The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-05-27

TIE FLEET IN ACTION
I.--BaItIesnips and Deshoyers
sorosernsuaaas7ssz
BY Frederic =. Haskin.

i# By Fredeu
Euesoone1useuEsHs1o1szsr 1oensons1e
| The American hshting feet is this
week of the coast of New England,
lplayingSLhe war game. The greater
part OF the manouyers Of this year
are grouped Eonnd the assumption
that the United States is being attack
ed By a foreign force seeking TO land
an army The feet is going through
It's PAGES in just The way IL would
proceed In case of the great emergen-i
cy.
And Just wk.. are these lighting
units upon which the fate Of a ma;
lion would rest In case of war2 The
other day they fled out past the God-i
dess Of Liberty IN review beneath the
eye OF the President. A slmp1hedi
navy is that of the United States
made up almost entirely of two class
les of ships-the batIleship and the
destroyer. There are great battle
cruisers: in the navies OF other ma
tons. but American cruisers are IN
important and employed chiefly for
patrol duty In the Caribbean and
the Orient The destroyer assumes
the duty OF cruiser in the fighting
feet 5rst as it serves the purpose OF
a gunboat when a vessel OF light draft
IS needed for river work. So the
American navy at work on the war
game this week, has few ships o,her]
than battleships and desuoyers-
Eighteen batt1eships and probably
twice as many destroyers are parttc-
ipa.ing in this war game When this
force put TO sea from the harbor of
Kew York. each great ship, with its
nose IN the track of the vessel pre-
icedins it, and with the screen of de-
stroyers thrown out IN advance and To-
right and left mighty force was set
i'm -:Iotton- Aboard each battleshlp
were i eco officers and men, or a.
total o< $4,000 people The destroy
iers carried 100 men each. which add
ed another $500 SO the population
iof the feet that was putting TO sea
became equal to that of Phoenix,
Ariz., and Cheyenne, Wyo., combined.
though each OF these cities is the
lcapital and metropolis of state.
There were more able bodied men
aboard these ships than would be
found in city like Albany or Dallas
ior spokane
Each of these battF.ships, weighed.
on the average. 10000 tons and the:
ides1royers 1000 tons So here was
total of 100000 tons of stee.-such
load as would require a freight
iI
vast force. rushing to sea at speed
of twenty knots an hour, had cost the.
nation more than So0o.0o0,0G0 TO
build. Since the world began such
an amount of money has not been
tspent in creating thing that moves.
I except by Great Britain in building
another lighting feet that Is bigger
| than this Since time began no suco
titan force has ever been set In mo-
tuon except when great fleets have put
to sea-
! These battleships of the active fleet
tel a remarkable tale OF the deve--
fopment in these floating fortresses-
None of them is more than twenty
years old for battleship is con-
4 sidered as having served its purpose
! and become useless in that time YET
1.-THE older ships of the feet, such as
1.-THE Rhode Island, the New Jersey and
the Nebraska were born IN tina era
prior TO 1906. when the dreadnought
tcame into being and SET new stand
ard in lighting ships. These vessels
are of but IA. 000 tons weights Then
appears the Delaware, that ship OF a
magnificent record. among the hrst
/ OF the dreadnouShts. It was com
pleIed in 1910 and weighed 10000
tons. being the marvel of her time
| Yet she is small ship when com
pared with those new ships of the
navy. the New York or the Texas,
leach of which weighs 1900 tons
Its position is that which would be
occupied by man of six feet sta
] ture upon the appearance of rival
I eight feet tall Yet these latter
/ giants are not to hold their place for
long. for the Pennsylvania and the
/ Arizona are progressing toward com
/ plericn and these are to weigh 31,0oOi
tons and their arrival viii be com
parable with the heights OF nine
foot man. So mas che size OF the bat
ttleship doubled in a decade
The Delaware may be considered
an average ship of the present navy,
lit having been the second dread
thought of the ten that are now in
commission The Delaware draws
twenty-seven feet of water. and IS so
! feet long It's net work mastS reacn
HIS fet above the water and the big
guns may shoot through them without
seriously damaging them Each OF
The ships anchors weighs Il 900.
! pounds and every link in the chain
that holes them weighs 100 pounds
The ar1nor on her sides is IL inches
thick. The pay roll OF the ship is
SS1 .O6G a month. and it costs IS
month to ICED each man in the crew
Office RS are required to maintain
their owr mess. The I2-inch guns
are mounted two in turret, and q
4turrer. weighing 700 tons. may be
turned about by the pressure OF
finger which controls the electric mo-
tive rover.
These bsst.eships are the backbone
/ of the neet. and, American authorities
! hold. are still The element that VIII
y 81. Of