U.S.A. FLEET.

Hokitika Guardian, 13 August 1925, Page 4

U.S.A. FLEET.

THE DESTROYERS. built for BUSINESS. Liiieil up side by .side like a squad of smart recruits, the thirteen destroyers that arrived in Lyttelton yesterday morning were obviously built for business. From their slim prows, with their beautiful clipper lines, to their sterns, there is not a gadget or appliance that is not intended for practical use. The destroyers are the scouts of the fleet, and speed is their first essential; they depend on it for safety, and therefore carry no more weight than is absolutely necessary. Even the four and five-inch guns fore and aft have no protective steel shields. They are “cribbed, cabined and confined,” and they have no wide compan-ion-wavs to descend in comfort, and none of the spaciousness of the battleships in which to roam at leisure. If one wishes to explore the interior of a. destroyer one must be prepared tclimb down a perpendicular steel ladder. through a manhole in the steel deck that will just let the shoulders pass through. Grease and oil, it might be added, are plentiful. But once below one is rewarded by the sight of the remarkable turbine engines, which occupy a great proportion of the space below decks, and which can send tbe little craft tearing through the water at thirty-five knots an hour —equivalent to about forty miles. In the event of tbe engineers l>ecoming incapacitated, or having to leave the engine-room, tbe engines can be controlled from the deck, which to the laymen’s eye seems to be studded indiscriminately with mysterious-look-ing brass' wheels, almost Hush with the deck. 'They bear cryptic inscriptions such as “safety valve lifting gear,” “auxiliary steam stop.” and “main steam for boiler.” “No. they are certainly not the most comfortable shi|>s to travel on.” remarked a yielty officer. “How do they behave in a sea ! 'They don’t—that is all! In smooth seas only they are steady, but the slightest chop and they roll. AVe have a. man on board who has been with the navy twelve years, and lie is regularly sick every time we put out of port.” He is not the only one. either. In the tropics the steel decks are so hot that you cannot walk on them barefoot, and down liclnw it’s terrible. And it’s not easy to get out of a destroyer once you are in it; you aro a torpedo-la.• destroyer man, especially trained, and there you stay. Every man on the ship is useful—wo carry no passengers on a ship this size.” “See those ash-cans?” asked a sailor, pointing out a row of objects on the deck of one of the destroyers. “Well, although they look like them, they are not. They are submarine depth charges filled with T.N.T.. and if they are dropped within oOft of a submarine they will incapacitate it. They are bad for fishes, too; wo dropped some at manoeuvres off San Diego, and the people there just rowed out and collected enough dead lisli from the surface of the water to last them for a month.’ j Each destroyer carries twelve torI podo tubes, six on each side in groups lof throe. AYitli a “war bead,” each | torpedo costs 12,000 dollars, or ap- ! proximately £2IOO. Several, of the i ships of the squadron saw service during the war. but most of them were | l-nilt towards the thi.se of it. | The destroyers are all lmilt on simi- : lar lines and are what is known as “flush-deckers,” of 121.1 toils and n 1 speed of approximately thirty-live knots. Their length is .’lll,lft. hcam j 01l t., and draught Oft DJin.

A IIMUiM SC HO FT FI. It'S SI’EFCH. CTI HTSTCMri’C'fI. Aug. IT Pear-Admiral Seh'ilield. -peaking with a pleasing American accent, in reply to a civic welcome said the occasion was one rare in his career, and he was not trained for them, so Inasked the indulgence of his hearers. He thanked them for all the words of welcome, which had stirred the visitors’ hearts with a desire for friendship with the Christchurch people. “1 know we are relations,” added the Rear-\dmiral. “F.very hit of your history hack of 1007, is our history too, ami we never forget it. All the <cnturies when the character of your race was forming were our centuries as well as yours, and every good sailing man consults his sailing directions from time to ,time. fApplnu.se). T suppose you know the tongues of naval officers are tied, I at that should not make any difference, as the words spoken are not nearly so important as our thoughts and the sentiments in our hearts.” (Applause). Occasions such as the cue that night were made up, added Pear-Admiral Schofield, rail so much of time and place and circumstances, hut of people and the friendship that radiated from them. Iteieienee had been made to Fae objects of the visit down here. “We came because we wanted to conic-.” explained I he Pear-Admiral. “Wo started in wanting to come almost as soon as the fleet which visited the Southern Hemisphere in I9DB got hack. We came specially to Christchurch because you asked us to come. J and the officers of my detachment- came here to Christchurch because you asked us to come here.” (Applause). A sailonnau had goi i’o go to sea and three years ago they wanted to come to Australia and New Zealand, and now they were here. They wanted to make friends, hot there was no idea, of exclusiveness in their friendship. When they went hack from this trip they would go to South America. They would also go to the Fast on another visit. Their desire was to he friends with all the world. TNSTItUMKXTS OF PEACE. Most, people regarded naval ships as instruments of war. hut they were never so proud as when they were instruments of peace. They had no desire to he anything else than friendly. They wanted to feel the friendship of humanity which was taught nineteen centuries ago above the shores of (talilee. ft was the duties they did now that counted anti the benevolences that were practised now that counted. (Applause). The Pear-Admiral said he would like to say a word about this lieantiful country. They came to New Zealand from the south ami as they approached the shores they saw the wonderful thirds. They saw that the land was untouched by man and they were glad it was untouched. It did the heart good to see places like flint sometimes. “I wonder how you all look at us Americans,” said Rear-Admiral Schofield. with a smile. “Some of us you know as a young man with much to learn and doubtful whether he will have time to do it'. (Laughter). This is a happy country ; I can see it. I read a hook about New Zealand and from it I learned that the population was 1.300.000. I was 1.-orn and bred in the country in cold weather and I had to help milk the cows. 1 used to hate that milking job. Then T read in the same book that there are 1 .*285,000 dairy rows in this country (Laughter). Just think of it. One cow for every man. woman and child and nearly one for all the babies. (Renewed laughter).” AY ho were the people who were visiting them with the destroyers? he added. They felt just a hit better than the battleship men, and he knew that lie had a splendid body of officers. (Applause). Admiral Schofield then introduced to lie audience Captain F. .1. Horne, capmill of the flngshio Omaha: Captain IV. Tirown. chief of staff; Captain C. L. Tniahl. commander of the l’2th. destroyer Squadron, and Captain T. \. Kittenger, Commander of the Mer•inc. and Commander Ik. A. Koch, of he MacDonough. He stated that he nid picked out the ones with the least :air on their heads. The Rear-Admiral concluded by tell--112 a story of two girls who came to tis cabin, before leaving Melbourne j

