The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1895-12-29

event. OF war with naval power this
~ on account of its enormous
Utaltb, would be the first point of at
Gok by hostile fleet.
With the exception Of the heavy
@ortsr batteries at Sandy Hook and
v4vid's Island, the city is absolutely
without any defenses worthy of the
onme. Plans have been laid, however,
6onding an appropriation from con-
brsss, which will render the harbor of
York practically impregnable.
post strongly fortified poll nj
ANDY Hook, which has bat
sixteen twelve-inch rified NOR
Jesides two twelve-inch guns, one
nch and one eight-inch gun. There
other powerful guns not yet mount
:, besides some big rifles used for
eractice. Each battery is protected by
| 4Apid-f1re machine guns to repulse any
| teries. The whole sixteen mortars
| we're fred not long ago, and covered a
large area with bursting shells, any one
Of which would completely disable a
! War6hip.
By their Simultaneous charge nearly
i've tons of flying iron would envelop
hostile feet, and it's humiliation by
such deadly hail of bursting shells
would be inevitable. These gune have
fighting range of three miles, though
they will send a projectile more than
three times that distance. The range
OF accuracy, or fighting range, as the
ordinance department calls it, is, how
ever, not more than three miles.
The batteries are arranged in groups
of four at the bottom of deep pit dug
ont of the sand and faced with con-
crete. They are aimed and fred bg
means of range finder. and at no time
are visible from the sea. In fact, the
battery, which is situated at the ex-
treme end of the spit, cannot be seen
| even on.land until the observer is close
to the mortar pit and can look over.
! Besides the battery at Sandy Hook,
here will be sixteen mortars exactly
imilar upon David's island, in the
,ound. Ten Of these are already in
place and the emplacements are ready
for the remaining six. The David's
Island and Sandy Hook batteries con-
stitute at present the only defenses of
. New York harbor. New York can be
approached by hostile fleet either by
| the entrance at the Narrows Or by way
,of Long Island sound. The new plans
for defense protect both ways of ap-
proach, but naturally most attention
has been paid to the easier entrance
through the Narrows.
Opposite Sandy Hook another pow
erful mortar battery has been designed.
bheepshead bay. Only mortars will be
hlo IN. <baoo fortiRnnr;on. t,o
cause the projectiles will have to be
hurled across the narrow strip of land
east of Manhattan Beach. 1t is only
nine miles from Plum island to Sandy
Hook, so that the cross-fire between
the two batteries will make it remark
ably uncomfortable for warships try
ing to pass between them.
The shallow water, except in the
channels, renders it impossible for any
big vessels to keep far enough from
Sandy Hook to avoid the terrible guns
on the spit. The mortars on Plum
island will effectually prevent any
shallow-draught vessels from passing
near there or anchoring in the vicinity.
There ls, therefore, no safe anchorage
for any vessels anywhere within range
of the harbor.
Shonld the enemy's fleet succeed in
passing the great mortar batteries it
would then meet what might possibly
prove to be the most effectual defense
which New York will possess. This is
a group of four revolving turrets equip
ped with very heavy calibre guns to be
built on Romer shoal The armor of
the turrets could be made impregnable
to guns of any size, for there need be
no limit to thickness, as there is on
warships. The turrets, placed on the
shoal. and thus commanding all the
channels navigable to big ships, would
present most formidable defense.
From this shoal enormous 13-inch
guns will be trained to any point of
the compass with deadly accuracy.
They will be connected by armore
wings 80 that the defending garrison
can pass from one turret to another.
These wings or galleries will be pro-
tected by rapid-fire guns. The method
which will probably be used in con-
structing the turrets is that of sinking
hollow steel piles in the sand and then
filling them with concrete. Such
foundation viii! support almost any
weight and render the steel fortress
safe from any weather. The eteel will
be faced with concrete to guard against
corrosion from the sea water.
The third line OF defense will be
powerful batteries at Fort Wadsworth
and Fort Hamilton. Large areas of
land around the forts have been pur-
chased by the government for the pur-
pose OF constructing Notifications,
which consist nowadays of deep holes
in the ground instead of stone battle
ments. There are plenty of guns in
the forts now, but the projectiles from
them would bound off the hull of a |
modern ironclad like beans off plate
glass window. Many of the old-fash-
Toned guns have been removed from
Fort Hamilton, and their places will be |
taken by high-power modern guns and
mortars.
Both forts will have large number
of four and six inch rapid-fire guns,
which, in the narrow space between
the two, would work great havoc. AL
though it might be possible Cor war
ships to steam past mortar battery
without being disabled, this could not
happen in the Narrows. The two forts
must be silenced before an enemy