The age-herald., 1898-05-16
PERIL OF A wARsHIp,s CAPTAIN
Ills Terrible Position in the Coming Tower
 During Battle

Ills Terrible Position in the Coming Tower
 During Battle
 Park Benjamin in New York Independent.
 Of all on board, the man who stands in the greatest peril is the captan. In the battle ships and cruisers his position is in cylindrical box of steel, placed just under the bridge, we'll forward, which IS cal ed the connong tower. The armor of it is thick enough ordinarily to resist the pene- tration of heavy projectiles. II contains the speaking-tubes and electrical wires whereby he communicates with the guns, engines and helm and sometimes apparatus whereby he is enabled to fire the guns him. self after they are laid upon the enemy. His field of vision is limited to what he can see through little horizontal slit on about the level of his eye. In po.nt of frightful responsibility no situation in the world can compare with that which is occupied by the man who stands in that tower and di- rects the movement of his ship. After the conflict once begins the din about him Will be something internal Upon him the if of the enemy will be concentrated. and upon the exterior of that steel drum in which is is shut up there will be a continu ous hail or iron and steel. Shells w.ll bust everywhere around it, and to that babel will be added the roar of the force blast
 
 of the heavy guns, and the din of guns, and the din of the quick-fire and machine guns in chorus. In such circumstances this. aided by such knowledge as he can get by looking through the little peep-hole in front of him as well as the smoke will let him the captain must control the tremendous forces under his command, and his decisions are matters of seconds.
 Nobody now believes that captain who finds his vision through the slits of the tower cut off by smoke will stay thus shut up. It is extremely doubeful if 1t will be physically possible for him to remain there after the shells commence to hammer it's sides and burst against it. and, in any event, the Intense anxiety to see and know clearly what the enemy is doeing will in- eyitably lead him to take his chances in the open. Connong tower or no coming tower, his duty is to place himself at whatever point he can manage his ships to the best advantage, and this he will certainly do Lord Charles Beresford, with grim humor has suggested that the captains safest place is not in but behind his coming tow CT, 'because then he has two thicknesses of steel between himself and the emmy, don't you seer" but while coming tower armor may resist penetration, it is by no means certain that the whole structure will not be swept away by the first heavy projectle which squarey hits it.
 As for the admiral, there Is nowadays no rigging for him to ascend, and he would be promptly blown out of it if there were. In fact, after fleet engagement has begun, there is no place for him at all. He has no business in the coming tower, no busi- ness at the guns He cannot very consist ently go below, and he cannot stay on deck It has been proposed to build separate armored tower for him, or to take him off the flagship and put him on small, swift vessel, so that he could choose his position and conveniently give his orders by signals The difficulty with this would be that the enemy would concentrate his fire on that tower or ship with the certainty of sink ing the latter, and rendering the former uninhabitab1e. The problem, therefore, IS still unsolved.
 Against the effect of torpedo if 1t gets to the hull, there is no safeguard. The heaviest battle ship is just as vulnerable as the lightest gunboat The best that can be hoped is that the destruction will be limited to a few compartments, so that those remaining intact will be sufficient to keep the ship afioat. But this only puts off the evil hour. As the vessel becomes wa ter-logged, her speed falls off and her maneuvering capacity is reduced so that the enemy may then pick his position or ad- vantage and shatter her with his guns or administer a coup de grace with another torpedo.
 Altogether the prospects of one's coming out of naval engagement unhurt are far from bright. Even the wounded stand a poorer chance lIltH was tiic CnoC III tiic OiN wooden ships. How the surgeons are to get at them with the vessel divided into honeycomb of compartments with no direct interconnection where they can be convey ed directly from the guns without travers- ing doors and passages intricate and many, is difficult to understand. Those who hap pen to be stationed in the battle ships directly over the torpedo or handling rooms may perhaps be lowered at once to sur geons there placed; but what is to become of the rest in more distant positions is not clear.
 All of this goes to show the great ad- vantage of the almost perfect discipline and drill now prevailing in the navy. Tn- deed, it never has been so completely recog- nized as 1t is at the present day that the best protection for a war ships crew is their own fighting capacity. No armor is so efficient as cerity of action and good gunnerv. That ship will win. and incident ally save the greater number of lives of it's men, which first plants an effective projec- tile in vital part of the enemy. The sea fight will not be gained by the ship which withstands the most pounding. but by the ship which pounds hardest and quickest and so destroys or impairs her antagonist's pounding capacity. It is that swift attack and superior craftsmanship which above all else lcharacterizes the crews of the war ships of the United States; and 1t is in lust this that the Spaniards are most deficient
 WOULDN'T YoUF