Evening star., 1898-08-27
Officers Of theiU. s. s. Brooklyn Tell
What They Learned.
TIE FIGHTS a M CUBAN WATERS
Efficacy Of Rapid-Fire Guns and
Advantage of Cruisers Speed.
GALLANT WORK OF JACKIES
Copyright, 1898, by the s. s. Mcclure Coz

Dy the Brooklyn during thlS war III tHe
stars" said Admiral Schley. with twinkling
ayes. He waved one hand suggestively
toward the American ensign Haunting from
the taffrail staff of the famous armored
cruiser as he spoke "As for the share of
the crew and this ship in the victory Of the
Santiago fight, only one.thing can be said
they did their duty as Americans and
American ships always have and always
will. In all my experience have never be-
fore witnessed such fatally accurate and
deadly shooting as was done by our fest as
it closed in on Cervera's squadron during
the battle of July 8. But all this is an old
story. That we happened to be in the thick
OF the fight was a piece of good luck for
which we are all thankful. The speed OF
the Brooklyn had something to DO with II!
OF course; and you can give the praise for
that to those who designed her and the
faithful crew below in the engine and mr.
rooms. Ihey worked as never men worked
before. You wish me to give your readers
an idea OF the efficiency of the armored
cruiser class OF warships as proved by the
Brooklyns experience?"
The rear admiral smiled and glanced to-
ward a number of navy yard officials just
boarding the ship, adding in his character
istic genial manner: Il am afraid l must re-
far you to Mr.. Hodgson, the navigator He
will doubtless give you the information you
desire"
Lieutenant Hodgson Is the cruisers navi-
eating officer. Admiral Schley said of him
in his report of the Santiago battle: THE
navigator, Lieut.. A. c. Hodgson was most
steady and conspicuous in every detail of
duty, contributing to the accurate firing of
this ship Brooklyn) in her part of the great
victory" He seemed 10 think that his tes-
timony could not be of much interest, but
he finally consented to talk briefly.
Armor Effective Against Spanish
Shells.
1.-THE lesson learned by the Brooklyn
he began, lis the same as that learned by
every ship in the fleet. We probably can
give better testimony from the fact that
We were struck by the enemys projectiles
a greater number of times than any other
vessel, but really the only additional knowl-
edge acquired is that Spanish shells of the
caliber fired by Cerveras ships are useless
against the three to eight-inch armor car
ried by the Brooklyn The marks and scars
show that we were reached about twenty
afloat. u
The recent war proved conclusively that
vessels of the Brooklyn type find ample
protection in thel protective deck, which is
three inches on The fiat and six inches on
the slope in the three-inch belt and in the
eight inches guarding the barbette turrets.
1T is evident that the constructors We're
happy i'll their selection of the armor The
injury reported to have been sustained dur
ing the Santiago fight when one of the COM
partments was flooded below the waterline
was due to a water valve being opened
through some unknown cause.
Triumph Of Rapid-Fire Guns.
I'm regard to the question of armament
it has been claimed in some quarters that
9. battery consisting entirely OF 6-irch rap
id-fire guns would be more efficient than
the Brooklyns present battery which in
cludes eight ,S-inch and twelve,5 ,5-inch rapid
frers and secondary battery Of twelve
G-pounders, four 1-pounders, four Colts and
two field guns. The question is susceptible
to argument, of course, but l think the s.
men guns OF the BROOKLYN did their share
in the Santiago fight. We fired 100 rounds
of S-inch shells. Those combined with tbe
S-inch projectiles fired by the Iowa Ore
gon and Indiana, worked terrible havoc on
the Maria Teresa, the Almirante Oquendo
the Vizcaya and the Colon. One of these
shells struck the latter ship, landed in the
ward room and exploded wrecking the
compartment and killing a number of the
enemy The Maria Teresa was struck nv
an o-inch shell from our ship which entered
the side just forward of the port beam
Inc proJectile burst and disabled the four
crews Oh the guns on that deck The g.
men preech-loader is formidable Weanon
and 1t is certainly not out of nlace on o.
armored cruiser ~
skiIIful Handling of Smaller Pieces
The official reports made by the sbips of
Admiral SIMPSONS fleet prove that tho
Hain results of the battle off Santa on
were achleved by the eight-nch and lower
caiipers, and the rapid-fire pieces. Too
much praise cannot be given to the man
at the iatter guns for their extraordinary
skill and ability. The perfect hail of pro-
1ectnes shoWered upon the fleeing Spanish
shlpS by the fVe-inch rapid-drers wae o.
most beyond belief. Captain EuIata's +as
timony that the Brooklyn's fire on onr
broadside was frightful, and the mon couId
rot stay at their guns proves how the
OF these terribly destructive guns are oar.
rled, only six could be used during the rim
nlng fight, as only that number WouJd hear
eaan On the @ or9adsIde but the six guns did their
WORK nobIy. The NiZcaya was hit six times
by the Brooklyn's five-inch breech-loaders
the 1nfanta Marie five, the CristobaI CoJon
four and the Oquendo five. one of the
shells exploded torpedo on the latter yase
sci with terrible effect. This shows a tots1
OF twenty hits, which, when the fact thai
the target was moving rapidly is taken
into consideration. is really remarkable.
No. taking it all in all, l do not believe
the battery of the Brooklyn can he inn.
proved. Results naturally speak for tham
selves, and the results obtained by the shin
in the recent war are eloquent
THE efficient work of the marines man
ming the secondary battery must NOT ha
forgotten. They handled the light guns
coolly and skillfully. notwithstanding their
he
advisablity of utilizing the marine guard
in such work should be considered settled y
Battle Ships and Cruisers.
The lieutenants was asked how. in b,s
opinion. armored, cruisers compared with
battle ships, as proved by his experience
on board the BROOKLYN. From the manner
of his reply it is evident he is an enthu-
siastic advocate of the Brooklyn class
Both battle Ships and fast armorea
cruisers are necessary in every fighting
fleet, he said tsbutsM think, from the
greater range of the latter and their higher
speed. they are fsalfy of more value thar
the battle ships. The moral effect on ~ an
enemy naturally exerted by craft like the
Indiana or Iowa must be admitted. b1rt for
quick. sharp work, great speed and cr,1is-
ing range and effective action, the armorsd
cruisers cannot be Beaten. what better
fighting machines can be found in anv
navy than the New York or the BrookIvna >
They have a speed of twenty knots or
more, splendid batteries, ample armor
coal supply of 1 ,461 tons. and a radius of
action of 6,0S8 knots at ten-knot speed
With the new colonial policy of the Tinted
States Ito which they are not vet commit
ted, of course, but which is surely bound
to follow such vessels as the New Yortr
and Brooklyn will be of the greatest yaIra
Future naval building programs will 60