Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-12-10

I ton OF S6.00o.000 to equip United states
navy-ynrds with facilities for building
| battlcships. Heretofore, the yards mt
! New York and Mare Island have beer,
y The sole government constructors Of
! battleships. but now Norfolk and
! Philadelphia arc building them for the
! first time, and just us soon as condi-
| tions Will permit the Boston and Puget
| Sound yards Will be awarded contracts
This measure is Interesting not only
! because of the changes II will bring
about in the navy Yards. but because IL
! shows that The statesmen Of the nation
| recognized the positive need for pre-
! par"dncSs--and for preparedness as
coon as possible. Ever since the Euro
! pcnn War. the private shipbuilding
/ yards throughout the country have
/ been swampci with orders, both for
| ciSn and domestic. and the gentlemen
who used to haunt the national capital
for the purpose OF obtaining govern
| mcnt orders now have L. bc fairly
coaxcd To enter bids for naval con-
| tracts They may, or course, be in
| duced 10 build Nvarcraft for Uncle Sam.
| but at advanccd--vcry aivanccd--coSts
and only after tncy have completed
| their European contracts, which mum
Der in the thousands. il was therefore
| perfectly apparent To Congress that If
| the United states hoped 10 have II com
| potent navy within thu next ten years
II would have T. build the ships it.
! self
The most important necessity in bat
| tcShip construction is space. y hattie
! ship is large craft and .-cpuircs =
| great deal of room in which to grow
! ~ the present. time, N"w York has
| spnc. enough to build only one at n
| time; Boston is not large enough TO
! acco,nmo datc = bnttleship, while Nor
| folk has siuc. for four and Thiladcl-
| phia many as eight. In order to
/ secure space In some Of the yards II
! viii be necessary TO tear down whole
| buildings. the yard a. BOSTON. for eX-
| ample. being cut in two.
| Procuring worklncn and Installing
| machinery are the next probicms. II
! is estimated that il takes 1000 men To
| build one battieship III its completed
| form, furnished and equipped with
: lighting apparatus. while the speed
with which the work Is executed de
| ponds largely OH the efficiency Of the
! machinery. since The war. We hhNc
! reliable Information England completes
! u hnti!cshin Ion a i.ttle over Il year. but
| with labor and material At their pres
! eat state of scarcity in this Gountry
! the best record we can hope for !.
! thre. years. Not until the end Of three
! years. then. are we likely TO have any
/ % the ten tirst-ciass hatt!cshiDs au-
| thorizcd 10y IN" navy bill.
Nuvy-Nnrd~ Are Aroused.
! In the meantime, the various navy
| yards affected by the measure are ia
| = state OF confusion ana excitement
| In tho xix yards that arc 10 build
! hattleships. men and equipment arc ar
! irving daily. The executive "itices
! are being enlarged ANA rcorran:zcd
! for handling The new work Bids for
( ::cw machinery ana equipment must be
I requested; tho old equipment must be
! used wherever possible buildings must
I be cleared oGt III order 20 home tho
/ new supplies. and TIE whole business
| OF bat;lcship Construction must be
| studied and worked on, with spc-
| Gin! view IL Two factors-spccd and
! economy. ~ Mare Island the facilities
! are already well adapted to battle
! ship construction, and work il Row
! going forward on one battlcship. in
! addition TO fuel ship and four tor
J ped"-Loat dcstroycrS. ~ Norfolk,
which haas always specialized in mines.
| great dcc! of rcadiustncnt is ncccs-
! stry, although Norfolk is not handi-
| CAPPED ny lack OF space. as is Boston.
| Boston Is having a serious time rhila-
| dc!phia and Puget Sound arc having
comparatively few difficulties. owing
/ slips OF .oodly size.
Sa.tl"ships. however are not the
only rurcrait 20 he assigned the navy
| yards FOR construction. The new naval
/ program inClu e" a list OF l57 vessels
of various ;ypcs--battlc cruisers scout
| cruisers. torpedo boat deStroyers sub
marines, ammunition ships Eunboats
ct'.--inany OF which will have TO b..
! punt by the government These will
or divided among the nine navy-yards
according 10 their capacities Ports
mouth. which formerly manufactured
hhip'a furniture. il now preparing to
ouIid :uHil!aricS, and important large
Marcratt contracts have been awarded
o"ih N"H orleans and Charleston. The
vy-yards at Washington and Pen
sacoia are not mentioned in connection
WIN this special appropriation of Sc
100000 since The former is really a gun
factory ana the latter an acronautic
station.
Capacity VIII BE rnxed.
Ey June OF next year, i, is expected
that cver% government ship building
yard VIII be working TO its u,rnos,
capacity--a capacity that has been i'm
proved and augmented by the $4,000
900 fund--and at the end OF Hvc years
"" should nave a navy that will be
able 20 hold its own Acco;diu,. ia
the latest information, the American
navy stands fourth on the naval list
or The world. Great Britain. OF course.
| has the largest navy. ranking first
on the list Germany comes next.
France third, with a much smaller
showing. and the United States fourth,
with almost the same showing as
France. Fifth on the list is Japan
with Russi;, II close seventh, and ItuIy
and Austria following.
THIS was the standing of the navics
Of the world 1T the beginning OF the
war although there was some doubt
as I" whether france or the United
states should stand third Since the
war; the Navy Department, If it has
any accurate information on The sub
jcct. refuses 10 disclose it, Ships OF
every bcllig crent nation have gone 10
the bottom III great numbers, bu:
whether these have hccn moro than
replaced by the shiphuildinE yards is
unknown. From tic number Of for
cign contracts placed In this country
IL - plain that the bel!igercnts arc
not ncglccting the strength OF their