Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-09
NAVY CHIEFS BEGIN
REDUCTION PLANS
Reorganization Groundwork
Under Way in $50, 900, 900
Economy Program.
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battleships to serve with this training
, squadron, which will be used for mid
serve cruises, Reserve Of6cers' Training
Corps cruises and to attend local cele-
brations
Operating with skeleton crews from
Atlantic ports, the battleships will be
manned for 463 men each, and the eight
destroyers will have SO enlisted person.
mel aboard, each. The light cruiser Au-
gIlSta, now under construction at New
cort News, Va, is tc relieve the Arkansas
next Fall, as flagship Of the scouting
feet.
Following the fleet concentration of
Panama for two months, starting in
January, the Navy Department will start
to reduce the size of its destroyer divi-
sions in the battle feet and the scout
ing fleet, cutting the number of destroy
ers in each division from six to four. Ma
val officials explaied today that the
present destroyer strength Of the Navy
includes 103 destroyers and six light
mine layers in commission, with total
tonnage of 1925 standard treaty tons.
Under the reorganization, IS destroyers
are to be withdrawn from the fleet and
decommissioned. They will be preserved
for future recommissioning, while two
light mine layers will be decomm,ssioned
and disposed of. Following the compile
ton of this program, the Nays destroy
er end light mine layer tonnage in COM
mission will aggregate 96,426 standard
treaty tons.
Air Force Reorganization.
Reorganization of the air forces
af1oat will mean that, instead of
commander, aircraft squadrons, Battle
Fleet and Scouting Fleet, there will be
commander, carrier divisions, United
States Fleet. The air forces afioat will
tenders. and in Division 2, the U. S. S.
Langley, aircraft carrier, and U. S. s.
Wright, Sand Piper, and Teal, aircraft
tenders, and in Division the U. s. s.
Saratoga and Lexington, aircraft car
riers, and U. S. S. Cannot, aircraft
tender. Two plane guard destroyers
will be assigned to the Saratoga, two to
the Lexington and two to the Langley,
which will be shifted to the Atlantic
Coast
The U. s. s. Aroostook, aircraft
tender, now attached to the aircraft
squadrons of the Battle Fleet, is to be
decommissioned and laid up in a state
of preservation to insure future recon-
missioning. One mine force, instead OF
two, will result from Admiral Pratt's
new program, and the mine layer U. s.
S. Oglala, the flagship, will be assigned
the light mine layers Lansdale, Luce,
Gamble Ramsay to Division /, and the
mine sweepers Lark, Quail, Tanager
and Whippoorwill.
The mine force will be based on Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii. Some of the vessels
will be withdrawn from the Atlantic
Coast and the light mine layers will be
in one division and the mine sweepers
will be put in a separate division.
In the submarine divisions Nos. and
10 will be reduced to nine ships and re-
main stationed at Coco Solo, in the
Canal Zone. Nine submarines of the
o class, now at New London, are to be
decommissioned for disposal, while SO,
6, z, 8 and 8, now operating with the
control force on the Atlantic Coast, are
also to be decommissioned for disposal.
Eleven r class submarines are to be de-
commissioned and placed in a status so
that they may be brought back into
active service. Following the reorgant-
cation program 14,1o0 tons of sub
marines will be eliminated from the
operating fleet, leaving SIS submarines.
of 81 ,050 tons, in commission The as
sistant to the chief of naval operations,
Rear Admiral John Halligan, jr., has
estimated savings under the new plan
as follows:
Savings Under Plan.
For the current fiscal year, under
personnel, $1,579,000; maintenance.
81 $4,000, and fuel, $475,000, making a
total of $3,440, 000 For the fiscal year
ending June 80, 1882, he estimated saw
ings in personnel at $3,428 ,949; main
tenance, $3,614000, and fuel, $4,000,
aggregating $7,758,949.
In addition to this widespread re-
arrangement of naval forces, a number
of eagle boats assigned to training naval
Reserve are to be put out of commission,
some submarine chasers are to be DIS
posed of, and harbor and ocean tugs
are to be eliminated from the active
list
At the Washington Navy Yard the
U. S. S. Porpoise and the Grampus are
to be decommissioned and disposed Oh.
The Grampus is freight and passenger
steamer, 1875 feet long and vas built at
Philadelphia in 1907. Formerly, it bore
the name Boothbay, and has been as
signed to the local yard for some time.
The Porpoise, formerly known as the
Moosehead. was built at Bath. Me-, IN
1911, and was officially termed a Terry
boat, and has likewise been assigned 10
the Washington Navy Yard Tor con-
siderable time.
The NAVY Department announced
that upon the completion CT the cause
way at Paris Island, S. c. the floating
equipment will be reduced TO the aoso-
lutte minimum in that locality.