The Press., 1915-04-14
IN A NAVAL FIGHT.
Vital Work Is Done In the Con-
 troI Room of the Vessel.
THE HEART OF THE WARsHIP.

Through This Steel Cell, Deep Under the Deck, the. Commander In the Coming Tower Is In Touch With
 Every Person and Event on Board.
 When a warship sails into action her heart pulses and throbs as eager for the fray as the hearts of any of her crew. Yes. warship has a heart. The heart of warship is the control room, deep down under the deck, situ
 ated aft. usually abaft the second funnel.
 Even on big fighting ships the heart is small. Generally it is only ten feet by six, and Is almost noise proof and eerily quiet. It is really steel vault entered by a door not unlike the door of burglar proof safe.
 From floor to ceiling the walls are lined with dials wires, gauges. electric bells. speaking tubes. switches and great amount of other apparatus which keeps the comma nder in constant touch with every corner of the ship. It is the must wonderful and the most fear ful room on earth or sea.
 It is fortress within fortress, steel cell within the steel walls of the fighting engine.
 To be in the control room during ac tive service is to feel like being in a vault with the door locked on the out side. This little compartment. which visitors seldom see. will keep alive as long as there is a living soul on board able to hear and answer call
 It is through the control room that the commander issues his instructions observes and notes how the battle is going. calls the gun crews from place to place. directs the engineers. steers the whole fabric and supervises every thing If a submarine is seen in any that it is reported.
 A little bell rings. voice far away speaks, Submarine on the port bow sir. two leagues off" In an instant the answer thrills the gun crews: "'Ware submarine on the port bow: enemy's craft. Readyr" The gunners have been ready for some time. and when the chief gunner has laid" the gun to his satisfaction bang goes message the enemy will not forget if 1t hits him.
 If a gun has to cease fire the order comes through the control room. If the enemy lands d shell on deck or anywhere in the warship the doctors are notified that they are wanted at that spot almost as soon as the ulen have fallen. If the gun crew are dead it is from the heart of the ship that the order is given for fresh men to fill their places
 Though the captain himself is in th, coming tower above. he knows through the officer in the control room just what has happened to his ship and the extent of the damage. and if the cap tain Is killed in the coming tower or on the bridge the chief officer in the control room goes up at once to take his place.
 There are generally about six men in this little throbbing heart of the bat tleship. including operators and junior officers
 The chief officer gives directions to the torpedo operators. the gunners. the searchlight manipulators and the off cers in charge of the fighting masts. if such are part of the ships equipment But. besides all this. there are thou sand and one things to attend to dur ing an engagement.
 Every order has to be given at an instant's notice: given distinctly, firm ly, without the slightest hesitation or furry. 1t is only in the control room that one learns what the phrase de votion to duty" really means.
 Everything goes with automatic pre-. cision in the heart of a warship. and l as it is the most vital spot on board I special care is taken to preserve it l from harm.
 Think of the steady nerves required | of those men. cooped up in this small room when the shells are flying around | and the hull is being battered by the | enemy's guns! A wrong signal might | mean disaster. but the organization is so near perfection that mistakes are practically unknown.
 There is no rest for the officers in T the control room during a fight. They | must stay at the ships heart tele graphing and telephoning to every | part of the vessel. without taking no tice of the wreckage that is being l heaped mp on every hand. They know that when the men in turret No 1 or turret No. cease to reply to their signals something serious has hap pened
 They know that even when the con ming tower has been smashed by shot and shell and the bridge has been swept away they must stick to their | switches so long as there is an officer alive to direct operations Not until the ship Is blown up or rammed are they allowed to leave that little room and then they go down with her.-Stt Louis Globe Democrat.
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