The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1914-10-30

Par With Foreigners and Material
on the Whole, In Excellent Shape.
Contradicting the statements of some
naval men. the unprelaredneSs of the
American navy for war was frankly
conceded i'll an official statement bS
Acting Secretar! Franklin d RooSp
welt. IT. this statement he says:
Mention has been made of the ~
readiness of the fleet II was true than
during the past two years maneuvers
whole have. of necessity. been greatly
rurtailed international affairs have
required the use of certain number
Of our ships on foreign duty
in many of these cases the depart
ment has found it necessary. owing t,
the shortage Of men. to use battleship>
for duty which could have been per
formed as well by gunboats or small
cruisers. This lack of fleet maneuvcrS
remedicd by II few months practice,
and it is hoped that these maneuvers
will take place in the near future.
We Need 1900 More Sailors.
ITO provide Il proper complement foi
all vessels OF the navy which could
still be made useful for war purposes
would require an addition to the pres
ent force allowed by congress of about
$4,000 men
Meanwhile the problem is becOm
ing more difficult as time goes on be
cause of the vessels under cOnStruc
ion which must shortly be provided
with crews
For instance during the comin@
year two bai'leShipS, the Oklahoma
and the Nevada. will take their places
with the fleet Each of these vessels
will require a complement of nearl"
1000 men each
ALPHABETICALLY and on paper the navy
possesses at the present time ten bat
tleships of the first line and twenty
three battIeShips of the second lille
Actually. however, only ten battle
ships of the first line and eleven bat
tleships Of the second line can be pac.
ed in commission for service because
of the shortage of men.
Only Part of Navy Can Be Manned
"There has never been any attempt
to hide the fact that, although the
numbers of enlisted men are recruit
ed I'D to the limit allowed 10y congress.
there are only sufficient men to man a
portion of the vessels already built
There are now out of commission
three second line battleshipS, three
second line cruisers, one third class
cruiser one destroyer, two monitors,
one hospital ship, four torpedo boats,
six gunboats. one transport, one fuel
ship, one repair ship and eleven con
verified yachts. These vessels are hope
leSsly out of date
1T would be foolish TO attempt to
prophesy what the future will bring
forth, but 1t is at the present time clear
that submarines have an undOubted
sphere of usefulness in harbor work
and within short distances of the coast
and that battleships are still the con
trolling factor in any war In when
the bellgerentS are separated by great
distances of water
Ships Equal to Foreign Vessels.
I'm regard to the material Of the
navy-that is to say. ships and their
equipment. including guns, engines
range finders. etc matters are, on the
whole, in excellent shape. AS units
the vessels in commission are well
built, well designed and well cared
for and compare in all types very ia
yorably with the vessels Of other pow
ers In fact. | believe that they are
better. In few particulars. such as
the lack of sufficient torpedoes, there
Is room for great improvement
"Also in regard to the lack Of Ger
tain auxiliaries and the insufficient
number of scouts much can be done
to make the fleet better balanced"