OCR Text |
Show VALUE OF WARSHIP IS ADJUDGED ONLY BY HITTING POWER Frequent Target Practice Perfects Crews in Gun-nery; Gun-nery; Aggressiveness Characteristic of Admiral Sims. "THE FIGHTING FLEETS." By EALFH D. PAINE. (Copyright, 1918, by Ralph D. Paine.) 'By cpeclal arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Co.) INSTALLMENT 37. ! Admirals of the War Zone. I -j .ROM a staff above the doorway of j I, one of a row of sedate mansions facing Grosvenor gardens floats an JL ' American flag. The visitor is confronted, con-fronted, not by a smug London I butler with mutton-chop whiskers, but I by a spruce young orderly of the Unitedi States marine corps who demands to I know one's business in accents courteous but firm. He will promptly send your card upstairs, and if 1:0 other engagements engage-ments are pressing it will be your pleasure pleas-ure to meet Vice Admiral Sims, commanding com-manding the American naval forces ip 'European waters. Affable and democratic, demo-cratic, he may tell you this story of the old- navy as a warning to officers who take their rank too seriously. Pompous Admiral Late for Church. "On Sunday morning a pompous admiral ad-miral In command of a navy yard was a trifle late at chapel. The chaplain was I 'fresh caught,' that is, a young man whose conception of the relative importance impor-tance of things was f? t ill so defective that he began the service before the arrival of the admiral, who entered .lust in time to hear t He j.nnounc.ement, 'The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him.' " 'Sir,' thundered the admiral, 'I would have you understand that the Lord is not j in his holy temple until I have taken my seat!' "The old autocrat dozed comfortably through the remainder of the service until un-til the chaplain announced that communion com-munion would be held in the chapel on the following Sunday 'by order of the bishop of the diocese.' The words 'by order' fetched the admiral bolt upright in his chair and he sternly demanded: " 'By whose order did you say, sir?' " 'By the order of the bishop of the diocese, sir,' faltered the chaplain. " 'Well, sir, let me Inform you that I 1 am the bishop of this diocese when it conies to giving orders, ana there will be no communion service here next Sunday." There is no lack of dignity in the demeanor de-meanor of the American vice admiral whose responsibilities extend from the Irish sea to the Mediterranean. He believes, be-lieves, however, that discipline and efficiency ef-ficiency can be maintained without the harsh, unreasoning severity of the old blue-water school. During many years of his brilliant career he has fought and worked for two essential things better gunnery and "the happy ship ' and his influence has conspicuously helped to achieve both.J His ability as a naval officer of-ficer is unqucstior ed at home and abroad, but personality has been also a winning factor. Men have always served him devotedly, de-votedly, because they felt confidence in him, not because they feared him. And this is as he would have it. Tail, spare -and, as straight as a lance. Admiral Sims seems so youthful that it would be tactless to mention his years. The small gray beard, very trimly kept, Is rather exceptional among the cleanshaven clean-shaven naval officers of today. A complexion com-plexion as fresh as a "midshipman's and the eye of a sailor, frank and alert, harmonize har-monize with the whole impression of him a man at the peak of his mental vigor and usefulness, with driving power for the task in hand. Aggressive Ideas Disturb Officers. He has always been aggressive. As a younger man his ideas disturbed a navy department which was somewhat encrusted en-crusted with barnacles, but it was impossible im-possible to Ignore him. His doctrine was to be sure he was right, then go ahead, and damn the torpedoes. As a gunnery expert he came to the conclusion that the fire of the American ships In the battle of Santiago was deplorably. Inexcusably In-excusably poor, and that it was high time to overhaul and modernize the system of target practice. Opposing him was a spirit of conservatism which was content (Continued on Page Three. VALUE OF WARSHIPS JUDGED BY POWER (Continued from Page One.) to let well enough alone. Dewey had shot the Spanish ships to pieces in Manila Ma-nila bay, and Cervera's cruiser squadron had been annihilated in the Caribbean. There was nothing wrong with an American Amer-ican navy which could boast of such achievements as these. Gunnery Measures Value of Warship. Sims knew better. It wns not the fashion to admit that anything could be learned from England, but his own observations ob-servations enabled him to comprehend that American gunnery methods had been made obsolete by the extraordinary genius of Captain Percy Scott of the Brtish navy. Henceforth the worth of a ship in the battle line was to be measured in terms of its hitting power. Target practice prac-tice was no longer to be infrequent, haphazard hap-hazard and considered a nuisance. It must be precise, scientific and highly Specialized. Sims took nothing by hearsay, hear-say, but. visited the British cruisers on the China station and was courteously permitted per-mitted to obtain such information as he desired. Tt comprised t he essentials of the modern school of fire control, range-finding range-finding and snbcaliber practice. It is a story that has been often retold re-told how this enthusiastic officer was ignored ig-nored when his recommendations were submitted to the navy department and how he dared to risk smashing his own career for the good of the service. Over the heads of his superiors he carried the issue directly to the president, Theodore Roosevelt, who was always ready to cut red tape when the end justified the means. As commander-in-chief of tho navy, the president approved the plans for making the ships shoot straightor and harder and Sims went unpunished fpr bis temerity. |