The Washington times., 1901-11-24
HARSHIPS LOST IN
FINES or PEACE.
ENGLAND A HEAVY LOSER.
Americas Record Not So Bad,
Though by No Means Free-Tor.
pedo Boats Especially Subject to
Disaster.

is proved by the large number of disasters
that have oyertaken them at comparative
Iy short intervals. But even these mis-
haps do not deter naval powers from ex-
pending millions to build ships, for peace
must be preserved in spite OF the cost; !;
and il peace is broken. then 1t must be re-
stored regardless of the cost Of personnel
and expenditures OF material. However,
the frequency Of disasters recently to tor
pedo boats has caused discussion among
naval experts as to the advisability of
continuing to add these mosquito-like
boats to the fighting siusdrons.
The torpedo boat is a complicated.
densely packed box of machinery. built as
light as possible in order to obtain the
highest possible speed. The hull is OF
steel not mere than a quarter Of an inch
thick, and while the frames are SO con-
structed as to make the hull fairly rigid
the frequency of accident, especially in
the British navy. proves that they have
faults which have not yet been possible
to avoid. There is only this thin sheeting
of steel between the crew and death at
all times, the risks being increased by the
amazing pace at which these craft cut
their way through the water.
n SeIIOuS SAtastEVPhts
One of the most serious catastrophes
to this class of war weapons occurred on
September Is, when the torpedo boat de-
stroyer Cohra foundered at sea, and OF
the seventy nine persons on board only
twelve were saved. The accident has
been variousIy ascribed to a collision
with submerged wreck, whale. and
hidden shoal. But the most reasonable
proposition is that she was doubled up
like a hinge by an explosion and plunged
to the bottom stern first The court OF
enuuiry's verdict is that she simply col
Iapsed because she was structurally
weak" The fact remains that she was
wipei of the naval list from battle with
only an ordinary storm. Only few weeks
later, on October 10. the English torpedo
boat destroyer Vulture buckled up in
heavy seas while on her way from Ports
mouth to Portland, and barely escaped
She, however, reached Ports
mouth a couple of days later, when it
was found that several of her plates were
broken in. ENTHUSIASTICALLY weak.
Britannia rules the waves" has been
a maxim hallowed by time, If not by rec
ord of accidents; for England has been
less exempt from loss ot her ships by
the elements than any other nation-Tery
likely in the percentage as well as in the
number itself In the eighteenth century
she was especially unfortunate In Octo-
Der. ITO, fourteen of her warships lone
of the 74-gun class, two of the 64-gun
class, one of "A guns, and the others
ranging from II to 32 guns each) were
caught and destroyed in a terrible tenn
pest in the West Indies. 1t was the
greatest disaster that England had ever
experienced in her naval fleets, an entire
feet being struck of her naval list at
"one fell swoop-"
England n Heavy Loser.
There were several vessels lost to the
English navy before the nineteenth CEN
tury began, one of the worst losses be-
ing that of the 6S-gun frigate Ardent,
which was blown up of Corsica in April.
1874, and all hands {about five hundred)
were lost.
There have been disasters in other ma
vies as well, but not so large proportion
as in the British navy. The United States
Navy has not been exempt by any means,
but while there has been more or less
of American naval officers. and
some have suffered the penalties of the
there has been a smaller
OF losses than in the English
service.
whats il name?" is an old and ia
niliar maxim: but there is a good deal.
n the opinion of many naval men, TO en-
courage superstition wIen one recalls the
osses of some of the ships For instance.
he people of Boston felt honored when
me of the first vessels TO be built for the
modern steel navy was named the Bos-
ON. but she was not the first. The first
Boston. built in that city in 1176, was a
,4-gun frigate. but she was captured at
Charleston. S. c.. when that city sue
;umbed to the British during the Revolu-
ton. Boston No. 2 was sunk in the battle
IN Lake Champlain in 1913, she being one
Of Arnold's fiotilla. Boston No was
burned in 1914 at Washington TO prevent
her falling into the hands of the enemy.
Boston No. 4 was lost in the West Indies
in a hurricane in 1876. Boston No. is
still aioat, but she has met with several
accidents, more or less important.
Four Philadelphia.
The United States Navy has had four
the first being wrecked on
reef off Tripoii in 1903; fell into the
lands Of the harbarians; was recaptured
y Decatur. after being raised by the Al
,erians, and burned by him. The second
nd third of this Iame were also lost-No.
under Arnold. being sunk in battle in
s12 on Lake Champlsin, and No. was
unk by torpedoes in the civil war.
The first Yorktown was wrecked on tae
sland of Mayo, Care de Verdes. in 1850
The first Concord. built in 1928, was
ireeked in the Mozambique Channel in
s43. only three persons escaping.
Tie loss of the double-euder gulboat
yateree. in 1865 at Iquique, Chile, is well
ememhered by the officers now living who
'ere attached to her at that time She
as lying in the harbor at the time, when
tidal wave rolled in, tore her away from
er anchorage, then swept her out to sea.
hen back again to the herbor and inland
bout a mile. where SIZE lies today. being
sed as a sort of summer hotel. At that
ime nearly the whole town of Iquique
Fas destroyed by the shock Of the earth
uake and the tidal wave.
The disaster at Samoa in March. 1898.
hen the Trenton, the Nipsic and other
essels were wrecked, is one of the inter-
sting disasters on record
Loss of the GnIena.
The slcop of war Galena was loss that
xcited no little criticism at the time she
as wrecked near Gay Head Lighthouse.
i good weather, while on her way from
lew York TO the New England coast, on
Iarch IA, 1891.
The old Kearsarge. the vessel that
'ught the privateer Alabama. off Cher
ourg. on June 49, 1854. was wrecked en-
oncador Key. Gulf of Mexico. on Febru-
ry 9, 1884.
The battleship Maine, the vessel that is
-edited with precipitating the war with
pain, was blown up in the harbor of
ayaEa, Cuba. on February 10, 1898. and
er wet" bones still lie at the bottom OF
lat hartor.
The yrSarnfto rac-o1
en- merchant vessel, was wrecked on
reef at Guam in NOyefnt,er Iqn0 Five