The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1916-06-27
north SEAFlGHT
lNFLUENCESSENATE
Great Marine Battle Proves In
teriority Of Our Own First and
Second Defense Line
Senate Now FaVors Four Super
dreadnoughts - Wanted No
H New Battieships Before

~ New Battieships Before
The Associated Press despatch to The
Advertiser on Thursday, 10 the effect
that the Senate naval affair committee
has agreed to; substitute a capital ship
construction program OF four super,
dfeadnoughts and four battle cruisers
III place Of the House proposal to build
IKE battle cruisers and no battleships
this year, proves conclusively that
Senator Tillman and his associate com,
mitteemen win report a bill in which
the lessons of the recent North Sen
engagement win be given every con,
liberation. ..... -
A Comparison Of the ships Of the
american navy with the ships engaged
in the recent battle disclosed weak ness
which con WINGED the Senate committee
that a careful study Of the reports of
the battle by our naval attochcs abroad
was necessary and that the House plans
for naval construction for the coming
fiscal year should D. revised in many
respects.
FIRST Line Chips We..;i
The naVnI officers whom the commit.
tee called TO conference have pointed
ont that only Is II futile to match bat.
tie cruisers against dreadn0ughts, but
that the ships which the admiralty
statements of both Great Britain and
Germany place in the second and third
line are in speed and armament equal
or superior 20 ships of the United
States navy which must serve as the
first line of defense.
The presence Of the battlrships Of
the German High Seas fleet gave the
initial victory TO Germany, our experts
have pointed out, while the arrival of
the more powerful British feet Of
dreadnoughts forced the victorious Ger.
man squadrom to run to cover.
German Navy Is Superior
Aside from this cardinal lesson, the
naval authorities have told the Senate
committee that there are other import
ant points emphasized by the great
naval battle. 1t has been shown. these
officers claim, that the United States
navy is far inferior to the German navy
in all types of craft and they empba.
size the need of a comprehensive build,
ing program designed to round out and
c0mplete the anXiliarie as well as the
mnin fighting line on far larger scale
than has ever been contemplated.
Winston Churchill, eI British admir-.
atty chief, in his comment on the en-.
gagement, referred to the armored
cruisers Black Prince, Defense and
Warrior, all sunk in the fight, as be-
longing TO the third order of ships. /"
They were vessels which the British
admiralty regarded rs practically Obso-
lete, 20 far as fighting with the most
modern type Of warcraft is concerned.
Churchill does not consider them even
in the same class with the British sec,
qnd line cruisers. But these armored
synisers, practically of no value as fur
asa modern battle such as the North
Sea fight is concerned, were superior
~ the most modern armored cruisers
which the United States navy possesses.
Iemiliating COMPARISONS
Dur best armored cruisers are the
Tennessee, Washington, Montana and
North Carolina. They are equipped
with four ten.inch rifles each for the
main battery, which arm is considered
by ordnance experts as inferior to the
Armament OF the Warrior, Defense and
Black Prince, which carried six nine
point twOrinch guns each. In point Of
apeed none of the American armOred
cruisers has ever equaled the 1855
knots mnde by the Black Prince, the
3d. knots made by the Warrior or the
pa knots. by the Defense. In brief,
the armored British cruisers which the
HFitish Admiralty considered unfit for
elective service in the North Sea fight
6ntelassed the best armored cruisers
of our navy.
From German sources comes the news
that the German Admiralty does not
regard the loss Of the battleship West.
falen with deep concern because of the
met that this shi p was not in the same
class with the first line fighters of the
imperial feet. She was "seeond
lineo ship according to Berlin. and our
nnynl experts also class her. But they
and that the Westfalen far outclassed
many Of the battleships of the Ameri
edn feet to which certain members of
Congress have pointed with pride. The
Weetfalen with displacement Of 49,
600 tons and speed of 20.4 knots and
carrying twelve ll-inch guns, was su-
pefior to such American battleships as
the New Jersey, Rhode Island, Virgin.
ID, Nebraska, Louisiana, Connecticut,
Kansas, Minnesota, Vermont, New
Hampshire, Idaho, Mississippi, Michi-
Gnn and South Carolina. None of these
ships, In point Of armor or other chief
eharaetenistics, could equal the West
fallen, The nearest approach to this
tsecond line" ship among the vessels
Aentioned Is the Michigan class, which
ship are equipped with eight 12-inch
guns and are capable of O speed of 1875
knots ms compared with the 2O4 of
which the Westfalen was capable.
Big ship Favored
The Senate Committee by the last
Coast papers, was said to have been
suppressed by the emphasis which our
naval reports have laid on the imme-
date reinforcement of our fighting
Aeet by two superdread noughts and the
later Washington advices Indicate that
four Is now the accepted number. The
0aneral Board has already drawn plans
for division Of four of these fighting
machines of approximately 10000 tons
to be armed with either
lainch or l8,inch guns. The North
Sea fights showed the effect of the ar.
rival Of the British superdreadnoughts.
No one Of these ships was seriously
the latest reports show The
WaTspite, though torn with heavy shells
from the German sfPet duFiup the mar.