The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-06-25
THE GREAT sHEpWRECK.

| The loss of the greatest battle-ship in the
world. the Victoria, is an event which has
rarely been paralleled in naval history. 1t
explains the trepidation which Admiral
| Gherardi felt when he took the command
| of the combined naval squadron a. the late
review at New York.
The weight of modern battle-ships i'm
parts to them a momentum even when
moving under low head of steam which
makes the least touch Of their ram fatal.
The Camperdown was heavily plated
iron-ciad vessel of 10000 tons displace-
menr, and carried ten guns, some of which
weighed 10 tons. She was executing a
maneuver which required her to pass be-
! tween two other vessels of the squadron.
AS she passed she either failed to answer
her helm. or the steersmen were careless.
or she got into current which swerved
her from the direct line; she just
| touched the Victoria and the great
ship filled and went to the bottom
in fifteen minutes. The Camperdown's
ram ripped through the Victoria's plates
and tore down the compartment bulkheads
as if they had been so much paper. There
was a longitudinal bulkhead running from
stem to stern of the ship. This kept the
her to capsiLe, so that she lies bottom up
on the bed of the sea. The catastrophe
was so sudden that tbs boats were useless.
The incident raises another question as
TO the practical value of modern battle
ships in time of war. 1t has long been
doubted whether The great ships of the
European navies could venture to use
their So ton and 100-ton guns in action. It
has been broadly stated that the firing of
such guns would involve more danger TO
the vessel which carried them than TO an
enemy; and hence our new ships are
armed with guns of much smaller caliber.
| But if modern battle ships cannot
steam to close quarters without running
an imminent risk of sinking each other,
their usefulness Is very doubtful indeed.
| No naval battle was ever fought without
! collisions. At the bOmbardment of Forts
| st. Philip and st. Francis. the flagship
! Hartford was constantly run into by
other vessels of Farragut's feet. In the
| excitement of battle and the obscGrity
caused by the smoke such accidents are
unavoidable. If the coliding ships are Of
the magnitude of the Camperdown, every
collision will mean shipwreck and sudden
death.
MathematicianS can reckon Sthe foot
ton pressure with which vessel of such
! size strikes an object. Non professionals
may be content to know that it is
simply irresistible. When the late
Commodore Vanderbilt fitted out the
steamer which bore his name to en-
counter the Merrimac, he took no
guns, but relied On his ram, which con-
sisted of seventy feet of solid wood. Navy
officers questioned the effectiveness of his
vessel, but he said simply. ~ can sail that
! ship through any stone wharf that was ever
built" The boast may have been true !;
il so, a steamer which could sail through a
wharf would be dangerous neighbor to
her cOnsorts. 1t would behoOye them to
| give her a wide berth.
1t must be remembered that 10, 000-
| ton ship, loaded to her full capacity with
! heavy guns and ammunition, cannot be
! steered like yacht. She will take time
| to answer her helm, especially if she is
| going slow. a squadron of such ships,
| maneuVering for practice, will naturally
| so at half or quarter speed 1t will
| take them some time to turn. The
distance between the Victoria and
| the Camperdown when they were
| to cross each other was 2400 feet, or
! four cables length-less than half mile
"a space which a ship steaming at ten
knots an hour would cover in less than
three minutes; if either vessel was slow
| to answer her helm there was not much
| time to avert the collision. These modern
levathans loaded with steel armor, and
! drawing so much water that they are like
| icebergs, are really not fit 10 be admitted
| tn the comDanV of OF her shiDs lhev onobt