With all the Navy striving to build up and expand the service, I turned attention to other forces that might be utilized. War had become a science; inventions were playing a vastly greater part than ever before, and on July 7, 1915, I wrote to Mr. Thomas A. Edison, suggesting the formation of a board of eminent inventors and scientists, and asking if he would consent to become its head. The idea appealed to Mr. Edison, as it did to the various scientific and engineering societies, and in a few weeks the Naval Consulting Board became a reality. Composed of men of eminence and distinction, this was the first of those organizations of patriotic civilians which, when war came, rendered such signal service to the nation.
This board began in 1915 a survey of all the country's industries and resources which might be employed, in case of war, for the production of munitions and supplies, and the thousand and one things required by armies and navies.
The Navy made a survey of all merchant ships and privately owned craft which might be utilized as auxiliaries. The Board of Inspection and Survey was increased, each vessel listed for service to which it could be adapted, and plans made for all the changes needed to convert it to war purposes. This was worked out to the last detail, even to the yards to which the vessels would be sent, and the accumulation of machinery and materials for their conversion. A standardized schedule was developed of all ammunition, materials, equipment and supplies needed by vessels in case of war.
Aviation received earnest attention. Seaplanes and flying boats were secured, and a school and station established at Pensacola, Fla., for the training of aviators. The cruisers _North Carolina_, _West Virginia_, and _Washington_ were fitted with a launching device, from which aeroplanes could fly from ships. Operating with the fleet, our aeroplanes began developing the tactics of aircraft at sea.
During the _Sussex_ crisis, arrangements were made for the mobilization of the communications of the entire United States radio, telegraph and telephone. This important experiment was carried out from May 6 to 8, 1916, and was a complete success, proving that in a day we could link all methods of communication and put in touch all our yards and stations and our ships at sea. Congress had previously authorized the erection of a chain of high power radio stations to span the Pacific--at San Diego, California; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and at Cavite, in the Philippines--and these were under construction.