Your TR Source
President Roosevelt believes Acting Secretary of the Navy Newberry’s decision is correct and advises him to ignore everyone except for the Navy Department’s experts regarding the construction of lake boats or Holland-type boats.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-14
President Roosevelt informs Senator Warren that if the Navy is granted permission to build four new battleships, one will be named after Wyoming. Roosevelt would like Warren to amend the law to remove four monitors from the list of ships that will be named after the states.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-18
President Roosevelt thanks Albert Gleaves for his recent letters and enclosure, and hopes he will see him before he goes west. He is happy for the information about torpedoes and for the “rather uncomfortable matter” regarding double hoists. He sends his wishes to Gleaves’s wife.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-10
President Roosevelt believes that Albert L. Key’s main objections to his plan for the administration of the Navy stems from the fact that officers eligible for positions are too old. Roosevelt would like to promote younger men to higher grades in the Navy, but his experience attempting this in the Army has made it clear that he cannot successfully do so.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-10
President Roosevelt thinks the Star is about as intelligently written “as if it were edited by some anti-imperialist high in the councils of Harvard College.” He approves of two of Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte’s recommendations for the personnel board, but is not familiar enough with the others to offer an opinion. Roosevelt inquires about Paymaster General H. T. B. Harris’s views about his successor, and asks for a report by the beginning of August. He is unsure about the turbine matter, and wonders if it is possible to defer the decision for a year until new turbines already provided for can be tested.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-04
Albert L. Key congratulates President Roosevelt about the way in which the reduction of Navy personnel has gone, with all retirements being voluntary. Key thinks that some of the possible officers to be promoted will be inefficient, but overall believes that Roosevelt has handled the matter in a way that will benefit the Navy. He comments briefly that the ship “Salem” has gone through official trials successfully, and raises the question of showing Archibald B. Roosevelt, Roosevelt’s son, the ship in the summer, as he is interested in the Navy. Key saw Archie at Groton during the spring, and was very impressed about his description of Groton school. He is thinking of sending his own sons there when they are the right age.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-07
Secretary of War Taft approves of Senator Lodge’s amendment in the sundry civil bill regarding the preference of American bottom for the two ships for Panama.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-30
Senator Hale thanks President Roosevelt for consulting him about the Navy, is greatly satisfied with how Roosevelt has influenced events in Cuba, and is concerned with the Japanese in Hawaii but has few doubts that Secretary of the Navy Metcalf will be able to pacify the Japanese government and avoid war. Hale has studied the issue and is against building “monster ships,” but the General Board is divided on this question. Hale has summarized their recommendations about battleships for 10 years, but the recommendations seem to change every year and so has less confidence in them than Roosevelt does. Hale is glad to discuss this or any other matter further.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-31
George Albert Converse, Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, issues a memorandum responding to a prior memorandum by Commander Cameron McRae Winslow. While Converse agrees with the conclusions Winslow makes, he takes issue with several comments concerning the design of warships and alleging that line officers who would actually be captaining the ships had not been consulted in their design. Converse defends the method of designing ships upon the recommendations of the General Board, and does not believe it is necessary for Congress to intervene in the process, as the greater amount of time required for the process would exacerbate the danger of beginning construction on ships that are immediately outdated.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-19
This report records a series of documents, primarily from Admiral W. L. Capps, Constructor of the Navy, answering recent criticisms about some naval vessels in the United States Navy. These criticisms centered on the height of the freeboard of the ships, their water-line armor distribution, and the ammunition hoists used, among other topics. The report contains a statement by Capps, a report of a relevant discussion by the British Royal Navy, a number of diagrams detailing armor distribution, and a record of hearings conducted by the House Committee on Naval Affairs. Capps refutes the criticism by correcting several misunderstandings about terminology, explaining the rationale behind some shipbuilding decisions, and mentioning that several issues have already been corrected in newer ships.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-19
The Navy Department has ordered five new destroyers whose guaranteed speed is only twenty-four knots, far less than foreign ships. President Roosevelt or Congress should consider overhauling the entire Navy Department, as inattention to speed has been a constant problem and the American people deserve better ships.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-09-26