The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

58 Build Up Naval Reserve (Continued from Page 25) sonnel is in many cases of such a shifting character that its inclusion in the reserve during peacetime is of doubtful value, except possibly a few men in key positions. Navy’s Plan for Co-operation The navy’s plan for the execution of the merchant marine naval re- serve is as follows: 1. The department determines and designates the oceangoing merchant vessels. which would be required for service with the fleet with naval crews immediately after mobilization. 2. After consultation with their owners, the department designates from the above list the vessels by name upon which “reserve groups” would be organized, the numbers of such being dependent upon the funds available. In this selection the vessels would be distributed insofar as prac- ticable among as many shipping com- panies operating large ocean-going vessels as possibie, but special con- sideration would have to be given to certain vessels which have the highest priority in the mobilization plans. The reserve group would normally consist of all the officers serving on board the vessel selected. 3. The commandant of the naval district, in which the home port of the vessel lies, organizes the group and obtains commissions for the officers in accordance with the naval reserve regulations. 4. The senior officer of the group, under the direction of the com- MARINE REVIEW mandant, supervises the training of the group. While the training me- thods have not been worked out in detail, it is proposed to utilize study courses covering distinctly naval sub- jects, such as navy regulations and methods of administration, communica- tions, principles of gunnery and fire control, handling of vessels in con- voys and steaming singly in sub- marine infested waters, and naval engineering. Reserve officers would be required to devote a certain num- ber of hours a month to these study . courses and take a brief examination quarterly to quality for their pay. Subsistance will be furnished officers who volunteer for a cruise without pay on a naval vessel up to fifteen days in duration. Commanding officers of naval vessels have authority to cruise such officers provided they have quarters available. Value to Merchant Marine It is hoped that an appropriation will be secured to pay a limited num- ber of merchant marine naval re- serve officers for the fiscal year be- ginning July 1, 1927. In addition to being of wartime value to the navy, it appears that the merchant marine naval reserve would be of equal or even greater value to the merchant marine itself dur- ing peacetime. The study courses could not but improve’ the officer for the per- formance of his present duties. This applies particularly to the engineer officers, who might effect consider- able savings in fuel and other ma- terials by the use of naval engineer- October, 1926 ing methods. developed by many years of intense competition between vessels. The system of assigning groups to vessels designated by name and of paying officers only so long as they continue to serve on these vessels is certain to improve the stability of their officer personnel. The assign- ment of officers to these vessels will serve as a reward in that it will give them an apportunity to increase their pay by taking the prescribed study courses. These vessels will also have the right to fly the naval reserve flag, provided the master and fifty per cent of their officers are members of the reserve and this in time may bring a prestige and reputation for efficien- cy which will be of very real value. The organization of the merchant marine naval reserve will not create a heavy drain on our national bud- get. To provide groups of eight officers on one hundred and ten vessels will cost less than $200,000, and it is not contemplated that this figure will be reached until five years from now, and then only if the navy’s eom- plete program is accepted by the budget and congress. It would appear that at least a part of this program should be made effective in order to give a trial to this system of such potential value to both the navy and the merchant marine. The Maxim Silencer Co. has removed from 83 Homestead avenue to new quarters in the Capitol building 422 Asylum street, Hartford, Conn. | Complete Diesel Engined Tug at Manitowoc UUUULULSUCUIUUCUUUIEUAT TOUTE GER 722 accompanying illustration shows the tug WM. A. LYDON recently completed by the Mani- towoc Ship Building Corp. for the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co., Chicago. This tug is built of steel and is 108 feet long, 25 feet beam and 14 feet deep. It is equipped with a Fairbanks-Morse diesel engine of 750 horsepower burning low grade oil. Bunker ca- pacity is 21,500 gallons. The LYDON is equipped with wireless and has accommodations for a crew of twelve. MULTTTTTYIQULUOVGNOUUUU0GUTUUTUUUULULLENUUUOIUE