The sun., 1900-11-14
LIEUTENANTS CENSURED.
THEY COMMANDED COLLIDfNG TOR.
REDO ROiTS OFF NEW PORT.
Court Recommend dcd That Lieut.. Brown Of tho
Craven lie Tried by Court.Martiai. but.
secrstar, Long simply Censurcs Him, To-
xethcr win lieut.. MiiIer Of the Dnhlgren

Craven lie trleu ""''
secrstar, Long simply Censurcs Him, To-
xethcr with Lieut.. Miller Of the Dah'gren
w,sHISaIoN, Nov is-The findings and
opinions Of the court OF inquiry which invests
gated tho collision Of the torpedo boats Dahl
gren aud I. 4. NJ Craven of Newport. oct 10.
together with the action OF the Navy Depart
ment in the matter. were made public thi, after
noon The cour; was of the opinion that Lieut..
Ford n Brown. commanding the L A NJ.
Craven, wa. mainly responsible for the collision
and recommended Ills trial 10y colrt-martial.
Inl, recommendation was not followed. the
Secretary Of the Navy to-day approving the
following memorandum OF Judge Advocate
General Lculy. advising that Lieut. Brown ana
Lieut. Wi.iam c. Miller. commanding the Dahl
sren, be censureI. "A
"wAsHlNoToE. Nov. IS
"Respcctfully submitted. with recommenda-
ton that tie finding of facts and tie opinion
Of the court Of inquiry. convened by the De-
rartment's order of the 2pth dsv Of October
last. which investigated the collision between
tie torpedo boat, Dahlgren and /. a. NJ. Craven.
be approved.
In view, however, of tie fact that few oni-
GERS have had experience in the handing OF
torpedo boats. and OF the inadvlsaDinty OF
intoxicating In the minds of the younger officers
OF the service. to whom the command OF such
boats must necessarily be entrusted. an excess
Of caution which might seriously interfere
with their efficiency. II is believed that the
tr.u by general court-inartd OF Lieut., Ford
ii Brown, while properly recommended by
tho court. IL unnecessary. and nave tue honor
10 advise. therefore. that sa!d onlcSr be- as
IN the case of Lieut. " lillian {. llgr. ccusuredi
lAp court found that the n!Iht was dark.
but lights could be dlstn. uisAed and there
were no unusual dIiilculles III uavIgating the
boats, that Lieut. Miller was familiar with hand-
10 l..faf IN Al LII
Brown was not. aud that ARRANGEMENTS lor
safety had been agreed on by the two officers.
lhe court says also mat tHe SfaVeh vas ,,n IUs
maintained at a proper and sale distance rom
the Dahlgren, that no perfect lookout WAS
kept on Tho craven and that l4s9t BTSMa ,n,Sa
chart at an important time.
SIhmIns pp 1Is c24Et SAYS: ,,.,,.. Elm,
Lieut.. Ford Ii. Brown Is mainly responsible
for the collision, His dangerous position WIN
reference TO tho Dahleren was OF his own cAOoS-
rardi.s officers OF the two boats was that the
Cra,el should follow the Dahlgrea. Bong
H. such position he should have recognized
the necessity OF absolute vigilance. Ills en-
delyor TO ipok at the chart at such q iuuuegt
was most so-aGi error Of Judgment. Any
a. Nietv "a 10 position or depth Of water was
at that tlne t!.sI.c for. AID 81 u.d not have
drawn his attention f-om the much more press,
Ing danger OF IL, situation IN which he had
placed himself Ills desire u oOserN tho chart
while, worthy in Itself was in9prortune and
ill-judgoi, ard this error OF judgment caused
him Improperly - hazard the Craven under
hil command, and uro0Iced the collision with
the Dahgrcn. which attcr boat had the night
OF way.
IN the opinion % the court further rro-
ceedngs should be had against Lieut.. Ford
II. Brown. and thl; otiyer should be tried by
a genera, court-marIll Tor the following spe-
Citic -. namely.
For inericlcncy In the Performance OF duty
in falling under the circumstances in which
the torreio boat +. \. " craven, under hi-
command. was placed. To maintain the vigiant
lookout and personal supervision over Ills
vessels inDvcIIertS necessary 10 avoid col
lision, tho"ohv imrroIerly ha2ardiLg said
ves-e! and Caus a.; Co.N tnu betWven -aid N">-
a. and the torpedo boat pah!sren, with
which % was cruising In company.
while III" court l. Of the opinion mat the
r,nlr resron-lLiitv for the collision rests upon
Lieut. Brown, il thinks Lieut.. Aa!!cr COM
mi ted NJ error ~ 'Gd ,U e!t II not. III the cir
cumstnDgc-. indi 1'ing H. some way tho in-
tended change Il course to Iieut. Brown, Ia
whose Corranv he had rover before man
cruvrnd TORPEDO boats The court, In cX-
press NO the oUiulJn regarding Lieut., Miller
has in mind the f.ct thlt II mas not been GUS
tomarv In handling tOrredo honts together
to give prcvi lu- notification OF a change ot
course unless they were quito close % each
other n fact which iuillsGte- greatly the error
~ omission referred 20 on the Tart ~ lieut..
Miller
For thil error ot Judgment, the court Is
Of the opinion that Lieut. Miller should 10
sdnonlshet CT cen-uied.