New-York tribune., 1907-08-28
THE SAILING OF THE FLEET

Tho details of The voyage of the American
t1eet from our Atlantic TO our Pacific coast are
now announced with sufficient fulness 10 JUS
tify some general forecast OF the unprece"en'e"
undertaking. The total apparent dist"hee p"
be sailed is 13.I12 miles. 10 which somethii'S
should probably be added for slight divergehces
from the most direct course. especially i'll enter
ing and leaving ports of call. speeh oi 'ei
knots an hour-the most economical rate-ls
to be maintained. The entire sailing time WIN
therefore be about lifty-eight days To TINS
something must however, be added for neces-
sary DELAYS in coaiing, taking on provisions etc.
Even thus if the fleet does not start before tle
middle of December. il will have plenty or tinie
10 reach its destination by the first OF Marc''
The fine of wear is well chosen. FOR II VIII III
sure the making of most of the voyage IN LIE
pleasant conditions Of the Antarctic summer
The coaling problem is undoubtedly one OF
the most formidable involved in the Whote
undertaking. and il is of interest TO note the
way in which it has been worked out All the
coaIfng of the sixteen battleships is 10 be done
from GOLFERS which will accompany the feet
or meet il at designated points; and most Oh
the coal will be taken from this country, though
some will have TO be purchased at foreign coai-
ing stations. of which there are plenty cou-
yenientlv disposed along the route or ID 1oFrieh
markets In addition TO what they Will carry
in their we'll filled bunkers on starting the
shipS will need 1o0Jti tons. WHAT they ha'e
at the start viii carry them easily 10 ltlniuho,
! 500 miles out There they will receive s,sVo
tons from four small Golfers which VIII accom-
nany them thitlIer. giving them enough TO pro
Good to Rio de Janeiro. 3.000 miles further Al
Rio de Janeiro they will receive 2o.ooo tons
from the five big coliers which are 10 accom-
many them TO that place. and. thus pro'ldeu'
they will go on 2233 miles further, 10 Sandy
poin. Cr,unts Arenas1 There. midway In fhe
Strait of Magellan they will be met by four
big GOLFERS with $4,000 tons-a supply sufncieht
TO carry them right past such coai'ng stations
as Coronel Conception. Valparaiso anu oo
ouin1l,o. o725 miles to Callao- At the great
Peruvian port four more coillers VIII meet
them. with 2iOOo tons, which will carry them
IN ,Tspdalena Bay about 5000 miles further;
and at the latter point final squadron OF TOUR
colliers will meet them, with last lnstaf
mont of "a 900 tons enough to carry them on 70
San Francisco. They will thus receive on the
voyage i0OS0l tons. or little more tnah Tue
quantity estimated as necessary
We need not at present speculate upon all
the purposes which are to be serVed by the
sending OF this feet on this voyage Ihey are
doubtless worthy of the enterprise. with all its
labor anxiety cost and risk. II will be a great
achievement simply TO make the voyage In sucn
fashion carving in colliers all the coal
needed II will be such achievement as the
world has not seen before. Single ships or
small suuadrons have made such voyages, but
never feet of potency comparable Win thai
of these sixteen battleships. The nearest ap-
-roach 10 it was probably Admiral Rojest-
yenskv's disastro voyage from Libau to Isu-
shma. But his feet was Of far less strength
than this and its voyage was made in far dif-
ferent fashion from that adopted for our shil's'
.la 70
which ours will not suffer, of making the trip
in time of war and being thus suppoSabiy SUD
iect to peril OF hostile attack though in 1act
II was never in such peril until the last stage
of the journey. But then it was Tree L" stop
for days and weeks in hospitable harbors on
tho way. which our ships will not do, and il
trayersed course which is generally regarded
as much more favorable than that around the
South American continent. The exploit before
our fleet is practically unique. ana ~ VIII De
little short of epoch marking in the history OF