Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-09
U.S.. S.NAVY'SBIC PART IN WAR
TOLD BY SECY. DANIELS
Navy Head Reports America Had 33S Warships in Foreign
Waters; Marines Credited With Saving Paris; Sees
Smaller Armaments in Future But Insists U. S. Has Big
Part to Play in Policing the Seas; Urges Three Year
Program.

the degree of accomplishment of ON
/ service in this respect is without precedent
IN allied warfare
| 33S L. s. NAVAL SHIPS ABROAD.
| As concrete evidence of what was &C,
| complished, the report shows that or
! October |. there we're 33S United States
! naval ships abroad with 5000 officers and
! 10000 enlisted men, or a greater force
! than the total strength of the navy when
| war was declared; while thn American
! fighting craft has teamed an average OF
! 626, 900 miles per month in the war zone
/ This did not include the cruisers and bat
| tleships on escort duty OF the first de
| strovers to 90 over, the Porter steamed
, 64 ,473 miles, the Connyngham 63 ,952 and
! the Davis, 63,015.
| The major naval operation of the war,
| SO far as the United States is concerned,
| is gwen as the conveying of more than
| 2,0OO,000 troops to Europe, without the
| loss BY enemy action of a single east
| bound transport This accomplishment,
| the report says, Will stand as q monument
| to both the army and the navy rs the
greatest and most difficult troop trans
porting effort which has ever been con
Quoted across seas.
Up to November l. il is shown. 924 SIS
troops had been carried 10 France IN
American transports under American
convoy with no losses outward bound, and
only three vessels SINK on the road home.
From November to the date of the re-
port. there had been 2SQ additional sail
| ings Of American troop and supply ships
the average being about one ship every
.. FIVE hours
MARINE IN FIFRCE BATTIIS
Writing with PRIDE Of the record Of the
marine brigade in France, the secretary
shows that with only 5000 mon of the
corps engaged, the casualties numbered
80 officers and ] .13i men dead. = officers
and ,435 seriously wounded. while but ~
marines arc reported officially aS captured
bv the enemy. illustrating the desperate
character of the fighting in which the
brigade participated and the tact that II
was alwavs advancing.
ITO the United States Marines. MIR.
Daniels says fighting side hy side with
equally brave and equally courageous
men IN the American army. 10 that faith
fuI sea and land force of the nav. fell
the honor OF taking over the lines where
the blow Of the prusstsn would strike
the hardest, the hne that was nearest
Paris and where. should breach occur,
ali would be lost
BLOCKED HUN FROM PARIS
The world knows todav that the Unit
Cd States Marines held that Inc that
they blocked the advance that was rolling
on toward Pans at a rate Of six or seven
miles a day. that they met the attack III
American fashion and with American
herolsrn. that marines and soldiers Of the
American Army, threw back the crack
guard divisions of Germany, broke their
advance, and then, attacking, drove them
back In the beginning Of a retreat that
was not to end until the cease firing sig
nal sounded for the end Of the world s
greatest war.
4 striking picture Of the fighting al
Belleau Wood, now renamed IN honor Of
the Marine Brigade, Is gwen. The place
was jungle, filled with machine gun nests,
the secretary says. Impossible 20 reach
with artillery or grenades
BAYoNErs BEAT THE BocHEs
There was only one way, he contin-
ues to wipe out these ncsts-bv bay-
onet. And BY this method were they wiped
out, for United States Marines, bare
chested, shouting their battle cry OF
'E-e-e-e-e v-a-a-h-h-h ylpp charged
straight into the murderous FIRE from those
guns, and won Out of the number that
charged. In more than one instance, only
one would reach the stronghold. There,
with his bayonet as hls only weapon, be
would either kill or capture the defenders
Of the nest, and then swinging the gun
about IN its position, turn It against the re-
manning German positions IN the forest.
In all the history of the Marine Corps
hot 10 H-H ~.
Belleau Wood The herolsm and dogged-
ness Of that battle are unparalleled
BAGGED TEN U-BOATs.
The report describes tie laying Of the
North Sea mine barrage wholly an Ameri-
can enterprise. While there is no way Of
ascer.aining definitely what that $50
mile barrier did 70 enemy submarines, Mr.
Daniels says there Is reason 10 believe
that zen U-boats ''had ended their career
at the barrage before the middle Of
October
The building and manning Of the l4-inch
rife naval batteries working with the
armies IN France. is also described There
have been no equals in the fighting of thesc
highly mobile weapons with 8 range Of
30 miles, the report says, adding
FIEEST ARTILLERY IN THE WORLD
Briefly, the American Navy has de
signed built and is now manning with
blueiackets specially trained for land
service the largest aud most high
powered mobile land artillery III the world
So successful have these guns been that
additional orders for many more were re-
qucsted before the srmistice
The depth bomb has proven the most
effective mean, Of combating the sub
marines, the report states, and il shows
that American enterprise Vas responsible
for very largely increasing that effective
ness The early 80 pound charge bomb-
were crude and Of low Distinctive force
compared TO the 200 pound and 800
pound charge7, now bong produced
Many allied ships have been equipped
WITH these American improvements
Another ordnance development that Is
noted, IS the perfection Of lG-lnch rifles for
all rev bnttleehips They will make these
vessels ii Is said, the heaviest armed craft
IN the world with broadsldc projectllc
weight of 25, 200 pounds against 1903
pounds for the Pennsylvania, the biggest
and most powerful craft now in commits
son
The report emphasizes also ia the record