Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1880-11-18
PUB BARBOR DEFENSEs.
How America. Ahead in All Avoca-
lions OF Peace, is Da' gerousIy he
hind ia Preparations for Possible


lions OF Peace, is Da' gerousiy he
hind in Preparations for Possible
War.
Bostsn Herald
The report of Gen. Wright on the il
sufficient coast defenses of this country
can hardly be said to be surprise, for We
have been told repeatedly that Our great
sesports had nothing that approached an
adequate armed protection. The average
citizen may possibly gain some feeling Of
security by sailing down our harbor and
gazing on such massive structures as Forts
Warren and Independence. But the same
pnthinkiDg confidence might be acquired
If he were 10 see, riding at anchor, one of
those magnificent, old-fashioned line-of-
battle ships, with its three tiers of threat
ening guns. Yet modern ironclad would
send such u craft to the bottom, without
the least injury to itself, in less than five
minutes, and, as far as modern warfare is
concerned, the two forts We have mentioned,
are on very much the same plane OF
servcesbihty that the wooden line of
battle ships would be. There are 30 or
more iron. clads in the English navy that
and into our inner harbor
islands on winch the forts are situated
were untenanted. In the engagement
which took place three years ago between
the English war ship the Shah, and the
then Peruvian ironoiad, the Httdscar,
although the former vessel had guns If
much greater power OF penetratiOn than
any mounted on our Boston Notifications,
she WAS only able to pierce once the armor
nf hA RuE d,
on the HHdscdr was only five and one-nalf
inches on tue turret, which, by the way,
was struck, but only denteu, while the,
average thickness of the vessels we have
referred 10 In the British navy is more
than twice this sum.
But usually, when anything is said
about our national defeuses, the satisfied
citizen refers with some degree of conf
dence to our monitors and 10 our torpedo
service, as being well calculated TO protest
us from invading navies. Now, in reality,
there ii very little in either monitors or
torpedoes 10 give ground for confidence.
In opposition to slow sailing wooden
crafts, our monitors no doubt would do
very well. But ut present there is not one
OF them that is armed with rlfisd cannon,
and the balls from their eleven and
make about as much impression on the
turrets and huils OF such vessels as the
In.ftgi6le, the Devastation and the Ajaa
which our English COUSINS might
send over here-as handful of putty
thrown by boy. Ou the other hand,
they would fall very quickly prey 10 the
enemy. Their greatest speed Ii about six
knots an hour, while the foreign craft
at ean pf la rat.
IL to II knots par hour. The thickest
armor OF any of our monitors now ahoat
is five inches, which would be
like 30 much cardboard to the heavy guns
of their opponents. Indeed with forts
and ironolads, we are about as well pro-
vided as we would be if we proposed to
equip our army, in foreign war, with
bows and arrows. But someone will say,
if We need powerful vessels of this type
When We get into a foreign war we shall
have to go to work and build them. Un-
fortunately for such q plan, time is fac
tor which Cannot De dismissed. 1t took
the English Government Six years to build
the InFspi5le; the French, under con-
tract with private builder, were four
years il building the Admiral Dupe7Te !;
the keel of the Italian monster, the Italia,
q.
She was launched ID few weeks ago, but it
will be two years more before she has on
board her machinery and armament, ready
Tor service. Even surprising that we
could shorten the time required to two |
years--a supposition that has nothing to
rest upon-does anyone suppose that our |
possible foreign enemy is going to remain
quiet until we get ready for him.
nf a..Ytn 10
problemstical. 1t may be worth "a great |
deal, and it may be- worth nothing az all.
Quite number Of foreign naval off ,ers |
feel confident that it is possible to clear
away torpedo obstruction without serious |
damage. Although the Bosphorus was
lined with torpedoes, AID it was thought
that they might be put to use, the English
ironclad tiaet two years ago did not hest
tate to steam up that channel. Science
has devised ways o. graphing with torpe-
does that were not known at the time of |
our civil war, and it is, to say the least,
iuproosble that Boston could be- defeaded
10 this way aJ Charleston, s. G, was II
years ago. But, as GsR. Wright points
out, our torpedo service, such as it is, is
not kept up, and if war broke out we
should have to manufacture the torpedoes
N''N
men who we're to use them. BY |
the time We got ready to
put them down, our enemy would
have done all the damage he proposed to
do, or would have such thorough control
OF our ship channels that the torpedoes
could not be laid. The long and short OF
the matter is, that We are wholly unpre-
pared for war, either defensive or agrees
sige, and while this condition may have
its advantages in toning down that bellig.
ereat spirit that Americans sometimes
display, and leading US to keep out of
fore'gu complications, even though our
national pride may be somewhat ~ sd
still, it may also be the cause of a terrible
should We he SO unhappy as
to defend what we consider righteous
cause, In opposition to almost any of the
great Powers of Europe