to whether it met with the approval of the board, and under date of March 24, 1926, the president of said board of commissioners informed the Navy Department that the commissioners are in accord with the provisions of the inclosed bill as worded.

This proposed legislation will result in no additional cost to the Government.

The Navy Department recommends early enactment of the bill H. R. 15541.

Sincerely yours,

CURTIS D. WILBUR,
Secretary of the Navy.

A BILL To authorize the exchange of certain land between the United States and the District of Columbia

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Navy is hereby authorized and empowered to convey to the District of Columbia, free from all encumbrances and without cost to the District of Columbia, all right, title, and interest of the United States of America to that portion of the Naval Observatory grounds, with the improvements thereon, lying outside of Naval Observatory Circle and east of Massachusetts Avenue Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, containing fourteen and four hundred and forty-nine one-thousandths acres, more or less, and also that other portion lying outside of and adjoining said Naval Observatory Circle on the south, containing one and seven hundred and six one-thousandths acres, more or less, in consideration of which the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia are authorized and empowered to convey to the United States of America, free from all encumbrances and without cost to the United States of America, all right, title, and interest of the District of Columbia to that portion of the Industrial Home School site, with the improvements thereon, lying within said Naval Observatory Circle, containing approximately six and seventy-six one-hundredths acres: Provided, That the said board of commissioners are further authorized and empowered on behalf of the District of Columbia to utilize or sell, as they see fit, all of that remaining portion of the said Industrial Home School site, with the improvements thereon, lying outside of the said Observatory (one-thousand-foot radius) Circle, and also all of the land and improvements thereon east of Massachusetts Avenue and south of said Naval Observatory Circle, hereunder authorized to be acquired from the United States of America: Provided further, That if utilized the land shall be used for school, playground, or highway purposes or transferred to the Director of Public Buildings and Parks to become part of the park system of the District of Columbia: Provided further, That all of the proceeds from the sale of the aforesaid Industrial Home School property and one-half of the proceeds from the sale of any of said lands mentioned as lying east of Massachusetts Avenue and south of said Naval Observatory Circle shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the District of Columbia and are made available for the purchase of a site and the erection thereon of suitable buildings for a new industrial home school: Provided further, That the remaining half of the proceeds from the sale of any of said land lying east of Massachusetts Avenue and south of said Naval Observatory Circle shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Naval Observatory, and is made available, under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, for improving the property within said Naval Observatory Circle: And provided further, That the said Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia shall be permitted to continue to use all of the Industrial Home School property herein mentioned until such time as it may have acquired another site and constructed suitable buildings thereon in which to house the inmates of said Industrial Home School.

SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Navy, on behalf of the United States, and the board of commissioners, on behalf of the District of Columbia, are hereby authorized to execute and deliver all instruments necessary to accomplish the aforesaid purposes.

O

[No. 67]

GRANTING PERMISSION TO CAPT. THOMAS L. JOHNSON, UNITED STATES NAVY, TO ACCEPT A BREVET AND MEDAL OF THE FRENCH LEGION OF HONOR, TENDERED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC (H. R. 15482)

00-Johnson, Thomas L/P15)261221) L. NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, January 8, 1927.

The CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Replying further to the committee's letter of December 21, 1926, inclosing a copy of the bill (H. R. 15482) granting permission to Capt. Thomas L. Johnson, United States Navy, to accept a brevet and medal of the French Legion of Honor, tendered by the President of the French Republic, and requesting the views and recommendations of the Navy Department thereon, I have the honor to advise you that the Navy Department has no objection to the enactment of this proposed legislation.

Sincerely yours,

CURTIS D. WILBUR,
Secretary of the Navy.

A BILL Granting permission to Captain Thomas L. Johnson, United States Navy, to accept a brevet and medal of the French Legion of Honor, tendered by the President of the French Republic

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Captain Thomas L. Johnson, United States Navy, be authorized to accept a brevet of officer of the French Legion of Honor, and a medal of the French Legion of Honor, tendered by his excellency the President of the French Republic, and that the Department of State be permitted to deliver said brevet and medal to the said Captain Thomas L. Johnson.

