The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-05-19
IT'S VITAL MISTAKE,
NAVAL EXPERTS SAY
Failure to Provide Battlcships
Will Handicap Fighting
Power, II Is Asserted.
DANIELS Is DISAPPOINTED

WASHINGTON. May Is.-Opinion is
practically unanimous among line officers
OF the navy. including all the experts OF
the General Board, that the nava plan
adopted by the House committee to-day
has ignored the vital need OF the navy
by failing to increase the fighting eff
1ciency Of the battleship fleet. The re-
fusal to appropriate for battleships Is
regarded as such a fragrant mistake that
all other feature Of the bill are regarded
as OF secondary Importance.
Thu Urgent recommendations OF the
General Board and the expert advice OF
the leading naval authorities are de.
libcratcIy ignored, 1t Ia explained, and
the country Is presented with n naval
building programme which for the hrst
time In many years leaves the battleship
feet with no prospective increase.
Admiral Dewey and other authorities
are understood to regard this AS such a
dangerous precedent that they would
have preferred to zee all the other types
OF craft eliminated In favor OF two or
three modern superdreadnoughts added
TO the bulk OF the real fighting force
of the navy. In the eyes OF naval eN-
perts the fleet is the thing that counts"
and the ava bill. they say, has there
fore ignored it in favor Of other type
Of craft which can serve only as auxili-
aries.
Fighting Emciency Considered.
The proposed 1--WE battle cruisers sup
ply a long felt need. but these vessels
will be useless so far as increasing the
fighting efficiency of the fleet Is COM
cerned. Their value. IL Is explained. will
lie In the combination Of speed and hard
hitting power, but they could not form
part OF the fleet without rendering their
speed advantage useless. The sixteen
Llttleships already In service or pre-
Niously provided for could no, keep m
with them. and therefore the battle
cruisers will form q division apart from
| the fleet bu, not to be rcckoned with ~
increasing the hgh,ing power of the
fleet in any engagement with an enemy
fleet.
Secretary Daniels. after talking with
the naval experts. expressed disappoint-
1 ment over the failure to provide battle
ships. but he apparently does not share
| the opinion of the General Board tn
battleships are a prime necessity and
that no other type OF craft can take
their places.
After learning OF the committees &C.
ton. Secretary Daniels said
"Of curse. | think IL would have been
best II the House committee had reported
the Ave yea programme as suggested m
my annual report and approved by tn,
! President. but | understand that AT no
time was 1t possible TO secure the votes
OF a majority of the committee for this
larger proposition.
Battle cruisers are invariably counted
by the naval experts as much capita
ships AS d~readnoughts. and the strength
OF navles IL invariably rcckoned primar'
lily on ats strength in capital ships. W.
have thus gained in the report one more
capital ship than we asked for the first
year
While | have not totalled figures my
SELF. ! am told that the actual amount o:
money appropriated for this year In tht
bill az reported by the ID
more than the amount recommended II
my report.
Il am sorry that the battlesh.ps were
eliminated and | would be gratified II
they were restored before the bill came
10 the President"
five bay Deadlock.
L, was learned to-day at the Navy
! Department that the committees de
cision on the bill followed a five day
deadlock over Secretary Daniels PR
posed programme. The eight Repubd-
can members OF the committee heIu a
caucus and decided that under no con-
ditions would they vote for the Secre'
tary's Ave year programme, They be-
lseved the exper, advice OF the naval au-
thorities WAS not sufficiently taken into
account by Secretary Daniels and they
did not want the country committed TO a
programme which they considered in
adequate.
Five little navy Democrats on the
committee wanted to vote for a reduced
one years building programme. lndtr
! these circumstances the supporters OF
Secretary Daniels's programme on tHt
against them.
one essential difference which the
substitution of battle cruisers for battle
ships will make will be the Increased
delay in getting these capital ships com
ple,ed. Battle cruisers are new TO tht
United States navy. Therefore. II II
.xnlained fhey will be considerable