New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-05-01

year mark. and the battleships Kear-
sarge, Kentucky and Alabama will be
nineteen years old.
Submarines As 20 submarines, Ad-
B miral Nreeland testified that we need
one hundred submarines for harbor de-
fence alone. If you reckon the F-4,
which is at the bottom of the sea, and
/ IL you reckon all the submarines which
are in the scrap heap and those which
ought to he in the scrap heap, and II
you reckon all the submarines which
are building, you will find that we have
| tust ffty-nine-a sorry lot they are;
I many Of them, at least. II is true that
/ Congress overruled Secretary Daniels's
recommendation this year and followed
/ the recommendation of the General
| Board. so that instead of getting nine
/ new submarines we shall have eigh-
/ teen. am afraid that ! took an UNI
/ holy satisfaction in our victory.
Speaking OF submarines and the
readiness OF the navy for war, did you
notice the evidence of Commander
Sterling. chief Of the Atlantic subma-
rine fotilla. before the Naval Commit
tee last December? II appears that
early last November Admiral Fletcher
ordered general mobilization OF the
Atlantic fleet. The rendezvous was in
hampton hodCss ne newspapers
stated shat only one submarine out of
seventeen in the Atlantic feet could
dive. Congressman Roberts, of the
Naval Affairs Committee. refused to be
quoted and kept up q rumpus until
Commander Sterling WAS summoned.
The commander explained that five OF
We submarines were %. tne Panama
anal and ou"i, not 20 be reckoned,
a. arcmoj reasonable. He then
went on 20 testify that for one reason
or another the bulk Of the rest Of them
could not ha modified and the ultimate
result was described by Commander
Sterling in the following language: 80
when we got down there the admiral
wanted 10 know what we could do. |
told him we had then only one subma-
rine that | thought could efficiently
take part in the manPuvres at sea off
the coast
Years 10 Get Ready TO Fight.
as the navy ready TO meet a real
enemy? One of the most significant
statements which ! have called again
and again to the attention Of the powers
that be is Admiral Fiske's testimony
that It would take five years to get tho
United States navy into condition to
fight an efficient foreign foe. IL vas
'uSL IKE DUH Ola Il lShS 10 pluIL OUT
the Incorporating truth. / don't
think the gentlemen from the Navy
Department cared much for q state
ment WHICH fitted in so i'll with the
sterilized testimony so fashionable at
the present time.
AT about the same time Assistant
Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt got
out of step when he testified that it
would take from three months to year
to put into fighting trim the l01 vessels
which Secretary Daniels so euphemisti-
cally describes as in reserve or in
ordinary or 'uncommissioned.' By the
way, we are 10 count on these 101 ships
in case Of war. or so Secretary Daniels
| tells President Garfield.
"If by any chance after reading
! this communication. you still continue
20 think that the navy is prepared
| for war, / commend TO you Admiral
Fletcher's letter, dated January Ii, 1915.
II is addressed TO the Committee on
Naval Affairs Of the House of Repre-
sentatives. In il the admiral asks
! leave to correct some of his testimony.
! He explains that, much to his surprise,
he has discovered AN alarming short
| age Of officers and men in his own
/ feet Ii appears that in the twenty
one battleships under his command in
vestigat IN has discovered a shortage
/ Of 5,219 men and 339 officers. Rather
an unpleasant discovery for an admiral
/ to make in the feet under his com
mand, l should think. II must have
! been especially disconcerting, in view
/ of the paans which had greeted him five
weeks earlier, when he had stated his
! belief that in an emergency all of
| his vessels could be ready for war
within q week.
Speaking of Admiral Fletcher's fleet
and its readiness for war, did you
notice on December 3 last in GER
| tain New York paper. an account Of the
attempted mobilization last November
which Secretary Daniels speaks Of as
/ valuable mannuvres' and strenuous
practice? Admiral Fletcher's testi-
mony shows that only eleven of his
battieships took part in those maneu-
vres, and the naval correspondent of
that New York newspaper was so i'm
pudent as 70 write that only five of
| the battleships turned up on time.
Four out of five of those battleships,
according to this saucy scribe, each had
an admiral aboard, leaving only one
battleship, the Rhode Island, for the
four admirals to boss around. Admiral
Fletcher takes issue with the CORE
spondent, but then it is fair to say
that the correspondent takes issue with
Admiral Fletcher.
Way Behind in Speed.
"The astonishing slowness Of our
battleships $500 have you been able TO
fathom the reason why Congress con-
tinues to refuse to build those fast
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS which all the rest
Of the world is building? Is it mere
" because a dreadnought-cruiser costs
100000 more than a dreadnought?
az know that you are well aware
OF the fact that the modern dread
nought-cruisers steam fully twenty
eight or twenty-nine knots an hour.
You must have laughed at our pre-
posterous self-congratulation the other
day when we launched the 21-knot
Pennsylvania right under the eyes Of
the German sailors, too. No one knows
better than the Germans the advantage
Of speed. They have just had a great
object lesson.
"A few Sundays ago the world saw
what happened to the German ship
Butcher in the great North Sea battle.
There were nine big fighting ships in
that engagement, five Of them British
and four of them German. The Blucher
was sunk TO the bottom of the sea
because she could not keep up with
her consorts. The fact is that she was
five knots an hour slower than any
other Of the nine fighting ships in the
battle. Yet, slow as she was, the Butcher
was faster than the fastest big fighting
ship in the United States navy, either
built or building. If you think | am
mistaken turn TO pag 852 TO s54
United States Navy Yea Book, 1914