The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-01-03

Claims that in the Battle with
ccrvcra's Fleet less than one hit per
gun was 3fade-our lombard.
ments OF no vnluc as Indicating
Strength OF Armor.cInds and Forts.
WASHINGTON. D. c..Jaa. IA very
remarkable criticism OF the main fea-
lures OF the war, with Spain is that
made public by the oflce OF naval intel
{ l!gsnce In the shape OF a pamphlet con-
4 talnlns the comments OF Rear Admiral
Pluddetpann, Of the German navy. This
article was originally published in a
technical German paper over the sigma
turc OF tho author. In one respect at
least this criticism, coming from for
i elgner whose ABSOLUTE neutrality cannot
3 be questioned, Is worthy OF attention.
Z namely, In the extremely scientific an
4,alysIs he has made OF the many small
details that goto make up defeat or VIC
glory In, a battle.
> His object was TO chow how the war
y had affected prcconceiyed notions OF
naval warfare. HIS conclusions are In
terosting. In the first place, he declares
4 that the war Will lead to no radical
4 revolution OF the present ideas. though
f3t has enriched former experiences. Still
{ Il might lead to erroneous conclusions.
as many good devices did not have q
rh ~ In. al hn ~
the adversary making them superfluous
B and others not good did not have bad
y results because they were counter-bal-
anced by the defects and mistakes on
Y the part Of the enemy or, by other tay-
orablc circumstances.
The admiral discusses the naval op-
s erations under five heads-the moral
qualities ofthe personnel. the construc-
tion and equipment OF the ships, the ar
tlllerf. the torpedo, the ram. and speed!
The. torpetlo and the ram were not tried
In the last war. because the ships never
approached close enough. and he Ques-
tons whether the two. boats sunk by
the Olympia Mt cavite were really tor
pedo-boats. Artillery and speed have
proved TO be much more essential fac
! tors In warfare. The superiority of.the
4 American artillery is well known. The
i shooting OF the Americans was very
good. while that Of the Span!ards was
exceedingly bad.
Il The admiral shows that this was for
tunate for. the Americans because so
u few Of their shells exploded that It was
4 only because of the large number OF
% hits made that such success was OBJ
AZ tanned The faiiurciof the shells dis
= Covcred nj San juan was most notice
z able at Cavlte. At this point the al
n mlral includes table showing in de-
Il tall the exact damage inflicted on the
7 ships sunk by Dewey: information that
s. has never before reached the navy de-
partmert. In such complete shape. He
& shows. that the FIRST two shots fired by
n the Olympia were found unexpected.
y He shows that the American feet Mt
y Santiago. carrying. one hundred and
Il seventy guns from the smallest TO the
i largest. made hut one hundred and SIX
i ty-three hits. This Is rot quite one hit
/ per gun. or. leaving out one-pounGcrs.
Il which have only short range OF fire,
nine hits to eight guns. Not one hit
was reported fc- the eight thirteen
Inch guns IN the American fleet ard
only Two lot the Sin tWelNc-lncn guns.
\ Attention 10 called 10 the explosion OF
4 mn e!Zht-iEch shell In the forward tur-
Z ret OF the. OqrenGo. This killed the
n whole Grey, and It is said would not
Il have occurred Il the turrct had had no
n roof In NJ case has an arulor belt
i been pierced. The greatest destruction
was wrought b. the siS-poundcrs.
n The admiral thinks that we may be n
3 little over nasty In doing away with the
Il one-pousders on their failure to achieve
z results II the battle OF Santiago. since
+ they were constructed primarily against
torpedo-boats dnd for use at short dis
b tanccs. The article states that the
4 American material has demonstrated
: not only It's efficacy. but also its dura-
4 billty. as onlS' four guns were In need o.
q repairs at the end or the war, In all OF
which projectiles had burst In the bore.
y This fact. taken in connection with 9th.
: er frequent failures OF fuses. says the
n admiral. shows that the construction OF
the, fuse In America Is still far from
perfect. 49,