The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1898-05-26
WAR LESSONS
ManeHvers of the Spanish Fleet
Point Out Some Serious
Naval Detects,
And Shcw the Superiority Of the
Arm0red Cruisers Over
Battleships.
The Slow Defense Vessels a Great
Hindrance to Pursuit of
an Enemy.
Country Has Heretofore Held
That Defense Vessels Alone
Are Needed.

w ASH1NGTON, May 24.-AS result
of the maneuvers executed by the SPAN
ish feet under the command of Ad-
miral Cervera, future naval construct
ors will give the armored cruiser a
prominent place in the types adopted
for defensive warfare. This perhaps.
is the best lesson taught up to this time
by thu war with Spain. Such is the
opinion of naval experts since Admiral
Cervera, with his speedy squadron, ar
rived 10 days ago at Martinique. 1t
marks the downfall of theory so
strongly advocated by Captain G. f.
Goodrich, now i'll command of the
Yale, and formerly professor of the
naval war college, that the armored
cruiser had no place in modern navies.
captain Goodrich is now probably
convinced of the value of armored
cruisers" said a prominent naval Of
fcer, Sin view Of the fact that, as
commander of the cruiser Yale, he had
been scouting for the enemy's fleet a
few days before its arrival at Marti-
nique.
1.-The armored cruiser is nothing
more than a swift sea going battleship.
J ,pan recognizes this fact, and is the
only nation that was quick to take ad-
vantage of such recognition. Her les.
son was learned at Yalu, where her
protected cruisers Of great speed and
equipped with rapid firing guns, drove
from the scene of battle the Chinese
battleships of slow speed and thick
armor."
That the lesson was well learned is
shown by the fact that Japan imme-
diately placed contracts with the Arm
strongs of England for the construc-
ton of SIX baUtleships Of great speed.
In order to get the speed, Is knots,
with the protection and armament
specified by the mikado government, it
was necessary to make the ships of
great displacement. Two of them, the
Yashima and Fuj, which are now on
their way to Japan, are of IL. 450 tons
displacement. The latter ships have a
displacement of II, $50 tons each. On
their trials the Yashima and Full de.
veloped speeds of 1876 and 1872 knots
respectively.
"These vessels are really the develop
ment of the armored cruiser type.
What would we now give for such yes.
sells under the command of Rear Ad-
miral Sampson? Two of them, with
the New York and Brooklyn, would be
able to destroy Or drive away Admiral
Cervera's squadron. This government,
in building the Iowa, obtained a type
in some respects similar to the armored
cruiser, but her speed is only 16 knots
and under present conditions is prob.
ably but IL or Il.
"Since the war began we have been
using vessels Tor purposes for which
their types unsulted them. For in.
stance, the Indiana and Massachusetts
are coast battleships. Yet they. have
been sent to sea cruising for the enemy,
when they We're really intended for de-
fensive purposes.
"Then we have been employing har.
Dor defense monitors for blockading
purposes and for offensive warfare, the
result icing to cripple the manouvering
quality of our feet, and handicapping
Rear Admiral Sampson seriously in his
offensive and defensive operations.
Every snip building policy has been all
wrong. The country has gone on the
theory that defensive navy was all
that was necessary. The present war
teaches that an offensive navy is alb.
solutely required.