The Washington herald., 1915-08-08
Quits Command Of Dreadnought
To Take Charge Of Submarine
Readiness Of Capt. Grant to Step from Quarter Deck of the
Texas to Undersea Vessel an indication of I'm
portance of Latter Type Of Warship.

| The feeling among naval officers the
world over that the submarine must now
have a tremendously increased share in
naval warfare has been shown in the
ranks of the United States navy. in the
| readiness of Capt. Albert Western Grant
to step from the quarterback of the
super-Dreadnought Texas, one of the fin
est above-water war vessels in the world,
| to the coming tower of a submarine.
| says the New York Evening Post. OF
| course, Capt. Grant did more than that,
| because he is in supreme command of
| the submarine fotilla of the navy; but
when il is recalled that up to a year ago
naval officers generally yield with each
other in seeking command of the impos-
ing Dreadnoughts. the fact remains that
| men of the service must foresee the
;; vast possibilities of the submarine. if one
OF Capt Grants character will leave
the Texas for the unGersea fotilla.
Secretary Daniels set about to find a
man qualified to bring the United States
submarine to the highest standard of
construction and efficiency. and to do it
quickest. The combination was found
in Capt. Grant, who has peculiar genius
Cor mechanics in general, electrical me-
chanics in particular, and torpedo work,
and is known throughout the navy as the
greatest horse for work. in it. It Is
well known that Mr.. Daniels makes
practice of consulting :he efficient Of
ticers who surround him whenever he
wants a man for a particular work.
When one asks who was responsible for
the selection of Capt Grant, the reply
comes back from half dozen quarters:
We all had a hand in 1t. No other
name was ever mentioned"
Always Hard Worker.
Although Capt Grant is known in the
navy as "a horse for work. his brother
officers say his actual horsepower has
never been established. When you ask
them to tell you some of the chief char
acteristics OF the new commander Of the
submarines. their first descriptive word
is energy" and then energy The
younger officers who have worked with
Capt Grant are not ashamed to say that
they succumbed in jobs requiring great
physical endurance. while Grant went Sc
renely Or 20 the end. According to their
story, Grant has never known what it is
to be tired.
Just as an illustration, and a mild
one, Of Grants endurance" said an Off
GER y recall an incident in Rome. Grant
was chief Of staff to Admiral Perry on
the "trip of the fleet around the world.
and whenever we reached an important
port his duties were many and various.
On this occasion he mad worked VIZ
tually all day and all night. and on the
second day in Rome he had stood for an
hour and a half in full-dress uniform be-
fore the King Of Italy, along with the
rest of us, with the perspirstion rolling
off his face in streams, for il was eX-
cessively warm. This reception was fol-
lowed by dinner. and other festivities
which tired US all out. AS soon as we
could the bulk OF us prepared to return
20 the ship, but Grant calmly announced
that he rad been tco busy up to that
time to go sightseeing, and intended TO |
have a look at the town before retiring"
Native of Norfolk.
Capt. Grant is a native of Norfolk, Va
Across the river from his home town
lies the Portsmouth. Va, Navy Yard, and
4 few miles up the James River is the
shi' pUilding plant, which turns out bat
.leships OF all descriptions, as well as
From early boyhood he
mad a liking for the water and for the
navy. He grew up to be muscular
giant, which probably accounts for his
ability to work At the
Naval Academy he was captain of the
crew. and has never relinquished his love
for the oar. despite his long association
with mechanical propulsion. In fact. a
few years ago he trained a crew of mid
at Annapolis in ten-oared cut
ter, took them to New York for a racei