Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-15
SOME ERRORS ADMITTED
These He Ascribes to Blunders of
Line Officers.
BETTER THAN DREADNOUGHT
| Our Latest Types. He Declares. Are
Superior to England's Best
Battleships.

in an article in the January Humbcr OF
Hampton's Broadway Magazine. and he
spares no emphasis TO point out that their
attacks are no, only unpatriotc but I'M
founded in fact. While admitting that
certain blunders have been made in the
construction of the American armada. he
contends that the most recently built
United States battleships are superior to
the Dreadnought OF the British navy.
which some OF the critics have held up as
a basis Of compa rison. He also warmly
refutes the assertion that the ships of the
United States Navy are or ever were in
the condition Of those of the Russian
fleet when it fought in the Sea OF Japan.
which had also been all ged
Take. for the present. declares the
.ear admiral. lone case only 10 illustrate
my meaning. Our past policy was 10 put
.arge. guns. guns of greater calibrr. on
our ships than were carried on the ships
Of other nations, and history records the
wisdom of this policy. Simply because
foreign policy indicated that others con-
Sidered the Pinch gun sufficiently pow
erful weapon. some one in authOrity-t IS
impossible 70 say just who-changed our
policy. discarded the more powerful
weapon and came TO the one used by
England as her standard. l claim that
this was most serious blunde:. but L
must in fairness say that it was done by
the seagoing line officers of tn navy and
not by any staff corps.
Pleaded for Larger Gun.
II myself pleaded with more than one
chief Of ordnance to develop the 13-inch
gun instead of the Finch. and to go to
even larger guns rather than follow blind
ly what some one else was doing.
Imagine a battleship in action struck
by a projectile from each class of guns
the new Finch and the old 13-inch-con-
cede that both projectiles penetrate the
armor and both explode somewhere In the
body o. the ship. Compare the penetra-
ton. one hole being larger than the other.
and the effect OF the forty-eight pound
explosion OF powder In the case of the T.
inch and eighty pounds in the case Of the
13-inch. and / think my point will be
clear"
Taking up the bitter controversy over
the water line armor belt and the asser
ton that "a hole upon the water line will
cripple or sink the ship" the rear adj
miral declares: This could not have been
written for professional men except to
excite their wonder and merriment. That
one twelve-inch shell on the water line
will disable or sink a modern battleship
needs no comment except for those who
know nothing about battleships, and to
them I say that 1t will require many such
shells on the water line or in any other
place to disable or sink such ship IL her
officers and men know their business and
want to fight.
THE statement that wound on a tur-
ret may disable that turret's guns is
absolutely inaccurate. unless by wound
the writer means penetration. It is more
than probable--it is almost certain-that
twelve-inch shell completely penetrating
turret will put that turiet out of bust
ness whether the shell G. 'loIes or not.
Hence most officers Woo prefer to re-
ceive the shell at the water line rather
than on the turret"
Never Will Be Like Russia's.
OF all the inaccurate and misleading
statements in this wonderful criticism,
however, this seems to Rear Admiral
Evans the most incorrect: Within a
year after the Russo-Japanese fight in the
Sea Of Japan our navy awOke to the reali
zation of a startling fact-the battleships
of the United States are in exactly the
same condition as the Russian ships at
the Sea OF Japan-not temporarily, but
permanently
Il assert, on the contrary, that the
battle fleet of the United States never
was. and never will be. never can be. in
the condition of that Russian fleet when
it went into action for the last time.
IF the Russian admiral did not wish
his armor belts beneath the water why
did he load his ship so deeply with coal
when he had less than one thousand miles
to steam: And, further, what reasonable
ground is there for assuming that an
American admiral would not so regulate
the weights on his ships as to bring his
water line armor just where he wanted it
to be?
.sThot o,,r hoftleshins boye thair n,o+or
line armor belts disposed about a water
line which may never be their water line
when engaged in battle may or may not
be true: Il would depend on where the
battle was to be fought, how far from a
cOaling station, etc But the armor once
on. the fact that the ship is then sunk
lower in the water does not render the
protection afforded by the armor less: on
the contrary, it is. in my Judgment. great
er, because l am sure after many weeks
of close observation that the lower edge
of the armor belt is too high, rather than
too low. As the upper edge of this belt is
always even with or above the level OF
the protective deck the danger 70 be an
pretended from projectiIe penetrating
above the belt, beyond the wrecking eff
feet OF such projectile, is that due to the
amount Of water that may enter through
the hole.
Better Than the Dreadnought.
1T is the damage that may be done by
such projectiles entering below the belt
that may cause the destruction of the
ship; one projectile. so placed. may cause
the ship to sink by exp oding magazines
or boilers. even, but this is Improbable.
The damage done. however. by a protec-
tile SO entering is certain TO do many
times greater injury than one entering
above the belt. and one must be sure to
have the lower edge of the belt low
enough to prevent any orojectie from 50
entering
There are three leading features in bat
tleship designs which Rear Admiral
Evans concludes, deserve most careful
consideration and coordination: First.
the battery: second the armor protection;
third. the motive power.
Il do not for moment claim he
writes. that the Indiana and her sister
ships are equal to the Dreadnought OF the
English navy. only that she is the equal
Of the English ship designed at the same
time. But do claim that our latest ships
are vastly superior to the Dreadnought.
and l believe that every fair minded man
who has given the subject intelligent con-
sideration will agree with me"