The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-03-01
NAVAL OFFICERS
LACK KNOWLEDGE
Comment of Admiral capps at
Senate Committee
Hearing.
CONFESSION OF A CAPTAIN
LIEUT.. COMMANDER HILL RElT-
CRATES HIS CRITICISMS.

Washington. Feb. 2s--The senate
committee on naval affairs today heard
the statements of the naval officers
who have been quoted as criticizing the
construction of battleships, and upon
whose authority 1t has been suggested
the charges made by MIR. Reuterdahl
were based. Lieutenant Commanders
F. X Hill, Carl T. vogeIgesang and
Captain Bradley A. Fiske were ques-
toned concerning their views on the
naval construction, and Rear Admiral
Caps asked questions and commented
upon their testimony as they proceeded.
Ifeutehant Commander Hill said:
Our ships are usually good ships, but
L believe there are certain specific err
rors which should be remedied. and the
location of the water lire armor belt
OF our battleships Is, according TO my
opinion. one of these defects
Prepared a Report.
Mr. Hill said that last October the
secretary Of the navy decided to ap-
point a board TO investigate these mat
ters. but later decided not to do so. At
that time he prepared a report and had
letters bearing on the controversy to
subnait TO the board. He had submit
ted the papers 10 the secretary, show
ing his criticism and proposed remedy
for the defects.
II am not the originator of these crit
icisms." said 8Ir. Hill This subject
has been discussed for a long time,
and criticisms have been made by Of
ficers aboard ship. and special boards
have been ordered on board ships by
request of the navy department.
There are two questions In regard
to the armor belt. One is thickness
and the other the location. believe
the thickness is plenty. if not more
than II should be. but the location is
not correct according TO my view. You
want to get a ship into action at or
near a particular water. line and have
that water line protected. You must
have sufficient width of armor above
and below so 90 to protect that partic-
ular water line
Shos.d Carry More Coal.
Mr.. Hill, concluding, explained that
he thought the battleships should be
constructed to carry all the coal pos
sible. The ships. he said, have their
water line fixed by estimating but two
ffths of their fun capacity Of coal
which allows the speed trial to Show
the greatest speed possible.
Il think he added, rarely have ans
of our ships in service shown the speed
hey have developed on their trial trips
Foreign ships have the same weakness
IN this resrect, but foreign eonstruc-
Tors are correcting the error
i want enough coal on board te
chase the enemy after fighting HIM,
he declared, saying the batt'eships
should have all the coal possible. with
the water line fixed with a view of ac-
commodating it.
The new ships of our navy, he said
If provided with full load of coal
Will have seven feet and six inches OF
armor below the water line, and six
inches above 1t.
contrsdicted by capps.
Read Admiral Caps interrupted
with a question, which was followed by
a statement b, him contradictory tc
much that Mr.. Hill had said. He de-
elared that the practice of English
japanese and American constructors is
the same, certainly ior the past ter
years, regarding the water line and the
coal carried. If there was any differ
ence. he said. the Japanese provided
for less coal The tendency in the
American navy had been to provide as
large bunkers as possible.
Lieutenant Commander Vogeigesang
8 MEMBER OF Tie iuIftl DOdf1 ttldt cA'
amined all the turret ships on the At
lantie coast six months ago. was called
10 the stand. The result of the exam
nation. he said, was to show that there
should be some structural separation be-
tween the turret's probes and the hand
ling rooms on battleships which does
not now exist and never has existed iI
the service. 1t is, he said, imperative
that there should be some improvement
The safety shutters had proved to bt
cumbersome and Ineffective.
Replying to a question, he said he be-
Iseyed American turrets to be inferior
TO those of foreign ships. He thought
a disaster such as that on the Missouri
which cost sixteen lives could not have
happened on foreign ship. The fare
back would have been avoided by thu
method of construction of the turrets
of those ships.
"If you can propose anything to rem.