The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-12-18
No CHANCE
To WIN IN
BAT Tie
Ships Would Be Sunk Before
Guns Could Reach Craft
in Other Fleets.
By JOHN T. LAMBERT,
Cosmopolitan News Service.

Almost the entire battleship
fleet of the United States navy
could be sunk and the crews sent
to the bottom before they could
fire a single shot far enough to
hit an English or Japanese man
of-war.
The badly crippled condition in
which the dreadnought fleet has
been left by the failure of the
American delegates to keep their
eyes open or their wits alert at
the arms conference is disclosed
by the report of Secretary DENLY
to President Coolidge.
Later Discovery StartIes.
~ ".'.-" conference said to Great
Britain, You may keep twenty
~. -,.,tlesIr-!sS, and named them.
Uncle Sam was allowed eighteen.
They were designated by name
After the conference adjourned,
the delegates had gone home, and
the pact was ratified, someone dis
cove. eu that thirteen of our ships
could not fire a shot within seven
miles of the guns on the twenty
two English battleships.
Congress promptly appropriated
$500 900 to elevate our guns and
thus enable them to fire as far as
the English. England sent word
privately to the Administration that
we were mistaken. The fact was,
England said, that her guns out
oistanced ours only two miles.
So, the United States Government
has not spent that S6,500,000. The
Navy Department has decided that
Congress was misinformed about
that seven miles. 1t has taken
EnglAnd's word for it. Congress
will be asked. Now that England
has got only two miles on US, in
stead of seven. do you want the
money spent?"
Handicap Grave One.
That DENLY regards Uncle Sans
handicap as grave is denoted by his
report to the President in these
words:
TT is quite obvious that in a
fleet action all the vessels of a fleet
can not be firing upon the enemy
until the fleet is under fire by the
ship of the shortest range.
IN such fleet action we would
slightly over 10000 yards, whereas
the ships of shortest range in the
British fleet can fire 23,S00
yards. making a difference of
practically two miles. In other
words, if the British remained at a
range just equal to their shortest
ranged ships, the fire of over a
third of our ships could not reach
them
DENLY could have said, In other
words, our ships would have to
steam through two miles of English
gunfire. before one of our ships
could fire single shot far enough
to reach the nearest English ship"
DENLY remarks that the adj
vantage of gun range was realized
as far back as 1875 when stones
and iron ore were hurtled out Of
catapauIts. Marine Sanudo then
wrote, For if the shot of one army,
whether engine stones or pointed
projectiles, have a longer range
than the shot of the enemy, rest
assured that the side whose
artillery hath the longest range will
have a vast advantage in action.
eff the Christian shot can take
effect on the Pagan forces, whilst
the Pagan shot can not reach the
SuIISIId1 IOICSSB lASy VIII WIZ the
battle"
There are some distinguished
authorities here who contend that
the actions of Hughes, Root, Lodge,
and Underwood, whether purpose
full or a mere blunder by them,
has been a blessing in disguise.
These critics say that the expendi-
ture of the $4,000 900 for new gun
elevations and of other millions to
build bumpers, blisters, and what
nots on the sides of battleships for
their protection is all a waste of
money TO ''modernize" a navy up
to the standards of 1918.
Plans for AerOpIanes.
Rear Admiral w. F. Fullan, re-
tired, declares that what the nation
needs is the spending of some mil
lions on aeropIanes and submarines
TO guard the battle-giants above
and below the surface
President Coolidge will later an
nounce in definite terms the plans
of his Administration TO organize
q great fleet Of aerOplanes, 10 be
used primarily at present for com
mercial purposes, such as the carry
ing of the mail. He will also lend
himself TO an active program Of
submarine construction. He has
said that the country should never
lag behind i'm those two essentials
of protection. The new Ameri-
can air navy will be guided by
single bureau, to have charge of
all the planes in army. navy, and
postOffice-