The Washington times., 1915-06-26
DANIELS URGES.
NEW METHODS.
FOR j. S. NAVY.
Revolution Changes Needed to
Bring National Defense Up
to Modern State.

NEWPORT, r. l.. June 2s.-Revolu-
tionary changes in methods of naval
warfare must be devised to bring the
United States navy UP to date. admits
Secretary of the Navy Daniels.
In q speech that at times bordersd on
the sensational he told the Naval War
College at the opehing Of the new ses-
sion today. that the development Of
the submarine and the utility Of the
airship has held Eng1and's great navy
behind land-locksd barriers for the first
year of the great world war. Old things
have passed away. he asserts, and he
called on the members of the college to
live up to American tradition and find
the new weapons which will make the
American navy the greatest weapon Of
offense and defense in the world. Those
who heard his speech saw in It a plea
for great fleets of sea-going submarines
and aerial craft.
Daringly Go Forward.
Holding wisely to what is good In
the past" said the Naval Secretary, ito
such principles only as stand the acid
test of this great war. do not fear to
cast aside what have proved to be mere
shackles Of convention and daringly to
20 forward"
The Secretary promised that no effort
Is to be spared to increase the efficiency
were told that, while Congress Is from
Missouri" and must "be shown" 1t will
appropriate all the money required for
defence II the college will justify the
an fnr Oh, Ar,.tn
After praisiRg the work of the feet.
extolling the showing 1t made at the
recent review in New York. the secre-
I'm personnel and material, the navy
is larger than ever before. Its men are
trained and fit. Its experts are ready
to remedy. the defects Of the past. and
to take advantage Of all that has been
rope Of actual war"
He declared the Navy Department will
never be satisfied with what has been
accomplished. He declared that It was
now open minded" and no suggestions
were rejected. The idealist, as well as
the inventor now finds welcome on the
mat when he comes to tell how i'm
Provements can be made. The program
said. would have been carried out and
be up to date II all Congresses had
been as liberal as the Sixty-third. He
W a.e msSs
and further aid in. the. expansion by
providing funds for weapons not now In
existence.
Mind of the Navy.
There Is courage everywhere, in
every nation" he continued, but the
victory now is only to the courageous
are trained men who master electri-
city, chemistry, machinery and know
how to use new devices and mechanisms.
In naval warfare. old things have now
passed away, and We may soon say
old things have become new"
He declared the War College was the
mind Of the navy and its members were
those in whose hands the destiny of the
nation may yet hang.
"As you look abroad" he said. you
see old tactics. old strategics, old
theories of naval warfare which have
stood unchallenged since the triremes
of Carthage and Rome grappled to-
gether In the Mediterranean, are dis
appearing over night.
New and terrible instruments of
destruction for the first time have
appeared over and under the seas.
Slipping unseen through the dark
elude great fleets, slip by impuregnable
fortrcsses, thread safely narrow
straits sown thickly with mines and
in moment transform great battle
shis into useless. sunken iron and
steel.
I'm the air overhead dirigibles and
aeroplanes threaten new danger. add
new problems. and upset old theories
of warfare.
IF war uon the land has reverted
to the bayonet and the hand grenade,
war upon the sea has leaped forward
at single stride and broken almost
every shackle of ancient convention.
Lessons of the War.
I'VE have seen the main fleet Of the
greatest sea nation Of the world with
drawn from the seas to the seclusion
OF a harbor without having fired a
shot during the first year of a mighty
conflict. We have seen battles begun
at ranges believed to be impossible and
ships disabled by shots from guns still
invisible We have been told that modern
sea fights would be determined In the
first ten minutes. yet we have seen that
II took six hours to decide one of the
greatest ocean battles OF the present
war. Ships of shallow draft have been
used as fortresses on the Belgian coast
and submarines have glided unchal-
lenged past the impregnable fortress of
Gibraltar.
Every day some new thing arises in
naval warfare. With what weapons, by
what strategy. shall we meet the ter
ror Of the submarine; the still unre-
vcaled possibilities of the airship? II
is you. gentlemen, that must supply the
answer.
MY earnest word my solemn plea,
is to urge you fearlessly to discard wor-
ship of all things that are old. and to
adopt courageously that which is new
the moment that some new develop
ment convinces you that the new way
is the path to victory"