New-York tribune., 1918-12-09

80 .he urst step IN programme
VI which the Secretary saws:
The outstanding accomplishmeat of
,ne navy abroad in this war. outside Of
vigorous and valorous service in tho
oanger zone, has been the character
a"u degree of cooperation and nrac-
I,eal consolidation for the time being
ot cur services with those services
! NJ, w,'h which we have been associated
, ne navy, beginning with the arrival
! ~ ~. 'he urst snip abroad, has stood out
,t 10! unity of command, even though
, this IN some instances involved sacr;-
/ ;'i,ns temporarily something of our
l133ehtiIy as an independent service.
",s mas not been an easy task. 1t
- oeiieved to be safe statement that
'ne degree of accomplishment of our
service IN this respect is without prece-
cent IN allied warfare"
1888 U. S. Naval Ships Abroad
( AS concrete evidence of what was
accomplished, the report shows that
on October l there were 33S United
! States naval ships abroad, with 5000
greater force than the total strength
OF the navy when war was declared:
while the American fighting craft had
steamed an average of $4,000 miles
per month in the war zone. This did
not include the cruisers and battleships
on escort duty. Of the first destroyers
to go over the Porter steamed 64.473
mules, the Conyngham 63,952 and the
Davis 63,0l5.
The major naval operation of the
war so far as the United States is con-
cerned is given as the conveying of
more than 100000 troops to Europe
without the loss by enemy action of a
single eastbound transport. This ac-
coN.pliohment, the report says, will
q L. ~
and the navy as the greatest and most
difficult troop transporting effort which
has ever been conducted across seas
Up TO November /, it is shown, 924,5v8
troops had been carried to France in
American transports under American
convoy with no losses outward bound
and only three vessels sunk on the
road home. From November to the
date of the report there had been 2s9
and supply ships, the average being
about one ship every five hours.
Writing with pride of the record of
the marine brigade in France, the Sec
retary shows that with only 5000 men
of the corps engaged, the casualties
numbered 50 officers and 1881 men
dead, rs officers and 2,435 seriously
wounded, while but 81 marines are re-
ported officially as captured by the
enemy. illustrating the desperate char
acter of the fighting in which the brl
gade participated and the fact that it
was always advancing. Mr.. Daniels's
story of the deeds of the marines is
printed in another column.
Americans Lay North Sea Mines
The report describes the laying of
the North Sea mine barrier, wholly
an American enterprise While there
IS no way of ascertaining definitely
what that 25Omile barrier did to en-
emy submarines, Mr.. Daniels says
U-boats "had ended their career at the
barrier before the middle of October"
The building and manning of the
t4-inch rifle naval batteries working
with the armies in France is also de-
scribed. There have been no equals in
the fighting of these highly mobile
weapons, with range of thirty miles,
the report says, adding:
Briefly, the American Navy has de-
signed, built, and is now manning with
bluejackets specially trained for land
powered mobile land artillery in the
world SO successful have these
guns been that additional orders for
many more were requested before the
arrnistice."
Depth Bombs Combat Submarines
The depth bomb has proved the most
effective means Of combating the sub
marines, the report states, and it
shows that American enterprise was
responsible for very largely increasing
that effectiveness. The early fifty
pound charge bombs we're crude and
of low destructive force compared to
the 800 pound and 600-pound charges
now being produced. Many Allied
ships have been equipped with these
American improvements.
is noted is the perfection of 16-inch
rifles for all new battlesnips. They
will make these vessels, it is said, the
heaviest armed craft in the world,
with a broadside projectile weight of
25,2O0 pounds against 17,508 pounds
for the Pennsylvania, the biggest
and most powerful craft now in com
mission.
The report emphasizes also the
record Of small arms training during
the year, 4O,000,000 rounds having
carelessness. Since last July the navy
has qualified 54147 marksmen, 23, ,222
sharpshooters and 1857 expert rife
rren.
"To-day," the report says, "practi
cally every combatant ship is able to
organize q landing force of as many
men as it can send ashore, with every
man trained rlleman and many OF
them trained machine gunners."
Captain Jessop Saves Millions
To Captain f. P. Jessop, engineering
officer at the New York Navy Yard, the
report gives credit for having recon-
mended the revolutionary practice of
electric welding when repair of the
damaged German shipping was under
taken. Careful estimates have shown
that this one innovation saved twelve
months in time and s2O,000,0o0 in
money, while the ships thus made
quickly available carried half mill
ion soldiers to France.
Another engineering achievement Of
the year is the completion and testing
Of the first electric drive battleship,
the New Mexico. Despite adverse
criticism which met the determination
to employ this mechanism on battle
craft, the report says. the New Mexico
has not only met every requirement,
but has passed many additional tests,
with the result that "in this unique
vessel the United States Navy has q