Problem No. 10

Between Navassa Island and Cape Dame Marie on the coast of Haiti the battle and scouting fleets of the U. S. Navy last week met to fight out problem No. 10. In circular array the battleships steamed against a fanned outline of cruisers. Airplanes snored high overhead from the monster carriers Lexington and Saratoga,. How many ships were sunk, which side won the engagement could only be told by Rear Admiral Thomas Pickett Magruder, once the Navy Department's sharp critic (TIME, July 22), but on this occasion its official umpire. The fleets steamed to Guantanamo Bay for a postmortem discussion of their fight.

In this as in most other sham encounters of the Navy, the real loser was the U. S. Treasury. Washington officials were not surprised when John A. Park, Editor of the Raleigh (N. C.) Daily Times, who "covered" the Caribbean war game for the Associated Press, wired:

"Cruisers and more cruisers are the need of the American Navy. . . . This is the consensus of officers of the U. S. fleet, fresh from experiences gained and lessons learned in the 'Battle of Navassa.' . . ."

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