The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1917-08-21
RECONSIDER PLAN
OBU|LD SMALL
U-BOAT CHASERS
Navy Department Will Rely On
Destroyers; Admiral Sims
Opposes British Idea

Ihns IOF tne construction w NV
Of 1000 submarine chascrs have been
abandoned by the navy department. In
stead, the navy viii concentrate on th'
construction of destroyers, the mos
formidable foe of submarines, and eX.
tend its plans Of arming merchant ship
travelling the war zone. The depart
ment will complete cOhst ruction of som
small boats now under contract, anL
they viii be shipped to England TO as
sist the British patrol, but the presen
plan Is to stop the construction OF
wooden chasers in the States.
Never VIII succeed
This change of attitude toward th'
little craft and their value in fighting
submarines is considered the first ste1
in new general policy which this gov
eminent is expected to pursue in fight
ing the German sub.sea menace. S..
Vice Admiral Sims is understood t.
have reported in favor of the change
because he has become convinced tina,
the present policy followed by the Brit
ish navy will never dispose of the sub
marines. .a
British Only check
Great Britain literally has thousand
of these boats patrolling the war zone
The records of shipping destroyed b.
submarines shows that they have as
sisted in holding the destruction cam
paign in cheek, bat have not reduced
10 any considerable degree, and thai
there is no reason for believing the.
ever can eliminate the submarine.
As result of the experience OF thu
British navy, il Is believed that tn
navy department has decided that thi
government must take more drasti
measures, and that it is unwise to us
thousands of men and millions of do,
lars worth Of material in following {;
policy which has not been success.
The first effect of the diseontinuane
of the original chaser building Prograr
will be 70 release thousands of ship
builders for other work and to diver
construction material to other tonnage
To Build Destroyers
The department will continue build
ing destroyers as rapidly as possible
The navy Is satisfied that this type o:
ship IL of infinitely more value in fight
ing submarines than the fast woodeI
chasers. The men who have been EN-
ployed on the first batch of chasers will
be used wherever possible on construct
ing the new feet of wooden merchant
men. The smaller yards will be used t.
make standardized sections Of thes'
new cargo.carrying" ships. In this way
! it Is believed no Construction facilitie'
will be lost TO the government. , j
Instead of continuing to build chaser'
to look for submarines the government
is expected 10 place as much armament
as possible upon every American mer
chant ship, and where possible to avail
| itself of the new batch of destroyers Il
| act as conveys.
Safety In Speed
The navy department is satisfied tha'
the German submarines will never b.
effective against ships which have
fair rate of speed and which are prop
| erly armed The most expert men il
the department believe that if Grea
Britain would change its policy in thi
line, shrinkage in the loss of tonnag
there by submarine attack would b.
noted overnight.
''' The department has repeatedly ealle,
attention to the fact that German sub
marines have never managed to sin
American armed ships which have tOI
cradle speed rate. This fact is attriE
uted to the department 3 policy of put
ting plenty of good gunners with crac
crews on every American ship tina
crosses the war zone.
Few British Ships Armed
An official announcement made i
London recently admitted that only 30
British ships were armed. Relatively
the United States has a much create
number of armed ships. The result
are shown in the relative loss of shiI
ping flying the British and the Anne
lean flags.
Experience has taught the America
naval commanders that no German sui
marine is willing to take a chance o
coming close TO an American ship /
daylight because the German command
ers have had few tastes of America
metal, and they do not like it. On tn
other hand, they show no fear in Noldl
attacking British ships, because the
realize the danger is relatively small
TT