The daily gazette., 1879-12-03
Lesso,.s Of greet Sea Fight.

A<cSSOJtS OF W.QTSUt OcW EtVBt
From the Army and Naval Journal.
We devote large but well-deserved |
portion Of this weeks Journal TO the
bis ory and illustration Of the memoirs I
BILE, instructive, and suggestive naval
duel Of the last twelve years--as gallant
and heroic sea-fght, on the part Of tie
vanquished, as graces the annals of any
country OF any age. The temple of the
worlds great sailors has not found 1t |
necessary heretofore TO reserve inches
for South American figures but 1t must
find prominent ones, iu its fullest blaze
Of light. for Arturo Pratt aud Miguel I
Grau.
The nara i've of the combat off Mexil-
lones de B,lvia is told by the official
report of Riveio, which we now publish |
in its full and official form, as translated
for the Journal by competent authority,
and also by our special correspondent at
The seat Of the South American war,
whose previous letters, carrying their |
own stamp OF sound judgment, and |
acute, unprsjudiced observation, have |
already been caught up by the French |
papers for translation. The cut which
we reproduce from Peruvian authority,
| of the Huascar, after action, is, as dis
| tinguished officer has remarked, OF sort
rarely if ever presented before, and the
map of the chase aud fight was carefully
drawn for the Journal by the most capa-
BILE hands on the coast. But We turn
directly to the leading SUI lgestions of
this combat Of the 9th Of October, 1870.
The first point to note is the high
value that speed must play for open-sea
action in the warship of the future.
Whether the requisite be for pursuit or
for escape, this element cannot be ignOr-
ed. The Huascar had pi obably from the
first hop less task, yet had she possess
ed the speed of her cOnsort, the Union,
she would have had, like her, the one
and only chance of success. She could
have tried to run the gauntlet of the
Chiian guns, trusting to her heels, and,
Derhaps, have drawn out of the hopeless
fight.
We see also the extraordinary value,
in connection with ram power, Of the
facility of manGuvre. So far as can be
judged from the accounts, Admiral Grau
did The best possible thing in conduct.
ing the combat. He sought to ram the
Lord Cochrane, which first engaged him.
t'lom the cut in the Journal, it will be
seen that the Huascar was built for such
service, and, had she touched the Coch-
rane, the crash would have been fatal
But the Chilian vessel, which had lately
been reftted at Valparaiso, was in ex-
cellent working order, and had the ad-
vantage of win screws, that enabled her
, to change her direction within her own
length; and when the Huascar came
down at full speed, she could only sweep
| lv h. tho vpnra aUila Gocbra ua,c
stern, receiving her fire as she went by.
So far as the comparis Of working
guns in turret and broadside iron-clade
Is concerned, certainly the former have
a good record in this fight. For, during
the first hour or more, while the COch
rane and the Hauscar were alone en-
gagged, the latter, though having but two
300-pounders, delivered twenty-five shot.
TO the thirty shots received from her an
tagonist's six 300 pounders-her gum
being served, therefore, it seems
more rapidly than her antagonists
During this time, too, 1t mus
be remembered, the Huascar wa
the rrey of terrible slaughter amonl
both officers and men owing TO the thin
}. ness of her armour, while the CochraIi
was comparatively uninjured. Whel
the Blanco Encalada came up, the fat
8. of the Hauscar, hardly before doubtful
was, of course, sealed.
al SO far as armor is concerned, tn
problem of this combat is simple ont
The b anco Encalada and the Cochran
had nine inches Of armor on eight or te
inches of teak; the Hauscar, max
mum of Al inches. The guns on bot
sides were rifled -pounders-fOr th
smaller pieces may be left out Of tn
= question, unless as to the harm done +
J rigging. The twelve 30O-pounders {
the Chilians could pierce the armor c
the Huascar at the range employed; til
two OO-pOunders of the Peruvians coul
pierce the armor of their antagonist
-, We think it clear that where the armc
" was not sufficient to keep out the Chi
ian shots altogether, the case was almos
worse than if there had been no armo
The clean-cut hole through the WOO
\ could possibly have been plugged wher
the wrenched and torn iron plate coul
not but above all the havoc caused b
the splinters in shots crushing throug
he armor was terrible, as the shatterin
IS o pieces OF Admiral Grau and othel
shows.
1t would seem, also, that the mitral
leuSeS In tue tops OF al Tue VeSsti5 wei
10 served effectively. causing no little 10:
of life. The fact that the Huascar wa
at an early hour rendered useless by th
battering of her rudder and steerin
gear is also one worthy of discussion
The Huascar seems to had no protectio
y for her portfolios, as Gillian chot el
tered one Of them and broke gun. bs
sides killing those who were serving Il
8 The great lesson taught our country b
this fight Is the necessity of at once pr
viding more powerful guns for our M
Wv and our harbor defeDses. How man
guns have wn afloat that could pen
Irate the armor of these Gillian irOl
clads? Our country must awaAe to II
dangerous condition into which 1t h'
q, drfted. We find second-rate, thirdrral
tourth-rate Powers, aNle to infict irr
parable damage on our fleets and OF
= cities. 1t ne ed not be said that such
, battle as that of Mexillones wipes fro
our list of available war ships nearly q
the iron clads carried on the naval rel
lister. Their thin armor would be pen,
trated like SO much card board-tt
phrase "cheese- box on rat" could
Ii f.svr 70