New-York tribune., 1921-11-12
America Progress in Disarmament
Work Suspended Nine Capital Sp the Fleet Undranned the Army Re-
duced-Unted States Leads in Aims Limitation
By Quarterback
Copyright. 1891. New York TT

situation adds to the unpreparedness
of our sea forces for aggressive war
Less than fifty of our 800 modern
destroyers are fully manned! A large
percentage of the submarine fiotilla
is unnamed! Recruits cannot be
trained safely to handle these craft in
battle in less than a year.
Even the battleships are short of
trained men, and there will be no
crews for the big ships under con-
struction and great difficulty in man
ming the new scout cruisers.
Briefly summing up, the naval stu
alton, officers who know the facts de-
clare that our navy is to-day COM
pletely unprepared for aggressive war.
The feet is divided and cannot safely
leave the home coast to attack an
enemy 1t could not, with safety, pro-
ceed further than the Panama Canal
or Hawaii in the event of war.
The World Misintormed
This situation, so different from that
which has been heralded to the world
by the columns of statistics in the
press and by the warlike utterances of
individuals who have ratified the naval
sword and talked so loudly about the
command Of the sea" during the last
three years, is easily explained by re-
calling recent events. It is of the
utmost Importance upon the eve Of the
conference that the world shall be
rightly informed as to the aggressive
ness Of our naval power. In truth,
foreign delegates cannot accuse US of
menacing any nation in Europe or
Asia. The story is briefly told.
When the s700,000,000 naval bill was
presented to Congress by the last ad-
ministration the Naval Committee was
startled by the evidence of General
William Mitchell as to the vulner-
ability Of modern ships TO air attack.
Moreover, Admiral Fiske and Admiral
Sims testified to the vital Importance
of naval air forces. They both declared
that command of the air was essential
to victory and that the airplane car
rier was virtually capital ship su-
|perior to the battleship or battle
cruiser! The House cut the bill to
100000, appropriating only $780,
100000 for new construction, while
meaninglessly giving consent to the
ultimate completion Of the 1916 pro-
gram.
Weak in Modern Weapons
When the bill went to the Senate the
1916 program and the general provi-
sions of the measure were attacked as
being devoid of modern weapons. A
comprehensive statement was presented
which clearly demonstrated the navy's
weakness. 1t was suggested that we
suspend capital ship construction ex-
cept on five dreadnoughts, which would
give US twenty-ona of that class, and
that we hasten the construction of
submarines and air forces to provide
an up-to-date three-plane fighting
fleet. These suggestions were not
needed. The Senate, to be sure, at
tempted, very tardily, to add few sub
marines and small air force, but at
tho same time it clung tenaciously to
the battleship as the basis of sea
power. AS q result no submarines
and q pitifully small air force were
provided.
The bombing tests followed. 1t was
demonstrated that bombs alone could
sink any dreadnought ahoat and any
that could be designed. The evidence
awas SO overwhelming that the dyed-in
| the-wool conservatives were shocked