The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-01-18

FOR BIG BATTLEsHIPS.
President Roosevelt Writes Letter to
House Committee.

Washington, JAM ia letter written
by the president in advocacy of the
plan for two battleships of the Dread
naught class has become public. 1t is
dated January IL and is addressed to
Mr.. Foss, chairman of the house COM
mittee on naval affairs. Following IS
the letter:
feel so strongly that there should
be two first class battleshfps of the
maximum size and speed and with their
primary battery all of 12-inch guns adj
ded to the navy this session that de-
sire to lay the matter before your com
mittee through this letter. These two
big ships should include the one pro-
vided for last year and the one pro-
vided for this year. 1t must be remem-
bered that l am not asking for any
increase in the navy because unless we
can provide at the rate of a battleship
per year our navy will go backward.
/ thoroughly believe in developing
and building an adequate number of
submarines; I believe in building tor
pedo boat destroyers; there must be
few fast scouts and, of course, various
auxiliary vessels of different kinds. But
th1 strength of the navy rests primar-
lily on its battle ships and in building
these battle ships it is imperatively
necessary from the standpoint alike of
efficiency and economy that they should
be the very best of their kind.
I should be glad If limitation could
the size of battleships hereafter to be
built. have found, however, that 1t
will undoubtedly be impracticable to
secure any such agreement in the near
future. In the first class navies gen.
orally those big battleships have already
been built or are now building. We
cannot afford to fall behind, and we
shall fall behind If we fail to build
first class battle ships ourselves. Unless
We intend to go on building up the fleet,
We should abandon every effort to keep
the position which we now hold. Our
justification for upholding the Monroe
doctrine and for digging the Panama
canal must rest primarily on our will
ingness to build and maintain first
more over, that such a fleet is by far
the most potent guaranty of peace
which this nation has or can ever have.
1 therefore desire to lay before you
the following reasons for my belief in
the advantages of battleships of large
displacement as compared with all
other fighting craft, on the SUPPOSE
ton that both are handled equally
WELL
Much of the Information showing
the superior value of battleships of
large displacement. speed and great
gun power is of a very technical
This is especially true of certain con-
fidential information concerning the
requirements necessary for efficient
long range gun fire, it being under
$1,000 lndI IN IDlS sense EMERGENCY OI
gun fire refers exclusively to hitting;
that is, to the largest number of large
proJectiles that can be landed against
aH enemy's hull in a given time and
NOT to the number of all calibers that
can be fired in & given time.
Now that a high degree of skill has
been developed In naval craftsmanship
especially with heavy guns, future bat
tie ranges will be so great (three or four
miles) that small guns (6-inch etc.)
VIII be practically ineffective, especial
ly against large vessels having all of
their guns and gun crews in 12-inch
turrets behind heavy armor.
Therefore the effective offensive
power of a battleship may now be
measured by the number of heavy
guns she can fire on either broadside.
For the ordinary battlship this effec-
tive broadside fire consists of four r.
inch guns. 1t follows. as a matter of
course that a large ship having a
broadside fire of ten 12-inch guns
could promptly destroy battleship of
the usual type having four 12-inch
guns and with the advantage of the
greater speed of the larger vessel she
would be more than match for two
of the smaller vessels.