The Adventure Club with the fleet

"The Adventure Club with the fleet" by Ralph Henry Barbour is a juvenile adventure novel written in the early 20th century. It follows American college friends—chiefly Steve Chapman and Joe Ingersoll—who enlist in the Navy as the U.S. enters World War I, train up, cross the Atlantic, and join a destroyer hunting submarines near the British Isles. Expect brisk sea action, technical ship detail, and a patriotic coming‑of‑age focus on friendship, duty, and courage. The opening of the novel begins with the U.S. declaration of war and the contrasting reactions of Steve, who is eager to enlist, and Joe, who hesitates on moral grounds until a visit from their friend Hanford and a stirring appeal to duty tip him toward service. The boys join the Navy, endure inoculations, close‑quarters barracks, “suds drill,” and basic seamanship at Newport, then are rushed aboard a transport via Halifax, crossing under convoy amid U‑boat precautions and seasickness. They land at Plymouth, are sent on to Queenstown, Ireland, and are assigned together to the destroyer U.S.S. Warren. A tour of the lean, businesslike ship introduces its guns, torpedo tubes, tight spaces, officers, and the rough, rolling life of a destroyer, with Joe dreading seasickness and gunner’s mate Hearn offering blunt humor and hard facts. The section closes with practical talk of patrol work and false periscope alarms, setting the stage for frontline anti‑submarine duty.

The Adventure Club with the fleet, by Ralph Henry Barbour. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #78754.