The purpose of the proposed legislation is to modernize the U. S. S. New Mexico, U. S. S. Mississippi, U. S. S. Idaho, at a total cost not to exceed $30,000.000, such modernization consisting of repairs and alterations to be subject to the limitations prescribed in the treaty limiting naval armaments ratified August 17, 1923.

The Navy Department desires to perform the following alterations and repairs to the above capital ships, the cost of which would exceed the statutory limit of repairs to naval vessels ($300,000) (39 Stat. 605, U. S. C., title 5, sec. 648):

(a) Provide additional defense against submarines and air attack. This will include the installation of blisters and incidentals thereto, the removal of underwater torpedo tubes, and the installation of above-water tubes.

(b) Reboiler, install new turbines, improve oil-burning equipment and main propulsive machinery.

(c) Increase elevation of turret guns.

(d) Install new tripod fire-control mast.

(e) Modernize fire-control systems.

(f) Provide new airplans launching and handling facilities.

(g) Install 5-inch antiaircraft battery.

(h) Other miscellaneous alterations and repairs.

The following is the estimate of cost under the cognizance of the various bureaus of the Navy Department:

In view of the foregoing, the Navy Department recommends that either the bill H. R. 12964 or H. R. 12965 be enacted.

Sincerely yours,

C. F. ADAMS, Secretary of the Navy.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, Washington, June 27, 1936.

THE CHAIRMAN COMMITTEE ON NAVAL AFFAIRS,
House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: At a hearing held before the Committee on Naval Affairs, House of Representatives, on the bills, H. R. 12964 and H. R. 12965, "To authorize alterations and repairs to certain naval vessels." the Secretary of the Navy was requested to inform the committee that formal approval of this proposed legislation had been made by the Bureau of the Budget.

On June 14, 1930, the Navy Department submitted to the Director of the Bureau of the Budget a proposed draft of a bill to authorize the modernization of the U. S. S. New Merico, Mississippi, and Idaho, at a total cost not to exceed the sum of $30,000,000 in all. This proposed draft was in the exact wording of the bills, H. R. 12964 and H. R. 12965. On June 27, 1930, the Secretary of the Navy received a letter from the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, dated June 27, 1930, stating that in so far as the financial program of the President is concerned, there is no objection to the submission of this proposed legislation to Congress for its consideration.

Sincerely yours,

Mr. BRITTEN. Yes.

C. F. ADAMS, Secretary of the Navy.

The CHAIRMAN. You want the Senate bill considered as this passed by the Senate?

Mr. BRITTEN. Yes-that modernization bill is in the interest of economy and efficiency of the Navy. It does a number of things, one of which is to take three battleships, commissioned in 1917, 1918,

and 1919, and to modernize them so that they become first class, first-line fighting ships. These ships are approximately 13 or 14 years old now. They are due for a general overhaul that will cost many millions of dollars and the department feels this modernization should go hand in hand with the overhauling. They will take the navy yard places of the Pennsylvania and the Arizona, which are about finished in their modernization. It will do another thing: With future conferences in sight, the nations of the world may never build additional battleships, because each conference, notably the Washington conference and the London conference, has had in mind, the doing away with big battleships. And the time may come when 10,000-ton ships will be the prevailing first-line type. Modernization will extend the life of these ships for 15 years to come.

The CHAIRMAN. What would it cost to build one of these battleships equally good new?

Mr. BRITTEN. Between forty and fifty million dollars each; so much for modernization.

They are putting blisters on the bottoms of the ships to protect them against torpedo attack from submarines, and are reconstructing the upper decks so as to provide against attack from airships. The CHAIRMAN. What is the opinion of your committee on this bill?

Mr. BRITTEN. We are practically unanimous. There is one member who always opposes bills of this kind, and he is opposing this

one.

His desire is to have these battleships equipped with some sort of swinging device to catch airships. The department says this is impracticable. With that exception, the committee is unanimous. Mr. BANKHEAD. Does this modernization make many alterations in the ships?

Mr. BRITTEN. The guns remain the same, but they will be elevated to 30°, and then will shoot as far as any ships of the British Navy excepting such ships as the Rodney and the Nelson. The guns remain the same size, but the elevation is changed.

The CHAIRMAN. In the past, Mr. Britten, our experience has been that the preliminary cost or estimate has always been greatly exceeded in actual construction by many millions of dollars, notably was that so in the case of the aircraft carriers, where millions of dollars were spent above what they had estimated. Is your committee reasonably satisfied that that $30,000,000, which you are now asking for, will do this job completely and that you will not have to come back for more money to build it later on?

Mr. BRITTEN. What the gentleman says is practically correct. The airplane carriers were changed from what was originally intended to be big cruisers. I think I can safely guarantee that the final cost of these three ships will be away below these $30,000,000 that we are asking for.

Mr. BANKHEAD. What do you base that on, Mr. Britten, that opinion?

Mr. BRITTEN. Upon certain structural changes.

