Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-06
OF WORLD WILDE. INTEREST
NAVAL TARGET PRACTICE
BY FREDERIC }. HAskIN

have engaged In February, March and
April. there will be battle practice IN
the fall near either San Francisco or
Manila. This will no doubt be a COM
fort to the secretary of the navy, who
deplored in his last report that the
naval training of the present day over
looks the mobility OF the navy in favor
of gunnery.
While target practice after a desut-
cry fashion has been known to the ma
ttons since the days of Nelson 1t is only
in the past five years that it has att
tained to anything worthy of more
than passing note. In that five years
SO much has been done that our rec
ords for rapidity and accuracy are the
envy of all nations. Formerly the tar
get was barrel or buoy fired at
with sub-caliber guns and occasional
shots with projectiles and reduced
powder charge. In the practice in 1906
off the coast of Cuba the target used
was a canvas 16x22 feet. Hardly six
years ago the target used was 25x100
feet. Ten years ago the target was
about seven times as large as now. But
things have changed. The target ranges
which are all ready for the Atlantic
fleet in Magdalena bay are of canvas,
12x20 feet, and checked off in black and
white, with range measuring about
1000 yards.
The Improvement in ten years Is re-
markable. In 1898 when black powder
was used and the sights and other
parts of the mechanism were poorly
developed, the firing was both slow and
inaccurate. Then, even with the large
target. the percentage of hits was
small. A 12-inch gun was fired only
once in five minutes, 6-inch gun once
In from one and half to one and two
thirds minutes, and other guns in pro-
portion. Now the larger turfet guns
make three shots and three hits a min
ute, 6-inch guns take only forty sec
onds for each shot and out of thirteen
shots have made 11.5 hits a minute.
Formerly S-inch guns were allowed
two minutes for each shot. Now they
are expected to make $40 shots and S6
hits per minute. Ten years ago the
percentage of hits was rarely over 40
per cent, though the firing was slow
and the target big. Now many ships
make from rs to so per cent hits with
all main battery guns. The Mary
lands recent record in Magdalena bay
was 1889, that of the Tennessee, which
was second. was 6S;24.
Experiments of the past years showed
that small charges in target practice
were a mistake, so in the past tour
years full charges have been used. 1t
costs, of course, but the game is be-
lieved to be worth the candle. Each
time a 12-inch gun is fired it costs the
government $500. 1t takes at least
$900,0 900 year to pay for the ammuni-
ton used up in this way, and II Is es-
timated that $1,500,000 would be no
mean amount to appropriate for this
work. Before the Spanish-American
war the heaviest expense for naval
,f,,tt In n thar
amounted to 100000, but whereas only
4 per cent of our shot struck Cervera's
fleet at Santiago at a range of 2SO0
Yards, now the Atlantic fleet has n
record os over 80 per cent made by IL
inch guns at 30x60 foot target at q
range of from 5000 to 5000 yards. with
such Improvement the money would
seem well invested. During its 1901
quarterly practice the Atlantic squad
ron spent $17S,0O0 and used more ann
munition in its gunnery training than
was used i'm the battle of Manila Thc
ammunition now allowed each man IN
the American navy is greater than the
per capita allowance Of any navy
afloat.
One will hear more of target prae-
tice in the navy hereafter, the sailing
of the Atlantic fleet having awakened
n greater interest in these Things.
Heretofore the squadron would steam
out to the Caribbean sea every winter
and about the 1st of April would be-
gin a series of practice campaigns
about Pensacola bay, OF off the coast
of Cuba, where at Guantanamo is the
largest target for small arms in the
world. Then the records OF ships
made there would be compared with
the records of others made elsewhere,
and the annual ceremony of bestow-
ing the trophy would follow. Ships
sailing at the rate of ten knots an
hour along the base of an equilateral
triangle are expected to fire a gun
at a time at the target set at the tri-
angles apex, and make good at their
work. Competition is keen, patriotism
and loyalty to ones ship at fever
height. 1t was after the unfortunate
explosion on the Kearsarge htat koes-
ter. dying from wounds and burns,
cried "Twenty shots and twenty hits'
Hurrak for the Kearsarge! OF such
men is the American navy being built;
by such men and their marksmanship
is the nations reputation lifted far
above that of the rest of the world.