The Hawaiian gazette., 1908-06-12


instruments for fire control, sighting
and operating the turret, few if any
were out of working order.
IF this had happened in battle the
Florida would be fighting yet," said
one of the Rear-Admirals, with enthu-
siasm.
NEW MAST STANDS TEST.
Then followed a futile attempt to
destroy the ly-designed woven wire
fighting mast on the stern of the Flor
ida. After five shots of the guns had
gone through it the mast stood firm.
| Forty shots would not bring it down
and no enemy would waste ammuni-
ton and time shooting at it, was the
expert comment.
1t was predicted that all new ships
will be equipped with battle masts of
this description.
The scene of the demonstration was
Hampton Roads. The Florida, which
had been in the hands of experts for
some time. lay with steam up, her nose
pointing out through the Virginia
! Capes near Thimble Shoal Light and
about four miles from Old Point Com
fort. Just S42 yards on the inside of
the Florida lay her sister ship, the Ar
kansas.
This is such a test as would never
occur in actual warfare" remarked
Rear-Admiral, as the big party of Of
ficers boarded the Arkansas. ''The aim
will be perfect; the distance is so close
that the impact will be at its full velo-
city and the part of the Florida to be
hit is weakest"
strip of canvas was stretched be-
tween two staffs on the turret of the
Florida. The Arkansas fired twelve
inch projectile at the canvas to get the
range. There was a crash, a roar, the
monitor kicked back in the water and
sprang up again, and when the canvas
target came into view it had a hole
through its lower half. Then the tur-
ret of the Florida was swung around
so that her guns and those of the Ar
kansas looked squarely at each other.
TURRET wITHSTANDS SHOCK.
At 1912 the big noise" came, two
crashes so close together that they
sounded like one. The twelve-inch
projectile had hit its target. 1t was
crash. a flash and a cloud of yellow
smoke quietly drifting away over the
top of the Florida. What was left was
a big black wound. Just TO the right
of the right gun there was what looked
like a hole. The officers went to the
Florida, but before they got there her
crew of twenty or thirty ''tars" from
the receiving-ship Franklin, differed
by Commander John G. Quimby, COM
manding; Lieutenant Joseph K. Tus-
sig and a gunner, had come up from
the hold and were looking over the
damage.
The plate had been broken through
from the gun port to the edge just
above and just below where the shell
struck. The broken piece had been
driven into the turret several inches.
but not the thickness of the plate, so
that no hole was actually made.
officers entered the turret at once
and its mechanism was operated, the
each way and the left-hand gun |
trained.
SHOTS FIRED AT NEW MAST.
But the turret bore evidence of a |
fight. The paint along the seams had
disappeared, many of the seams were
sprung, bolts were loosened and sliv-
ers of the plate lay around. A board
dummy on the inside was intact and
the opinion of officers was that even
with the terrific impact the gunners
in the turret would not have been in
jured. The mechanism in the turret
bore no evidence of damage.
Attention was next turned to testing
the fighting mast. The first shot at
that structure was fired from one of
the four-inch guns of the Arkansas,
and, besides piercing an iron-plate tar
get at its base, it cut one of the sup
porting pipes and injured others. The
second hole was from the same gun
and cut two tubes a little higher up
and on the other side of the mast. The
third shot missed, and then the order
was given to fire a four-inch explv>
sive shell high up near the top of the
mast. This shook the structure and
tore asunder a number of the tubes,
but the mast seemed as stable as ever
The fifth and last shell was a solid
shot from the big twelve-inch gun,
aimed so as to hit the mast on its
outer rim on the side leaning toward
the water, the structure having pur-
posely been tilted at an angle of ten
degrees TO make it easier to fall. This
shot tore holes through many of the
tubes, but the mast still
stood firm.
The advantage of the mast is de-
clared to have been fully demon
strated. Its points are tha, it is prac-
tically indestructible with shot or