The sun., 1893-06-26


entered In . volume 90 enormous that
ciosinr the buikheads was impossible
Thus tho blow from the Csmperdown must
have been q slanting blow, TO do tho damage
Il did. Mr.. ROHwooD. the well-known ship
owner, formerly Secretary Of the Admiralty.
also thinks that tho Camperdown struck
the Victoria ripping blow, that glanced
along the sido and opened the plates above
several Of the compartments.
Here, accordingly. we find that no greater
immunity from destruction was obtained
by receiving a glancing blow than II 1t had
been one nt right angles. This Is one lesson
Of value on this subject conveyed by the
recent sad disaster. although the gem
eral effectiveness OF the ram hnd been
shown by many similar occurrences.
Commander ROCKWELL OF our navy
commented on the most noteworthy OF
these instances. In the United Ssrrice nIaga-
zine. some time ago. within the last TWEEN
ty-ilye years we have bad the sinking of tho
Forflit By tho French ironclad Jeanne
dare and the collision of the French
ironclads ThG.ls and Refine Blanche.
In which the latter was saved only
ly being run aghote. We have, had
Russian ironcIad Kreml. and tho ramming
OF tho I.azaroh by tho ironclad SplridoN. the
former being barely rescued by powerful
steam pumps hastily sent out We have
had the sinking Of the German ironclai
GruBscr KuriGfst by tho KONG VIII
helm, with the loss Of most OF her
officers aud men. n case which was perhaps
the closest parallel to the late Tfipoii disas-
ter. We have had the sinking OF tho Fer
nando cl Cat6ico. with all but five OF her
mon, by tho Spanish ironclad Numanc!a,
which occurred twenty years ago. The Eng
lish have had thelS, own warnings OF these
psrils. as when the prov OF their iron
clad Iron Duke broke a great hole
through the arrnor ~ tho Vanguard. anu
as In last years accident 10 the Jtor!a
IN Gibraltar Bay. and this year's accident
W the Nile. In actual battle W" have tho
memorable ramming Of the ironclad Rs
d'Italln by TEGETHorF's wooden flagship
during tho engagement at Lissa. We havc
also the rarnming OF the Confederate iron.
clad Tenn during the battle of Mobile
Bay. by thrca vessels OF FARRAGuT's fleet.
tho Lackawanna. Monongahcla, and Hart
ford. These latter. tits true. were all wooden
vessels. and apparently received quite as
much damage as they inflicted. But at
Lis.a the Italian ironclad WAS sunk.
The conclusion OF Commander ROCKWELL
was that. for our coast defence, the best.
surcst. and most deadly instrument that
we can use or rely upon in Il sudden emcr-
gency must bo the naval ram lie sup
ported his own view by tho opinion of nn
English naval authority Sir GEORGE ELIOT.
that hereafter war ships will always be on
the lookout in battle. for n chance TO win
victory by rammng. and that this will In
fact become the main source OF victory"
Probably tho latter Is an cxtravagant view:
but we can hardly afford to pass over the
lesson taught by the instances already
cited. and by others that might be collected
from tho records OF collisions in tho mcr-
camille marine.
The damage done to the Campcrdown her.
self raises another question. namely. as to
tho danger to the aggressive vessel In ram
ming encounter. Ono OF the arguments long
ago urged against tho resort to ramming
was this: and IL even Il glancing blow could
80 use up tho Camperdown, 1t Is clear that
blow at right angles would give
tremendous shock to the assailant. The
Monongahcla at Mobile Bay had her iron
prov carried away by rammlng. II is owl
don't that n vessel constructed expressly
for rumming. like our Katahdin. should be
very strong. TO withstand the shock OF
her own blow, and have n Prov OF
extraordinary stability. She should have
steam power enough TO prevent her
antagonist from getting away. and hand
ness enough to be able to deliver her
blow In the mode deemed most advisable.
She should also have protection OF her own
against the euemy's guns
II Is quite clear that, apart from the exam
ination inLo other points suggested by the
Victoria disaster. such as tho nature OF the
steering apparatus and the character Of the
signalling. It's Illustration OF the results that
must follow from. .ramming will have an
important influence upon future naval con-
struction and naval tactics.