Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-06-30
UNCLE SAM AFL0AT.
III.-Navy Traditions.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

Traditions largely determine the char
acter of nations navy. The memory Of
her destruction of the invincible Spanish
Armada with a small, hastily gathered
Meet naturally forced Great Britain to
become the mistress Of the seas. Her
bright traditions give Britannia's navy a
great advantage over every other coun-
try upon the sea, with the exception of
the United States Besides his guns and
armor, each commander in our navy
takes with him into action memories of
deeds done under the Stars and Stripes
upon the water which bode ill to the
foe he may engage.
Our navy began auspiciously. In its
infancy 1t tried conclusions with the
worlds most powerful naval power, and
then established traditions for dash and
gallantry which since have inspired our
naval officers in innumera BILE brilliant ac-
IONS; These traditions of our navy's
nshting quality began with John Barry
and John Pau. Jones. Among the in
trepld feats of Jones the duel between
the Bonhomme Richard and the Scraps
has stood high example and gave to
the navy the watchword, Il have not yet
begun to fight" as the proper repartee
when an American commander is told to
strike his colors. The successful daring
OF John Paul Jones determined in great
part the fnvincible commanders who fol-
lowed him.
So, too. the tradition Of superior gun
merry in our navy has been maintained
until the present day. Many of the en-
gagements between our ships and British
men-of-war during the revolution and
again in 1872 were decided in our favor
on account of the great precision with
which the Americans placed their shot
And today their craftsmanship is un-
surpassed
During the spanish-American war. a
gunner upon one Of our battleships main
tanned that he could shoot out the left
eye Of an ordinary housedy at a dis
tance of FIVE miles with a thirteen-inch
shell. At Vera Cruz our gunners dem
onstrated the deadly accuracy of their
fire when they turned their attention to
the Naval Academy from whence our
marines were being shot down in the
streets. Not one shot went wide. The
Shippers were at the windows. 1t was
at these windows that the ships guns
were directed, with the result that every
easement was demolished by shot wing
ing their way direct for bull
1t was in harmony with the laurels
gained by our first frigates and sloops of
war that Command
Fought japanese er Daird McDougal
c: r, upon the cruiser
oAAsie 1Aanueu. Wyoming, made
sinsle-handed attack upon the forces Of
Japan at Shimonoseki in the summer of
1868. With the terrible war between the
north and south consuming the strength
Of the nation at home. McDougal ven
tured to take upon himself the task of
forcing Japan to respect the rights OF
American commerce.
At that time. Japan was almost in
state of civil war. The struggle was be-
tween the forces of the prime minister.
the ''shogun'' or tycoon" who had be-
come virtually the head of the govern
ment. as other shoguns before him had
done. and patriots who were determined
to restore the mikado to his old-time
authority. and, also. to expel the for
eign devils.
McDougal, who was in pursuit of the
Confederate steamship Alabama, re-
ceived news July IL that the American
steamer Pembroke had been fired on
by the Japanese without warning in the
straits of Shimonoseki Although under
orders to return home, he realized that
the situation called for prompt and de-
termined action. and Immediately pro-
ceeded to the straits.
The straits were guarded by powerful
forts on either side mounting the most
approved type of guns of the time, and
within the harbor was anchored small
japanese fleet. Despite the hazard OF
the undertaking, the Wyoming started to
enter the harbor at o'clock on the
morning OF July Is. In the middle of
the narrow channel the American COM
mander noticed a line of stakes. These,
he guessed, had been used by the Jap
anese to gauge their aim, and so he de-
termined to steer close under the bat
teries. This shrewdness probably saved
the Wyoming, for abreast Of the forts
the Japanese batteries opened a ire
mendous cannonade which would have
sunk a few dozen vessels in midstream.
The Wyoming passed the forts in
safety, fought and destroyed two ships
and a brig in the harbor, and then en-
gagged and silenced the batteries on shore.
The Japanese fleet was torn to splnters.
The fight lasted one hour and ten min
utes, and when the cool American COM
mander passed the forts again he was
practically unmolested. The beautiful
feature OF this fight was that most of
the Wyoming's crew had never been
under fire before. and yet they had work
ed like veterans with the knowledge that
their commander had ordered the ship
to be blown up with all on board il it
should become helpless by grounding or
by shot. This was to avoid the unspeak-
able horrors of death by the torture
cage which the Japanese then inflicted
upon their eaptives.