The National tribune., 1908-03-04

zine, the substance of which has ap.
peared in The National Tribune. wa:
made the basis of the examination, and
fense of the plan of construction. The
Admiral characterizes some of the
charges in the article as very unim-
portant." others $50 stated as to give q
wrong impression" and still others 'tab.
solutely false
Admiral Converse described his quail
ifications as Judge. He had been des-
ignated by the President to defend the
present system, and he had personally
filled every position on board ship, and
Equipment, Ordnance and Navigation
He was entirely confident of the general
superiority of our ships, and said that
this had been admitted by naval officers
abroad, who had carefully inspected the
vessels. The Illinois, particularly, had
been declared by the most competent
European naval experts to be faultless
AS to the charge that the armor belts
of the ships were below water when
the vessels were fully loaded, the Ad-
miral said that the vessels were moi
expected to go into battle carrying such
loads. When a man went into a fight
he took off his overcoat, possibly his
coat; ships did the same thing. They
dispensed with everything not absolute.
ly necessary for the battle. He pointed
out that the greatest overdraft of any
battleship in the Navy is on the Vir-
ginia, which amounts to only II inches
while it is but nine inches on the Geor,
gia. In the other types it is less than
six inches. Some of the ships now or
the Pacific went out with 1000 tons OF
extra weight, which, if discharged for
battle trim, would raise the vessel abou,
80 inches -"'
Admiral Capps supported this state
ment. saying that with bunkers full OF
coal for a long voyage there is not a
battleship in the United States Navy
that would have less than IL inches of
her armor belt above water. Admiral
Converse said that he would be willing
to take his chances on an American ship
with any war vessel afoat. He believes
the South Carolina to be the best class
of fighting ship in any Navy.
AS to the dearth of torpedoes, Ad-
while ago the battle range was less than
500 yards. At that time the Whitehead
had that effective range, but now, since
the battle. range isefrom 1000 to 5000
yards, the torpedo is. until its further
development, practically useless. The
two Admirals made a very excellent i'm
preston upon the committee, and SEEM
ed to vindicate the Bureau administra-
ton. '7"
Then came in Lieut.. Commander Will
Roosevelt and Inspector of Target Prac-
tice for the Navy Commander Simms
made no bones about admitting thai
he had furnished Reuterdahl with the
materials for his article, and that he
thought he did commendable thing in
doing so. He said that he had been foi
IL years pointing out to the Navy De.
partment, in an official way, the alleged
defects without its having any effect
From his first words there was elec.
tricity in the atmosphere, and everyone
in the committee room sat up and tool
notice. He had no hesitation in accus
ing the previous witnesses of making
misleading statements, some of which
he declared to be absolutely false, bu
added that this was inadvertence on tn,
part OF the Admirals. He qualified some
of these by saying that they had taker
two portions of his testimony, and pu
them together in way to convey al
impression directly opposite to that h
intended. He did not speak as scien
| tific man, but as a practical Navy man
who had seen the things of which h
testified. The armor belt should b
designed with reference to full suppl
of COAL. because any officer who woul'
take his ship to sea without all the Goa
| that he should carry ought to be court
martialed On the recent voyage som
of the vessels had exhausted their store
/ of coal when they were approaching Ri
de Janeiro. and there was anxiet
whether they would have enough t
take them to where they could obtai
fresh supply. When the vessels cam
into port the armor belts were belo,
the water line at degrees varying fror
| zero to one and a half feet.
Commander Simms was particular
severe upon the much-boasted marks
manship of the Navy. He said that tn
craftsmanship of the American Nav
in the Spanish War was 'the most dis
graceful exhibition of inefficiency eve
i witnessed in the world" Not more tha
four shots in 100 took effect, and it wa
the greatest wonder that the Spanis
ships did not get away. The mark:
manship was, however. no worse tina
. other features of the Navy administra
ton which the fighting officers ha
t yainIy tried for years to have remedies
I but had met with steady resistance @
. the part of the Bureau officials Son
= ton had been cured since then, bl
there remained very much yet to |
e lremedied. Commander Simms criticize
s the ammunition hoists and other fe;
[ lures, and repeated his assertions TIL
r the armor belt should be rather abo,
e than below the water line. since fe
! shells went below the water line.
1 was sharply cross-examined by Admira
lCopyerQe and Gamma and the p0llo0J