The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1911-11-01
THE NAVAL REVIEW.

England has paraded her fleet in IN,
North Sea; Germany has made a dis
play OF hers in the waters about Kiel;
France has reviewed a good one at
/ Toulon; Italy has put hers 10 actual
use in the conquest OF Tripoli and the
/ locking up Of the Turkish navy inside
the Dardanelles. and, now. the United
| States comes forward with a naval re-
/ view at New York. 10 see which the
president has hurried eastward from
his western tour, and which will dis
play 10 an admiring world a naval
force which Secretary Meyer assures
US will be the second in the world be-
fore many years. There is no sort Of
question which is first, or which is 10
he the first for many years to come
but there is some doubt as TO which
is the second or third, and which is
TO occupy one or the other Of those
places for the next ten years.
The relative strength Of a navy de-
Ponds, Of course, in our day, primarily
upon the number and size Of the bat
tieships Of the first-class and the ton
mage of their armament; but much
also depends upon the strategy which
handles them and the men who work
them and their guns. comments the
Detroit Free Press Russia had much
the larger and stronger navy at the
outset OF the recent war. Captain Ma
han clearly pointed this out, but he
also warned Russia that the portion
OF her fleet in the Baltic could not be
Of much use as against the Japan
csc, especially II her Asiatic fleet
should be destroyed or crippled before !
a junction was secured. This was pre- |
cisely what happened. When Rojest- |
vensky had reached the Sea Of Japan |
the Port Arthur fleet had been sunk
or captured by the enemy, and some Of
the captures We're actually available /
against their sister ships I'm the battle
at which the Baltic fleet was disposed |
Of in little more than an hour. Even /
at that. many experts reckoned the /
Baltic fleet as quite strong, II not
stronger than Togo's. Here, therefore, |
II was clearly the superiority Of the !
personnel that decided the battle To. |
20 out-maneuvered Rojestvensky. and |
the japanese gunners outpointed the
Russians. There is hardly a doubt,
nevertheless that had the two Rus
sian fleets on opposite sides Of the
world been brought together before
facing the enemy, another story Of the
war might have been told, for the de-
feat Of the japanese fleet would have
the japanese incapable Of fill
Ing the ranks Of the army so fearfully
depleted by successive but costly vic
tories.
There is something Of a parallel In
he condition and situation Of our own
feet. III united, on either coast. our
navy would be able 10 withstand a
naval assault from any quarter Of the
globe, but while it Is all on the Allan
.ic, or all on the Pacific, or If 1t were
equally divided between the two one
lr the other coast or both might be
10 attack.
The completion Of the Panama canal
win do much 70 remedy his state Of
comparative weakness. Properly sta
Toned, after that passage shall have
'een opened, all the strength OF the
navy could be concentrated at the dan
ger point on either coast before an en-
my could do much damage and It Is
iificult 10 imagine how we could bel
attacked on both coasts at
he same time by the same power. BY
hat time, too, let us hope that Secrc-
airy Meyers sangune prediction win
pc fulfilled and that we shall have a
iavy capable Of beating any other on
he seas except Great Britian's, and In
aspect 10 that we need have no fears.