, 1875-02-13
. TIE NAVY OF THE FUTURE.

The Navy Drill An k'torft1n Dny-Corn-
uaodUre rnrtset's ObHcrvntion.-s.cs-
w"us ox tho Observation-Disclosures
Experiments with tho 'rorrcdo-
What tiso WAR Vessels ct ths FutWre
Shuuid IIc.
Tho Army and Nary journal publishes pa.
per read before tie Naval Institute by Contlo-
Q0re Fo1hA1i 4. Pa ier OIL "Our Fleet NfnneuverB
in the Bay Of Florida and the Navy OF the Fu-
ture." Commodore Parker Ia the nuthor Of tEe
naval taotios and Tue tactical aluua fooks 10 use
In Tho United Btatea navy, and ~ Chtof OF
BLan Of the united 1eeta under the command Of
Hear Admiral Case, directed this naval drIl re-
fcrrcd to In tha caption OF hs paper. His judg-
ment npon the maneuyera Is thcrefs r. Of spe-
! ciAl interest and yalle. OF tho dnbsrkation Of
the sailors aud nla1tnos and thcir landing and
| movements on ahore, he says:
| tcaat onc-llaf Of the men we're graenho ms, re-
Gently shipped. the AFFAIR vas an exceedingly
crcditable one. There WAS neither straEeling nor
t tardnkenncss; and although tho ir5eEua1 sway-
recruit yft ttla manual Of aims and tho various
changes Of formation nero executed with pre-
clsion and style Nllch actlactcd tho highest
| Of whom. will, three or four exceptions.
we're eradiatos Of tho Naval Academy. Tho
ho"ltzer firing from tie bnats however, on this
occ''slon: was neither rapid nor we'll sustained
| terously ~ it should have been. AEhore 1t mp
peared to better advantage. yct nrithor a1oat
| nor ashore did this truly sailor arm compare IA
7orably with the infantry. OF the boat exer-
ceoh In 1net mancuvots, the feHs sntd the better
I They were decidedly p failure, and nhownd
| clearly how little Importance had been attaehod
! to the study Of nect tactics By the navy gel4-
/ erally."
| THE LESSONS TAUGHT IN FLORIDA EAT.
! Commodore parkur tleu describes iu detail
| the naueuvres tn tho bav, and makes this reply
tauEht2
"That = naval force, no matter OF what ole-
u7ents compobed possessed bnt littls strength
unlesa properly organized and thoroughly e1er-
ceed III tsct;cal naanenvren, every officer who
Ind Witnessed our syolutionB was willing to
namiti but, :, apart from all this, it be-
vessel. pefors u. wers. il no respect.
worthy Of great nnt,on like our own;
for what could bs more lamentablc-whas moro
painful to ono WIN loved Ills country and Lis
profcssion-than to see = tieet armed wt!,
amoo.h-hoIo guns, requiring olosc quarters for
their development, moving At tho rate Of ~
knots Au hour ? What inferior force could it
Of .ny of tho great naval powers of the. earth
| Did It rely 10 Tho latter Case. upon ita spar
torpedoes for dofenso' What Don Quixote Of
an Admiral was going to run upon thon. when:
concentrate upon. his van Or rear, OF upon ono
OF his fanks, and, choosing he distance. cooll1
cut him TO pieces with his artiilery2 Aud. in
truth. what reliance could b. placed upon our
| lOIpElu H1ElDln AuQkE 4U[ EltU&I uA6uBH Ut HG-
fenaa? After many days preparation, eegon Of
the eIghseen torpoloea used on the 25th Of Feb
ruary had failed 10 explode, whilo uf thoss that
did explode not moro Than four were submerged
under tue target II, then, on a beautiful calm
day with nothing to diaqulst u, such was the
result. what would have happened had tho ffeek
At tho time beon exposed to the disturbing In
hueneea Of an eocny shot and shell
/ +'Ihe exercise Of tho torpedo In Florida BAY
was Of great service to u.s. hDwover, siuco for
the Intelligent use of any weapon 1t Is as impor-
tant to kno" what cannot ~ what can bp effected
by it. II Is one thing to promlse gteat resa'ss
practice, aud it ia clear TO my mind now, that.
