AMERICAN FLEET

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 1, 1 July 1925, Page 5

AMERICAN FLEET

TO SAIL TO-MORROW

EAGER ANTICIPATIONS

25,000 POTENTIAL' ADVERTISERS.

) (UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPIMQIT.) (ABSIRAUAK-NEW ZEALAND CABLB ASSOCIATION.) (Beceived Ist July, 11 a.m.) HONOLULU, 30th June. The most popular cruise ever made by American warships' into foreign water* begins to-aiorrow, when 57 vessels of the combined Atlantic and' Pacific fleets, carrying approximately 25,000 officers and men, will leave here to visit Australia and New Zealand. \ For months before the date of departure this friendly invasion of the British Dominions had attracted universal interest, oven exceeding the fame of tht 1 -world tour of American naval units in j 1908, under "Fighting Bob Evans. The present expedition holds a unique position in American naval annals. Owing to the appeal it has made to the personnel itself, the Navy Department was compelled to suspend all enlistments and reenlistments for a period of approximately three months, to stem the flow of recruit! who wanted to make this great cc* 1 trip. It was one of the finest advertisements the navy ever had. The fleet, once out at sea, will take up cruising formation in the shape of a huge arrow-head, nearly ten miles long, with.the cruisers as the point, the destroyers next, and then the auxiliaries and battleships making up the rear. The fleet's speed will be 11 knots.; Thi« limitation is made necessary by the enforced economy of fuel. PERSONAL DETAILS A hundred and fifty ensigns who have just graduated at the Annapolis Naval Academy arrived here on 22nd June, and joined.the various vessels of the fleet. Thus their earliest active training will precipitate them into conditions of life in the navy as closely approaching those of a time of hostilities as possible. For the first time in the history of the Navy, one warship will carry three admirals. The Seattle will bear Admiral Moontz, Bear-Admiral Cole, Chief of Staff, and Bear-Admiral Leigh, Assistant Chief of Staff, who has just been promoted from a captaincy, , and who will be Admiral Kobiaon's chief of staff when tha latter becomes Comnmnder-in-Chief of the fleet after the cruise. -„

! Some twenty civilians-^-iiewapapermen, ] magazine writers, novelists;, photographers, geographers, »nd marine artists, and one Congressman, Representative M'-Clintock-—will be among the interested spectators on the fleet, and to them will fall the task of making a permanent record of the expedition. The American Pressmen, moreover, have been coinmii- ' signed, not only to pay attention to the ! activities of the fleet, but to send or! bring back facts about, and descriptions of, Australia and New Zealand. The fleet, in fact, will carry 25,000 agenta tp advertise .Australia and- New Zealand in America. These are the officers and men, all. eager to learn about the new' lands they are going to visit, and to carry on beneficient propaganda upon their return..'' ' . .■ \ '•. ■ ■■■...; ■■■'} v ; ; . , "GOSPEL OF FRIENDSHIP* They come from every town and hamlet of the United States, where little is known concerning Australia and New Zealand.' That the gospel of friendship .they will preach will prove effective there is not a shadow of doubt. Every man aboard the fleet is delighted oVer the cruise. This' sentiment is wholehearted, and is based not only upon the prospect of a good time, but upon the feeling that in Australia and New Zealand they will' find peoples much like themselves,. assuring them of a welcome doubly pleasant. . Hawaii, during the last two months, has been a greet picnicking centre for thousands of sailors and officers. ■'■■ Navy men say .the American bluejacket is happiest when he is fed well, worked hard, and given plenty of shore .liberty. This'practice was, followed in Honolulu, but the.city is comparatively small to abiorb so large » number of men ai were given liberty. Although the sailors' hours ashore were restricted to the daytime, the officer* received night leave. . ... * -.- . An. overwhelming number of the sailors are young men, in ,their twenties, and full of spirits and eager for fun; yet there were remarkably few disturbances. The ships' patrols were spread throughout the city, but their work was comparatively light,.since the men were well behaved.

DAVY JONES'S LETTERS Ons of the most exciting prospects for a great number of the men is the crossing of the Equator,, only a few on each ship having crossed it before. Weeks previous to the departure, aecret meetings were held among the so-called "shell-batks" who had already crossed the Line, and plans were laid for the ceremonies of King Neptune'n Court. The ''landlubbere'' look forward wjth some anxiety to the mysteries of that great monarch's domain. Stories of excruciating initiation proceedings h»ve been passed about to instill into the youngsters a wholesome fear. "Davy Jones," "honourable secretary". to King Neptune, has been busy issuing sundry summonses and warnings, and there has been some talk about an organised revolt among the "landlubbers," who include numorous officers, but on thin day, when the ships are handed over to the< men, revolt is crushed down by playful but calloused palms. ,