The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1910-12-09

tion by Secretary George Won L. Meyer
\ of many of the navy yards and naval
stations are apparent in certain sweep
ing recommendations for the abolition
of some of these and the development
of others, as set out in the secretarys
annual report just made public.
Secretary Meyer recommends Civ
ing up and disposing of the naval sta
tions at New Orleans, Pensacola, San
Juan, Port Royal, New London,
Sacketts Harbor, Culebra and Cavite.
He finds that the average yearly cost
of maintaining these stations for the
past five years has been $1,672,675,
while very little useful work has been
performed therein.
The secretary discusses the strong
points and shortcomings of the var
ious yards at length and incidentally
he points out that the United States
has twice as many navy yards as
Great Britain with a navy at least
double the size of ours. Touching the
New Orleans yard, it is said that it's
position 100 miles up the Mississippi
river is such that in time of war no
I large vessels should be sent there on
account of the danger of the passes be-
ing blocked. The Pensacola navy
yard is condemned as impossible of
fortification and as strategically un-
necessary. The secretary thinks that
kSsae Gulf and South Atlantic coasts
can best be defended by an effective
naval station at Guantanamo, Cuba,
where the emergency docking and re-
pair facilities should be provided at an
This would involve the transfer to
Guantanamo of the New Orleans float
ing dock and machine tools from the
Algiers yard and from Pensacola. Key
West alone of the Gulf naval stations
should be maintained not as a first
class station but for the supply and
quick repair of small gun boats and
torpedo craft operating in the Carri-
bean Sea. The secretary predicts that
in time of war the cities of the gulf
coast will be, from their natural Sc
curity, the chief sources of supplies
and material and the probable points
from which our troops will embark
either for the Isthmus of Panama for
further transit, or for service in the
Caribbean, as may be required
Because the Portsmouth, Boston,
New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk
yards have accessible dry docks of
which we have too few, it is found inn
possible to give up any of them. Port |
Royal has dry dock unapproachable |
for battleships or even cruisers and the
Charleston dock is likewise useless as
Lne channel fills it at the rate OF from |
three to four feet year But in re-
gard to final recommendation as to |
other yards and auxiliary stations on |
the Atlantic coast, save those specifi- !
cally named for abandonment, the Sec
-etary says he awaits the recommends
tion of the joint board of the army and |
navy.
On the Pacific coast Secretary Meyer
finds the Bremerton yard at disad-
vantage through its lack of railroad |
communication and its distance from
any large supply of labor. But its fur
ther development is regarded as a nee
essity in view of the fact that the fleet
at some time after the opening of the
Panama canal may be based in the
Pacific ocean.
The Mare Island navy yard is very
severely criticised for it's inaccessible
ity, both on account of its great dis
tance from San Francisco and the
shallowness of the channel. The
muddy water of the San Pablo Bay is
also said to work havoc with the con-
densers of the warships. No battle
ship injured in action could be taken
to Mare Island even for temporary re-
pairs nor could the yard be reached !
by number of the heavy battleships
or heavy cruisers even when uninjured.
But as $14O0OOOO already has been
spent on this yard, the secretary thinks s
that in order to avoid a total loss it &
would be wise to utilize it for such !
vessels as can reach it and also for |
such manufacturing and repair work {
ahr the larger vessels as can readily t
be sent to the navy yard and returned g
to the vessels lying in San Francisco /
Bay Looking to the future he says t