The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-11-25
IF We HAD TO FIGHT COULD OUR
NAVY IN VIEW Of WEAKNESSES
WITHSTAND FIRST CLASS POWER

- ~ hNtNitoS tNbIdNdBdHtH.
President Taft.
Beneath the Palisades of the Hud-
son River the nations fleet swung at
anchor-the strongest array of war
ships ever assembled in home waters.
From Fifty-ninth street to Spuyten
Duyvil these floating forts swung with
the tide-gray masses of turreted
steel with great guns. Surely SUI
perb spectaclel From the wooded
heights of Riverside Drive, from the
windows OF the giant apartment
houses that line its slope, and from
the Palisades millions of citizens
proudly reviewed the nations bull
warks of battle. They saw the navy
of the United States. their first line
of defense against Old World agrees
sion; and their hearts swelled at the
power and majesty of the American
armada.
Let us see what we had there: The
sixteen ships of the Atlantic Fleet
formed the nucleus: two armored
cruisers. some of the older battleships
smaller cruiser types. plus destroyers
and torpedo boats, submarines and
auxiliaries, formed the lines. To
make the review more imposing, two
of the newest dreadnoughts were
pushed out of the Navy Yard. in
parts incomplete. 1t actually was
mobilization OF the greater part of
the nations naval force, and who
can deny that as spectacle 1t was
grand?
Appearances are sometimes de-
lean armada-what If l tell you that
ceptive. You are proud of the Amer
should this fleet go to war tomorrow,
the biggest part of 1t might be Grip
pied. perhaps sunk, before 1t got very
far? 1t might be torpedoed by the
enemy's destroyers before it even met
his main force. If 1t escaped torpedo
attack by the sheerest luck. these
splendid ships, meeting the enemy,
might easily be outmaneuvered. Why!
the enemy's admirals younger and
more experienced, have learned tho
art of war I'm the school of the grand
maneuvers, which involve the STRAIT
egic and tactical handling of all the
ships of complete lighting fleet No
such maneuvers have ever been prac-
ticed In our navy. And so the enemy
would have the initial advantage in
the action. They know their bust
ness
Look ut tho Facts.
An alarmist. you say-we have Il
great navy-we have seen II in the
Hudson; we know our men are as
brave and probably keener, man for
man. than those of England or Ger
many or France or Japan. Look up
the marksmanship record-the steam
ing fnciency--nonsense!
BE patient. Affect Is a weapon Of
defense, isn't At Well the true method
of defense In war Is attack. Naval
battles are not fought in harbors, but
far out at sea. Before they meet the
enemy our vessels may have to cruise
thousands of miles They will need
coal. What about colllers For want
of sufficient number of colliers this
great American fleet of ours is tied tn
its coal piles. What about repair and
ammunition ships? Suppose i'm its
first action the fleet supply of powder
and shell is exhaqsted-it must run
10 base. This hapBeue'd to Togo dur
ing the battle OF August 10, 1a04. In
the Hudson there was just one am
munition ship, and the old collier Le-
banon, and she lacks the refrlgera-
tion equipment to keep the smoke
i less powder at stable temperature.
And the Lebanon is capable of re-
oplenIshing the ammunition supply of
one dreadnaught.
d'"How can all this be" asks the man
in the street. Have we not paid for
a great navy?" The answer is
Congress. Congress still thinks that
battleships alone make lighting
fleet.
One hundred and two ships of war
swung to their anchors; there were
salutes and hurrahs; the eagle
screamed and the press proclaimed
the review as the greatest thing ever
The great American public went to
bed thinking that this powerful feet
was ready for battle-ready to go
forth upon the high seas and beat up
an enemy with superior force.
This fleet as a fleet Is not prepared
for war, nor will 1t be for some time
to come. While each vessel of the
Atlantic force is a highly trained and
efficient fighting machine, the fleet as
a whole Is not ready and cannot be
made ready until public opinion forces
congress to realize it's immediate
needs. This is a statement of fact
and is not personal opinion, the re-
suit of Indigestion, pessimism' or
fault finding. Any of the serious
minded officers of the navy, particu-
Iarly the younger ones, will agree
with me. on the deck of one of our
dreadnoughts an officer, one of the
brightest men in the service, said
Comparatively speaking, we are, to-
day, as poorly prepared for war as we
were In the Spanish war"
In a word, the mobillzed ships In
the Hudson river constitute but the
empty shell of an efficient fleet.
And their mobilization bears about
the same relation to readiness for
war as does a parade down Broadway
of troops who are not equipped for
the field.
Our Fleet Lacks eyes"
The destroyer Is the battleship's
worst enemy. on stormy or foggy
night searchlights do not protect the
battleship, so swarm of destroyers
may easily get the big fellow at their
mercy. A fleet can only be protected
against torpedo attack by its own de-