The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-22
Henry RsuterdahI Reviews IneR-
 ciencies In McCIures
TOTALLY UNFIT FOR WARFARE
Exposures of ReuterdahI Are Expected To Create an International Sensa- tlon-Presiden On Slow
 Promotion.
BY SEWALL HAGGARD.

BY SEWALL HAGGARD. New York. December 2ls-( Special l)-The 'urrent number of McClure's magazine an arraignment of the American lavy that is likely to create an interna- ional sensation. Briefly stated, the con -ention of Henry Reuterdahl, the author of the article. Is that. although the United States navy, according to statistics, Is the second strongest in the world, 1t is to. ally unprepared for war. He declares:
 That the shell proof armor of our
 battleships is too low-so low that 1t
 is absurd to call them battleships.
 That the Russian ships destroyed al
 Tsoushima were in the same condi-
 tion.
 That the gun ports and turrets of
 our ships are so near the water that
 in fight in q rough sea with ships
 steaming at high speed-as sea fighting
 is done-one-thIrd of the guns of our
 vessels would be useless.
 That the three or four best navies in
 the world have faster ships than ours
 and could pick their time of fighting;
 if they cnose rough weather their ad-
 vantage would be enormous because
 they have built thcir gun ports and
 turrets higher.
 That the navy department has long
 been aware of these defects: at least
 since 1900.
 That our open turrets with a pas
 sageway straight from where the guns
 are being fired to the magazine in-
 vites disaster.
 That the turret ports of our ships or some of them--are so enormous
 that it would be an easy matter for an
 enemy to send shells through them.
 That there Is lack of torpedoes
 and destroyers and that our battle
 ships are poorly equipped with guns
 to fight off an enemy's torpedo de-
 stroyers.
 That under our system of promotion
 the officers are too old to stand the
 strain of battle.
 Fatal Armor-BeIt Defect.
 Discussing the question of armor, Mir Reuterdahl, who Is an associate of tho United States Naval institute and a fore most naval expert, says:
 "A modern battleship Is simple thing n It's big general principles Two points Ire essential in it's protectlon-a she'll proof armor, which guards It's water-line md high shell-proof turrets. which lift ur ts guns just above the wash and spray ,f the waves. An x-ray photograph Of ts heavy armor would show q monitor with high turrets. The lower part of the smoke stacks, the minor gun positions he coming and signal towers, are all but these two major points are he essentials in the armor of a battle ,hip.
 Obviously. the most important feature If all must be the belt along the water tils hat one turret's guns. A hole upon the water line will cripple or sink the ship )f all the Russian follies which came 0 light in the great battle of Tsoushima hat sealed the fate of Russian -Japanest var, one stands out especially The Rus ,ian battleships, when they went into that fight, were overloaded until the shell-proot armor of their water-lnc was underneath he water. They were not battleships at Ill. Within year afterward. our navy .woke to the realization of a startling act: The ships of the battle fleet oi the United States are in exactly th' iame condition as the Russian ships al rsoushima-notS Temporarily, but perma- iently
 Not One of Our Ships Right.
 "Of all our battleships, not one shows ts main armor-belt six inches above ths water when fully equipped and ready foi tea. There is continuous belt of this main armor from seven and one-half to line feet wide around every ship. The plans were made to have rom 12 to 30 inches of this out of water when each vessel makes her trial trip But trial trips are made with something ess than half the weight of actual service m board the ship When fully loaded Or sea, practically tn. whole of the ships belt is under water. Above his is thinner armor, which can be pierced by heavy shells. The standard leavy gun of today throws steel pro- ectile 12 inches in diameter. feet long md weighing $50 pounds, charged with a nigh explosive. The bursting of one if these shells in this thinner secondary Irmor would tear a hole bigger than a loor upon a ships water-line. What would happen after this is best shown by what actually did happen to Russian the Osliabia, as told by one If her officers on the evening of the ,attle of Tsoushima:
 :. Three shells, one after another, al- most in the same identical spot Imagine t. All of them in the same place! All ,n the water-line under the forward tur ret. Not a hole, but a regular gateway Three of them penetrated her together She almost heeled over at once, then set le under the water. A tremendous rush 1f water, and the partitions were nat lrally useless. The devil himself couldn't nave done anything.
 The Oslia bia sank one hour after firing began.
 'It Is not necessary to dwell upon the late of the eight or nine hundred mer lpon 6 battleship which is sunk like this On the Borodino. another Russian shiI destroyed in this battle of Tsoushma ,ne man was reported to have survived on the Alexander H., three. But 1t ia worth while to recapitulate the invest nent of the United States in battleship' which lack first essential of a battle of the water-line. With put counting the earlier ships, this coun try In the past ten years has built twen ty first-ciass battleships, costing ovel I100, ,000, ,00o Five more are building now which will cost us 100000. In all. oul investment in battleships is over Sl45.00o, D00 No ship which this pays for has or has yet been planned to have, {
 Il.