The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-07-22
A CRUISERS UTILITY.

The very interesting account OF the pur-
suit by the famous Confederate cruiser, the
Alabama, of the ship Ocean Signal, pub
lished in yesterdays CALL, from the pen of
]. w. E. Townsend, drops some instruc-
tive hints which have bearing on the
efficiency of the modern cruiser. The Ala
bama, Mr.. Townsend truthfully says, was
the most effective cruiser that ever sailed
under flag. She had sail power almost
as great as that of ship of equal tonnage,
$50 that she did all her cruising under sail,
reserving her fuel for emergencies. Not
being compelled to remain in the vicinity
of coaling stations Semmes went hither
and yon, as circumstances permitted.
While our gunboats were looking for him
here and there he was somewhere else.
Mr.. Townsend ends by declaring: ga
cruiser that depends upon coal altogether
is no cruiser at all and Uncle Sam will
find it out by and by
One of these days this declaration will
be regarded as prophetic. The Ala
bama was a wooden vessel. Even in an
equal fight with an armed vessel she was
almost sure of being sent to the bottom.
She never had but one fight and that
destroyed her, though had not the
Kearsarge armored her sides with chains
it is likely that both vessels would have
been sunk. The Alabama was never in
tended to fight, and it was the one great
folly of her commander that led to her
destruction. Yet she was the most ter
rible destroyer of merchant ships that
ever sailed the seas, her record of destruc-
ton being greater than that of all the
other ships of history put together. The
modern cruiser is intended to perform
such service, yet with wider scope, and
still it is clear that no brilliancy on the
part of the commander would make it
physically possible for it to prove SO
formidable as the Alabama for the pur-
poses which that vessel served.
We must not forget, however, that the
efficiency of a cruiser, like that OF an army,
depends as much upon the commander as
upon the material he handles. Semmes
was a Napoleon of the high seas. The
writer of this knew him well and therefore
can understand the history of the Ala
bama's exploits. He was a very small
man, with peculiarly high skull, small,
sharp, brilliant eyes set almost grotesquely
close together and sunk deep in the head, a
long nose and narrow mouth surmount-
ing prominent chin. Not one face in a
million so striking as his could be found.
Whatever may have been the alleged
atrocities of his career on the Alabama, in
his own home he was the embodiment of
gentleness and simplicity. Nomore anus
ing picture was ever seen than that of his
decorous submission to the adverse ruling
of his own son, who as Judge, after the
declaration of peace, found the famous
terror of the seas practicing as lawyer in
his court.
So while Mr.. Townsend prophesies con-
corning the characteristics of the cruiser,
we cannot eliminate the extraordinary
personality of Raphael Semmes from the
history of the most famous cruiser that
the records of war disclose. To what ex-
tent study of human types influences
our Nation in the selection of COM
manders it would be protitless to inquire,
in view of the system of promotions that
has become necessary part of modern
scie ntific warfare. But it still remains a
curious thing that in devising enginery of
destruction all attention is bestowed upon
mechanical perfection and none whatever
upon the immeasurably more important
consideration OF human leadership.