The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1915-02-05
tinted States Warships in for
Month of Hardest Kind
Of Drilling.
COMMANDED BY FLETCHER
Larqes: and Most Power fui Fleet Ever
Assembled Under the stars and
Stripes-May Solve Efficiency
of Our Navy.

the Stars and Stripes is now gathered
off Guantanamo, on the North coast of
Cuba, for month of the hardest kind
of drilling. 1t will be a great spectacle
for the few civilians who will see it.
but for the more than one thousand
officers and $4,000 enlisted men it
means work, unceasing labor, to fit the
American navy for battle.
Yet every Jack Tar is glad he is
there. Great fascination surrounds the
maneuvers, the orderly marching and
eounter-marching over the parade
ground of the ocean, dreadnaughts and
cruisers taking the place of individual
soldiers, but obeying the orders sent
by wireless and wigwag just as i'm
plicitly and readily as squadron of
welldrilled cavalry
The firing of the great guns is fun
for officer and man, too. Target prac-
tice is a great game Every nerve is
strained to make the enormous rifles
do their best, and hot rivalry Is exhib-
tied by the gun crews. Business is
pleasure when the heart is in 1t.
The eyes Of the whole United States
nre directed to Rear Admiral Frank
FRIDAY Fletcher and his ships today.
\ great wave of criticism has swept
F'ver the country. The European war
mas created interest in the army and
navy; and every patriot feels that if
not the greatest we should have the
best navy in the world
Is the navy up to scratch?
This is the question the maneuvers
may solve and at the same time do a
great deal toward making it possible
10 answer in the Affirmative. The navy
needs maneuvers. Just as an army
needs drills. A fleet will be awkward
IN forming in battle line in time of
var if the superior officers have not
performed all the evolutions often in
| time of peace.
Much Practicing Necessary.
Partly due to the use of the big
| ghips off the coast of Mexico, the
inaneuvers have been neglected This
IS the first time in three years that the
rntire feet will be assembled for bat
| lie practice. Three years means a
| 'ong while when one considers how
fast the art of naval warfare is de-
| reloping. Just to mention one item:
Naval guns of 14-inch caliber were car
! tied on no ship in the world three
years ago. Now the Texas and the
New York carry these mammoth
rifles. and it is currently reported
that Great Britain's new Queen Eliza
beth class. now building, will have 15-
| inch guns.
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, it is easy to see that
the United States must do a lot Of
practicing even to approximate the de-
gree of efficiency to which the fighting
navies of the world are arriving.
The Guantanamo maneuvers will be
the most extensive target and fleet
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
opening exercises, which may involve
some maneuvers of value, too.
The armored fleet (the biggest
ships) will be in four divisions of q
vessels. Ten will be Of the so-called
"dreadnaught" class and II of the pre-
dreadnaught type. Besides these, two
of the four armored cruisers OF the
fleet and all of the torpedo fotillas,
except those in reserve, will be pres
ent
Never before did the feet contain
practically two complete divisions of
the dreadnaught class The first divi-
sion consists OF dreadnaughts OF the
most powerful type and the second
division is made up of these powerful
vessels except one battleship.
In addition to the battleships. five
of the seven divisions OF torpedo.
boat destroyers viii have a part in
the exercises. This means 81 more
craft. There will be ten alxiliaries
and the scout cruiser Birmingham
which is the flagship of the torpedo
fiotilla.
Directs 1903 Vessels.
This does not mean that all the
vessels under Admiral Fletchers com
mand will be at Guantanamo. There
will be missing all the submarines
as well as all the smaller cruisers
and gunboats and two divisions of the
destroyer fotilla. Admiral Fletcher
directs 103 vessels, of which 55 will
be at Guantanamo
1t was figured by naval officer
here that the 12-inch guns of the fleet
can fire broadside of 105. 400 pounds
and the 14-inch guns bring this up to
133,400 pounds. There are 124 -
inch guns in the recognized fleet
all of which are placed so that the,
can be fired in single broadside.
The New York and the Texas each