Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-01-18


1t was dated January II and addressed to
naval affairs Following is the full text
of the document:
white House,
washington, January II, 1907.
'Sr: l feel SO strongly that there should
be two first-class battleships of the maxi
mum size and speed and with their pri-
mary battery all of twelve-inch guns added
to the navy this session that l desire to
lay the matter before your committee
through this letter. These two big ships
should include the one provided for last
year and the one provided for this year.
1t must be remembered that l am not ask
ing for any increase in the navy. because
unless we can provide at the rate of a
battleshp per year our navy will go back
ward. Moreover, L am advising that our
money be spent economically. 1t has been
a waste of money to provide such ships as
the single turret monitors, and, while the
cruisers, and especially the great armored
cruisers, serve some useful purposes, 1t
would nevertheless have been Infinitely bet
ter to have spent the money which actually
was spent on them in the construction of
first-ciass battleships. Our great armored
cruisers are practically expensive to
buiid and maintain as battleships, and yet,
taking the battleship all around for the
purposes for which navy is really needed,
it's superiority to the armored cruiser is
enormous.
Il thoroughly believe in developing and
building an adequate number of <subma-
rines; l believe in building torpedo-boat
.Leie mus. We NV aso, ~
diereren+ kinds. hut the strength of the
navy rests primarily upon it's battleships,
and in building these battles hips 1t is I'M
peratively necessary, from the standpoint
alike of efficiency and economy tnat they
should be the very best of their kind In
my judgment we are not to be excused II
We build any battleship inferior to those
now being built by other natlons. Shoulo
be glad II a limitation could De pu. py IN
ternational agreement to the size OIL battle-
ships hereafter to be pulit nave louno'
however, tnal IL Will undoubtedly NC III
practicable to secure any such agreement
in the near future. In the hrst-class naVies
generally these big battieShips nave ALREADY
been built or are now building. we cannot
ahord to fall Dehlnd, ana we shall ian pe
hind If we fan to ou1ld nrst-ciass patoe-
Shlps ourselves. ~Ghless we ihte,iu " - oii
building up the fleet we should abandon
every ef1ort 10 keep the poSltion winch we
now hold Whetner IN me FACING ocean .s.. ei
IN american waters senerany. Oui 1usli
catlon Ior upnoiuIns me Huohi oe uoetli ne
and Tor edlgging the Panaina canal 1auss
rest primarily upon our wisiihsness ~ july M.
ana maintain hrst-class iS htils Iee'' Dc
1t remembered, moreover tnat sucn nees
Is by Tar the iiiost poleh' & ua dil.! VI pe"'e
WHICH this hatloh ii's vi Gan e'ei ~
ADVANTAGE of Battleships
: ,. 49,, 49,.
'iefelore ue7iie ~ ID! oeioe -" 'Ao
following reasons Tor my DetleI IN the du-
vantages of battleships of large dispiace-
ment with their primary batteries all of
49,, -. =. h,, a,,, .s oon,,,rad with
oNe tspe oi us Sun " I'm
all other nshtlhs craft. iteeu hdroiy boy
that in what l am able to write speak of
one type of battleship when compared with
another type the supposition that both
are handled equally well and that the con-
dtions under which they meet are normal.
A great superiority of skill will compen-
safe for a marked inferiority in ship or
weapons. and under normal conditions even
ordinarily poor snip may be d match
for a ship which, under usual conditions,
is for its superior.
Much of the Information showing the
superior value of battleships o large dis
placement, high speed and great gun power
is of very technical nature and cannot
be briefly stated This is especially true of
certain confidential information concerning
the requirements necessary for efficient
long-range gun fire. it being understood
that in this sense efficiency of gun fire re-
fers exclusively to hitting, that is, to the
number of large projecti.es that can be
landed against enemy's hull in a given
inn e ane nt no e ec that can be fred
in a given time, which latter is known as
the volume or hre-a popular expression
i ia..is i'' "''i 'e - -
put disregarding these arguments. it
may still be clearly shown that a certain
sum of money appropriated for naval con-
$3.50 60 ir. biah troahoard ,esse1s
having many large gins Of the same cali
Der, than for smaller vessels of lower free
board, having fewer large guns and numer
Gus small guns. For example: Now that
"a; Ns ISL as,a,isii ia" asreaioTI ~
hao,r euns f,,tmrn battle ranae viii hn en-
80 fehrno ~ fn,,r r,,iIas, IL 80, -,
81, ;oh otcl ui1, ha nraotiaaII, So
tiah' oi, Nv m ns p' Ta,,.r1 mel
i $500 ~ pc .idy; saii'o, 90
nus an "a 'iieii S"iio anu Sun 'ic"o III
,r rs peiio lisNy aihlol.
hSl.ioie me eilee'iNe oiiS!isI'e Po"el
VI na.tieship i,ias NOV oI n'eaeuteo ny
the hulii o VI HeaNy ltWeiHe-ihcIl guns
sue can nie Oh si'hel ploausiue. or we
ORDINARY pattlesip TINS eIectVe proaoside
i nH cohsis'e VI !oul twclVe-ihcn guns.
lono%s as d matter oi course that large
SNIP having 1roauslue hfe OF zen WE'VE
men guns couiu promptly 9estroy bate
snip Oh the usual type having TOUR WE'VE
men guns, anu WIN tne advantage OF tne
greater speed OF the larger vessel Which |
Would enapie heT 10 choose her own dls-
lance, she would pc more than match |
Tor Two OF Nhe smaller vessels. <. |
Few LARGE VS.. Manv Small
But as pattleshPs are not INTENDED 10
fight singly their efficiency must be de- !
terrnined nv a compar ison of their relative
,;I;.;o. 49,, s,h,;,r, T.; a.. e.,a.;., |
aoi''e' "'iei iiei.iAs IA iiNe' ioi 'eh'ioii