The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-03-16
SERIOUS WORK
BEGINS TODAY
Crews of the BattIeShipS Will
Try Magdalena Bay
Targets.
FINE RECORD OF CRUISERS
BIG SHIPS WILL HAVE TO GO
SOME TO EXCEL SCORES.

San Diego. Cal. March 15-The Ameri-
can battleship fleet. now at anchor IN
Magdalena bay. Lower California, will be-
gin the serious work OF record target
practice tomorrow morning, according TO
official wireless dispatches received here,
and for the next two or three weeks the
usually quiet waters of this harbOr will
splash and dance under the rain Of shot
and shell, and the real work Of the cruise
to all outside the engine holds and chart
I rooms will be under way.
The fleet is anchored in the north end
of the bay. which is the most sheltered
part Of this natural haven of the sea.
Looking TO the south there ia a broad
eXpanse of water nearly twenty miles
( long. while the width Of the bay at the
entrance is nearly twelve miles.
Targets and Ranges.
The targets will be set and the ranges
established at the lower end OF the bay,
where it narrows to an island-parted chan
mel, leading TO Almejas bay, another land
locked harbor whose natural advantages
would stand out strikingly in the search
Tor naval base in any other part of
the world than close proximity to Mag
dalena.
The ranges are to be set first at 600
yards. They will next be extended to
2,C50 yards, and then to a maximum of
$500 yards for the smaller target, which is
y by q feet in size. For the great tur-
ret guns. the u and 13-inch rifles, the
ranges are heightened from 5000 to 5000
yards, and the targets are increased TO
80 by 60 feet. As one ordnance officer on
the battleshps expressed It, It is absO-
lutely essential that the gunners should
be able to see the target before they can
train their sights upon il. AT 5000 yards
the white canvas object TO be shot at ap-
pears as only tiny speck upon the wa
ter
Conscious of Their Task.
The gunners of the Atlantic fleet are
conscious OF the fact that they have a
hard task before them to equal OF sur
pass the records recently made at Mag
dalena bay by the armored cruiser guns
of the Pacific fleet under command OF
Rear AdmiFals Dayton and Sebree. These
ships alternately have been at the pTaC-
tice grounds IN khe Mexican bay for the
last two months, and six Of them have
completed their work. The Maryland out
dlStanced all her competitors among the
armOred cruisers OF the station with per-
eentage of 7s.S9 hits out Of a possible 100
with all classes Of guns. The Ten
EeSseS came next with q percentage Or
6S4 hits, the Colorado being third With
636S the Pennsylvania fourth with SO
the West Virginia fifth with 900 ana the
Washington last with $3.50.
The seemingly low score Of the Wash
ington was expected, as she is a brand
new ship, with new guns and new crew.
but II serves TO make all the more i'm
pOTtant the splendid record OF the Ten
is just as new as the Washington, and
which went to the targets under the same
conditions as TO green pieqes and gun
ners.
New Turret Rifles.
The Tennessee and the Washington also
for the first time used their 10-inch tur-
ret rifles Il new weapon for American
cruisers which were put on board the
vessels in response TO the demand of ord
nance officers for heavier guns than the
S-inch rifles Of the West Virginia class
The heavier guns and tuTrets added near
~ 1,000 tons TO the weight of the Tonnes
see and Washington over the West Eir-
GINA, and caused a thinning of the main
aTmOT belt from six to five inches. Ths
turret protection was increased. however
from six and One-ha1 inches to nine
inches. All Of these big armored cruisers
are ranked with the battleships in sum-
ming up their target records. and for this
reason their. scores are Of unusual inter
est at this time. when the WOTld-giTdling
fleet is about to begin its target work
Different Schemes for Scoring.
There is separate system of scoring
however. even among the battleships when
it comes to classifying the work of the
gunners for promotion and prize money
distribution Some of the ships, for in
stance. nave Pinch guns of 40 caliber
while others have the same diameter OF
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