Evening star., 1915-05-28
The FLEET IN ACTION.
I.-BattIeships and De-
stroyers.
d YY~.l~.-
By Frederic J. Haskin

1 iii oy AAVNSAAO o. AA0Sn1As I'M
The American fighting fleet is this
week off the coast of New England
playing the war game. The greater
part Of the maneuvers Of this year are
grouped around the assumption that
the United States is being attacked by
foreign force seeking to land an
army. The feet is going through its
PAGES in just the way II would proceed
in case of the great emergency
And just what are these fighting units
upon which the fate of nation would
rest in case of war? The other day
thew filed out past the Goddess of LIB
erty in review beneath the eye OF the
President A simplified navy Is tnae u
the United states, made up almost en-
tirely of two classes of shipsEtne "a.
tleship and the destroyer. There are
great battle cruisers In the naVies =,
other nations, but American cruise'
are unimportant and employed chiehs
for patrol duty In the Caribbean anu
the orient. The destroyer assume assumes Ant .nt
duty of a cruiser in the nghtlhs nv.
inst as II serves the purpose OF gun. y.
hoaf when a vessel OF light oia1t
nesded for river work. So the Amer
can navy at work on the war game .t,as t.s
/ week has few ships other ehAn
| ships and destroyers. ,h,y
eighteen battleships ana pEooais
/ twice as many destroyers are paftlctt .St.
| patfnr in this war. game: hsn '., ae
force put to sea seq IRON rom . ship with it's
nose in the track Of the vessei se p.ec
| ine II. and with the screen OF oestIoy
| ers thrown out in advance ana 10
and left. a mighty force ..,ssh,n W. were
| ! 600 ofncers and men. or total OF ie. 81
| 900 people. The destroyers cSr.iee cn" ~
| men each, which added another SOW.
So the population OF the meet ena, .h.t ns
| nnttinr to sea became equal TO that u
phoenix. Ariz, and Cheyenne. Wyo,
combined. though each of these ci.ies
ia the capital and metropolis OF state.
| There were more aole-oo9isu romnd
| a boa rd these ships than would De ioulu
in city like Albany or Dallas or opo-
| kane.
| Each Of these battleships weighed,
on the average, 10000 tons and the oe-
stroyers 1000 tons
| A nnn n0o Tons SO here was a total
Of Steel Afoat. steel Of sI0Vu,vae @snen s a load
/ as would require a freight train nVe
/ miles long to haul This vast force,
rushing to sea at speed of twenty
knots an hour, had cost the nation
more than 5000 100000 to build. Since
the world began such an amount OF
| money has not been spent in creating
a thing that moves, except by Great
Britain in building another fighting
fleet that is bigger than this. Since
time began no such titanic force has
/ ever been set in motion except when
/ great fleets have to put to sea.
| These battleships of the active fleet
| tell a remarkable tale OF the develop
ment In these floating fortresses. None
of them is more than twenty years old,
ing served it's purpose and become use
less in that time. Yet the older shlps
of the fleet. such as the Rhode Island,
| the New Jersey and the Nebraska,
when the dreadnaught came into being
| and set a new standard in fghting
ships. These vessels are OF but l4.ooV
tons weight. Then appears the Dela
among the first of the dreadnaughts
She was completed in 1910 and weigh
ed 10000 tons, being the marvel OF her
/ time. Yet she is small ship when
/ the navy, the New York or Texas. each
of which weighs $1,000 tons. Her po.
4 sition Is that which would be occupied
| by q man Of six feet stature upon the
| appearance OF a TItdl SibhN AeSe
Yet these latter giants are not to hold
their place for long, for the Pennsyiva-
MIA and the Arizona are progressing
toward completion. and these are to
will be comparable with the height Of
! nine-foot man. so has the size of the
battIeship doubled in decade.
| The Delaware may be considered an
having been the second dreadnaught
Of the ten that are now in commission
The Delaware draws twenty-seven rect
of water and is $40 feet long. Her net
work masts reach rs feet aoove s .ns
water and big guns may shoot through
them without seriously damaging them.
Each of the ships anchors weighs H.
900 pounds, and every link in the chain
that holds them -1a Weishs a 1ew.n hvv pGu inches
thick. The pay roll of the ship 10 s3l'-
Il 600 a month, and 1t costs IS month 70
feed each man in the crew. Omcers are
required to maintain their own mess.
The twelve-inch guns are mounted two
In a turret. and turret. Weighing wv
tons, may be turned about by the pres
sure Of finger which controls the
electric motive power.
\ AA
These battleships are the backbone
II hold, are still
These Battleships the ell cement
| Backbone of Fleet. m,ne control o,
the seas. They are huge floating fort
resses. the guns of which are intended
to destroy whatever enemy they may
encounter Other naval craft are but
the satellites that revolve about these
stars of the first magnitude. Their pur-
pose is to aid and to protect the first
class ships.
The destroyers are the most imoor-
tant of the smaller ships. They are the
light cavalry of the seas. The purpose
they serve is to the navy almost exactly
that rendered to the army by its cav
airy. They are the scouts. the shields.
the leaders in wild dashes. They are
long, narrow, low vessels. weighing as
much as 1000 tons and drawing ten feet
of water. Each has four officers and
100 men. They are the swiftest ships
afoat, being capable OF thirty knots
or thirty-four miles an hour. The aver