Talk:Northern Bombing Group

Military history: Aviation / Maritime / North America / United States / World War I

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"First military unit sent to Europe?" - Change to "France"[edit]

Was the Northern Bombing Group really the first U.S. military unit sent to Europe in World War I? "arriving in France June 5, 1917" The source, a first hand account, at page 10, states "We were the first fighting force from the United States to set foot on French soil after the declaration of war."

It appears that Destroyer Division 7 was the first U.S. military unit to "arrive in Europe" in World War I.

From https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/e/ericsson-ii.html "Ericsson I (Destroyer No. 56) 1915–1934" partly incorporated in USS Ericsson (DD-56)

"On 26 April 1917, Ericsson received orders to prepare for deployment to European waters. The destroyer departed from Norfolk and steamed to New York, arriving there the following day. After undergoing repairs and fitting out for distant service, Ericsson sailed for Boston where she joined the remainder of Division Seven of the destroyer force. On 7 May the Seventh Division -- Cassin, Jacob Jones (Destroyer No. 61), Rowan (Destroyer No. 64), Tucker (Destroyer No. 57) and Winslow (Destroyer No. 53) – cleared Boston for the British Isles and the European war zone, the second division to embark on that journey.

"On 16 May 1917, nine days after leaving Boston, the destroyers were approaching Queenstown [Cobh] at the end of their voyage. Amid the watery landscape of wreckage and debris that characterized the war-time Western Approaches to the British Isles the enemy gave the green destroyermen a hair-raising welcome. Lookouts spotted a torpedo on the port quarter closing on Ericsson. The torpedo moved slowly, only 15 knots, and the officer of the deck rang down full speed ahead to avoid it. The maneuver proved effective and the torpedo broached 100 yards astern. Initially, Ericsson’s sailors speculated that the torpedo had been intended for them, but later revised the report to suggest that the aggressor had fired at Jacob Jones. The division continued toward their objective, steaming into Queenstown on the following day.

"The Americans had little time to rest. The crew and British dockworkers prepared the vessel for her mission, unloading irrelevant equipment like mine laying tracks and minesweeping gear and installing anti-submarine equipment such as state-of-the-art depth charges. On 21 May 1917, Ericsson began patrolling the Western Approaches."

I think the British Isles and European war zone must count as part of "Europe" and the first sentence should be changed from "Europe" to "France," which I will do after I post this note. Please ping me if there are any explanations or comments to the contrary and my change is wrong. Donner60 (talk) 06:32, 24 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]