Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1913-10-16
new FLEET TO Be
M|CHT|EST OF ALL
Canal Will Make Atlantic and
Pacific One,
THE PRIDE OF AMERICANS.

AS Oceans Join, Both Fleets of Uncle
Sans Navy May Become One, Thus
Forming Greatest Naval Unit In
World - Twenty five Dreadnouehts
to File Through the Canal.
New Iork.-How many people in this
land realize that the days of the At.
lantic fleet are numbered? The At
lantic fleet. that great organization
which inspired kipling TO help i'm
mortalize Bob Evans. which brought
applause from an admiring world when
1t sailed out of Hampton Roads aud
steamed triumphantly back again at
the end of the first great naval cir.
cumnavigation of the globe; which
thrilled millions of Americans when
majestically it passed in review before
the president of the United States on
its way to sea last year; the feet of
which every American is and OF right
ought to be proud. Yet the day of its
passing is not far Off
DuL the Is also Iue cOllllIlS. IOT
simultaneously with the end of the
world famed Atlantic feet there will
come into existence a still greater fleet,
to be known as the United States fleet;
a fleet that will pass at the will OF the
naval chiefs from ocean to ocean and
which will be-as the Atlantic fleet of
today iS nOf-nnI1ollv in, ho
defensive sch 2me of both the Atlantic
and Pacific seaboards.
The Atlantic fleet of today Is a
splendidly otticered and manned Or
ganization of twenty-one super-Dread-
noughts, Dreadnoughts and first line
battleships. AS a lighting unit it is
certainly the equal and, in the opinion
of thousands who are In position to
judge, the superior. ship to ship, of any
feet that sails any sea under any flag
1t is a feet whose vessels total in dis
placement more than $4,000 tons, ex-
elusive of auxiliaries. 1t numbers
among its units the great super Dread
nought Arkansas. which less than a
fortnight ago made civilization take
notice when it was officially announced
that her gunners had smashed every
existing record made with guns of the
twelve inch type.
The day when the Atlantic fleet
passes gloriously into history and the
United States fleet takes its place in
she lineup of the worlds great naval
organizations will be the day when the
old Oregon, the famous ship of 1898
that sailed around South America and
Joined Sampson in the nick of time to
win an undying name at Santiago, will
lead the American fleet from the At
Iantic to the Pacific via the Panama
canal Behind the Oregon, which for
a day only will be Il flagship, will trail
in majestic line the fleet that is dy
ing and the feet that is being born.
The fleet will include twelve Dread
noughts and super r-Dreadnoughts and
as many more battleships of the first
line. The displacement of the feet will
approximate half million tons.
The fleets thousand guns of all types
if fired simultaneously would burn up
in smokeless powder more than $5O,-
600, the projectiles would weigh ap-
proximately $1,000 pounds. and the
total firing cost would be slightly in
excess of $145,OO0
In order properly to appreciate the
magnitude of the United States fleet
that Is to be it may not be out place to
say a word or two of the Atlantic fleet
of yesterday and today. the splendid
feet which sailed around the globe un-
der Evans. Thomas and Sperry, a trio
of great feet commanders, all now
dead. When Theodore Roosevelt as
president of the United States babe
the feet under Evans godspeed as it
steamed past the Virginia capes that
December day in 1907 there was not
an American worthy the name who did
not feel heart throb of pride as he
saw or pictured that magnificent line
of vessels which the flagship Connecti-
cut led out to sea, from her foremast
huttering the two starred blue pennant
of Fighting Bob" Evans. who was
then beginning. as events proved, his
last voyage as commander in chief Of
the Atlantic fleet.
The United States feet is 10 be the
first under the American tag in which
two entire divisions will be made up
of vessels of the all big gun type.
That fleet, when it officially comes into
existence, will probably comprise TWEEN
ty-five fighting ships in addition to a
great feet Of naval auXiliaries and
fotillas Of torpedo boat destroyers
and submarines. The New York will
be the flagship. and therefore it is not
out of place to tell briefly just what
kind of ship this namesake of the
Empire State is 10 be. She will carry
in her main battery ten guns Of the
newly perfected fourteen inch type.
each 50 mounted that all can be used
in a single broadside 10 either port or
starJ-. Each OF these guns wifi
fire a projectile weighing LOO pounds
meaning a broadside of $4,000 pounds.
.-lHf ,.nSr R.. r4fraI