Albuquerque morning journal., 1910-10-18
NEW SHIPS MAKE
FINE RECORD At
SEA PRACTICE
delaware VIII Win Peanant
for Efficiency With Sister
Man. o-Wa5 the North Da-
kota, Close to the Top
Morning Journal Bureau.
613 Mursey Building.
washington, d. G., Oct. IA.

sfriving to make our line-of- battle
o.o,s the best in the world, ship for
81 .s,n and it is believed that the ships
81 ,oya no superior in personnel and ma
II ,.,iat If the records made in the gen
ord efficiency competitions count for
N anything.
The battle practice Of the Atlantic
81 fleet recently held Off the Virginia
canes was conducted under condi-
,iors more exacung than il is believed
& would be imposed by actual battle.
III rbey were more severe than hereto
rore imposed upon our vessels in bat
n ,lo nractiee. and it is thought that they
u crcel those under which similar prac-
n tco-is held in foreign navies. SO far
III ,s known. the highest range of fir
n inc in similar practice in other navies
Fl his been 5000 Yards whereas the
a leost range in the practice this fall
n oas 9.GO0 Yards, or nearly four and
n cne-haH nautical miles, and the
greatest range 1850 yards, or more
Than six nautical miles.
II one of the surprises of the practice
was the work of the Delaware and
n North Dakota It was predicted that
N toth of these vessels would stand near
n the bottom of the list in the record for
efficiency because they had been in
commission only about three months.
Il A mart of each crew is composed of
N green mon drawn from the training
stations. aud all members of each
crew had not had tho opportunity to
4 become acquainted with the vessels
a which was had by the crews of YES
sells longer in commission. However,
officers. who Witnessed the practice.
Indicate that the Delaware will stand
at the head of the list in the fleet in
n efficiency in battle practice, with the
North Dakota near the top. This Is,
Notwithstanding The fact that one
4 broadside from the Delaware so de-
stroyed the target that evidence of
d the passage Of only one shot re-
n NAMED and this was the only one
counted in the score. Under the rules
Il Of the contest shots passing below the
target and destroying the raft on
which the target WAS mounted, and
N thereby destroying the target itself |
we're not counted although such shots
hitting in the vicinity Of the water
4 Inc would be the most destructive to
40 enemgs vessel The targets We're |
only about &ne-tenth the area of the !
sido Of a ba+tieshfn and many of the
shots not counted which passed above
lolow and to the sides of the target !
would have been just as effective in |
action as those passing through the |
target
The frngs by day were made in !
4 three runs. the vessels ~Aooting by di- |
vslons In one of tho rurs each dl- |
Il vision approached the targets at an !
angle TO the course Of the targets un- |
der town. and in a direction generally !
opposite to tho progress of the targets |
the range and speed of the targets be- !
mgp4er an9 9'',' ,I,,.so,.,, L - ~ ~ sbin,,
captain. In another run. the condi- |
ticns were somewhat similar. except !
that the ships approached in tho same /
general direction as the course Of the
targets In the other run. the range, I
direction, and speed Of the targets !
were unknown 20 anyone in the di- |
'aon firing This program was call
'ulated to test the efficiency of the |
guns turning gear, range finders, and /
olner appurtenances. and the eff
geney OF the personnel in handling
mem
me night practice was with view
ascertain the ability of the fleet to
t'ps' attacks by torpedo craft The
targets were anchored in two lines.
~ ',eYVv S"fas apart between Whlch the
t.-,9 lassed ana at WHlch lhey ilreu
s1ar',,'', '1.''s.'',s II was found that the
,i,.,.iD,s ..e',,isI sI''s are not eiiectlFe 10 as
it, "ppI"dchlhs torPeuo cr"i' al
,,,a' ,,..'.''''e exceeding z'ooo yafds -
or ooo now lorPeuoes win r"ilBe
yasroht;.,,, ,.'iu. II apparent ,hot
Ia d,saa5.D ',,'7'',S .'i''i'' De oepehdeu up1"
hosts '' ''li'e "''"cN'hB 'o' p''''
M ra,..., -.
fectito '''',' nv ~.
feet srair., ''''' Us
aert ~ '.''',
qro,.... '''','' co. torpeao toat ue
be- Il, ~. "','.h c','ss t''eie s''"u'"
nors5 '''' D'd''les'ilp a"" d.
each 49,. "Ee !" l'''''
allow ''i ''''-' ''''
AS v.o',... 'i'7 UP i'r rei'" F.
ships Il, % i'is' 'i'ss O"'''y-
and .a.,. ''Ve' uhuef CONSTITUTION, |
cruiser, '-''' a'n "''ioIeu