Show I 1 AMERICAN NAVY IS OVER i i RATED SAYS OFFICER EX J r g y only 84 out of ships can be depended upon in time ot war he declares and includes 55 torpedo boats of doubtful utility written by a former officer in the service in view of the cielecy of the fleet in all its actions against the e naval men tho world have ben set to thinking and comparing its efficiency and conduct with what their own force afloat might have done under similar conditions that acknowledged to bo the greatest of naval has prudently taken this into consideration is made manifest by the nent of all her squadrons and the aban dorment of halifax and esquemault Esqui mault as naval bases france tho second naval power has systematically maintained alic majority of her fleets in home waters as has ger many no necessity existed for rearrangement of them though a change in naval building programmed grammes pro is already apparent in bogli countries it has been proved beyond question despite the critics that the battleship assisted by sufficient swift cruisers as scouts and a flotilla of torpedo vessels is the modern fighting boico oa tho sea both for ottense and defense here then comes tho crucial question why has not tho united states profited by the lessons so clearly shown in actual warfare between two powers considered prior to hostilities almost on a par in naval with her own in order to answer this question adequately it la necessary to go into the actual conditions obtaining in ano american navy in tee war with spain our naval were 0 o complete and our successes sj sudden that sufficient attention was not paid subsequently to the juices by tho american squadrons and tho causes which led to their defeat these very victories over what was at first supposed to be a powerful foe have served merely to fill alie average american with an overweening confidence in the navy no one today truth and significance of 1 hi better than the very men who from 3 ear to year have gone from the naval academy to officer the ahins ahey are well aware that the american people imbibed with tins over bonfi dence aie pinning their faith to a beat teed they know full well that for the money expended which is ample only the most heagie results have been obtained in real fighting material i the american navy today is up to date in ao condition with the possible exception of target contractors have been responsible in great degree or the creation of tha so called new navy and the vessels which have them most have invariably received the most aident support before the naval committee in congress and the committee on appropriations it has availed the expert technical man in the navy department little to oppose an im technical congieta con giesa and a powerful lobby of those interested in the construction of so called war acs ecos to the average congressman every vessel bearing guns and cairies on the navy list is a fighting ship and little or nothing so far has been accomplish edby those technically capable toward changing this erroneous and pernicious idea more than ships of all descriptions including torpedo boats of all classes but leaving out all vessels now under construction appear on the navy jeg lster it is a sad contemplation for the capable naval officer when he realizes that of this big fleet there aie in reality only about twenty nine ships that are capable of going into a battle this of course does not include the fafty five torpedo boats which are no longer regarded as fighting material by experts in naval warfare following is a table which will show the real lighting force of the navy eight first class battleships battle ships of modern construction and equipment four battleships battle ships of more or less ob type but still capable of engaging an enemy two armored cruisers ot modern coa st ruction five protected cruisers capable of serving as scouts with the fleet of fifty five torpedo vessels is included the submarine boats value ot which is still problematical the naval engagement arthur in the last few months and the budden destruction of the torpedo boafo destroyers with the spanish fleet off santiago in 1898 have been sufficient to demonstrate to naval experts that the torpedo boat Is not the kind of vos bel can be made efficient in naval warfare but giving the torpedo fleet the benefit ot the doubt and including all ves of this class in ane fighting orco of ane navy it will be found that out of a total of vessels only sa can be depended upon in a war with a first class power from these figures it becomes apparent that ethcie are now on tho navy list nearly ves eela that under no could ie made available for fighting and yet are the very ships that eat up all of the generous appropriations granted 0 o the navy department for repairs and these are the ships that congress and the are pinning their faith to to protect the country la time of ar scores of the officers high in the command of this big fleet ot ships that would be next to useless against a worthy foe are well aware of these conditions dit ions but they dare not say a word in protest their mouths are sealed by the official red tape and ethics of the what think ou would be the fate of alie officer in the navy great or email who dared to criticism criticise critic ise alio efficiency of ship in the long list with fifteen nav yards and nava eions of all grades to bo nd labor of plant at enormous expense the ratio Is approximate y a gas tor than ix fighting ships inc mcdo boats for each sa 0 britain today maintains only ten a alons or her whole alt of conrao the united some of those maintained by states make only minor repairs in neither case does this include coaling stations WEAKNESS OF TUB SQUADRONS that this state of affairs Is quite bad enough naval experts who havo the courado to express are ready to concede and yet it is not the only vulnerable of the naval armor another serious detect in alio service Is in the manner of assembling the squadrons in this there has long been a lamentable lack of headwork hoa dwork little or no effo ha been made in the direction of n homogeneity though it is a recognized fact that the speed of a squadron is the speed of ita slowest ship what avails the speed of the illinois alabama iowa which Is approximately sixteen knots when such vessels as the indiana India nj and massachusetts chu of scant ten knote maximum speed aro assembled in the same squadron does not the fact the olympia twenty one knots panther twelve knots and the marietta nine knots formed the nucleus of the Carribe aa a year ago demonstrate the general incongruity in the arrangement of squadrons aal here observe the squadron was sent over to represent the american navy at the time of the coronation of king edward VII it is another object lesson in the assembling of our ships into squadrons illinois seventeen knots chicago sixteen knots an old ship several times on station under different rigs albany twenty one knots built in england and known in europe as of brit asli construction san francisco fifteen knots bame as chicago as regards service and the nashville twelve knots under the most favorable conditions recognizing tardily this utter lack of homogeneity in the assembling of squadrons the navy department lias finally taken a felep in the direction ot reform with a small available fighting force of alie same speed weight of gun metal and armor the department has organized a really efficient fighting force so tar as it goes on the north atlantic station and the same applies to the asiatic station and now there 1 another vital question concerning the welfare of the navy that cannot be overlooked that is the question of recruiting when the truth has all been told about the manner of inducing men to enlist in the service it can certainly reflect credit to tho country recruits are brought into the service every day under false pre bences it the same methods were pursued in civil life those who did so would render themselves amenable to the laws ask any of the sailorman you meet in the streets of anuw york if they have found the navy what it Is represented to be by the recruiting officer at the time of their enlistment and see what answer you will go all 0 the official advertisements calling tor young men to calist aie misleading the young men are informed that they will get not only the best treatment but will have unlimited opportunity to seo the world a well three out of four of the sailorman sail ormen will say at once that bad they known navy really was before they took the oath they never would have enlisted not eo many years bigo when the navy was in a great part manned by foreigners who found in it bad as it was at that time better pay better food fewer hardships and loss ill treat ment than they could expect in their own country it was jio very unusual sight to see sailorman ashore with arms covered from wrist to elbow with the long red re enlistment stripes lacu denoting an additional enlistment but today it la different it is a rare occurrence for one of these rc calist ment stripes to be drawn from the paymasters stores the american youth from whom the navy department in deference to popular sentiment is at present trying to enlist the men to man its ships and serve as marines are en different from the breed of ignorant european north countrymen formerly in the service |