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By JOHN D. LONG

SECRETARY OF THE NAVY FROM 1897 TO 1902

THE ORGANIZATION AND EDUCATION

T

OF THE

HE effectiveness of a navy depends vitally upon the efficiency of its personnel. Provided with war-ships of latest construction, a service made up of officers and men inadequately trained and lacking spirit is half way toward defeat. Composed of inferior vessels, manned by experienced and resourceful officers and men, a fleet may wrest victory from a physically stronger enemy.

The history of the United States and that of Spain, foes in 1898, furnish many instances of valor and intelligence overcoming numerical and material superiority. Philip of Spain saw his Invincible Armada harried and finally scattered by the smaller command of Howard and Drake. Three hundred and ten years later, a queen holding in trust the scepter Philip once wielded sent to annihilation a squadron of war-ships as modern in construction and armament as were in their day the wooden vessels despatched by the earlier monarch to subjugate England. The force of 1588 sustained reverse because it was deficient in sailors; that of 1898 suffered total destruction because it lacked engineers.

No such disasters as befell the navy of Spain have yet clouded the navy of America. The cycle from our Revolution to the Spanish-American War is bright with shining deeds, the fruit of the gallantry and skill of the men who did them. What can be more inspiring than the intrepidity of John Paul Jones as he stands on the

Copyright, 1902, by the Outlook Company. All rights

reserved.

This is the third of a series of twelve papers to appear in the Magazine Numbers of The Outlook. Other papers will be: The Administration of the Navy, The Preparation for the War with Spain, The Battle of Manila Bay, The Blockade of Cuba, Bottling up Cervera's Fleet. The Battle of Santiago, Valiant Deeds in the War with Spain; Samoa, the Philippines, and China; Recent Naval Lessons.

NAVY

deck of the shot-torn and sinking Bon Homme Richard, shouting orders to his men, who are working like demons at such guns as are yet unmounted by the enemy's fire? Above the noise of booming cannon and the sharp rattle of musketry and the hoarse cries of infuriated crews he hears the hail from the smokehidden Serapis :

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Has your ship struck?"

And then the laconic reply:
"I have not yet begun to fight !"

It was not a question of that courage which is so common, but of that nerve which endures to the end and without which the ordinarily brave man flinches from the ultimate test and responsibility.

Outside of Boston Harbor the unlucky Chesapeake, manned by a green and heterogeneous crew, is wildly firing at the well-disciplined British frigate Shannon. Lawrence is struck and is borne below.

"Don't give up the ship!" he cries. "Tell the officers to fight to the last. Never strike the colors. They shall wave while I live."

The Nation is rent by civil war. Under a rain of shot and shell, a Union fleet steams into Mobile Bay. The first ship, the Brookiyn, falters.

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energy in the water. When the proper range is reached, Dewey turns and quietly remarks:

You may fire when you're ready, Gridley."

Courage has been always a characteristic of the American sailor, but it alone was not responsible for victories achieved by our men-of-war over those of enemies no less brave. In the days of the sailing ship the superiority was due, in an important degree, to the greater skill with which the ship was handled by experienced officers and its crew of hardy longshoremen. Hull won as much distinction in sailing the Constitution as in fighting her. The native intelligence, the quick eye, and the supple limbs of the men, born and bred in the salt air of the Atlantic coast, easily worked the simple guns of the day. Raw material is not so easily convertible into the experienced man-o'war's-man of the twentieth century. The abandonment of sails and the substitution of steam and electricity, with the countless improvements accompanying the change, have created in the war-ship of the new navy a demand for a mechanic-sailorthat is, a man trained in the operation and repair of fighting machinery, yet impregnated with the salt of the sea. Ability to navigate and sail a ship was the first requisite of an officer and a seaman of the old navy; to-day they are engineers and mechanics first, and sailors afterwards. A modern battle-ship from stem to stern is simply a huge fighting machine. It is propelled by machinery; its turrets, them selves machines, are operated by machinery; the guns are loaded and fired by machinery; the torpedoes, complicated engines, are sent on their careers of destruction by machinery; small boats and anchors are lowered and hoisted by machinery, and water-tight compartments are opened and closed by machinery.

Steam and electricity are the powers which move this terrible creature of man's destructive genius; and steam and electrical engineers are required to guide and supervise its operation. An officer's duties are not, however, limited to the practical application of these sciences. He must also know how to navigate his ship and be able to care for the health and general well-being of the men under his command. Occasions arise when he must conduct

negotiations for the settlement of important diplomatic questions, and he frequently represents the Government at functions of international consequence. He rescues the shipwrecked, gives assistance to the national merchant marine, and, if called on, quells its mutinies. He surveys dangerous coasts, makes deep-sea soundings for the triple purpose of finding a suitable bed for a projected cable, charting the bottom of the ocean, and promoting ichthyology. He determines for navigators the longitude and latitude of doubtful points. He should have at least a rudimentary acquaintance with astronomy, and understand something of chemistry and metallurgy. Because legal questions are sometimes raised by or referred to him, and because he serves on courts martial and administers punishments, he ought to be familiar with the principles of common law. Above all, he must be a man of quick decision, of nerve, and of sound judgment, for, as commanding officer of a battle-ship or even a vessel of inferior class, he should know in battle when to strike and strike sure; in peace, how to determine an important question affecting the honor of the Nation which is brought to him for immediate settlement.

