The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1925-04-17
BY Curtis ID. Wilbur.
Secretary of the Navy

WASHINGTON. April live
have only TO look at the destroyers
tied up in our navy yards, at the
obsolete vessels out of commission
and awaiting repair at the iron and
wooden vessels built during the war
for the Merchant Marine slowly
rusting and rotting away in our
harbors to realize that the battle
ship without the man is a dead
thing.
A ship Is a mere instrumentality
for the men on board to use. In
one sense the ship is carrying men
i'm a more real sense they are
carrying the ship. for without them
the ship would not move.
We all recognize the necessity Of
training the hand and the eye. and
what we sometimes call the sub
jective mind. so that there is
spontaneous and almost unconscious
application Of the hand to the task
In a great fleet not only must
each individual perform his ac-
custOmed task readily and with a
response TO orders or TO situations
that may develop so spontaneous
that he will perform his own duties
perfectly. but also there must he the
functioning of all of the personal on
board a ship in their relative duties
and obligations.
Men Must BE Experts
"a to 10.
they become experts in their par
ticular field. so that a large part of
the crew OF a modern battleship con-
sists of men who are experts in their
various fields. There are daily drills
and constant discipline on n ship
with a view Of having the crew CO.
operate in duties pertaining to it's OPP
Grafton.
II is important that ships operate
together perfectly. Not only must
the ships force know the relative po-
sltions Of their ship in the various
evolutions that are to be carried out,
but they must know how to reach
those positions with the least posi-
BILE expenditure of energy and the
least possible delay, and they must
be able to so control their nlachin-
cry that for hours and If need be for
days they will keep their relative po-
sitlons in the various fleet forma-
tons
Not only must the ship be oper-
ated in harmony with other ships.
but her guns must also be operated
effectively. II is one thing to operate
these guns when they are unloaded
and quite another to operate them
when the ship. the gun and the
crew are subjected to the terrific
strain due to actual firing.
The rush Of air after each ex-
plosion Is of such force as might
throw n man overheard If taken I'M
awares near the side. II he stood
too close 10 the muzzle of the great
| guns he might be killed or suffer a
permanent injury. In actual battle,
not only will a salvo Of big guns he
fired every minute, but the flve-inch
guns may be fired In salvo, ten or
! fifteen times a minute, the larger
anti-aircraft guns may be fired
| fifteen or twenty times a minute. ac-
cording to the calibre. and the anti.
aircraft machine guns will be con-
stantly suffering at approaching
enemy planes. To this. in actual
battle. will be added the effect of the
enemy's shells, and the man at the
firing key must not vary so much
as a hairs breath as he pulls the
trigger, IL he is to be successful.
1t is con sidered that the accuracy
of fire during a battle will be about
a third Of that in target practice.
Anything that can increase this ratio
so that performance in battle may
more nearly equal performance in
target practice will vastly increase
the efficiency Of the feet. But ac-
curacy in target practice is only
achieved by constant training and
effort.
Operation Automatic
The maneuvering of the fleet cor
responds in a measure to the opera
tons of the human body. With
the body the heart must beat, the
lungs must operate. and we must
be able to walk without taking
thought. The control of these func-
lions must be relegated to the sub
conscious mind so that our objective
mind may be free for the tasks of
the day So with the flet. The
operation Of it's machinery in the
ordinary movements Of the ship, and
the movement Of the. ship itself in
taking it's place in the fleet and dur
ing an evolution must be performed
with the same unconscious precision
with which a man breathes and
walks.
The radio has become the means
by which great fleets are oper ated.
The commander may be reached at
any moment by the Commander-in-
Chief at Washington. One of the
reasons for the trip to Australia lis to