Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-12-05
THE NAVY.
Not Necessary 10 Increase II Beyond
Present Number of Units.

''hA 4hhNN must l'iRAtNNls W Wv
vies % either nations, always ne Of
greater size than our army. We have
most wisely continued for a number Of
years to build up our navy. and II has
now reached a fairly high standard Of
efficiency This standard OF efficiency
must not only be maintained, but IN
creased, 1t does not seem to me neces-
sary however. that the navy should
at least in the immediate future-be
increased beyond the present number
Of units. What is now clearly neces-
sary IS to substitute efficient for In
efficient units as the latter become
WORKOUT or as il becomes apparent
thut they are useless, Probably the
result would be attained by adding a
single battlcship to our navy each year,
the superseded or outWorn vessels being
laid up or broken NJ as they are thus
replaced. The four singleturret mont
tors built Immediately after the close
Of the Spanish war, for instance, are
vessels which would be OF but little use
IN the event Of war The money spent
upon them could have been more use
fully spent I'm other ways. Thus IL
would have been far better never TO
have built a single one of these mon-
tors and to have put the money into ap
ample supply Of reserve guns, Most of
the smaller cruisers and gunbOats,
though they serve a useful purpose so
far as they are needed for International
police work, would no, add TO the
strength Of our navy In conflict with
a serious foe. There is urgent need Of
providing a large increase in the num-
Der Of officers, and especially in the
number Of enlisted men.
Recent naval history has emphasized
certain lessons which ought not TO, but
which do, need emphasis, Seagolng tor
pedo boats or de3troyers are lndispen-
sible, not only for making night at
tacks by surprise upon an enemy. but
even In battle for finishing already
crippled ships. Under exceptional cir
cumstances submarine boats would
doubtless be OF use, Fast scouts are
needed The main strength Of the navy,
however, lies and can only lie In the
great battleships, the heavily
heavily gunned vessels which decide
the mastery Of the seas. Heavy armed
cruisers also play a most useful part,
and unarmed cruisers, If SWIFT enough,
are very useful as scouts. Between an
tagonists Of approximately equal prov
ess the comparative perfection OF the
instruments Of war Will ordinarily de-
termne the fight. But It Is OF course
true that the man behind the gun, the
man In the engine room, and the man
In the coming tower, considered not
only individually. but especially with
regard to the way IN which they work
together, are even more important than
the weapons with which they work. The
most formidable battleship Is Of course
helpless against even light cruiser If
the men aboard It are unable to hit
MFith
oughly we'll handled cruisers may count
seriously in an engagement with much
superior vessels, IL the men aboard the
latter are ineffective, whether from
lack of training or from any other
cause Modern warships are most for
midable mechaniSms when well han
died, but they are utterly useless when
not well handled; and they cannot be
handled at all without long and careful
training. This training can under no
circumstance be given when once war
has broken out, No fighting ship OF
the first class should ever be laid up
save for necessary repairs; and her
crew should be kept constantly exerCis-
ed on the high seas. SO that she may
stand at the highest point OF
of perfection. To put q new and un-
trained crew upon the most powerful
formidable enemy Is not only to invite
but to insure disaster and disgrace. Ia
improyise crews at the outbreak of a
war, so far as the serious fighting craft
are concerned, Is absolutely hopeless.
II the officers and men are not
thoroughly skilled In, and have not been
thoroughly trained to- their duties, II
would be far better To keep the ships
I'm port during hostilities than to send
them against n formidable opponent
for the result could only be that they
would be either sunk or captued. Thu
Workmanship OF our navy il now on
the whole In a gratifying condition. and
there has been great Improvement in
fleet practise We need additional sea-
men; We need large store OF reserve
guns; we need sufficient money for am
pie target practise, ample practise OF
every kind at sea, We should substi-
tute for comparatively inefficient types
the old third class battleship Texas
the single-turreted monitors above men
toned, and indeed all the monitors
and some Of the old crusers-efiicient
modern, sea-going vessels Seago-
ing topedoboat destroyers should
be substituted for some Of the smaller
torpedobOats During the present Con
gress there need be no additions TO the
aggregate number OF units Of the navy
our navy, though very small relatively
to the navies OF other nations Is for tn
present sufficient In point Of numbers
| for our needs, and while we must con-
stantly strive to make its efficiency
higher, there need De no additions {,
the total number of ships now bull
| and building. save IN the way OF sub.
| sutution as above outlined ! recon.
| mend the report Of the secretary OF
| the navy to the careful consideration
| of the Congress, especially with "A view
| 10 the legislation therein advocated