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October 1918
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Allied troops liberate Cambrai, after pushing the Germans out of a new defensive line that ran south from the town on the previous day. The Germans are forced to retreat to the River Selle near Le Cateau, back on the BEF's battlefields of 1914.
This is officially designated as the second and final day of the Battle of Cambrai of 1918.
The Sampson class destroyer USS Shaw (DD-68) suffers very heavy damage when her rudder jammed, taking her straight into the path of the British transport Aquitania. The British transport cuts 90 feet off the destroyer's bow. Her forward boilers are destroyed, and her bridge is severely damaged, ending up leaning dramatically to the left at around 45 degrees! The Shaw's crew manage to put out the fires caused by the collision, and despite the severe damage a skeleton crew of 21 men is able to get her back to port under her own power, although she has to steam backwards the entire way to prevent water getting in through the damaged bow. Twelve men are killed and another fifteen injured in the collision
U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History, Norman Friedmann .
The standard history of the development of American destroyers, from the earliest torpedo boat destroyers to the post-war fleet, and covering the massive classes of destroyers built for both World Wars. Gives the reader a good understanding of the debates that surrounded each class of destroyer and led to their individual features.
