Excerpt: The task of the American Navy in the great conflict was performed exceedingly well, but so very quietly that even now the merits of the achievement are realized only by those who knew how near the German submarine campaign came to winning the war. There was no blacker period than the spring of 1917 when the losses of Allied merchant shipping were mounting toward a million tons a month, and the Admiralty was well aware that England stood face to face with starvation and defeat unless this piracy could soon be checked. It was when Admiral Sims cabled to his own Government, from London, ?Briefly stated, I consider that at the present moment we are losing the war?; when Admiral Jellicoe privately admitted, ?It is impossible for us to go on if losses like this continue?; and when Lord Balfour could see no escape from the same tragic conclusion.