The Washington herald., 1912-06-30

Consigned to the scrap heaps Of navy
yards all over the world lie numerous
'treaks' which at their first appearance
gave promise Of wonderful results.
The torpedo boat failed TO revolutionize
marine warfare. though at the time Of
It's conception the idea Of a speedy craft
carrying sufficient high powerful ex-
plosivs torpedoes to destroy the great
est OF the worlds battleships because
OF its ability to speed In close 10 a slower
moving prey, deliver a death blow and
escape again. by reason Of its powerful
engines. was acknowledged by the en-
gineers Of the time to be feasible. Still,
the nations have their dreadnoughts and
the torpedo boat has not revolutionized
warfare.
The submarine was hailed as a de-
velopment OF modern times capable OF
revolutionIzing warfare. The submarine
has failed to do this.
To-day the factor which has been hail
ed as the upsetter OF present methods
is the aeroplane. Il has not yet practi-
cally shown such radical power.
Was Expensive BIunder.
About the most expensive blunder on
record was the construction Of four mon
ltors for the United States navy at q
time when the Monitor had outgrown its
usefulness. These boats, while practica-
BILE in quiet waters, would be useless
in a seaway because OF the low mount
ing Of their batteries. These were the
TonOpah, Tallahassee, Ozark, and Chey-
enne, in 1901. It is obvious that the ac-
curate discharge Of guns on a vessel OF
low freebOaTd would be an impossibility
when at the precise moment Of discharge
a sudden roll either up or down might
throw the projectile into the sea or send
Il skyward.
In appearance the monitors are very
husiness-like. The main hull Of the YES
sci appears for a scant two feet above
the surface Of the water. 4 heavily ar
mored turret on the forward deck looks
impregnable and aggressive. with its
armament Of heavy guns, and the super
structure looks as II II was merely sec
ondary, and placed on the finished ship
for appearance.
SmnII Target for Enemy.
One Of the things which undoubtedly
Influenced the naval constructors to ac-
cept these vessels was the comparative
ly small above-water targets they pre-
sented.
Just how valuable the monitor type is
considered at the present time is shown
by the fact that recently one Of them
was used as a target for big gun fire.
and later a military mast was stepped
on another Of these ships and tested by
the big guns of their successors.
The Katahdin, recently used as tar
get for the big guns Of the present-day
dreadnouEhts, was another Of the war
fare revolutionizers. so-caled. She was
aV.A @a1f Id q
ram: but by the time she was launched
her efficiency was practically nothing.
for the simple reason that the vessels
she was meant TO destroy could show
her a clean pair Of heels-hy reason OF
their higher powered enEtnes-and could
batter her to pieces as she approached.
The Katahdin looks great deal like one
Of our present-day whalebaCk lake
steamers Her bow was shod with a
sharp, heavy ram. and the theory was
that. in attacking an enemy. she would
steam in close, II possible. under cover
Of darkness. tear hole in the hull OF
the unsuspectinG opponent and back
away from the breach she had made.
Blew Holes in Ground.
The Vesuvlus. built shortly before the
Spanish-American War. caused great en-
thusiasm. II was foretold that the
strongest fleet afoat would melt before
her dynamlte-flled projectiles. The three
projecting guns with which she was
equipped, stood obliquely out from her
forward deck in an antagOnisLiC manner.
Because OF the material her prOjectiles
carried il was found necessary at the
time Of her designing TO provide safe
means Of firing. Compressed air was de-
cided upon as being the safest and
surest But in designing this terrible en-
glne Of destruction. as she was at that
time considered. the builders failed 10
make provision for aiming the guns sepa-
rately. so that in using the bombs it was
found that the vessel Itself had to be
pointed at the desired target. This IN
itself spelled failure. for it is one thing
to aim a gun but quite another TO aim a
ship.
The vesuvius was spared the ignoble
life and end Of the Katahdin. for she saw
actual service in the Spanish-AmeriCan
war She was sent to the southern coast
Of Cuba in the vicinity Of Santiago and
succeeded in blowing a number Of crater