New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1922-05-15
British to Drop
1885 Officers
From the Navy
Reduction VIII Meet Re-
quirements of Washing
ton Pact. but Not Greatly
Lessen Efficiency, Belief
To Keep All Admirals
Retirement Terms Regarded
Generous: Valuable Re-
serve Will Be Established

1
LONDON, May Ia (By Tho Associ
ated Press. ALL men in tho naval
profession arc deeply Interested by an
Admiralty order published yesterday
for the retirement OF officers necessi-
tatcd by the decision Of tho Washing
ton armament conference for naval re
duction.
The number Of officers % DC dis
pcnsed with is not so large as had
been expected or feared in the service
Of All officer strength Of about 945O
total Of 1886 will be retired from
active service. The loss to the navy
Of such number will not be as Sc
we're as the mere counting Of hoads
would indicate. One officer describes
the reduction az plan to increase the
efficiency Of the navy by decreasing
the number OF officers.
Tho Admiralty Was in position to
frame and enforce its own plans with
out bringing the proposals before Par
to Parliament there probably would
have been conflict by special interests,
as various classes of officers would
have had friends fighting for them
both in the House OF Lords and the
House OF Commons.
None OF tho large number Of admirals
in the British service will be retired
by the Admiralty order, but many Of
them Will automatically drop out of
the service shortly because Of age,
Most important to the navy's efficiency
are the experienced officers of the
line. Captains to the number Of 1l9
and zoo commanders will be retired,
but the grade OF lieutenant command
err, which is more important to the
strength of the navy two years hence,
is not touched.
Thus only 31e of those mon, such
as in the American Navy are termed
Inexperienced" line officers. which
means those with more than ten years
service, will be lost.
Iieutenants to the number Of 407
who are graduates of the naval school
will go, and 703 other men of the game
and lower rank, a considerable pro
| portion of whom were promoted from
The lower deck during the war, are
| included. These make a total Of ,A20
line officers. The grand total of 1885
is made by the addition Of 245 en-
gireers, 101 accountants and GO ma
rne officers.
1t had been generally expected the
Admiralty would wait until the Amer
| lean naval personnel reductions were
announced before publishing its fig
| ures, partly because the American gov
| ernment has taken the lead in the
policy of cutting down.
The total reduction in tho officer
force of the two nayies would not form
basis for comparison, because Of the
difference in the organization OF the
two forces. The British governm Mt
air force is an independent service,
whereas the American army and navy
each has its own air branches and
come 500 American naval officers are
detailed to that service. The auxiliary
! services Of the British Navy-supply.
coaling and repair ships--are differed
by men not on the regular naval list,
while similar auxiliaries In the Ameri-
can Navy are differed by regular Off
GERS.
The British Navy also has valuable
reserve in officers "on unemployed or
half pay" which has no counterpart
in the American Navy. The Admiralty
stipulates the officers liable to be
placed on half pay. They are invited
to retire on specia! terms offered TO
those obliged TO leave under this re-
ductlon, otherwise they Will be placed
on the half-pay status and retired on
the completion Of the period it is pos
sible for officers to hold that status.
, The special terms OF retirement
offered seem generous. The men are
given retired pay ranging from $500
Cor captains Of twenty-one year3' ser
! vice, to $50 los. for the cadet Of less
than one years service, plus liberal
gratuities based on the length Of time
normal service i. curtailed. The Ad-
miTalty states that retirement consti-
tutes no reflection on character or
! ability. SO many men are to be dis
pensed with that it may be necessary
to let 60 select promising officers who
might be expected to rise high In the
service.