The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-03-30

AZ the pattie OF Jutiaiu reaiis
:t1 relegate the battle cruiser to
the naval junk heap? Did that
,,1nonfiict make obsolete the six great
~gsseruisers which were planned to be con-
wspicuous features in >the three year
programme for the upbulding Of our
.snshting feet? r.
,ssnrJosephus Daniels. Secretary OF the
. Navy, has gone abroad to settle these
%vexed questions for us-at least that
a., was the warrant given for his recent
.Snuch heralded departure aboard the
~. 8. s. Lsvisthan. From the delib-
crate publicity given to his trip abroad.
r IT. would appear 1t is his belief that he
" has the understanding to tackle this
AsMomentous problem and to bring about
harmony Of purpose among the tech
.nicists who now hold somewhat rad
~ ically different views regarding the
aracteristics that should distinguish
these particular capital ships.
In the meanwhile. Mt. Daniels has
suspended work upon the battle cruis-
sers authorised by Congress In August
OF 1916. This means delay. and may
wsil cause wonderment; for II, is, an
svhndeniable fact that our engineers
y and constructors, both inside and out
Of the navy, gave a deal OF study to
those ships before the building plans
qSwere finally approved. These. men
slhad a pretty full knowledge Of just
i-wfaat happened during the battle Of
Jutiand; and this information guided
Them in arriving at the ultimate de-
gBign as offered our shipyards for bids.
a.rs Pattsrning Our Course.
asxzNow, after much money has been
~seent and tho ships should have ad-
avanced materially in their construc-
'.tion, Mr.. Daniels has called halt
and has gone to Europe to learn at
FIRST hand just what the British Ad-
.Iniralty is doing in order that we may
Pattern our course accordingly.
III our naval activities In the future
stAre to b dominated by the needs and
the will OF those in authority on the
IL
20 b only a cooperating unit in a
foreign scheme OF naval strategy, IL is
,,-comprehensible that we should be very
abroad, but the American people
probably look upon the United States
:, navy as a mobile force primarily and
essentially intended for the protection
of our domestic shores. and the query
lis, Would battle cruisers At into our
programme of protection IL they sub
...ser.Sed IN the first place to circunn-
o.tstances peculiar to European waters
o.and European politics?
s,r The battle OF Jutland took place dur
Ing the late afternoon and night OF
May 81 and the forenoon OF June
three years ago. In December OF tina,
Syear Vice Admiral W. g. Sims. then q
,.Captain, appeared before the Commit
teo OF EaTai Affairs oc the II use o,
Representatives. and one of the mem
hers OF the committee said:
o,st"Capt. Sims, IL has been claimed tina,
the destruction OF battle cruisers In
Tho Jutland engagement demonstrated
clearly the ability OF the Warspite, 8
,,.battleship, TO withstand number OF
,,.shots. and demonstrated in large meas
aure the absolute supremacy of the bat.
tieship over the battle cruiser. and Il
has been sought to deduce from thos,
statements this conclusion. That aftel
T,aH the battle cruiser hereafter will moi
~ play very important part in actua
=. engagements. l would like TO discuss
), that problem
SAT Views OF capt. Sims.
I'm response Capt. Sims stated:
re, nm tho flrst place, when you talk
=, about the service the battle cruiser
would perform in battle and when
-,. you talk about tho service a battle
:. cruiser performs in maintaining the
!. :, control Of the sea they are two en-
tirely separate questions.
800 Let US suppose the German fleet
- came out In order to catch the Brit
tsh cruisers. Suppose the state OF
i, :. the atmosphere or the distances
=. had made II impossible for the Brit
fish battleships to support the battle
cruisers and that they had all been
destroyed Then the German battle
], cruisers would have had an oppor-
.ss tunity to get to the open sea. That
Is a very startling thing to think of
that II these British cruisers did
not exist these other cruisers would
be free TO go any place they pleased
rs long as they kept out OF range Of
the British battieships, and all of