New-York tribune., 1905-06-04
PART GRFAT SEA FIGHTS HAVE PLAYED In HISTORY
FROM S6Il4sfIs TO SANTL4GO GREAT ADVANCES
MADE IN SHIPS BUT LOSS OF LIFE LESSENhD

/, b;n,seif Of q means of communication that was
tust as effective In firm belief that the oatte
,Id h Fought In the strait of Saamis. and fear
ing that Eurybiades would order retreat ne sent
a secret message 10 the Persian admiral he saiu
| he was a traitor to the Greek cause and accord
l,, advised the Persians to strike their foe imie-
sto+efv Tho ruse worked The Asiatic ships by
| night blockaded the strait IN front ana oehiho
their European enemy, so that when morning came
they were wedged together just the way Thenllsto-
o1es vanted them the battle that enSued the un-
wieIdly vessels of the Persians became unmanaSe-
| able They had room to manouvre In. and the
cng oars of the galleys were so interlocked that
| they broke from the sheer efforts or their crews
| to aisentangle them. Meanwhile the Greeks were
| pouring upon their foe clouds Of spears. The
| enormous armament of the invaders was beaten
| and scattered TO the winds. Five hundred ships
| were sunk and the naval supremacy of the Persian
| was forever at an end
WHEN ROME DEFEATED CARTHAGE
The Romans possessed little experience in naval
| warfare when they overwhelmed the Carthagnians
In the battle Of Myla in the year B. c. 26O. For
| centuries the navies Of Carthage had swept the
western waters Of the Mediterranean triumphantly.
| They made invasions of Italy. compelled Rome's
allies to pay tribute and crippled the commerce of
the Eternal City. To meet such an adversary Rome
had to a navy, and vigorously did the
Romans go about It that they constructed feet
inside of two years, which they sent forth with
much the hurriedness and lack Of preparation that
the Russians used in equipping their Baltic feet
The Romans like the Russians, were primarily
land fighters, and they accordingly introduced land
tactics into naval warfare They equipped their
ships with great bridges, by which they might at
tach their vessels to the vessels of an enemy and
pour into them hordes Of soldiers. In this way
the invincble armored Roman infantryman believed
he would have a chance to grapple hand-to-hand
with the lighter less perfectly developed Cartha-
gtnian sailor. and either slay him outright or
drive him into the
When the two fleets bore down each other of
the promontory of Myla, at the northwestern cor
ner of Sicily. the from Africa as exultant
and confident Of victory were the men from
Asia before the battle of SalaInis. And like those
Asiatics. these Africans disastrously over
whelmed. When the Carthagnians saw how clum-
silly the Romans handled their ships they attacked
them IN irregular fashion: but sooner did they
come alongside than they found themselves hooked
fast. Tho Roman bridges had descended upon
them, and the Roman soldiers were swarmtng about
them. Their defeat complete. Half the Car
thagtnan feet or about fifty vessels. were sunk or
captured. and Rome SUDDENLY became a great naval
8. well a great land power.
One sea battle has become famous, not so much
because It decided the destiny Of empires as for
the reason that its chief figure woman. It
was fought of the shore Of Actiurn, Greece, Sep
tember q 81, B. c.. and there it was determined