OCR Text |
Show H V i IS THE UNITED STATES BBB I PREPARED? BBB ' Tho following interesting report of BBB ,j John Hays Hammond Jr., who reure- BBB scnted tho Conference Corutnlttso on BBB National Preparedness before tho BBB Governors during their inspection of B tho United States fleet off Boston, on Bfl August 25, fully answered tho qucs- PJH tlon, "What Is tho Matter With Our BE j Navy?" Wo are especially desirous of PJH 1 laying tho report beforo our readers. B u BBS "I had tho prlvllcgo of witnessing PfH j today aboard tho Wyoming, tho lm- BB nresslve naval revlow of part of tho Hfl North Atlantic licet. HB "To the layman It was an Imposing BV ' sight to sco tho torpedo flotilla as it BH steamed past In double line formation BB at about 20 knots an hour. Hut tho BBB layman Is Impressed only by tho utc- BB ' turo nnd his thoughts In tho matter BB go no further. The torpedo boats us BBB they passed to tho scrutiny of ono BBB understanding their truo condition BBB and not merely' their outward effect, BBB would havo shown a number of Inter- BBB cstlng facts. BBB "In tho first place, these boats In- BBB stead of having tho four to six olllc- BBB . era oboard, necessary for their prop- B or handling, had only two oMccrs. BBB Their crews consisted of only about BBB halt tho necessary number of men. BBB In caso of sudden national emergen- BBB , cy theso vessels could not bo proper- BBB j ly handled to perform tho functions BBB I for which they aro designed. With BBB 1 tho small crow operating them, thoy H could not maintain their maximum B I speed of 2S knots, which Is tho most BB j essential quality In craft of this typo. BBB "Outside tho matter of their per- BBB sonno the typo of torpedo craft pass- BBB Ing tho Wyoming In review, would BBJ present a poor comparison with tho BBB destroyers of tho foreign powers. A BBB ' largo number of vessels of tho samn BBB) t class In tho llrltlsh and German nn- BBBj vies liavo speeds of from 33 to 3G BBBJ 1 knots an hour. Leading tho torpedo BBB llntllla camo tho Illrmlngliain, 11 r.ad BBBj roralndor that wo havo only thrco BBBJ light crulsem of consldcrab'.o speed, BBBj I nnd theso vcs.icls, when comparol to BBBj tho numerous craft of this typo In B tho llrltlsh nnd German navies, would B ' j present n sorry contrast In their rol- BBBJ r.tlvcly low speed nnd weak nrmn- BBBJ ment. Today what few torpedo boats BBBJ wo possess would bo easily swept off BBBJ tho seas by tho fast cruisers of tho BBBJ 1 enemy possessing speed far miporlor B ' to our destroyers nnd torpedo craft, BBBJ j cca coins quatltloa enabling them to BBBJ j run down theso torpedo boats, nnd BBBJ m nrmameut that In nn cngagt-niont BBBJ culil soon turn our boats Into scrap BBBJ Iron. Offsetting tho stimulation of n BBBB pleasant picture, tho passing of tho BBBJ flotilla, left u number of unpleasant BBBB cmrles in mind as to what on earth BBBJ , vn would do if our International sit- BBBB " ii.-tlon cam j M a showdown. BBBJ "A feu minutes later 10 of our BBBJ ccnllnl hlti steamed past In ira- BBBB jir-.lv. l.ne formation. To the un- BBBJ1 it.ttl.ited tley scorned Invulncrablo, BBB I" those Interested In naval doolup- BBBB n.nnt '1 vas obvious that only fnui BBBBLj -ut nf t! c 10 Hhipp would '.naVo n BBBBJj leal .h-wing undor modern buttle BBBE coctMllMt. Thoso vessels also w-s BBBJ' only about half wanned, nnd, as it BBBJ takes four years to train a sailor, BBB they will havo to fight in this condl- BBBBJ tlon should tho occasion arlso any BBBBJ tlmo within tho next four years. Tho BBBJ speod of tho best of thoso vessels 1b BBB six knots less than tho niuccher. BBBJ whoso inferiority of speed spelt her BBS destruction in tho naval action in tho BBBj North BBBJ "As wo watchod thoso masslvo fBBJ structures pass, somo of us wonder- BBBB od how long thoy could contest with BBBJ tho superior ranges gun power and BBBB speed of tho modern battlo cruisers. BBB "Wo should havo 21 battleships to BBB protect our Atlantic coast; wo have BBBB only 17 ships In commission, four BBB aro usolcss to tho nation, as there BBBjK aro not enough men eron to run BBBj them. With ovory rcsourco tapped wo BBB aro 30,000 men short in our navy.'Wc BBBJ .HBfa, BBBft jaBBBfll BBBr vBBBBflt BBBBhBBBBBBBbk have 1000 olllcors of tho lino, wo must havo 1400 more. It takes four years to train n sailor, but ten ydors to mnko a well trained ortlcor. "The organization of tho navy is tho root of Its inadequacy. It must havo a governing staff to formulato a consistent policy of naval development. develop-ment. A step toward this end lias been mado in tho anpolntmsnt of Admiral Benson as chief of operations but tho matter should go farther. "Tho mere appropriation of money no matter how stupendous tho sun , will not glvo us the navy wo nooJ pproprlatlons will bo misappropriations misappropria-tions vntll tho navy Is properly organized. or-ganized. Tho proper number In personnel per-sonnel will only como with proper national Interest In our fleet. If tho navy Is inadequate, it Is primarily tho fault of the peoplo and not tho fault of any leglsintlvo or olllclal 'branch of government. Our officials aro all awaka to tho danger of our naval impottneo; let us hopo that tho peoplo will bo back of Mr. Daniels in his patriotic work in strengthening strength-ening of our most important moans of defense." JOHN HAYS HAMMOND Jit. |