ARMY & NAVY: 5-4-3

With three resolutions before Congress calling on the Navy Department for information on the true strength of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., Assistant Secretary of the Navy, took an opportunity to give an answer to Chairman Butler of the House Naval Affairs Committee. Mr. Butler had made inquiries, especially in regard to the statement of a former U. S. naval expert, W. D. Shearer, that the ratio of naval strength was no longer 5-5-3, but 5-3—-with Great Britain five, Japan three, and the U. S. one.

Not with the stentorian cry with which the original T. R. might have greeted such a request, but in a letter analyzing one by one the points made, the young Colonel, who signed himself “Acting Secretary of the Navy,” made answer.

¶ That the Navy was not up to date he admitted in the following particulars:

1) “Gun range of 13 battleships.

2) “Deck protection of six battleships.

3) “Underwater protection of 13 battleships.

4) “Kind of fuel on six battleships (oil should replace coal).

5) “Submarines—no mine-laying or cruiser types. 6) “Cruisers—shortage in numbers.7) “Destroyer leaders—none. 8) “Fuel economy—lack of certain up-to-date engineering equipment; $1,000,000 and $2,000,000 being considered in Congress now. 9) “Material readiness of ships out of commission—especially destroyers and submarines. 10) “Auxiliary ships—speed and radius limited in certain auxiliary ships converted from merchant marine.”

¶ In regard to general naval strength he declared: “It is impossible to make a mathematical ratio of naval strength that will cover all factors. About the best we can truly say is that if 5 and 3 represent the present fighting strengths of Great Britain and Japan, respectively, then the United States would appear to be approximately 4.” He amplified this statement by a list of particular ratios:

U.S. Britain Japan Battleship strength 4 5 3 Cruisers* 1 5 3Tonnage of cruisers 1½ 5 3 Destroyers in commission 3 5 1½Total destroyers 7 5 2 Submarines* 7 3/5 4 7/10 7 3/10 Aircraft carriers* … 4 5 3

¶In regard to blistering and other forms of structural protection from torpedo attack, Great Britain has or soon will have 10 of her 20 battleships so protected; the U. S. has 5 of her 18 protected; Japan is an unknown quantity, but intends to spend 50,000,000 yen modernizing her fleet.

¶ In regard to deck armor, which the War showed to be essential to protect the vitals of ships from high-angle fire and bombing attacks, the British fleet is well protected and the Japanese are assumed to be, although nothing definite is known. “Twelve of our 18 ships compare favorably with Japanese and British ships. . . . The remaining six ships have insufficient deck protection.”

¶ As for gun ranges, the comparison of U. S.-British ships is as follows:

Range in British ships U. S. ships yards in action in action 24,000 13 10 23,000 20 10 22,000 20 12 21,000 20 18

¶ In regard to speed the comparison of the British and U. S. capital ships is: BRITISH Class Number of ships Speed Tiger 1 Iron Duke 21 Renown 31.S Royal Sovereign 23 Queen Elisabeth 25 Hood .. “… 31 Rodney 2 23§ UNITED STATES Number Speed All types 17 20.46 to 21. 33 Florida 1 12

The report adds: “All of our ships at present can make their designed speeds, or practically so, except the Utah, Arkansas, Wyoming and Florida. The boilers of these ships have through long use become deteriorated. They have been recently sent to navy yards to undergo repairs, which will be completed, except for the Florida, by July 1, 1924. These repairs place these vessels again in the battle line for a time.

“The following record of time spent by them in navy yards for repairs during the last two fiscal years is indicative of their conditions:

Calendar days at yards for repairs:

Ship 1922 1923 Total Florida 49 267 316 Utah (abroad) none 126 . 126 Wyoming 110 109 219 Arkansas 110 193 303″

¶ The number of light cruisers that would have to be built to produce a 5-5-3 ratio would be: Number of Ships Tonnage U. S 21 1 210,000‡ Great Britain none none Japan none none

¶ Relative strengths in personnel are:

Great Active Navy Britain . U. S. Japan Officers Enlisted men…. 91,397 8,571 ” ~ 86,000 7,821 58,274 7,550 Enrolled reserves and retired Navy: Enlisted men…. 62,626 24,173 —31,419 Officers 9,843 6,193

¶ The situation in regard to naval leases and petroleum reserves is:

“We have no operating bases in the Pacific that are adequate. The Atlantic bases are better, but are not nearly all adequate. As regards petroleum reserves, we have a deficiency of 68% in the reserves required in the Pacific, i.e., 32% only of the necessary reserves is on hand. The Atlantic reserve deficiencies are still greater. The reserve at Oahu on Jan. 1, 1924, was about 1,759,677 barrels. In a Pacific war, the Navy will use about 70,000,000 barrels during the first year of war.” ¶ Following these remarks Mr. Roosevelt concluded: “The Navy is in good shape with the exception of the above designated deficiencies which should be remedied. The morale of the personnel, both commissioned and enlisted, is high. The appropriations furnished by Congress are being applied in such manner as to obtain the very best results.”

*Includes craft building.

* Latest design.

§ Estimate.

† 10,000 tons.

‡ On basis of present Japanese tonnage.