The efficiency of the Navy depends primarily upon the esprit de corps of its officers. This, stripped down to plain language, means “love for the service.” It is not enough that we are satisfied with our profession and do the duties we may be required to do. That may develop a good service; it can never create a great one.
The Navy Regulations state that when the executive officer is on board ship “he shall regard himself as always on duty.” The only way we can build up a great service is for every officer to regard himself as always on duty. This cannot be ordered by regulations or instructions; it must come of its own accord through love of the service. If we love the service so that its welfare dominates all our thoughts it will then be not a duty but a pleasure for us to consider ourselves as always on duty, always working to advance its interests.
The Navy can he made great only through our work on board ship and ashore. On board ship not all our energies should be used in carrying on the usual routine; all the world and all the other navies are advancing; we cannot afford to stand still; therefore, a part of our work, out of the usual working hours if necessary, should be devoted to original constructive work, so that the Navy will not only advance, but do so at a greater rate than other navies.
Ashore we have also important work to do. The Navy belongs to the people of the country; we are absolutely dependent upon them for our annual appropriations. We will obtain the necessary financial support only so far as the people are convinced of the necessity for having an efficient Navy and that the Navy is utilizing to the best advantage the money appropriated for it. Not only do we need the financial support of the people, but we need their moral support. We need to feel, if we are to do our best work, that they appreciate what we are doing, and that they are for the Navy. This support of the people can be gained to some extent through our official associations with the civil authorities, but it will always be our unofficial relations with persons in civil life which will have the greatest effect. All of us, some to a greater extent than others, have opportunities on shore to advance the interests of the service by convincing our friends and associates as to the necessity for an efficient Navy and by showing them how we are all earnestly working to give the country such a service; few people have any conception of Navy life and many believe that we live lives of ease and luxury; the incorrectness of this idea should not be difficult to demonstrate. There is much to be accomplished along these lines for the purpose of increasing the popularity of the Navy throughout the country.
If the officers are contented and devoted to the service, the contentment of the enlisted personnel will be assured; their contentment, which will be communicated to their friends ashore, will have a great effect in increasing the popularity of the Navy.
There must be something unusual when an officer of some years’ service does not love the Navy. It would appear that the fault in nearly every case is his own; in some cases it may be partly due to the conditions under which he is serving, but these are always of but temporary duration and should not affect a man who has the strength of character necessary for the proper performance of naval duties.
What other profession can offer us what the Navy does?
Tradition does not amount to much in America, but does it not give all of us a feeling of satisfaction and at least some of us a thrill of pride when we realize that no other naval service can show such a record of accomplishment as ours? What other department in our government or organization in our country, civil, political, financial or industrial, can show a higher percentage of successes in the performance of its duties? Who of us, when he soberly views the situation, is not forced to the conviction that it is a real honor to be a member of such a service and perhaps to have the opportunity some time in the future, if he is prepared to know how to use it, to do something worthy to be added to our old tradition?
The most ardent ambition of real men in past history has always been to serve their country, regardless of its size, importance, or efficiency. This desire has been the underlying motive for the finest actions in history. Our country could not have achieved its present greatness had not this desire to serve it existed in the hearts of its citizens to a remarkable degree. How may we serve it more loyally or whole-heartedly than in our Navy, where our every action, unimportant though it may seem, is done to make our country secure and to protect its future development into what even the most vivid imagination cannot predict? What we build now in the Navy will last long after we have left it and may have its influence for centuries.
Coming down to a purely practical viewpoint, what other profession can offer the many interesting features of the Navy, either in material or personnel?
As examples from the material viewpoint, take the development of nearly thirty thousand horsepower in the small space allotted to the engineer department of a destroyer; the design of radio apparatus suited for all classes of vessels from battleships to submarines; the solving of the problem of battleship fire control at 25,000 yards range; the development of torpedoes which will run reliably for 12,000 yards; the perfection of the radio compass and under-water listening devices; the design of ships in which the weight allotted to the structure of the ship, the boilers and machinery and the armor and armament must be correctly balanced so as to get the most effective ship for a given displacement.
As examples from the viewpoint of personnel, take the organization of the crew of a battleship about to go into commission; the training of several thousand recruits at a training station; the development of the crew of a submarine where the most Perfect co-ordination is necessary so that each man will perform his duties without orders; or the drilling to perfection of the turret crew of a battleship where each man in turn must carry out his part of the operation with speed or precision.
