this month the "Yankee's" crew went to sea. INTRODUCTION. As the Commander-in-Chief of the American Naval Squadron blockading Santiago and the Cuban coast, the auxiliary cruiser "Yankee," manned by the New York Naval Reserves, came immediately under my observation, and it is a pleasure for me to speak of the spirit and efficiency shown by the officers and crew during their stay under my command. The young men forming the ship's company of the "Yankee" were called into service several weeks prior to any other Naval Reserve battalion; they came from all walks of civil life, and their minds, devoted to peaceful pursuits, were suddenly diverted to the needs and requirements and the usages of naval routine. Notwithstanding this radical change, they have made the name of their ship a household word throughout the country, and have proved that the average American, whether he be clerk or physician, broker, lawyer, or merchant, can, on the spur of the moment, prove a capable fighter for his country even amid such strange and novel surroundings as obtain in the naval service. These young men have especially upheld the American supremacy in the art of gunnery, and have, on all occasions, proved brave and efficient. The conclusion of the Spanish-American War released them from their voluntarily assumed positions in the regular navy, but when they returned to civil life they carried with them the consciousness of duty well done at Santiago and Cienfuegos and whenever their guns were used in hostile action. In a word, the Naval Reserves manning the "Yankee," in common with those on board other vessels in the service, have proved their aptitude for se
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