Evening star., 1922-08-27
by JAMES A. BUCHANAN.

country. nOW ever. HdNS hdo oppoA
tunty to learn anything concerning
the workings of the naval intelli-
gence division of the Navy during
the late war. There is but slight op-
portunity for any naval activities be-
ing described in the papers or in
magazines unless an important sea
battle takes place, for the work of
the Navy. except in an engagement.
does not attract as much attention,
and in addition to that, correspond
ents of papers and press associations
do not have an opportunity to send
daily stories. because naval battles,
as rule, are few and far between.
consequently there are but few op-
portunities. for a writer to describe
any of the Navy's activities.
The work of the naval intelligence
section was during the war of the
very highest character and the men
who were engaged in that work
played very important part in the
winning of the war. for had it not
heen for their alertness and devotion
To duty there would have been many
casualties as the result of explosions
on war vessels. transports and in the
lravv yards. These explosions would
hot only have harassed the Army.
hut they would have diminished the
forcefulness of the Navy vessels that
co-operated with the allied sea forces.
Some of the work performed by
those connected with the naval in
felligence consisted of the investiga-
tion of navy yard suspects and keep
, ing them under surveillance. To the
person not directly interested in mat
ters pertaining to war, this would
appear to be a matter that could be
handled easily and yet when one
takes into consideration what dam
age was done by the Introduction of
foreign matter. such as sand, emery.
etc. into bearings and other parts of
machinery. they will comprehend
that the keeping of a watchful eye
on those who were intent to defeat
this country was no small undertak-
ing. Then again there were numer-
Gus Investigations Of reported pro-
Germanism among navy yard en-
rl"yes, some of those whose SYM
rathies were not with the United
States were used by enemy powers,
ot alone to turn out imperfect work,
hut also to foment labor troubles and
bring about discord wherever pos
sible
one Of the meanest cases to handle
was that of labor agitation directed
ut the navy yards and shipbuilding
plants. for the work Of the agitator
WAS generally along the lines that
appealed to cupidity. Jealousy and
class.
COME of the work. handled by dis
trict organizations consisted of
| The apprehension of deserters and
stragglers. There were also investi
cations of men in the service who had
been reported by the commanding
officers of United States ships. then
again there was the by-no-means
easy task Of apprehending hundreds
of impostors who appeared in the
uniform of the Navy. Numerous ap-
prehensions Of men of this character
resulted in the breaking UP of several
spy rings. and while on the subject of
spy rings it may be matter OF in
terest to the general public to know
that in England, when war was de-
clared. there were twenty-six head
agents of the German government.
Twenty-Five OF these were appre-
hended and taken into custody by
Scotland Yard men, the other spy
escaped They had rather unique
eystem Of communication. Letters
were delivered to one of the ring by
hand. the answers were transmitted
by him in writing. He deposited the
replies in a letter box directly in
front OF the bakery shop that he
owned, and it was partly through
this obtuseness that the band was
captured.
Another work the naval intelli.
rence had to perform was the run
ming down Of the past history Of men
who were attempting to enlist in
the United States Navy or United
States Naval Reserve forces, men
whose answers to questions. general
appearance and other things aroused
the suspicion of recruiting officers.
Another branch of the work per-
formed by this section of our sea-
going forces was the prevention of
collusion between firms holding Navy
contracts and enlisted men.
1t is now we'll known that the CEN
sorship exercised by the Navy was
far more stringent than the public
Imagined During the war period the
officials Of the mail censorhip
bureau were in constant touch with
the different branches of the naval
intelligence, and by reason of this
constant supervision and mastery
co-operation numerous plots were
nipped in the bud and enemies of this
country were placed where they could
do no more harm.
If one but stops to think of the
numerous cases of suspicious charac-
ters that were caught in the vicinity
.of naval piers wharves. docks. ware
houses, ETC.. they will form. in part
at least. an idea Of the vast scope of
the work carried on by the naval in
1eIlisence and 1t Is but safe to say
that perhaps only one-thousandth
tart of these cases ever found their
way into the columns of the news
papers.
X X n \
"A MOTHER method used by the
n enemy in it's endeavor to harass
was trying to place on vessels those
whose sympathies were not with the
United States and it is indeed sur
prising that out Of the hundreds that
applied for pilot licenses there is no
established case Of any enemy having
secured the coveted authorization.