rieged Out on q po'e attached to u largr vessel
not possessit'g very, great speed md turning
hS se to sna
honsd tho torpedo is invaluable, end tho subma-
forts, aid aided, as It would ba ii
.uehes hss w ALMOST Ia1s nesascay VS. so.ed
our hArbors to hostile lect while = rigid block
ade Of anY of tAnm would be next to "A impos-
| sibility, harassed necessarily ~ tho b'ockadng
forco would be, By improyisod Eams and sorpodo-
cefrabte devico and construction. 1t is true that
the b1oesading Admispl, supposiuE him to be 4
man OF etaergy and resolution, Woutl enaeAvor
to oyercone tie torpedo with the torpedo, tho
mine ~ith the conntermlne; Jet taking Into con-
s,deration The Ingenuity aud enterprise OF our
people, and tue disadvantage under which both
armies aud fleets operate At = distance from their
base Of supplies, tha defeat of tho blockades
might bo relied upon, think, With almost auso.
lutu certntnty."
THE NECESSARY n1EMEN1s or An EFFECTIVE
referring to the clements Of which feet
should be composed, be says:
.'lf tbs object to bc kopt in view were simply
the encouHeriug Of hoatlle forco at sea. tho
rau would alona Id my opinion, sultlcs for our
purpose fully oonviuced AZ nm thss for f}ect
lighting 1t 10 the most terrible engine Of war
that navy can posssss. For attacking loits,
however, guns must BE- brought Into play, and
for ctoeping etealthlly upon large vosset At
night, 10 thick woatLor. or amid Tho smoke Of
battle, there is nothing equal to the low torpedo
boat; consequent'yrt 10 be prepared for all tho
service that may he expnctod OF II. tho
boats. and artillery yessela, Ill Of which should
be steamers Of great apeod, having auxiliary sail
power and, II not propot!sd BY twin: screws,
some mechanical coutr'yauco which will euabls
ing power is easentiat 70 ovety man.of-mar, aud
especially SO o. to q ram, whieh must always
keep her bead turned toward The euemy. In
storms tho dependence OF thasa steamers for
reqused to make sail with tho wind for
ward OF the beam, their nlaats might DO
telescopio [as proposed bv Ilaar-AdmirAl 1ioggs
soms years siuoa) and their spars and sails 80
light ~ to BE- olsily hAudlad and seut below 10
that ~ artillery vessel would haye nothing but
her lower n,ass aud a ram and torpedo vassof
nothing at ali lett standing above aaoks when
stoaming hend to Wind or going into action. Al
that have ead aboye refors to the fighting yesbel.
Forcutins up "a enemys eomme GO, shipH Of tho
Alabama and Shenandoah type will DO required,
having fonnE.range piyorgun forward, two
stesm torpedo cuttcrn and Calling battery
and every Admiral iu time Of war anouli bc sup
piled With nuuber Of extraordinary fast steam.
cts to carry d'upatoles aud act rs look.
outs. Al present our yeBaps ere adapted
to tho days Of Paul Hoste, rather than to tha
. 4gs OF steaur loaded down as thar Aro with i'm
rnense spals md rigging which, IN general L. &C.
tlou, would iufsllAly be shot away, aud, tsattDH
af.or them. foul thoir seteus, thus reudesiup
tholn utterly helpless Tor WOO be to thas yeasel.
iu fIture naval battles, whose propeller Toflsea
to turn xftor the zne!ee commences. Not
many minutes can elapss bsfoso an onemy will
bo upon .Ier, seamiug a. full speed. snd, striking
her Id Z vital part: scnd her to the bottom. II
becomes. therefore, all Important thss Tue mo.
tive power Of :. steamer slon1d be protected
impelllis than Tho maats and rigging AZ 1t pros
eat sr1aDge1,. 80
hid ETnt1nAX