The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-06-05
INTERESTING To
ARMY AND NAVY
Bloodless, Eoiseless Battle to b
Fought June IL.
EXPERTS WILL TAKE NOTE
SIXTEEN WARSHIPs WILL MAKE
ATTACK.

Washington. June 4-Sixteen war
ships viii attack the defenses of Wash
ingtOn and Baltimore at midnight June
II and continue their offensive oper-
atoms for six days and nights Mean
while the fOrtr sses along Chesapeake
bay and the Potomac river, constituting
the artillery districts of the Chesa-
peake, Washington and Baltimore will
put forth every defense of which they
are capable. With ii all, the struggle
is to be bloodless, practically noiseiess,
devoid of the spectacular and intensely
interesting only 20 the army and navy
experts, who are playing the game and
know the constructive effect of the
unloadsd mines and the empty shells
Joint Exercises.
The exercises are to constitute the
only joint operations of the army and
navy during the year They have been
designated Joint exercises TO distin-
guish them from the more elaborate
movements of combined army and
navy maneUveTs. which were first
planned, but which failed of approval
for lack of an adeqUats appropriation
from congress. The operations are to be
conducted under rules which have been
agreed upon by a joint board of army
and navy officers. Considera bic i'm
Portance is attached 10 the distinction
between maneuvers and joint exercises
Maneuvers More Elaborate.
Maneuvers are held to apply to oper-
atoms whsTe actual war conditions are
simulated, while ex5 rcises mean only
that certain prescribed problems are to
be attempted
In the present instance the object OF
each of the several forms of attack OF
the navy will be to demonstrate the
strength or weakness or some particular
phase of the defense
From the information obtainable, the
programme first COntemplateS the test
Of Fortress Monroe. Expert artillery
opinion has long held that this fortress
Is the principal defense of the Chesa-
peake and consequently the cities Of
Washington and Baltimore
0ickins Will Command.
The hostile fleet has been assembled
und=r command Of Rear Admiral Fran
els w Dickins, who with his flagship
the Texas is lying at Annapolis On
the tenth of June Admiral DiCkins viii
hold his last communication with shore.
He will not divulge his plans or place
of his attack, but it ia the sUppOsitiOn
: that he viii put to sea, having techn1-
/ Cally established a base at Norfolk. His
squadron consists of the bdttleShip Tex
as under command of Captain BiCknell,
the protected cruisers Newark and At
( lanta, commanders Badger and Halsey
respectively: the double turTet mOni-
tor Terror, commanded by Fulton; the
| single tUrret monitors Florida, Arkan-
saS and Nevada, commanders Fremont,
Calf and Reynolds: the cruiser Hart
ford, Commander Needsr. the torpedo
boat destrOyeTs Wmpple, WOTdOn, Nc
DOnOugh and Stewart, under command
Of Lieutenants Chase. Mccormick. Cur
tin and Sellers. the gunboats Hornet,
Siren and Sylvia, manned by the Mary
land naval militia. and the monitor
Puritan, by the naval militia Of the
District Of Columbia
Hide and Seek.
Anchor is to be weighed June ,. and
from then on a fascinating game of
hide and seek will be INDUCED in be
tween the artillery and the navy, that
the whereabouts of the ships may be
definitely known at midnight of June
II.
II is explained that the night attacks
are to ascertain the efficiency of the
searChlights of the Notifications and
also to give the navy exercise in con-
structively making these lights dark.
To render this effect more effective the
ships of the squadron have been painted
four cOloTs: the Texas Newark. Atlanta.
| Terror, Hornet Siren and Sylvia are
white; the Florida. Arkansas. Nevada.
war color: the Hartford black, and the
torpedo boat destroyers dark green.
Artillery fire Will be directed on the
ships as they are picked up by the
light but for this exercise the mines
are not regarded as in existence TabU-
lated observations Of what has been
accomplished on each side are to be
made by the umpires and observers.
On each ship viii be a naval umpire
and an artillery observer. and i'm each
fortress viii be an artillery umpire and
a naval observer None Of the big guns
of the navy viii he fired. neither will
the big guns of the Notifications be
heard. These guns on both sides how
ever. will be trained on the target the
same as in actual war. and their fire
will he indicated by the discharge of
a blank cartridge in one-pounder-
The Mine Fields.
To locate the mine fields constitutes
another problem. For some weeks the
artillery has had four boats planting
mines. These mines are not loaded,
but Constructively they viii be just as
dangerous to the navy as though they
contained explosives unless located and
destroyed through cOunter-mining OPP
eratiOns. During these operations also
the artillery of the fortresses viii play
on the vessels.
When these exercises have been con-
Guided before one set Of defenses, the
actors will move to another and should
Fortress Monroe be the first point Of
attack. as is anticipated. the concIu-
sion of the programme there viii be
followed by the same operations against
the fOTtTesses nearer Washington and
Baltimore.
The operations of the defenses are
under the general supervision of Major
General James Z. Wade, commanding
the department of the Atlantic. The
men and officers under him for the