The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-02-07
BATTLESHIPS START
ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
Continues From Paqe /.


gers on two liners anchored close into
shore burst into involutary cheers.
For a distance Of twelve miles the
feet stood TO the SOUTH Then, being
clear of Cape Tarifa, the most south
eriy point, and with nothing but the
broad Atlantic between them and home.
the flagship headed abruptly to the
westward and, in Indian file, the splen-
did feet left the ancient Pillar of Her
cuIes behind and steamed through the
straits and out to sea.
In Cruising Formation,
/ Looking from the rock of Gibraltar,
/ the water separating the ships seemed
gradually to be obllterated as the dis
lance increased until the sixteen huils
resembled a long white line surmount-
ed by trailing plume of smoke sud
denly, off Cape SpaFtel, the line wa
vered and broke into small parts. Then
/ a few minutes later there were two
parallel lines instead of one, showing
that the feet had assumed its regular
| double cruising formation.
The last glimpse of the waTships was
obtained at Isl this afternoon from the
signal station on top of Gibraltar 1900
feet above sea level. They were headed
a little to the south of west to reach
the 35th parallel, which they intend to
| follow
The dispatch boat Yankton is 700
miles ahead of the fleet and 800 miles
ahead of the supply ship Culgoa, which
left here Feb. 4. The collier Ajax and
the repair ship Panther will remain
here until tomorrow to clear W odds
and ends.
The officers and men left here with
feelings of jubilatiOn and their next
port will be home. When the fleet
reaches Hampton Roads it will have
Travelled about $4,000 miles, and trav-
ersed about 400 degrees of latitude and
as many degrees of longitude.
AdmiraI's Statement.
Rear Admiral sperry, prior to the de-
parture of the battieships for Hamp-
ton Roads, expressed the greatest sat
isfaction with the results of the
around the-world-eruise. He then made
the following statement:
This cruise marks an epoch in our
naval annals, for the fleet has found
itself-been welded into a unity An
aggregation of battleships, irrespective
of the power and efficiency of the units,
is not fleet in the highest sense of the
term until by long, faithful and har-
monious work on the part of the per-
sonnet, the spirit of the feet has been
developed That now has been accom-
plished. The American people have
come to appreciate what it means to
have feet like this.
THE lessons of the cruise have been
many, and it is no exaggeTatiOn to say
that the condition of the ships is bet
ter today than when they sailed from
Hampton Roads in December of 1907
During these fourteen months the fleet
has been practically self-sustaining in
the matter of repairs. The officers and
men responsible for repairs have met
every test, and the results prove that
the ships have been better cared for
than when they depended upon the
navy yards.
"Enlistments in the navy certainly
will be stimulated by the general inter
est in this cruise and the splendid op-
portunities afforded the men to see the
world Cruises to foreign ports, which
keep the men interested and contented.
| should be the rule and not the excep-
ton.
New Standards Set.
New standards of efficiency in steam
engineering, which means economy in
coal consumption and increased radius
of action. have been established. The
voyage OF Sfb5l miles from Honolulu to
Auckland was the longest ever under
taken by large feet without recoal-
ing, yet we reached Auckland with coal
enough in our bunkers to steam an ad-
ditional thousand miles,
For technical work the cruise has
been ideal. The long stretches between
ports permitted unremitting daily ex-
ercise and maneuvering. The degree Of
gunnery efficiency has been greatly i'm
proved, as the conditions Of drilling
and training during long distance cruis-
ing cannot be equalled in home waters
where there is constant interference.
This is proved by the unequalled re-
suits of the target practice at Magda-
lena bay and Manila.
The fleet everywhere has eDcouD-
tered unbounded hospitality. The Law
ish entertainment and perfect good
feeling displayed were almost without
precedent, and they should always be
remembered by our people. While the
cruise has been intensely interesting
and valuable to officers and men, there
is naturally widespread eiation
throughout the feet at the prospect of