The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-07-27
CHANGES IN NAVAL
WORK ARE REQUIRED
France, According to Experts,
Learns Lesson During Re-
cent Maneuvers.
NO CLOSE BLOCKADES
Submarines and Torpedo
Boats Make Operations at
Distance Necessary.
70 CLOSE BLOCKADES
By GEORGE DUFREsNE.

Special Cable to The Tribune
PARIS, July 26-For the first time
in many years France has, during the
| recent naval maneuvers, been able to
place real first class modern navy at
| the disposal of the admirnls in COM
| mand and the results achieved have
been highly satisfactory, while at the
| same time the experiments made have
| been of the greatest value TO the ex"
perts of the navy department who are
| to plan the further evolution of the
country's naval defenses.
AS may perhaps be remembered, the
maneuvers which were originally
planned to take place in the Atlantic
were transferred to the Mediterranean
in order to have the navy as close as
possible to the sphere where its pres
ence might be needed at any time dur
| ing the Balkan disturbances.
Expert Speaks Plainly.
have just had a talk with the for"
mer secretary OF the navy. Vice Ad,,
miral Boue de Lapeyrere expressed
himself very openly as to the expert
ences reaped. First of all, he said, the
maneuvcrs showed conclusively that a
close blockade of an enemy . port ls
no longer possible. The modern sub
marine, which is able to go consld-
erable distance away from the shore,
apart from the danger of mines, COM
pei the blockading fleet to keep at
long distance, and this in turn makes
new methods of blockading necessary.
HIf the maneuvers we carried out
outside Toulon,'' the admiral said,
chad been attempted in real warfare,
there would not have been a single
vessel left on either side. In this opin-
ion / am upheld by our most famous
naval expert, NJ. PierreyRA'
Swiftness Is Need.
The maneuvers further prove that
France needs number of light, swift
cruisers in order to locate and annihil
ate the destroyers of an enemy. At
present we possess none of these at all,
while England has sixty~siX and Ger
many thirty-four, and we are compelled
to use our great destroyers of from
400 to 700 tons instead. but they were
not able to I'LL the bill.
The work done by officers and men
during the maneuvers was excellent and
equal to that of any foreign navy, and
if anything might be criticised it is
this, that we are not able to coal either
in port or in open sea as quickly as
an American naval vessel has done. but
the minister of marine has already
found means to remedy this, and very
extensive drills are even now being
carried out at Toulon and Bizerta.
Short of Officers.
The weakest point in frances naval
armor is admittedly the rather alarm
ing shortage of naval officers of nearly
all grades. There are not nearly Off
GERS enough to fill positions on the
newly built Dreadnoughts,
The battleship Jean Bart, for in
stance, ought to have, besides its com
mander, captain and officer in charge
Of the ammunition stores, six naval lieu
tenants and thirteen cadets. 1t will be
impossible to provide all these for quite
some time, and Jean Bart and our other
modern Dreadnoughts have only two
lieutenants and eight cadets The new
naval bill which materially increases
the salaries Of all officers, will, ii is
hoped, provide all the officers needed
In army circles the steady increase
Of desertions is source of the great
est anxiety, and as these are admittedly
lue to the syndicalistic agitation, a
strong demand is made that the stern
est measures be taken to put an end to
his, or the country will be in the
yreatest danger in case Of war.