Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-26
rHREE-scREw WARsH1Ps.
Admiral Melville Comments on the
Loss Of the Rtirik.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star
PHILADELPHIA, August IS. 1904.
In an interview with Admiral Melville to-
day. though he refused to discuss the naval
battles in the far east because of the Pres
ident's order, he did say that he believed II
the Rurik, which was disabled by the burst
ing of Japanese shell under her stern.
had been a three-serew ship the whole OF
the Russian Port Arthur fleet would have
escaped and joined the vladivostok feet.
''If the reports of the fight are correct.
and that, OF course, we do not know, by
the explosion Of shell the rudder and one
screw were disabled. rendering the Rurik
unmanageable. Taking this for granted
not be run Unanswered, and therefore
was at the mercy of her enemy. The rest
Of the Russian fleet naturally fell In around
her to protect her and received the weight
Of the enemy's fire. while the Rurik was
vainly trying to repair the damage to her
rudder and steering gear. Finally, after
heroic efforts. the Rurik was abandoned to
| her fate. and the Russian feet scattered.
making the best of it's way as per order of
the admiral commanding.
Now here 10 a lesson we have learned
from this fight alone. In battle ship con-
struction 1t Is next to impossible to pro-
vide spare rudders or steering gear under
water and out of the way of the enemy 8
fire.
But by the three-screw system, which I
urged valiantly, though vainly. on our
board of construction, the whole problem
Is solved. for if. as in the case of the Rurik,
the rudder and one propeller be shot away.
with one center screw and one wing screw
uninjured, the ship would be perfectly man
ageable, the center screw driving ahead
and the remaining wing screw steering at
will by driving ahead. standing still or even
backing when necessary to steer the ship.
All Of these qualities of the three-screw sys-
tenn are well known, have been exploited
time and again and in all the constructions
for all ships over 1900 tons for French.
German and Russian navies are fitted
with the three-crew systems. Great Britain
and the United States alone neglect this
great military advantage in time of war
and the greatest source of economy in the
use Of fuel in time Of peace.
After setting forth all of the advantages
OF the three-Screw system to our board of
construction, one of the brightest and wit
test members of the board came back at
me and said: Why. chief, it IS bad enough
| to have two screws in commanding Off
GERS head without having three of them to
think Of. He was right, but three screws
in the maneuvering of a battle ship have
so many advantages over two screws, and
this one item is so simple in comparison
with the thousand and one other things q
commanding officer has to think Of
I'm the future. after the lessons learned
from the disablement of the Russian Rurik,
more attention will be paid to the three
screw system Of propulsion. Even though
the rudder and center screw of three
screw battle ship be disabled, the advantage
of the twin-screw ship remains.
I'm other words, the three-screw system
combines propulsive power and rudder I'M
der all conditions