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THESE ARE SOME OF THE MEN THAT LANDED AT VERA CRUZ ON APRIL 21 N ATTEMPTING to appreciate the work of a battleship, one must '.keep constantly before him the faet that a fighting ship is primarily a gigantic floating fort, and that the details of its organization are dictated by the necessity of fighting rather than the necessity of navigating. Two things require constant consideration: First, the personnel, consisting of about 1,000 officers and men; second, the material, including ships, guns and engines with the thousand and one ac- cessories. necessary to keep these up to the highest point of efficiency. A first-class battleship of the Utah type stands on the government inven- tory at from $7,500,000 to $10,000,000, with a yearly running expense of about $1,000,000, including pay and subsistence of officers and men, ship up-keep and target expenses, a latge and expensive plant even when com- pared with great industrial organiza- tions. : The captain has absolute authority (except for the thousands of rules laid down in the United States naval regulations), and is personally re- sponsible for the safety of his ship and the efficiency of both its material and. personnel. He leads a somewhat lonely life, having his own cabin and his own dining room apart from the rest of the officers and maintaining an aloofness which is considered neces- sary for discipline. Under him are the wardroom officers, presided over by the executive officer or command- er, who is directly responsible for the personnel, that is, the organization of the officers and men who compose the ship's crew. Next in rank are the department heads; the first lieu- tenant, who has charge of the mate- rial, the repairs, upkeep, cleanliness, etc., of the ship from one end to the other; the navigating officer; who is responsible to the captain for the de- tail work of conducting the ship from THE FLEET PASSING GIBRALTAR place to place; the engineer officer, who has charge of all machinery; the ordnance officer, who must answer for the condition of the batteries and the efficiency of their crews; the pay- master, who looks after the provisions and stores of all kinds and the feed- ing of the men, and the medical of- ficer who is responsible for the ship's health, both in time of peace and time of war. These are followed by the division officers, men who stand the regular bridge watches and who, in addition, have charge of certain com- pattments and have a_ division vf about 60 men for whose training, ef- ficiency and readiness they are per- sonally responsible. The first five are assigned to turrets and each one is directly responsible for the up-keep cf its guns and the efficiency of its crew in time of target practice or battle. Then come junior officers, young fellows recently from the acad- emy, who have their own mess and quarters where they can give vent to the exuberances of their spirits with- out fear of being frowned upon by superior age and who act as_assist- ants to the other officers. Below these are the warrant officers, men who have risen from the ranks to a position equal to that of ensign and who likewise have their own mess and Own quarters. The chief petty of- ficers, petty officers of the first, second and third class, seamen, ordinary sea- men and apprentice seamen, firemen, coal passers, artificers of almost any kind, messmen, etc., make up the bal- ance of a seemingly complicated but in reality rather simple and highly ef- ficient organization in which, contrary to the ordinary conception, any man can become a commissioned officer provided he has brains and training to pass the' examinations required of other officers. The big ship is full of men who often seem to have little to do, but when general quarters are