The Washington herald., 1915-10-17
By CYRIL BRETHERTON.

that are to be made for naval construc
tion In the next few years and the
equally considerable volume of criticism
and objection that the proposed pro
gram is certain to incur and in view alsc
OF some really remarkable statement:
that haYe found their way into print
In recent years concerning naval mat
ters it is well that readers of TIL,
Washington Herald should know some,
thing about the United tates navy and
the relation it bears to other navies-
and should know it correctly.
And first it is possible to lay down
| some generalities that are so well ac-
cepted TO be automatic. The size
and strength of a nations navy is gov
erned by the depth o{ the nations purse
and the size of the navy combina-
! tion of navies with which, it Is con-
ceived. an encounter may sooner or
/ later take place. navy built for
purely defensive purposes will differ ma
| terially from one that is designed for
offensive operations. But the best means
, of defense is the ability to attack and
| in consequence no nation. will be con-
! tent with navy that is useful only
for warding OFF the attacks of others.
Any navy that the United States builds.
however will necessarily be one In
which the defensive features pre-
dominate.
The Things that Count.
rich nation like the United States
| can multiply its naval units indefinitely.
| To man them is more serious problem.
! 1t is for that reason that the keeping
I'm commission of old and obsolete types
of ships on the principle that they may
come in useful at some time another
] = A,,n; 1,hI ct ho
used to man up-to-date ships with a
ma ximum Of efficiency per man. The
! relative value Of fighting ships at the
present day il not n matter of percent
age. The more powerful vessel comes
, of unscathcd The weaker ship is MOTH
ing bat coffin for its crew. The naval
engagements of the present war suf-
iiCiently bear out that statement The
only real stand-up fight between ships
Of relatively equal striking power and in
which gun-laying skill and seamanship
D aterially contributed to the victory was
The fight between the Carmania and the
Cap Trafalgar-both converted merchant
men.
4 good deal of confusion is generated
in the public mind by the way in which
navy lists are reproduced in almanaCs
and encyclopedias. \ ship IS listed as
having -four Finch guns and the lay
mind naturally concludes that she is
match for any other ship having four 12-
inch guns. But. in fact. her guns may
he o!d-fashioned 31-Caliber weapons
which would not range within several
miles Of an adversary that was landing
on her repeatedly with Finch rifles of
fifty Calibers. The same is true t" some
extent of armor. The lS-irCh armor of
the old Oregon has not a fraction of the
raS Sisfi inv Of hn i'm .r,,nn- nf
the New York.
The main factors in any engagement
between fighting ships are range and
speed. An advantage in both or an ad-
vantage in one and an equality in the
other insures a victory. An advantage
In one and inferiority in the other sim
ply means that no engagement will-or
should take place. In the battles off the
coast of Chile. the Falkland Islands and
in the North Sea the victorious squadron
had the advantage both in range and
speed. In the battle of Tsu Shima. in
the Russo Japanese war the range of the
opposing hatteships was equal but the
japanese had the advantage of speed
This enabled them to cap the encmy's
fleet. in nautical Language. that is to say
to draw ahead of and across the enemy
battle line thereby concentrating all Of
their fire on the leading enemy ship while
themselves rema lining out of range of all
hut that ship.
The Types Of Modern WarshIps
The different types of ships that to-
Gether constitute n modern navy are as
follows:
l. Dreadnoughts or hattlcships These
are all-hS-run. heavily armored vessels
with a speed of 2n-95 knots.
=. Battle cruisers. These nre really
all-big-run hattleshps in which thick
ness of armor and hitting power C o. |
number. not size of -unsl is sacrificed to
greater spced.
Z Light cruisers. These are vessels !
Of from 2.0G TO 500 tons mounting ten
or NOR" finch or a-inch guns and with
all the speed that can he crowded into
them.
T. Destroyers. Small and fast boats !
of No-l,90 tons with u speed of 1876
knots and carrying a few 3-5-inch guns. |.
They are used for patrol work and i'm |
the present war have gone into action |
with light cruisers
: Submarines.
In addition to these there are, OF
course. a number of auxiliary ships that !
ar" not intended for fighting purposes. /
The following types of warship are
still to he found in all modern ma vies but |
are In fact obsolete:
]. Old large-and-smal H. gun hattleships. |
2. Armored cruisers.
:. Second class cruisers Sometimes !
called ''protcctrd' cruisers. They are
vessels OF considerable tonnage, armored /
only over vulnerable spots and having !
speed considerably less than that of n !
modern light cruiser.
I. Torpedo boats and destroyers with a
tonnage Of less than ano tons.
Obso1etc Types Are Useless.
The uselcssness Of all of these types Of
ships is pretty obvious. The most modern
specimens of the old tyne battleships
part their inferior speed and the inferior
'ange of their big guns would make them
in an engagement with modern ships
merely reccptacles for dead seamen. For
hat reason the experts In figuring on
The fighting strength of navies refuse to
lake into consideration anything older
han a semi iDreadnought'-that is. a
modern all-big-gun battleship in which.
however. there is want of uniformity
N the size of the guns. Such ship 10
The Japanese Aki. built in 1905. which
has four Finch and ten 10-inch guns and
a speed of over twenty knots.
1t is maintained, chiefly by those who
priations. that our old battlcships, OF
which we have eleven less than Is years
DID, are by no means ealueless, but must
be- counted as distinct fighting asset.
This Is true just to this extent. that II
We had unlimited sailors and did not
,are what became of them in war we
,nuId kann fheep old sh{p- oli,-o q, H.,