LIEUT.-COMMANDER N. L. JONES, U. S. Navy.—Lieut.-Commander Yarnell, in "The Greatest Need of the Atlantic Fleet," portrays in terse, vigorous terms the existing conditions in our battleship fleet; and outlines a schedule of employment upon which his hopes of a more efficient and contented personnel are based.
Mr. Yarnell's essay should be of profound interest to the whole service. The great conglomeration of units we call "the navy"—navy yards, naval stations, naval bases, the Navy Department itself—all exist for the fleet; the naval acts of Congress, the comity of nations on the western continent, the enforcement of our Monroe Doctrine, and the safety of the nation are based upon the size and efficiency of the fleet; and a carefully-considered estimate of its needs will naturally awaken keen interest in the proposed methods of remedying its deficiencies.
The writer has not the time or scope for discussing in detail the suggestions the essayist has so ably set forth, but a brief resume of the steps taken by the Navy Department to uphold the fleet and increase the contentment, and consequently efficiency, of its personnel, follows.
Up to 1912, the Atlantic Fleet consisted of 17 battleships and a few auxiliaries, with torpedo and submarine flotillas as independent organizations; with no working base other than at Guantanamo, where it spent about 2% months, and with the probability of repeating this rendezvous in the more temperate climate of Provincetown in summer. In January, 1912, the department requested the consideration of the commander-in-chief, Atlantic Fleet, upon the following proposals:
(1) Permanent assignment of torpedo flotilla to Atlantic Fleet.
(2) Assignment of active submarines to fleet.
(3) Formation of all supply, repair, ammunition and hospital ships into a train, with a regular train commander.
(4) Establishment of a base in Narragansett Bay as a rendezvous for the fleet.
(5) Keep the fleet at this rendezvous a good portion of each year.
(6) Establish and publish well in advance, periods of fleet maneuvers, target practice, steaming competition, divisional cruising, and overhaul at anchor at the base.
The commander-in-chief concurred in the department's recommendations, except as to the inclusion of the submarine flotilla and formation of a train, which he did not consider necessary at that time. His program for 1913 carried out these suggestions, with the exceptions noted.
The success of basing on Narragansett Bay was to a certain extent marred by an unfortunate controversy with the steamship lines entering the bay. over the anchorage taken by the fleet. This vexatious question has since been settled to the mutual satisfaction of the department and steamship companies.
In December, 1912, a board consisting of the Council of Aids and Surgeon General met to consider health conditions in the fleet. This board made the following recommendations to the Secretary:
(1) Thirty days' leave to officers and men, to be distributed between overhaul period and Christmas holidays.
(2) Provide a large recreation building for the men, at Guantanamo.
(3) Ships to visit other than their repair ports some time during the year.
(4) A cruise to foreign ports other than West Indian waters, to be made as often as consistent with the work of the fleet.
In January, 1913, a memorandum embodying the board's recommendations, on the fleet's employment for 1913-1914, was submitted to the Secretary by the aid for operations. It briefly discussed conditions existing in the fleet and contained the following recommendations:
(1) Basing on Narragansett Bay throughout a good portion of 1913, for drills, maneuvers, and overhaul at anchor.
(2) A cruise of divisions or sections to the Mediterranean, with an alternative cruise to South American and West Indian ports.
(3) Such divisional cruising as will permit ships to visit other than home ports.
(4) A definite allowance, announced in advance, of an average of a week's overhaul at anchor for a week underway.
(5) The announcement of 'definite leave for officers and men, amounting to thirty days each year, to be distributed between the overhaul period and Christmas holidays.
This memorandum was approved by Secretary Meyer, who personally wrote upon it the following endorsement:
"APPROVED. We must give more attention to the contentment of the personnel, for we cannot have efficiency without contentment. A working base at Narragansett Bay for the greater part of the year; 30 days' leave annually for men and officers; occasional short foreign cruises; a definite schedule of movements of vessels of the fleets published to the personnel a full year in advance, are necessary steps in the direction of efficiency and contentment.
"The efficient upkeep of the motive machinery can be assured by allowing a full week for overhaul after a week at sea. The most satisfactory arrangement is to have alternate weeks at sea and at anchor overhauling, during the period when the vessels are operating from the working base."
To provide for closer co-operation of the fleet and the Naval War College, the president of the latter has been directed to prepare problems for the summer's work of the fleet; it is hoped to inaugurate a systematic and progressive series of problems of great benefit to the fleet and college, and to enable succeeding commanders-in-chief to take up the work where their predecessors left off. The department has also directed the establishment of a War College extension in the fleet, similar to those in Washington and Annapolis, which should further the interest of the fleet in questions of strategy, tactics and naval policy.
The earnest and cordial co-operation of the department and the fleet in establishing a more definite policy for the work of the fleet will go far towards the desired contentment and efficiency of the personnel.