I have described the attainments of the ideal officer, but it does not follow that every member of the commissioned force of the navy possesses them. At the same time, the preliminary education given at the Naval Academy and the subsequent training in active professional life insure the development of an officer, provided he can and will improve his opportunities there. It is the proud boast of the American navy that in its existence of more than a century in but few instances has the man been wanting when the occasion for him came.

The personnel of the navy of the United States was created simultaneously with the authorization of the first war-ships of the old navy. The Act of Congress of March 27, 1794, directed that "there shall be employed on board each of the ships of forty-four guns, one captain, four lieutenants, one lieutenant of marines, one chaplain, one surgeon, and two surgeon's mates; and in each of the ships of thirtysix guns, one captain, three lieutenants, one lieutenant of marines, one surgeon, and one surgeon's mate, who shall be

appointed and commissioned in like manner as other officers of the United States." Thus was formed the Line, and the Marine, Medical, and Chaplains' corps. The "purser," an enlisted man, was to develop into the paymaster. An experienced ship-builder was needed to design and construct the first ships, and Joshua Humphreys was appointed a naval constructor and assigned to duty. As the navy grew, additional constructors were required, and the men employed for construction work were eventually given commissions. Taking advantage of a law authorizing the appointment as assistant naval construct ors of any cadets who had graduated with distinction in the Mechanical Department of the Naval Academy, Cadet Engineer F. T. Bowles, in 1879, applied for an appointment, and also requested permission to attend the Royal Naval College at Greenwich, England, which had an advanced course in ship-building, The older constructors opposed Mr. Bowles's ambition, but grit and persistency gained for the young cadet a victory of the greatest importance to his corps. Only leading graduates of the Academy have since been assigned to the construction corps-none from civil life. The professors of mathematics—now an anachronism in the military organization of the navy were originally teachers on board ship of midshipmen of the old navy. They no longer follow the sea, and their duties are civilian. Of the fifteen officers of this corps in November, 1902, eight are on duty as teachers at the Naval Academy, one is director of the Nautical Almanac, and the remainder are connected with scientific work of the Naval Observatory. Congress should provide that no further appointments be made to this corps, as all its work can be procured from civil life, and the anomaly of a pension or retirement for non-military service should be done away with.

Like naval constructors, civil engineers first received appointments from the Secretary of the Navy, and were liable to dismissal or removal at his pleasure. They, too, were a last made a part of the commissioned force. Civil engineers have many and important duties, relating principally to the planning and construction of naval stations. With the exception of the line and construction corps, appoint

ments in the commissioned branch of the navy are made from civil life. Medical officers are selected at large, after a thorough examination. President McKinley approved my recommendation that appointments of civil engineers, assistant paymasters, and professors of mathematics should be made after competitive examination. In this connection it may be said that it is difficult to see why any of the various staff officers, who as a corps never go to sea, should have military rank or title.

The commissioned personnel of the first ships of the old navy was formed during the administration of Presidents Washington and Adams. The midshipmen, who were designed to be the future captains, were all of tender years when appointed, and, without preparation, were sent on board ships either fitting out or about to sail in search of the enemy. Yet the need of mental education for the youngsters was great, and fitful attempts were made to provide it. Congress having refused to establish a naval school the Navy Department in 1802 prescribed in regulations the duties of schoolmasters; but schoolmasters were not appointed. When, in 1819, the Navy Department decreed that midshipmen must pass a professional examination in order to receive promotion to the grade of lieutenant, the country greeted the reform with gratification; the youths were affected with consternation. It was the thing for a middy" during the greater period of his apprenticeship to apply himself to doing what he was told, and doing it— quick"-a process which was frequently accelerated by a rope's end—and to devote as much time as he could spare in the six months prior to examination to the study of the theory of seamanship. This theo retical education was obtained from a few books on mathematics and navigation, and sometimes from the kindly help of a superior. In "The United States Naval Academy," written by Mr. Park Benjamin, whose full and excellent history of the Naval Academy I have followed, the author thus describes the examination of Midshipman Joseph Tatnall :

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"Commodore: Mr. Tatnall, what would be your course, supposing you were off a lee shore, the wind blowing a gale, both anchors and your rudder gone,

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"Tatnall: (At last and desperate.) Well, I'd let the infernal tub go to the devil, where she ought to go.'

"Commodore: (Joyously.) 'Right, sir, perfectly right! That will do, sir. The clerk will note that Mr. Tatnall has passed.'"

A temporary Government school for educating midshipmen was organized in 1821. Seventeen years later Secretary Paulding established a preparatory school in the Naval Asylum, a home for aged seamen, at Philadelphia. To this school boys were sent for instruction for a period of eight months, after which they were ordered to sea. Aside from the fact that it marked an advance in naval training, this school is remembered to-day because it caused the connection with the navy of William Chauvenet, who was appointed

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