Omaha daily bee., 1908-05-15
man AnM1RAL srrnnY.
some Fscts About the New Com
mander OF the Battieneet.


some Facts About the New COM
mander OF the Battieneet.
Rear Admiral c. 3. spcrry. the new com.
mander under whose direction the Ameri.
can batuefieet will traverse the last half
on It's trip around the world s tho young
est Of three reer admlrsis who started with
the fleet, and has two years 10 serve be-
| fore the age limit compela him 20 haul
down hts pennant.
Up In Newport, r. l.. IL an institution
known as the Naval War Colege-a place
where navy officers are sent TO take a
Postgraduate course IN strategy, tactics.
and other subjects allied with their mill
tant profession. As n rule. says the New
York Times. It Is only the officers Of the
higher grade who are detailed for this
| course Of instruction at the War college,
those OF the rank OF commander or OF the
grades that are above that rank. Natur-
| ally the Officer selected for president Of
the college must be one Of superior attain
ments. For three years sperry was presi-
| dent OF the college From that duty he was
detached last summer and sent 20 The
| Hague az Americas naval representative
/ at the peace conference. When the con-
| ference ended he was ordered home and TO
the command OF the fourth division OF the
Atlantic fleet, his flagship the Alabama.
/
The officers Of the navy well know each
other. One Of these, a elassmate of the
rear admiral. who Is soon TO assume COM
mand Of the fleet, pays him this tribute:
| "Sperry," he said, missed the glory OF
| the Spanish-Amercan war. but he did not
| miss the hard work OF II. As ordnance
! officer Of the New York navy yard he had
his full share of that. To the ordnance Of
rcer fall all the details OF fitting out the
vessels with their entire artillery outfits.
| There was scarcely a day for more than
six months then that at least a dozen OF
the purchased yachts we're not at the
docks to be armed and started off In a
hurry, but not a mistake must be made.
This only in addition TO the repairs and
| equipment Of the main fleet / saw sperry
at his work often In those days, and Il
was joy TO the spirit to see the machine
work. There was a tangle in the thread
every few minutes. but II came straight in
a moment and without stop in the regular
motion of the shuttle.
He is going to handle the fleet OF bat
tleships in exactly the same way. II is not
merely matter Of navigating some twenty
odd vessels in company. There is the COM
fort, the well-being. the training, and the
steady enthusiasm OF 1900 persons TO be
maintained. 1t takes a steady hand at the
| what
is called the exalted position to carry the
cruise to a successful finish"
|
Born in New York. sperry entered the
Naval academy in 1862 Entering the acad-
emy as the youngest of his class, he was
graduated almost at the head of It. This
explains why he will still be in service
after all the rest OF his classmates have
been retired. His youth and the high
place he took I'm graduating prepared him
to become a rear admiral early and to stay
late.
Among his brother officers Sperry is de-
scribed as '1evel-headed," as being a
thoughtful, brainy officer, who can be de-
pended upon to meet any emergency A
recognized authority on tactics. he is re-
puted to be one Of the most brilliant strate-
gists in the service. He is also an authority
on international law and its usages and is
full of tact and resource When to all of
this is added a high professional compe-
tenee one can understand why he is re-
garded one of the most able and ac-
complished officers in the service.
Sperry's first sea service was on board
the old corvette Sacramento. As a mid
shipman he was serving on that vessel
when on a stormy night and during a
thick fog the vessel lost its bearings ana
drove on reef off the coast OF Hndustan,
becoming a total loss.
The crew made an effort to reach the
shore by the use Of RATS. One Of these
was swept out to sea by a current and it's
twenty-nine occupants might have perished
had 1t not been for a timely rescue which
was effected by passing steamship which
, sighted the raft and took off the men.
r Sperry, along with the rest Of the crew,
, reached the land and after a succession OF
privation and danger the party made its
way to Madras and was there put on board
a chartered steamship and brought home.
The rest of his forty-six years OF active
/ service were spent In the routine Of navy
, life, tour of sea duty alternating with
{ tour OF duty on shore. three years at
: sea and then three years as instructor at
1 the Naval academy. another three years
afloat and then three years as Inspector
I OF ordnance, and so on up to the time OF
his presidency OF the Naval War college
1 But not until he hoists his pennant as
! commander-in-chief of the great Atlantic
{ fleet will he have emerged from the OBJ.
scurity of everyday work we'll done.