Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-01-24
MIGHTY ARMADA
OFF GUANTANAMO
1t Is Most Powerful Fleet Ever
Assembled Under Stars
and Stripes.
UNDER ADMIRAL FLETCHER
War Vessels Are Gathered To-
gether for First Manoeuvres
in Three Years.
UNDER ADMIRAL FLETCHER
Especial to The Times Dispatch. !

now is gathered off Guantanamo on
the north coast of Cuba. for n month
of the hardest kind Of drilling II will
10 great spectacle for the few civil
ians who will see 1t. but for tho more
than 1000 officers and $4,000 enlisted
men 1t means work. unceasing labor, to
mt the American navy for battle.
Yet every lack Tar Is glad he il
there. Great fascination surrounds the
manocuvrcs, the orderly marching nd
COMMUNICATING over tho paradc
ground of tho ocean. Drcadnoughts and
cruisers taking tn, place of individual
soldiers. but obeyinE the orders sent nv
wireless, and wigwaE just as Implicit
iN and readily as squadron OF we'll
drilled cavalry.
BUSINESS is PLEASURE
WHEN HEART is IN IT
The firing of the great guns is fun
Tor officer and man. too. Target prac-
ticc is great game. Every nerve Is
strained to make the enormous rifles
DO their best, and hot rivalry is ex-
hibited by the gun crews. Business Is
pleasure when the heart is In It,
The eyes OF the whole United States
are directed TO Rear Admiral Frank
Friday Fletcher and his ships to-day.
great wave OF criticism has swept
over the country Tho European war
has created interest In the army and
navy. and every patriot feels that. lie
not the greatest. VIC should have the
best navy In tho world.
is tho navy up to scratch?
This is the question the manoeuvres
may solve. and at the same time do n
great deal toward making it possible
10 answer In the Affirmative. The navy
needs manoeuvrcs, just as an army
needs drills. fleet will be awkward
In forming in battle line in time or
war IL the superior officers have not
performed all the evolutions often In
time Of peace. $50
rarity due to the use of the big
ships off tho coast of Mexico. the ma
nocurres have been neglected This is
INC hrst time In three years that the
ch'ire meet VIII be assembled for bat
inc practice. Three years means long
while when one considers how fast the
art or naval warfare is developinr
lust to mention one item: naval guns
or fourteen inch calibre were carried
on no ship in the world three years
ago. Now tho Texas and the New Yorl,
both carry these mammoth rifles. and
u is currently reported that Great Brit
AIMS new Queen Elizabeth class, now
building. will have fifteen inches
when one considers that the fleets
OF Great Britain. Germany. France.
Austria. Russia and Japan are now
engaged In actual war work every day
In the year, 1t is easy to see that the
United states must do lot of prac-
'icihS even to approximate the degree
OF efficiency to which the fighting
haF'cs OF the world are arriving
The Guantanamo manoeuvres will be
most
practice the American navy has ever
gone through. They will last through
the greater part of the month and Will
be followed by the Panama Canal OPEN
ing exercises, which may involve some
manoeuvring of value. too
IN FOUR DIVISIONS
OF TWENTY-ONE VESSELS
The arlnored fleet (the biggest shipsl
Will be in four divisions OF TWENTY
ono vessels. Ten will be OF the So
called "Drcadnought" class and eleven
OF the pre-DreadnouEht type. Besides
these. two OF the four armored cruis-
ers or the fleet and all OF the torpedo
hotillas. except those in reserve, will
be present.
The submarine fotillas Will not take
part.
Never before did the fleet contain
prat tically two complete divisions OF
the Dreadnoueht class The first divl-
sion consists of Drcadnoughts OF the
most powerful type and the second di-
vision is made up OF these powerful
ships. except one pre- Dreadnought bat
tleship.
In addition to the battlcships, five OF
the seven divisions OF torpedo boat de-
stroyers Will have Il part in tho exer-
cises. This means twenty-one more
craft. There will be ten auxilaries
and the scout cruiser Birmingham,
which Is the flagship of the torpedo
flotilla.
This does not mean that all the
vessels under Admiral Fletcher's COM
mand will be Mt Guantanamo. There
will be missing all the submarines, as
we'll as all the smaller cruisers and
Eunboats and two divisions OF the de-
stroyer fotilla. Admiral Fletcher di-
reefs 1913 vessels, OF which fifty-flve
Will be at Guantanamo.
1t was figured by Il naval officer here
that the twelve-inch guns OF the fleet
can fire n broadside Of l05,400 pounds
and the fourtecn-inch guns bring this
up TO 133.l00 pounds. There are 124
twelve-inch guns in the reorganzed
fleet, all OF which are placed so that
they can be fred in Il single broadside.
The New York and the Texas each
have ten fourteen-inch guns. The pro-
jectiles fired from these guns weigh
l.4O0 pounds each, and il costs the
American people S777 every time one is
fired, not counting the deterioration OF
the gun.
Fletcher has five rear -admirals, under
him, one to command each division OF
the feet. There are twenty-five cap
tains, more than 1000 officers OF lesser
rank, and about $4,000 enlisted men.
The total money value OF the fieetis
$500, 900.
The New York, with its sister ship.
tho Texas, the most powerful warship
In the American navy. Is ordinarily the
flagship of Roar Admiral Fletcher, but
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