The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1908-03-15
.DREADNOUGHT ACTS
LIKE A BOOMERANG
Conclusion of Great Guns
Works Havoc Among
Own Crew.
impossible to Fire Huge
Batteries in
Unison.

LONDON. March IA certain section
OF British naval experts is strongly
opposing the further building of Dread
noughts, and even goes SO far as TO con
denim the type as a ponderOus and pre-
tenJious sham.
So Tar as open comment goes, the
type is still unanimously accepted ana
acclaimed as the battleship OF the fu-
ture." That is the official view. But
minority of officers, whom discipline
keeps from Speaking out" condemn
the type. and predict that it will prove
absolutely worthless in a real naval en-
gagement.
The craze for Dreadnoughts is strong
est among their designers. The feeling
against them IS confined TO officers who
have gone TO sea In them. These Off
GERS prophesy that it will be absolutely
impossible to work ten or twelve
'12-inch guns simultaneously in
battle. IN accuracy and weight of metal
discharged, the recent Dreadnought
trials were a triumph. The result
looked well on paper. But no public re-
port has been issued concerning the
price paid for the triumph.
It Is a fact that during the firing trials
men were carried below utterly inca
tpaCitated through vertigo-stunned, and
even inseusible. As long as few big
guns were fired the effects were not
felt. But the first attempt 10 keep up
rapid fusillade from all twelve guns
produced what was described to me as a
storm" which played worse havoc
among the crew than a possible enemy 5
shells.
Even men who were not incapacitated
f complained that their nerves and vision
were so badly affected that It was use
less to continue firing.
Like Old Boats.
II this experience is repeated with
other ships OF the Dreadnought type
they Will be able to use only part or
their urinary batteries, and as they
have no secondary batteries, they will
be In the same position as the battle
tships OF the old type, which were armed
with only four twelve-inch guns.
q The. Russo-Japanese war. showed that
secondary batteries play a tremendous
role. The only damage that RojestVen-
sky inflicted on Togo at the battle or
Lsushina came from the Russian S-inch
and 6-inch guns. The Japanese did
havoc with their secondary batteries
1t was shells from their smaller guns
which set the Russian ships on IRE.
fThe Russian Captain Semenoff, who
was on the flagship, declared that II
was "the uninterrupted thick rain of
six and eight inch shells which effected
our ruin" and he adds that the Occa-
sional shots from the big japanese guns
49, -ov,, -. ffgraTv~ a rr1lpsE
As no Dreadnought is armed with
secondary battery, 1t is plain that if
she Is compelled u use only a few OF
her big guns she Will be unable TO stand
I'D against a ship OF the older type
This reasoning has evidently been
adopted by Japan. Her two new sup
posed Dreadnoughts. the Aki and Sat
suma, are in reality the antithesis OF
the English Dreadnought type. They
carry four Pinch guns mounted in
pairs in bow and stern barbettes. and
twelve 10-inch guns mounted In pairs in
broadside barbettes.
The broadsl1o barbettes constitute the
secondary battery. These guns weigh
Is tons, IS opposed to the 50 tons of the
1s-incn guns, and their shells weigh only
$50 pounds, as opposed TO $50. The weight
Of their powder charge and their muz-
zle velocity are only half of those of
the guns in the pinch baTbettes. The
real DreadnouEhts have big guns all of
the same caliber. which could be
brought into action at the same moment.
whereas the japanese secondary battery
could be used only at a much closer
range than the four big guns.
Japan Takes Warning.
The two 22.O0c-ton battleships which
Sapan is building at home. and the
third which is under construction on
the Clyde. are also not Dreadnoughts.
Each will have a secondary battery Of
ten S-inch guns mounted in pairs. It
IS declared. however. that the main
armament will consist of no less than
twelve Pinch guns II that is sn they
would suffer from storms" as badly
as the British DreadnOughts. but they
would have a secondary battery 10 fall
back upon.
It is a curious fact that the Dread
nOught's gunners never suffered from
the discharge of the guns IN their own
fbarbettCs. The shock from which they
suffered was caused by heavy stimuli
taneous firing of guns in other positions,
Apart from the shock problem, Japan
insistence on a secondary battery IS
causing much comment. But taken to-
gether with the stories of the effect OF
firing on the DreadnOughts crew, II has
the effect Of raising the very mOmen-
tous question Is the Dreadnought the
Irresistible monster she is boosted ID
be OF Is she an over-arned. unavoidable
tvpe which Will be rejected by the ma
vies Of the future?