New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-12-05
A NAVAL ANTHOLOGY.
DESCRIPTIONS OF HISTORIC SEA FIGHTS.

TWENTY FAMOUS NAVAL BATTLES; s pIo1nss
70 Santiago. BY Edward Kirk Rawson, frot o,s
sor limited States Navy. octave Pp. xxx "f''
VI ass Boston: Thomas Y Crowell Co.
IN 1871 Sir Edward Greasy published his IA
NOUS book. Fifteen Decisive Battles OF the
World" II is a classic OF military history and'
- we may use the expression. military phi
,osophy. Professor Rawson provides In his
"Twenty Famous Naval Battles KIND or pop
ular supplement or companion to Creasys WORK.
In a series OF brief but we'll filled chapters ne
has told the stories of Salamis, Actium, bepahto'
Sir Richard Grenville's fight AT Flores IN the
Azores" the battle between the Bon Homme
Richard and the Scraps, the conflicts OF 'he
Nile and Trafalgar. the sea fights or our own
Civil War. the battle of LISA, the battles OF
Manila Bay and Santiago, and a number OF
other eventful encounters on the sea. The
scheme is n good one, since II is calculated 10
nut the general reader in possession Of con-
densed information concerning sea fights widely
separated in ancient and modern history. The
writer is not unhopeful that the day Will come
"vhen wars shall be fought In the judicial
arena. when altrlism and fraternal feeling and
The enereies Of love rather than hate. shall
usher in a golden age" but he does not look
coldly upon the great naval battles or the
world On the contrary, he pictures them with
lively emotion and an honest enthusiasm 1or
the genius and galantry which have been ais
played by heroic commanders Careful more
over. TO avoid merely spectacular treatment
OF his material. a form Of treatment WHICH,
under the circumstances, 1t must nave oeen
very tempting to employ, he takes pains 10 set
forth all the practical details involved Thus IN
his chapter on Salamis. he gives the following
instructive notes
In the earlier Homer'c times the mode or
warfare was simply to bring the ships alonsslue
each other and attack by boarding Later, az
the time Of the Persian invasion, there seem 10
have been only two tactical devices known, one
called the "diekpus" and the other the peri
Mus" The former consisted in sailing through
the enemy's oars and cutting them on or rem
dering them useless by a rapid evolution whIcn
gave the attacking party chance TO sweep
longitudnay the adversarys Vessel WIN tnS S
own. the oars being suddenly shipped ana me
momentum OF the vessel carrying confusion ana
Abstraction in its path. The latter the perlpluS
was a naneuvre by which. sailing round the
enemy's vessel. the attacking party sought an
opportunity to ram either at the stem OF De
tween the oars Ramming came later, the ram
consisting of a serrated projection, ike Nep-
tunes trident placed longitudinally at about
the water line, sometimes consisting OF ooai
head generally made OF bronze.
GranplIne irons were also used, and welghts
trced up with yards. 10 be cropped upon tile
enemys deck. Catapults ana oailiste we're IN
second rocks; archers and singers were put on
the forecastle The RhOdians had long spars
carrying kettles with live Goals, to be capsized
on the enemy at close quarters. In the accounts
OF this battle TSalamisl which have come down
N us there is no reason TO suppose that thls lat-
Ter method was not used.
II is far cry from these methods TO the
methods OF Grenville and Nelson, and again
70 those Of Farragut and Dewey but PROFESSOR
Rawson is equally at home In the discussion OF
ancient and modern ships and tactics; he Is IN
teresting whether he is describing the Dared gal
levs Of classic times. the wooden hulls OF OLD
England with acres Of spreading canvas above
them or the grmly bare steel fortresses with
which the naval forces Of to-day play their parts
IN the ouarrels Of the Powers. The author lacks
distinction of style, and his work cannot take
rank with Creasys book, or, indeed, with MS
torical productions of the most serious quahtv
But as a popular instructor his brisk and con-
densed narratives should obtain for him a GER
tain vogue His text is accompanied by maps
battle pictures, portraits and facsimiles or his
torical documents The first volume has for
frontispiece a good reproduction Of Hoppners
portrait Of Nelson. The frontspiece TO the sec
ond volume is from photograph OF Admiral
Dewey