Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1915-12-18
ADMIRAL DEWEY SAYS
COAST IsOPENTO HOSTILE
avy Equal to the Strongest is
Needed to Protect u. S.
Long Island a Vantage
Point for Amy Foe to Land
BOSTON AND OTHERS TAKEN EASY
Admirals Letter Read in Congress-
Saws Hostile Forces Could Land
at Will if Covered by Gun

IRE.
Only a navy strong enough 10 meet
on equal terms the navy of the strong
est probable adversary" could prevent
the landing of hostile forces at a large
number Of important points on the
Atlantic seaboard, according to a let
ter from Admiral Gtorge Dewey. to
Congressman a p. Gardiner. OF Mas
sachusetts. read by Mr. Gardiner in
speech in the House OF Representatives
at Washington. this week
The coast of Massachusetts. said Ad-
miral Dewey, is especially vulnerable,
and he also cites the eastern end and
south shore of Long Island and the
Delaware and Chesapeake Bays"
Here is Admiral Dewey's letter TO
Mr. Gardiner in full:
Il beg to acknowledge the receipt
OF your letter of December 3, asking
me to write you setting forth my views
on the question of the possibility of
large hostile forces landing on our
coast and inviting my attention to an
article by Eric Fisher Wood, which ap-
peared in tthe Century last month.
THE part of the Atlantic coast men
toned in MIR. Woods article extends
from PASSPORT, Me. TO Cape Henry.,Va.
and in this era we have permanent de
lenses on the Penobscot and Kennebec
rivers at Portland. Portsmouth, Bos-
ton, and New Bedford harbors, at Mar
ragansett Bay, at the eastern entrance
to Long Island Sound, at the entrance
to New York harbor. on the Delaware
river. at Baltimore, on the upper Po-
tomac river and at Hampton Roads
'Of these defenses only those at
Portland, Narragansett Bay, entrance
to Long Island Sound and the en-
trance to New York protect the coast;
the others are solely harbor defenses.
1t is true that a large hostile force can
land on the open coast wherever the
transports can get within reasonable
distance of the shore, and especially
so where their landing is covered by
the gunfire of the naval escort, even
though the landing be opposed by
troops
THE most recent example of this is
the landing of the allied troops on the
Gallipoli Peninsula We have similar
examples in our own history, as the
landing of SCOTS army near Vera
Cruz, the landing near Fort Fisher and
the landing of Skaters army on the
south coast of Cuba.
From PASSPORT, Me, to Cape Henry.
Va, there are but few places where
safety to within two miles of the coast
and the extent of this shore line that is
too precipitous or too rugged to make
a landing impracticable is small. The
only force that cannot prevent such a
landing is a navy of our own strong
enough to prevent such an expedition
from reaching our coast.
''In saying that a hostile expedition
can land upon our coast at will, out
side the range of our coast defence
guns, mean that it is practically pos
sible and no very great difficulty. |
do not mean that such a force could
accomplish its object by landing any,
where on our coast.
mo commander would desire to
have his force isolated on the PENN
sula of Maine or on the sand dunes
of New Jersey. Delaware, Maryland or
Virginia, with inland waters between
them. They will prefer to land where
there are railroads and good roads
leading to their objective, which would
probobly be one of our large cities.
Such places are numerous along the
coast of Massachusetts, both shores of
Massachusetts Bay, the eastern and
southern shores of Long Island and in
the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays.
"A landing place sheltered from the
force of the sea would greatly facil-
itate the Decentralization of a hostile
force, but is not a vital necessity
Such sheltered places are too numer-
Gus to name, but among them are Pc
nobscot Bay. Frenchman's Bay. Blue
Hill Bay. Sheepscot River. Casco Bay,
in Maine, Rockport, Gloucester. Salem
Plymouth, Provinetown. Vineyard and
Buzzards Bay in Massachusetts. Ford
Pond Bay. and then TO the southwark.
Delaware and Chesapeake Bays.
"Only the navy can prevent landings
at these places, and that navy must be
strong enough TO defeat the enemy;
and should we have such navy the
enemy would not attempt an invasion
as long as it remained in existence.
Our main defence and protection
from invasion must. therefore, always
rest with the navy, which must ever
remain our first and best line of de-
fence. This defence. unless adequate
is impotent; and, as before stated,
adequacy is not reached until the navy
is strong enough 10 meet on equal
terms the navy of the strongest posi-
H.