Is the graduate of the Naval Academy today, with his commission as an ensign in the navy, going to work out successfully to the best interests of the service? Does the commission carry with it sufficient sea experience; and if not, what modification in the present system could be made, so as to embody a greater period of duty afloat for the undergraduate?
It is right that the graduate of the Naval Academy should be on the same footing as the graduate of West Point. That step has been made, and is one that should stand; but the requirements of the naval service are such, that more time should be given to develop the undergraduate. The ensign going to his first ship, with his limited sea service, is bound to make many errors that should have been made and corrected while a midshipman. The commissioned officer ought to be raised in experience and ability, rather than lowered; for this reason the whole subject of gaining a commission as an ensign should be thought about and discussed.
At present there is not sufficient time, during the three summer cruises, to develop a midshipman into the finished junior officer; one that can take his place without jolts as an element of the fleet. The eight and a half months of the summer cruising is very well occupied with breaking in the recruit. The meaning of the ship routine and the purpose of the fleet is just beginning to dawn upon the fortunate first classman, who has had more than two or three weeks deck duty, when September calls a halt, and the midshipman is graduated, so far as his sea experience is concerned.
It is well to develop a system of preparation which is suited to the special conditions of service and type of individual in our country; but at the same time it is well to keep an eye on the methods employed by other nations in their producing of the young sea officer. Upon investigation, it will be seen that in other services the commission is not gained without at least three years at sea. Undoubtedly it has been found that such time was necessary to round out the experience of a midshipman, so that he could properly perform the duties of a junior officer; especially as they apply to the handling of the enlisted men.
The course at the Naval Academy is a case of the survival of the fittest. There is so much ground to be covered, that of necessity a midshipman must proceed at high pressure through one subject after another. Time for assimilation and for practical work is perforce limited. Fortunately the postgraduate school has been founded to direct minds that are needed along lines of specialization; but there still remains the need of more time for practical work and sea experience in the undergraduate course.
It is proposed then to gain sea experience for a midshipman, with a period of digestion, by making the undergraduate course one of five years instead of four; the fourth year to be spent entirely at sea, with a return to the Naval Academy for the fifth and last year to command the brigade and gain the diploma. The year at sea would intervene between what, under present conditions, are the first and second class years. It is suggested that the class at sea, under the proposed plan, would be known as the second class, and the entering class, or the "plebes," as the fifth class. The class due for sea, after completing the May examinations and June week, would go on leave for one month, and would then be ordered to the fleet. They would remain at sea for one year and two months, to be exact, when, after another month's leave, they would report at the Naval Academy by the end of September as first classmen, to command the brigade and complete the undergraduate course.
While at sea, it is suggested that the individual members of the class, attached to the respective units of the fleet, be given duty in rotation, following a standard outline of progressive instruction; the cruise record of midshipmen to be given such a multiple, in making up the stand of the class for the undergraduate course, as would insure a tumble to catch the life boat at "man overboard," and a keenness for the steerage sextant, with a taste for steam mixed with indicator cards. While on the long cruise, midshipmen should receive an increase in pay to cover the increased expense incidental to such service. There would be no need for a change of uniform, except for the addition of a dinner or mess jacket.
The class at sea would fill the need of the fleet for boat officers and an increased number of junior division officers. In other navies boat duty is generally handled by midshipmen and the need of it is felt in our service.
It would seem that this year and two months of sea duty, combined with the two preparatory summer cruises, would make an improved junior officer upon graduation. The fourteen months at sea, besides increasing the information and experience of the graduate, would give the midshipmen an opportunity to assimilate the work of the first three years at the Academy, and to meet in practice many subjects struggled with thereafter in the text books. They would, from the investigation of the different departments of a vessel, instead of the simple contact of the short summer voyage, be prepared beforehand to understand the meaning of the last months ahead of them at the Academy. They should be given thorough instruction in the general store, receiving and handling of stores and in the subject of surveys. The final work for the diploma would be better understood and more thoroughly done.
There is another side to this plan of a year at sea before graduation, that would directly affect the success of the Naval Academy from the point of view of discipline, and the broadening of the outlook of all members of the brigade. The first class would return to the Academy to command the brigade with a wider horizon, and a better understanding of the meaning of things. The meaning of the fleet would be with them, and matters of discipline would move more naturally and smoothly than at present With minds that tend to narrowness in the point of view, due to the very nature of the close application and restrictions necessitated by the course.
The period at the Academy is a test to eliminate undesirable material. The tendency is, for the individual in the struggle for self preservation, to become self centered, and to lose breadth of view along lines of discipline that connect him, as an element of potentiality, to the good or bad interests of the brigade. Sometimes a class is found that is influenced by a few spirits antagonistic to discipline, and is in a negative rut with distorted outlook and sense of proportion, so far as the manner of performing duty is concerned. Especially is this unfortunate, when the class in question is the first class, one below the standard, and one heedless of its responsibilities. Impressions are left on the minds of the underclassmen that are difficult to eradicate, and the whole tone of the brigade is lowered.
From its year at sea, the first class, with its broadened outlook, would come to combat this narrowness in the point of view, and there would be no question about its ability to command the brigade. Administrative matters with the routine of discipline would be lifted a notch, and given new vigor and significance to the midshipmen. The first class would realize its duty to the service at large, and its importance in connecting that service with the Naval Academy.
