The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-16
GuDners of the Atlantic Fleet Are Conscious of Hard
 Task Before Them
SOME RECORDS OF
 THE PACIFIC FLEET
The Maryland outdistances All Her Competitors With a Percentage of 69.89 Hits Out of
 Possible 100.

San Diego, March 15.-The American
 battleship fleet now at anchor in
 Magdalena bay, Lower California, will
 begin 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 tn e
 rain of shot and shell.
 The targets will be set and ranges
 established at the lower end of the
 bay where it narrows to an island
 pated channel leading to Almjas bay.
 another landlocked harbor whose na-
 tural advantages would stand out
 strikingly in the search for a maya.
 base in any other part of the world
 than in close proximity to Magdalena. The ranges are to be set first at 1000
 yards. They will be next extended to
 2000 yards and thence to a maximum
 of 5000 yards for the smaller target,
 which is 12 by 21 feet in size.
 Shoot 5000 Yards.
 For the great turret guns, the 12 and 13-inch rifles. the ranges are length =
 ened from 5000 to 5000 yards, and the targets are increased to 30 by 60 feee. As one ordnance officer on the battle ' ships expressed it, it is absolutely es- sential tlsat the gunners should be ao e
 to see the target before they can train
 the sights upon 1t. At 5000 yards the
 only tiny speck.
 The gunners of the Atlantic fleet are n conscious of the fact that they have X a hard task before them to equal or N surpass the records recently made at N Magdalena bay by the armored cruisers a guns of the Pacific fleet under com k mand of Rear Admiral $. Dayton Se- N bree. These ships alternately have \ been at the practice ground in tho h Mexican bay for the last two month s | and six of them have completed their < work.
 Maryland Bears Record. The Maryland outdstanced all of her N competitors among the armored cruis- M CTS of the station, with a percentage of s 6S.S9 hits out of possible 100 with 4 all classes of guns. The Tennessee. Dt next with a percentage of 6S.24 hits, tn c N Colorado being third with 69.6s. the M Pennsylvania fourth with 57S0, the M West Virginia fifth with 55.70 and the |i Washington last with 55.50.
 M The seemingly low score of the |d Washington was expected as she is a |7 brand new ship with new guns and |. new crew, but it serves to make all |a the more important the splendid record |H of the Tennessee, Admiral Sebree's flag |H ship, which is just as new as the N Etargets under the same conditions as H to the green pieces and gunners. The Tennessee and Washington also ! for. the first time used 1O-inch turret X Erihes, a new weapon for American N Ecruisers which were put on board the #vessels in response to the demand of officers for heavier guns than [ithe 8-inch rifles of the West Virginia Hclass. The heavier guns and turrets Eladded nearly a thousand tons to the Eweight of the Tennessee and WasI. E1ngton over the West Virginia, and kicaused a thinning of the main armol ;belt from six to five inches. The tur- Fret protection was increased, however /ifrom six and one-half-inch to nine /'1nches.
 \ All of the big armored cruisers arg
 ranked with the battleships in sum- ,ming up their target records, and for zlthis reason their scores are of unusual
 interest at this time, when the world Egirdling fleet is about to begin it's tar Xget work.