The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-04-28
Atlantic Fleet Parades for
President Harding.
Marks Finish of Spring Prac-
tice Atlantic Fleet.
ELEVEN DREADNAUGHTS IN LINE
Took Over an Hour for Parade
to Pass MayfIower.
Reception for Officers Aboard
the Pennsylvania Followed. 4


Aboard L. S. S. Pennsylvania, Hamp-
ton Road, Va, April 2s (By wireless).
II wish you might never be called
to fire gun again." President Hard
ing declared to the officers of the At
lantic fleet today.
IF every government were inspired
by the same motives as ours, there
would always be peace he said add
ing but 1 wouldn't have peace with
out honor and without the conscious
ness that America is right and is pro-
tecting every interest"
Harding made the speech to the Of
ficers on the quarterback of Admiral
Wilson'S flagship after he had re-
viewed the Atlantic fleet on its return
from battle practice in Guantanamo
bay.
Salute Nations CHIEF.
While twenty-one gun salutes :
crashed, President Harding. as com
| mander-in-c chief of the navy, today re-
viewed the Atlantic fleet from the
bridge of his yacht, the Mayflower
The fleet. gaily decorated with flags.
crews lined up at attention on spot
less decks. moved by the presidential
yacht at stately speed. On the May
| flowers bridge, the president with
| Mrs. Harding at his side, peered thru
Held glasses from time to time to get
1
The booming of the presidential sa-
Lutte opened as the battleship PennsyI-
vania. flagship of the fleet, flying the
| blue four star red ensign of Admiral
Henry B. Wilson, fleet commander,
/ came abreast the Mayflower The
flagship's salute was returned and
then each of the other ships in the
long column fired it's greeting as it
came abreast.
Air Fleet Hung Low.
1 The weather was gray. with low
!, hanging clouds. This forced the air
craft lowering over the fleet to fly
low.
The duh roar from the guns of this
ultra modern fighting array Rolled out
over the roadstead to the nearby spor
where over fifty years ago the Merri-
mac and the Monitor fought the his
toric naval battle of the Civil war.
7 Half shrouded in mist eleven dread
naughts. nineteen destroyers. eighteen
submarines and scores. of auxiliary
craft swept past the port side of the
| Mayflower on the bridge of which
stood the president. The air shook as
one ship after another fired its TWEEN
ty-one salute to the COMMANDMENTS
chief
| Led by the mighty Pennsylvania,
| flagship of Admiral Wilson, the long
colnmn of fighting ships steamed out
of the misty distance. wheeled smartiy
| whens mile astern the reviewing
yacht and proceeded at stately speed
while overhead droned an air fleet Of
seaplanes. playing hide and seek in
the low trailing clouds
Lasted Over Hour.
The review lasted a little more than
one hour. 1t was $40 a. m. when the
| Pennsylvania passed, and just before
1920, the last of the submarines
sailed by the Mayflower.
/ The warships anchored after the re-
| view and in few minutes the May
flower Joined them in Hampton Roads. ,
The presidential party then boarded
the Pennsylvania. where the President
and Mrs. Harding received the officers
of the fleet.
The fleet linedxup for the great pa
! geant numbered over fifty fighting
ships besides many tenders. tugs. col
liers and other auxiliary craft
/ Tho the fleet has just arrived after
a long sea cruise from the Cuban drill
grounds the ships appeared fresh and
fit
The Pennsylvania. leading the long
line of gray fighting craft, material
lied out of the haze astern the May
flower at . O'Clock. The others fol-
lowed at Intervals of SOC yards when
they reached a point about a mile
from the yacht they veered and
passed in review on the port side. The
first gun of the presidential salute was
fired by the Pennsylvania at $40 a m
Whole Fleet in Line.
Behind the Pennsylvania were
strung in single file the other ten bat
tleships of the Atlantic fleet. the Ari-
zona. Oklahoma, Nevada. Utah, Flor
ida. North Dakota. Delaware. Con-
necticut, South Carolina and Michi-
gan.
Next followed nineteen trim. agile
destroyers. auxiliary supply ships and
other smaller craft. Among these was
the old Columbia. which served with
distinction as a scout in the Spanish
American war. but now outworn, must
be content with more menial duty
Mine sweepers trailed behind. fol-
lowed by eighteen submarines. their
} low odd profiles contrasting with the
! powerful fighters further ahead.
| Tonight the fleet will split up, only
the oklahoma and Nevada remaining
in the roads.
i Most of the ships VIII go to New
: York. where the men will have their
! /