The evening times., 1898-06-29
Havoc Wrought by One That
Hit 'hfTe1as.
MISSILES OF IMMENSE FORCE
A Correspondent Describcs the Ter
Went Through the Side of the
Ship as If the Armor Were Made
of Paper.

|
| lows:
When wrote my description of the
landing of the army at Baiquiri yester-
day i mentioned incidentally that the
Texas took part in the strategic move
| ment intended to cover the landing. The
duty assigned to the ship was that Of
| shelling the western batteries at the en-
trance to Santiago harbor. This duty
was undertaken single handed. and in
half an hour the batteries had ceased to
reply. In the hurry of catching the mail
| steamer / had not time to ascertain
| whether any of the enemys projectiles
had hit the Texas, and besides 1 was ten
| miles away to the eastward. Today the
| Texas came into Guantanamo Bay to
transfer eigh; wounded men to the hospi-
talship Soiace and l then learned that
| for once the Spanish gunners had made
hit. They had succeeded in planting
shell on board the Texas. The projectile
killed one man and wounded eight others
and did considerable damage to the ves-
| sci herself By the courtesy of Capt.
! Philip I was permitted to go on board
the Texas and see the effect of the Span
| ed, is a second-class battleship built.
with some notifications. to designs pre-
| pared by Mr.. Laird Cloves, in compet-
| tion with other naval experts. The YES
| sci is one of the best fighting ships in the
United States Navy. and is quite gener-
| ally admitted to be the best sea boat I'M
der the flag.
As a proof of this Lieut. Haslar, the
chief officer told me that they have never
yet used "fddles''-those denominations
to the landsman-on board the vessel
Lieut.. Haslar himself conducted me over
the ship. and pointed out the havoc
wrought by the Spanish shell. The pro-
jectile was steel 6-inch shell. fired. II
is believed, from one of the high-power
ships guns that have been mounted on
the Santiago fortfications since Admiral
Cervera's fleet was blockaded in Santiago
harbor. II struck the Texas on the port
bow, between the gtin deck and the spar
deck. bursting in the forward compart-
ment. where there are six 6-pounder guns
three on either side. The crews of all
these guns were at quarters and there
were besides number of other men in
the compartment at the time.
1t is miraculous THAT only one man was
killed and eight wounded. The part of the
ship hit is outside the central citadel and
above the protected deck. The sides of
the ship at the point OF impact consisted
OF steel plate one and a quarter inches
thick. The shell pierced this like so much
paper, hit a metal stanchion amidships
and exploded aboue seven feet from the
plating on the starboard side. A note
worthy feature of the steel plating was
that 1t afforded no splinters or debris to
carry inboard. II was torn into ribbons
and folded back in a way that gave the
impression that the tough metal had been
half melted by the impact and passage of
the projectile. The shock however was
not sufficient to explode the she'll and had
1t missed the stanchion II would have
passed through the starboard side and
possibly exploded outside the ship. I'm
fortunately. the stanchion was directly in
the path of the shell, and the heavy metal
column offered enough resistance to ex-
plode 1t. The effect was terrific.
Although the shell was only a small !
one, inches in diameter, and therefore
not weighing more than about seventy |
pounds, it Practically wrecked the big |
compartment in which il burst while the |
smoke from it forced itself down the am |
munition hoists and into the forward COM !
partments of the ship. SO that for a few !,
minutes the crew was almost suffocat- |
ed. The stanchion was shivered into at |
oms for two feet of its length, and the |
fragments of the burst shell. flying for |
ward against the starboard side, bulged |
of inches. Just at this point one of the |
big double-headed angle irons of the |
ships frame was situated. This great rib |
of steel, nearly twice as thick and heavy |
as railroad rail, was cut through in two |
pieces as if it had been made of cheese, |
and nearly two feet of it was carried |
away bodily in minute pieces. The base
of the shell plowed furrow down the
steel deck just as 4 plow would cut
through the soft soil of fallow field
1t hit and broke another rib of the ship.
and, breaking itself in two, both pieces |
lodged in a cable reel standing close to the
starboard side. The core of this reel was
a prism of oak over feet in circumfer-
ence and there was wound on 1t at the
time coil of hemp hawser that made a
cylinder about feet in diameter The
hemp rope was cut through to the wood
and the stout oaken prism was shivered
to splinters. This one fact alone would
be sufficient to give an idea of the appal-
ling energy of modern projectiles.
Showers of steel splinters resulting
from the exploded shell itself and the torn
stanchion and angle irons, swept along
the starboard side for about so feet cut
ting off heads of bolts. breaking gun fit
tings and stripping off the paint as if
score of men had worked for hours with
steel chisels.
Every man in its path was wounded.
One gunner was hit with no fewer than
fifteen pieces of steel. each about the
size of hazel nut. At the moment the
shell exploded one man was standing
right in its path. He was literally blown
to fragments. He was talking to n COM
rade, and, strange as 1t may seem, the
latter, although less than an arms
length away, was unhnrt, save for be-
ing knocked down by the shock of the
explosion. Others of the men, thirty
feet from the fatal shot had dozen
pieces of the she'll plunged into their
bodies. =. cr
A remarkable feature of the explosion
was the smallness,, of sthe pieces into
which the shell burst. e 1t shivered into
fragments weighing about an ounce The
only piece of any size picked up was
rather less than haIf,r the base. lust
enough to enable 1t to be ascertained
hat it had been al six-inch shell. fired
rom high-power,i breech-loading gun.
md exploded by percussion fuse fixed
N the nose In
When a small 6-inch shell is sufficient |
,ient to cause all the havoc which have
to describe one stands appall-
ID at the thought of what will be the
ate of a ship that is hit by a huge
2 or 13 inch shell filled with
high explosives If the people who clam
n SO loudly for war and prate of the
'omance and glory of battle could only
'e made to realize what are the possibil-
ties of modern ordnance and projectiles
hey would hardly be SO inhuman as to
lazard even their enemies much less
heir own sons and brothers, before them
n action. -