El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-02-10
U. S. Is Building Ten Scout
Cruisers to Get News of Sea Rene Bacne
of in
Quickly.
BY
Rene Bache
Their Purpose

I dispatch the ali-important intelligence
| she has obtained
Without such light cruisers. utilized
| as scouts. the most formidable bait lie
/ fleet today is well-nigh helpless, FOR
I lack OF information on which to act
/ We have not in our navy at the
present time 4 single vessel Of this
type worthy of the name. But Il IS go
! ing to be different
The invention Of the swift and
dangerously equipped torpedo boat
gave rise TO the destroyer. "a mag
nified torpedo boat. likewise provided
with torpedo tubes. but armed with
bigger guns. Staunch enough to keep
the sea in any kind of weather. and
SO far superior in speed as to be able
20 run down ana wipe out the smaller
kind of vessel
L. :. Cruisers 10 he Best.
Next came the destroyer Of destroy
ers'-in effect much larger and
swifter destroyer. known in modern
navies as the light cruiser. The light
cruiser is the scout ship OF today. It
is represented in the British ana Ger
man navies by vessels of 5000 TO $500
tons, with 4 speed Of IS knots or more
But none Of these is nearly equal in
any respect to the scout cruisers We
are now about TO build
At the present time, IN our naval
war-pratice maneuVers. destroyers are
used (for lack OF anything better
availa ble) to gather news. They are
reason being that they are not swift
enough in a. heavy sea, which knocks
DOWN their speed Furthermore, such
employment renders them unavailable
Though they have other and minor
duties)to attack the enemy fleet AZ
night when the latter has been duly
located.
From the enemy's point or view. the
thing most important is 10 hide his
movements. For this purpose he main
tains a screen" OF his own scout cruz
sers. for enough from his main fleet 20
prevent his adversary from seeing
even the smoke of the latter. To make
the guard effective. his scouts are al
ways ready to attack the advvrsary's
scouts and his battle-planes ready 10
engage those of his opponent
When Cervera Was Feared.
How things within the last few
years have changed, Eighteen years
ago. at the time Of the Spanish war
panic about the expected approach Of
CerVera and his squardon 10 our
shores II was feared that he might
suddenly appear off Boston and bOm-
where he might or might not, turn up.
All the time he was slowly steaming
across the Atlantic, following a track
not far diVerginE from that pursued
lumbus four centuries earlier.
But our Navy department was as
ignorant OF his moYementS as the man
in the street. We had no scout ships:
therefore we had no news The best
that could be done was to guess: and
the guess was wrong The Spanish
admiral had arrived safely in Santiago
harbor before we had the slightest no
ton where he was.
Is Different Vow.
Today it is different Half the earth
is covered. as with a blanket, By the
Navy departments wireless system.
Washington can talk. via the IsthmuS
of Panama. with the Straits of MaEei-
Ian: or, by way Of Honolulu with
Manila Supplemented as this system
is by the wireless equipment OF our
ships. and by the service of
the Coast Guard. we are certain. in
case Of war. to be made immediately
aware of anything that may transpire
on the broad expanses Of the ocean
We shall get the news: we shall get |
II quick; and upon this facility for !
acquiring prompt information will /
largely depend our prospect Of success
in the conflict I