Battle Ship Strength of the Nations
We have only 7,700 men in our naval militia. We have no naval reserve.
Congressman Gardner informs us, as a result of his investigations, that it would take five years to get a reserve of 25,000 sailors.
Our best-informed naval officers recommend for coast defense the immediate construction of a hundred submarines of the latest and most successful type. As a matter of fact, this number is far too few. We now have but 58 submarines, including those built, building, and authorized to be built. Many of those we have are obsolete and absolutely worthless.
The following is an extract from a report by the General Board of the Navy in 1913, which is very enlightening:
"The absence of any definite naval policy on our part, except in the General Board, and the failure of the people, Congress, and the executive government to recognize the necessity for such a policy, has already placed us in a position of inferiority which may lead to war; and this inferiority is progressive and will continue to increase until the necessity for a definite policy is recognized and that policy put into operation."