Evening Star Newspaper, September 27, 1935, Page 40

INCREASING NAVY URGED IN FORUM 'A;sistant Secretary Roose- . Nelt Declares Service Is 'L “Woefully Lacking.” JThe increase of the Navy's man péwer and auxiliary warships was ad- vocated last night by Assistant Secre- tary of the Navy Henry L. Roosevelt. Speaking in the National Radio Forum, arranged by. The Star and carried over a Nation-wide network of the National Broadcastiag Co., Col. Roosevelt praised the naval personnel, but said it was not adeguate despite the fact the enlisted strength of the Navy has been increased about 15 per cent in the last three years. An expansion, based on the expau- eion of the Navy, is planned to bring the personnel establishment up to adequate numbers, he said. ‘The Navy is “woefully lacking,” he continued, ia auxiliaries—tankers, re- pair ships, tenders for submarines, marine transports and hospital ships. “Our merchant marine as it exists today is a most valuable auxiliary to the fleet,” Col. Roosevelt declared, “but it is far too small; and, in any case, a certain number of specially designed vessels are urgeatly needed.” He discussed the Navy building pro- gram in detail, expressing the hope that construction of 36 more destroy- ers and 18 more submarines to round out a treaty-strength fleet will be authorized. The text of Col. Roosevelt's address: | It is my privilege tonight to ad- | dress the Radio Forum on the subject of the United States Navy, and its | development under the stewardship of the present administration. Our citizens these days are turning their serutiny upon our Naval establish- ment. What of the United States Fleet? | What of the bases ashore that sup- port the fleet? What of our officers | and men, their morale, and their | fitness? In a word, is the American | Navy ready and adequate to meet the demands that might be imposed upon | it in the interests of national security? Certain persons and certain agencies | have gained the public ear with com- ment and criticism indicating de- | ficiencies and imperfections, in Navy personnel and Navy materiel. What | are these criticisms? Are they sound | and informed, or are they frivolous and | mischievous? These questions are rightly asked, and they deserve frank RDsWers. The mission of the Navy is briefly etated. It is: To insure the integrity | of our coasts, and of our insular | possessions, and to safeguard our | sea-borne commerce. It is not de- | signed or administered for aggres- | sion. Its purpose is national defense. It is. simply, national insurance in its cheapest and sanest form. Its strength is determined by your rep- rescntatives in Congress: and its fitness and efficiency is the responsi- | bility of its civilian and naval heads. | To be adequate, it must be strong | enough, in the varjous categories of | ships, and in the number and dis- | tribution of its personnel to meet | the requirements of our naval policy. | Naval Power Is Relative. | That statement is a little like | Abraham Lincoln’s judgment on the | vroper length for a man's legs: He | said a man’s legs ought to be kmgj enough to reach from his coat tails to the ground. But, as a matter of | fact, modern naval strength is rela- | tive: it is the principle, these days, | to compute it in relation to the naval | strength of our neighbors in theJ family of nations. Certain treaties, | notably those signed at Washington on February 6, 1922: and at London April 22, 1930, set up a standard of | naval armament between the im- | portant sea powers of the world. Making no comment here on any other | naval power, it must be noted that | the United States, after signing those | treaties, failed to build the vessels | in which it was then deficient, or to provide for the replacement of vessels | which were obsolete or becoming ©bsolescent through age in service. Cn the third of March, 1932, the situation of the United States Navy was as follows: We had 351,030 tons | of ships vet to be built under the treaties with Great Britain and Japan ‘This unbuilt tonnage was divided into the following categories: Aireraft car- riers, 55,200 tons; heavy cruisers, 30,- 000 tons: light cruisers, 87,100 tons; destroyers, 138000 tons, and sub- marines, 40,730 tons. ‘This enormous tonnage of unbuilt ships was due to simple neglect of our Navy between the years 1922 to 1933. During this period there had been laid down for the United States Navy, 173,095 tons; by the British | Navy, 394,819 tons; and by the Japa- nese Navy, 360,770 tons. Early in 1933 steps were taken by the President and by the Congress to'correct this situation, with the re- sult that during the year, 101,000 tons of ships were provided for, and con- tracts and awards made for the fcl- lowing: Two raft carriers, one heavy cruiser, four light cruisers, eight destroyer leaders, 16 destroyers, four submarines and two gunboats, Work Continued in 1934. In 1934, there were laid down cne heavy cruiser, 10,000 tons; three lighs critisers, 26,500 tons; two aestroyer leaders, 3,600 tons: twelve destroyers, | 18,000 tons. and six submarines; and 1in*1935, contracts have been awarded | for. one aircraft carrier. two light | crfilsers, 15 destro; and s'x sub- | marines, totaling 66650 . { means that all aircraft car-| riers, and heavy and light cruisers. which are allowed %o the United States Navy under international trea- ties, are either buliding or contracts haVe been made therefor. ‘Fhere remain to be built a to of 54 vessels, 36 destroyers sand 18 ihe present completed bufiding program by. 1942. Thereafte ng ahips. ciass of ships required to rour { the fieet and make of it, & balanced w napely—auxiliaries, These are tankers, repair ships, tenders for submarines, hodpital ships, marine transports, =te. The Navy is woefully lacking in these auxiliaries, and it is my hope that they will be forthcoming before long. These ships cannot be obtained from the Merchant Marine; first, be- cause they are not available in suffi- cient numbers from that source; and second, because even those available would not be fully adapted for fleét service, These ships must have suf- ficient speed to keep up with a fleet, and they must have certain other characteristics not found in average merchant ships. We in the Navy Department hope, though, that