Evening star., 1917-05-25

| "swatters'-the small craft our British
brethren dub torpedo chasers-swarm
through the waters by night Nor are
| these needless precautions. Germany
may not have learned by her Zeppelin
experience in England that the Anglo
Saxon blood fights best after It has
been we'll stirred. A torpedo attack is
| not an impossioility.
| What is our navy doing" Senator
Poindexter asked the other day.
| Getting ready for the fighting to
| come" is the answer.
Navy's Spirit Magnificent.
| For the first time since the United
spondents was permitted to visit the
| fleet this week. -Four of the six had
seen something of service abroad. and
to them the experience was an illumi-
the size Of the job on which the navy
| has entered and to appreciate the mag
nincent spirit in which that job Is being
tackled. 1t should be possible to make
something Of this plain without vio-
lating the entirely proper rules of cen
sorship. Enough has already been pub
lished to make clear to the enemy In
gross. II not in detail, what the Ameri-
can navy is doing.
| This 10 the way the job sizes up:
The navy has been called on to as
similate $4,000 new men. The day that
| war was declared the enlisted strength
Of the navy was 61.381 men.
| Therefore, two-fifths Of today's total
OF them belong to the reserves, it is
| true, and a few others had seen serv-
| ice. But for the most part they are
right from the middle west, where
ships only exist in pictures.
| At the same time certain proper
ton of the officers and skilled men OF
the navy have been detached to fur
nish gun crews to protect merchant
vessels against submarine attacks.
No secret is being revealed here, for
1t Is obvious that this compelled dis
| persion OF the before-the-war person
mel has operated as q handicap in the
process Of intensive training today.
Plan for Immediate Action.
coincidentally, the navy is required
\ to put its ships in preparation for i'm
diate action may not be required
| Nevertheless, the preparation is nec-
| essary one. No ship cleaning was re-
| qufred. There has been no minute in
years past that the American navy
has not been fit to go into action at a
minutes notice. But when that notice
F.. is an extended one there are always
! things to do in every navy. Even
| moro than 10 the case with woman,
| the seaman's work Is never done. The
-Ld
be dismissed with line.
A certain confusion exists in the
public mind as to the relative
! strength Of the American navy today
because Of recent publications and be-
cause OF the widespread appreciation
| OF the fact that Congress has syste-
matically starved this branch Of the
| service. Before the war we believed
the American navy to be no worse
| than third in world rank Today no
I n ny f1ob I,..$
! the average man probably believes
| that, ship for ship, we are outclassed.
American Ships Slower.
The Blucher was sunk because she
was too SLOW" is q statement one often
hears. "Yet tne BIucher was faster
| than any ship in the American navy"
| view. the statement may be confiden-
TALLY made that the American battle
ship Meet Is the equal. ship for ship, of
| any Meet In the world today. The lesser
| So are the lesser and older vessels Of
any navy today. They are quite on a
par, vessel for vessel, with any other
| nations elder ships. They will be quite
! as useful. Naval war has already shown
that these old ones have their parts to
play.
As for the dreadnaughts, they are
slower than some British and German
ships OF the same class. and they
sixteen-inch guns. In spite Of the re-
GENTLY expressed criticisms. naval men
do not concede that this means they
are in the least inferior. Our ships are
slower because any war in which we
might be engaged would necessarily
force a wide radius Of action upon us.
That means coal and oil carrying "a :
/ pacfty. That In turn means sacrifice
OF speed. British and German battle
. &~h
waters. have been given great speed
On the wide sea excessive pace IL NOT
an overwhelming advantage ea-keep-
ing qualities are more essential than
dash in maneuvering
Smaller Guns Hit oftener.
The superiority of the sixteeninch
yet demonstrated. The larger gun can
hit a heavier blow It is true, but the
smaller one can strike it's blow more
rapidly. There is no effective differ
ence IN range Either can throw
pro]ectile farther than the enemy can
be seen. Either can hit an enemy that
can be seen. American naval men he
l,eve that the comparatively slight dif-
ference In weight of impact is more
Of fire. " ''e 'eaSea fap'oi'y
In spite. of the enforced detachinR of
trained gun crews to merchant vessels
the battleshIp fleet has not suffered
Every gun is manned by top-notc men.
In the past plan has been pursued Of
duplicating men for each important
gun position, and only the duplicates
have been sent to the merchantmen.
New men are being trained to take
their places. Men who had not pre-
viously been members Of gun crews
have been sent to the cargo carriers
on their showing Of ability. All this
means hard and constant work In
place of the before-the- routine nj
putting the gun crews through their
daily PAGES. But it does not mean any
| lessening in battle strength of the big
fleet.
Recruit Intelligence High.
The recruits have been assimilated
with astonishing rapidity In part this
| is due to their high average Of inteIli-
gence. They are the real aristocrats
of the masses," is the way one hish
| off1cer described them. There is not an
illiterate in the fleet. Perhaps a ma
| jority came from occupations that de-
| manded certain amount of thought
They are mechanics or tradesmen or
clerks, or belong to the keen and alert
farming communities Of the west. The
pick land shovel hands are in a negli-
! gible minority. Then, too, they have
| the enthusiasm of youth. They go at
| the new job as though it was a game
! All day long they work with the guns
| or at the drill, even when they might
be sprawled on the deck in the sun
shine during their watch below.
DRIVE ON FOR MARINES.