The New York herald., 1921-11-30
ASSERTS THE MUTSU
PUTS JAPAN SECOND
Naval Affairs Expert Shows
Advantage Great Battle
ship Would Give.
FIGURES ARE ANALYZED
Comparisons Oh Basis of Dis
placements Have Been
Wrong, He Declares.
FIGURES ARE ANALYZED
BY. eraser ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.

BY eraser SCHORN STHEIMER.
Special Despatch to TIE NEW YORK HERALD.
New York Herald Bureau, D.
Washington, ID. C., Nov. 90.
There has been much speculation as
to the how and why of the Hughes fig
ures for the tonnage total of the exist
ing japanese warships. The Hughes fig
ures show an excess tonnage of about
per cent. over what the Japanese are
supposed to be claiming for their Ships
AS was explained in my story OF yes
terday, the figures for the dsplace-
ments for all uhe warships were reached
by the application OF common rule.
the normal displacement measurement
for an American lattleship. Foreign
navieS state their ships at various dis
placements. which do not conform TO
our system for the purposes of COM
parison. 1t is all in the loading of the
ships. and most of this is secret in every
navy.
What one nation may consider nor
NAL displacement may be moro or less
than what another nation considers II.
For instance. 1t is supposed that the
Japanese take their measurements for
normal displacement with less supply
tonnage aboard than does the United
States. These supplies arc coal, oil,
distilled water, ammunition, general
stores and supplies. the weight of the
crew and eatables. 1t has been said
that the battleship Florida if loaded
to the greatest possible extent would
touch around 10000 tons displacement
The normal load figure for this ship is
2i,S25 tons. Without any supplies
= m r6
10000 tons.
Incorrect Comparisons.
Therefore. when comparion American
warships with the Japanese on q basis
of displacements, we have been entirely
wrong. The normal displacements which
are carried in the text books refer to
very different loads, and so practically
all the comparisons have been in
accurate and misleading to date. For
an accurate comparison between a Jap
anese and American warship they must
be loaded to the same extent then ac-
curate estimate Of displacement is pos
sible.
The Hughes plan took the American
system of measuring normal Ndisplace-
ment as the standard by which to
measure all ships. 1t was calculated
with respect to our tons. not metric tons.
and so some surprising figures may
again result in the future in the event
Of any more actual showdowns
The text book figures for the Japanese
navy are as follows: BattIeships-
Negato, $4,000 tons Ise and Hiuga, S1.-
260 tons: Fuso and Yamishiro, $4,000
tons. and Settsu, 2O.S00 tons Battle
cruisers--kirishima and Haruna, 27.613
tons. and Kongo and Hei-Yei, 27.500
hA tsNgn fo L. \
of 299.7o0 tons as carried in the Hughes
plan. Under these figures, should Japan
agree to scrap the Settsu. It would
bring the figure down to 267,746 tons
The then inclusion OF the Mutsu, at 3d.
500 tons. would be possible on a tonnage
basis. as in such an event Japan would
have an excess of only 1916 tons over
allotted tonnage strength under the
Hughes plan, while England is retain
ing more than 104, 900 in excess of her
established tonnage strength and the
United States. $50 tons
But OF course in such an event the
power of this great new ship would cause
further considerations which would tend
to start naval construction in every
nation OF the world. instead of stopping
it, which is the object of the conference.
Normal Displacemcnts.
1t is understood the Hughes figures
took into consideration an excess load
displacement over the stated normal dis
placements of our ships Of about 4 per
cent. After this figure was applied the
displacenents of the Individual ships
were smoothed off into round numbers
and added together, making a total dis
placement of 299,700 tons 1t is under
stood that the normal displacements for
the Japanese ships in comparison with
our American ships are as follows !:
attleships-Negato, 35.1OO tons; 1sc
and Hiuga. $500 tons; Fuso and Yama-
shiro, 31.SO0 tons. and Settsu, 21,eOO
tons. Battle cruisers-Kirishima. Ia
rtma, Kongo and Hei-Yei, 2S,6O0 tons.
This. it is to be seen, gives the figures
in the Hughes plan, 2s9.70O tons, as a
total.
These figures bring out some startling
things The Negato Is more than 1000
tons larger than the Maryland. and II
must be remembered that the Negato is
faster and is supposed to have greater
battery power. The Mutsu is now
rumored TO displace about 1000 tons
more than the Negato. and to include
these two very new and larger ahips
against the Maryland now seems little
short of preposterous. The Japanese
would have an advantage of $4,000 tons
in the most modern 16-inch gun lhipe.
To scrap the Setsu would give Japan
an actual excess tonnage OF 1900. or
nearly as much as the battleship Michi-
gan. the largest ship we are TO scrap
under the plan. But. as have pointed
out before, tonnage is not a fair estimate
of power to-day. 1t will be when each
nation is limited to single size for each
shin and "A total tonnage biit these limit.
have not been applied heretofore and so
they cannot be considered as fair esti-
mates of present power
Other Arguments to BE Used.
1t would seem that there are now
other arguments to be used against the
inclusion or the Mutsu in the japanese
navy. The Hughes plan allows that
ships having Il displacement of only
$4,000 tons may be built in the future,
and the Mutsu is several thousand tons
over this limit according to the present
information. True, the British Hood OF
Al 200 tons has been included in the
Hughes figures for the British navy. but
the Hood has been in commission and in
service for about two years, while the
Mutsu has hardly finished her trial trip.
Arguments for the total acceptance of
the American capital ship tonnage plans
for estimating future strength are piling
UP, and II is before this resistless on
slaught that the Japanese plans to keep
the Mutsu seem to be falling. In view
OF these figures compomlses can hardly
be thought Of. They would entail great
construction OH the part of every nation
IN the world. absolutely against the prin-
ciples of the conference.
The .Japaneee navy. with the MutEti