ARMY & NAVY The Arrow

ARMY & NAVY

The Arrow

The enemy was supposed to be slinking behind some innocent looking isle, hidden behind a veil of mist, when the fleet poured out of Pearl Harbor in a sortie. But there wasn't any enemy, and there wasn't any mist to hide him--it was a perfect day. The fleet was only partly in Pearl Harbor because the harbor needs dredging before the heavy battleships can enter.

Nevertheless, the submarines went out to reconnoitre while the mine sweepers swept the channel and the destroyers sped through, followed by the cruisers. The battleships up-anchored and the whole fleet assembled in the open sea. Airplanes from shore performed a few stunts overhead and the fleet was away.

In formation, it was like an arrow, nearly ten miles long, led by cruisers and destroyers at the tip, followed by supply vessels and the battleships. Away there sailed 43 fighting ships, displacing 444,691 tons* of brine, 14 auxiliaries and 25,000 officers and men on a voyage of 15,000 or 20,000 miles.

The arrow sped away--but not very fast. These are economical times. Congress does not like to appropriate for the Navy--so cruising is done at an economical speed, 11 knots.

For 23 days, the fleet will be on its own, relying on itself entirely for fuel, for food. At Pago Pago, the ships will refuel from their own tankers--an operation that, it is hoped, will take no more than twelve hours--and again the fleet will bear away, to the southeast. The cruiser squadron headed by the Seattle with three Admirals aboard-- Coontz, Cole and Leigh--will go to Melbourne, Australia. The battle fleet, headed by the California under Admiral S. S. Robison, will go to Sydney, New Zealand. Later, a light cruiser squadron will go on from Melbourne to Hobart, Tasmania.

In Australia, Premier Bruce announced, last week, the Parliament will adjourn during the fleet's visit (July 23-Aug. 6). On the homeward voyage, detachments of the fleet will scour the Pacific. Tahiti, Tai-o-Hae, Nukuhiva, the Marquesas and Galapagos, as well as practically every Pacific possession of the U. S. except Guam, will be visited.

On Aug. 30, the fleet will assemble at Pago Pago once more. On Sept. 10, most of it will be back at Honolulu, and a few weeks later the ships that plowed the waters on the other side of the earth will be back at their stations.

* Compared to the 225,778 tons displacement of the fighting ships that President Roosevelt sent on their famous round-the-world cruise in 1908.