Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-02
REDUCTION IN SEA FORCES
WILL AFFECT LAND NAVY
Congressional Opposition Likely If Move
Is Made to Shut Down Shore
Establishments.

servers in washington have begun to
circulate on the possibility of a cur
cailment IN the near future in the shore
activities of the naval establishment.
Any reduction in seagoing forces
logically will lead to a retrenchment in
the shore establishments, and the queS-
ton thus raised has a political no less
than an economical aspect, for Congress
is vitality interested in navy yards am
--cc,.-.-ss!.tjoE! depotS. hospitals, training
schools and so on. If the administra-
ton moves to shut down any consider
able number of shore establishments,
Congressional opposition is pretty sure
to develop. Yet reduction ashore fol-
lows as a necessary corollary to reduc-
ton at sea, and, from the taxpayers
point of view, unnecessary duplication
of activities of the Navy on land is
just as expensive, perhaps more so, than
the maintenance on sea of more ships
than the United States really needs.
1000 Shore Establishments.
The shore establishments of the Navy
aggregate more than 1000, and the
capital investment represents many
hundreds of millions of dollars. In
Guiding civilian personnel, the Navy
today has more men ashore than afloat.
When the man in the street thinks of
the Navy, he thinks of it in terms of
squadron at sea, with officers and blue
Jackets carrying on the many duties
required in modern man-of-war. The
current conception is not altogether in
accord with the facts, for shore activ-
tiles of the Navy may be found from
one end of the country to the other.
Even in Nevada. hundreds of miles
from the Pacific Coast, the Navy has
just built a huge ammunition depot,
the spot being chosen for its remote
ness. Yet depot like this would be
of prime importance to the Navy in
time of war, for a battleship or a
man If it has not the ammunition for
its big guns.
Cost of Yards Relatively Small.
The navy yards, of course, are the
best known of the shore establish
ments. but their annual cost repre-
sentS only two-sevenths, approximately.
of the total cost of the shore establish
ments of the Navy. The real test of
navy yard is its service to the fleet.
Congress, however needs other consid-
erations, for navy yard in any dis
trict gives work to thousands of men.
A Senator may urge on the floor re-
duction in ornaments, or even disarm-
ament, but let the administration sug-
gest that it plans to close down the
navy yard in the Senator's district and
he will fight the proposal vigorously
This is true of practically every shore
activity of the Navy. Each provides a
certain amount of work for civilians,
and each brings some money into the
community in which 1t is located. These
are the conditions which will make
difficult any attempt to reduce the
Nays shore activities.
Five Yards in East; Elect on Pacific.
The bulk of the navy yards are on
the Atlantic Coast The major part
Of the fleet. on the other hand, is now
based on the Pacific, as the interna-
ttonal pendulum shifts toward the Pa
cif1c. That shift has left the Atlantic
yards high and dry, so to speak. In
peace time they really have not enough
work to do and the Navy Department
had hard time to keep in each an even
now OF repair work. Hence the tide
OF employment goes up and down to
some extent. The yards on the Allan
tic Coast are those at Portsmouth, Bos-
ton, New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk,
Washington and Charleston
The navy yard at Washington is
really naval gun factory and it orci-
narily does no repair work for the
feet. Two yards on the Atlantic prob
ably would be sufficient to take care
OF the ordinary requirements Of the
Navy. In war, however, additional IA
cilities would be needed, as the forces
afoat we're expanded, and for that
reason, II for no other, 1t is the part
OF wisdom, as naval experts see it, for
the United States to maintain other
yards in peace. A dry dock cannot be
built overnight If the emergency of
war comes.
New York Against Philadelphia.
If they are rated by the service they
render the feet, the yards at Ports
mouth and Charleston probably would
be the first to be eliminated. Boston
might be the next to 60, though a
point IN Boston's favor is the fact that
1t can take care of the new aircraft
carriers. If all but two of the yards
on the Atlantic we're eliminated, the
yard at Norfolk would surely remain,
located as 1t is at the mouth of Ches-
apeake Bay and about half way be-
tween Florida and Maine. New York
or Philadelphia, in all likelihood, would
be selected for preservation with it.
The day is still remote, however, when
the Atlantic Coast will see a reduction
IN navy yards, notwithstanding the
strong economic arguments that might
be advanced for closing at least two
or three Of them; for each yard has
It's friends and supporters in Congress.
The Pacific Coast has two navy yards,
one at Mare Island, San Francisco, and
the other in Puget Sound. These yards
are of prime Importance, now that the
bulk of the fleet finds its headquarters
IN Pacific waters. They are of value,
too, for another reason. There are
no shipbuilding plants on the Pacific
with adequate facilities for building
modern warshipS. These two yards,
however, have such facilities. The
same is true of certain yards on the
Atlantic Coast.
Great School Of ShipbuiIding.
The Navy, to put it in another way,
Is great school of shipbuilding. It's
yards and its architects keep alive an
industry and profession that, outside
the Navy, have been having hard time
in the United States. Compared with
Great Britain, our private shipbuilding
industry offers little upon which the
Government could depend in an emer-
gency. The navy yards, on the other
many new ship for the fleet If the
time ever comes when they are needed
in hurry
The United States maintains a navy
yard at Pearl Harbor, our great mid
pacific base in the Hawaiian Islands
and another one at Cavite, in the Phil
ippines. The latter is the greatest re-
pair yard we have. The Asiatic feet
has more than 70 ships, most of them
small ones. Yet they need in the ag-
gregate a vast amount of repair work,
which IS done at Cavite. From one
years end to the next Cavite is a busy
repair shop and upon the thoroughneSS
with which it does its work depends the
efficiency of the American naval forces
in the Far East.
Yards Do Different Work.
The navy wards cover in the appre-