Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-11-26
DISPUTE ON GuNNERY.
Lively Controversy Between the Army
and Navy.


and Navy.
A dispute about the relative merits
of army and navy target practice
seems probable as a result Of the atti-
tude of officers Of both branches OF
the service, says a Washington special
dispatch to the New York Times.
Commander Sims, director Of target
practice for the navy, went to Fort
Monroe some time ago to witness the
work Of the coast defense gunners. He
prepared report for Acting Secretary
of the Navy Newberry. Some Of the
army people who saw the report were
astonished to find Mr.. Sims had gone
into the question Of the coast defense
gunnery in critical way and figura-
lively had torn 1t all to pieces" "
showing how and where the navy gum
ners had made better records
"It's bad enough" said an army Of
fcer, without rubbing 1t in. The
army Is the unpopular branch Of the
service, but it has not been obliged to
get out moving pictures to gain re-
cruits."
The statement made by Commander
Sims is likely not to remain long un-
answered.
The army believes the navy has per-
fected its system and Is fully persuad-
ed that our navy Is the finest on earth,
but is confident 1t has far better sys-
tenn Of gunnery Of Its own.
Since the wsr with Spain the army
and navy have made startling ad-
vances in gunnery.
It was found that at Santiago about
Q per cent of the steel shells hit their
marks. That had been sufficient to do
the work, but the officers Of the navy
thoughtfully went to work to figure
out why the efficiency Of their fire
had not been greater. The men In
charge Of the gun practice set to
work to ascertain what could be done.
What has been done seems nothing
short Of marvellous.
Whereas formerly the biggest guns
could be fired about once in five min
utes, now they can be fired twice In
one minute, and, whereas they former
" rarely found the target, now the
twelve and thirteen inch guns make
about so per cent Of hits. With the
other guns practically no misses are
made.
But what has the army been doing?
why, bless you, sir" exclaimed one
of the army officers, "the navy shoots
at a range Of 1900 yards, and our
coast defense guns are fired at a. range
up to 5000 yards. II we had any gun
ners in the army who could not hit the
target every time at 1000 yards we
would run them out Of the service or
Iut them where they would not have
to do with the artillery.
"The navy's system is based on a
sort Of guesswork. Ours is based on
purely scientific principles. At long
range their system would prove seri-
ously at fault.
IT'S all very we'll for the navy to
tdlk ABOUT nlttlnB a CANVAS tnlTly IeeI
or so square at 1000 yards. but at
Fort Banks the twelve inch guns put
six shots into q space that could have
been covered nicely by an armor plate
and did 1t at 5000 yards in the quick
time Of minutes 40 seconds. That
would have sunk the biggest battle
ship afioat
"The navy makes use Of what Is
called the 'spotting system An OBJ
server aloft with a pair Of binoculars
watches where the shots strike If the
splash shows that the shot Is over the
target, the gunners depress the muzzle
Of the guns. If the splash shows that
the shot falls short, the observer orders
the muzzle raised. The opportunity for
errors in judgment are great. II that
is what Commander Sims wants the
army to adopt, it is hard to see what
use could be made Of his system at the
long ranges the army has to shoot at.
AS a matter Of fact, the army aban-
doned the spotting system years ago."