Evening star., 1922-05-15
BRITISH DROP 1885
OFFICERS OF NAVY
Cut Ordered TO Meet Arms
Par'ey Provisions, But
Future Is Protected.
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press
LONDON. May 14.-All men In the
naval profession are deeply Interested
by an admiralty order published Sal
urday for the retirement of officers
necessitated by the decision of the
Washington armament conference for
naval reduction.
The number of officers to be dis
pensed with is not as large as had
been expected or feared in the serv-
Ice. OF an officer strength OF about
$3.50, total OF 1885 will be retired
from active service. The loss to the
navy of such a number will not be
as severe as the mere counting OF
heads would indicate. One officer de-
scribes the reduction as a plan to in
crease the efficiency of the navy by
decreasing the number of officers.
The admiralty was in a position 10
frame and enforce it's own plans with
out bringing the proposals before
parliament. Had 1t been necessary to
go TO parliament there probably
would have been conflict by special
interests. as various classes of Of
ncers would have had friends fighting
for them. both In the house Of lords
ana the mouse or commons
Lieutenant Commander Stay In.
None Of the large number of ad-
mirals 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 eficien-
cy are the experienced officers of the
line. Captains to the number Of lls
and 200 commanders will be retired.
but the grade Of lieutenant command-
er. which is more important to the
strength of the navy two years hence.
is not touched.
Thus only 319 Of those men such as
in the American Navy are termed
experienced" line officers, which
years service. will be lost.
Lieutenants to the number OF 407.
who are graduates of the naval
school. will go. and 703 other men OF
the same and lower ranks. a con-
siderable proportion of whom were
promoted from the lower deck during
the war, are included. These make d
total of 1929 line officers. The grand
total Of 1886 is made by the addition
Of 245 engineers. 101 accountants and
o0 marine omcerS.
1t had been generally expected the
admiralty would wait until the Amer
ican naval personnel reductions were
announced before publishing its
figures. partly because the American
government has taken the lead in the
policy of cutting down.
Personnel Comparison Unfair.
The total reduction in the officer
force of the two navies would not
form a basis for comparison. because
of difference in organization of the
two forces. The British air force is
an independent service. whereas the
American Army and Navy each has its
own cir branches and some 500 Amei
ican naval officers are detailed to that
service. The auxiliary services Of the
British navy-supply, coaling and re-
pair ships-are officered by men not
on the regular naval list, while similar
auxiliaries in the American Navy are
differed by regular officers.
The British navy also has val
ployed 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 special terms
offered to those obliged to leave under
this reduction, otherwise they will be
placed on the half-pay status and re-
tired on the completion OF the period
1t is possible for officers to hold that
status.
The special terms Of retirement Of
fered seem generous. The men are
given retired pay ranging from $500
for captains Of twenty-one years
service, to fS21t for the cadet OF less
than one years service, plus liberal
eratuities based on the length OF the
time normal service is curtailed. The
admiralty states that retirement con-
stitutes no reflection on character or
ability. So many men are to be dis
pensed with that 1t may be necessary
to let go select, promising officers
who might be expected to rise high in
the service.