The Wagner post. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1912-current, 1912-05-31
NAVY 1900 TIMES
BETTER NOW Than
IN SPANISH WAR
Meyer Tells How Careful Study
Has Improved Efficacy in
Gunnery.

New York.-In addressing the Eff
ficiency society. eff New York. Secre-
tary of the Navy Meyer told OF the
following improvements In navy SER
vice since 1898. when the battle OF San
tiago showed the need OF better gun
merry:
The short range hits at Santiago were
3.5 per cent; at the recent San Marcos
target practice the result was 1873 per
cent at 10, 900 yards range.
Twelve-inch guns averaged one shot
in 5 minutes at Santiago; at San a
cos, average was 10 shots in 8 minutes.
Naval experts estimate these figures
to mean an Improvement of 1900 times
In battle efficiency.
Secretary of the Navy Meyer told the
Efficiency society at its recent banquet
how careful study in the navy had
multiplied the efficiency Of the Amer
lean war craft at least LOO times since
the Spanish war.
The system followed. according to
the secretary, was practice and en-
enlargement. Bonuses are paid to
the men who show especial aptitude
for work, and promotion is certain.
The greatest Improvement has been
made in gunnery and the weak point
of the naval administration, as Sec
rotary Meyer sees it, is in the main
tenance of so many navy yards and
the lack of funds to place them on
the strict military basis.
The Santiago victory showed the
navy heads the alarming weakness Of
the American navy in gunnery, and be-
ginning at that time each step of firing
a gun was carefully watched and
timed. and effort was made at once to
improve IT. First came the selection
of men with special altitude for Ger
tain work: sight settys, plug men and
leaders were chc<n carefully and
drilled slowly unth letter perfect in
their movements and hen speed was
added. Each time they performed the
functions assigned to them they were
required to do 1t a little quicker, until
what is regarded as a human minimum
has been attained.
Sudden Practice Required.
Also smooth sea- target practices
became only an incident in the work.
for practice was required at unex-
pected and frequent intervals, in
storms, rough sea. fog and snowfall.
The result is that the smooth sea"
ship has disappeared and every vessel
In the navy is ready for the fray in
any weather and is guaranteed to give
a good account of itself.
In this practice casualties have been
stimulated and unexpected difficulties
have been thrown in the way of the
men by officers controlling the fire. As
TO the battle mimicry, Secretary Meyer
said.
In the competitive battle firing the
conditions are mad just as severe az
those that would obtain in actua ac-
lion The firing vessel has now knowl-
edge of the course. speed and distance
of the target vessel. All the informa-
ton she has is that somewhere on
the horizon, at a distance of 10 miles
or more, is a column of smoke which
marks the target vessel at which she
is to shoot. She steams toward 1t at
her best speed n opens fire at what
ever range she chooses: but the value
of hitting at long ranges is vitality i'm
pressed on her by the amount that is
added to or s~ubstracted from her score
for the shots that hits beyond IL, 1000
yards or under that mark. The whole
firing is over in four minutes and the
ship a no other chanc to make good
If she fails In this. No excuses are
accepted for failure of guns to fire, for
b~reakdowns of n character. or for
any faults OF personnel or material.
A evidence Of the value of com
petition in gunnery, a comparison Is
made with the fighting efficiency of
the vessels during the Spanish -Ameri-
can war and at present. The percen-
tage or hlts IN 1888 was 312 with the
large guns firing about once in five
minutes at short range. The percen-
| tage of hits in the recent firing at the
a Marcos was 33 1-3, the range be-
ing 10000 yards. and the present rate
of firing a single 12-inch gun being
about 10 shots in Ave minutes. This
rather overestimates the work at San
tiage n understimates the work to-
day. A roughly draw comparison
| shows that We are about 1000 times
better in gunnery efficiency than we
were at Santiago.
The policy now for the competitive
! training for battle Is that 1t shall be-
| gin on the date of commission, and
no excuse are accepted for being I'M
prepared should the department at any
time require the ships to fire at q days
| notice"