New-York tribune., 1911-04-02
BY LIEUTENANT PAUL FOLEY. u S. N.

and the superiority Of the product Is, OF course marked
This combined with the entire absence OF dirt, coal and
all attendant troubles of coal makes the electric ifSta-
tion very attractive.
Among the navies OF Europe. torpedo tenders or
depot ships as they called on the Continent have
been in commission for years. The English have eight
Somc-the Hecla the Tyne, and the Vulcan-are YES
sells Of the Dixie type othersthe Sapphire, the Blake,
the Benheim. the ST. George. and the Leander- are
older cruisers converted The Blake will be remembered
as the flagship OF the English squadron that visited the
United States during the Columbian Exposition Of 1893,
and anchored the head Of the long line OF foreign
ships in Hudson River.
The French tender is the Foudre, a vessel built on
regular man of war lines, commissioned IN 1895 and
rated as faster and more heavily armed ship than the
Dixie although of the same displacement. The alot-
ent of space to engines and battery the Dixie seems
a happer adjustment than that Of the French ship.
If high speed could be obtained without sacrificing
something else il might be of advantage but study
of conditions likely to obtain in time OF war points to
the conclusion that higher speed than the cruising
speed of the batteShip feet-about hiteen knotS-S
necessary as it does not within the probabilities
Of war that destroyer fleet will get beyond supporting
distance either of its protected base or OF the battehp
fleet The proper place for the tender Will be either at
the base or with the fleet auXareS and not operating
in actual company with the desroyers OF the battery
also it may be said that qualities in themselves intrln-
scalv desirable considered OF less value IN tender
than other qualities Storeroom space Tor example
which they would if included have necessarily excluded
II seems the sounder policy to equip tender not 50
much to fight herself or away. as 50 to satisfy the
needs of the eStroverS that in the hour of need they
strike so quickly and 50 hard that 1t will be all over but
the fireworks before the orchestra has finished the over
ture This is the policy OF Japan which has equipped
for tender the Toyohashi. vessel similar to the Dixie.
THE tender idea in our own navy after having been
discussed for many wears. first found expression in
the Yankee commissioned in 1908. The development Of
that vessel had advanced to some extent when she laid
her nose on Hen and Chickens Reef and occasoncd
officer faCctouSly inclined to enter IN his private log,
"Hcre endeth the Parent Ship. But II was not 50.
For time the activities of her officers and men were
centered upon wreckng operations. rather than torpedo
policy and the davS were full of incident and action.
Al one stage Of the salvage operations there were
board the Yankee.-lifted high and dry on rocky
rce-besides her officers and OF two hundred
men, the chief constructor of the navy an assistant
constructor from the New York ward, one hundred
hndsnen from Newport assisting in the discharge Of
stores thirty seaman gunncrS from the torpedo station,
sixty men Of the Merritt Chapman Wrecking Company
with their bosses, forty of the I. ~ Scott Wreckng
COMPANY with their bosses ten OF the Boston Tow
boat COMPANY with their Bosses twenty men from the
New York Navy Yard with their bosses the crews Of FIVE
submarines with their vessels anchored near. five sur
face torpeloboatS two coierS. and fleet of tugs and
all went merriv onward, while the thick fog fingered
overhead After the Yankee sank in December. her
officers and men transferred to the Dixie, sister
ship where the work unfortunately interrupted, was
resumed.
The many special features that have been described
Continued page I9