The times., 1898-07-23
RATTLEsHIPs IN ACTION.
An Officer CT the royva Writes of His
Experience.

An Officer Of the royva Writes of His
Experience.
| One of the officers Of the battlcship
| Iowa, in letter to the New York Com
mercial Advertiser. has gwen his views
as to the effects of heavy firing upon
ships and men. and other interesting
facts of a professional nature. He says:
This battle will be accepted by some
naval experts as the only one of modern
times that could be counted on for theo-
.etical conclusions of value to the buio-
ers of warships. In the Yalu River the
inequality of the two sides in character
caused students to hesitate about draw
ing many inferences from It, 1t is true
we have only emphasized the Yalu les
sons in many respects. but think we can
go ahead with lhe two together, one
checking the other, to say positively that
we have learned something
ITO go back bit, the effectiveness of a
fleet against land batteries is demon
strated, | think. by our bombardment of
San Juan and Santiago. We failed to
reduce 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 200 feet above
the water line. This unquestionabiy
makes them harder to hit. but 1t likewise
increases the difficulty of their aim. We
found out the difference in the latter re-
spect when the same gunners (probaby)
came out in the ships. The first broad
side from Cerveras 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 so well.
he ability of a watchful and efficient
fleet TO ward off hostile torpedo boats has
been fully brought out Gere we have re-
mained for months blockading a port in
which there were always two torpedo
boats Our ships lay sometimes as close
in as mile off the entrance And several
attempts were made by the destroyers to
attack us. None of them got out without
being seen and always rney were driven
back. Our readiness was the thing. In
South American wars torpedo boat at
tackS have been successful several times
and the torpedo boats were nowhere near
as swift and powerful as the Spanish de-
stroyers Furor and Pluton. 1t is safe To
say that we have shown that if a man
of-war is 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 the modern
vessel can throw storm of shell into
an enemy. A torpedo boat. with her
paper sides. might as we'll sink her
self before starting. 50 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 off
the blockade and the great service that
they can do. Without the searchlights
our fleet could not have kept the Span
/ iaris penned up.
illuminating as we. did. night after
night the entrance of the harbor by
! swinging the light slowly from side to
/ side over all the WsteP nothing could
/ have escaped 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
/ IL was an invariabe rule never to throw
/ the beam of a searchIight 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 ves-
/ sci. II eliminated all the delay and liza
! bility 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
/ number of important and hazardous mis-
/ sions was so great for these smaller YES
/ sells that they were more constantly
on the go than the proverbial fashion
butterfly in the height of the season.
The work of these dispatch boats was
most exhausting. and care should be
taken that they be given great credit for
their efficient and valuable services. In
deed, these smaller craft are noted for
the lack of space aboard for Idlers'
1T is obvious, of course. that a large
supply fleet is indispensable. A ship can't
run without fuel, and in war time the
boilers seem TO eat up coal Nor cana
crew, no matter how brave fight as well
hungry as they can on full stomach. 1t
Is hard work fighting 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 ammu-
milton supply ship. After each engagement
! every ship, no matter how little she used
! brought her ammunition supply up to the
/ limit. The hospital ship has to fleet
not only the obvious use that makes it
necessity; it gets out of sight the wound
ed men, and is a comforting thing to
know is near at hand"