[No. 68]

A HEARING ON THE BILL (H. R. 15336) TO AUTHORIZE ALTERATIONS AND REPAIRS TO CERTAIN NAVAL VESSELS. STATEMENTS OF REAR ADMIRAL J. D. BEURET, REAR ADMIRAL CLAUDE C. BLOCH, AND REAR ADMIRAL JOHN HALLIGAN, JR.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS,
Tuesday, January 4, 1927.

The committee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. Thomas S. Butler (chairman) presiding.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee has met this morning to consider H. R. 15336, which reads as follows:

[H. R. 15336, Sixty-ninth Congress, second session]

A BILL To authorize alterations and repairs to certain naval vessels

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the purpose of modernizing the United States ships Oklahoma and Neptune, alterations and repairs to such vessels are hereby authorized at a total cost not to exceed the sum of $13,150,000 in all. The alterations to the capital ships herein authorized shall be subject to the limitations prescribed in the treaty limiting naval armaments ratified August 17.

1923.

Admiral Beuret, will you tell us the condition of these two old ships, the Oklahoma and the Nevada, and how soon we can replace them, under the provisions of the treaty?

STATEMENTS OF REAR ADMIRAL J. D. BEURET, CHIEF, Bureau OF CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIRS; REAR ADMIRAL CLAUDE C. BLOCH, CHIEF, BUREAU Of ordnance; AND REAR ADMIRAL JOHN HALLIGAN, JR., CHIEF, BUREAU OF ENGINEERING, NAVY DEPARTMENT

Admiral BEURET. We can start building a replace ship in 1933 and place it in service in 1936.

The CHAIRMAN. How soon can we begin their construction, under the treaty?

Admiral BEURET. In 1933.

The CHAIRMAN. We can not begin their construction until then? Admiral BEURET. No, sir.

The CHAIRMAN. How much will it cost to recondition the ships so they will be useful for military purposes?

Admiral BEURET. The estimate is a little over $6,500,000 a piece. The CHAIRMAN. Then what will we have for that $6,500,000, what kind of ships?

Admiral BEURET. What we propose to do in general is to install blisters to improve the protection against submarine attack, to put some extra thickness on what we call the second deck, and to reboiler the vessels. They are now oil-burning but their boilers should be replaced. We propose to put a new fire-control system on

the ships, and to install airplane catapults. These items are, in general, the same items as were undertaken on the six coal-burning battleships, with the exception that the fire-control installation was limited to the Texas and the New York, and the airplane catapults include both the turret and the quarterdeck catapults in the cases of the Oklahoma and the Nevada. On the coal-burning battleships there is no space for a quarterdeck catapult, and we had to confine ourselves to a turret catapult.

In addition to those items it is proposed on the Oklahoma and Nevada to install a 5-inch antiaircraft battery to replace the present 3-inch battery. It is my understanding that the present intention. of the department contemplates for all of the 14-inch gun ships the ultimate installation of 5-inch antiaircraft guns. That was not done on the Texas and the New York, which are 14-inch gun ships, but in installing the 3-inch batteries, we made the foundations heavy enough for that purpose.

The estimates also include an item for the elevation of the turret guns which was originally authorized on all the earlier battleships and then the authorization was withdrawn.

From our experience in the work on the coal-burning battleships we found that there were a considerable number of miscellaneous minor alterations, repairs which should have been undertaken but had to be deferred as they were not provided for in the special appropriation for the alterations on the coal-burning battleships, and as a consequence the expenditures for this purpose were confined to the statutory limit of $300,000 per vessel. The department decided that it would be much better, while the Oklahoma and Nevada are laid up for the long overhaul to undertake minor alterations and repairs to the full extent considered desirable, and these estimates include approximately $1,000,000 a piece for the repairs and minor alterations under all bureaus.

(In compliance with the request of the committee, the following itemized estimate is inserted:)

The CHAIRMAN. Is that the item that would include the elevation of these guns?

Admiral BEURET. No, sir; the elevation of the guns would cost between $450,000 and $500,000.

The CHAIRMAN. I want to say to you right now that while I have always opposed this proposition, I will advocate it in the House, but I would like to have a provision written into the bill, especially setting out exactly what we are to do.