The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-07-31


thern be-; most fsaval men boil y- th-v
arr wiuny IA prinsir'-. ~ they ere too
small ard 80 -i1w - - - f-ti 90.
Lac uo-t -s'h-r naval frraEs thew are
dt@ =, the enthusiasm - .1mss god
man uho in-tsts u1'il one v--s-i - luilt
- try out he 'hs~iFy
h-lt~f N she p-p-~ihili,i~s = ramm NJ
70 far from dad. however and t.ntu
very '~c-ntly a great MANY ships wsrs
built With -O-call-si raw bows which
S-r~ rort of spur eNts iding beyond
thr na ural hns og the bow
Many naval men hav. aiWays cunsid-
er~d q - TOWN a mistake and IA. accidental
raining by merchantmen has shown
Thar sch prujectink sr'r - NOT n-ce~-
sa-y. r-cent ca-- lissi wR- ~. crl-
h-ton " the ~. Paul ~ the American Line
With the Briteh armored .'rriiser Glad
iator. The blow -tr'Ick amidzhips but
an spts II ths arfnoT thu Gladiator was
81 haely damaged thar she sAnk in a frW
minutra The bow ~ tho ~ Paul was 20
eouIss twisted and torn. but she WAS IN
no dan ger.
The b,rnd-rbers. built for our navy
Just a the clcee 81 the civil war hut sold
10 France and called the Rochamb.au
was a. extreme case % ram She had
. snoUt eatsnding under water come City
tees beyond the normal bow A. s.'-'n above
water. Besides this she wis som.wha,
Ike ;hs AeFrfmao, but much faster. She
was long held up a. a no rrible example
by British naval architects
The greatest freaks Of all are probably
the k1niAn structures known as Poputf las
after he Admiral who devised them.
They are nearly circular in shaDe, of very
shallow draught and intended for cOast
defenos. About their only merit u that
a. the trcle IN the shortest line enclosing
q givea AREA. lees armor y required for
given displacement Only two were
built. Sne being loi fee, IN diameter and
the oth,r i2l.
One iOes not need % he an expert 10
sse that any hut very moderate sneeds
are impossible with such hull. ard even
then they will require excessive horse
powers. Ind-ed they are not really ships
az all but self -prope ling. floating citadels
They WIRE built in the 7Ss Of the last CEN
tury. 10 other country has ever thought
OF copying this design. which has generally
been cntsidered . marine nightmare.
Tho Russians themselves, however.
tried q modification shortly afterward in
Livadia. which was to be the imperial
yacht. This consisted OF a habitabls
structure built on a tuSbot shaped body
OF light draugAt. 2oj feet long by I5S
feet wide and t.tOo tons displacem ent.
This yssaei vas given a sFeed trial
and made IS T7-i0o knots, or over " Ooo
horsepower. Imam ordinary model % this
u knots. !, Z aid that the eIpectation
was that q hull Of this form would do
away With all riding and pitching, bat
apparently this wAs not realized. a. there
u no record thai de was ever used TO any
extent
Many freak. ara frea kiah details arise
! from the very fee chances for real tests
Of the essentially wprlike features. Battle .
to governmental tests which arr m all
respects like ac' al warfare, although
OCCASIONAL t.sssz lks those last wear
with our monitors arkansas and Flor d1 4:
are made where -.seral shots ae fired
or a torpedo explc|se 50 ~ To- oPen up the
bottom.
A. a conssauenc~ areful naval ~ dents
examine all the d"tslS 81 naval laitle--
they can get and b u. their CODcl lSi~ns
uvpon them. Thus - destruction { the
wooden Union .h,rs hy. the Nor inn. ,
and her duel with To- Monitor proved
ts,nclusively that theldav Of unarrr nrvd
shiT- was absolutely over. The hntfle
Of Tslshima the Rress~t fight between
aEmo-ed ve@asls in ~ worlds hist lry
showed the vast i'm Stanse Of rapi'iity
as bursting charge for De proiectiles.
The duel between .sn- and Armur has
had a treat ene~t At ,ne~. When am or
was ahead the tendency waS Q" nut "
everyN here When the gun seemed
supreme some were furlactually aholL~r-
ing the Ieas, possil - s--tstan,-r ~ pr,-
iectiles and letting thea 20 through IL
fore explOding.
One very remarkable instlnc~ II thi.
theory was in the case offhe great Italian
battIe.hio- italia and lepantp. which
when laid down abDu' 1871 were tn"
largest warships ever designed 1880
tons There was NJ water line arfnDT
az all. dependeuce be ng placed FOR hotl-
ton in case OF damage nonn minute sub
division into cells hlled with CORK. some
thing % the same sort hut e. much le-s
sxtsnt had been done in the British ship
Inhexible.
There was an armored deck over maya
vines and machinery and the guns were
in armored casemates. The omission ~
belt arrnor was all the more remarkable.
as the ships were O. carry four 10 inch
100 ton guns - that they wera intended
for the heav iest kind OF hghting. " -
almost needless 20 say that this freak
feature has been aoandoned and the
recent discussion Of the position 81 the
arTnor belt ia our sh p- has shown how
vital 10 II now considered.
Nations disuhy many Of the ~ me foihle-
and weakness a. itdiv lduals and this
has led in naval ahairE q what can
hardly be cons idsred n other than freaks
just as the man II moderate means tries
20 copy his rich neighDor. although u be
on an Inferior scale. thu little nations with
a seacoast- and restricted means have
tried 20 have little navy. When armored
ships and big pins arr the & shion they
must have there too. tut as the cost 81
the big ships u too graf they must re-
sort % makeShifts
In such cases the clever designer will
make plans that are ind-ed 81 the highest
skill, but the result h a. distinctly in
ferior TO the real thing a. a boy - 70 a
man. II one r~afis the navy list 81 any
of the ANAL mar time countries, Denmark.
Greece. Holland md Swec en- and COMPARES
the size Of the arnored ships with thns"
OF the big nations he W u $50 the point
AT once. The simple truth IL that 20 have
big guns. heavy armor high speed and
.teaming endurance Their" must be great
aize. IL 10 very costly. Jut there " no
other way.
one case may 10 menti med however
as IL is a. ext RENE case % freak as the
Popoffkas; thes. are tn" Chinese All
bi z gun boats. but there l. only one gun.
These little boats were bu II IN England
bet w.en 1873 and 1879 10y Armstrong and
are Of four hundrsi tons displacement
There we're eight In all. Each carried
one hi q gun. the siz's varying from twenty
six TO thirty-eight tons. " the tlme
these were the most powerful guns ahoai
The boats were spected 10 make ten