New-York tribune., 1908-04-23
INDICATING \ OUR NAVY
Expert Opinions Of q British Naual
Designer.
.m Ihe Boston Transcrint. Anril .

IRON The Boston Transcript. April p,
; Nliaiatn hs-lry hite. II & b, f 4. S.
dinner AT the Tavern Cub iendered MN 10y josiah
boslon were present. Sir " llllam was fur nearly
.;M1ltE Years, or up TO 1862, responsible de-
signer Of all British warslps. and in knowledge
OF naval construction he is not suTpassed by any
aa IN the World he is also deeply Interested in
ari lcaii nava! affairs and naval officers Rear
+f 1fHi' a. r = Bowles, former chief constructor OF
Fore hlyer Engine Company. and Rear Admiral
SappS, present chief constructor were both his
IN IN our cur naval programme that induced Sir William
ing the faf i "a 20 q reporters questions regard
~ tte@o1tfdahl @ IN McClure's Magazine" He plunged
al once IT Hedias
VII ne american ships when they are floating at
and SI,eo tLelr normal waterline in still water.
on 80 tuII55teht have their belt armor about and
@ Slle-L4LI 70 three feet above that waterne. You
snip has certain w6is on board n6t gepresentng m
,fe 1uIi load The American official reports show
deeper than thai And aPoHI 6e 1~e4t{SeVem LnGhes %
IA 1te region OF that Waterline still is about from
SIX TO nine inches above water. So far Reuterdahi
the preadnoughs thick aror "iSI be " Wien the he
fz fDIeaonoHght is fully laden she is drawing from
roGr - 10 Tour ana one-half feet more than at her
normal fno ~aterne and her thick belt is then
left with BeieG IN 5fchs 6eio Taer and she IS
'rshalf h feet above the surface in still water
renIyseyen I've inches deeper than at the normal line,
grea66mGught is four TO four AID onehaf feet
fn s a haye Their thick armor belt six to nine inches
responding thick arnor foot to et eghaeen nj inches
2eeioW water And the English ships defence
me SIDES is then restricted to armor that rises
o 5pIr TO- four and 1nehef feet above water and is
Connecticut class have on their sides. for al con-
siderable nortion of their length. vertical
I2rssadnousht may be a little. less than eight
that as far as the Dreadnonght and the Con-
necucut are concerned. the Connecticut is better
protected above the waterline,
Now. This belt arnor, in my opinion is only
e5<n 1 II the ship is upright and at rest in still
co1, ,I !tt portion Of the ship would be- Of
ter OF fact. is most difficult TO hit If the shots
fail eyer so little short they Will ricochet and turn
will i'll, pass over the thick arnor belt
the shin Is at se Is nffeF the me s Fn " oT "69 f
Nayes formed by her motion in still water will
are waves passing the ship. they rise above that
nus 5et goes under water no matter where it is
ana 3ha is Shf bs raS os m To the
nSsazleS to The rear Of the guns Taking i s AS
aFmoTed ships Of the world at the present time on
majority Of them with nothing but direct hoists,
It - not peculiar 10 American snins at all; -.
that in hing n and fr0m fhsf thsf
have happened are only indirectly associated with
the direct hoist. The primary cause Of accident
Having said that. I ought to say that l am am the
man who brought out Tue broken hoistIthat It's is;
The magazines into an AMMUNITION room and there there
transferring II to another hoist not in direct
line did that nearly twenty years ago, but !
did not do Il because Of the danger Of the dlrect
hoist When you have direct hoist from the
fifty feet If the is placed high, II takes an
appreciable amount of time TO lift the charge from
the magazine to the gun before you can l9du: }:
Now. l said if l could put IN two stages. one that
would bring the ammunition TO within SIX or seven
feet Of the gun, and then second set or men, VINO
II the remaining distance the gun. could save
considerable time. That IS the reason ola mat
and not because Of any danger.
The inexperence o, the men and the conditions
ar target practice 20 blame. As long as YOU
give The prize To the no fire the most am
munitIon in given time or NJ me ;,I - tIst
frequently in a given tul" ne ~ -, acs
game But you will remember that the .la,d ItS
admras. Fushinr and Iog@; gave orders 'al THAT
In the battle Of August 10, outside Fort .arIlq'
the Japanese fired away nearly all thelr a1llIn@un @
tio1 and only saved by the Inerest 5000 t Dot
SLAMS because they did not have reserve a'lililu-il
tion: -. e-eehoard and height of guns
above water. all l need say SoouJ Ilar - 80 ,.a ~
fe~ts are again not m Mr.. Reuterdahls favor
III is quite that in the swltteT crllselS ci
the F?rftieh navy l introduced q hisn fott9a SLt.
heca7lee they going to drive hard ahd ,t leSt
asausr the But in the 6atteshI 80 80
afSnr ~ steady height OF freeboard and OF guns
all the time there because II Was iHoF'N -
he enough by experience ar sea. -, .,, main,
There are two requireIr ents mere = s.ah Lrr.
+ansn-a Of speed. That demands a hgn g!nt,lia pom'
2tte+1er II IS an Atlantic liner or oattleShI5g'
Then there is the fighting power IN -1.c 11nr
&C rorrse there you never want 70 [olsCe ~
OF - L;l.r ttIan ycv are obliged 70. because pS
Tsising them you raise your ce5tFe oI oia'''S an"
,.a,5,-re Zo,lr = bilitv accordingly; -,z.;,,-
s-3ra7 Sips disadvantaS SeollsE sL -! 60
[or,raTed with European NeSse J s'tE - e-est
[.aigr-t nf freeboard forward as 80 e,,,os,f ion
ies ,,,eers hut in hat resnecJ II sh a IIts ,o
IF mower but simpl! 2 qiestloil u '' '
Of Eueed at sea