After having supported Woodrow Wilson for President, North Carolina’s Josephus Daniels was rewarded with the position of U.S. Secretary of the Navy from 1913-1921.
One of his first acts was to ban alcohol from U.S. ships. This left coffee for sailors, which they soon began referring to in single doses as a “Cup of Joe.”
During World War I, the U.S. Navy became a formidable one. Daniels made a report as the war neared an end in which he outlined the following:
War was declared on April 6, 1917. By January 1, 1918, there were 113 United States naval ships active in Europe and the Mediterranean. By October of that year, there were 338. These ships uses were summarized below:
- Escorting troop and cargo convoys.
- Attacking enemy submarines.
- Assignments in home waters and abroad.
- Protection of oil supplies from the Gulf.
His report went on to say the U.S. Navy could not remain formidable unless they were a permanent, well-trained force. By the end of the war the Navy boasted 5,000 officers and 70,000 enlisted men serving in Europe alone. This was more men than could be found in the entire organization before the war.
In addition, naval aviation burgeoned during this period. In 1917 there were only 45 naval aviators. Through training and reassignment, there were nearly 1,500 by the end of the war.
In 1921, Daniels returned to Raleigh and resumed the editorship of the News and Observer. Two decades later he was named Ambassador to Mexico.
One of the most prominent Raleigh residents ever, Daniels died January 15, 1948. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery. His family continued to publish the News and Observer until 1995.
Comments