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Updated: May 17, 2025
The following letter from Colour-Sergeant J.H. Pearce, culled from the Methodist Times, gives us a specimen of the work done by the soldiers themselves upon these troopships, work that commenced as soon as the ship left dock, and continued to the end of the voyage. It is dated 'At sea, but in the hollow of His hand.
In from a far-off front for a few days rest, or in on some mission such as the bringing of Bolshevik prisoners or to get some of the company property which had been left behind when in the fall the troops left troopships so hurriedly, these groups of American soldiers from the fighting fronts always found Archangel of interest.
But it subsequently transpired that all had not been plain sailing in passing through the submarine zone. The expedition was divided into contingents, each contingent including troopships and a naval escort designed to hold off any German raiders that might be sighted.
In an incredibly short space of time the formation of the battleships changed in accordance with my commands, the ten that were to guard the way to Omean were speeding toward their destination, and the troopships and convoys were closing up in preparation for the spurt through the lane.
On August the 25th, the American forces embarked at Newcastle-on-Tyne in three British troopships, the "Somali," the "Tydeus" and the "Nagoya" and set sail for Archangel, Russia. A fourth transport, the "Czar," carried Italian troops who travelled as far as the Murmansk with our convoy.
Upon each battleship there are five ten-man cruisers, and ten five-man scouts, and a hundred one-man scouts; in all, one hundred and sixteen thousand craft fitted with both air and water propellers. "At Thark lie the transports for the green warriors of Tars Tarkas, nine hundred large troopships, and with them their convoys.
Even without such designs our troopships are frequently delayed in passing through owing to accidents of all sorts. The heads of many Englishmen have been completely turned by the opening of the Suez Canal, and Gordon was one of the few who stood out against the idea of considering it as the proper route to India.
Among the troopships I made out the Kaiserin Auguste Luise and the Deutschland, on both of which I had crossed the summer following the Great Peace. I thought of the jolly old commander of the latter vessel and of the capital times we had had together at the big round table in the dining-saloon. It seemed impossible that this was war!
After an hour's submerging we rose, and found dawn breaking over a leaden and choppy sea. Several times in the course of the forenoon we sighted small destroyers and convoy craft in the distance, all steering westerly. They were probably returning from escorting troopships over to France last night. In every case we went to sixty feet long before they could have seen our "stick."
Mac slept soundly on a table, and awoke in the morning to find the vessel was berthing at Lyttleton. Disembarking, they filed round the wharves to where two troopships lay opposite each other, and embarked again on H.M.N.Z.T. No. 4, the S.S. Tahiti.
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