The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-03-13
NEW YORK NEED NOTFEAR.
MFR pEFEyCEs IMPROBABLE TO
ATTACK By SEA.

the AlIy-NIVFV Ds
trance to tho Hnrbor Than tho Entiro spnn-
,,b Navy Po.scsses-Then There Arc Mortars
and scores or Torpedees Bcsides-Tho Forti-
c..,,ou. nt sandy Hook. Fort ads
and Port Hnmnton-Tho Sound Entrance
-, IN. Hnrbor 10 Defended Equally Well
New york.has got a chip on her shoulder and
4, case of war she invites any foreign fleet that's
,ooking for trouble to trot along with Its big
s..t Guns md biggest boats and try to knock It
an. and here isn't any bluster or brag about
mi. either. Since the Maine was blown up in
u.vnua hartor New York has been pictured as
,defencclcss city. Her big buildings have been
nointcd out as'shining targets and a species OF
;a,ocy has been developed that has encouraged
,hs drawing and painting Of imaginative pic.
,rres showing how New York would look after
,,n. fifteen or twenty minutes of firing by a
hostile feet. Tho officers Of the United States
Army and Navy;hnve not thought 1t necessary
N make any statement in reply to these fool
stories and fool pictures.
The facts are that New York is practically
impregnnhlc. SO long rs he- defcnces hold out
m vessel. no fleet OF vessels afoat, could get
within range of the city. No gun on'any man
otwar that floats could throw q shell any
nearer TO the city than New Utrecht, and IL n
shell got AS close as that the boat that fred tho
,bot would be at the bottom of the hay before
,he could throw a second she'll. As to tho
length OF time the defences OF Now York could
hold out against a foreign fleet, no matter what
ia size, there need be no apprehension on that
score. New Works defences could not be sue
~cesstully assaulted from the sea. They could
not, be got at; and there is not one chance in
ten millions that they would ever have to BIZ de-
E.ioJ iron, land attach aNCnnt I'm Casa nf n
civil war.
The officers OF the United States Army who
have in charge the defences of New York are
not talking at all about their plans of defence
and are not telling anything In detail about the
means OF defence that they have at hand. THE
Sun, however. can speak with knowledge Of
the facts when it tells something Of the defences.
To begin with. New York city is admirably
located for defensive purposes. From the
entrance of the harbor to the Battery the dis
lance is more than twenty-one miles. No gun
that has ever been made can shoot that dis
lance. no matter what the elevation may be.
Next, OF this entrance to the harbor there are
more ten and twelve inch rifed guns ready for
business than there are big guns in the entire
Spanish Navy. II the whole Spanish Navy
should attack New York at the same instant
the defence guns would outnumber the Spanish
guns, hnu Ill pUlnL VI Effectiveness CdCh ociCnCC
gun would be better than any three guns that
the Spanish Navy possesses.
There are four entrances to New York har-
Dor. They are the Gedney Channel, the main
shiu channel. the South Channel, which runs
into tho Swash Channel, and the East Channel.
Any ship wantingto get into New York har-
Dor must come through one of these channels.
The nearest point to New York city that any
vessel OF man-of. war draught could reach with
out entering one of these channels Is of Coney
Iiaad and Manhattan Beach. ships could
find deep water of Rockaway Beach, but that
would be too far away.
Now as to the means of attack. The biggest
guns carried by any Spanish man-of-war are
teninch rifles. A ten-inch gun In q barbette
has an effective range Of five or six miles. The
arge'is SO short because the gun cannot be
elevated to q sufficient height to make 1t
longer. An unprotected ten-inch gun. that is.
a gun not in a barbette or turret. has a range
perhaps two miles greater on shipboard.
This longer range would require the extreme
elevation that ran bc'given to a gun afioat.
Now, from the entrance TO tho harbor, within a
radius of eight miles, there is hardly anything
that can be damaged. From the point men,
toned nearest New York, of Coney Island
and Manhattan Beach, eight miles would in
elude Flatbush, Flntlnnds, New Utrecht, and
CAnarsie. II might also include some narts
Of BROOKLYN south nj Greenwood Cemetery
This Il the Ior pnst range nossible for anv p,n
In the Snanisb Navy on a vessel living outside
the harbor.
Now for the defenccs Tbev ors ,ocat.d o+
Sandy Hook. Fort Wadswortb Fort Hamilton
and Plum Island which "a In sbeenshead Raw
between Concv IsI,, ord Graynsend A.
Sandy Hook and Fort wadsyvor,b and Fort
Hamilton there orc for,iec.tio,s ,y,,h ,pod,rn
guns, Az sandy uooL o,ono thouo A.. ho,,voon
forty and At,v moJerr Ton md tuo,ro iroh
rInei cannon There ors tw.ntr t,yo1ve-ipcb
guns alone. These I'M. = oop,h,s y, nm
elevation TINT oiv., ,bo,, a r,n.a ~ ,,ro,,o
miles, Shoot,,, In n s,r.tch, ,Ino ~, curse
they could M. throw , oroioo,;lo a,rthtnn
like that distance. h,, oIoratod th.r a. a.
tremendous nroioo,;,os Ioa,,os ,,i,h -
on A give, ohi.,t ,n,,na r,,os tn
ain would no, bo % nocrra,o os &, r,or,a ho
at shorter ron,os h,t a. ,ro,,d ~ $50.
enough IN bit a shtn ,u,IS, 49, al
tance, Twelve mi,os t.o,, 81 IL, -,
include Flo,bnsh Tra,,ons. c.,a 60
Island, GrovesonJ pooramor poaoh ~, ~,
No.. ~"