The Republican journal., 1911-04-06

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A Battleship. costing $10.00o,o0 to
s12,000,00O, is becoming obsolete after
seven to ten years Of service, and af-
ter 20 years of life 1t is, for deep-sea
fighting, practically useless. The de-
terioration is chiefly in the speed, and
somewhat less in the armament, the
fighting range of the older guns be-
ing less than that Of the modern out
put of our ordnance factories. The
armor remains good for all time. The
huh, if properly protected against
corrosion. should be available for
long life. of usefulness. The limita-
lions in speed and in the range of the
guns soon renders ship unable to
take her place in the first fighting
line Then, this investment OF from
Sc, 100000 to s12.O00,000 is put up for
auction and goes to the scrap heap.
If some duty could be found for the
obsolete battleship, in which 10000
to 1900 yard fighting range for the
guns was not indispensable, and in
which speed was of no account what
ever. vast amount of most valuable
fighting material would be saved for
military purposes. Now it has been
suggested that such a sphere of use
fulness can be found for our obsolete
battleships by emplacing them per-
nianently upon certain shoal grounds
at the entrance to our harbors or con-
tigious waterways, and turning them
into permanent, fixed, coast fortified
tons. We present a series of draw
ings showing how this might be done
in the case of such a battleship, say.
as the old "Iowa."
We can well believe that the up-to-
date naval man who thinks in terms
of 23-knot, 30,000-ton battleships, and
14-inch guns of 1900 to $4,000 yards
effective fighting range, will look at
this presentation with smile Of
amused curiosity. 1t is certainly hy-
brid; hut like many another proposal
OF startling originality, it will be found
upon closer and thoughtful attention
that the suggestion has a great many
valuable features, which should COM
mend it to the earnest consideration
of our army and navy.
Briefly stated, some shoal place
could be selected at the entrance to a
harbor, or at some other waterway
to be defended, and. by means of dou-
BILE rows of piling, a cofferdam would
be driven, of sufficient dimensions to
allow the battleship to be hoated with
in it. Previous to its entrance. how
ever, lines of piling would be driven
in the proper position to support the
ship along her central and her dock
ing keels The mud or sand would
then be dredged out, the piling cut off
at the proper height, and the ship
would be floated in and allowed to set
tie upon the bed thus provided. The
cofferdam would then be closed, and
sand or other suitable material would
be pumped or otherwise filled in
around the ship to point we'll above
the protective deck, or as high as
might be deemed expedient. This fill
ing would be continued seward on
the channel sides for a distance Of
go to 100 feet, finished with an easy
slope, and rip-rapped on its face to
protect it against wave action. Tie
cofferdam and filling would be ex-
tended on the lee side to inciose a
rectangular basin, which would form
a harbor of refuge for fleet of de-
stroyers and submarines. 1t should
completed, the whole exterior of the
shell of the ship would be protected
by grouting it up with cement, by
the method which is used in subaque-
Gus channels.
On the channel side, tubes would
be built through the embankment
from the interior of the ship to the
water, with suitable concrete en-
brasures would be mounted torpedo
discharge tubes, of the kind now in
stalled on warships. These tubes, Of
course, would lead out toward the
channel that it to be defended.
The advantage of this form of de-
Tense may be summarized as follows:
A battleship fort will have solid
gun platform, the battleship resting
solidly on the bottom and being i'm
bedded, as described, in earth to the
level of her upper deck. ordinarily II
to IA feet above sea level. With large
caliber guns on solid gun platforms,
located at approaches, with wide
base line available for ranges, the ac-
curacy of the gun fire of a battleship
fort will be perfect and much superior
to that of an enemy's attacking battle
snip. WHICH must ue duOdL Will uIi~
stable gun platform and limited
range-finding facilities.
The earthwork surrounding a battle
ship fort will render it perfectly Sc
cure from any torpedo attack, While
the tubes running out from the battle
ship fort will enable the fort to fire
modern high-power torpedoes with
great accuracy, at any hostile battle
ship.
Very little damage could be in
ficted on battleShip fort by the gun
fire of an enemy, but the enemy's bat
tleship could be sunk by gun fire of a
battieship fort.
In every respect of defensive and Of
fensive maneuver, except pursuit of
the enemy. a battleship fort has the
most decided advantage. so much Sc
that it is highly improbable that any
battleship would ever engage battle-
ship fort. except incidentally in an eff
fort to run by and get into our ports,
with least possible exposure to the
fire of the fort.
The battleship fort is therefore the
most formidable type of coast-defense
fertilization; SO much SO that the eX-
istence of an adequate number of such
defenses, located at strategic points
at the approaches, will probably m
sure such a port immunity from any