Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-04-09
SENATORS HEAR
APPALLING TALE
Of NAVY'SPL|GHT
Investigators Told by Rear
Admiral Washington of
Depleted Personnel.

Rear Admiral Thomas Washington
chief of the bureau Of navigation
painted an appalling word picture Of
personnel conditions in the Navy to-
! day before the Senate investigating
committee. The Navy. he said, has
| been going down hill" rapidly since
July. 1919. largely due to assertions
and inability to obtain recruits. The
history of the Navy holds no parallel
F; for present conditions. he said.
Desertions during the past six months
have been particularly appalling the
| admiral said In the last half of 1919
/ there were 1866 assertions, Of which
!. 900 were petty officers of more than one
enlistment. the witness said. In Janu
larry of this year there were S9S deser
TONS 103 being petty officers. of which
10 We're chief petty officers. In Feb
ruary t65 enlisted men deserted. the
witness said. and the rate shows no de-
crease at this time
! Officer situation every Bad
Turning to the officer situation. the
| admiral said that it was very bad"
| There have been thousands Of appli-
, cations from officers desiring to re-
| sign since the armistice, he said. and
| a total Of 1850 have been accepted.
-
| tons from regular officers alone and
hundreds from temporary officers. AL
| though at the signing of the armistice
the Navy had but so per cent Of it's
| complement Of Naval Academy gradu-
| ates, Admiral Washington declared
that 439 of these officers have left the
! service since November II. 1918.
| The Navy Medical Corps is in the
/ worst condition in history. the wit
ness said, 200 medical officers having
f, resigned since the war
| None of our ships today are well
differed or properly manned" Ad-
miral Washington asserted. Person
mel conditions are worse than they
have ever been before"
Pay Increases Necessary.
| Congress must pass Legislation in
! creasing the pay of both officers and
men if the Navy is to be saved from
| disaster the witness aid. Although
recruiting efforts are more strenuous
| today than ever before the Navy is
! meeting with poor success" in at
| tempting to obtain new men. High
wages in civil life and the competi-
ton of the Shipping Board and Army
transport services which. the wit
ness said. pay two or three times
! what the Navy does. is preventing
| obtaining anywhere near enough men
even to man those ships in COM
mission
| The condition has been repeatedly
| called to the attention of Congress-
Admiral Washington said. Foreign
countries. he declared have raised the
! pay in their navies from one and one
| half to two and one-half times what
it was before the war. he said. adding
, that Il understand the increases
abroad are being paid largely with
money borrowed from the United
| States
If present conditions continue abe
/
dermanned by the end of 1921, but
will be manned by 80 per cent of in,
experienced boys. he said
Pitcher Denies Unpreparednexs.
Two years before the United States
Joined the allies in the world war the
Navy general board prepared a COM
prehensive plan for war against a
; central power" of Europe. Rear Ad-
committee. He was replying to Rear
Admiral Sims charge that "'ha-
| United States entered the war the Navy
Department had no well consul.
plans or policies for fighting Germany
Many such plans had been made in
| the past Admiral Fletcher said. but
the plan referred to covered every
phase of naval operations under the
assumed conditions of war" 1t dealt
with the mobilization. organization
4
| position and employment. protection
of the coasts. bases of supplies on the
United States coast and in the West
Indies. routes across the Atlantic and
the enemy's forces and probable
courses of action. he said. and COM
prised nearly 800 typewriter pages.
Admiral Fletcher was a member of
the general board during the war, but
was engaged for the most part with
| his duties as member of the War In
dustries Board. the Priorities Board
and the Council of National Defense.
Tells Of Preparedness.
! Explaining that he wished to COM
ment on certain specific charges made
by Admiral Sims before testifying re-
garding his duties as a member of
| these various boards. the witness first
took up Sims criticism that the Navy
was not prepared for war in April.
1917. No navy ever was or ever will
| be fully prepared for war. in the eyes
of every one. the admiral declared,
! but the American Navy when it en-
tered the war was Just as well pre-
pared as any other navy in the world
when the great war burst FORTH" he
! asserted.