Mr. BANKHEAD. Well, I feel satisfied that the amount is excessive. Mr. PURNELL. What do these cost? I did not hear your preliminary estimate, Mr. Britten, as I was not in when you made your

statement.

Mr. BRITTEN. $30,000,000; $10,000,000 for each ship. It is the same type of modernization that was adopted for the Pennsylvania, the Arizona, and the others--some four ships of the Navy. It is in line. with the general policy of the Navy to modernize our ships.

Mr. MICHENER. This is an authorization?

Mr. BRITTEN. Yes. The first deficiency bill, just passed, included $3,000,000 to proceed with this work, but the amount went out in conference. I hope the next deficiency bill will carry that amount. Mr. MICHENER. Your idea is to get the appropriation during the present session?

Mr. BRITTEN. Yes.

Mr. BANKHEAD. The $3,000,000?

Mr. BRITTEN. Yes, sir; and I think, as I indicated before the gentleman came in, this will have some bearing on the unemployment problem. These ships will go right into navy yards within two weeks after the money is ready, and they will employ thousands of

men.

Mr. O'CONNOR. Where will they go?

Mr. BRITTEN. One will go to Philadelphia Navy Yard and the other to the Norfolk Navy Yard.

Mr. O'CONNOR. No chance to get one of them over into the Brooklyn Navy Yard?

Mr. BRITTEN. The Brooklyn Navy Yard has quite a lot of work now. I am not sure the Brooklyn Navy Yard could handle this

class of work.

The other bill is so-called line promotion bill.

[II. Res. 350, Seventy-first Congress, third session]

Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to move that the House resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of S. 550, a bill to regulate the distribution and promotion of commissioned officers of the line of the Navy, and for other purposes. That after general debate, which shall be confined to the bill and shall continue not to exceed one hour, to be equally divided and controlled by those favoring and opposing the bill, the bill shall be read for amendment under the five-minute rule. At the conclusion of the reading of the bill for amendment the committee shall rise and report the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been adopted, and the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and the amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit.

[S. 550, Seventy-first Congress, first session]

A BILL To regulate the distribution and promotion of commissioned officers of the line of the Navy, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That so much of the naval appropriation act approved August 29, 1916 (Statutes at Large, volume 39. page 576; United States Code, title 34, section 4), as provides: That the total number of commissioned line officers on the active list at any one time, exclusive of commissioned warrant officers, shall be distributed in the proportion of one of the grade of rear admiral to four in the grade of captain, to seven in the grade of commander, to fourteen in the grade of lieutenant commander, to thirty-two and one-half in the grade of lieutenant, to forty-one and one-half in the grades of lieutenant (junior grade) and ensign, inclusive:" is hereby amended to read as follows: "That the total number of commissioned line officers on the active list at any one time, exclusive of commissioned warrant officers, shall be distributed in the proportion of one in the grade of rear admiral, to four in the grade of captain, to eight in the grade of commander, to fifteen in the grade

of lieutenant commander, to thirty in the grade of lieutenant, to forty-two in the grades of lieutenant (junior grade) and ensign, inclusive: Provided, That no officer shall be reduced in rank or pay or separated from the active list of the Navy as the result of any computation made to determine the authorized number of officers in the various grades of the line: ".

SEC. 2. The selection board established by the act of August 29, 1916, shall be convened at least once each year and at such times as the Secretary of the Navy may direct. The Secretary of the Navy shall furnish the selection board with the names of all officers who are eligible by law for consideration by said board for selection for promotion as herein authorized, together with the record of each officer. Each board shall recommend for promotion from among those officers who are eligible such number as may be directed by the Secretary of the Navy, which number shall be 10 per centum of the authorized number of officers in the grades to which promotions are to be made as determined by the existing computation, and in addition thereto the number, if any, of vacancies then existing and which may occur on or before June 30 in said grade in excess of the number of officers in the next lower grade on the promotion list provided for in section 4: Provided, That if the number of officers in any grade on the promotion list is in excess of the number of vacancies then existing and which may occur in the next higher grade on or before June 30, as aforesaid, and said excess shall equal or exceed 10 per centum of the authorized number of officers in said next higher grade as above determined, the number to be furnished the board for recommendation for promotion to said next higher grade shall be reduced to 8 per centum of said authorized number: Provided further, That if the number of officers in any grade on the promotion list shall at any time be insufficient to fill vacancies then existing and which may occur in the next higher grade prior to the convening of the selection board next ensuing, the Secretary of the Navy may, in his discretion, convene a selection board to recommend for promotion such additional number of officers as may be necessary to fill said vacancies.

SEC. 3. Except as provided in section 7, captains, commanders, and lieutenant commanders, who shall not have been recommended for promotion to the next higher grade by the report of a line-selection board as approved by the President prior to the completion of thirty-five, twenty-eight, or twenty-one years, respectively, of commissioned service in the Navy, shall be ineligible for consideration by a line-selection board, and any officer in said grades shall likewise be ineligible for consideration who on June 30 of the calendar year of the convening of the board shall have had less than four years' service in his grade: Provided, That the commissioned service of Naval Academy graduates, for the purpose of this section only, shall be computed from June 30 of the calendar year in which the class in which they graduated completed its academic course, or, if its academic course was more or less than four years, from June 30 of the calendar year in which it would have completed an academic course of four years: Provided further, That except as provided in section 7. officers of any grade commissioned in the line of the Navy from sources other than the Naval Academy, shall become ineligible for consideration by a selection board when the members of the Naval Academy class next junior to them at the date of their original permament commission as ensign or above become ineligible for consideration under the provisions of this section.

