The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-09-22
MODERN NAVIES.
Ca mot Accomplish All That
Was Expected.
Pet Theories Of Experts Knocked Sky
High by the Recent Showing.
BY The Associated Press.

BY The Associated Press.
wAsHINGToN, sept 22.-Naval officers
are remarkably reticcnt In the expression
Of opinions upon the recent naval engage
ment at the mouth OF the Yalu river be-
tween the japanese and Chinese squad
fOns.
From the secretary himself down TO the
humblest lieutenant, they plead that sur
flcient data have not yet been received to
enable professional man TO draw profit
able lesson from the greatest sea fight that
has occurred since oar own civil war.
Probably this reticence is To be accounted
for by the fact that, SO far ms received, the
details OF the engagements seem TO deal
such blow 10 the most cherished theories
of naval experts that the naval officers are
rather inclined 70 doubt their accuracy, or
have not sufficiently recovered from the
shock to their established beliefs TO be
able TO face the facts and adapt their ideas
To them.
The truth is that there has never before
been decisive engagement between hos
tile fleets of modern war vessels on the
scale of the battle of Yalu. There have
been sea fights between some OF the South
American nations, and fights between
forts and ships, as at Alexandria and Rio,
tions they demonstrated nothing.
Had Been Building ON Theory.
Naval experts have longed for just such
an engagement as this, realizing perfectly
the need OF guiding facts After the
cpoch-making engagement between the
Monitor and the Merrimac In Hampton
Roads every maritime nation began to
build first iron and then steel ships, and
TO pile on armor until they arrived at
those great floating steel fortresses, exem-
plifed by the Royal Sovereign, Victoria
and Camperdown I'm Great Britain, the
Duello in Italy, and the Oregon, Iowa and
others In the United States. No one ABB
solutely knows what their use would be in
war but they were all worked out from
theory.
BY an elaborate system OF calculation 1t
was held that battleship was equal in
fighting power TO several cruisers; that
cruiser within so many thousand yards of
a battleshlp for certain number of min
utes was inevitably doomed
All this was well enough in theory, but
that theory failed To take account OF such
elements as personal bravery, of possible
breakdowns OF machinery, of the many
chances OF war that turn the fate OF ao-
tions.
Theories shattered.
The Yalu fight seems TO shake this
theory severely. Unarmored cruisers did
attack battleships and were not destroyed;
torpedo boats steamed boldly ahead in
broad daylight and blew up the great
shipe with their terrible projectiles. But
more serious still and alarming TO naval
officers Is the effect of the heavy rife fire.
The shells went easily through the un-
armored cruisers, but when they managed
L.. ~ q slr
Chinese armed ships they burst inside,
disabling guns, blowing up decks and fir
ing the ships. Inasmuch as no ship can
carry sufficient armor to stop entirely the
shells from the heaviest rifles, the question
raised by the last naval fight AS to the
utility of the battleship will undoubtedly
give rise To much discussion In naval cir
cles.
Further Details of the Naval Battle.
A dispatch from Tien-Tsin, dated sept.
pl, gives an additional account of the
naval battle off the Yalu. IL says: The
Chinese feot arrived of the Yelu and
remained 10 miles outside the mouth Of
the river while the transports unloaded.
AT ii o'clock on the morning OF the 9TH
they sighted the smoke of the japanese
fleet which was later seen To be approach
ing I'm two columns.
The Chinese fleet steamed out TO meet
them, proceeding in two columns converg-
ing on the flagship. The japanese feet
consisted of l2 vessels, and the Chinese of
10 The Chinese admiral opened fire at
GO0o meters The fire of both sides fell
short until the two squad rons were within
the effective range OF 5000 meters. The
Chinese endeavored to come to close quar-
ters, but they were prevented from doing
SO by the superior speed OF the japanese
ships, which, keeping for the most part
two miles off, maneuvered admirably and
made splendid practice with their long
range and quick firing guns
Desperate Fighting.
The Chinese cruiser Chih- Yuen, Captain
Tang Shichang, early in the day closed
with one of the enemy's ships at full speed,
intending TO ram her. Whether she
rammed pr torpedoed her, the japanese
ship turned over and sunk. -Four Japan.
csc vessels then closed around the Chinese
ship, which was ripped up by shots under
the waterline and sunk with all hands in
cluding Purvis, her engineer
Meanwhile the battle ragged furiously
around the flagship Ting Yuen and hel
oonsort, tlo Chan-Yuen. McKitts, gun
merry officer of the Ting Yuen, was killed
At o'clock the five Japanese ships en-
gagged i'm the fight turned and fled. TIL,
Chinese pursued, but failed TO oyertakc
them.
In the morning Of the following day q
japanese torpedo iiotlla returned and tor
pedocd the stranded Chinese ships
The japanese losses are uncertain. No
body was able to see the whole action, bu
from comparison of the testimony q
seems certain that four Japanese ship
we've destroyed and the remainder Of TIT