authorization and money will come from Congress in the near future. Our Merchant Marine, as it exists wfly, is a most COL. HENRY L. ROOSEVELT. THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, 1 valuable auxiliary to the fleet, but it | is far too small; and, in any case, | & certain number of specially de- signed vessels are urgently needed. | An adequate Merchant Marine is second only in importance to the combat ships in a well-rounded Navy. | The Navy has never before had anything in she way of a building program as balanced and judicious | as the present one. The nearest ap- proach to it was the building program of 1916, conceived under the stimu- lus of the war in Europe, and never completed. The fashion of American naval construction has been sporadic, and sporadic building means haste | and waste. When the present con- struction was put in progress, the Navy Department was faced with formidable difficulties. The years of neglect had vitally affected the ship- yards, both private and public. Naval construction is the work of specialists | and technicians and skilled laborers. Naval design in itself is an art and an exact science:; and there are never | very many naval designers available. | The $taffs of trained men who for- merly were attacheg to the shipyards had dispersed from lack of employ- ment. Their tools were turned to other trades. Their experience and skill were no longer available. Ex- | traordinary effort was necessary to re- sssemble even a part of them. New men had to be trained, both in the shops and in the offices. Naval science abroad had made long strides forward. New appliances had to be studied, and new designs conceived. A certain amount of delay was in- | evitable in getting organized for | production; and the instability of labor conditions has occasioned fur- ther delays. By the laws enacted for the new construction, half the ships are allotted to navy yards and half to private shipbuilding concerns; and the private yards have met the same difficulties which the Navy De- partment has been obliged to over- come. Incidentally, it may be re- | marked here that the present building | program has perhaps saved the American shipbuilding industry from dissolution. Not only has the ship- building industry—a vital industry to any nation that desires to trade abroad—been pulled out of a bad hole; but thousands of individuals have been given gainful occupation, | and a very wide range of industries particularly the hard-hit heavy in- dustries—have been helpfully stimu- lated. Almost every section of the country, and every trade we follow, contribute to the construgtion of a war vessel Work Progressing Rapidly. So much, then, for the construction end. The ships are getting built They are going into the water and joining the fleet. As the program proceeds, and the staffs accumulate experience, the work goes mor2 smoothly and more rapidly. We hava our capital ships all in commission. They are as good as any ships in the | world, although some of tanem are | approaching over-age, as [ have already said. The last of our afrcraft carriers was authorized recently, and the last of the cruisers. These ships are now under construction, and when they go into commission we will abreast of the tonnage allowed us by | the treaties, in those categories. It is confidently believed that the suc- cessive Congresses will authorize the completion of the program—the 36| destroyers and the 18 submarines which the Navy still requires. Last Spring, the United States | Fleet. with its battleships, its great | aircraft carriers, its divisions of cruisers, destroyers and submarines, and the highly important store ships | and repair vessels of the fleet train, | together with transports carrying the | regiments of the Fleet Marine Force, | A NIV, Here’s a Cake You'll Be Proud to Serve as “Your Own”— Made with the Famous GOLD-N-SNO 3-Layer Cakeg 49: Plenty for a Large Sized Family V2 cake, 25¢ EREAN put to sea on 1its annual maneuvers. You will bear in mind that ships at sea do everything that they would do in war, except exchange shots with the enemy. There is no truce with wind and tide. and no simulated or assumed conditions of weather and | terrain, in naval maneuvers. Dis- aster, in more forms than one, waits wpon’ slackness or inefficiency. Over 500 planes, nearly 200 ships, and some 50,000 officers and men were grouped under the flag of the com- mander-in-chief. The field of the maneuver was vast: It extended from Southern California to Alaskan waters, and from the stormy Aleutians to the warm beaches of the Hawaiian Islands. [Every conceivable weather condition was encountered over this great area. Ships and aircraft cov- ered, during its course, literally mil lions of accumulated miles. The cir- cumstances of actual war were as closely approximated as possible. | And, the results of the exercise were | extremely gratifying. Under the vig- | orous hand of Admiral Reeves, the commander-in-chief, thé fleet fun- tioned as it was desired to function. I had the privilege of seeing it come | into Honolulu at the conclusion of | the maneuver, and the sight was one to make any American thrill with pride. I do not hesitate to declare that our fleet, in its loyalty, its de- votion and its efficiency is in all respects as fine a force as has ever been assambled under the American flag. Personnel Is Excellent. Our naval personnel is splendid. ‘The bluejackets and Marines are fit and healthy youngsters who are trained quickly into mature and de- | pendable meh. I do not think that any other service selects its recruits under as high requirements of in- telligence and physical soundness as does our service. They are drawn from all parts of the country, and they are, in effect, a cross-section of | our young manhood. The only trouble with them is that there are not quite enough of them. Ofir ships | are somewhat undermanned; but that situation also has received attention, and the enlisted strength of the Navy | has been increased about 15 per cent | in the last three years. An expan- | sion, based on the expansion of the | avy, is planned to bring the per- | sonnel establishment up to adequate numbers as the building program proceeds. 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