The San Francisco call., 1904-10-05
With Short Ceremony of Raising Old Glory
BattIeshlb Goes Into Commission.

Very short and simple is the cere-
new war vessel and adds her to his
navy. There is no burst of eloquence-
not even a burst of gunpowder.
The commanding officer of the new
ship calls the officers and crew to mus
ter and reads to them his orders direct
ing him to take charge of the vessel.
Nobody objects and the flags are hoist
ed, the national ensign aft, the union
jack, with its white stars in a blue
field, forward, the captains long pen
nant at the main truck amidships.
Then. and only then, is the vessel in
commission and authorized to wage
war if Necessary in the country's de-
fense. These flags must be unfurled
and visible between s a. m. and SUM-
down until the ship has completed her
cruise and goes out of commission or is
laid up for repairs.
Yesterday morning the battIeship
Ohio was towed out in the bay from
the Union Iron Works and anchored.
For several days the officers and crew
have been gathered on board, 300 of the
men coming down from Mare Island
Monday. Two coal barges are now
alongside filling the ships bunkers with
fuel for the great furnaces.
The Ohio is not nice to look upon
fresh from the hands of the builders.
Workmen and crew have been putting
in their time forming her, arming her,
but not cleaning her. When her $40
sailors get their bags and hammocks
slowed on board they will be piped to
scrub paintwork, and when they finish
the Ohio will be the color of a snow
bank
At noon Captain L. c. Logan and Of
ficers and crew took their places among
the cases and other litter of the quar-
terdeck, and as the new commander
read his orders from the Secretary of
the Navy the silk ensign presented to
the ship by the Ohio Society was hoist
ed. Captain Logan was born in the
queenly State whose name the battle
ship bears-a most appropriate appoint
ment. He graduated from Annapolis in
1867. The date Of his present rank is
July IL, 1902. and he is forty-nine on the
list of eighty two captains.
The other officers of the battleship
are: Lieutenant Commander w. d.
Buchanan, another Ohio man, gradu-
ated in 1882; Lieutenant Commander M.
A. Anderson (Wisconsin), chief en-
gineer; Lieutenants j. S. Mexican
COhio), c. M. Stone Indiana), z. T.
OAlOCh AOlllOJf N1dCATlnuI L.
(Wisconsin), n. L. Jones (Mississippi),
and Clarence S. Kempff California;:
Ensigns F. S. Whitten New Mexico)
and j. H. Blackburn (Massachusetts)
Midshipmen S. NJ. Robinson (Texas), C.
c. Moses (Alabama), NJ. K. Metcalf
(California) and A. Claude (Maryland);
Surgeon w c. Braisted (Michigan),
Paymaster ]. Brooks Massachusetts,,
Captain of Marines j. T. Bootes (Dela-
ware). Boatswain, A. r. Nickerson Chief
Gunner Simon Jacobs, Electrician Gun
ner o. E. Reh. Carpenter w. w. Toles
and Warrant Machinists E. A. Black
well, A. T. Percival, w. ]. Powell and
J. w. Murray.
The Ohio is the fourteenth modern
battleship commissioned in the United
States navy and is a sister ship of the
Maine new and Missouri. Her keel
was laid at the Union Iron Works five
years ago and her cost is $4,000 900. Her
displacement is 1880 tons (4300 tons
heavier than the New York and over
1000 tons heavier than the Oregon). She
is 3sS feet long, 721k feet beam and 251s
feet in depth. Her armor belt is 11.4
inches on six inches of steel, and her
armament consists Of four thirteen-inch
guns, six eight-inch, sixteen six-inch,
eight six-pounders. six one-pounders
and two machine guns. Her speed is
eighteen knots and her complement of
crew is 642 officers and men.