The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-18
THE TINES WASHINGTON; SUNDAY. MARCH IS. 1900

Certain foreign governments have gone
much further ahead in this direction than
have We One European power Franco
has already melinite shell in service on
its warships. We may expect then in the
next naval war an attack from these pro-
jectiles not only from shore but from ship
board batteries. Now we have in the Eng
lish Navy battleships of the Majestic type
which with the exception of the parts
covered with heavy weight armOr. would
be targets at Will for an attack of these
projectiies. For the battleships the entire
main deck space. fore and aft, with the
exception CT the eight easements, would
be a shambles in fifteen minutes. AS for
the cruisers of the Powerful type they
would serve as mere sport and pastime for
an energetic enemy. Their only defence
would be in the fire of their own guns-or
in fight"
The French battleships, according to Gen.
eTal de la ROGUE, are not only better sea
boats than the English, and hence have
more stable gun platforms. but they. are
better protected throughout their entire
length and have decidedly superior artil-
lery. With a fleet of such bait. eships to
clear the way for transports, the French
general is confident that the invasion of
England would be a much simpler thing
than the English themselves suppose. So
fixed is General de la ROGUE in his opir-
ion that the mission of the French Navy
in the war with England is to make way
for the landing of French army en- Eng
fish soil, particularly in England, Ireland,
and Egypt, that he can see no other uSe for
it. He says:
IF. contrary to my views. this aggress-
i've action upon the territory of the British
Empire were decided to be impossible,
then l would be OF opinion that our navy,
maintained at such great expense, is a
luxury which We had better abandon, de-
voting the money it costs to works OF Ia
tional utility and to our army.
vulnerable Points Many.
. ''The area of the English possessions is
great: the vulnerable points for various
reasons are numerous. Thirty or forty
thousand men, real troops, resolutely land
ed in England itself, would not be easily
dislodged by the rich and majestic regi-
ments of Great Britain -. -s.-
After thus outlining the part the French
Navy will play in the war with England,
General de la ROGUE proceeds to exp. und
his programme for this years develop
ments of the country's sea power with the
view of making it most effective for tee
ntiEnglish part it is to pay. He is, be
fore and above all thing. for battlesh ps.
He reproaches the sensible naval men of
France for not speaking out more unre-
servedly against the rage for cruisers, gun
boats, and torpedo boats. ]
They joke among themselves" says the
General, about maritime dust and ill
protected. illbuilt parliamentary cruis-
ers.' which are incapable of firing a shot
the moment the sea becomes a little rough.
They relate in private CONVEX sation that on
the return voyage from Kiel the much
Wanted Dupuy de LONE rolled so that
she could not have landed n single shot on |
her consort, the battleship Hocne, whose |
deck, on the other hand. was so steady !
that she could have riddled the Dupuy de |
LONE with guns fired from platforms al !
most as stable as those under the rifles OF
a land battery. They say these things +
among themselves, but they do not say |
them publicly and authoritatiyely, as they /
shout do.
1t Is time for them to affirm regardless OF I
that the ship for naval COM I
bat is the armorclad battleship--the battle |
ship with everything above its water line,
as well as its large calibre artillery, pro- !
tected even from the enemy's hardest !
blows. Such ship should have great sta |
bility of platform combined with the great |
est mobility in evolution. so as to multiply !
the rapid action OF its heavy artillery at |
the decisive moment of the combat"
Gen. de la ROGUE is not in favor Of ex-
lggerated fore-and-a armament, but |
would put much of the weight that now
goes into these guns into heavier broad
sides The French ships of the Suffren,
Gaulois. and st. Louis type
are overloaded with guns the thinks,
which is an errcr to be guarded against.
His naval programme for the year, in
general terms, is to set every arsenal and
,hipbuilding plant to work turning ont bat
leships of from II 900 to u 600 tons, at the
ate of five every two years. AS these
;essels would rarely. if ever leave the
French and English coasts, wide radius of
iction and speed are secondary considera-
ions
To supplement the battleship he would
AVE a proportionate force of partially pro-
ected, lightly armed cruisers to serve as
scouts and sea cavalry. And. above ALL
lie would have great haste made in the
construction of transports to be used. after
he French fleet has broken the British
laval line of defence. in conveying the half
million or so of French soldiers to the vul-
ierable points on the shores Of the British
sles-New York Sun.