The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-05-25
SHIPS Of j. 8.
NAVY BUSY IN
.GETTINGREADY.
Associated Press Man Tells
of Short Time Aboard
Big Vessels.
HOW TRAINING IS
DONE ABOARDSHIP
Every Ship in Readiness for
Either a War or Peace
full TITission.

With the United States Atlantic
Fleet, May 24.-The big ships of the
most powerful fleet ever under the
American flag, when visited by a cor
respondent of the Associated Press,
through arrangement with the COM
mittee on public information, were
working day and night to bring
about the defeat of Germany on the
sea. Ready For Battle, they are
spending the waiting period turning
out sailormen.
The feet temporarily is a great
workshop of war. Already it is turn
ing out one Of its finished products
men who can fight. They are serv-
ing the guns on American armed
merchant ships. It's other product
men who can run the great merchant
fleet the United States will use to
feed the allies--wiu be ready as soon
as the ships are.
Five-inch guns, the kind principally
/ used against submarines, are there
by the hundreds. On the deck great
turrets house long fourteen and
twelve-inch riies-three or two to
/ turret. On high platforms guns used
for defense against airplanes point to
( the sky. Brass is always shining,
steel is always polished, paint is al
ways new, decks are always white
with scrubbing.
The men behind the guns have lost
/ shipmates in the war-they were
| gun crews on merchantmen sunk by
! German submarines. And other ship
mates now are on duty aboard the de-
! stroyers operating with the British
and French fleets. The men with the
! Atlantic fleet are working to prepare
| themselves to avenge the killing of
their mates.
Here's what happened the other
day. A crew was practicing with a
fve-inch gun. A bluejacket about
seventeen-he still had down on his
chin-was pointing. He grasped ham
dies on a broad brass Wheel his eye
was steady at a rubber cup at the
end of a long sight, through which
he saw the target, His duty was to
keep the gun on the target so it
might be fired any time.
Around this beardiess youth were
grouped other gun crews ready TO
fire when his crew had completed It's
period.
The breach was snapped open, the
load was thrown home, the breach
was hurled back in place and then a
buzzer, operated from the fire con-
troll station, sounded; there was a
flash. a roar, the hiss of a prOjectlle
speeding through the air and the
louder hiss of compressed air blowing
smoke out of the gun. Miles away
the projectile struck the target.
Guess that's bad" said an old
man-o&war's -man looking on admir-
. ingly at the third shot, as the gun
crew got the range and the pillar OF
white water leaped into the air.
How would that do for Fritzy
Suppose that had been a submarine
and"
The buzzer. the roar of the CUR
and the hiss of air interrupted him.
another hit! Gee whiskers, that's
shooting"
On the after deck latest arrival:
aboard the ship were set to work
@ that day, and every other day, in fact
upon the loading machines. They
consist principally Of a breach anC
block and a slide that carries away
dummy projectiles and power bags.
Officers with stop watches in then
hands set one crew after another K
2 work, the idea being to develop ex
IRENE loading speed by competition
The newest members of the ships
companies work Tor days at these
loading machines. The next step il
their training carries them to tn,
e. guns. But they are not yet read!
TO- to fire the regular charges. One
= Founders, that go off with a sharl
/ / crack, are dashed on top of the bis
e guns and the crews go through al
- the motions of firing, but instead o
n a big shell, a little one weighing
/, pound speeds for the target when tn,
] buzzer sounds or when the turre
Y captains in charge of the bigge
rifles yell "Fireo'
s After a period Of firing with tn
. sub-caliber arrangement the crew
t get down to real battle practice
: There arc few buster places than
: turret in action. Concave steel wall
= are all round, and a steel roof is jus
. above the heads of the gunners. Tn
= pointers sit far forward, underneat
Il the barrels of the guns. Little seat
e like those on a motorcycle are Their
= for them and on every side are in