The National tribune., 1908-01-02
WHAT'S THE MATTER
WITH THE NAVY?
CONTINUED from page one.)

The turrets of the big guns are en-
tirely unequipped with emergency geal
for hoisting ammunition. Now, the
regular hoisting gear for each gun de-
pends upon wire cable under a grea
strain, and every foreign battleship is
fitted with emergency hoists for use il
this should break. The American tur-
ret crew must improvise a tackle foi
this purpose in case of accident. This
would be just about like rigging hand
derrick to lift safe into third-story
window. The shell alone for 12-mch
guns weighs $50 pounds, and that for
the 13-inch over LOO pounds. Prac-
tcally speaking, battle might be well
over before another shell was fired
from the turret whose hoisting gear
broke down, while the ordinary speed
of firing each of the two heavy guns
in the turret would be from once to
twice a minute.
All these things, in will be seen, are
but further examples of one surprising
and alarming characteristic of the man.
angement of our Navy-the same fail
ure, as in the case of our armor and
our low guns. to rectify mistakes when
once established.
Torpedoes and Destroyers.
Mr.. Reuterdahl claims that there
should be much greater development
of the torpedo boats and torpedo boat
destroyers and that the fleet to the Pa
cific should have had at least As tor
pedo destroyers to protect it from those
of the enemy, where there are but 20
in the whole Navy. The development
of the torpedo has been very rapid in
the past two years, with its range in
creasing from 500 to 5000 or 1000
yards, which has made every navy in
the world weak in its torpedo defense
We are far behind the other navies in
this respect, since to our 20 torpedo
e destroyers England has 147, France SO
and Japan So. The japanese might at
tack our fleet successfully with their
fotilla of deStroyerS.
Officers Old When They Take Command.
These are all faults of material equip
ment--some of the major faults. The
second-or. perhaps, more properly, the
first-great factor in the operation of
the Navy is its personnel. Now, this is
no arraignment of the personnel of the
American Navy. Let him who expects
It turn the page. The men and officers
in our Navy are not surpassed, ror
equaled, 1 believe, in any navy in the
world, in intelligence or bravery, or,
generally speaking, in enthusiasm. The
enthusiasm among the younger officers
is extraordinary. But no discussion of
our Navy can be complete without an
understanding of the age and the prep
aration of the chief officers of our fleet,
and, first of all, of our Admirals.
Fighting is the work of men in their
prime. No one who has not seen it
can realize the physical and nervous
strain which comes upon the one man
made responsible for the operation of
a fleet in battle. The fate of a Nation
literally hangs upon him. He must
watch continually for days before an
action. 1 myself saw Admiral Samp-
-. =
the New York, grow older and more
bent every hour during our Spanish
War. That strain, no doubt, helped to
hurry on his death. The story told in
that gossip center of the naval world,
the far East, of Admiral Togo's resist
ance to the orders from the japanese
Admiralty and the suggestions from the
Mikado himself to change the position
of his fleet, am confident, is true. I'VE
Will stay where we are "a hours" he
said. If the Russian fleet has not ar
rived then, will commit suicide" Just
before the "a hours expired the wireless
brought news of the Russians ap-
proach. Such strains as these are not
for old men, or, at least, not for old
men unless chosen by rigid process of
elimination.
In the report of the Chief of the Bu-
reau of Navigation for 1906 an esti-
mate was made of the ages of the high |
er officers in our service. Our Admirals |
averaged 81 years; the Captains of our
fleet, the active commanders of our bat |
tleshlpS and cruisers, averaged over 5S, |!
and it was shown that the average age
of orr higher officers, instead of dimin-
tshing, Tas on the contrary, increasing. |
But added to that is the fact that
nearly all of these men have virtually |
no trainingsfor their particular duties |
as commanders of great and modern |
ffrI in cIi inc nf
is 81; our officers can scarcely reach |
the higher positions before they are re-
tired. OF the % Captains who COM |
manded the battleships and armored |
cruisers in 1906 but five had ever had
any previous experience in responsible |
positions of secondary command upon
a battleShip or armored cruiser.
This condition in regard to age comes |
from system of promotion which ex-
lists only liz the Navy of the United |
States. Once out of the Naval Academy |
the column of officers forms and passes |
on in Indian file, changed practically |
not at all but by death or retirement. |
The other nayies of the world have I |
process of selection for all officers above !
the rank OF Lieutenant. Those lower
officers who are not selected for pro- |
motion are retired at a certain age. |
and this has given foreign countries |
picked men of lower ages for their i'm I
pOTIdul stations. 1T can pc SAID, With |
out the slightest criticism of the men |
now in the command of our Navy, that |
our system must be changed to allow
the selection of our higher officers. 1t
will not only give us younger men, Sc
lected for their work, at the head of |
our battle fleet; it will awaken thruout
the service a healtaful stimulus of am
bition which does not now exist.
Too Little Battle Drill.
Mr.. Reuterdahl next attacks the lack
of practice given our fleets. Since The
Spanish War we have had only 10 days
of actual battle manuvers say, from 60
to so hours, in nine years. Great Brit
ain and France spend several weeks of
every year in competitive tactical manu-
vers, in which two divisions are pitted
against each other in movements simu-
lating actual war operations The
French squadrons stand out to sea for
manuvers for five days week during a
large part of the year. This gives the
officers and men two days of the week
for home life upon shore, and is prob
ably better than our sending our Off
GERS and sailors on long cruises to diff
ferent parts of the world. A fleet is
only created by long practice at sea in
time of peace.
The Bureau System at Fault.