Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1904-12-10
DEFENSE OF OUR SEA COAST.
Gen. Story Points Out Two Necessary
improvements.


improvements.
Washington, d. C.-Two improvements
in the National coast defense scheme
are Immediately necessary. says Chief of
Artillery Gen. P ]. Story in his annual
report. These are the completion of the
torpedo defenses of the harbors, with a
trained personnel to operate them, and
the installation at all the coast batteries
of approved range and position finding
equipment, thereby giving the guns an ac-
curate range of six miles, instead of two
miles, as at present.
Gen. Story calls attention to the lessons
learned at Port Arthur and Vladivostok,
where harbors adequately mined and with
torpedoes protected by guns SO that they
could not be countermined proved im-
prssgEnabl t, against the japanese:
tect harbor and cannot protect them.
Selves" says Gen. Story. "To have any de.
fensive value they must be supported by
guns, since without the support of guns
they can be countermined or in other ways
made innocuous, and thus allow safe
passage to hostile vessels; but if, as at
Port Arthur and .Vladivostok, torpedoes
are co-ordinated with a proper armament
it is not probable that any enemy, how.
ever enterprsing, will attempt to force
their line of defense.
''To secure at the present time the great.
est measure of National safety at the least
cost the entire torpedo defense of our
harbors should at once be made complete.
The cost of the completion of this defense
is estimated at $3.50, 400, or a little more
than one-half the cost of fully equipped
battleship. To-day this defense is lament-
h1x, IaEoiort hnth in, p,nfario1 and
sonnet"
Gen. Story declares that it is not entire.
ly the "man behind the gun" in coast ar
tillery who is entitled to credit, but also
the man who figures out the position of
the target and directs the gunner where 10
aim. He adds: $50 accurate is our sys-
TEN of position finding that we obtain ex-
celent practice in firing from our mortars
at moving targets, although the target can
never be seen from the mortars themselves
when they are fired. With our position
finding equipment our large guns are effec-
tive against an enemy at an extreme range
of six miles for the 10 inch and IL inch
guns and IL inch mortars, and at CORE.
spondingly less range for smaller calibers.
without position finding equipment
shots are practically wasted if fired at
ships at more than two miles range, which
means that with a position finding equip.
ment the efficiency of the land armament
is increased by beginning, an engagement
against hostile vessels at about three times
the distance we could expect effective fire
without them.
"There has been developed in orr coast
artillery system of fire action, that. as
far as I can ascertain, is not eQua,led in
the world; but its accomplishment depends
upon standard equipment which is not
completely installed in any of our harhors.
We have still to improvise in many har-
bors means of position finding in order to
conduct our artillery target practice. and
in such harbors we have no installation
for directing the fire action of the higher
units, such as fire command or a battle
command.