The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-12-22

pierca the side. Besides there are in
some ships q belt OF celluose. under
tremendous pressure. behind the
nrmor. This swells up when the. sea
rushes through hole. and stops the
gap The coal bunkcrs also give pro-
lection.
THE weak point in the. article seems
to me to be that 1t falls to take into
account the protective deck
anyhow, not even twelve-inch
she'll could penetrate the armor plate
on the side, unless 1t hit fair. me
chances are great that the shell would
mot hit fair.
1--WE are VIGOROUSLY weak in destroy
ers. compared with other navies- e
can't make excuses for that.
..As for doing away with the bureau
system, that is a big question. and
would take n LOT OF thinking, but 1t
seems TO he nearing realization rapidly.
Every af,e praises the new idea of
| controlling board or general staff
| There are rot Of officers who would
mot think favorably OF any plan for
promoting by selection. None OF the
Imuttonhaads' would"
| From Washington, however, the arr
| ticle Is received with a good deal OF
cordfality, for II is well understood that
| the severest criticisms OF : the navy
! have been from the officers themselves,
who have. been, unable to force the
/ Navy Department to correct the glarlnG
] errors OF which Mr.. ReuterdahI peaks
I The defects and shortening which
the officers OF the navy say exist IN our
! fleet are known to all the foreign gov
Eernments: known 10 the President;
!, knownSto the Navy Depar tnent:s known
\ ..S..~s l. IN MI
/ rayu.l affairs to ind out for himself
the truth about out fleet. What Is
| written here, is but a compressed sum.
mary Of many talks with many naval
/ officers covering a considerable period
! Of time In broad way of speaking
/ and without going for the moment into
particulars; the consensus-of criticism
! from officers on the ships runs some.
thing like this:
If for any reason an enemy should
attack our ships, their officers ana met
! would hight them under great disad
vantages. due TO the vital detects II
ltkcir weapons and dcfenses. r.
1. Craftsmanship Good.
] Fortunately, our craftsmanship ii
supposed to be excellent, and we Woult
at least be able to make as many hlt'
I as we received but this would be true
only at the beginning OF the action
because our guns and men, being less
:. completely protected by armor and b.
the separation of the guns than those Q
other modern navies. would be first Z
suffer a dimlnution Of their fire; an,
i this relative infcriortty would increas'
with great rapidity as I'm action pro
! crossed.
The water lines Of our ships, beil,t
! unprotected by their submerged belts
would be preached by every. heavy shell
: while tile enemy's ships would resis
most of ours.
} The immense turret ports OF mar
|. of our older ships. that stillremain I'm
prot ectetl. in spite, OF 81 he con tinuou
protsstt sea going officers tIurin:
many -Years. would permit the entranc
of shells of all calibres. and in eac
case the explosion of these high-eN
+ pios!ve shells would not only put tn
. crew out OF action and disable tn
, complicated turret gear but would ais
{ menace the MIA gaines directly bslo,
q the turrets. as shown in all of our tur
ret accidents.
r II even moderately heavy sea wer
a running at the time, our ships, whe
Q manoeuVring q. high speed, would talk
i, so much solid water overcthe low fore
It castle and N the lower deck portfolio
Il on the Weather; side that half Of on
twelvs,tnchS guns sand more than ha
n OF OUR rapid-hre guns could not /,
j. used. while the enemy might have III
is full use of theirs under the same cor
Ia dltions,
il The. large unarmored spaces in II
At after ends OF the supsrstructure Of on,
half OF cur battleshlps, Just torwa,
: oe4the after turrets. would admit
many shells of all callbres. even II
smallest. thus further disabling Il
secondary guns on the main deck mr.
endanserinS the magazines, who,
:. openings are Just inside or these II,
!. armored Spaces
a II Seems generally admitted that
: me matter. of torpedo .des,royers q,
navy Is far below Its proper effeetl,
IS hgnt'ng force. and we would thereof
q have to throw very largo deperd den.
re- on the bravery and devotion OF a,
h sailors and officers In the event y
bhd foreign naval encounter.
nchlud chs Tilnsn.
a The simple fact is that the Amer
can Navy Department has hcen cnrs,
is with bureaucracy. Reports, complain,
=. apNice and .snggestions.ot vita! i1rpot