Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-15
NAVY LEAK PUT
OFFICERS ON GUARD
AGAINST SHEARER
Testified Before Court of
Inquiry in Secret Ses-
sion in 1924.
BY REX COLLIER.

American naval observers at the tri-
partite conference in Geneva in 1927
were Ion guard" against William Bald
win Shearer, so-called naval expert. be-
cause of the existence of Navy Depart
ment records allegedly connecting him
with serious leak of highly conf
Dental naval data in 1924.
The leak, involving publication OF
private correspondence between the
head of the Naval War College and an
other officer, resulted in the convening
Of court of inquiry, before which
Shearer testified in secret session.
Details of this inquiry. heretofore
withheld from the public, may come to
light during the Forthcoming senatorial
investigation into Shearer's activities at
Geneva as a Representative of American
shipbuilding interests.
Two Officers Exonerated.
The inquiry directly affected Capt.
Hugh Osterhaus, then head OF the Naval
War College at Newport, r. l.. and
lately in command of the cruiser Rich
mond, and Capt. Robert L. Berry,
U. S. N. retired, then in charge of
naval recruiting. Both officers were
exonerated after lengthy consideration
OF the case by Secretary Wilbur.
The letters, with names of sender
and addressee deleted, were published
In a number of newspapers late In 1924
and their sensational nature promptly
aroused of1icialdom in the Capital
When criticism began to center on GER
tain naval officers for being responsible
for the leak" Shearer issued state
ment in which he sought to assume
full responsibility
Determined to go to the bottom of
the incident, Secretary Wilbur ordered
court of inquiry convened at New
York. The court was directed to in
vestigate the unauthorized publica-
ton of naval information that possibly
might be of value to an enemy"
Implied Spying by U. S.
The inquiry attained international i'm
portance because the published ma tier
is said to have implied that America
was spying" on the British navy. 1t
was the opinion here that the publica-
tion Of such statements. however fam
tastic. would imperil friendly relations
between America and England, at a
time when both countries were tensely
watching each others naval develop
ments.
According to published reports. the
Spying" was done by an American sea-
man planted aboard British battle
snip. Inc seaman. SO the SJOIy SOcS,
reported that the British had found a
secret way to increase the elevation OF
their guns, the secret" consisting OF
filling "blisters" on one side of the ship
with water so as to tilt the guns up
ward. The entire spy" story was gen.
orally discredited and would have
caused amusement in official quarters
had not its possible effects abroad been
considered a matter of grave concern.
The inquiry was conducted by court
headed by Capt o. p. Jackson. COM
manding the Newport Training Station.
and including Capts. A. M. Proctor and
G. L. P. Stone. Sessions Of the court
were brief, insofar as the taking OF
testimony was concerned. but the case
dragged along for many months in the
Navy Department.
Wilbur Was Dissatisfied.
Apparently Secretary Wilbur was dis
satisfied with the findings of the court
as reported to the department. and he
sent for further information. men
tioning particularly his desire that the
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