Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1905-11-02
How Future BaH|eShipS viii Prevent War

mise based on alleged economical nee,
essity, comparatively small sum hav-
ing been appropriated tor her construc,
ton.
1t is an axiom in naval strategy that
fleet is no faster than it's slowest
ship. Other things being equal, the
faster fleet will be victorious, for its
speed will enable it to manoeuyre as ia
concentrate its fire upon the head of
the opposing column. That is what
Togo did in the battle of Tsushima
True, the Russians found him in that
advantageous position, for though they
did not know his whereabouts he
seems to have known theirs: but, this
advantage aside, the speed of his fleet
would have enabled him eventually to
concentrate his attack on the heal or
the Russian column just the same
$50 now the question arises whether
it would be advantageous to go above
10000 TONS" continued this authority.
Probably not, for ship built to carry
a dozen l2-inch guns would be about as
big as seems practicable. Combine
with this tremendous fighting power a
speed of 1872 knots and YOU have the
battleship that under present cond1
tons seems TO be amply qualified to
crown the sea-power of the mightest
nation. The lesson of the big 10000
ton battleship is this: The COST
considerably more than $4,000, O0O.-
would be prohibitive so far as the
smaller nations are concerned. Only
first-class powers can afford such ships.
and the powers do not really want to
fight"
The landlubber may wonder why
with the great increase in the size of
warships there has not been a CORE,
spending increase in the size of the
guEs. The coming battleship--the
South Carolina, for eXmaple, with its
great battery of big guns on either
sidc-recalls the display of big guns
made by the old frigates but while
the latest battleship is many times
heavier than the famous fighters OF
the early part of the nineteenth cen
fury, the size of the biggest gun has
increased only one inch The reason
for this is that the size of the gum is
controlled by the depth to which oil
temper will penetrate with full eff
cheney which is only 212 inches. Thus
only a tube five inches thick can be
thoroughly tempered: and this is the
thickness of the tube of the 12-inch
guns. There are finch tUbes, hut they
are not fully tempered.
Another interesting question is
whether the recent war taught any
thing new about torpedo boats. In the
opinion of naval architects torpedo
boats have not proved as effective as
was expected. Though they must al
ways be a source of possible danger,
no ship. under favorable conditions
and with men on the alert, has ever
been destroyed by them. The greatest
danger in the war between Japan and
Russia lay in floating mines, Ships
are not necessarily by gun fire. Nor
a ship was destroyed by the Japanese
up to the final naval engagement of
the war except by mines or by vertical
fire from howitzers.
This brings Up the point whether
floating mines are to be reekoned with
in the future. That the Japanese and
Russians used them does not mean
that other nations would use them. 1t
seems likely. according to military st1r
dents, that the matter will be dis
cussed and settled in the same manner
as were the questions of explosive
bullets and poisoned shells. The Use
Of fixed mines for harbor defence is
another matter altogether; it does NOT
lear upon naval engagements. which,
rs ships grow heavier. must naturally
ne fought in deep water.