The photo of Josephus Daniels is from the University of North Carolina student yearbook, 1920 (http://www2.lib.unc.edu/ncc/ref/unc/cq/josdaniels.html). After seeing America through World War I as Secretary of the Navy, Daniels returned to North Carolina. He was editor of the News & Observer, Raleigh.
The U.S.S. Hector, shown anchored off New York City, Oct. 3, 1911. The
Hector, was a collier, a ship that carried coal for other naval ships. Built in
1909, it was 385 feet long with one smokestack aft, two masts, and five
kingpost pairs with coaling booms. Photo from the Department of the Navy, Naval
Historical Center, Washington, D.C.
From the May 17, 1914, issue of The Sun, New York City
Plan to Use U.S.
Naval Vessels in Passenger and Freight Service
Secretary Daniels Points Out Possibility of His Novel Ideas for Fast
Cruisers and Other Craft in Time of Peace
Senator Weeks of Massachusetts not long ago interested his
colleagues in submitting to the Senate a resolution in which he proposed that
the nation should engage in a novel business undertaking. The plan which the
Senator asked Congress to approve was to use the United States cruisers
Binghamton, Chester, Salem, Columbia and Minneapolis for carrying for hire mail,
passengers and freight to South American ports through the Panama Canal.
The Senator pointed out that we are confronted with the
prospect of soon having on our hands a great isthmian canal, which has cost the
country the price of an empire, and no international commerce to carry through
it. We are building it, as matters stand, largely for the benefit of Great Britain
and other foreign countries. The use of naval vessels in the manner suggested,
the Senator affirmed, would give us an entering wedge in the South American
trade, which we need, and there would be no question about tolls in their case,
for they are Government vessels.
It is pointed out that the cruisers named in Senator Weeks’s
proposition are not of any particular fighting value. They are speedy,
unarmored cruisers intended for scouting purposes, and of rather problematical
value even for that use. Their employment as scouts, if war were to break out,
would not be affected by their service in the commercial manner proposed.
As Senator Weeks is a graduate of the Naval Academy, well
versed in naval affairs, and friendly to the navy, besides being a successful
business man, his plan has received serious consideration. The Senate referred
the resolution to the Committee on Naval Affairs, which is now studying it.
When the Senator introduced his resolution it was not
generally known in Congress that it had Administration inspiration and that the
real author of the proposition was the Secretary of the Navy, who is firmly of
the opinion that the cost, as well as the efficiency, of the navy is such that
some efforts should be made to put some of its ships into practical use in time
of peace as well as war.
Ever since Mr. Daniels took office he has been hoping that
some time or other during his administration the navy would assume functions in
time of peace that are not now ascribed to it and render it of still greater
value, in his opinion, to the country at large. The plan as outlined by Senator
Weeks seems to Mr. Daniels to present the best means to this end. In the course
of a recent interview on the subject he said:
“In my opinion it is quite practicable by the use of naval
vessels to carry out the purpose indicated in Senator Weeks’s resolution, and
the following vessels will be available for the service: the St. Louis,
Charleston, Milwaukee, Columbia, Minneapolis, Salem, Chester, Buffalo, Rainbow,
Ancon, Christobal, Hector, Mars, Vulcan, Cyclops, Neptune and the Nanshan.
“The St. Louis, Charleston, Milwaukee, Columbia and
Minneapolis are fast cruisers; the Salem and Chester are fast scout cruisers;
the Buffalo and Rainbow are transports; the Ancon and Cristobal are steamers
employed by the Panama Railroad Company, to be turned over to the Navy
Department, and the others are naval colliers*.
“The cruisers are suitable for carrying only a small number
of male passengers—from 15 to 20 each—and could not be fitted for carrying
bulky freight without interfering materially with their military value, but
they could carry the mails and a limited amount of express freight and parcels,
about 150 tons each.
“The Buffalo, Rainbow, Ancon, and Cristobal are suitable for
carrying a limited number of passengers and any kind of freight. The Buffalo
could carry 20 first class passengers and 4,000 tons of freight; the Rainbow 25
passengers and 2,500 or 3,000 tons of freight; the Ancon and the Cristobal each
74 first class passengers and between 10,000 and 11,000 tons of freight.
