The San Francisco call., 1905-03-12
Manof ScienceG Gets
Ahead of Old
Sea Dogs.
Given Command of
EngIand's Big
geSt Ship
sDeciAl Gable to The Call.

LONDON, March 11-JuSt appointed
commander-in- chief of the Atlantic
fleet, with the King Edward VII, the
biggest and most powerful fighting
craft in commission, as his flagship,
Vice Admiral Sir William 81. May is
generally regarded as the coming man
in the British navy. And this despite
the fact that things have not run al
together smoothly between him and
Admiral Sir Jackie Fisher. the man
now at the top as first Sea Lord of the
Admiralty But strong men cannot all
ways be expected to pull well together
Sir William is 90 years old, but looks
good ten years younger. He entered
the navy as a midshipmite when he
was IL and has climbed the ladder Of
promotion without the aid of any in
f1uence other than his own merit He
has no actual war service to his credit,
but he can at least claim to have ex-
tended the British empire, for when in
command of the Imperieuse on the
China station he annexed Christmas
Island and thus added another red spot
on the maps. He represents the clear
headed, hardworkng scientific new
school type of naval officer who has
taken the place of the fine old sea dogs
of the days Of wooden walls and ding
dong fighting at close quarters.
Guns and torpedOes are his special
ties. He was two years in command
! Of the great naval gun-training estab-
lishment at Whale Island and among
other things has been Director General
Of Naval Ordnance and assistant Di-
rector Of Torpedoes. He has invented
a device for the more effective dis
charge of those deadly weapons.
LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY.
For the last four years he has been
Lord Of the Admiralty, with the re-
Eponsible duties Of Controller of the
Navy, which gave him general super
vision of the construction and equip
ment Of warships. 1t is this billet
which he has given up to take service
afioat again and incidentally escape
rubbing up against Sir Jackie" The
difference between the two men is in
dicated by the fact that the jack tars
have never yentured to dub Sir Will
liam "BnI' or Billie" He is a man
Of too much punctiliousness and dig
nifty to admit of such familiarity even
among his most intimate friends.
For his flagship the claim is proud
ly made by Great Britain that she is
the worlds finest Battleship and
before his appointment terminates two
years hence he will have seven similar
vessels under his command. By that
time Uncle Sam may have a ship or
two af1oat to dispute supremacy with
her, but she is certainly by long odds
the most formidable fighting craft that
England has yet turned out. She is
of 1875 tons displacement and on her
trials attained a speed of more than
nineteen knots. Originally it was esti-
mated that she would cost $7,112,0O0,
which is fully s2,5OO,0OO more than
has been expended on any battleship
hitherto built in this country. A num-
ber of Improvements introduced in her
equipment since she was designed have
considerably increased the original
estimate of her cost. Among her
unique features are platforms erected
high up on the masts on which, when
in action, gunnery officers will be sta
toned to direct the fire of the guns.
: 0ARRAAC0 WIN IlAG ldlCSl
and able to observe the enemy from a
commanding height, they will be able
/ to direct the weapons below so as to
obtain that crushing concentration of
} fire essential to speedy victory.
NEW FIRING METHOD.
This new method of gun fire control
LIS the result Of series of experiments
conducted In the Mediterranean, which
demonstrated that great as IS the part
which the man behind the gun" must
! take in a naval action, still greater de-
pendence will have to be placed in the
intelligence and Judgment of the man
above the gun" To accuracy of
shooting is to be added accurate infor-
nation as to where to shoot to obtain
the best results. Thus the officers,
high placed on the gun directing plat
forms. where they can best observe the
hostile ships, will in future order the
firing, concentrating, 1t may be, all the
weapons on the leading vessel of the
enemy's column or on q weak rear
gllard-in short, so directing the guns
as to produce the greatest amount of
damage in the least possible time.
The armament of the King Edward
VII is by far the most powerful yet
installed on any British battleship. It
consists of four 12-inch guns, dis
charging 85o-peund projectiles; four
e.2-inch guns, firing 3S0-pound shots;
ten 6-inch guns and twenty-four
smaller weapons for repelling torpedo
attacks. In all respects she represents
the latest achievements of science ap-
piled to fighting machines adoat-
In no man-of-war has such a COM
plete electrical equipment been in
stalled. This motive power is largely
employed In place of steam, so az to
save weight and minimize expense and
danger. The power motors, number
over 100, from the fifty-horsepower
one for working the capstan and coal
hoists to the numerous small ones for
driving the electric fans to purify the
air in the confined spaces below decks.
She can carry 1000 tons of coal. which
would enable her to steam at least