Show M mk IF ur ve 4 A 4 ir porter f 0 theodore roosevelt Room evelt by ELMO SCOTT WATSON 27 Is celebrated ns ins navy day y in the united states for or two reasons it was on october 27 I 1 1775 that the alie marine committee ot of the continental congress ct sitting in philadelphia reported a resolution outlining it a program of ships to be purchased and converted into men of oc for use in ili the struggle tor for liberty with great britain thus taking tho first steps toward providing the gatlon bassoon ans soon to be with an offensive and defensive lefens he force on the high seas it was on october 27 1858 that theodore roosevelt was born and he as much if not more than tiny anny other man was vas responsible for the mode modernization r in of our navy and its eventual growth into the greatest in the world A As 8 assistant secretary of the navy loosevelt noo sevelt set himself diligently to the task of repairing our navy improving its and in every way f fitting itt I 1 ng it for or the sea war which he saw was inevitable with spain because of that count rys oppression of cuba on saturday february 25 1808 1898 he happened to be acting secretary of the navy and as such s sent ent a cablegram which was ans destined to make history it was addressed to admiral george dewey and read as follows Y hongtong Hong kong order tile the squadron equa dron except the monocracy monocacy Mono cacy to hongtong Hong kong neep keep full of coal in the event of declaration of war spain your duty will le ile to see that tile the spanish squadron does not leave the asiatic coast and then offensive operations in tile the philippine islands keep olympia until further orders ROOSEVELT ROO president mckenley did not want war with spain and secretary long of the navy department was even more appo opposed ed to a break with that country Roosevel ts cablegram was considered so rash by his superiors that it Is said lie was never again allowed the chance to be noting acting secretary of the navy HoN however vever its his orders to dewey were not recalled and the accuracy ot of ills his foresight was proved two months later when war was declared nud and dewey fully prepared slipped out of hongtong Hoog Hong kong and smashed the spanish fleet at manila bay on that may morning inor nIne the united states became a nation of worldwide world wide importance and began its career us as one of the great naval powers of the earth its prestige na its such further increased when theodore roosevelt noo sevelt became president Ident and in that position steadfastly advanced a sound naval policy tor for tile the united states and made pos swe sl bethe the building of tile the panama ca inn ual a vitally important unit link in the chain of our Ili first line of defense A Roosevel sevel ts part pait in the development of our navy la Is but lafle known to most americans as col compared pared to other more spectacular events in hla his strenuous career so navy day Is a day for recalling calling te ills fits services in that lint respect and for honoring him for them just as it Is a day for recalling the deeds of other men who made our navy john paul jones oliver hazard perry david farragut and george dewey it Is also a lay day for recalling the names of others who are comparatively unknown but whose deeds are an inseparable part of our naval tradition high up in such a list Is the name of john barry the father of the american navy darry barry was nn an irishman who had come to this country in ill this his youth and who at the outbreak of the revolution was a wealthy shipmaster of philadelphia late in october 1775 when the continental congress authorized the purchase ot of two ships and their conversion into men of war harry sailed palled his fits merchantman black prince into the harbor on in that abay and sold her to congress con gresa this essel was renamed the alfred 7 on edew d preble and later inter became the flagship of the american fleet later when more ships were added to tile the patriot navy barry was commissioned r a captain and placed in command of the brig lexington ills first achievement in battle was the capture of the british tender edward on april 17 1770 1776 in reality this was it a small prize for the lexington was a much larger ship than the edward but the victory lives in history because tile the edward was tile the first ship ever captured by a commissioned officer of tile the american navy the first american to hold the title of commodore was esek ll com mander ln in climet of the first american fleet which was assembled and manned martined lu in december 1775 individual record as a fighter was not a particularly brilliant one and lie was finally anally dismissed from the service there was no question of his courage however and even ev L n it lie did not add anything to th the e record of american naval he heroism ills his name Is worthy of remembrance because he was our first high naval officer rn ills shortcomings were more than made up for by some of his subordinates for among them were such men ns as capt abraham whipple c commander tit of the americans at the saltwater lexington tile the capture and the burning of the british schooner gaspe ort off the coast of rhode island on the night of june 17 1772 capt nicholas biddle and a young lieutenant named john paul jones the war of 1812 bred a famous group of american sett sea fighters the names of most of the them n i are familiar to their country countrymen men macdonough hull fluff decatur Lawre lawreice Lawres oce cc perry stewart bainbridge and somers but not the least illustrious of this group was david porter As a boy porter had been twice impressed in the british navy and both times made good his escape lie he never outgrew the bitterness toward england engendered by these aliese experiences ile he had find shipped ng as if midshipman on tile the constellation and distinguished himself in the light fight with tile the french Ins urgente ile he was a lieutenant on the ill fated philadelphia when it grounded off on tripoli and suffered over a years impi imprisonment there on ills return to the united states he was assigned the task of clearing the lower loer mississippi of pirates and was so signally successful unit that lie incurred the hostility of new nev orleans noer mer chants find and even of governor caal brne of louisiana given command of the frigate essex in 1812 porter captured the first british war vessel harried british com alerce from the caribbean to capo cape horn end and from cape horn to tile the galapagos took innumerable prizes and made the stars and stripes respected the whole length of the ra cefic incidentally he carried on eclen observations and took formal possession of the Marque sas for the united states a claim never followed up by his country the end of this glamorous swash swashbuckling buckl ing career cattle came when the essex was bottled up in tile the neutral harbor of valparaiso by two british ships and pounded to pieces nt at long range porters resistance was a git gallant llant but desperate one and after ills his ship had liken been reduced to a wreck and ills his deck to a shambles he struck colors porter returned to the united states and was at once appointed to the first board of naval commissioners with the task of reorganizing the american Amerl can navy here he served with etli distinction until he was assigned the task of clearing the caribbean of pirates once again lie succeeded and again lie ran into troubled waters ills his zeal running outrunning out ills his authority lie he was haled baled before a court martial and suspended from service for an affront to spanish dignity in porto klco in a huff porter resigned and served three years its as commander ln in cliplef of the lie mexican navy president jackson who understood porter somewhat better than ills his predecessor rescued him from this thankless position and the old war dog ended ills his days uneventfully as charge daf daff faires alres at constantinople i hobnobbing hobnob bing with the sultan and composing guidebooks guide books of the city edward aroble was something of the same type of irascible fire eater as porter unpopular with officers who served u uner ner him because of hla his strictness and his bad temper but a gallant and brove brave nevertheless As a boy lie had fled from falmouth now portland maine when nhen it was burned by the british early carly in ili the revolution As a youth lie he ran away and shipped on a privateer was appointed midshipman in the massachusetts state marine participated in three sea lights fights of tile the revolution and was held a prisoner for it n while on the infamous adus british prison ship jersey hut but lie never had find a chance to pay olt off old scores against the british since lie ile died five years before the ilie out outbreak brenk of mhd war or of 1812 a conflict which would have hae given him a chance to add tits his name to tile the list of illustrious american sea fighters however Howe cr preble did distinguish himself in a war which constitutes ono one of the brightest spots in our naval history for it was lie who conquered the barbary pirates it in 1803 al 01 lie first forced the sultan of morocco to renew the treaty of 1780 and then moved against tripoli after six spirited attacks during which three trl pollian ships were sunk and three captured a treaty of peace was signed in iwa by which the tributes that hat kuro euro nations had paid for and the slavery of christian were abolished in 1800 jefferson offered preble tile the position of secretary of the navy but hla his feeble health prevented his accepting ile he died in poti por land maine august as P 1807 |