Washington sentinel., 1898-07-16
Santiago and the YAIu.


China.
What was specially noticeable
in the battle OF the Yalu was the
great damage done both to the
Chinese and Japanese ships by
woodwork, through its taking FIRE
and splintering. Secretary Her
bert tried to substitute other mate
rials for wood in our newest ships,
and, wherever this was inconVeni-
ent, he attempted to make the
wood fireprooi by patent process.
This last device had drawbacks,
but the need ltsell was not ques-
toned, and foremost in the recon-
mendations of the Naval Board of
Survey at Santiago was the advice
that the least possible woodwork
should be used on warships. The
raVages OF fire on the Spanish ships
furnish all the argument needed on
this point, and it will be our own
fault if hereafter we neglect it.
The vast superiority OF the Jap
anese in their rapid, FIRE guns, an
advantage more than offsetting
even the Chinese superiority in
armor, was another lesson OF the
\ alu, and we find it repeated at
Santiago. The smaller caliores in
the main batteries Of the battle.
ships seem to have done exraOr-
dinarY work. They could be,hred
faster and it is only necessary to
observe the record OF shot holes
in the Board OF SurVey's report to
appreciate this iAet The story OF
OerVera's s'.aF Lieutenant says
tnat' or t.he Inlanta Maria Teresa,
thE rapid-Hre guns OF the Amer
i0 an ships were playing havoc with
our men ant riddling the upper
works of the ships" Lieut.. Car
lier OF the Furor and Lieut.. Vas
quez oil the Pluton said that the
boats were literally riddled by the
rapid-hre guns" No wonder that
the Board Of Survey dwells on this
point.
Another striking lesson of the
Yalu battle, the measureless i'm
portance Of the personnel. and
especially of skilled gunners, was
repeated at Santiago as at Manila.
This is the point that most strikes
European observers, and indeed
the Spaniards themselves, who say
that they were amazed" at the
accuracy Of our FIRE, against which
nothing could stand.
At the Yalu even the poor armor
OF the Chinese second class battle
ships at least saved them from be-
ing total wrecks, and Japan, after
| gaining victory with unarmored
cruisers, Immediately ordered
armorclads. In like manner we
see that the Spanish armored
cruisers at Santiago, though so
heavily hammered, at least were
not sunk outright, but stayed
| ahoat long enough to be beached
by their crews.
But there were lessons taught
in Santiago battle which were not
indicated at all in the engagement
at the mouth OF the Yalu. One
was embodied in the boards very
important recommendation against
carrying torpedoes, to which we
have already fully referred. An
other was that fire mains must
hereafter be carried undyr the pro-
tective deck. "a signal" says
Lieut. Imas, describing the FIRE on
his ships, was sent to the engine
room 10 start the pumps, but the
FIRE mains had been ruptured by
an exploding shell, so that no
water could be got to the fire." On
this point, accordingly, We have a
report from the board. Again, the
Chinese war showed what an ably
handled tor 2edo hotilla could do
at night, but our war has curbed
torpedo boat prestige by showing
what prompt and skilful defense
can do against these little craft, so
that, on the whole, their prowess
is now diminished rather than in
creased.
Taken altogether, the naval
teachings Of our war with Spain
are more numerous and important
even than those Of China's war with
Japan. Many things then sug-
gested have been illustrated afresh
and more fully, while several
wholly new lessons have been
added.
No More Auxiliary Cruisers Needed.