The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-12-15

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The fleet which leaves Hampton Roads
tomorrow on its l6.OO0-mile trip 10 the
Pacific Coast has been officially desig-
mated by President Roosevelt as the
Battle Fleet"
1t is the first time in the history of
the United States that the term Battle
Fleet" has been used in time of peace.
This is not because the fleet is going out
to give battle. but because il would give
battle If circumstances demanded such
action.
The ostensible purpose, and the only
purpose SO far as has been given out
and 80 far as the naval officers of the
fleet know. OF the cruise is for practice.
That means the solution of problems Of
long-continued seamanship in concert.
of Supplying a great fleet with coal and
provisions in out Of the way places, and
OF target shooting
VIII show Our Needs.
The President has said that the cruise
10 the Pacific will show what the needs
Of the navy are. 1t will bring out the
defects in training and equipment, and
the best means of correcting them will
then be a matter for the Navy Depart
ment and Congress TO deal with.
The President has declared that ct Will
be of very great educational uss to all
engaged in it,
No matter what the real destination of
the fleet may be. the naval importance of
the movement may be summed UP in these
words of the President. from his recent
annual message: mo fleet Of such size
has ever made such a voyage"
Statistics of Fleet.
Here are some salient facts concerning
the ships and the cruise. The tonnage
of the sixteen battle ships viii be in round
numbers $4,000. There viii be about
1900 men-ofiicers. sailors. and marines
on board.
No less than 925 modern guns will be on
the ships. from the monster 13-inch size
which hurts projectiles weighing I,l3G
pounds, down to the one-pounders and
other machine guns that shoot small pro-
!ectiles. The most powerful weapons on
the fleet will be the Pinch guns, of
which there will be IA.
These guns shoot projectiles weighing
80 pounds with a muzzle energy of 200
feet a second and a muzzle velocity Of a
900 foot tons; that is. power that could
lift 1900 tons one foot. Although smaller
than the 13-inch guns. they have greater
destructive force.
The length Of the voyage will be 13,772
miles; and il is expected that I35 days
VIII be occupied in making the trip. OF
these sixty days VIII be spent in port re-
moving supplies and giving shore leave.
Nearly 10000 tons Of coal will be con-
suined. and the cost of it approximates
S1,SoO,ooo. Each ship will carry about 1000
tons of supplies. varying from ammunition
70 the smallest thing necessary for the
larder
The cruising speed viii be about ten and
a half knots. 1t is probable that the ships
will go in single file most of the yvav ana
that no evolution or maneuvers will be
tried in order to economic on coal The
ships will be at intervals Of 400 yards, and
in fair weather storm, or fog that interval
viii be kept vigorously
Under no circumstances will the fleet
scatter. 1t must be kept together com
pactly, so as to practice what Charles II.
Cramp. the shipbulder. once said was the
greatest need Of our navy-battle ship sea-
mansbip.
Only five stops will be made on the wav
TO San Francisco. The first viii be at the
Port Of Spain. Trinidad: the second at
Rio de Janeiro; the third at Punta Are
mas, in the Straits of Magellan; the
fourth at Callao, Peru, and the fifth NJ
Magdalena Bay. in Lower California
Five days each will be spent at Trini-
dad and Punta Arenas and ten days each
at Rio and Callao. Thirty days will be
spent In Magdalena Bay for target prac-
tlce.
After that the ships Will go TO San
Francisco. and then the problem of what
to do with them. whether TO bring them
back in the same way or by way of Eu-
rope leaving a large part OF them I'm the
Philippines will probably be announced.
The President In his message intimated
that they might be brought back to the
Atlantic coast by way Of South America,
and that cruises such as this, from one
coast TO the other, should be the regular
thing hereafter at least once in two years.
IF not Oftener.
Previous Gatherings OF WRrshIps.
While It is true that no fleet of such
size has ever made such a voyage" II IS
not the largest feet Of battle ships ever
sA-'~N-A4tf--N
and strongest American fleet
Only last fall Great Britain assembled
no less than twenty-six modern battle
ships and twenty armored cruisers for
maneuvers in home waters. At Oyster
Bay a year ago there were thirty-one
American war ships OF all kinds in the
great review. At the opening of the
jamestown Exposition last April there
were assembled for the President to re-
view ffty-two war ships. counting the
foreigners. and forty-three of them few
the Stars and Stripes.
But no American feet has had the
homogeneity of the one Admiral Evans is
TO take around South America II is com
posed exclusively Of heavy fighters, the
bulldogs. II naval dogs Of war can be so
designated
The four other ships that go along do
not count because two Of them are strict
~ supply ships, one is a repair ship. and
A-- other is known as a tender Their