Los Angeles herald., 1908-03-16
HAIL OF SHOT
WILL RAIN ON
QUIET BAY
VESSELS PREPARE FOR WAR
MANEUvERS
GUNNERs HOPE TO BREAK REC.
ORD WITH ORDNANCE
Rivalry Between Cruisers and Ships
of Evans Fleet Is Keen-Taraets
Appear as Tiny
Specks

6y ASSOCIATED PreSS.
SAN DIEGO, March 15.-The Ameri-
can battleship fleet, now at anchor at
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
-the-way 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
rooms will be under way.
The fleet is anchored in the north
end of the bay, which is the most shell
tered part of this natural haven of the
sea. Looking to the south, there is a
broad expanse of water nearly twenty
miles long. while the width of the bay
at the entrance is nearly twelve miles.
The targets will be set and the
ranges established at the lower end of
the bay, where it narrows to an island
parted channel leading to Almelas bay,
another landiocked harbor whose nat
ural advantages would stand out strik-
ingly in the search for naval base
in any other part of the world than
close proximity to Magdaiena. The
ranges are to be set first at 1000 yards.
For Big Guns
They will next be extended to 1000
yards, and then to maximum of 5000
yards for the smaller target, which is
12x21 feet in size. For the great turret
guns-the twelve and thirteen-inch
,if1ac-tha 1aao tn
from 5000 to 5000 yards and the targets
are increased to 30x60 feet. AS one
ordinance officer on the battleships ex-
pressed it, it is absolutely essential
that the gunners should be able to see
the target before they can train their
sights upon it. At 5000 yards the white
canvas object to be shot at appears
| as only a tiny speck upon the water.
The gunners of the Atlantic fleet are
conscious of the fact that they have
a hard task before them to equal or
surpass the records recently made at
Magdalena by the armored cruiser di-
visions of the Pacific fleet under COM
mand of Rear Admirals Dayton and
Sebree. These ships alternately have
been at the practice ground in the
Mexican bay for the last two months.
and six of them have completed their
work The Maryland out-distanced all
of her competitors among the armored
cruiser class of the station, with a
percentage of 1889 hits out of q pos
sible 100, with all classes of guns.
The Tennessee came next with
pertage of 1924 hits the Colorad being
third with 63.6S; the Pennsylvania was
fourth with $3.50, the West Virginia
fifth with $50, and the Washington
last with $3.50. The seemingly low
score of the Washington was expected.
as she is a brand new ship with new
guns and crew. but it serves to make
all the more important the splendid
record of the Tennessee, Admiral Sc
bree's flagship, which is just as new
as the Washington, and which Went
to the targets under the same condi-
tions as to green pieces and gunners.
The Tennessee and Washington also
for the first time used their ten-inch
turret rifles, a new weapon for Ameri-
can cruisers, which were put on board
these vessels in response to the de-
mand of ordnance officers for heavier
guns than the eight-inch rifles of the
West Virginia class.
The heavier guns and turrets added
nearly 1000 tons to the weight of the
Tennessee and Washington over the
West Virginia, and caused a thinning
of the main armor belt from six TO
FIVE inches. The turret protection was
increased, however, from six and hal1
to nine inches. All of these big ar
battleships in summing up their tar
get records, and for this reason their
scores are of unusual interest at this
time, when the world-girdling fleet is
about to begin it's target work.
System of Scoring
There is a separate system of scoring,
however, even among the battleshlp5
when it comes to classifying the work
OF the gunners for promotion and prize
money distribution. Some of the ships,
for instance, have 12-inch guns of 40
caliber, while others have the same
diameter of rifle, but of 40 caliber. In
naval pieces the caliber means the
length of the rifle, which, as 1t in
creases, permits of heavier shells and
powder charges and calls for more ac-
curate shooting. For this reason, hits
with a As caliber rifle do not call for
as high an allowance of points as hits
with the lower powered guns Of the
same class.
The 13-inch rifles, which are still re-
tanned on the Kentucky, kearsarge,
Alabama and Illinois, the oldest vessels
of Admiral Evans fleet, are expected
to do even more accurate work than
the 12-inch rifles at the same range and
target, and the points allowed for their
hits are even lower. There is a strong
feeling among the ordnance officers, OF
which there is now one assigned 70
each of the armored vessels OF the
navy, that the 13-inch gun will soon pc
in universal favor again and they VIII
welcome the return to the heavier rife.
with it's 1880 pound projectile. as
against the $40 pound weight of the IL
inch shell.
The Illinois holds the battleship tar
get trophy, won at the spring practice
last year, but in the fall work the gun
ners of the Maine and LOUISIANA &C
comnlished wonderful results, the lat
fer shin. which is in the same class as
the Connecticut. and is armed with the
most modern of the 12-inch rifles, won