Arizona republican., 1919-07-18

-JOD ol SdllOrlnS. MOSl Ol lIc twelve" however, saw active sert lco with the Atlantic fleet or in the cs- pacity of transports, and all were put in the commissioned class.
 There was great wear on our ships during the war because of constant activity, but the navy department states that they are probably in bet ter condition than usual as they have been constantly cared for
 Since the Oregon first took the wa ter, and was The Pride of the Navy" there have been great changes ;n bat tleship construction. Our newly com missioned battleships are three times as large, turbines have been subst1- tuted for reciprOcating engines, oil for coal as fuel; electric compulsion for steam Con most of the ships); guns have increased in power, range, size and number. In thirty years the battleship, Oregon type, has evolved into a super -dreadnaught, such as the Pennsylvania, and now there is talk of a still greater warship-the battle ship-cruiser. Yet the dreadnaught was a development that came more than decade after the launching of the Oregon.
 The submarine is responsible for the battleship- cruiser idea. During the war, the slow but sturdy battleship proved it's ability to hold it's own against submarine attack, for few battleships were damaged by tor pedoes. One dreadnaught that was struck had hole the size of a living room torn in it's side, but the modern construction of separate compart- ments prevented the ship from being flooded, and it reached port safely. Yet if the battleship had been able to put on higher speed it might not have been hit at all
 Speed. and armor combined are re- required to render a ship invulnerable 1 against submarine attack, and as the submarine is apparently a permanent institution, the battleship- cruiser, | speedy and steel encased, is the pro- phesied warship of the future This much talked of combination would be a ship 1000 feet long-as l compared with the length of the Pennsylvania, 500 feet. It's tonnag. would be 40,000 or 50,000 tons, whereas the Pennsylvania weighs 31,4OO It would have the speed of a cruiser
 
 monster would cost S25, ,O00,0 ,000 which is nearly three times as much as the price of our last built battleships.
 Because of contemplated changes in construction, work on our six battle ships being built was suspended be- fore Secretary Daniels went abroad h April to confer with allied naval au- thorities. Work on four others, con- tracted for but not yet begun is post | poned until conclusions as to the bat | tleship- cruiser can be reached.
 The largest battleship that the | United States can use depends largely on the depth of our harbors and the capacity of our dry docks and the di- mensions of the docks of the Panama canal.
 Altogether the whole battleship sit. uatlon is much up in the air just al l present Experts still differ radically Il on the types of ships we should build. There are those who advocate bis ships. who hold that it was the ex- istence of dreadnaughts that kept Germany bottled up and so played 2 great part in winning the war. They aid not necessarily have to strike 2 : blow to win but they had to exist il PASNOiiiilidliliS strength.
 On the other hand is the school ,, which argues that the destroyer proved itself the most effective fight. ing ship in the recent war, the mos active of them all, the type of vesse best fitted to combat the submarine [, This school argues in favor of sub- marines for offensive work and de stroyers to combat them.
 Il Yet there is little heart in the con- tentions of either school. Govern. ments have not had time to study the l great treaty and the provisions look. Ing to a decrease in the size of arma ments. It may be a fact that no more battleships will be built This gov. ernment is proceeding toward the completion of some of those monster. T that are already under construction, ] On some of them the work has beer stopped There is so little demand for battleships that no value was at. tached to the captured fleet of Ger many and little regret was felt wher |. was sunk. The future of the bat. q tleship is undecided. It may have nt ]; future. It may yet become the me. chanical dodo or dinoceras. Whc !, knows?