The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-28
THE WARS NAVAL LESSONS.
DEDUCTIONS MADE by ONE OF THE
OFFICERS ON THE IOWA.
W hat lie Learned in the Fight-He
Deems ships of War Ineffective
Against Land Batteries-SmoIScIes
Powder Indispensable.


Deems ships of War Ineffective
Against Lnnd NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Powder Indispensable.
From the Boston Transcript
United States Batueship Iowa, on San
! tiago, July.--At the risk of saying some
things that are abvious, and of repeating
observations made by others. l viii sum
Marie the naval lessons I see in our fight
with Cervera's squadron. And let me
say right here no one person can write a
true and just story of such an action No
one sees it all and the best descriptions
are compilations. The newspapers CORE
| spondents get their accounts in This way.
They come aboard and gather up details
| from all of us, and then combine the re-
each man in the action sees how made
quate the best stories arc.
Again, though my conclusions may be
repetitions of the observations Of others
they cannot but be incomplete, for all the
information to be had is not yet al hand
Only after the Spanish wrecks have been
thoroughly examined when all the official
reports are in, and the facts and conditions
of the fight have been exchanged and dis
cussed. shall we be in a position to get
all the knowledge possible out of our ex-
perience and that of the Spanish squadron.
This battle viii be accepted toy some ma
val experts as the only one Of modern
times that could be counted on for theo-
retical conclusions Of value 70 the builders
of warships. In the Yalu river the in
equality of the two sides in character
caused students to hesitate about draw
ing many differences from it. 1t is true
we have only emphasized the Yalu les
sons in many respects, but l think we can
go ahead with the two together, one
| checking the other, to say positively that
We have learned something.
To go back a Bit the ineffeCtiVeneSs of
| feet against land batteries is demon
srated. l think by our bOmbardment of
San Juan and Santiago. We failed to re-
duce their works. We silenced them all
right enough. AS we gained in skill, We
| were able to drive the gunners away very
| quickly. But their silence was only tenn
| porary, even when the batteries were
weak and the conditions all favorable to
| our ships; when our guns numbered TWEEN
! ty TO one
| Everybody knows by this time that the
! batteries guarding Santiago harbor are
! on the bluffs, some of them 900 feet above
/ the water line. This unquestonably
/ makes them harder TO hit but it likewise
| increases the difficulty for their aim We
! found out the difference in the latter re-
| spect when the same gunners probably)
| came out in the ships. The first broad
| side from Cervera's squadron was much
! more effective than the fire of the shore
/ batteries and this, despite the fact that
| the range during the bOmbardment was
! often less than at the opening of the sea
| fight. when the Spaniards fired 50 well
The ability of a watchful and efficient
! fleet to ward off hostile torpedo boats has
remained for months blockading port in
| which there were always two torpedo
boats Our ships lay sometimes as close
in as a mile OFF the entrance. And several
attempts were made by the destrOyers TO
attack us. None of them got out with
out being seem and always they were
driven back. Our readiness was the
thing. In South American waters torpedo
attacks have been successful several
times and the torpedo boats were no.
where near as swift and powerful as the
Spanish destroyers Furor and Pluton. 1t
is safe to say that we have shown that
If a man-Of-war * ready at all times to
open up instantly an efficient rapid fire
that ship has little or nothing to fear
from torpedo boats. With the rapid-fire
guns a modern vessel can throw a storm
of shell into an enemy.
A torpedo boat, with her paper sides,
might as well sink herself before starting
SO certain is she of destruction. There
must be swarms of these boats TO have any
prospect of success against a modern ship
of any size, even when the circumstances
are most favorable for the attack. Search
light tactics were well brought out by the
blockade, and the great service that they
can do. Without the searchlights our feet
could not have kept the Spaniards penned
III "a
night, the entrance of the harbor by
swinging the light slowly from side 10 side
over all the water, nothing could have es-
capped unseen by the picket boats
Then, TOO, the light was of great service
in indicating to the crews manning the
guns just where TO direct the fire. Since II
was an invariabe rule never to throw The
beam of a searchhght on one of our own
vessels there could be no doubt left in the
mind Of the gun pointer as TO the hostile
character of the approaching vessel. II
eliminated all the delay and liability of
error to which any verbal orders are so
liable.
The necessity of a secondary fleet, as 1t
might be called, was also shown. The num-
Der of important and hazardous missions
was 50 great for these smaller vessels that
they were more constantly on the so than
the proVerbial fashion butterfly in the
hight OF the season The work of these
care should be taken that they be given
great credit for their efficient and valuable
services. Indeed. these smaller craft are
noted for the lack Of space aboard for
'idlers"
1t is obvious. Of course, that a large sup
ply fleet is indispensable. A ship can't run
without fuel, and in war times the boilers
seem 10 eat up coal Nor can "A crew, no
matter how brave, fight as well hungry as
It can on a fun stomach. 1T Is hard work
TO fight on cracker hash" so let there be
plenty Of supply ships. our repair ship.
Vulcan was an indispensable adjunct, and
SO, Of course, was the ammunition supply
chip. After each engagement every ship,
no matter how little she used, brought hol'
ammunition supply up TO the limit. The
hospital ship has TO a feet not only the OBJ
vious use that makes IL a necessity; Il gets
out OF sight the wounded men, and Is a
comforting thing to know is near at hand.
Perhaps one Of the most important les
sons Is the advantage Of smokeless pow
der. With the incessant firing of our
ships there was always smoke hanging
around some mart ~ fhe ehipfe batteries