Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1894-11-03
THE NEXT NAVAL BATTLE.
An AFFAIR Of Few Minutes with Few
survivors TO Tell the Tale.

An AFFAIR Of a Few Minutes with Few
survivors 10 Tell the Tale.
There has not been an engagement
between two navies on large scale
since the replacement Of the old
wooden walls by heavily armed bat
tleships and the ability OF the latter
To withstand the shock of onset has
never been put to paractical test. A
writer In the United Service Maya
zine predicts that irOnclads will make
short work of one another A battle
will last ten minutes. The fleets
will probably approach at the COM
bincd rate of 20 Knots an hour The
| two and half or three minutes that
clapse before the fleets meet Will be
minutes of the most extreme and
agOnizing tension. The compart.
ments forward ia the terrible blast of
hrc that will open the engagement
will be blown away or riddled like
sleeves Waite tight doors will be,
useless when there are no waiter.
tight walls. The whole ship will 10
covered with debris her appearance
will be transformed by the loss OF her
/
superstructurc aud upper works. The
rain OF melinite shells which will be
poured from guns firing smokeless
powder will wreck all parts Of the
shi , outside Of the heavy NOR. In
ships where the barUettes are insuf.
flcicntly protected the explosion Of
shells under them may bring them
down with their weight OF 700 or 500
tOnA II once they give way the
armOred deck cannot support them,
and they may be expected to go clean
drought the bottom OF the ship, In.
volvIng her destruction In their down.
fall. The destruction of the tunnels
will destroy the draft, the ship will
flll with smoke and the decks proba-
bly, bc set on fire.
The big guns will he discharged at
600 or sou yards. thc defamation Of
their huge shells vii probably, like
the explosion OF u Lowder magazine,
reduce the already wrecked ship TO q
hopeless chaos. destroying all her or.
ganizatiOn and tn, nerve thread that
conveys the captains orders to the
| engine room. Even IL the armOr re-.
sists the blow, the shock to the ship
will he terrific. triking the turret
OF an ironclad, one Of these project.
lies, would probably. IL IL did not
hurl II overheard, stun or Nil every
man In ~ and wreck all Its comrli-
catei mechanism. This Will ,onsti.
tutc the first stage OF the encounter.
The ships will now be nearing one
| another. and the surv vors Of the ter.
rible slaughter will drive the battered
hulls, low in the water, Mt one an.
other. ships, surviving the ravages
OF ordnance, will ram and sink one
another, and In twenty minutes from
the opening of the engagement four
fliths Of the ships will he on their
way to the bottom Of the sea.
1t Is a terrible picture, but 1t does
not appear to be Overdrawn. Aud
We have not yet nearly reached the
end Of inventions In cannon, though
the lint Of arniOr-bearing by ships.
n In sight. The dynamite gun now
being tested at sandy Hook throws
u dynamite bomb. large enough to
wreck the largest warship ai.oat, q
distance Of three miles: and with
such accuracy that nine successive
shots were recently planted In u space
not much bigger than u battleship
These guns are meant for coast dc.
tense, but IL Will Dc hut q short time
until they are adapted for use on
ships When things get to that pass
that two navie., three miles apart,
can with n single discharge blow one
another into nothingncss, "lcavinR
not rack behind" the stu endou;
crininality OF war will bring about
is own end. That says the Montreal
Herald, Is the one encouraging feat
urc Ut the continued progress being
made In the In cntion Of death deal.
ing instruments CT war.