Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-16

small gunS7,wih bessilent ana trained 1cre
and aft, sooRs ito afford no target.
The captain is TINS only fighter. His YES
sci Is the ultimate development of the art
of war by machine, in which personal
bravery and prowess cut little or no figure.
1t may easily be Imagined that the Katah-
din while Engaged in attack would be the
target forfta storm of pro]ectiles But
against these she b well-nigh invulnerable,
because they would glance on harmlessly
from the eonvexhsleck Of steel A shot
might strike her len a ricochet from the
water at such an angle as to penetrate Or
a projectihs 'Ifredn from "a great distance
might Iaffdsupon hsr steel back and pierce
,nrough 1t r but 1t b only by such ptung-
ing shot that the K5tahdin could be wound
ed Thus she could maneuver In the midst
of a hostile ffeetilvithout serious danger
from the heaviest guns of her adversaries.
Aa.,an Ntthcking Force.
The Katahdin is unique in our navy
She is an experiment. For the present no
notion is entertained of building other ves-
sells like her. In the British navy there is
a ship of similar typo called the Polyphe-
mus. The katahdn is $50 feet long. has n
disbursement of 2,15s etons. and her best
speed will be seventeen knots. To ram her
effectively would be very difficult mas
much as the submerged edge OF her deck
is like knife and Is strengthened with very
thick armor, so that it would cut into an
attacking craft. The picture here given
is from the Proceedings of the Society of
Naval Architecture IN order 10 10 =, CON ON
agine such ship driven at speed against
a floating antagonist. The force OF the
blow may be figured out by. multiplying
the mass into the, square of the velocity.
Practice in ramming Is obtained by .TIu-
ropean officers with twin-screw launches,
which, with well-padded bows, rush at each
other and fight as men do with soft gloves.
Just now the efficacy of the ram in naval
warfare is being very much discussed. 1t
is certainly the most deadly of all weapons
that can be used in a battle at sea, if the
blow is fairly struck; for such blow VIII
send to the bottom or certainly disable the
greatest ship of war. No armor can with
stand it. But many authorities hold the
opinion that the usefulness of the ram has
been greatly overestimated. If the contest
between China and Japan be left out of the
question, there has been no important war
since the Introduction of modern methods
of building warships. and so students OF
the subject are obliged to rely upon theory
in forming their conclusions. 1t may be
ina gined with what intense interest they
are watching the fight that is going on in
the east. ,.5 :.
vessel where there is plenty of sea room
is almost hopeless. even supposing that the
adversary Is greatly inferior in point of
speed There Is a familiar story of a fell
low who was explaining how he would do
up an individual against whom he had
grudge First he would punch him in the
eye and then on the nose; next he would
take his head under his arm, and, having
thus got him into chancery, would punch
the life out of him at leisure. In response
to this description the question naturally
was: What would the other man be doing
all that timer The same idea applies to
ramming While the rammer Is trying TO
ram the other vessel is trying to get out of
the way, and perhaps to ram the hammer.
To hit the moving target is well-nigh Inn
practicable
Some PeriIs of RamminE.
Another thing to be considered is that
the rammer Is exposed to the torpedoes Of
the ship upon which it is rushing Those
projectiles can be fired with fair degree
of accuracy at distance of COO yards and
the impactopf onesof them is most likely to
send to the bottoaa vessel of war that
has cost 3NGO0 0Oosto build. Observe, for
example, Tie case'of the Aquidaban, be-
longing to the Brazilian insurgents, which
was sunk fby stnsle torpedo that tore a
hole in her side big enough to drive a cart
into. In Truth, tUpedoes may be regarded
as an entirely effidient protection against
ramming. u Furthermore, the rammer Is
very apt 10 be dangerously injured by the
blow whic3u she herself deals. While her
steel beak, entersothe adversary below the
armor bels, her own bow is likely to be
crushed In, the steel deck Of the foe cut
| ting into it like anlmife.
Yet another point worth mentioning is
| that It ismueh more desirable to capture
| an encmHs shipy,than to destroy such
valuable piece of property. In recent
publication of the United States Naval In
stitute an English writer and authority,
w. Laird Cloves, says: "One of the few
things that would go toward reconciling
| Great Britain to the agonies of a naval
war would be the occasional spectacle of a
| or Plymouth sound with the white ensign
blowing out above ; the the other flag; The
is unwise to destroy foe when, peradven-
| ture, you can take him alive'
| conclusion reached is that it Is rea-
sonably. safe TO ram an adversary only
when she is disabled and has no torpedoes
| to fire. But under such circumstances 1t is
| obviously better to compel. her to sur
| render by the combined influence of gun
| fire and the terrible threat of the torpedo.
It is urged that fine ship of war is too
valuable to be employed for ramming. a
| small vessel is as good as a big one for
that purpose and 1t has been suggested
| that perhaps it might be well to build a
| few small craft Of no great cost for RAM
ming. A prime quality in a vessel designed
| for ramming is speed, but the Katahdin
&c. 49,,