Arizona republican., 1919-07-18
Fighting Ships Ot Yesterday
By Frederic ]. haskin

By Frederic J. Haskln
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July .14.- Twelve old and historic battleships, once titans of the waves, now pro nounced unfit for service, are today laid up in our navy yards awaiting that final action which will convert them from what was once the worlds S fittest fighting machines into mere junk.
 Some of them, the navy depart ment says, may offer their armored sides as targets for the newer ships that have displaced them. Still oth- CTS may be used as training ships for seamen who are but learning the rudi- ments of the game, while yet others will be torn apart like any other use less thing that the material in it may be salvaged.
 The target ship idea, which was tried out successfully in the case of some of our old monitors, is to moor the old ship in shallow water, some times filling it with cork to keep it from sinking, and then test the effect of gunfire and various explosives on it's hull. The effect of mine, shell and torpedo explosions can in this way be observed under the most favorable conditions.
 Metals, wood, and other materials of the condemned ships can be sold to junk dealers, but comparatively little is realized on such sales.
 "The Twelve" have outlasted their allotted period of usefulness. Twenty years is the usual life of a warship, and some of these veteran ships are of the model of 1893. Some saw serv- ince in the war with Spain, while oth- CTS of the lot were not commissioned until 1901.
 All of the twelve except one are named after the states of the union The exception is the Kearsarge, named after the celebrated Kearsarge of the | Civil War. The others are the Iowa Indiana, Oregon, Massachusetts, Ala baSa, Kentucky, Illinois, Wisconsin Ohio, Missouri and Maine
 The condemned ships are to give UT their names and take numbers In. stead, so that the state names can be used over again. This is necessary, il we are to continue the custom oi naming battleships of the first class for states, as many more than forty nine such ships have been commis- stoned in our naval history. The three names first to be trans. ferred are Massachusetts, Indiana ant Iowa. These will be given to our new battleships which have not yet beer built, and each of the old ships vii finish it's career as Coast BattleshiI ! hn J@1 chusetts and Oregon were our frs battleships, authorized by congress il 1890, while the Iowa came next il 1892. These ships when first com missioned, about 1896, were the mos formidable craft on the seas All fou took part in the Battle of Santiago and played a decisive part in tn, Spanish War.
 Of the twelve battleships, the Ore gon is the most famous. When tn war with Spain was declared, tn Oregon was in Pacific waters. but sh immediately set out for Cuba. Tn Panama canal was then being worke, at spasmodically by the French, bu with no sign of completion for years To reach the war zone the Oregon ha, to round the entire coast of Soul AutIICd Nld cape f1Orn-a voyage O 14,000 miles, which she made in 6 cruising days, during which time waiting nation kept constant watch o her progress.
 Because of this specatcrMar feat and because of her routing of tn Spanish ships Vizcaya,I and Colon, a Santiago, the Oregon has always beel an object of public sentiment, so tha TOW the navy department has decide, not to take it's name from it. It i also agreed that, if the state of Ore gon so wishes, it may take over it namesake ship for training purpos , or merely as an historical relic.
 Old as they were, the twelve bat tleships all took part in the Euro pean war. Four of them had for sev eral years been lying in navy yard cut of commission, but when the nav shot up from 130,000 men to 350,G every hull that would hold water wa greased up, painted and used as training ship, if not fit for active duty Most of the 350,000 sailors were re cruits and training ships were i~gent ly needed So old battleships tha were too battered for the high sea cruised in inland waters, while en gineers and deck hands lea red tn