New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-09-17
ARKANSAS HERE WITH
HEAVY CARGO OF PRIDE
Dreadnought Brings Worlds
Record and Good Grip
on Target Trophy.
SIX HITS IN ST SECONDS
Battleship Also Carried Of the
Palm in Coaling Test Just
Before Leaving Hamp-
ton Roads.

with a cargo OF pride which would
I have sunk an ordinary vessel the
United States Dreadnoueht Arkansas,
Captain Roy c. Smith in command,
. steamed Cayly into the Brooklyn navy
yard yesterday and tied up to await
/ her turn at tho drydock. She brought
with her worlds record end good
I grip on the target trophy OF the Allan
/ tic feet.
Most Of the pride rested just abaft
midships, In turrct No. {, though II
/ questions had been asked there IT
would doubtless have been difficult TO
/ find out what It was all about. Other
members of the crew, however. were
not to bashful in speeding tho glory
I Of Junior Lieutenant J. II. Ingram ana
/ his turrot crew Of eighty -Onc men.
: Neither we're they losih - give credit
/ 10 the men who trained the guns-D. J.
/ Reilly. first class boatswaln. J.. !. Eb-
bitt. seaman: l.. Pautot. coXswain, and
|
/ J. i. Uackctt. seaman.
! IT'S record" one OF the officers
said, which will stand for years. out
| Of six shots the turret made six hits
/ i'm nfty-scycn seconds. That's with L.
! inch guns. It means three loading in
tcryals for the two guns in the turret,
and all the ammunition has TO be
brought up from below. They don't al
low II in the turrct while there's firing
going on"
Won Elementary Target Practice.
! But t..erc was another reason for the
| shin 10 bc proud. and that was because
! she had won the elementary target
practice Of the feet Of tho virginia
/ Capcs last week. Though she has been
I'm commission only year to-day. and
competed with the winners OF the tro-
ply last year and the year before. ana
! though the scores for the whole nce'
were nearly twice those OF last year
she carried on the palm.
"Our guns had never been fired be
fore. exc, II when proved" one OF the
/ officers explained, and we had "hat
We call green crew. Some of the
men. in fact, had never seen big gun
/ fired. Most Of our gun pointers were
new. too, but we didn't lose a hit on
account Of bad pointing. our only
misses were due to errors In the range
Which were promptly corrected.
Not only did .he gunncrs de- excel
lent work. but the repaircrs made "A
record for themselves which ! never
sew equalled. Tho targets. you know
are set four on a raft. about ten feet
apart. They woro towed at speed ot
! about five knots Dy the collier Culgoh.
| Time and again the repaircrs finished
up a set in four To FIVE minutes.
The Arkansas also established a coal
! Ing record lust before leaving Hampton
Roads for the Southern drill grounds,
as the tars call tina; part OF the ocean
where the practice is held. She TOOK
! aboard 5S1 tons Of coal I'm single hour
| from tho new collier Cyclops.
The target practice was notable in
another respect. in that all five battle
sbips of the first division iinisEcd their
Arine i'm a day. The scene just at sum
set as described by one Of the officers,
WAS impressive even TO men iiSed TO
| boing near the bis guns when they
bcom II seemed. he said. as II the
great ships in their war paint we're run
ming down a lano between the pale
I r,oon on one side and Il brilliant fam
like afterglow on the other. There was
not a breath OF air stirring-even the
vessels seemed 10 have halted in sus-
pense.
Suddenly, lie said, the whistle OF the
flagship broke the silence. II was the
signal 10 commence firing. A moment
later the big guns spoke, and the steel
shells whistled toward the targets,
dropping with splash as hign as inc
masthead i'm the vnter beyond. After
dark. the officer said. the 12-inch guns
had rest. and the 5-inch guns car
rI.d ON the practice through the night.
Tho wyoming and the Utah also
came TO port yesterday. The wyoming
went into drydock at the yard. while
tho Irtah anchored off Tompllnsville,
con,inued on third page, fourth column.