New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1907-09-25
DISPUTE ON GUNN[RY
Lively Controversy Between the
Army and Navy.
NAVAL EXPERTS HOT SHOT.


Commander Sims Claims Navy Gun
ners Shoot Better Than Coast De-
fenders-Soldiers Say Navy Shoots
by GuessworI< at 1900 Yards and
Army Scientifically at 5000 Yards.
A dispute about the relative merits
Of army and navy target practice
seems probable as result of the atti-
tude of officers Of both branches of the
service, says Washington special dis
patch 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 a critical way and figura-
lively had 'torn it all to pieces" show
ing how and where the navy gunners
had made better records.
cts bad enough" said an army Off
Ger, without rubbing it in The army
is the unpopular branch of the service,
but it has not been obliged to get out
moving pictures to gain recruits
The statement made by Commander
Sims is likely not to remain long I'M
answered.
The army believes the navy has per-
fected it's system and is fully persuad-
ed that our navy is the finest on earth,
but is confident it has a far better sys-
tenn of gunnery of it's own
Since the war with Spain the army
and navy have made startling adj
yances in gunnery.
1t was found that at Santiago about
2 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 ascer-
tain what could be done What has
been done seems nothing short Of mar
velous
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
ly rarely found the target, now the
twelve and thirteen inch guns make
about 80 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, 1.-The navy shoots
at range of 1000 yards and our
coast defense guns are fired at range
up to 5000 yards. If we had any gun
ners in the army who could not hit the
target every time at 1900 yards we
would run them out of the service or
put 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
tits all very we'll for the navy to talk
about hitting a canvas thirty feet or so
square at 1,60O yards, but at Fort
Banks the twelve inch guns put six
shots into a 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 battleship af1oat
The navy's system is based on a sort
of guessWork. Ours is based on pure
scientific principles. At long range the
navy's system would prove seriously
at fault.
| 'The navy makes use Of what is call
ed the sporting system An observer
aloft with pair Of binoculars watch
es 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 err
rors In Judgment are great If that is
what Commander Sims wants the ar
my 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.
Concrete Telegraph Poles.
1