When the pigeon released by Stone and Moore returned to the base every
machine from that seaplane-station, as well as from a station on the
French coast, was sent out to search for the missing seaplane, while
destroyers and patrol-vessels were notified to be on the lookout. Which
shows, after all, how difficult the job of detecting such small objects
as submarines is. Stone had enlisted as a seaman, and was trained in
aviation. On December 11, 1917, he was detached from the air-station at
Hampton Roads and ordered to France for duty, arriving there January 21,
1918. In February he was ordered to report to the commander of the
United States naval forces at London for patrol duty in England.

Which shows the way the Navy Department worked in with the French and
British Admiralties, using either our own planes or those of our allies.

When the navy's plans concerning the American Naval Flying Corps are
completed, it will have an air service of fully 125,000 men, of which
10,000 will be aviators. There will be 10 ground men for every aviator.
Observers, inspectors and specialists of various sorts will fill out the
total. These seaplanes are of immense value in the war zones. They leave
bases for regular patrol duty, watching the ocean carefully, and
locating submersibles at a great height. Once a submarine is thus
located the seaplane descends to the surface and notifies vessels of the
patrol-fleet of the location of the craft, or in cases when the undersea
craft is on or near the surface, the aviator will drop bombs upon the
vessel. Seaplanes are also sent from the decks of naval vessels to scout
the waters through which a fleet may be travelling, while large vessels
serving as parent-ships for the smaller seaplanes--from which they fly
and to which they return--ply the infested waters. The service is a
valuable one, and a thrilling one, and only the best types of men were
selected by the Navy Department to engage in it.