Another phase of this subject is whether additional sea experience could not be gained during the regular routine of the academic year at the Academy. The Chesapeake is so conveniently at hand as to make practical, short cruises of a day, or a day and a night, on a training vessel attached to the Academy of about the Tacoma class. Would it not be possible to sail during the afternoon of Friday and return by Saturday noon? The unit of detail to be the company; and the company officers to assist with instruction and drills as much as possible. Mess equipment and hammocks to be kept on board the vessel; the midshipmen to take in their clothes bags what they would need for the short cruise. Watch and division duty for the first classmen, with deck seamanship, signals, and boat duty for the underclassmen, would make the time so spent well worth while. Gun crews would take on a new meaning and ship organization would be a matter of study. Target practice could be carried out, after regular training of pointers and crew. Swinging ship and compensation of the compass would pass from one of the mysteries to an every-day affair. In addition, a couple of live torpedo boats with running torpedoes aboard, could in a morning's work do a great deal towards a breaking-in knowledge of the torpedo. If possible, it would be well to have an active group of torpedo boats and submarines based at Annapolis during a part of the year to assist in the training of midshipmen.
Greater naval activity in the waters surrounding the Academy, in which the midshipmen took an active part, could not but tend toward better ultimate sea knowledge. In addition to the cruiser detailed to make short trips into the bay throughout the academic year, it would be well if one of the battleships in reserve were stationed at Annapolis to permit a following up of a theoretical discussion in construction, engineering or equipment, by a trip of exploration and investigation. The machinery might not be of the most recent design, nor the bow of the latest flare, but basic facts would stand out, to give something tangible to take hold of. Models are excellent; but the originals assembled into the actual ship with the feel of the ship about them are far better.
It is a pity the port of Annapolis is not a port of entry for ships of any great draft. It is with difficulty that a vessel, even of the Illinois class, is gotten to within hail of the Naval Academy. With all the dredging that the country is doing, it would seem that a thirty-foot channel and mooring basin could be provided at Annapolis. At present to look out over the harbor and the blue Chesapeake beyond, marked but by an occasional oyster schooner or canoe, makes one feel that there is something wrong with the setting. Yes, it is beautiful, but that before West Point is quite as attractive, and just about as naval.
With the adoption of a year at sea with the fleet, before the last year at the Academy, the necessity of sending the two lower classes to the fleet for the summer would be obviated. It is suggested that, instead, these classes be sent on foreign cruises under the instruction and control of the officers attached to the Naval Academy. The vessels best suited for this purpose would be two of the armored cruisers that are usually held in reserve. The summer cruise for these vessels would be in line with the policy of maintaining fleet efficiency, in the reserve fleet, by occasional trips to sea. Summer cruises across good stretches of ocean to other countries would be broadening and educational to the lower classmen, and more consistent and progressive work could be carried out in all the practical subjects of the course than is possible on a number of different units of the fleet, busy with fleet work, in and out of port. The summer with the fleet is a period of coastwise work in maneuvers and drills, and is not the time for over-sea voyages. It is difficult when operating along the shore to do consistent navigational work. Long days at sea with continual handling of the sextant and uninterrupted engine room watches, that soon become routine, is what the lower classmen need during the first two years. They would get this in an oversea cruise.
The undergraduate does need fleet contact and knowledge most positively, but this should come when the man is a little older, and is ready for it; that is, during the next to the last year of his undergraduate life. The two previous summer cruises abroad in a training squadron would be the best means of preparing for the year with the fleet. The midshipmen would be permanently attached to the individual vessels then, and more consistent work would be done from a more solid foundation of preparatory work. When men are attached to any job for only a short time, and are more or less supernumeraries, unconsciously the danger is that they become "nobody's pigeon." From observation of the midshipmen in the fleet during the summer of 1912, it seemed that what they lacked, was sleep and more days at sea with the meridian altitude in hand, instead of the first watch ashore almost every night at the dance.
The physical condition of the midshipmen, that spent the summer in the fleet, was noticeably below par upon their return to the Academy at the end of September. Their condition in regard to strength and endurance at the beginning of the last academic year, as compared to the physical condition of the brigade on former returns, was remarked upon by those in charge of the physical training. Midshipmen going to the fleet, in the plan proposed, would be a year older. They would have a permanent job to make good at, and the need of a cruise record that would assist their final stand. They would not be casually looking in at a ship; they would be a part of her. The camp work and drill of the winter weeks at Guantanamo would build them up physically.
It is believed that the five-year course, with two summer voyages and a year in the fleet before graduation, has advantages over the present system. The question arises how to arrive at the five year period from the course of today? There are several ways in which the change could be made; but perhaps the best would be by the use of a transition year. For example: Take any second class of the present course and divide it into two sections according to class standing. Then, allow the first section to proceed as the regular first class to graduate the following year. Next, make the second section of the class the second class under the new course of five years; and send them to sea for fourteen months, as outlined in the plan proposed, to return at the end of that time for their first class year. The entering class to be known as the fifth Class; the other classes to take their names accordingly. With the large classes now passing through the Naval Academy, a class could be divided, and still there would be an ample number of men in each half to more than fill all positions in the brigade organization that are usually detailed from the first class. The policy of graduating a class by sections was carried out in the case of the class of 1907. It would be no more difficult to arrange to graduate the first half of a class on time, and the other half a year later after its fourteen months with the fleet.
A more sea-going graduate is needed; and there is no reason Why he should not be produced from the material now in training. "Ex Scientia Tridens," yes! But let more of the knowledge be gained from the open road of the sea.