with their mother. Tears were streaming down their faces because the fleet was leaving. Ho gave each girl a large pocket handkerchief and said: “Go and have a good cry.” That brought the sunshine, through the rain. The rain-'-bow was filled with the promise of sunshine and re-union to conte. and so. ho believed, it would be in this case. NAVAL POLICEMAN’S TACT. TROUBLE AVERTED, CHRISTCHURCH, Aug. 12. AA’hile the Mayor was extending the right hand of fellowship to “our relations and friends” at the civic reception hist night, some of the visiting American naval men were receiving anything but kindly treatment from a rough element which had assembled in Cathedral Square. For a, time it looked as if there would be serious trouble, and had the civilian police been about there would probably have been a minier of arrests. Shortly after eight o’clock, a man. obviously under the influence of liquor, accosted a naval policeman in front of t.ho Cathedral. “Look at this.” he said, as he whipped a miniature American flag across the naval man’s face. “Look at this. Something to he proud of. eh. T don’t think.” And with that, he launched into a tirade of vituperation regarding American in general. “Who won the war:*” he asked sarcastically, this query evidently touched a. soft spot amongst his supporters—several youths in a drunken state. “Yes, who won the war?” they asked in chorus. Afeanwliile the naval policeman had been trying to parity his assailants, and tried again and again to get rid o! them. A crowd of several hundred persons In I by this time assembled, and as each successive blue-jacket, arrived he came in for a storm of abuse. Realising that trouble was imminent the naval policeman sought the assistance of a colleague and subsequently reinforced by two other patrolmen they rushed across the Square at the double, batons in band. Followed by scores of youths, and others curious to know the cause lor their haste, they hurried to the northern end of the Cathedral, where loci iug was now running very high amongst the crowd which had gathered. Thore naval men who were found waiting about were told to move on. and although their patience was sotelv tried, the patrolmen handled an extremely delicate position in a tactful and resourceful manner that spoke volumes for their efficiency and eominotisen.se, and many flattering remarks were passed concerning them. FIRST IMPRESSIONS. AS THE DESTROYERS BERTHED. CHRISTCHURCH, August 12. After the Omaha had tome alongside the trim destroyers slipped into liarhour one after another, without fuss or bother. The Litchfield, a squadron leader, swung in first of all, and many people deserted the cruiser to watch her berth. Young, merry-looking tars lined the deck as she neared the pier, where the crowd watched them curiously, no one having the courage to raise a cheer. “Coming over!” spoken with a lragrani accent, was the first word uttered as a man iu the bows hurled a line ashore and paved the way lor more intriguing conversation between the ship and the laud. Everyone was quite free and easy, and the sailors, all wearing rakish woollen service caps, smoked pipes and cigarettes as they pulled on the lines or stood hugging themselves to keep warm. A big American, with a huge cigar in his mouth, held a rope in his hands, while lie considered the crowd meditatively. “Take in the slack there. Andy." advised a squarejawed officer above him. who was pullin,; a pipe. “Kiglit-lio, Ho,” said Audv, and heaved on ua uno, GIRLS. By this time the Litchfield bad swung in close and the bolder tars woi* already asking if any of tbe young ladies on tile wharf bad “anything on" for the evening. Up in the bows the ship's dog. Spike by name, and evidently ;t Boston terrier, was frisking about in tbe excitement of getting on shore again, ami as soon as the gangway w:is down he dashed on to the wharf. An officer then invited everybody aboard and the vessel was soon overrun with sightseers. Polite sailors seemed only too pleased to show them till the interesting things on tumid. Nearly all of the men were Englishlooking. and the officers especially looked just like the men in the “Navy Cut” advertisements. GALLOPING GOOSE. MISSISSIPPI'S MONOPLANE. AUCKLAND, August 11. “The Galloping Goose” is tbe complement’s name for the monoplane carried by the .Mississippi. All vessels carry aircraft, but the only monoplane with the Fleet is that in the Mississippi. ft is a reconnoitring craft, not a lighting ’plane, but the officers and men in the battleship are proud of her. Though dubbed with a not altogether flattering appellation, when catapulted into the air. however, she belies flic ungainliness which one mig' associate with the goose, and site soared over AA'aitoinata with In’rd-like precision. The ordinary method of unloading a seaplane front a battleship is to shoot it off a cradle lying parallel with the ship’s deck hv means of compressed air. “The Galloping Goose,” however, is truly shot into the air. Instead of (•(impressed air. powder is utilised. A carl ridge about 1W inches long is inserted in a gun alongside the cradle, and when the ’plane has speeded up to a great rate, the signal is given and the cartridge fired. The cradle has been laced out with the goose’s beak into the wind, and barely has the explosion occurred before the monoplane is soaring in the air. It is claimed that the Missis-dyne lias the only device in the world for so catapulting a. plane.