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Show oo WHO WILL DIRECT THE NAVY? If we go to war with Germany, nearly near-ly all the fighting will be confined to the navy, which fact causes attention to be centered on the men who are to be held responsible for the skill or lack of skill with which our ships are to be directed. Who will be the brains of the navy? The Kansas City Star answers, William S. Benson. Who is Benson? Again the Star makes re-Ply: re-Ply: He is the ranking admiral of the navy, with the title of "chief of operations." a position which corresponds with that of the first lord of the admiralty. If the United Unit-ed States should go to war, it would be his task to direct the naval campaign, to see that every ship from the super-dreadnaught Arizona to the smallest converted launch of the "mosquito fleet" was in its proper place. He would be the brains of the navy. Admiral Benson was appointed to the naval academy as a midshipman from Georgia. He was one of the first southerners to enter the mstitu tion following the end of the Civil war. His first duty afloat was as a junior officer of the old Hartford, Hart-ford, then the flagship of the south Atlantie fleet. Ho was with the Hartford two years. Then he was transferred to the Essex of the same fleet. When he was detached from thai ship and ordered homo he already was considered an officer of-ficer of great executive abilitv nnH unusual judgment. For six monihs Benson was on duty at the Brooklyn navy yard. Ho soon was ordered to sea a second sec-ond time, and was on board the Yantic when that ship made its historic expedition for the relief of Major General Adolphus Washington Washing-ton Greely, the polar region explorer. ex-plorer. On the return of the relief expedition Benson, then a captain was again given shore leave and assigned to duty under what was then known as the navv advisory board. Later he was ordered to the naval na-val academy as an instructor. Subsequently, Sub-sequently, he served in the Washington Wash-ington navy yard with the coast survey, on several ships, and again at Annapolis as commandant of midshipmen. His most recent sea service was as captain of the super-dreadnaught Utah and, temporarily, tempo-rarily, as the commander of the first division of the Atlantic fleet He knows the warship game from top to bottom. During the '80's he inspected the material for the construction con-struction of the first modern fighting fight-ing vessels, and has had a hand in the building of our navy of today and the training of the men who man it. He undertook his present responsibilities in the spring of 1915, when congress established the office of "chief of operations " Admiral Benson's position is that of chief of staff for the navy He is entrusted with the operation of the fleet, and tho preparation of plans for use In war. |
