The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-03-05
Naval I arget Practice

| maj merit with all turret guns. Fol
owing low the target practice nj Magda-
,y,six or twenty-eight ilrst-class yes
sells viii have engaged In February,
March and April. there viii he battle
prI ra ,,aI. In the foil. near either San
doubt be comfort to the Secretary
OF the Navy. who deplored I'm his last
report that the naval training of the
present day overlooks the mobility OF
the navy I'm favor of g,innery
While target practice after de-
| sutory fashion has been known to
the. nations since the days OF Nelson.
u ~ only IN the past five years that
OF more than passing notice In that
i've years 80 much has been done that
our records for rapidly and accuracy
are the envy OF all nations. Formerly
| fired at with sub-calibre guns, and
occasional shots with projectiles and
reduced power charge. In the practice
in 1906. off the coast of Cuba. tho tar
twenty-five feet. Hardly six years
| ago the target used was Twenty-Five
| by one hundred feet. Ten years ago
the target was about seven times as
| changed. The target ranges which arc
all ready for the Atlantic fleet in
Magdaiena Bay are OF canvas twelve
black and white. with arrange measure
Ing about 1900 yards.
| The Improvement in ten years ia
remarkable. In 1898. when black pow
| parts OF the mechanism were poorly
developed, the firing was both SLOW and
| inaccurate. Then. even with largo
target the percentage of hits was
small. A twelve-inch gun was ared
| only once n five minutes, six-inch
! gun once In from one and half to ono
and two-third minutes and other
guns in proportion. Now the. larger
| tarret guns make three shots and
| three hits minute; six-inch guns tako
only forty seconds for each shot, and
out of thirteen shots have made Ills
| hits minute. Formerly eight-inch
guns were allowed two minutes for
each shot Now they are expected to
make 36 shots and 3.s hits per min
/ ute. Ten years ago the percentage
Of hits was rarely over 40 per cent,
| target big. Now many ships make
| from 10 to 80 per cent. hits with all
main battery guns. The Maryland's re-
cent record in Magdalena Bay was
| 1898; that of the Tennessee which
was second was 1924.
Experiments of the past years show
| ed that small charges in target prac-
! tfcc were mistake, so in the past
four years. full charges have been
used. 1t costs, of course. but the game
is believed 10 be worth the candle.
Each time twelye-inch gun is fired.
II costs the government $500. 1t takes
| at least s900.000 year to pay for tn.
! ammunition used up this way. and IL
/ is estimated that Sl,500.000 would be
| no mean amount TO appropriate Tor
this work. Before the spanish-Ainer-
| lean War the heaviest expense for
naval gunnery training was In 1891.
4 and that amounted to 100000 but
i whereas only per cent. of our shot
struck ceryera's fleet at Santiago nj
/ a range of $500 yards. now the Al
lantic fleet has record OF over 80
4 per cent. made by twclve-inch guns
at thirty b. sixty-foot target At
such improvements. the money woutd
/ seem well invested. During Its 1901
/ quarterly practice. the Atlantic squad
ron spent si7S,0o0, and used more am
4 munitfon in It's gunnery training than
was used in the battle of Manila. The
i ammunition now allowed each man
In the American navy is greater than
the per capita allowance of any navy
i afloat
i One will hear moro OF target prac-
I tice in the navy hereafter, the sail
i ing of the Atlantic fleet having
] awakened greater interest in these
steam out to the Caribbean Sea every
/ winter, and about the LIST of April,
4 would begin q series of practice cam.
paigns about Pensacola Bay. or OF
naino, is the largest target. for small
arms in the world. Then the records
OF ships made there would be compared
4 with the records Of Others made else
4 where, and the annual ceremony of
bestowing the trophy would follow.
4 Ships sailing at the rate OF ten knots
Il an hour along the base of an equi-
lateral trianble, are expected to fire 9
gun at n time ut the target set al
the trianglc's apex. and make good
i at their work. Competition is keen,
Il patriotism and loyalty to ones ship at
fever height. 1t was after the unfor-
I<1etr I'm "a vsG
Koester dying from wounds and burns.
cried: Twenty shots and twenty hitsL
!, Hurrah for the ISearsarge! OF such
men Is the American navy being built;
/ by such men and their mRrksmanslip
is the nations reputation lifted far
above that OF the rest of the world.
).
, o-morrow-The- Great National
Snapsiot