The Washington times., 1915-01-06
NAVY MAN CAUST|C
ON D, {, BAT TALON
Capt. C. S. Williams, Of Battle.
ship Rhode Island, Criticises
Officers and Men.

Thst the District of Columbia Naval
Militia, Judged by the showing made
on the cruise last summer, IL not
ready ITO 60 on board q man-of- war
and render efficient service" IN the
nnding Of Capt. c. 8. Williams, of the
battleship Rhode Island, who COM
manded the mon on cruise.
Captain williams criticism il made
part Of . report by Commander F. B.
Bassett. jr., chief Of the division of
naval militia affairs. dealing with all
the militia cruises made last summer
In discussing the District militiamen'a q
on The sSs S.u.; to
Williams said:
"The organization, discipline, atten.
tion to duty, attention to uniforms.
and general knowledge Of naval work
IN this cr8anisat;ion1, NV was: in general
to the cruise that 40 enlisted men
, were expected to participate, whereas
ia came on board. This fact, in con :
nection with incidents which came ia
Impression that this organisation did
not take its military duties as seri-
ously as some Of the others and that
many OF Its members looked upon the
cruise in the nature Of an outing.
Of men who held ratings for which
they were not qualified and there was
| an abnormal number Of rated men,
For instance, in an orga nization num-
SsrinE ~ men and h IL sher:
contained Q hospital stewards and Z
hospital apprentices. first class, be-
| sides 4 hospital apprentices. The or.
Eanization contains good material
on the cruise. do not consider it IL
| ready. as a whole. to go on board q
man -of-war and render efficient serv-
ice"
Officers Went Ashore.
In further criticism Captain williami
said
"On the cruise the North Carolina
and District of Columbia officers re.
Quested permission to be relieved from
all watch standing during the stay ir
Bermuda in order that they might take
full advantage Of the opportunity fol
shore going: They did not voluntarily
resume their watches when the shir
left Bermuda. nor did they stand watch
| again until directed. on tho following
| day
, Captain williams held that while the
the officers and men Of the militia, We,
| Its possible educational value was de.
preciated because Of the large number
| OF militiamen aboard. The men could
1 "Os SOt LILO uudAbiIuHi dIuouHt VI dCtusi
experience in the duties of men-of-
warsmen, and they probably received
false Impressions regarding organiza.
| tion and methods.
The ideal conditions under which a
profitable cruise could be made" Captain
Williams said. would be to have or
board relatively SO few OF the naval
militia that at least a few Of tho unrat.
| ed men could b assigned to existing va
! csncies in the ships complement, while
petty officers could. II competent. All
vacancies. In this way tho men would
lose their identity as miNtiamen and
be treated as a draft Of men from the
training station"
Against Long Cruises.
objectioAs to the practice followed
last summer of having cruises Il
foreign ports were pointed out by Cap
tain williams
There 10 little doubt" he said. "tha
the cruises to foreign ports furnished
a fuller attendance Of militiamen thar
would have been the case had the cruis,
offered fewer attractions. There ar,
considerable grounds for suspicion tina
they attracted men whose interest II
militia affairs u confined to the opror
tunity for a pleasant vacation at Gov
ernment expense"