The Washington times., 1923-03-26

the world war despite the combined
battle fleets of England, France,
Italy, Japan and the United States.
The battleship did not fight the Ger.
man submarines-it kept away from
them. 1t required 5000 small craft
to save England from starvation
II the Germans had commanded the
air with modern aircraft. England
and France would be under the
Kaiser's heel today. Some Of our
experts are blind to those facts.
Germany sent five big subnna-
rines to our coast in 1918 and they
sank fifty ships. These submarines
could cruise 10000 miles and re-
main at sea four months. They are
the only craft that can cross the
ocean safely and approach the
enemy's coast to attack his corn
merce We have none Of these
boats in 1923-not one! England
has. number of them and. Japan
may have sorne-or will have. we
need $60,0O0,O00 worth of these
boats today-the price of a dread
naught and battle cruiser. Why
do not our experts worry about
this real fatal deficiency Of our
England and Japan?
Five Years Behind.
Germany sent a mine-laying sub
marine to our coast in 191S-five
years ago-and it sank the San
Diego and disabled the Minnesota.
We have no such mine-layerg.
They are vastly important. Eng.
land has them, no doubt, and japan
has or will have them.
But it will be at least five years
/
ern submarine force $~2t can cruise
with the fleet or venture to attack
a hostile coast We are five years
behind the times in submarines to-
day! Why don't our naval experts
worry about this?
We have no airplane carriers that
can cruise with the fleet-not one.
We have one slow-going practice car.
rier converted from g. collier! It
has no fighting value. The two that
we are building will not be ready for
battle in three years. Meanwhile,
England has five or six efficient air.
plane carriers. II the two fleets
should meet in battle. the English
air force, vastly stronger than ours,
would bomb and torpedo out battle
ships from q point eighty-five miles
beyond the extreme range Of our
sixteen-inch guns! Elevating these
guns a few degrees more would not
influence the result. Our fleet would
meet disaster. 1t would be helpless.
Evidently our experts are toying
with the idea that our two strongest
naval rivals-England and japan
never viii flight us! And the ex-
perts. IN toying with old weapons
not provhd8ng the new ones--are pre-
pairing US for defeat.
VIII Win in Air.
1t was testified in the Senate two
years ago that the fleet which com.
mands the air in the next war will
win. Battleships, il they are not
protected from above and below, will
inevitably lose. Why do not our ex-
perts worry about this?
We sent all available submarines
and seaplanes to the Panama
maneuvers. But they played an In
significant part. There were not
enough Of them, and they were not
Of the right type. In other words,
modern weapons were not in evil
dence. 1t reads like a story OF
1913, not 1928. An attacking fleet
Of the Panama canal locks. In war
this would have been, fatal. The
enemy should have been discovered
200 miles away, and his ships
would have been bombed off the
sea IL our army and navy had had
the airships and airplanes to COM
mand the sea in a modern way.
But our experts view this picture
with Indifference and propose
patches for the battleships which
would be helpless in any event to
protect the canal.
One hundred blank torpedoes (real
ones would have cost about $780,
0O0), fired by destroyers, theoretical
ly sank four battleships costing
SAC, 900 .00O.' II submarines and air
planes had supported the destroyers,
the whole fleet would have been
menaced. But II the fleet had
commanded the air, 1t could have
sunk the attacking destroyers.
The picture Of these maneuvers
reveals the pitiful helplessness of
our fleet. 1t can neither defend
itself. nor leave the coast to at
tack a modern fleet. We have
eighteen splendid fighting ships.
but they are doomed to defeat In
any engagement with an up-to-date
navy. Patching them, mangling
them, and playing with their guns
that can only range fifteen miles
at best, will still leave them at
the mercy of the enemy airplanes
that range 100 miles.