The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1909-06-10
Bataeships Coming.
They Win Visit the Maine Coast This
Summer.

They Win Visit the Maine Coast This
Summer.
WASHINGTON, d. c., June 2. The sum.
mer plans for the battleship feet in the
North Atlantic make it certain that the
Maine coast will see something occasion
ally between now and next October OF
the floating fortresses that returned q
few months ago from voyage around
the. world. The summer resorts and
fashionable folk generally, all the way
from klttery Point to Bar Harbor. how
ever, will have less of the navy this wear
than heretofore. There will be little loaf
ing around resorts and very few navy
social functions aboard ship and on shore.
This is because hereafter the depart-
ment has decided that the 16 battleships
and the 81, 600 officers and men aboard of
them must fill the summer months with
constant drilling and maneuvrinp. There
will be series of battle drills, for about
the first time in the history of the navy:
also target practice and search problems.
These activities will take the ships &C.
casionally far out to sea, perhaps half or
thirds the way to Europe. All the
time the base of operations will be at
Provincetown, Mass, on the tip of Cape
Cod, within which there is fine and safe
harbor.
But in the course of their voyages back
and forth certain of the battleships. it is
said at the navy department, will be drop
ping into Maine ports occasionally and
sometimes will be seen steaming on their
courses not far from the Maine shore. It
is even likely that some of the warships
may put into Bar Harbor, or Rockland or
Portland for a day or two at time, to
give the men shore liberty, to coal, or
otherwise to make ready for further sea
practice.
This kind of program will be followed
for many summers to come. For bat
tleship fleet of at least sixteen big ships
will be kept in the Atlantic, going South
to the West Indies in winter and coming
North to Provincetown and the New Eng
land coast in summer. According to the
new ideas OF keeping fleet on fighting
edge the drills and battle maneuvers will
continue summer and winter, with an in
terval when the ships put into the navy
yards for repairs and for docking.
This promises to be an Improvement
upon the old order of things. The de-
partment has found that the summer
visits to resorts and the teas, receptions,
dances and social festivities are not de-
sirable. They do not increase the fight
ing efficiency of the officers and men,
even though the presence of warships in
port and the consequent gayeties make
an attraction for visitors and increase
the receipts of innkeepers.
On the other hand, it is the purpose of
the department to give as many of the
American people as possible an opportu-
nifty to become acquainted with the bat
tleships and to see what they are getting
for the millions of their money spent up
on the navy. Residents of the Pacific
coast were given their first chance last
year to see big naval fleet, although an
occasional warship or even an occasional
squadron had been off that coast. Very
recently the battleship Mississippi has
been sent up the Mississippi river to re-
ceive silver service. While she was
sent there for that purpose, the depart
ment was more intent upon giving the
people up the valley an opportunity to
see and admire modern ship of war
Comparatively but small portion of the
people of the United States know what
warship looks like from observation of
the real article
Residents along the Maine Coast have
been much more favored for they have
had views of the American navy during
its entire upbuilding and are likely to be
thus favored during many years to come,
when our squadrons Of dreadnoughts will
be upon the water. Some of the ships
will be repaired annually at the Kittery
yard, which is called Portsmouth in spite
of the fact that the yard is not in New
Hampshire but in Maine. But for it's
good New England friends in Congress
the Kittery yard probably would be due
for closing within year or two. But
Senators Hale and Gallinger, both of the
naval committee, have been influential in
getting money for such extensive inn
provements to the yard that it can be
utilized extensively in the maintenance
of the new navy.
A torpedo fotilla is to be sent north
soon to cooperate with the battleships in
maneuvers. 1t is altogether probable
that some of those small but very inter-
esting ships will be seen in Maine ports
before the summer is over. 1t is not a
long voyage from Provincetown to Rock
land or Portland and the torpedo boats
and the destroyers will be operating in
that vicinity often. The purpose is to
have extensive practice cruises during
which the battleships shall have expert
ence IN taking care of the torpedo boats
and also during which the torpedo boats
shall have practice in taking care of the
battleships. The operations are to slim
ulate as closely as possible actual war
fare.
President Roosevelt almost every year
had big review of warships near his
summer home, off Oyster Bay. Presi-
dent Taft has no plans in mind for such
spectacle. In fact he will probably be
away on his trip into the West before the
time has come around when such review
could we'll be had or before the battle
ships could well be assembled near Bev-
erly.
The battle fleet of 16 big vessels and
the torpedo flotilla will not comprise all
the warships on the New England Coast
during the summer. There are a num-
Der of small cruisers in commission
which are plying back and forth on
divers missions. They will not engage
in the battle maneuvers. Some of them
will be available for shore visits and,
perhaps, some of them may go to the
Maine resorts before the autumn comes.
In the earlier days of the White Squad
ron such ships were regarded along the
Maine Coast as fine sight. But they
are now very small in comparison with
the leviathans that our navy yards and
ship building concerns are turning out.
As thew are no longer efficient for war