New-York tribune., 1913-06-23
cantain Sims LikenS Situation
to Army with Lone Round
of Ammunition.
LONG TIME IN THE MAKING
Emergency Could Not Be Met
Dewey Says Navy Is
Weak and Inadequacy
Invites War.


Deuev writing on THE Navy: Its Rela-
,,on N Future Generations" in an article
apnearing in the official programme for
Newport Navy Day, July p says America
should have a navy strong enough 10 IN
sure continual peace.
Another article is from the pen OF
CAPTAIN William S Sims, the new COM
mander Of the Atlantic torpedo houlla'
who sets forth that the navy is unpre-
pared for war. The fault. Captain Sims
remarks. lies with the people, whose
sense Of responsibility is not yet SUI
fcient for them to demand that the press
publish even the plain facts concerning
our grave deficiencies that are so wen
known 10 all of our possible enemies.
This state Of inefficiency," says Cap
tain Sims. lis. Of course. matter of com
mon knowledge in the navy, and the
Navy Department has consistently
recommended the minimum number OF
fighting ships and auxilaries. and the
minimum personnel and equipment con-
sidered necessary to maintain our ma
tional policies in the event Of their being
disputed.
The necessary lighting ships have not
been appropriated for. The personnel
both in officers and enlisted men, is In
sufficient 10 man ali the ships we already
have, and there are not enough auxiliary
vessels to maintain in active warfare
even the ships that can be fully manned
by the existing personnel. Moreover. the
reserves Of guns. ammunition and mill
tary and other supplies are insufficient
- f1s,r uFQr
in some cases almost wholly So
Lone Torpedo to Tube.
For example. there has been expended
about 100000 for fotilla of splendid
torpedo boat destroyers and submarines
designed to attack an enemys fleet with
one Of the most effective of modern
weapons. that is. the automobile tor
pedo. which has a range OF five miles
and an. explosive charge sufficient to
sink or cripple the largest battleship; but
we have not more than one torpedo for
each tube. so that this great force, which
should be one of our principal means Of
defence against a hostile feet may he
compared to an army marching into
battle with one cartridge in each soldiers
rifle. or a fleet advancing to meet the
enemy with one projectile for each Of its
guns. After such a f1otilla has fired its
single torpedo from each of its launch
ing tubes IL would be powerless to inflict
further damage, and would have to re-
treat or he destroyed.
"A torpedo is a complicated and ex-
pensive machine that requires more than
a year to build The navy's torpedo fac
tory is so inadequate in size that it can
not supply more than 100 a year and the
total capacity Of our country is not more
than 800. There are but few torpedo
manufacturers in the world, and they are
more or less interrelated. We know the
number of torpedoes that are turned out
and the number that each navy owns, and
they are informed as TO our deficiencies in
this respect and in other military equip
ment. The principal foreign navies have
from 5000 to 10000. and we have 1000.
These facts are not in any sense mill
tary secrets. The only persons concerned
who do not know them are the American
people
"Our ships are now Of good design and
we'll built" Captain Sims writes further.
"Our officers and men are second to none
duty. and our Individual units are ef-
fcient. but if we do not have adequate
numbers and all essential supplies pro-
vided for in time Of peace We must so
10 war with what we have. There will
be little time for preparation, because in
case OF war foreign navies, being fully
manned and equipped. will strike at once.
a navy Of sufficient size that is known
abroad to be prepared for war is the
strongest guarantee Of peace. but a navy
which our people believe 10 be ready for
war, but which foreign admiralties know
70 be unprepared, is manifest danger
War Invited, Says Dewey.
Admiral Dewey. in his article. also says
"inadequacy is an invitation TO war"
The only function and justification for
the existence Of a navy is the preserva-
ton of peace" the admiral writes. ITO
perform this function the navy must be
adequate, and though so much discussed
in these recent times the word adequate,
as applied to the navy, has only one
meaning. and that is an adequate navy
is a navy Of a strength sufficient to meet
and defeat any probable enemy. This
and varies from period TO period as other
naval powers Of the world vary their
naval strengths At the present period
adequacy on our part calls for navy
second in strength to that Of England
only.
Il believe il Is the duty Of each gener-
alton 10 pay its own insurance, and the
insurance for reace is a navy strong
enough to compel it, We are paying to-
DAY for the navy. as an insurance which
does not insure US. roughly. 81 so per
capita per annum Besides what has al
ready been paid in lives and money, we
are still mortgaged by lack of foresight
- in our fathers. to the extent Of the ma
tonal debt and the additional 81 so per
capita per annum that we are paying in
pensions. Shall our lack Of foresight con-
tnue this system Of mortgaging the COM
irg generations. or shall we add the rela-
lively small sum needed 10 the insufficient
insurance we already pay 10 make that in
sttrapce adeouate7"