The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-03

first blow. SO tremendous Is the
power OF the big guns OF to-day and so
enormously destructive are the eNplo-
slve shells they discharge that an enc
my's ship even though Of the most for
mldable type, may be disabled by a
single salvo. At least, his nghting efil-
cheney IL likely TO be seriously impaired
if hit early in the game by few shells.
"There -nre two chief means whereby
this initia1 advantage may be secured.
one OF them Is by greater range OF guns
TIN other is by getting the correct range
frst. The combatunt who first obtains
the correct range may he able to over
whelm the fire OF the adversary before
the latter can start IN to do business
effectively
always IN n sea battle the main idea
in view r. to gain superiority Of fire.
The object OF all manUuyres in such an
Arrangement Is to develop the maximum
Of your own fire while the enemy is de-
vcloplng only part OF his. At all costs
he must he prevented from using his
,-guns effectively. If the range Of your
,ovn guns is greater and your ships are
-.not inferior in point Of speed to those OF
syour opponent you can stand off out of
his reach and hammer him to death al
leisure
..t'Once you succeed in beating down
md smotherinC his fire YOU are yourself
M longer in danger. You can run in
.upon him and smash him 10 pieces at
.,,eb,se quarters with the certainty that
sLe will not be able to make any effective
defence. At short ranges your guns can
hardly miss, and "A few big shells thrown
-. II .
thc other hand he gets In me first blow
sand is able to beat down your own gun
-.-lge 1t Is your ship that will presently
70 TO the bottom.
Sc THESE matters being understood, II is
easy to realize why the naval engage
ments OF the present war have been so
remarkably one sided In the fight off
Helgoand. which terminated so disas-
,rously for the Germans, the British loss
sf men was very small and OF ships
none The Germans. in the South Pa
SIC, appear to have sunk the Good
Hope and Monmouth while themselves
nscathed. The British fleet in the
a south Atlantic, again, Is reported to
irave destroyed the fleet Of Admiral Won
spec with a loss TO itself of only seven
amen Killed and a few wounded.
y-sr"Now, II Is by no means generally
Understood how remarkable has been the
development OF naval craftsmanship
.wiahin the last few years. At the period
OF the Spanish war IL was considered
fairly satisfactory II n turret gun on
board a battcship could fire one shot
every three minutes. Furthermore, the
practice with such weapons was IA.
from accurate. In the fight Of Santiago
with Cervera's squadron, at an average
range Of about 5000 yards, fewer than
60, - 10, 1UO IfgF haTppl from
the American ships scored hits; and
most OF the hi's were made with the
smaller guns. To-day. ut twice that dis
lance. a Il inch rife would be expected
20 make three hits a minute.
1.-THE tuTret guns on our newest dread
thoughts, such as the Pennsylvania are
of II inch callbre and twelve In num-
Der Such weapon fires projecule
weighing 1,400 pounds and containing a
bursting charge Of 3lla pounds OF high
explosive. II is four and half feet long,
and at a range of three miles is able
to pierce seven cen inches OF solid steel,
striking with an energy equal to that
of a ton or'metal dropped from height
of eight miles.
mo warship ever built, or that may
be constructed In the future, could pos
sibly stand up against many such blows
especially when It Is considered that
projectiles OF this kind, carrying slow
hut very powerful explosive, are so con-
trlyed as to burst after passing through
.armor and into the bowels OF the YES
sci. II the machinery or other vital
d, part were hit, she might be disabled by
a single shell.
= "A sea fight under modern conditions
However, is rarely n duel. one OF the
lpst principles Of naval strategy is 10
d, keep the units OF fleet together, for
mutual protection and to afford a maxi
mum of power for attack. Thus battle
on the water must ordinarily be Of fleet
against feet.
I'm these circumstances II IL consld-
cred excellent tactics to concentrate al
the guns Of a fleet upon n single shT
OF the enemy, IL practicable, putting heI
out OF business, and then turning atten
ton in like manner 20 another member
Of the opposing force. There Is no sucl
wholesale murder in battles on land as
IN modern sea fight, and as illustra 90
by happenings Of the kind already n
the present war, only a ve"y small frac'
ton OF the personnel Of the vauquishet
can hope 10 survive.
This is the age Of scientific warfare
hut the business of fighting at sea has
hecn much more highly systematized
than that OF fighting on land, very
important part of the work on every
warship in time OF peace Is battle prac-
lice in which all the conditions OF
actual combat are reproduced as ac-
Sgratcy as possible.
."Such practice is held several times
q week, and, as a matter Of course
pulch OF 1t has TO do with the guns
which are trained upon imaginary tar,
gets or, AS often happens, a fleet Is
split into two divisions, which steau
along in parallel lines several miles
spart, each vessel serving as a large
for a ship IN the line opposite. From
time to time, for practice in aetna
Workmanship, the guns are fired a
real targets set anoat on tho water ant
lowed along by launches in order tina
-G..--::!! NAV he acquired in shooting a
moving objects,
"Tn sea npht every man on boarC
of "A hattlcship has his battle station
1h excepting only the surgeons, ar,