SEC. 4. The names of all officers recommended for promotion to the next higher grade by the report of a line-selection board as approved by the Presi dent shall be placed on a promotion list and, except as otherwise provided in this section, shall not be considered again for the next higher grade by any subsequent selection board. Promotions to fill vacancies in the grades of commander and above shall be made from officers of the next lower grade whose names appear on said promotion list. Officers so promoted pursuant to the recommendations of the same report shall take rank with one another in accordance with their seniority in the grade from which promoted, and officers recommended in an earlier report shall, when promoted, have precedence of officers recommended in a later report: Provided. That the Secretary of the Navy may, in his discretion, with the approval of the President, remove the name of any officer from said promotion list and submit it to the next ensuing selection board for consideration and recommendation. If recommended for promotion by said board and approved by the President, the name of such officer shall be replaced on the promotion list in the position from which removed, without prejudice, by reason of its having been temporarily

removed therefrom, and when promoted such officer shall take rank in accordance with his seniority on the promotion list at the time his name was removed therefrom. If not recommended by said board, such officer shall be subject to involuntary retirement, as provided later herein, under the same conditions in all respects as though his name had not previously been placed on the promotion list. If the name of any officer shall be removed from the promotion list of officers in any grade and submitted to another board as herein provided, the number furnished said board by the Secretary of the Navy to be recommended for promotion to the next higher grade shall be increased accordingly.

SEC. 5. All officers who are not on the promotion list and who, after completion of the designated periods of service as prescribed for their respective grades, become ineligible for consideration by a line-selection board in accordance with this act, or who, if on said promotion list, undergo the required examinations for promotion and are found not professionally qualified, shall be transferred to the retired list of the Navy. All lieutenants who are fortyfive or more years of age, or who have completed twenty or more years of service, counting all service for which they would be entitled to credit for voluntary retirement, and who undergo the required examination for promotion to lieutenant commander and are found not professionally qualified, shall be transferred to the retired list of the Navy: Provided, That if such lieutenants were permanently appointed as ensign or above in the permanent line of the Navy while holding permanent warrant or permanent commissioned warrant rank in the Navy they shall have the option of reverting to such permanent warrant or permanent commissioned warrant status in the lineal position to which their seniority would have entitled them had their service subsequent to such appointment been rendered in the status to which they revert.

SEC. 6. Officers retired pursuant to any section of this act shall receive pay at the rate of 2% per centum of their active-duty pay multiplied by the number of years of service for which they were entitled to credit in computation of their longevity pay on the active list, not to exceed a total of 75 per centum of said active-duty pay: Provided, That because of variations in the date of entry into the Naval Academy of members of the classes of 1906 to 1916, inclusive, ranging from June to September, a fractional year of nine months or more shall be considered a full year in computing the number of years of service of members of those classes by which the rate of 2% per centum is multiplied.

SEC. 7. When the number of involuntary transfers in any fiscal year from any grade to the retired list pursuant to this act would otherwise exceed oneseventh of the authorized number of officers in said grade, less one-seventh of the authorized number in the grade next above, as determined by existing computations, the selection board concerned shall designate by name such excess of officers for retention on the active list until the end of the next fiscal year. Officers so designated shall retain their eligibility for selection and promotion during said year. If not recommended for promotion or again designated for retention on the active list, they shall be transferred to the retired list in accordance with the provisions of this act: Provided, That the selection board may in any fiscal year designate for retention on the active list until the end of the next fiscal year any officer who has lost numbers or precedence and has been promoted after suffering such loss: Provided further, That all transfers to the retired list pursuant to this act shall be made as of June 30 of the current calendar year and the resulting vacancies shall be regarded as occurring on that date: And provided further, That such number of the graduating class of the Naval Academy may be commissioned as ensigns in excess of the total authorized number of commissioned line officers of the Navy as in the opinion of the Secretary of the Navy may be necessary to fill vacancies which will occur prior to July 1 of the current calendar year, and thereafter no further appointments shall be made in the grade of ensign until the total number of commissioned line officers has been reduced below that authorized by law.

SEC. 8. In making any computation required or authorized by or pursuant to this act there shall be excluded from consideration those officers carried by law as additional numbers, and whenever a final fraction of one-half or more occurs the whole number next above shall be regarded as the authorized number.

SEC. 9. The provision in the act approved August 29, 1916 (Thirty-ninth Statutes at Large, page 579; United States Code, title 34, section 311), prescribing maximum age limits for the promotion of captains, commanders, and lieutenant commanders is hereby repealed.