New-York tribune., 1907-09-21
ARMY'S REPLY TO SIMS.
GUNNERY CONTROVERSY.
Board of BTgadier Generals Viii
4nszCer the NaUaL Critic.
From The Tribune Bureau.I


Washington. Sept. 2O.-The General staff OF
the army, determined that the Structures
which have been passed upon army gunnery
by Commander Sims. L. S. N, shall be IAN
minated have detailed Brigadier General Ar
thur Murray, chief of artillery; Brigadier Cen
eral William Crozier, chief of ordnance, and
Brigadier General James Allen, chief of the sig
nal service, to prepare exhaustive reply 10
the Sims report. which has created so much
excitement and aroused much Indignation IN
army circles.
Army officers are generally much aroused
over what they term the "unwarranted strict
ures" in the Sims report. and all of them Sc
verely condemn the naval officers inaccuracy
and want of logic. although some are disposed
to attribute his findings merely to the exuoer-
ance Of his enthusiasm as director OF navy
target practice and to the commendation which
his work in that capacity has received from the
commander in chief
General Crozier chief of ordnance, while de-
clining to discuss the Sims report. declares that
the army has never had a bareback from one
of its guns. although its officers can produce
farebacks at will Other artillery officers de-
clare with greater emphasis that there IS
no necessity whatever for fiarebacks, and all
seem 10 think the navy would do well to correct
this disastrous form of accident in IT'S own tur-
rets before attempting to secure the adoption
Of its system of gunnery by the army.
The prospect that the coast defence artillery
will be transferred from the army to the navy
in perhaps the not distant future adds 10 the in
terest which attends the controversy. and field
artillery men find pleasure in taunting the coast
artillery men with remarks about the time when
they Will be under the jurisdiction Of the navy.
and may even have to conduct their target prac-
tice and gunnery under the supervision of Com
mander Sims.
When the attention of an army officer was
called to-day to the fact that the navy had TO
its credit a record Of II shots and II hits in
one minute made with pinch gun on the Mary
land that on the battleship Maine a record Of
10 II shots a minute had been made with the
same sized gun, and that pinch gun on
the battleship Missouri had penetrated the
target at the rate of 1880 shots a min
ute. that with a 3-pounder the Virginia had 10
her credit a record of 20 hits with 20 shots in
IS seconds and another 3-pounder had made 10
hits with 10 shots in 22l3 seconds. the officer
gave evidence of impatence. "Of course. you
do not understand" he said, how those rec
ords were made. The navy is not anxious TO
make that public, These fine records are all
framed up and everything is carefully planned
so as TO produce the best results.
But that seems hardly possible"
Not at all II is quite possible. and that is
what is done. No. have not seen IT myself
but have IT pretty straight from one of the
army officers who 2 ship during the tar
get practice. According to this officer. who is
an expert In the use Of big guns, the course over
which the ships steamed for target practice was
accurately measured off, the direction and
velocity Of the wind were carefully calculated
and It's influence on the course Of tho proiec-
tiles was deliberately estimated the distance
md han
10 cinch the whole matter. the sights were flied
so that the gunners could hardly make a mis-
take"
Not fled?'
"I cannot say with certainty. I get this
through hearsay. but II IS a very reliable sort
Of hearsay The sights. I told. were fled
but the point of the matter is this that the
splendid records OF the naval gunners are said
TO be made with the assistance Of prearranged
data and under the circumstances poor scores
would be most reprehensible."
But the naval officers maintain that the con-
ditions under which they practise are more DIFF
ficult than would obtain in actual war. For in
stance, they go TO the ranges with all guns un-
loaded. which they would not do II they were
going 10 meet an enemy"
Yes. yes, I know. but let me call your at
tention to the fact that including the small
racy of small arms. the fleets averaged under
60 TNe army's coast defence guns, 1O-inch and
I2-inch averaged over 60-nearer 20. The range
for the ships was 1,600 yards; the range for
the coast defence guns was 1000 yards. The
coast defence guns made about 10 per cent at
6O00 yards about 30 per cent at 1000 yards,
and considerably better than 90 per cent at
5000 yards. Compare that with the navy's
per cent during the Spanish-American War.
And we are still improving"
do you believe that the army gunners could
improve on the navy record at the same range?'
Far be II from me to say word dis
paraging TO the navy, but I will say this. with
out referring TO anybody. that am satisfied
that the army could find a gun crew-and
without looking very far either-which would
make perfect scores at 900 yards at the regu-
lation targets. without knowing beforehand the
range"
REFUTE TAINTED MONEY" IDEA.