Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-03
STORY OF HER SERVICE
Ships Captain Says United States
Needs Vice Admiral,
PRESTIGE IN THE FAR EAST
Capt. Logan Says Lack of Officers of
High Bank Often Embarrasses
Americans.

NEW YORK, December 3.-The battle
ship Ohio, which was the flagship of the
late Rear Admiral Train. who died in Che
foo, and the last of Unce Sans big fight
ers to leave the neighborhood of the Philip
pines. arrived at Tompkinsv.Ie early yes
terday morning and this morning at .
o'clock will go to the navy yard.
The Ohio sailed from Gibraltar on Novem-
Der 10, and in the two weeks that it took
her to cross the Atlantic she had pretty
hard time. On Thanksgiving day she ran
into gale that Increased to hurricane
force, and one of the big seas that swept
over her decks carried away the starboard
gangway, which had been slowed on deck
She suffered other small damage to deck
fittings. but her officers declare that barring
the fact that water gets into the superstruc
ture through the opening of the gun port
shutters she is about the best battleship
imaginable in sea way. The leaking of
the gun ports is a defect that may be rem
eded 1t is certainly dsagreeable to those
on board. Water came through in great
volumes while the were rolling and
washed about in the superstructure knee
deep.
In the Suez Canal.
The Ohio had another mishap on the trip.
Because of her width-she is seventy-tw
through the Suez canal and her starboard
propeller was all but put out of business.
1t got damned and al the three blades
were badly bent. Because of that she had
a much harder time in Thursdays storm.
The damage to the vessels propeller also
caused her to consume much more coal
than usual.
The Ohio, though she has been in COM
m:ssion since October 1904 and has crufsed
mi loo N ha act tyxrn
years, has never before been to this port.
She has been in the far east continuously
since May, 1905.
She is sister ship to the Maine and the
Works of San Francisco. Her present COM
| mander. Capt. L. c. Logan, took her when
she was put in commission and sailed for
Cav.te. April l. 1863 On her return voyage
she left Chefoo in September for Cavite.
where she took on supplies and exchanged
lot of long term men for those whose term
Of service was getting short. She left
Cavite on September 30 and went to Co.
lombo, where she coaIed From Colombo
she went through the Suez canal, stopping
at Port Said for coal
She had a thorough testing and her COM
mander says she made good.
Capt Logan Talks.
Capt. L. c. Logan, who commanded the
Ohio, said that the homeward trip had been
without incident save for an obstruction
coming through the Suez Canal. and the
great storm which struck the ship butt
on" as he expressed it. while making the
Atlantic run. The fianges of the propeller
had been badly twisted, and to this was due
the long voyage which the vessel had made
from Gibraltar. fourteen days from the
Rock to the Hook.
He spoke enthusiastically of the sea quail
tiles of the Ohio, but says she has one
grave defect which the bureau of construc-
ton should remedy. These her gun tur-
retS, which are so constructed that the gun
deck is constantly flooded with water when
ever the ship IS in seaway. Otherwise he
says, the Ohio is fine battle ship as
any one would want to command.
New Admiral Needed.
Having been SO long from port, all on
board were eager to hear the news of all
that had happened. A very interesting
something had happened while they were
at sea, the recent action of California in
regard to Japan, but this neither Capt
Logan nor his officers would discuss
But there is one thing which l will have
no hesitation in saying. Capt. Logan
said land that is that in my opinion our
just now is an officer with the rank OF vice
admiral"
But we have no vice admirals," protest
ed one of the newspaper callers.
Make one or hire one said the captain
For nation with our naval pretensions
we are placed in the most undignified posi-
ton on account of this very matter of
rank or rather lack OF it. Wherever YOU
will go out there you will find the COM
manding officer of our naval forces junior
to the commanding officers of any other,
and as consequence Oil having to play
second fiddle Whether at banquet recep-
ton, review, all the same, are all the
time at the tail end of the procession
Every one Of the leading maritime nations