The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-07-14
Notion That She Would Have Advantage Over
United States, Because of Superior Equipment
and Efficiency, Without Foundation, in Fact
Army and Navy Depleted, Ships Unready, and
Ordnance Unfit to Cope With an Enemy

the recent war. The limited life Of
| largo guns, when fired with full
charges, is well known They begin to
deteriorate after a score or so Of shots,
and about 100 shots is considered the
maximum consistent with safety. II
is then necessary to insert new rining,
which requires that the gun must be
taken from tho ship. 1t is known that
new guns wore placed upon several Jap
anese ships during the war, and that
many guns were rerlhed-
Ship Rehabilitation Slow.
| keep all snch details secret, it is now
| positively known that the damage sus.
tanned by the Japanese navy during the
war was far greater than is popularity
supposed, and that during the closing
period of the war many Japanese ships
carried guns which could not, for vari-
| ons reasons, be fred, This condition.
which wonld be disastrous if a navy
had TO meet formidable enemy, made
no practical difference in the closing
stages Of the war. l learned directly
from an expert, who was on board one
of the Japanese armored cruisers short
ly after the fight in the Korean Strait,
that the vessel had to be towed into
Sasebo during the battle, and that not
single gun Of her primary battery
could be fired. Yet In no report Of the
engagement that [ have seen was any
serious damage to this ship stated. l
have information OF many similar in
stances
1t may be pointed out that, assuming
the truth of all this, ample time has
elapsed within which full repairs could
have been made, and all the larger Jap
anese ships, fitted with new guns, in
Guiding modern sighting and firing ap-
pliances, with which few were provid-
ed during the war. This is true; but
there are circumstances which indicate
that the task of refitting the Japanese
fleet has not progressed so rapidly as
the Japanese Admiralty would have the
world think IL is pretty we'll estab-
1ished Gas L learn from reliable sources
which | am not at liberty TO divulge)
that even in the last great naval bat
fective guns, which were used without
regard to risk or loss in accuracy. while
some carried guns which could not be
fired at all
Making Her Own Ordnance
If this is true, the reason must have
been that the guns to replace defective
ones were not then available, for it will
De remembered that prolonged period
of comparativ inactivity proceeded the
arrival of Rolestvcnsky' feet, ample
for the docking and repairing, in turn,
of most of the Japanese ships. without
weakening the feet TO dangerous
point. 1t is reasonable, then, to con
clude that there was a shortage of large
guns in Japan when the war ended.
Such guns can be obtained in two ways
by manufacture in Japanese arsenals
and by purchase abroad If any large
purchase of naval guns by Japan has
beon made abroad since the war, ii has
SO far escaped the vigilance Of rival
admralties. But Japan has announced
that she will in the future build all her
own guns, and has undoubtedly pushed
extensive preparations TO do 90. Ma
tional security is given as the chief |
reason for this policy, for during war
such materials arc contraband; but a |
better reason, and one which applies to |
Jopan g present fiscal situation, is econ