The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1912-06-15


adopted by some powers
IN target practice all the rules aim at the
feprooucton OIL the conditions of actual battle and
every effort is put forth to accomplish this end
some time before the practice is to be held each
o1hcer whose post requires an advance knowledge
OF the work to be done receives book of rules
Tor that particular practice. This book is consid-
ered 10 be confidential document, the contents
OF winch are not to be revealed to persons outside
me service The first page is perforated and
pears number corresponding to that on the book
itseH Inc recipient signs receipt this page
and 1t is torn out and retained by the navy depart
ment rms book, therefore, Is held under signed
agreement not to reveal what its pages contain
Inc practice this year included spoilers test,
target shooting by Individual ships and by divi-
sons torpedo firing by battleships and by torpedo
poats. Inc sunken battleship San Marcos, for
merly the Texas which is being used as a naval
marx, was the target in the case of the spoilers
TEST 1t is reported that later her lattice ire-con-
troll masts are to targets in order to learn
now long that type of mast will stand when under
ire Each battleship has one or more spoilers.
THESE are the men who occupy the fire control
baskets on the lattice masts and watch the fall
OF the shots. They expected to be able to tell
almost instantly how far over or under the mark
the shells struck and telephone it to the plotting
room, down in the bowels of the vessel They sup
plement the mechanical range finder and assist
the plotters below working out the ranges to cor
rect any differences thus indicated. The discrep-
ancy between the range obtained mechanically
and the observation of the spotter Is considered to
Indicate the strength of the powder charge and the
supply Of powder is varied accordingly.
In the spoilers test the range was known to
the umpires, and the guns were fired at prear-
ranged elevations, or ranges. The spoilers
expected to tell what the errors discrepancies,
We're Their estimates were then compared with
the known ranges.
In individual practice each ship is limited to a
certain number Of shots, and it has it's own target
The scoring is based on the number of hits per
minute per gun. 1t has been found that the gun
ners IN land fertilization may be expected to
average one hit in three shots at moving target
1t is. therefore, considered that a ship that can
make 80 per cent Of hits has made a perfect
score, for the floating gun platform not only is
unstable, but is moving, while the fortifcation not
only has fixed platform, but there are oppor-
tunities for increasing the length Of the base of
the range finder.
The ranges obtained by taking two sights
at the mark from different points whose distance
apart is known with precseness. The angles of
the two sight lines when the sights are focused
simultaneously on the object, taken with the
known length of the base line, will show its exact
distance. The fertilization has an advantage over
a vessel also in that the garrison can plot out
some OF its ranges in advance. The range finder
on battlesh1p Is approximately sixteen feet long.
This is the base line upon which the calculations
are worked out Taking this into consideration,
the capacity for making hit a target more
than six miles away is an evidence of great skill
the part Of all who manipulate the fighting
machine.
AS the ship Is not only limited in the number
of shots to be fired, but in a measure to the in
terval of time in which they may be sent in search
of the target, it viii be seen that without prelim-
mary practice of some kind the records which
have been made would be impossible. It is not