The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-15
Our Unnamed Coast DefenCes.

Last year President ROOSEVELT,
through the Secretary Of War, called
ON the Chief Of Artillery for a report
showing the force necessary to provide
one complete manning detail for the
coast defences OF the United States.
To serve the guns mounted In the harbor
forts on the Atlantic and Pacific men
OF experience, skilled in their duties and
familiar with the complicated mechan-
ism of the pieces, are required, and in
the words Of the report mo complete
defence can be made unless there is at
least one full manning detail, thoroughly
instructed in the proper service Of the
armament, including all the batteries,
the power plants, the searchlights and
other necessary electrical installations,
as we'll as the submarine defence system. y
The necessary trained force cannot be
drawn from the militia. 1t must be
provided from the regular establish
ment, for, as the report says:
Tho outbreak of war is the critical time and
this 10 the time when the coast defence must be
prepared 10 meet attack by the enemy's feet. No
time Is then available to organize and instruct the
necessary personnel"
How is the United States equipped to
meet the situation that would be caused
by a declaration of war? 1t is as humil-
iating as 1t is true that the artillery force
Of the army Is entirely inadequate to
man even the guns that are now in posi-
ton. This was illustrated most strik-
ingly by the Joint army and navy exer-
cises in and about Chesapeake Bay last
summer, when to provide one manning
detail for the elements Of defence at the
forts on Hampton Roads, on the Potomac
River and in Baltimore harbor all the
coast artillery stations, except one COM
pany posts, from Maine to the Missis-
sippi River, were nearly stripped Of their
%garrisons.
To answer the questions ~propounded
by the President each harbor, post, bat
terry, mine command, position finding
station, &c, in the United States which
has been constructed or authorized
was considered separately, the necessity
of each was determined, one man of APP
propriate grade being imagined in every
position as.required by the approved drill
regulations, and the totals thus obtained
give the numbers required for all the
elements Of defence. This provided for
no reserve, no supports, no infantry
defences, but simply the force required
to man the fixed defences il the troops
should all be mustered in line and
marched each mar to his proper position.
N9question Of logistics or grand tactics is
involved, no question Of military policy
or opinion, but simply the question Of
the number of men required to fill GER
tain fixed positions. The result of these
computations was the preparation of a
table showing the needs Of the service
and the number of men provided under
the present law in detail. 1t is not
necessary to reproduce these figures
in full, and the statistics Of a few typical
grades, as printed below, show how
unprepared this branch OF the army is
for war. In this table the first column
of figures gives the number of men re-
quired for one complete manning detail,
while the second column gives the num-
Der authorized by the statutes now in
force: