The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1908-02-17
AMERICAN NAVY
IS DEFICIENT IN
QUANTITY ONLY.
Admiral Converse Reports Ships
Not inferior to Th0se in
Foreign Service
Personnel in Ambition and
knowledge Second to
None in World
Defects Pointed Out by Critics
Declared to BE Absolutely
Uuf0unded


BY direction of the president Sec
retary Metcalf has made public
the report OF Admiral Converse
on the fighting ships of the
American navy, called forth by
many criticisms recently pub
lisied in magazines and other
wise. This report was prepared
primarily to satisfy the president
as to the exact state of our naval
ships compared with those of
other navies, and its publication
is authorized with the design TO
reassure the American sailors as
to the quality of the weapons
with which they must go into
battle.
Admiral Converse cIaracterizes the
criticisms as prepared by persons
whose knowledge of the subjects dis
cussed was limited and Incorrect
There was, he said. ample justification
for the adoption of the battleship de-
signs which have been followed.
MISTAKES NOT SERIOUS
TT is not claimed that mistakes have
not been made he adds. ..or that our
ships are without faults, but in view OF
the then state ef the art. OF battleshfp
building this fact Is not to be wondered
at. 1t is remarkable that the mistakes
were 50 few and that none were really
serious. In this respect our. record win
compare favorably with that of foreign
services
In the 81 pages which the admiral sie-
votes to the defense OF the navy the
subjects dealt with include battle drills,
freeboard Of American ships. height OF
gun positions. torpedo defense guns.
battIeship armor, turret designs. am
munition hoists, in and out turning
screws. the Kearsarge and Kentucky
and general notes
SHIPS NOT INFERIOR
His emphatic conclusion is:
Our ships are not inferior to those in
foreign services"
We have he says. .1made eompro-
misses in our designs of battleships be-
cause it Is impossible to construct a
perfect battleshfp. Such compromises
have perhaps detracted from the desired
perfect ship IN some respects, but at
| the same time have made it possible to
| improve upon some other existing dis
advantage. and. on the whole. the COM
promises. each and all. have tended
toward a nearer approach to the de-
sired perfect finality. Other nations
have labored and will, like ourselves.
continue to labor under this same diffi-
Guilty in endeavoring TO approach as
near as possible that inpossibility-
a perfect battleship-
.The quality of the material OF our
navy is inferior TO none; IN qua4tity Of
vessels alone are we lacking. With an
increase in number OF ships the Ameri-
| can navy will have been supplied the
only feature necessary to make it sec
ond to none in all that tends toward
| of actual combat. II such should unfor-
| tunately come, trings the only really
practical tests, our country need have
no fears or misgivings that our battle
| ships viii not give an excellent account
of themselves and prove themselves all
that we have designed them for and
know them to be-
PERSONNEL SECOND TO NONE
.-1t8e personnel of our navy. in am
bition and professional knowledge. =
the admiral adds, ais second to none in
the world
Considerable space is devoted to a
refutation of the criticism that Ameri-
can lighting ships do not set as high
ont of the water as those of foreign
navies-
1T may not be amiss.s the report
adds. while dealing with the subject
of gun heights and free board. to add
that the Japanese in their most re-
Gently designed ships have. notwith-
standing an increase Of speed and
length of vessel, not raised their gun
positions nor the free board, which is
one Of the results gained from their
experiences from their recent war"
It is noted that one OF the lessons
& learned from the Russo-Japanese war
| was that the three and six FOUNDER
guns were not heavy enough to repel a
torpedo boat AS result an our bat
tleships now carry heavier batteries
for such service.
1 In answering the criticism Of the po-
sition of the armor belt intended to
lCoonflnued on Page ., bottom Column