Evening star., 1900-02-10
SPANISH WAR LESSONS
Unusual Interest in the New. Naval
Annual.
Superiority of Hattie Ships-SmalIer
RaPid-Fire Guns Displace the
Big Oncs ON ShipbOard.

leading feature is article entitled Re
cent Tendencies of Foreign Naval Develop
ment. and the Effect Thereon of the Recent
War With SPAIN. by Lieutenant Com
mander George II. Peters. This article pre-
sents in succinct shape many OF the lessons
taught by the Spanish and utilized by
the navies of foreign nations. Beginning
with the statement that the most striking
feature is the marked effort now being
made by the important maritime powers TO
increase their naval strength. the article
points out that one result of the Spanish
war was to demonstrate beyond further ar
gument that battle ships constitute the
real lighting strength of a navy, even in
France. which has long clung to the ar
mored cruiser. Armored coast defense ves-
sells have been practically ignored in new
cons truction. While the war threw no new
light on the value of torpedo boats. atten-
ton was freshly directed to their vulner-
ability. and Germany has abandoned the
building of any more small boats. Still.
some weight is attached to the moral effect
of torpedo boats and their use in training
young officers.
Small Guns Displace Large Ones.
Another war lesson was that the big guns
on board ship are secondary hereafter and
dependence must be placed upon primary
battery of rapid-fire guns of modern caIiber.
Already the German navy has reduced the
caliber of its heaviest guns to 9,t5 Above
water torpedo tubes have been abandoned.
and while some underwater tubes are re-
taned the tendency is toward clearing
battle ship completely of these devices.
Armor must be widely distributed and not
restricted to the water-line and gun posi-
tons Foreign navies are securing the very
best armor. regardless of cost. There is
universal effort to abolish wood and COM
bustibies from naval vessels Canvas boats
are to be tested. Water-tube boilers are
hpynnd 6iScnSSinn for val ND
the only question open is that of type, Tor
pedo nets have been abandoned. Tremen-
dous efforts are being made in foreign ma
vies to improve gun practice, and in Ger
many the ships go to sea every day for tar
get practice. even reserve ships, while the
British navy has largely increased its al
iowance of ammunition for prize firing. For
eign opinion criticiSeS American gun point
ers as showing much room for improve
ment. based on their performance at Ma
Mia and Santiago Commander Peters.
however. comments that never before have
fleets been so utterly destroyed through
gun fire
Germany's Naval Program.
A comprehensive idea of the tremendous
naval program of the German empire is
afforded by an article contributed by
Lieut.. l.. w. Eittelle, entitled The Crea-
tion and Maintenance Of German Battle
Fleet He gives from German authorities
in great detail all of the argument which
leads to the government demand that the
navy be increased over and above the pres
ent building program by fifty-sevcn battle
ships. fifteen laIge cruisers and thirty-siX
small cruisers, to cost /, IUU. 900 0U0 marks
de quotes German technical papers as say
ing that the government has eliminated the
continental powers in calculations based on
the attitude of foreign countries toward
the German increase. The discussion Is
sald to have narrow ed to Great Britain,
Japan and the United States, and one paper
p1.sI,I h.. g.
Will soon b. checked in the increase of
their navies by the question of manning
ships. and japan by the question of money
so that Germany will be in a position To
cope with them severaily or collectively
Inc usual chapter ON ships and torpedo
boats Is this year contributed by Lieut.
&C. {. Marsh and abounds in notes upon
the foreign construction that has taken
place during the year. and that which is
projected. The large place filed by Japan
In this chapter is worthy of note.
Ordnance and Armor.
Lieutenant Commander VIM. H. briggs
furnishes article on ordnance and ar
NOR. in which he draws many useful con-
clusions from comparison OF the Spanish
ana American ships during the late war
Contrary to some other writers, he insists
that the Spanish commanders of the tor
pedo boat desu overs lacked neither dash
nor discretion. He holds that the boats
failed to do damage owing to their ina
biiity to run through the American gun
hre. Commander briggs says that a bat
.ie snip easily can take care of two such
boats on each beam in clear weather
He takes vigorous issue with the contf-
mental writer's who have belittled the skill
of the Ans srican gUnners: disagreeing with
their statements that the percentage of hits
was only between three and four but in
sisting that even SO. that was all that was
needed. This officer attaches great value
to the automatic pistol which has been
adopted by Germany and Italy in the army
and navy, and he supplies Il full dcscriD-
ton of the details of the weapon which
fires ten bullets by one depression of the
trigger
Thorite is said TO have given the most
promising Results OF all the high explo-
sives already tested. A ten-inch shell load
ed with jovite is said to have been fired
through a fourteen-and- -half-inch face
hardened plate of nickel steel, and then ex-
Eloded by fuse in the rear. Notwithstand-
ing this feat black powder is still held to
be the best explosive for bursting shells
Our naval smokeless powder is held TO be
superior to the British cordite as demon-
strated by a trial made by the New Or
leans guns Little progress has been made
in the Improvement of armor, the years
trials simply further establishing the su-
periority of the krupp armor.
Miscellaneous Topics.
Other interesting chapters in the annual
are ''On Wireless Telegraphy,' by Lieut.
W. L. Howard; The Embarkatisn of Brit
ish Troops for South Africa by the same
officer; Last Years Naval Maneuvers," by
the same author; Notes on Boilers and
Turbines, by Lieut.. Kittclle: Target
Practice on Shipboard." from French pub
lication. and lastly. an article on the prin-
cipal navies Of the world by Naval Con-
Structor SussenSuth of the Imperial Ger
man navy, containing some remarkable fig
urcS to demonstrate the inversion in the
order Of naval strength of maritime nations
that will ensue within a few years if the
existing construction projects are executed.
RACES on THE HUDSON
University of California will Enter n