“The naval colliers are not suitable for carrying passengers
but are well adapted to a freight service, the first three carrying from 6,500
to 10,000 tons each; the two of the Cyclops class from 10,000 to 12,500 tons of
freight and 2,900 tons of fuel oil in bulk each, and the Nanshan about 3,000
tons.
“The distance from New York to Valparaiso via Panama and
Callaco is 4,666 miles, and each of the fast cruisers going 15 knots could
cover that distance, allowing 24 hours for delays incident to passage through
the canal, in 13 days 23 hours; or make one round trip without stop except at
the canal in 27 days 22 hours.
“The distance from New Orleans to Valparaiso via Panama and
Callaco is 4,087 miles, and the time for the same vessels to make one round
trip without stop except at the canal is 24 days, 17 hours.
“The distance from Panama to Valparaiso via Callaco is
2,652, miles and the same vessels can at 15 knots cover the distance in seven
days, nine hours, or make one round trip in 14 days, 18 hours.
“The other vessels are slower, and will sustain a speed of
12 knots, except the Nanshan, which can be counted on for 10 knots.
“Bu the use of the Charleston, St. Louis, Columbia and
Minneapolis, a fat, but very expensive mail service, with accommodations for a
limited number of male passengers, could be easily maintained between Panama,
Guayaquil, Mollendo, and Valparaiso, with weekly sailings from Panama. A far
less expensive service could be maintained by the use of the Salem, Chester,
Columbia, and Minneapolis. These boats would be best for quick delivery of
mails to the South American countries on the west coast and to Argentina,
Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay.
“There is a daily railroad express service from Valparaiso
to Buenos Ayres and Montevideo via the Transandean Railway. The time from
Valparaiso to Buenos Ayres by rail is about 60 hours, and to Montevideo 72
hours. Allowing four days for the delivery of mails from New Orleans to Panama
and 11 days for delivery from Panama to Valparaiso, the mails from the United States
would reach Buenos Ayres in 17 and a half days and Montevideo in 18 days.
“The time from Liverpool to Buenos Ayres by mail steamers
running in connection with the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company is 22 days and
to Montevideo 21 days on a weekly schedule. From New York to the same ports via
existing lines the time is 24 to 23 days respectively, with a weekly schedule.
There is at the present time a weekly mail and passenger service between New
Orleans and Colon. If it should be found desirable to run the mail steamers
from New Orleans to Valparaiso it could be done by the addition of another
cruiser, but at a very greatly increased cost.
“For a service from New Orleans the Buffalo, Rainbow, Ancon
and Cristobal could be used, insuring a sailing every 14 days.
“In addition a freight line can be maintained between New
York and Valparaiso, using the five large colliers, which would insure a
sailing every 12 days.
“If the vessels mentioned above for the New Orleans trade
were combined with the freighters a mixed service could be maintained which
would insure a steamer from New York every seven days.
….
“The cost of changes necessary to fit the vessels for the
proposed service would be small. For the Rainbow, on which it is contemplated
installing five additional staterooms, $3,000 would be required, and $1,000 for
each of the other vessels would probably cover the cost of the changes proper.
In addition each vessel carrying passengers would need an auxiliary radio
installation required by law for passenger ships. This would cost $2,000 for
each vessel, and the total cost for the above vessels would be about $32,000.
“The pay and subsistence of officers and men to man the 14
ships would be about $1,862,444 a year, and the maintenance of the ships, other
than pay and subsistence, including repairs, docking and supplies of all kinds
would approximate $1,774,250; total, $3,636,694.
“The probably cost of the shore establishment for operating
the line is difficult to estimate at this time….”
“The expense of such services would of necessity be
relatively large, due t the character of the vessels to be used and the fact
that they must be kept in condition for immediate military service if required.
It should be remembered, however, that there would be considerable return to
the government on mail, passenger and freight receipts.
….
“In endorsing the establishment of this service I believe
the personnel of all vessels engaged in it should be naval officers and
enlisted men of the navy, and it will be necessary to increase the number of
men at present allowed by law to the number of men required for this service.
“Now it must be remembered that the plan I have just
outlined is only tentative, yet I think it sets forth quite clearly the
possibilities, in this new idea, of increasing the use and efficiency of the
navy.”
*Colliers were ships with specialized coal handling gear. They
supported the combatant fleet in World War I.
To read the rest of Daniels’ report, go to http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1914-05-17/ed-1/seq-32/
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