Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-05-18


since then up to the
date Of the recent struggle in the east no
important war has involved the great pow
ers. Consequently, study of the subject has
been all guesswork. The interest with
which. the late struggle has been watched
from scien tific standpoint may well be
imagined. Experts detailed by Uncle Sam
to serve as eye-witnesses of the strife have
learned many new things, and reports re-
ceived from them by the bureau of naval
intelligence at Washington are full of use
full ideas and suggestions.
These reports throw great light upon
many matters concerning which there has
been no exact knowledge hitherto. For ex-
ample, it Is now known that ship of war
ought to be absolutely fire-proof, or as near
to it as may be practicable. In sea fight
on modern principles fire is one of the dan
gers most to be dreaded. Shells come aboard
in showers from the rapid-fire guns of the
enemy, bursting and setting fire to every
thing that is infiammable. At the battle of
the Yalu many vessels on both sides were
on fire in several places at once and the
Chinese flagship was in flames three times.
1t happened frequently that ships were
obliged to withdraw from the engagement
while their crews left the guns to extin-
'guish fires.
In the building of future warships every
possible bit of woodwork will be dispensed
with. metal being substituted In addition
to its liability to catch fire there is another
very important objection to wood This
was Illustrated at Yalu, where every frag-
ment of shell that struck bulthead, a
piece of furniture or the lining of a cabin
scattered splinters in every direction, and
these wounded many Wounds from splin-
tiers are not dangerous ordinarily, but they
are painful and disabling. In various en-
gagements the Chinese and Japanese suf-
fered serious Losses from injuries caused by
splinters of wooden boats which were
struck by shot, the damage thus done being
far greater than that occa stoned directly
by the projectiles themselves.
At the battle of kow-Shing the damage
done in this way was great that after
ward the Chinese vessels left their boats at
because they were so far from friendly
port. But. as a rule, all boats. whether
slowed amidships or swung at davits out
side the rail, are destroyed in an engage
ment, being set atire and riddled with shot
To make the boats of metal would not save
them from being perforated. Obviously,
armor-clad boats are out of the question,
inasmuch as too great displacement would
be required to carry the weight in the
water. Yet another trouble about boats in
a modern set fight is that they may drop
into the way of gun-fire If the tackle sus-
tanning them is partly cut.
Either Victory or Death.
The neral of this is that in future sea
fights the loss of life is likely to be very
great. II ship goes down nobody will
be saved. because there are no boats. or
if any are carried, they are not in condi-
ton to float. The victor in an active en-
ssgement can't be expected to stop and
pick up the drowning men. but, even if
she would do so, her boats are probably
useless also. To pick up men out of the
water from the ship herself is almost out
of the question, and the best that could
be done in an emergency would be to
throw over a few gratings and life pre-
servers, if there should happen to be time.
In word. the only way for a man to
save his life in modern naval battle is to
win. If he loses, he must drown or burn,
unless he has already been shot to death.
The possession of a convenient cork jacket
may prove his salvation by some lucky ac-
cident. At the Yalu hundreds met death
in the water. AS an officer of the United
States navy said jokingly yesterday: ''The
art of war has reached such a point that
no gentleman can afford to fight The
question as to what to do about boats is
recognized as new and very puzzling
problem. Evidently a war vessel cannot
carry them into action, and the most prac-
they shall be tied together in a bunch on
the approach of an engagement and set
adrift, to be picked up afterward.
Perhaps the most important lesson
value of battle ships as distinguished from
cruisers has not been overestimated by
the most earnest advocates of those float
ing armored fortresses. Though the Japan
ese won the fight off the Yalu, their mod
ern 12-inch guns were unable to sink the
Chinese battleshipS. The latter, thanks to
their heavy armor, were enabled to resist
the SO0-pound projectiles discharged from
1I,r ll,D ,itlx 0o1
order. 1t has been practically decided that
the Texas and other battle ships of the
United States navy now in process of con-
struction shall be equipped with 13-inch
guns instead of Pinch guns, previously
contemplated. The difference is very i'm
portant, as may be judged from the fact
that at $500 yards 13-inch gun VIII de-
liver a blow equal in penetrating power TO
that of Pinch gun at 1000 yards. At
$500 yards the striking energy for crush
ing and. smashing of proJectile from
13-inch gun is $4,000 foot tons-that is to
say. it is equal to the power required for
ton 25,cOO feet At 1000 yards the smashing
energy of a projectile from a Pinch gun
is only 21,OOO foot tons.
A shell from thirteen-inch gun weighs
LOO pounds. and the weapon is able to de-
liver crushing blows as far off as the target
can be seen. 1t must be remembered that,
owing to the curvature of the earth, ship
does not have to be very far away in order
between the japanese and Chinese telling
shots were inflicted at 1000 yards, or some
what over two miles. 1t is worth mention
ing that at the Yalu fight much embarrass-
ment was caused to the Chinese fleet by the
shooting away of the signal halliards. max
ing signaling impracticable. OF course, the
maneuvers of ships in battle are directed
by means of signal flags Some way will
have to be found of overcoming this diff
ficulty in the naval warfare Of the future.
RaDid-Fire Guns.
A requirement now recognized for the
first time as essential Is that every man on
board of a warship shall be protected by
armor. The wide-open ports which appear
in many of our new vessels must be closed
up so as to leave the smallest possible OPEN
ing for the entrance Of projectIles. Ships
approaching within mile of each other
are mutually exposed to yeritable hail
storm of shot and shell from rapid-fire
guns. During various engagements be-
tween the Chinese and japanese the rapid
fire guns produced most demoralizing eff
fects, creating great confusion by their ter
rible destruction Of life. Lessons drawn
from these experiences prove that orr ships
ought to be equipped with many five-inch
rapid-fire guns, throwing f1fty-pound shells
by means Of smokeless powder, the gun
lo6