The New York herald., 1921-11-17
j. s. PERIL IN WEAK
MERCHANT MARINE
Americas Special Difficult
ties Prevent Keeping All
Ships in Service.
SEA POWER ANALYZED
England Leads in Vessels
Capable of Performing
War Duties.
JAPAN ALSO POWERFUL
Serious Loophole in Hughes
Proposals Seen by Naval
Expert.
SEA POWER ANALYZED
JAPAN ALSO POWERFUL
by eraser scHoRNsrHEIMER.

by eraser sCHoRNsTHEIMER
Special Despatch to TIE New York HERALD.
New York Herald Bureau,
Washington. ID. c., Nov. 16.
An extremely dangerous situation
has been unearthed which appears to
be a serious loophole in the American
plan. AS pointed out last week, steps
must be taken to prevent merchant
ships from seizing the control Of the
seas in the event of war, for. in such
case, the nation possessing the great
est number Of merchant ships Of the
right types would be the mistress Of
the seas.
Sea power in its last analysis is
greatly misunderstood. The capital
shfp forces are those which make sea
control possible, but the capital ships
do not control the seas The value Of
the capital ship lies in it's combination
with other vessels of the same general
type into what is known as fleet.
Role of Merchant Ship.
This fleet is to meet and defeat the en-
emy naval forces. With the enemy
forces defeated and the feet on guard
for distinctly military moves, the control
OF the sea Is to be exercised by other
smaller and faster ships. In times past
the frigates have been the ships to con-
A1x., Ar 1,,.4 81
the cruiser, the type best fitted for the
work. Every one remembers the work
done by the German Emden. which met
her end at the hands Of the faster and
better armed Australian cruiser Sydney.
| But with the cruiser forces of all the
nations cut to the bone. the control of the
seas will devolve itself on the merchant
ships OF proper types. Tho nation with
the greatest number OF nnilitarily useful
merchant ships. backed UP and protected
by powerful capital ship force, will be
the nation best able to control the sets
| in the event Of any war.
Fast merchant ships can be armed at
short notice and sent to sea as commerce
cruisers as gunboats. as mine layers and
in other roles Every ship of over thir-
teen knots has military value I'm the alb
sence Of the type best suited for the pur-
pose. the fast cruiser. The merchant
ship, with her great cargo capacity. very
readily can be given added cruising
radius by the utilization of the cargo
space for fuel.
Let us see exactly how the nations
stand In the merchant ships capable Of
war duties England Is. Of course, the
toek rfv y,
sci of 30.704 tons and a speed of 25
knots or better; s vessels having a total
total tonnage Of <7.421 and a speed Of "a
knots or better vessels having q total
tonnage OF 1853 and a speed Of %
knots or better IL vessels totalling 270,-
0S0 tons having a speed Of 22 knots or
better: 13 vessels having total tonnage
Of 51.b3s and speed of 81 knots or
better 10 vessels totalling 1920 tons
and a speed OF 20 knots or better: IS
vessels OF a total tonnage Of 32,3S9,
having a speed Of 10 knots of better. and
SIS vessels having a speed Of Is knots or
better
France and Italy.
France has two ships of total ton
mage of 3,312 having a speed Of %
knots or better two ships having total
tonnage OF 1880 having a speed Of
21 knots or better: three ships having a
total tonnage of 33.75S. OF 20 knots or
better, and one ship Of S,429 tons hav-
ing a speed OF 10 knots
Italy has three ships having q total
tonnage of 22,372 having q speed OF 21
knots or better; two ships having a
total tonnage OF $3.50 and a speed Of 20
knots or better. japan has one ship OF
2,944 tons having a speed Of 10 knots or
better and other fast vessels building
and being made ready for service
The United States has one ship OF
54.2S2 tons capable of a speed of "a
knots or better; two ships having a
total tonnage of 37,733 tons having a
speed OF 23 knots or better four ships
having a total tonnage Of 1903 and a
speed of 20 knots. and nine ships having
total tonnage OF s3,o44 capable OF
a speed OF 10 knots.
England has 445 ships Of an aggre-
gate 2,67s.135 tonnage having speeds be-
tween II and IS knots: France. "a ships
OF an aggregate tonnage of 332.344 hav-
ing speeds between ]: and 19 knots ::
italy. 43 ships having total tonnage Of
260.379 with speeds between IA and 10
knots: Japan. 3s ships having total
tonnage Of 219.145 tons capable Of from
IA to IS knots. and the United States
146 ships having total tonnage OF
o. tO.4s9 nHNlHk tpttus Ol lTCrH ~ W lv
knots. All these ships are capable OF
service in war as commercs raiding and
protection cruisers. although they do not
rate with the faster ships.
The total figures ror each nation arc ::
England. 1881 ships OF 20.s82.6 $50 tons !:
United States 5.457 ships OF 16.040.3s9
tons Japan, f,s40 ships OF 2.9s5.S7S
tons; France. 1.75S ships of 3,245.194
tons, and Italy, 1,115 ships OF 2.2i2,3s3
tons.
According to these figures It II easy to
see that In the analysis OF sea power
England will continue to rank as the
frst naval Power, with the United
states ostensibly the second: Japan the
third. because OF her great war ship
strength France the fourth and italy
ffth. However. figures are misleading.
About every uation In the world ex,
cept the United States is able TO keep
her full merchant marine In commits
sion. That IL. there Is enough trade to
keep the ships going and the nations
have the seamen. But because OF the
| great difficulties we have run TIP against
In tho shipping business there seems to
be not enough trade to keep a quarter