The semi-weekly messenger., 1908-03-03

Washington, February 29.-The SEN
ate CuinniLCee Oh naval affairs today
heart tAe aLaLcuentS CT three naval
officeIS VINO nave been quoted as cri-
ticisiug the construction of batteshipS
and upon whose authority it has been
suggested the charges made by Mr..
Reu tardahl were based. Commanders
r. K. Hill, Karl Cogalgesang and
Captain Bradley K. Fiske, were queS-
toned concering their views on naval
construction and Rear Admiral Capps
added quesIiOnS and commented upon
their testimony as they proceeded.
Lieutenant Commander Hill OF the
navy was the first witness.
II would like to say in the begin
ming" he said, that is far. from me
to state before this cor]rittee or be-
fore the public that our ships are not
good ships. They are very good ships,
but | believe that there are certain
specific errors which should Ee RENE
died and the location c. the water
lino armo~ belt Of our battleships is,
according to my opinion, one CT these
defects.
RI. Hill said that last October the
secYo tary CI the navy decided to ap
poirG board to Investigate these
matters but later decided not to do
SO.
Efe had Submitted papers to ths
secretary showing his criticism aud
proposed remedy for the defects.
81 am not The originator Of this
eriticism," said 2Ir. Hill. This subject
has been discussed for long time
and criticisms have been made by Of
fcers aboard ship, and special boards
have been ordered on board ships
by request Of the navy department.
There are two question in regard
to the army belt One is the thickness
and the other is the location. l be-
ieve the thickness is plenty if not
more than it should be, but the loca
tion is not correct, according to my
view. You want to set ship into ac-
tiSn at or near a particular water line
and hare that water line protected.
Eou must have sufficient width Of
armor above and below SO as to pro-
tect the particular water line.
Mr.. Hill continuing, explained that
he thought the battleships should be
constructed to carry all the coal pos
sibie. The ships, he said, have their
water line fixed by estimating but two
Gftls Of their full capacity of coal
which allows the speed trial to show
the greatest speed possible.
II think" he added, rarely have
any Of our ships in service shown the
speed they developed on the trial
trip.
Foreign ships, he said, have the
same weakness in this respect, but
foreign constructors are correcting
the error.
| want enough coal on board to
chase the enemy after fighting him"
he declared, saying the battleships
should have all the coal possible with
the water line fixed with a view of
accommodating It.
The new ships Of our navy, he said,
if provided with full load Of coal,
will have seven leet and six inches
below the water line and six inches
above it
Senator Tillman suggested that the
contractors have the water line es-
tablished so that they can get the best
speed out of the battleships "and get
the best of the bargain"
Rear Admiral Capps interrupted
with a question, which was followed
by q staten ent by him contradictory 10
much that Mr.. Hill had said He de-
clared that the practice of England,
Japan and American constructors is
the same, certainly for the past ten
years regarding the water line and
the coal carried. If there was any diff
ference, he said, the Japanese provid-
ed for less coal The German practice
he asserted is not different The ten
dency in the American navy has been
to provide as large bunkers as possi-
BILE.
Mr.. Hill said he thought the water
line armor belt of the new battleships
should be raised ten inches
Lieutenant Commander Carl T. Vo-
gelgesang, a member of the turret
board that examined all the turret
ships on the Atlantic coast six months
ngo, was ca.4ed to the stand. The re-
suit of examination, he said, was to
show that there should be some struc-
<tural separation between the turrets
proper and the handling rooms on
battleships which never has existed
!. In, the service It is, ne said. impera-
tive that there should be some i'm
provement The safety shutters had
proved to be cumbersome and iASc-