The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-12-15
BATTLE FLEET
OFF TOMORROW
GTsataSt Cruise Ever Made
by WarshIps
20 VESSELS AND $4,000 MEN


sixteen OF the fleet Are BaatIeShVpS and
the others supply Vessels Problems
Of Stewardship and supply ting the ships
q ne solved. with Thirty Days Of
Target Practice I'm Lower CALIFORNIA;
Greatest Danger viii Ne Passing
Through the straits oT Magellan
Battle Fleet the Name GsINen ny tho
President In HIs Recent Messag e = Adj
mlrsI Evans tn Command. with Three
Other AdmlraIs TO Assist About B7g.-
o Tens Of COaI Co ne lsed Enormous
: Amount NJ supplies 10 Be CarrIed.
When President Roosevelt steams down
10 the head of the column OF warships an
chOred in Hampton Roads tomorrow and
orders a hosting signal set on the May
flower, sixteen battlesbips and four supply
Rhips, a column six miles long, under com
mand Of Rear Admiral RObIey ID. Evans.
will up anchor and in single Ale pass out
the Virginia Capes in stately review.
The band on every battleship will play
the -Star Spangled Banner" the sides OF
the ships will be lined with sailors. the
officers will be at attention and the Prssi-
dent will stand with head uncovered. When
the last ship in the line has passed the
MayHower, that vessel will mead for Wash
ingtOn.
Admiral Evans's feet will turn soiith.
Where il is really headed for il not known.
The programme at present is that il shall
arrive at San Francisco about May I Of next
year.
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 an
nual message: mo feet Of such size has
ever mad such a voyage"
The feet has been desi grated officially
by the President in his message as the
Battle Fleet. This il not because The feet
ia necessarily going out to give battle. but
because il 10 the feet that would give battle
II this country were enga ged in war with
another maritime Power.
1t is the first time that any feet Of the
United States has been called a battle feet
in time OF peace, II is a departure in naval
nomenclature that is significant to many
persons. To those in the navy IL lie re-
garded as meaning that this feet ia being
made ready TO give battle. and that the set
tied policy of the Navy Department here
after is to ave a feet keyed up to battle
pitch all the time.
The ostensible purpose, and the only pur-
pose 30 far as Shas been given out and so
far AZ the naval officers Of the feet know.
Of the cruise is for practice. That means
the solution Of problems OF long continued
seamanship in concert. Of supplying a great
feet with coal and provisions in out of the
way places and of target shooting.
The President has said that the cruiae TO
the Pacific will show what the needs OF the
navy are. II will bring out the defects in
training and equipment, and the best means
Of correcting them will then he a matter for
the Navy Department and Congress TO deal
with. The President has declared that
-it will be Of very great educational use to
oil engaged in it, Lot il 20. therefore. that
this cruise is for educational purposes.
STATISTICS OV THE FLEET.
Here ara some salient facts concerning
the ships and the cruise. The tonnage
al the sixteen battleships will be in rouni
numbers 223. 900. There will be about
I4,OOO men officers. sailors and marines
on board.
No less than a25 modern guns will be on
the ships, from the monster ~ inch size
which hurls proiectileS weighing 1880
pounds down 10 the one Founders and other
machine guns that shoot small prOjectiIes.
The most powerful weapons on the feet
will he the ~ inch guns. of which there
will he IA.
These guns shoot prOiectiles weiRhinR
$50 pounds. with a muzzle energy of 100
feet a second and a muzZle velocity Of a, 400
foot tons; that is. a power that could lift
- 400 tons one foot. Although smaller than
the 10 inch guns they have greater destruc-
tive force.
The length of the voyage will he 3 ,772
miles, and it il expected that I35 days will
he occupied in making the trip. Of these
sixty days will be spent in port renewing
supplies and giving shore leave.
Nearly 1870 600 tons Of coal will be con-
eumed and the cost OF it apprOximates
81. 800. 1000. Each ship will carry about 1000
tons Of supplies, varying from ammunition
10 the smallest thing necessary for the
larder.
The cruising speed will be about ten and
q half knots. II is probable that the ships
will go in single file most Of the way and
that no evOlutiOns or will be
tried, in order 10 econOmize on coal. The
ships will he at intervals Of 100 yards. and
in fair weather. storm or fog that interval
will be kept vigorously.
Inder no circumstances will the feet
scatter. Il must be kept together COM
pactly sO as to practise what Charles n.
Cramp, the ~shipbuilder. once said was the
greatest need Of our D8vy-battleship sea-
manship.
Only five stops will be made on the way
90 San Francisco. The first will be At the
Port of Spain. Trinidad; the second at
Rio de Janeiro. the third nj Punta Arenas,
in the Straits Of Magellan; the fourth a;
Callao, Peru. and the fifth at MaRdalena
Hay. in Lower California.
Five days each viii be spent At Trinidad
INC Punta Arenas and ten days each al Rio
and CallaO. Thirty days will be- spent in
Magdalena Bay for target practice.
After that the ships will go to San Fran
cisco. and then the problem OT what to do
with them. whether to bring them back in
the same way or by way Of Europe. leaving
n Iar0e mart Of than in the phiiDnina.