The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1907-10-15
Ho 8 For the Navy.

j A4OyS - - VI tA1C N8vYs
A recent Xdmber Of that new 6
enterprising service journal, the Navy.
Is outspoken In its demands for reforn
in naval construction and in the prac-
tice training of ship captains and feet
commanders. This paper makes tho
astounding assertion that the command
ing officers Of the American fleet had
had up to few months ago only ten
hours of battle tactics practice since
the war with Spain closed, nine years
| ago. This statement comedies with
the report Of Rear Admiral Converse
last December tending to show that our
skilled gunners, trained at no end Of
cost and care, might not get in a shot
in war simply on account Of the blum
dering of their superiors in maneuver-
ing
The explosion on the Georgia, the
Navy maintains, makes prominent GER
tain dangers in construction which call
for immediate reform. 1t refers to the
placing of turrets and magazines in a
line on the principle of an elevator
shaft, there being nothing effective to
prevent fire falling from the turrets
into the handling rooms below. To
quote:
This method of construction exists only
in the American navy. In the sailing
ships of Nelson's feet. hundred years
ago. this obvious and inexcusable error
did not exist. On the ships of the line of
those days there was a powder hatch in
the rear of each row of guns on the up-
per deck. The powder had to be passed
up from magazines well down toward the
bottom of the vessel. If the constructors
of those Gays had followed our plan. they
would have passed that powder up from
deck 10 deck through matches directly I'M
der each other thus affording a straight
and vertical paSsa ge from the upper gun
hatch down to the magazines. As a mat
ter of fact, they were altogether too wise
to commit such a blunder. The hatch in
the deck below the upper deck was not
directly below the upperrnost hatch, but
was to one side of the upper hatch. and
II burning powder or burning anything
else fell from the topmoSt hatch it was
separated from the hatch below by a
screen of wooden cloth. This is practical !
~ the system auOpIeC Dy every OtneT |
navy in the world except the American
navy.
On this point the Army and Navy |
Journal says, There is feeling among |
officers Of the navy amounting almost |
to characterization at the way repeated |
adroniiions OF experienced officers |
against building more and more ships |
with the fatal arrangement of hoists |
have been disregarded." 1t calls the
present method of turret hoists a "su-
perlatively foolish feature of construc-
tion," repeated in spite Of warnings in
"$150, 100000 worth of ships" Voicing !
public sentiment in support of this con-
tention by the organs of the service,
the Philadelphia Press says that the
charge that ammunition hoists in tur-
rets run straight down to the maya
zines without break must be denied
or explained. Speed in firing is gained
by straight shafts, but speed at the
expense of safety" This paper OBJ
serves, Furthermore, that in general our
naval policy has not kept pace with
the naval progress of other powers. 1t
says:
Our navy was slow in adopting speed
for it's battleships and launched vessels
with two Knots less speed than foreign
The ends of our battleships
were left unarmored after other powers
had extended armor over the entire hull
We were slow on smokeless powder. and
we are slow now on turbines and torpedo
boats.
The theory that these open discus
sions may disclose to foreigners the
weak places in our naval equipment
Is misapplied. Foreigners already
know the truth, and both AMERICANS
and foreigners should be made to know
In due time that the American naval
personnel and material are equal to the
best, II not themselves the best. But
the world will know this great fact
only when 1t shall have become q fact.