The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-04-15
REJOICING ASIATIC FLEET.
vosr or THE LARGE VESSELS no
M WITHDRAWN FROM AANILA.

~
.,, IN send the Bennington and Concord
,Iom. - vessels TO he withdraw From
o,h., stations Also - The Cause IL tho
Isck Of Ofncers and Men for New warships
v,survoroy, April 14.-Ths first orders
,..,,,, N a large reduction OF the United
s,s,ss naval force 10 the Philippines and the
-,,ha,aval from service OF a lumber OF vessels
. o,bcr s,ations were issued BY the Navy De-
,s-,nent to-day. Instructions were sent BY
,slsursph 10 Rear Admiral Watson at Yoko-
Mana 10 send tho gunboats Bennington and
Concord TO San Francisco with short-time
ofrcers and men. An order was teleRraphed to
Commander Duncan Kennedy OF the cruiser
Detroit In Central American waters to proceed
N Portsmouth, n. H., where the vessel will be
rIaced out OF commission. Directions were
.sn, also TO the Mare Island Navy Yard 10
nlsce tho cruiser Marblehead out OF commits
sion a, that place. In addition to these four
ships. the monitors Monterey and Monadnock
Will be Withdrawn from service In the Philip
nine, as soon az the Navy Department can find
suitable place In the Far East to lay them M.
Tina cruiser Baltimore will leave Yokohama for
New York with Admiral Watson on board as
aeon a. Rear Admiral Remey relieves Admiral
Watson OF the command OF the Asiatio
station.
This programme OF reducing the number OF
vessels in commission has been In cohtempla.
ton for some time. 1t was intended at 1rst to
dec rease the strength Of the Philippines feet
only on account OF the virtual ending OF the
insurrection, but the programme OF reduction
now arranged. OF which the orders Issued to-
day mark the beginning. is due largely to an
other cause.
The failure OF Congress 10 increase the num-
Der OF officers In the navy is given as the reason
Of the reduction OF the | avSl forces In commits
elon, More enlisted men are needed also. but
the necessity for them Is not so pressing.
Through putting the battleship Kearsage In
commission the Navy Department was obliged
10 assign TO that vessel nearly every officer
available for sea duty. and the ship Is still
short of officers. The statement was made to-
day, by a naval officer who had looked into the
matter, that the kearsage had Just about half
as many officers as a Russian. British or Ger
man ship OF the same size.
A case illustrating the extremes to which the
Navy Department is put TO secure officers for
sea duty is that OF Lieutenant-C Commander j C.
Tiiipinos for eight months. Mr., Gilmore re-
turned to Washington two weeks ago. and,
while the Department would have been Rlad
from his terrible experience In the Philippines.
It was obliged to order him to the auxiliary
cruiser Prairie.
When the Kentucky, o sister ship OF the Kear.
yartment will be in sore. straits TO get oincers
Tor her. and a further reduction Of the ships 10
active service I'LL be necessary unless Congress
uation Of the present fourth-year class at An.
napolis and giving its members commission
as ensigns without compelling them TO serve
The Alabama and the Wisconsin will proba.
bly, be ready " 60 into commission within six
months and the Illinois soon thereafter. To
policy, In view OF the present shortage among
officers, ia. put large new ships IN commission
reason. however, why they should go into
active service; They need 'oms s cruising to
s So,kiS ao o1at shs ard n 70 ovssoon sO ths s Ss.s IL sasy
ing effect on their hulls By long standing In the
water at the places where they were and are
0f fhss D SHnss Of sss Nav, Department. I. to with.
draw most Of the large vessels from the Philip.
pines and such smaller ones as have been In
, n cu wstSrs for a lSRs thu time s,, aad ls need repairs ,ss
NarSiehsad only the Phiisdeiphis and ths
Iowa will be left on the Pacific station In addi.
y.Sit to a . few au Ths Rs cruiser; , snssssa 10 , ,ST;
active service will leave the Government with.
out any small cruiser available for looking out
f.. A Ss.s fnd iDssre *. ~ aS SsSsssl AA% ssSis. vii
have . do all this exacting duty In the future.
as the auxiliary gunboat Vixen Is needed for
other duty.
The departure from the Philippines. OF the
Baltimore and the Concord will leave only one
of Dewey,s May Day squadron In Asiatio
waters. The Olympis. Raleigh and Boston
placed out Of commission. The places OF the
Concord and Bennington will be filled by the
former Spanish gunboats Don Juan de Austria
mission at Hong Kong this week. They were
built BY the Spaniards especially for service IN
for home and the Monterey and the Monadnock
have been placed out OF commission or laid up
IN reserve. the only big ships remaining on
brooklyn. the battleship Oregon ana the pro-
tected cruisers Newark aud New Orleans.
The rest Of the Asiatic feet will be composed
OF gunboats, most Of them little fellows, but
more suitable for work in the Philippines than
chips OF greater displacement and offensive
ness.