Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-07-05

have been honored by having
United States battleships named for
them The navy has but one battleship
that is not called after a state-the
kearsarge. When every state has her
name on dreadnought bearing the flag
the strength of the battleship fleet will
be materially increased, but even then.
unless the older ships are supplanted by
others of a newer and more adequate
type the battleship equipment will be
far from perfect.
At the present rate Of increase 1t is
hardly likely that the department will be
called upon to conceive OF new order
for naming battleships during this CEN
fury. Not all Of the thirty-nne ships
are completed some Of them, indeed,
are most embryonic in their composition.
There Is no analogy between the size
or the state and that of the ship. The
New York and her twin, the Texas. the
largest United States battleships now in
commission. are outstripped in size by
the Nevada and the Oklahoma. while the
pennsylvania and N'o. 80 are of the
largest type ever contracted for by the
United States.
The government is not building ships
OF the cruiser class at the present time,
put nine of the ten armored cruisers
are named for states: The California,
Colorado. Maryland, Montana, North Car
DINA, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wash
ington and West Virginia; the tenth is
the Pittsburgh. All the other cruisers of
first, second and third classes are named
for cities and towns of the Union without
any definite order being observed Salem
and Its neighbor. Marblehead, on the
north shore of Massachusetts, have cruis-
ers OF the third class named for them,
and in this class are also the Boston,
Denver and New Orleans
1t Is in the naming of the destroyers,
OF which there are about fifty, that the
interest of lovers of history and achieve
ment are given the greatest scope for
their feelings.
These powerful. silent. dachshund-shap-
ed torpedo boats bear the names Of
heroic naval officers, men who gave meri-
torious service to their country. Some Of
them died in line OF duty and others lived
after the noise OF battle had been stilled,
but all were the principals in deeds Of
valor that stir the hearts of the officers
and men who now fight under the flag
their service helped to protect
Naval history from Its inception is
written in the names of these destroy
ers. Beginning with the little torpedo
boat, the Paul Jones, now attached to
the Pacific fiotilla, and coming down
through the line are found the names
of such men as Barry, Hull, Lawrence
Perry, Preble, Macdonough, Preston and
many others. old men and young men
who defied the elements in their tiny
craft and who were oblivious to personal
danger and discomfort. Nor are half the
names Of the heroes of the United states
Navy thus perpetuated. AS time goes
on other names will be added, some OF
them perhaps of men who are now dong
their duty with the fleet.
The monitor is fast passing type OF
war vessel, and those now in service
were built between the years 1885 and
1898, a time when the navy as whole
was not very definitely organized in Its
plans for the future. The original idea
was to name the monitors for the states;
but when the present system of naming
battleships for the states was decided
upon, the monitor Florida was renamed
the Tallahassee, the Arkansas became
the Ozark and the Wyoming. the Chey-
enne. In this class. also. are the Puritan
and Terror.
The submarines are interesting as
type of warship, but in the present
arrangement of their names there Is
little romance or history. The nrst
Su Dmarlne was HdHleu Aoi 10 AZ NA-eo
the Holland. and after that the names
of big fish. like the porpoise and the
shark, were adopted. The system now
followed by the department is that OF
letters for the class and numbers, thus:
Al" Al" and so on up to c.
the "G-1" being fitted out at the pres
ent time. Contracts are let for the
tiny divers up to and including the
MI"
In 1888 the exigencies Of the Span
ish-American war made it necessary
to secure a number of ships on snort
order. The government purchased from
private individuals and from transporta-
ton companies "a number of yachts and
other vessels. Most of these were
are still doing duty as auxiliaries to the
fleet or as tenders to the destroyers and
Many of the names are of
Indian origin, like the Tecumseh. the
Uncas, the Massasoit and the Apache.
Others suggested the defensive and Of
fensive side of national character and
among them are the Wasp, Hornet, Eagle
and Vixen.
The Solace, the only hospital ship of
the navy, was a liner named the Gre
ole; the Mayhower purchased from the
Ogden Goelet estate, was not renamed;
the Yankton was the Penelope when she
was owned by H E. Converse, and the
to J. Pierpont Morgan. Among the
vessels captured by the United States
from Spain none is more interesting
than the Reina Memcedes, sunk at Santi-
ago, July 4, 1898, by the fire from the bat
ties hips Massachusetts and Texas. but at
raised and now the station ship
at the Naval Academy. at Annapolis.
an insect, from the New York to the