Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 186, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 August 1914 — U. S. FLEET AT VERA CRUZ SPEEDS TO SEA AND MEETS INVISIBLE FOE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

U. S. FLEET AT VERA CRUZ SPEEDS TO SEA AND MEETS INVISIBLE FOE

Graphic Description of a Hurry-Up Test Eight Big Warships Maneuvered So as to Eneircie Enemy for Crushing Broadsides—New Signal System Evolved by Admiral Fletcher is Tested.

Vera- Cruz, Mexico. —“Put out to sea and Intercept a hostile fleet approaching from the east,” was the signal that came to the New Jersey from the flagship at eight one morning, says Junius B. Wood, in .Chicago Daily News. Instantly the big battleship was alive with action. Captain Jayne, who had been chatting on thequarter deck, hurried forward to the bridge, the officer of the deck close

I’ at his heels. A messenger ran below for the navigator. Tlfe bugles sounded assembly, officers hurried to the bridge, and others below to tho fires and engines. The anchor chain, like a big black iron snake, was sucked slowly in br some invisible power. A swirl of sand and mud showed where the giant teeth had held the bottom of the bay. On each oT the “chains” at the sides two boys were hearing the leads and Bhouting the soundings. Others were frantically waving flags or hoisting long strings of pennants, signaling to nearby ships. The big qhip was slowly getting under way. On the other ships of the Third division of the Atlantic fleet was similar activity. The flagship Virginia, with Rear Admiral Beatty, steamed out in the lead, with the Georgia, Nebraska and New Jersey following in the column. After them came the Second division, under Rpar Admiral Bousch on the Louisiana, which was followed by the Michigan, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Grimly and silently they moved out to sea 150,000 tons of floating iron and stbel, eight delicately adjusted engines of destruction, in a line more than two and a half miles long and as straight as if they were beads on a string. The order from the commander-in-chief had come as a surprise. The fires under the boilers had been lit, and some order expected, but nothing was certain. It might be a welcome order to go home or one to go td an even mare desolate port. But it* was to go out and attack. That was all. The fleet to be attacked might be the two tiny gunboats of the Mexican navy or a European power’s dis-

play of dreadnaughts. Sallor-like, the squadron started and asked no questions. It was another day of a. week's maneuvering. Everything was to be carried out as if the ships were actually expecting to meet an enemy. The secret war signal books, their covers weighted with lead so they could he thrown overboard and sunk In case of defeat, were brought from their hiding jtlaces to the bridge. One of the one pounders was loaded and a man Stationed at its trigger ready for any sudden signal. Swinging a fleet or a squadron ,of eight or even a division of four battleships into action is s feat which requires days of drills even by . men whose lives have been a study and practise of the science of warfare. This week was to try out a new scheme of tactics and‘signals evolved by Rear Admiral Fletcher. Naval of the future will be between fleets; The old days When ships locked masts and hammered each other until one sank or bnrned or its decks were swept clean, live only in paintings* The engagements between single ships will be occasional. The real battles of the sea will be between fleets —16 to 60 hurling shell and deadly exploding fulminite. The Japanese knew how to maneuver by fleets and picked off the Russian battleships one by one and wiped out the czar’s fleets. The Third division ships, which weigh 17,000 tons each and with good marksmanship could put a shell in an opposing ship six miles away, arp becoming obsolete and are doomed to retirement. The Second division ships weigh about 18,000 tons each, and might do as much damage at eight miles. They will last a little longer. Then, just arrived from the ship-

yards, are the New York and Texas, each of which weighs 27,000 tons and can shoot farther. Their days are numbered, just as surely as are those of the New Jersey, which went Into commission only six years ago. There was a New York once before —now she is rechristened the Saratoga and classified in the naval regis-

ter as a third rater. In 1*33, when she sailed from the yards at Phlladelcan navy.. She had a siren, which was another novelty *ln those days. As she headed down the Delaware turned the stgam into the siren. Several hundred staid Quaker City horses ran away as the earjrfercing shrieks rent the air and half a hundred persons were injured. She never injured that many again. In her entire career as a battleship. , •, ; J» a tow months the present York will be outshone by-the Nevada and Oklahoma, weighing 27,500 tons

each, and now building are the Pennsylvania and No. 39 of 31,400 tons. Every ton costs close to fl,ooo. . Fleet tactics have kept pace with tile growth of battleships. Naval au* tHorities say that the commander who can “wind up” his enemy’s fleet—get it into the center of his encircling battleships or overlap it so that his broadsides can rake the others one at a time —will always win. That is why the American tuhry is maneuvering, ' having , target practise, going through 'drills whenever opportunity offers. Rear-Admiral Fletcher’s system which is now being tried out prior to being officially adopted by the navy—is designed to reduce to a minimum the number of signals necessary to put a fleet through the evolution. In the smoke and excitement of battle the fewer signals to watch and Interpret the better. On top of each ship’s mainmast is a bearings indicator, or flapper, as the men call it—two yellow square boards on opposite ends of a long slanting arm which swings on a pivot in its center. The indicator shows what formation is to be made. A signal flag tells how it is to be made. When the two yellow guide-boards on the flagship are in a straight line with each other to the captain on the bridge of a following ship he is in Correct position. The indicator on the flagship, as we steamed from the harbor, stood at what is called the zero angle. It pointed straight ahead, and the other ships, their indicators duplicating it, followed in long single column.

Warships En Route to Sea.

Navigators’ Chart Table.

Steersman on U. S. Warship.