The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1920-07-27
AMERICAN ARMADA
TO Be Modified
GREATEST CONCENTRATION OF
AMERICAN FIGHTING SHIPS
IN HISTORY, PLANNED

from the junction of the reOrganize
Atlantic and Pacific fleets off tn
Pacific coast next January unde
plans now being prepared by nava
operations. The great naval spectacle
probably will be staged in the vicin
ity of the gulf of Panama
Officials of the navy department
say the proposed mobilization will il
no sense result in "grand" maneuv
ers. No effort will be made to con
centrate all of the nations nava
strength and only ships regularly il
commission with trained crews vii
participate. The exercises and drills
will be simple and mainly of com
petitive nature, including unofficial
athletic competitions between repre-
sentatives of the two fleets and OF
individual ships. The main object of
the mobilization will be to give Of
ficers and men an opportunity to
compare notes and meet for few
weeks of good-natured rivalry.
Admiral Henry B. Wilson, com
mander in chief of the Atlantic fleet
will be senior officer of the combined
force, with Admiral Hugh Rodman,
chief of the Pacific Fleet, second in
command.
| u6 I1ldIlSuV6IS Will U6 Unique III
many respects, chiefly in that they
will afford the first actual mobiliza-
ton of the bulk of the new American
navy. Before the war the forces
were always more or less scattered
vessels, particularly of destroyers
forces and fleet auxiliaries made it
1,,o1, Ia
rounded out fleet although the major
portion of the battleship force met
each winter at Guantanamo, Cuba,
for target practice and drills.
During the war the shortage in
most types Of small vessels, notably
destroyers and submarines, was over
come but the entire fleet was never
modelled, due to the use of practic-
ally all light craft in the war zone,
the detail of cruisers to escort duty
and the fact that considerable por-
ton of the batleship force was on
duty abroad much of the time.
The January manuevers will set a
new mark in American naval pro-
gress. For the first time in the his
tory of the new navy the battleship
fleet will be supported by reason
ably adequate number of destroyers
and other light craft. Submarines
will be available in abundance, to-
gether with sufficient naval aircraft
for all tactical purposes and a fully
rounded out fleet of auxiliary vessels.
The total number of vessels to par
ticipate will depend on the progress
of recruiting, as many ships are in
reserve now for lack of crews, but it
is probable that Admiral Wilson will
command at least 800 vessels of all
types.
The most modern of dreadnoughts
to participate in the maneuvers will
be the great Tennessee. The last
word in naval construction, this great
floating fortress displaces $4,000
tons, carries IL fourteen inch guns
and is propelled by electric turbines.
The Tennessee is attached to the Allan
tic fleet. A sister ship, the Californ-
ia, probably will not be completed in
time to join Admiral Rrodman's
force before the maneuvers.
A comparison of the ships avail
able for next winters maneuvers
with the naval strength available for
a similar concentration ten years ago
affords some striking contrasts. Jan
uary /, 1910, the latest battleship in
the navy was the New Hampshire,
by congress in 1904, con-
struction started in 1905 and COM
pleted in 1908. Acomparison of the
New Hampshire and the Tennessee
follows:
New Hampshire: Length, 45O feet;
breadth, 76 feet; draft, 81 feet; dis
1900 tons; speed IS
knots; main battery, twelve inch
guns and eight inch; secondary
battery, IL three inch; four sub
merged torpedo tubes; nine inch
armor. Propelled by triple expan-
sion steam engines developing $4,000
crew 1850, including
marines.
Tennessee, 1920. Length, 600 feet /.
breadth 81 feet; draft, 81 feet; dis
$4,000 tons; speed icon
tract) Fl knots; main battery, 12
fourteen inch guns; secondary bat
terry, IA five inch guns; two submerg- |
ed torpedo tubes; propelled by cleo
trio turbines developing 28,500
crew 1900 men including |
marines.
Eighteen single calibre gun ships |
,lassed as dreadnoughts will be |
available for the aJnuary maneuvers
hat were not completed in 1910. /
They have a combined displacement |
Of 445,OOO tons and combined gun
power of 112 fourteen inch guns, 80 |
,welves, 226 five inch and % three
nch.
A comparison of total battleship |
forces available in 1920 with 1910 |
shows that this year there are Is |
1readnoughts and 10 pre-dread-
loughts, excluding the Oregon class,
against % pre-dreadnoughts in 1910. |
the Oregon class. Most of |
he battleships listed as available in |
$40 are now considered obsolete.
Ten years ago the navy destroyer
force consisted of about 38 vessels,
including II torpedo boats even then
obsolete This year Adj
nirals Wilson and Rodman command |
DESTROYER forces aggregating more
han 200 vessels, with over 100 more
n reserve or under construction. In
910 16 submarines were carried on
he active list of the navy. This
rear nearly 100 of the submersibles
re attached to the two fleets, with
~ I