El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-12-25
DEWEY SUGGESTS
NAVY INCREASES
Report of General Board of
Navy, Outlining Needs,
Published By Daniels.

y
Published By Daniels.
/ Washington. D. C.. Dec. 25.-The re-
I port of the navy general board on the
needs of the American navy. written
+ over the signature Of admiral Dewey,
president Of the board, was given out
/ Friday night by secretary of the navy
] Daniels for publication. The report
] was prepared last summer when the
/ administration determined to take up
! the question Of national preparedness.
! The boards statement Of policy.
I holding that the American navy should
| equal the strongest aflOat by 1925. was
! published some time ago. but the first
years building program advocated uu-
/ der that suggested policy is now re-
] Yealed Tor the, tlrst time 1t shows
: recommendation for four dread
noughts and four battle cruisers with
an equally large program for other
craft, and cOntemplates an expenditure
( roughly estimated at S30o. 100000 the
! first year, as compared with $500, 000.-
{ 600 to be spent for new ships in five
years under the administration plan.
Would Increase Facilities.
The board does not state that the
\ British fleet could be tqualed by 1925
by continuing the first year program,
/ but indicates that heavier expenditures
would follow if ship building facilities
! were increased in accordance with its
I recommendations.
In giving out the report. secretary
Daniels said that all statements from
the general board as TO building pro-
| grams made during the present year
had now been made public
He called attention again to the fact
that ne had set a precedent for pub
fishing the annual reports as they had
been regarded as confidential by pre-
vious secretaries Of the navy. The
report under discussion and the pub
LEGATION o. which some members of
congress have stated they would de-
mand. he said, was a special report,
the substance Of which already had
The Boards Report.
Jaly so, 1915.
Confidential
From: President General Board
TO Secretary Of the navy.
Subject. naval policy, with present
requirements.
IN compliance with the oral order
OF the secretary of the navy TO express
date as to policy which should gov
ern the development OF the navy and
building program, the general board
reports as follows
Should Equal Largest Navy.
Policy % The navy OF the United
States should ultimately be equal 10
the most powerful maintained by any
other nation of the world. It should
be gradually increased to this point by
such rate Of development, year by
year. as may be permitted by the IA
cllities Of the country, but the limit
above defined should be attained not
later than 1925.
"C2) In pursuance Of this policy, and
having in mind the present facilities
Of this country, the board is Of the
opinion that the following addition to
the naval establishment should be au-
thOrized this year and recommends the
same for your consideration. this ad-
ditiOn is believed by the board to be
within, and practically at the limit Of
the facilities at present existing
-Four battle cruisers, four dread
noughCs, six scouts, 30 coast sub
marines seven fleet submarines. p
destrOyers. six gunbOats-
"Auxiliaries: One destroyer tender;
two fleet submarine tenders, four fuel
oil ships. one supply ship, one trans
port. one hospital ship. one repair ship,
one ammunition ship.
Aircraft service dump appropria-
Number of Men Needed.
Personnel: II, 900 men. This num-
Der viii provide for the needs Of the
present ships of the navy, including
those near completion, but II must be
borne in mind that the personnel. com
have 10 be further increased as the
new construction progresses.
Increased facilities for the navy
yards and shore establishments gen
orally. such as dry docks, berthing
spaces, building slips, structural shops.
cranes for handling heavy weights,
y
storage facilities, civil personnel etc.
tSignaturel George Dewey"
Secretary Daniels's recommendation
TO congress that the enlisted personnel
Of the navy be increased by 1900 blue
jackets, -500 apprentice seamen. and
1900 marines during the years 1916
1917 in order to maintain ships near
ing completion. was based, it was dis
closed, also upon the annual report Of
rear admiral Victor Blue, chief Of the
bureau of navigation. now made public.
52,G3S BIueiaekets in Service.
There were %. 636 blus1acketS in the
service october 1. 1913, admiral Blues
report showS and with his proposed
increases including the apprentice sea
men. the force would number So. $50 in
1917, or about 1900 less than recon-
mended by the general board Admiral
Blue states that he based his estimate
on a report from the board in NOven-
Der. 1914. which holds that all battle
ships under L years old, save the
cruisers and all gunbOats and neces-
sary auXiliaries should be kept IN full
commission, the remaining ships TO be /
held in reserve with nucleus crews.
Should congress authorize an increase
of 1900 men. he says, there would be
in full commission july ]. 1871. =
battleships, five armOred cruisers, II
cruisers. 50 destrOyers, % gunboats. SO .
submarines and the requisite auxilarieS
In reserve would be Il battleshipS
over Is years old, five armOred cruisers.
II cruisers, 16 destroyers. 19 old tor
pedo boats and four tenders
The difference between the general I
boards figures OF the necessary mini
mum strength for 1917 and those Of
admiral Blue probably lies in the fact ,
that admiral Fletcher, commanding the /
Atlantic fleet, has urged an increase /
in the complement of each battleshlp- )
Blue says this has not been /
done because IL would necessitate put !
ting more ships in reserve for lack Of /
men.