The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-01-04
BAfrLESHpI | OVER ALL
OPINION OF
 NAVF DEl

 Official Statement Is
 of the General Ed
 the Russo-Japanes
 Torpedo Boats al
 Their Attacks--Or
 and That at Opening -
 Washington, Jan. Slow as
 the supremacy of the battleshz
 how completely it's superiority
 other types of war vessels has,
 demonstrated in the war in the
 East, is told in an official statN
 issued at the navy department to-
 which is likely to arouse internatio interest because of it's frankness an4 because 1t was prepared by a member e the general board of the navy. of whit Admiral Dewey is president, and req resents the views of that board as we& as the secretary of the navy.
 Although the Russian destroyers Port Arthur numbered twenty-four. ttl<S statement says not one has scored hitv thus far in the war, and that of thek many torpedo boat attacks delivered by the Japanese nearly all met with com plete lack of success, although made as usual under the cover of darkness and against an enemy at anchor and whose position was known In the opinion of high officials of the government the sem timent which has gained some credence in this country to the effect that the value of battleships has been diseredt4 ed by the results in the Far East isn one which will prove a menace unless& it is corrected, and the department had adopted the somewhat unusual method of commenting officially on the achieve ments of the Russian and Japanese na1$ vies in the effort to correct this innlx pression. K X The report says, "A great surprise hal been caused by the suberb condition all |8 efficiency of the Japanese fleet, ascenl ancy on the seas being supposedly Tess natural development of their o#
 war time spirit than a fighting supren7 acy on shore. Every type of war vess
 has it's place in the navy of that couW try, and it is not too much to say thH each has been used in a manner al for the purpose to which it is best ada{S fed, and for which 1t was intended; al
 perhaps no more useful book is open { to the modern tactician than a thl ough and logical study of the emplzE4 ment of the different weapons.'''sa ' %
 The deSefop 1t ssiss f tsss q; is discussed and the fact comm el.sz on that a hundred years have pass since that craft was first design& "and the battleship still stands
 preme'
 Tn the brisk inauguration of hoef Eities by the Japanese torpedo boat ftilla" the statement continues du1 the night of February 9, they didA
 doubtedly deliver a telling blow by abling three Russian battleships. action of February g is a surprise excelling the usual element of a su# prise attack; the Russian fleet, fout
 teen vessels in all, were anchored cloA& together in the outer funnel-shapedS roadstead without suspicion of irnpend- I ing hostilities, not a patrol boat being
 out, and the crews peaceably sleeping Tn their usual berths, three Japanese
 destroyer flotillas, (twelve vessels) apr preached with lights burning, and bel ing mistaken as intended for Russian boats returning, were allowed to ap- proach close to the huddled fleet; then, { With smooth sea- at close range, hard ly disturbed by q single shot in return, lor flash of searchlight, with all the hundred of easy target practice, not less than twenty-four torpedoes (aYlS probably more) were dischargedf ol which three took effect. The reSults were undoubtedly mofnentous,2b but it would be a hardy logician who could deduce from that incident the cornbirl4. ing thought that the little torpedo craft8 has displaced the battlesIip or even ma-< terially diminished it's prestige AL though the Russian destroyers in Port
 Arthur numbered twenty-four, or eight more than all in the United States navy, not one has scored a hit so far during the war. M l Scores of other torpedo attacks have been delivered by the Japanese, but nearly all with complete lack of sue cess, although made as usual under cover of darkness and against an enc my at anchor and whose position was
 known. On one occasion, after soul 1 stirring night, that of June 23, the Rus sian ships being in the outer roadstead, twelve torpedoes were picked up in the morning, having missed their marks, and having their mechanism apparently set to float at the end of the run, ifi- stead of to sink as is customary, instfle evident hope that they might find target while drifting about. How many others were sped during that strenuous night and sank or drifted away in the tide, will probably never be known. In a few other cases hits were scored, which laid the victims up for a few
 days, after which they returned to ser vice. But the fact remains that not a
 Russian has been sunk by a torpedo, until just recently, when the SevsSstopol succumbed to the successive attacks,
 she being compelled to lie helplessly
 anchored outside the harbor, entirely
 exposed, and with many of her guns landed to aid in the shore defences.,
 Halter Suicides.
 Danbury, Jan. Charles Bakey, al. natter thirty-three years old, commit: