Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-07-07
NEW PROGRAM
FOR j, s, NAVY
+" NOW OUTLINED
European War Brings About Diff.
ferent Ideas in Regard
to Navy.
MORE SUBMARINES
FOR PROTECTION

Washington, July 5.-The Naval pro-
gram to be presented to Congress-, in
the light Of the lessons Of the Euro
pean War, has not been definitely
framed Notwithstanding the fact that
Secretary of the Navy Daniels and his
advisors have had the subject under
consideration continuously for months.
Tie building lIans for the coming
year will not be completed until the
last moment, when, probably, Presi-
dent Wilson will say the final word as
to the nuribcr @rd type of ships the
Navy department will request. Mean
while Secretary Daniels hopes for
more information from the war zone
upon which the United States can
bvild with profit and safety.
Need Submarines.
When the first manoeuvres of the
American navy in which submarines
participated took place, some officers
declared the day of the battleship had
passed. In theory every big ship
which approached shore during those
/ operations was destroyed. Events OF
the European war, SO far as they are
known, apparently bear out that as
sumption of the superiority of Sub
marines and that is proving a vexing
problem in deciding what shall be the
future American policy Of naval con
structiOn. -" 49,. ~ -h
Navy engineers now are deeply en-
gagged with experiments looking to
the discovery OF some practical de-
fence against submarine attack.
Should they find a solution of the
problem, the big program will be vim
dicated. While nothing has been re.
vealed Of their experiments, it is as
sumed that questions of greater sub
division of hulls and stronger bulk
heads of armor to extend about the
midship sections of battleships below
the Watering and capable of resist.
ing the blow of a modern torpedo, and
also the location OF submarines at a
considerable distance and their pur.
suit by swift, light, easily handled
craft such as destroycrs are being
considered. The latter defense is the
only practical one which seems to
have met with any success abroad, so
far as is known, yet officers here point
out that at best, it is like searching
for a needle in a haystack and that
the destroyer defense does not meet
the problem in anything like an ade-
quate way.
Location and destruction of submar-
ines by aeroplanes also is considered
impractical in any but special cases
where weather, depth of water and
other conditions make it possible.
Bomb dropping from aeroplanes, even
over far reaching land Notifications
and other easily visible stationary OBJ
jects has not proven so successful as
to give much promise where a small,
dimly visible shape beneath the sur
face of the water is the target.
The result of the development Of
the submarine with widening range
Of action, mounting disappearing guns
for surface action, and with increasing
numbers of torpedo tubes as ahown
by reports from Europe, has been to
create a school Of navy officers here
who are said to be urging the abandon
ment Of dreadnaught building in fav-
or OF a huge submarine fleet. Other
officers declare the backbone Of a
navy must always be in first line bat
tleships and urging larger and more
heavily armed dreadnaughts than ever.
Some place-between these two
schools Of theory, tits said, the course
OF the department will lie in its re-
concentrations to Congress.
=. Officers who advocate the submar-
inc navy say that it IS thoroughly
practicable for the United States be-
cause the mission OF the American
navy is to defend the United States
from invasion, not to prepare the way
for an American invasion Of an enemy
country. That, they declare, has al
ways been the theory of the navy de-
partment and accounts for the fact
that no great efforts have been made
to obtain appropriations for swift bat
tlecruisers such as those employed by
the British and German navies. Lack
ing a merchant marine TO be protect
ed and beingsa self-contained nation,