Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-07-02

and this. together with other causes, in
drced him to leave q couple Of months
earlier than he had planned.
THE RAM IN NAVAL WARFARE.
What May BE Done by Hitting Below
the Water Line.
From the New York Tribune.
A feature of naval construction and war
fare which attracted the attention of ex-
perts thirty years or more ago, and for
time was exceedingly popular, is the ram.
The idea Of putting a short, stout spur
out on the stem of vessel, at or below the
water line, to be thrust into an enemy's
ship, had occurred to designers of war ves-
sells as early as 1859. In that year there
was added to the British navy the Warrior
so equipped and to the French navy the
Magenta, similarly armed. But the final
actual test Of the ram on which its future
largely depended occurred in 1862.
The confederate ironclad Merrimac bore
on her stem a spur which was used upon
the Cumberland with such deadly effect
that the latter vessel sank in a few min
utes. Four years later, off the Island of
LISA, in the Mediterranean. another in
structive engagement was fought Admiral
Tegetthoff, the Austrian commander, had
Sano, but he won a. decisive victory. The
result must be attributed in some degree.
no doubt to the Italian leaders bad man
agement Yet the chief mode of attack
was with the ram. And two of the enc
my's best ships, including the Re d'Italia,
which had been the flagship Of Persano up
to the beginning of the fight, were sunk.
A third contribution to the worlds knowl-
edge of the possibilities of the ram was
made in 1877 by the Peruvians. Their
Huascar stove terrible hole in the Chilean
Esmeralda off Iquique. In consequence of
this injury the Esmeralda, although she
had fought with amazing pluck, quickly
went to the bottom
Two much more recent illustrations Of
the destruction which this weapon is capa-
BILE of working are cited by william Led
yard Cathcart in Casters Magazine. The
first of these was the tragic loss of the
British battle ship Victoria in time of
peace Admiral Tryon was putting the
ships of his command the Mediterranean
squadron, through an unusual maneuver.
The order given involved either slip of
the tongue or an error of calcula ton, but
it was implicitly obeyed. and within a few
minutes the admiral saw the huge Camper
down swung around so that she could not
avoid striking the flagship. The Victoria
kept af1oat for ten minutes. but when she
sank she took down :21 officers and men.
including the unhappy Tryon. This event
occurred in June, 1893.
Less lamentable in degree, but not less
significant in character, was the disaster
that overlook the German warship GroSser
Kurfurst, in 1878, while proceeding west
ward along the southern coast of England.
Accompanying this vessel, and a little fur
Their off shore. was the KONG Wilhelm. an
armor-belted frigate of $500 tons displace-
ment A small merchant vessel putting to
sea crossed the bows of the Germans and
compelled them to turn their heads tenn
porarily inshore. The Kurfurst resumed
her former course before the KONG Will
helm did and before the navigators of
O fha dan hn
helm had run her ram into her consorts
side. The kurfurst carried six officers and
eighty-one men down with her. The other
officers and men on board of her escaped.
Soon after the battle of LISA the British
admiralty began to develop a class of YES
sells which were intended to fight prnci-
pally with their rams The Rupert and the
Hotspur were low ironclads of 300 and
1000 tons, and carrying one or two guns
in turret well forward. Then came the
Hero and the Conqueror which were big
ger and more heavily armed. These latter
carried Pinch guns and displaced about
5000 tons. The Polyphemus uSSD was
more exclusively a ram. for her battery
was light one. She was equipped with
torpedo tubes, however The next set of
rams. built between 1886 and 1896, and in
Guiding the Furious Vindictive Arrogant
and Gladiator. were ships of j. 700 tons dis
placement. and had light armor and pro-
tected- decks. Their largest guns are of the
6-inch rapid-fire type. and no torpedo tubes
are provided. The projection from the stem
is massive, the bow is strongly braced. and
the armor belt is wider out forward than
elsewhere: Other important notifications
were made in the design of these vessels
In order to facilitate rapid maneuvering
there are two rudders. one Just forward of
the screw ard the other aft. The dead
wood at the stern is cut away so as TO
favor quick turning.
These and other war vessels of the same
general type. not only in the British navy
but also in the fleets of other nations have
been called ram cruisers'' to distinguish
them from other cruisers. The light con-
structiOn Of the ordinary cruiser whose
function is to hunt for the enemy rather
than to fight him. which is built for speed
rather than to Withstand attack precludes
such collisions as ram must encounter
Consequently those ships which are meant
to fight with spurs on their stems are much
more strongly built, especially about the
bows.
The idea Of giving a vessel a PROV that
will rip open a hostile ship below the water
line has been applied to the heaviest battle
ships The Camperdown displaces about
10000 tons, and Is much bigger than the
Maine was. She is about as heavy as the
Oregon and Massachusetts Of the American
navy. The French battle ship Brennus
which has a spurred stem displaces II 3e5
tons. while the Italia. also equipped with a
ram. is vessel Of nearly i, 900 tons
The formidable character of the kind of
warfare here described will be better real
lied II one will remember that the biggest
guns now used in the navy deliver pro-
1ectiles only thirteen inches in diameter.
whereas ram will cut a hole big enough
to admit a two-horse team Tegetthofr
himself was so shocked by his achievement
In the battle Of LISA that he afterward
said:
IF l were to live a thousand years I
would never ram another ship. The effect
produced is different from anything else
you have in naval warfare You see the
vessel attacked at one moment. and the
next eight hundred men sliding into the
ynyfft fh. ear
are left with perfect void without any
commotion without any smoke. without
anything to make one feel that he was in
battle" 49,
THE FOUR-INCH NAVY GIN.