New Britain herald., 1918-12-27


months yesterday afternoon. His talk
related entirely to the Grand Fleet, of
which the great squadron under his
command was one of the fast
wings; of Sir David Beatty, the COM
mander~in-chief of the great allied
armada, and of the Germans, whose
ships he said, now lie at anchor in
long symmetrical lines-helpless, in
occuous. and harmless" The Grand
Fleet. Admiral Rodman said, was
the very backbone of the structure
watch has made a. victorious peace a.
certainty"
- Many interesting and hitherto un-
published facts concerning the war IN
the North Sea were disclosed by Ad-
mral Rodman. For instance, he let
it be known that only y few months
ago the Anglo American battle squad
MTons came SO close to what WIS then
%ha German High Seas Fleet that it
was within few miles of cutting the
fleet Oft from its base. On another
occasion a German submarine came
within hairs breadth. SO to speak,
of sending the flagship New York to
the bottom, and on another occasion
U-boats got so close to the New York
that they were able to fire three tor
pedoes at the great superdread-
nought.
Admiral Rodman was in his cabin
on board the flagship New York
when he told in sailor fashion the
story of the events in which he and
the officers and men under his COM
ghand played so important part.
Above his desk as he talked were the
autographed photographs OF Admiral
inH, = fr
George, King Albert of Belgium and
the Queen of Belgium. On n mahog-
any stand nearby stood a giant silver
loving cup the inscription on which
reads: ITO Hugh Rodman, from his
brother Admirals Of the Grand Fleet.
Beneath the inscription are the names
OF all these brother flag officers,
among them David Beatty, Charles
MADDEN, Montague Browning, Will
liam Pakenham, ]. Ferguson, John
de Robeck, Trevelyan Napier and Ar
thur Leveson.
Sea Fighters Were Ready.
IT guess it is but natural" said
Admiral Rodman that my thoughts
at this time are Of the operations and
activities Of the hattleship force un-
der my command, which, as you, OF
course know, constituted an integral
part of the Grand Fleet in the North
Sea- ! want to say right at the be-
ginning that when this country en-
tered the war the United States Navy
under the administration of Mr.. Dan
iels4 was ready at once to enter upon
it's war duties and did so, and from
the very beginning until the war was
brought to a successful end 1T has ful~
filled every single demand made upon
II promptly and in the most complete
and satisfactory manner. You know,
of course that as son as we were IN
the war our destroyers got under way
and headed straight for the subma-
rine nests to take part in the hunt for
those pests Later we :added patrol
boats and then aircraft for the same
purpose, and in tho end they, too
came through with flying Colors, the
duties thew we're called upon to per-
form most croditaby accomplished.
Likewise the story has been told of
the overseas transport service. which
landed our army in France and kept
that army supplied; of the mining
-force that laid the great mine BAR
rage. in the North Sea, and OF the
splendid battery of naval guns that
co-operated with our army in france.
And 7 should also mention our naval
forces in the Adriatic, which pore
conspicuous part in the naval opera
tons in those waters,
"And now I come to the Grand
4Floet. of which the New York Texas
Nevada wyoming, Arkansas, ana
Florida, which formed the sixth bal-
Tie Squadron, was part. Sho"io
mention in this connection that a
few months fter our entry into the
war it became necessary to strength
en- the Grand Fleet of Great Britain;
And, accordingly, a division of pat
klesi1ips, under my command, was
sent to cooperate with it. This was
lust one year ago. and since that we
have been constantly on active service
in the North Sea as a squadron Of the
. Grand Fleet There were good and
Arficienr reasons why this informa-
ton should have been kept secret
during the war but now that it has
sndod there can be no objection to
making public it's operations.
'.But before giving moro Of the de-
tails one al1-imlT ortant fact should be
kent In mind. that all of these activi-
lies are more or less independent, and
all strive to accomplish the same end,
and lead to the same goal, which Is to
command the sea; to make 1t safe and
free for our own and our Allies ships
but to deny it to the enemy during the
Ftirne OF war. This is the ultimate OBJ
Iec+ of sea power, and 1t was accom-
plished SO far as surface ships are con-
.erned to an absolute degree of per-
lection.
TT is needless in fact suporhuous,
ror me TO rejterate that which is
sx1own and recognized throughout the
fvilized world. namely, that it was
he Grand fleet which has been the
very backbone Of the structure which
has made a victorious peace a GER
Eafntv. Without it there is no aues~
lion that the war would long ago have
> heel, disastrously concluded with just
~. ....AehA conditions ofta ming from