Evening star., 1918-06-16
men AND OFFICERS
URGENT NAVY NEED
Secretary Daniels Asks for
Added Enlisted Strength of
Forty Thousand.

Secretary Daniels has urged Con-
gress to increase the present enlisted
strength of the Navy At least 10000
men. declaring that they are i'm
mediately needed. This necessity was
emphasized by reports from Admiral
Benson, chief Of naval operations. and
from Rear Admiral Palmer, chief OF
the bureau of navigation. which were
made public last night by Chairman
Padgett Of the House committee on
naval affairs.
The correspondence revealed that
new warships are being turned out
faster than they can be manned with
the present limited personnel. and that
should there be a change of naval
defensive instead of an offensive
fight, the Navy would be seriously
handicapped in handling the feet
against an enemy.
Admiral Palmer said in his letter that
q shortage Of officers Of higher grade
should be made up, pointing out that
American destroyers now are operating
in the war zone without a designated
commander other than the British ofh-
Ger, Admiral Bayley. The submarine
chaser force in foreign waters is COM
manded by captain. the admiral said.
whereas there should be at least one
and preferably two rear admirals for
this force.
The two American divisions of armored
cruisers also are without a flag officer.
There is no flag officer for the division
Of superdreadnaughts which will be
added to the Navy within year. Ad-
miral Palmer also pointed out that the
sdmirals and vice admirals In command
Of American fleets should have rear ad-
mirals as chiefs Of staff.
Navy Needs 2,146 Men.
Merely to man our fleet properly
efficient." Admiral Palmer's letter
said, I'VE must have Immediately
twenty-seven additional rear admirals.
and by July 1, 1919, six more, in addi-
tion to those we have now"
officially 42,14e men will be needed to
man the waeships which will be turn
ed out during the next fiscal year.
ending July ], 1919. This force he
divided as follows:
tugs. s,705; submarines. 1925; fleet
fnsl f,nn ships ships 10 1o7o; gunboa's' ammuni
On last April l. he wrote. ss.475 men
On battleships, ss.4ss: cruisers and
monitors, 1880: gunboats. -3.22s;
destroyers and torpedo boats. 1924;
ports and hospital ships. 2.5os: tugs.
1000; yards. stations. hospitals, radio
stations. 5000; submarines and tend
with a force of 1s1.4s5 men he
estimated that there must be a sur.
5.864 to replace men wounded, on sick
or regular leave.
Information Is Suppressed.
Admiral Palmer disclosed interest
ing figures as to the number OF
American destroyers operating in the
war zone and those to be sent during
the next year, together with the num-
ber OF submarine chasers now over
the correspondence had been made
public by the House naval committee,
Chairman aPadgett, through the COM
mittee on public Information, asked
newspapers not to publish these de-
tails. tsHI
In his letter pointing out the neces-
sity for the increased personnel,
Admiral Benson said the navy was
Handicapped by . lack of sufiicient
officers and that it could not operate
successfully with less than the 49,
485 enlisted personnel requested OF
Congress.
Regardless of when the war ends"
Admiral Benson's letter said, "the
world is going to be in a perturbed
state for years to come. There are
many questions which will arise out
Of this war in which we are Of neces-
sity vitality interested.
I'm order to be in q position to as
sert our rights as a people and to in
sist upon the adoption at the peace
conference Of the principles for
which we entered into the war. a navy
comparable with our Importance is
the first essential. Ships alone can
not make navy.
I'VE must have ships, and Congress
has recognized this and appropriated
accordingly. 1t is equally as essential
that we have the men to man these
ships and the officers of all grades
sufficient to insure the efficiency Of
the whole. We have not the required
number Of men at the present time,
nor have we the officers"
The naval appropriation bill will be
reported to the House tomorrow by
its conferees for instructions as to
Senate amendments which the House
managers refused to accept. 1t is ex-
pected that the House will vote on
these amendments during the coming
week.