But our life is composed not only of work, interesting though it may be, as in a civil profession, but also of real sport of a character and interest to be found nowhere else in the world.
When a destroyer is standing down the range to fire long range battle practice, is there not as tense a feeling as there is when the players are lining up for the kick-off of a decisive football game? When finally the whistle goes and the powder flag shoots up to the yard arm, is there not as great a thrill as comes to a football player when the referee’s whistle announces that the game is on? And there are not only eleven men in this game, the team is composed of over one hundred. Several times a year, in similar gunnery exercises, each one of us is on the team, playing in one of the most important positions. The gunnery officer and spotter are usually only ensigns. The game is over in a minute. There is no time for anyone to tell these young officers what to do. They are on their own and have a freer hand than a member of a football team who must always listen for his signals. Upon their decisions, for which only a few seconds are allowed, depends the standing of the ship in the practice.
The engineer department is also in the game, and may have an important part to play; perhaps the action of the engineer officer may be the decisive factor in the practice. In a recent practice, consisting of three runs at twenty-five knots, a gasket between the boiler stop valve and the steam drum blew out, partly filling the fireroom with steam, and rendering the heat, previously very great, almost unbearable. Although the men in the fireroom had to be relieved at five minute intervals for over an hour of the practice, all runs were made as usual, and no report of the casualty was made to the bridge until after the last run had been completed.
The full power and smoke prevention runs of a destroyer are gruelling games which test to the limit the spirit and endurance of the engineer division. The requirements are set so high that only a few ships under almost perfect conditions can make the speed necessary for avoiding a penalty. Any comparatively slight casualty may impose so heavy a penalty that the vessel’s chance of standing high in the engineering competition for the year will be ruined. On the other hand an alert engineer personnel may greatly reduce the effect of quite a severe casualty. Recently a destroyer, with two hours of a smoke prevention run remaining and running under all four boilers, had the misfortune to blow a boiler tube, which required the cutting out of one boiler. The load was quickly equalized between the remaining three boilers and the required speed was continued; except for twelve minutes at the time of the casualty no smoke was made. This casualty, which at the time seemed to make the ship a favorite for last place in the squadron, was greatly minimized by the quick action of the engineer division and did not prevent the ship from standing high for this run.
The spirit of sport existing in gunnery exercises is shown by an incident which occurred in a practice which consisted of two runs. On the first run a score approximately fifty per cent better than was ever before made in the Navy was rolled up. Despite the fact that this score was considered almost incredible, the director pointer to fire the second run bet even money that he would better the score of the first run and won his bet.
In aviation we have in the Navy a sport which far exceeds any game in civil life. It has a fascination which anybody who has ever been in the game can never forget. Even beyond the mere delight of flying we have in the Navy such special sports as bomb dropping, torpedo firing and spotting battleship gunfire, none of which are available for civilian flyers.
There is also in handling a submarine a fascination almost equal to flying, and in one respect it is more interesting. One man flies a plane, but thirty-five handle a submarine. In a quick dive or during gun or torpedo firing the captain can give only a few general orders; each man of the crew must do in the right sequence exactly what the captain desires him to do, and must carry out his unspoken orders as exactly as if he could be beside each man, and tell him in detail what to do. Only one man of the thirty-five has to make a mistake to lose the submarine.
In a recent gun practice, in order to save all-important time, the order for the quick dive terminating the practice was given when there remained four shots to be fired from the gun, whose crew had to complete the string, jump down the main hatch and close it before it reached the water level.
What could be more interesting or exciting than driving in a destroyer at twenty-five knots on a dark night through a screen of enemy destroyers, and simulating torpedo fire at 500 yards from the enemy main body; or of taking a submarine through an anti-submarine screen of destroyers to simulate torpedo fire at the large ships of the other side in the maneuver at 300 yards range?
Of course, just as in other sports, the playing of the actual game is not the whole thing. There must be weeks of hard work and training for the game, but with a proper eagerness to excel, which is developed by our forms of competition, this work becomes a part of the game itself; as everybody knows its purpose, it should be, and usually is, entered into with enthusiasm.
In addition to the enjoyment which the Navy offers us along these lines, there is one unique and pleasant feature of Navy life. With what pleasure does a man in civil life keep up his college associations and occasionally meet his classmates in business or clubs! We in the service see nearly every day our classmates and friends of Academy days. We do our daily business with the graduates of our own college. What a wonderful opportunity this gives us for lasting friendships and to be, as Nelson said, “a band of brothers.” Such friendships are strengthened and made purer by the fact that they have no connection with financial relations, as do so many friendships of civil life, when for reasons of business it is necessary sometimes to select friends whom we would not desire for purely personal reasons. Who can estimate how much these friendships lasting through our entire naval careers mean to us? It is certain that no estimate in money value can be made of such friendships and that many persons in civil life with unlimited financial resources would envy us them.
