Two hundred miles at sea a piston rod was bent and the vessel put back to port.

They got away again December 3, were out a day and had to return on account of fire in the coal bunkers.

A third attempt on December 12, in a blizzard, was frustrated by a collision with a tanker in New York harbor.
After this series of bad starts, anyone inclined to indulge in forebodings would have predicted the certainty of their becoming prey for the submarines on the way over.

But the fourth attempt proved successful and they landed in France on December 27, 1917.

They had hoped to celebrate Christmas day on French soil, but were forced by the elements and the precautions of convoys and sailing master to observe the anniversary on board the ship.
The Colonel undoubtedly thought that those first in France would be the first to get a chance at the Boche, but the department took him at his word, and for over two months his men were kept busy in the vicinity of St.Nazaire, largely as laborers and builders.