Grand Forks daily herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1914-1916, 1914-11-26
Unl Estates Naval Author
tiles oing Close Tab
on SUI arines.
NEW LIGHT BEING
THROWN ON SUBJECT
Proposal to Place -Four Inch Armor
Plate on Bottoms of Vessels VIII
be Tried-Would Resist Any Known
PrOjectile of Today.

Washington, Nov. rs. - While
American navy officers have watched
with critical eyes the deadly work of
torpedoes fired from submarines and
OF contact mines in ,the European
war, nothing has developed al yet
which indicates any radical change in
battleship construction to offer greater
defense against underwater attacks
The problems presented are not
new. They. have been studied by
since. the disturbances war when
many fine ships fell victim to mines
and torpedoes. Proposals of many
sorts have been discussed. Some
have been adopted; but the theory of
warship building still clings to con-
centration of offensive power in
terms of larger guns. bigger and
swifter ships and wider cruising radius
even at the expense Of defensive ar
NOR.
Heavy Armor at Ship Bottom.
The heavy losses sustained bv the
British navy by submarine attacks
has brought up for renewed discus
sion the subject of armoring the bot
toms of warcraft. Recent issues Of
English service journals have noted
plan to cover the entire bottom of
battleship with four inches of ar
NOR plating: 1t was urged that the
experiment be tried with an old ship
which should be subjected to actual
test with the explosion against her
hull Of the most powerful modern tor
pedos. The ship also would be driven
into contact mines Of various types
to determine their effect. it was said.
Little Doubt of Result.
American naval experts believe
there Is little doubt of the result. They
say four inches of armor would resist
any known torpedo or mine success
fully. To equip ship in that way,
armQr would, REQUIRE q reduction LIN
weight elsewhere and the only way It
could be accomplished would, ,be to
reduce the size and number Of guns,
the thickness. of surface armor, the
weight OF engines and coal capacity
and because of this last, the size Of
the ships themselves. With armored
slow, heavy vessels OF small cruising
radius and their usefulness as instru-
ments with which to strike swift. ter
rtble blows at distant points before
word of their coming had gone out,
would vanish. Cruisers and swift
merchant vessels would take care only
to keep out Of range Of their guns.
o A%AS po"Sa VI SAo ihouSIh
dreadnaught would be thing of the
past.
Gave New Light.
1t ID not impossible. however, that
some degree of protection for the
bottoms of battle craft will be consid-
cred in future. Heretofore contrac-
tors have relied almost wholly upon
increasing numbers of watertight
compartments to keep torpedoed ships
afloat. The loss Of the British bat
tleship Audacious. one of the most
modern fighting machines in the
world, has shed new light on the SUBJ
ject. Details of that disaster are lack
ing but many believe the Audacious
ran into mine which sent her to the
bottom. Her compartments kept her
afioat until her crew was rescued; but
one by one they gave way under. the
increasing pressure Of the water and
finally she went down.
None Make Predictions.
Navy officers are unwilling as yet
to predict what effect on naval con-
struction that will have. They say It
Is a question of balance between Of
Tense and defense in battleship scon-
struction and the old axiom that the
greatest defense lies in the highest
capacity for offensive work still holds
good. 1t appears certain. however,
that in planning new ships the SUBJ
ject Of armored bottom. or at least
partial armor for the midships Sec
tions Of the bottom. will be carefully
weighed,