Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-02-27

@0ANA0S0NA
Ships and Guns.
The question of building more battle
ships is again under discussion In Con-
gress, and President Roosevelt In his
letter to the chairman of the House
Committee on Naval Affairs urges the
construction "of battleships of large
displacement, with their primary bat
teries all Of one big type of big guns"
As the battleships at present In COM
mission will all be comparatively
worthless in a few years, 1t is most I'M
portant that such new ships as Con-
gress may provide for shall be OF the
most modern type and able to more
than cope with anything afioat. The
size of the battleship is not the only
thing to be considered, for 1t Is &C
knowledged that battleship of the
Dreadnaught type would be at the
mercy of smaller ship with greater
speed and armed with guns Of greater
size and power than the present 12-inch
guns. Four IA or 10 inch guns mounted
on vessel Of much less displacement
than the Dreadnaught could stand Oh
out of the range of her fire and de-
stroy her, or even ship with two such
guns could batter the Dreadnaught on
the ancient plan Of the bow and stern
chasers with which the privateers Oh
the war Of 1912 were armed, which en-
abled them to stand off and make easy
prey Of ship of greater power and
much greater broadside of lighter guns.
It requires no argument to prove that
a battleship Of 10000 tons, carrying
four 16-inch guns and having superior
speed, would have the 20,00O-ton Dread
naught at her mercy, although the lat
ter has ten 12-inch guns in her broad
side. The faster ship will always be
able to select the distance she will fight
at, and would naturally choose to be
where her antagonist could do her the
least harm.
The ship with Pinch armor is now
comparatively safe outside of the range
of torpedoes. whose radius Is from
three to five thousand yards, because
the present Pinch naval gun is unable
to pierce 12-inch armor at that dis
tance, but smaller battleship with
larger guns and with the necessary
speed might infiict such damage as to
lead to her sinking.
1t would seem to be waste of money
for Uncle Sam to continue to build
battleships of the same size and with
the same armament as the battleships
that other nations have already con-.
structed, for with the constant evolu-
tion in size and speed and greater ar
mament, such ships are comparatively
worthless before they have chance to
ever go into action.
1t Is demonstrated that guns of IA or
16 inch will weigh but little more than
the present 12-lnch naval gun, and 1t
Is not necessary to use such enormous
powder charges, yet the range of these
larger guns is superior to the 12-inch
type. The construction of these larger
guns is urged by the Chief of Ord
nance Of the army, and his recommends
ton is based upon a long series of ex-
perinents, so his conclusions must be
accepted MS correct. AS 1t Is now we
are following in the wake of England
and are throwing away millions of dol
lars every year on ships and armament
that have already proved to be of an
obsolete type, and yet our pottering
Republican politicians seem determined
to perpetuate type of ships and guns
which will soon be turned over to the
junk heap. They persist In providing
for shells that experience proves will
not penetrate the armor of battleshlp
at the distance that the known range
of torpedoes compels the commander of
battleship to place his vessel at, not
withstandlng that experiments have
proved that shells which explode on
contact are available, and the present
shells In use are comparatively worth
less.
The committees of the House and
Senate on naval affairs must wake up
and learn their lesson and not continue
In rut that will bring disaster If we
shall be so unfortunate as to engage
In war with first-class naval power.
Uncle Sam must have the best and the
most modern Ships guns and projectiles
that the Ingenuity of our inventors is
offering and the expense of experiment.
ing with the new ideas offered is but a
small matter compared to the millions
we are annually expanding that are
wasted.
United state. con..,..