The evening times., 1898-07-22
BATTLEsH1psrAHD SPEED.
The Great Mistake Being Made IN
the New Vcspela

| Thc Grcnt Mistake Being Made In
| the New Vessels.
(From the Engise5ine News.)
| In our issue of June q We called atten-
ton to the serious 6iunder which our
Navy Department, has made in fixing
upon speed of only fifteen to sixteen
knots for the three new battleships for
which 1t is now asking bids. We then
| showed that every 4avalt power in the
world excepting thel UnAed States has
increased its standard speed for battle
ships to from sevspteeR to nineteen
| fifty foreign battleships afoat or under
construction which have speeds one to
| three knots in excess of the speed of any
| of our battleships, and that for the Unit
| ed States at this time to build new bat
| tieships with speeds even lower than the
+! speeds of Its battleships now afioat will
| injure its naval prestige as much as the
| loss Of a battle. - s,.=
Our prediction that II the. American
public once understood the Significance Of
| this action by the Navy Department.
universal protest would go up. has been
| amply verified. The presentment of this
| matter by Engineering News has been
copied and commented upon by the prin-
cipal newspapers in almost every city In
| the country. and our urgent plea that the
Navy Department should revise its action
and make plans for our new vessels that
will put them at least on an equal foot
ing with those Of foreign countries In the
| matter of speed has been unanimously
approved.
Moreover, the newspapers are ably con-
tinuing the agitation for a change In the
Department. plans. A number of the
leading journals throughout the country
have taken hold of the subject in earnest.
and by repeated editorial presentations
nf Suhiecf have awakened public
sentiment which the Navy Department
must sooner or later recognize. Such
journals as the New York Tribune.
Brooklyn Eagle. Pittsburg Dispatch.
Washington Times. Minneapolis Jour
| nal, Buffalo Enquirer, Cincinnati
Commercial Tribune. ami others of SINH
lar standing and others the country over
are urgently demanding that the naval
authorities shall change their plans and
make the new battleships vessels in which
the nation can take just pride
The only attempt by the Navy Depart
ment to justify its decision in any way
that has come to our notice Is a Wash
ington dispatch in the New York Times
of July s, in which high naval officials
unnamed are quoted at some length The
substance of this reply We quote ver-
batim at follows:
The fixing OF a sustained speed of 16 kncts
an hour for our battleships was made after care
full consideration of the question in all its bear
ings 1t is an easy matter TO increase the speed
of ships. but without sacrificing their offensive
and defensive qualities it can only be done by
increasing their size.
In consequence of the limited depth of water in
most Of the harbors on the American coast, 1t
has come TO be an unwritten law OF naval con-
strUction in this country that the draft OF the
largest of our warships. in their normal ccndi-
tion shall not exceed "a it. Most of the big
battleships of European navies draw 2 l-2 it.
Depth is most important factor in increasing
displacement, and As it is limited in shis country
by the shalowne-s Of our harbors TO "a IT., IN
creased displacement must be sought in either
length or breadth or both.
In designing a hattleship of more than 1000
tons displacement with the draft limited TO "a IT,
the increased volume. il gained by lengthening
would result in a vessel of too great length for
efficiency, increasing the weight OF def nsive ma
terial and reducing her haudincss in squadron evo
lutions. II the beam alone be increased, the ves-
sci would be too wide for many Of our DOCKS
and would afford uneasy and highly unsatis-
factory gun platform.
I; is further held by many naval authorities to
be extremely doubtful whether higher speed
than IL knots an hour would prove OF pFsctical
value TO 4 heavy fighting ship. For steaming
long distances such a speed could not lie used.
and no squadron ever mancuvered or was any
battle ever fought at as high rate o. speed as
that.
A great deal has been said Of the superior speed
of Admiral Cerveras late squadron. but while
those ships were credited with speed of 20 knots
.'On paper InGy never, from tIe tune ap-
peared at the Canaries. showed ability to get
there" at a higher rate Of speed than ten knots:
The fact that all four OF them were overhaued
and sunk by our cruiser .Brooklyn and battle
ships OF Jar less nominal speed. although the
Spaniards had the advantage Of a start at full
speed is convincing evidence Of the futiity Of
their boasted swtftness.
II is one unfortunate feature Of the as
tonishing naval victories which have
been won by the United States feess in
the present war THAI they tend to beget
in the popular mind an over-confidence
in the powers Of our present naval ves-
sells. and a tendency to overlook the
weak points in our national defense. 1t
is natural enough that the non-techni-
cal public should take the result at
Santiago and Manila as conclusive proof
of the efficiency In every respect Of our
fleets: but it Is surprising. indeed. 10 find
such arguments used by high naval Of
ficialS."
Further as a matter of fact, the San
tiago battle offers conclusive proof to
the veriest tyro in naval strategy of the
enormous value of high speed in a fight
ing vessel. Had the Spanish cruisers been
able to reach such speeds as their ell
gine power should have given them. even
with their ba-nacle-laden hulis. the
chances are good that they would have
gotten out of range before the Ameri-
can vessels on guard could get under
way and stop them. As II was. the
tastes; of the four. the Cristobal Colon.
did outstrp the other vessels and get
entirely away and out of effective range. |
1t was then that the Brooklyn and the
Oregon undertook a stern chase after the |
fleeing vessel The former vessel has |
about the same speed rating as the |
Colon. but was not her equal In armor |
or armament and in a duel between the |
two vessels fought with equal skill on |
both sides. the Brooklyn would prob |
ably have been worsted. What the re- |
suit would have been had the two ves- |
sells fought alone will never be known, |
for the Oregon. running at sixteen-knot |
speed was able to come to the assistance |
of the Brooklyn and made the defeat |
OF the Spanish ship sure.
The newspapers are accepting the San
tiago battle as clear proof of the value of |
speed in battleship. and they are right. !
For that matter, the statement of the |
high naval officiar' that no battle was |
ever fought at a greater speed than ten 1
Knots is disproved at once by this very |
conflict. AS for other naval battles, II is
true that few or none have been |
ought with greater speed than ten knots
simply for the reason that very few naval 1
,attles have been fought with modern
,igh-speed naval ships Everyone famil-
ar with naval warfare. however. knows
hat numberless actions have been fought
With one vessel or fleet making all possi-
,le speed to escape and the enemy using
very effort to overtake them. These are
.xactly the emergencies for which high
peed In naval vessels Is demanded.
The high naval official quoted above
eems to think that the falling of in
peed which Cervera's ships showed is
,roof that the speed of contract trial
rips are no index of what vessel can
eally do. But because that proved true
With the Spanish vessels, 1t does not fol-