Evening star., 1921-05-19
u. S. NAVY'S STUPENDOUS TASK
ACCOMPLISHED DURING WAR
Daniels Sums Up Vast Achievements in
Building and Training to Send
Great Forces Abroad.

the entire Navy and Marine Corps
before the war.
But that was not nearly all we were
preparing to do. and would have done
If the war had continued into 1917, as
was expected Many thousands OF
destroyers and other vessels we were
building and the hundreds the Ship
ping Board had under construction:
Our war building program included
thousand vessels, of all types,
from battleships to submarine chas-
ers. We contracted for 215 destroy
ers in 1917. The builders were break
ing all records in construction: a
number had neen completed and put
into service before the armistice. But
we were just reaching the peak of
production when they would be turned d
out by the score. The Shipping
Board was building cargo ships so
RAPIDLY that the total number OF yes.
overseas transportation service was
400, which would bring that fleet up
to total of $500 900 deadweight
tons. And we would have been called
upon to man hundreds more had the
war continued another year.
6OO.OOO Men in Navy.
The Navy had grown, by the time of
600. including marines. Beginning
with 1876 officers and 62.667 men in
the Regular Navy when war was de-
clared. and 10000 reserves and naval
militia, the total increased to 532.93l. i.
including the 5000 of the coast guard.
The Marine Corps grew from 1928
to a total force of $4,000.
Recruiting and training this i'm
mense personnel-the largest by many
thousands ever possessed by any
navy-waS tremendous task. car
ried out with a success that surprised
tribute of Sir Eric Geddes. first lord
of the British admiralty. who said:
The dauntless determination which
the United States has displayed in
men out of landsmen is one of the
most striking accomplishments of the
war. Had it not been effectively done
one would have thought it impos-
Sible."
Great Work at Camps.
But only those who did it can know
OF the work required to build huge
camps like Great Lakes. near Chi
cago: Hampton Roads and others; to
take raw recruits, most Of whom had
never seen the ocean. and in a few
months train them as seamen, gun
ncrs, siEnalmcn. aviators and for all
the many duties of naval service. And,
remember. this was all done not in
years. but in eighteen months.
The Navy manned and operated over
1000 vessels-more than five times
as many as were in naval service
previous to the war. The larger num-
Der were troopships. cargo transports,
patrol vessels and district craft. But
the number of naval vessels and aux
iliaries in service at the armistice
was 174, as compared with 342 April
3, 1917. Between January l, 1917, and
october l, 1919, 645 vessels were built
Most Of these were. of course. sub
marine chaSers and mine sweepers.
but the number included battle
ships. 139 destroyers, 81 submarines
and So Eagle patrol boats
Big Shipynrdx Built.
To build these vessels new facilities
had to be created-new shipyards.
new plants to build engines and forg-
ings and all the complicated machin-
cry TO propel and operate vessels. Early
in the war we contracted for every
destroyer the yards could build. Then.
in October. 1917, we began enlarging
old plants and building new ones. to
produce $50 more destroyers By that
time we had contracted for 21O of
these swift and capable vessels. the
greatest enemy Of the submarines. AT
Squantum, Mass. we built the largest
destroyer plant in the world, and in
six months after ground was broken
In that swampy location I witnessed
the laying of the keels of five de-
stroyers there in one day Before the
war. from twenty months to two
years were required to complete a de-
stroyer. We turned out some of them
curing the war In a fraction of that