Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1898-07-14
HE DECIDES BATTLES
1T rs THE MAN AND NOT THE
PROJECTIlE.
England Alarmed Over Us - Accuracy
OF Our Marksnen on Deweys Battle
ships Has Made John Bull Look to
His Sea Fighters

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From the Military and Naval Record:
The remarkable shooting Of the Ameri-
can gunners at the battle Of Manila has
opened the eyes of the naval men of
Europe. 1t has convinced the nations
that, after all, II is the man behind the
gun, and not the thickness of armor or
the estimated horsepower Of the en-
glnes that comprises the chief defense
OF ship In naval fight 1t Is no
new thing for England to get in a state
Verging on panic at the condition OF her
navy. Periodically a furious onslaught
is made on the naval experts and adj
miralty officials by some member OF
parliament or cranky taxpayer, and the
whole country trembles at the idea
OF It's naval strength having been over
estimated or wilfully misrepresented.
just now the scare owes it's origin to
the remarkable accuracy and deadliness
or the American guns. Britons are
comparing the records made at Manila
with the scoring during the practice
nre OF the British crews, and are ask
ing with good deal of feverish appre-
hension where their own gunners come
In. This has started a mass of CORE
spondence and special articles on the
subject of naval gunnery and naval
training. According to our authority,
the gunnery practice In her majesty's
navy is regarded rather more as a nee
essary evil than as duty that, for the
n IA he Of fire
place Importance. Here is his calm
statement regarding the gunnery prac-
tice in the royal navy: 1T is a usual
thing for the signal to be made, Spread
for target practice; rejoin by such and
such time, the consequence being
the practice is carried out in a hurried.
panicky way, without sufficient super
vision or correcting of errors made, in
order to get 1t over Who has not
heard something like the following:
Why don't you fire that gun? Can't
see that target, sir Never mind that;
fire at the splash Bang! and away
goes pounds and pounds of the unfor-
tunate rate-payer's money into the sea.
The allowance of ammunition is very
small, only eight rounds quarter being
allowed for such guns as a Az or 6
inch quick-firing gun, ten rounds for
the lighter quick-fring and four rounds
for the 12-inch wire and upward The
allowance for the heavy quick-firing
represents four rounds each for Nos
and 2, or less than minutes firing
once every three months. II, in addi-
ton, this allowance is exceeded when
prize firing (when the number of
rounds fired in the two minutes allowed
is unlimited the amount fired in excess
OF the allowance has to be deducted
from the next quarters allowance; or,
suppose smart Az guns crew fired six
teen rounds, which they should do in
two minutes, they get no more practice
for six months, which is, as Euclid
would say, absurd. In addition to the
ammunition proper, however, the adj
miralty allow an immense amount Of
tube cannon ammunition, which is in
tended for individual instruction OF
unframed, or partially trained, men,
and should be expended as SUCH II is,
however, too frequently fired at the
same time as the heavy gun practice
going at once, for the same old story
to get it done The range suitable for
heavy gun practice is, of course, quite
out of the range for tube cannon. while
from the number Of guns at once no
man can see what his shots are doing
and individual supervision becomes i'm
possible; the result is, a man comes
I'M TO his gun blaZes away hie tan
rounds or so with fixed sight, which
is probably wrong, and departs as wise
as he started" These criticisms are Sc
we're enough, but the officer quoted goes
even further. He declares that returns
or the practice at the targets are
Judged" or, in other words the figures
are given as frst-class when in reality
the practice has been abominable. thus
deceiving the admiralty officials and
giving the British public an entirely
erroneous idea Of the skill OF their sea-
men gunners. To sum up the matter
in the language of the expert referred
to, after reviewing the recent great vic
tory at Manila, he says: 1T cannot
be denied that the ship that gets in the
first hit stands 80 per cent better
chance Of winning the action than
when she started; ship that could
make certain of 80 per cent hits under
ordinary conditions Of weather at
range of $500 yards and inside could
cheerfully engage three modified yes
sells with scratch crews"
CautIons for Rather.