The Hartford republican., 1916-03-10
DREADNAUGHT NO
Longer FAVORED
RELOCATED TO THE SCRAP HEAP
SAYS U. 8. NAVAL
OFFICER.
CRUISER MORE USEFUL
Light, Speedy Vessels Will Rule The
Waves In The Future, He
Declares.

Washington, March 4.---Facts re-
lating to the sea force of the Euro
pean belligerents are teaching inn
portant lessons to the United States
naval officers.
There is one big lesson of the war
that the United States should profit
by" said one official. "That is, the
dreadnaught battleship has passed
away. Its slow speed has made 1t
only a fortification that must of nee
essity remain the defensive and at
home. The battle cruiser is mistress
of the seas and he that commands
the most powerful fleet of battle
cruisers commands the seas. 1t is the
the battle-cruiser that shall be the
gauge in the future of the efficiency
of nations sea forces.
"The criterion of warship type
will be found In study of their
ultimate service is a maxim that
has been accepted by the United
States, resulting in the Nation being
committed to the battleship to the
exclusion of the battle-cruiser.
For the destruction of the enemy
commerce, only two types of
warship are needed-the battle-cruis-
er and the fast scout. The knell Of
the armored cruiser has been struck
in the advent of the battle-cruiser.
England first in sea power, recog-
nizes the necessity of a preponder-
ance of battle-cruisers and scouts.
"England's ten battle-cruisers have
nullified the effectivness Of the six
battle-cruisers of Germany. BY a
strategical error, the Goeben, German
cruiser, when the war began, fed to
Turkey, thereby reducing the German
, battle-cruisers that had been avail
able in the North Sea to FIVE.
Germany was influenced by the
maxim of ultimate service"
"It is not generally known that in
the German navy there have been
two Admirals in the confidence Of the
Emperor with Numerically require
ments.- One of these Admirals sew
eral years ago went to the Kaiser
and laid out building plan in which
no battlesships appeared. There were
only four types of ships advocated
the battle-cruiser, the scout cruiser,
the destroyer and the submarine.
This recommendation was radical
that the Emperor referred it to the
head of the Navy Bureau. The re-
suit was the retirement from sea SER
vice of the Admiral that had advocat-
ed the scrapping of the battleship.
Germany yet clung to the maxim of
ultimate service"
"If, at that time, the German En-
peror had taken the advice of that
far-seeing naval officer, and II. at the
beginning of this war, Germany had
been able to have in service twelve
battle-cruisers instead of six. there
would now be charitable organiza-
tions and committees on "the send
ing of food to the starving people of
Great Britain.
Before the developement of the
submarine the battle-cruiser could be
blockaded by battle ships, or prevent
ed from regaining its base Of supply
to refuel and refit. The far-reaching
effectiveness of the submarine of
twenty knots surface speed that has
now appeared. makes this use of
battleships extremely hazardous, If
not entirely impossible.
''The submarine can project the
fortifications of the base far out to
sea. The battle-cruiser reaches the
high sea and returns to the base at
high speed. guarded enroute, by sub
marines. Would the enemy endeavor
to intercept, even with its superiority
in battleships?
"This is the real naval lesson Of
the war. We must realize that the
battleships Of the dreadnought type
are gone-relegated to the past by
the tremendous force of the combined
powers of submarine and battle-crui-
care