People who live on a ship for extended periods come to regard it as their home and to have a love for it far greater than one has for a home on shore. We have all seen the grief of a captain when detached from his command; sometimes even those who would appear to be the least affected by sentiment have tears in their eyes and are unable to say a word. This shows what their ship means to them. This love of the ship extends to all our shipmates and in after years what pleasure is afforded us when we can meet a shipmate, even one who may not have been particularly congenial at the time, and talk over the old times. We have all seen officers of high rank greet with the most hearty affection enlisted men who were their shipmates years before, and it is touching to see the pleasure of retired officers in renewing their association with the service and their old ships. Few of us realize our deep love for the service until we are separated from it. All of us know of officers who have resigned and frankly admit that it was the most tragic mistake of their lives. After we have grown to know the fascination of the service, nothing else will satisfy us.
We have the opportunity to visit many foreign countries in a way afforded only to those who have independent means at their disposal. From each country we will learn many items of useful knowledge, and in general our minds will be broadened so that things will be recognized in their proper scale of relative importance, and we will be guided by the important things of life rather than by minor details.
We often are privileged to make the acquaintance of important personages of current history, sometimes to watch their methods of work, and possibly even to work with or for them—all to our great advantage.
One of our duties, which should be a pleasure, is the study of the art of war and naval and military history. This trains us in methods which are successful, not only in war, but in our everyday life.
While we can never expect to be rich in the service, we have at least the inestimable advantage of knowing that, as long as we remain in the Navy, we are removed from the fear of poverty. We probably do not know what this means in its full extent, but we all know that a feeling of security is afforded by the knowledge that we are to receive at least a moderate compensation permanently. At least, as regards the financial end of our career, we are playing the game safe, and it appears that this is one game which it is well to play safe, as distinctive from the game of war, where it is the business of the leader to run risks.
In these days we hear many complaints, usually minor ones, about pay. For the conditions which cause these, officials outside the service are responsible. Regardless of the justice of these complaints, it must be remembered that the Navy is not at fault, and it would be unjust to allow our love for the service to be diminished by the acts of persons outside the service.
There is no doubt that for a person of weak character there are many disappointments in naval life. Due to the exigencies of the service many of our hopes are made impossible of realization, and unexpected ship movements or orders to other duty prevent us from carrying through our plans for the future. But a man who loves the service and who has such a character as would make him desirable for the service should become reconciled to these things. Of course, no one has a character of unlimited strength and sometimes it is difficult to prevent a momentary regret, but it is necessary to realize that service to our country always should come first, and that orders to duty and ship movements should be considered as facts as unalterable as the weather. Personal considerations should never influence our devotion to duty; we must accept with loyalty such duty as may be assigned us. Men who are unable to accept this philosophy have a character unsuited for war operations and reduce the morale of the officer corps during peace time.
No duty assigned to an officer is unimportant. Often duty which first appears undesirable turns out in the end to have been most fortunate. Any duty can be made important provided an officer puts all his energy into it, and makes the most of his opportunities to increase the efficiency of the service. Any duty has possibilities limited only by the amount of energy expended in its performance.
The Navy has made wonderful strides in efficiency since the war; for the first time—in recent years at least—it is being operated in accordance with plans carefully thought out and approved well in advance; at last the fact that preparation for war is our primary peace time duty is being recognized and this principle is receiving not only theoretical consideration but practical application. In fact, the Navy is being built up into a great service—one which, if our present progress continues, is certain to meet any war situation presented to it in such a way that mere equality of numbers, or even approximate equality, need not be considered a requirement of success.
But there are many large problems, particularly in the line of tactics, which still await solution and there are innumerable details to be perfected. Most of this work lies outside the usual routine of duty; it can be accomplished only through the interest and initiative of the individual officer in the development of original ideas for the improvement of methods and material. This interest and initiative have as their underlying motive love of the service.
We also have our tasks ashore in the development of the popularity of the service among the people, so that their moral and financial support will be assured. This task also can be successful only if we love the service.
Our first duty then is to inspire by word and deed this love of the service, without which the Navy can never be brought to that degree of excellence which we would all desire it to attain.