Evening star., 1915-05-24
OUR PREPAREDNESS
FOR WAR.
lIl.-Coast Defenses.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

The coast defenses of the United
states are the most extensive and COM
piete In the world This fact has been
conceded by foreign military experts,
VINO nave pronounced some of these
1ortlf1cations practically impreena bic.
degree of popular misunderstand-
ing. however, undoubtedly exists as to
.ne proper function of our coast de-
fenses. They are not coast defenses
In the proper sense of the word. but
harbor defenses. They are designed to
protect our commerce and our great
ei'ies from attack by sea, and to in
sure bases of operation for our navy
nus. coast defense may he Ioca ted
primarily to protect a navy base, is is
Foftfess r Monroe; or to secure some in
rama water or sheltered roadstead from
the enemy, as Al Cape Henry: or to pro-
,eet commercial center. as at Port
lahd: or TO cover strategic lines OF rail-
"asS, as at Narragansett
70 prevent an enemy from effecting a
laHuIns at any point along our long
coast hne. we are dependent upon the
moblle army and the fleet To protect
our coast line by means of fortiffcations
would be impossible The coast de-
fenses merely secure the strategic
points against capture or destruction
that an emergency was necessary to
bring home to the American people the
need for adequate coast defenses At
the time that the Spanish America II
war broke out our coast defenses were
actually armed. for the most part, with
muzzie-loading cannon. which would
nave been wholly Intellectual against
the armor of modern battleships The
tortlhcations themselves were impos-
ing structures of cut stone, which
would have been easily demolished by
the guns of modern destroyers. AS long
ago as 1885 the Endicott commission
mad drawn up plans for our present
scheme of coast defense. but not until
the conflict with Spain and the anxiety
which the possibility of a Spanish in
vasion caused in Philadelphia Boston
and other cities. were sufficient funds
appropriated to carry out these plans.
modern coast defense fortifica tion
consists in a very heavy embankment
of sand lined with
Modern Defense concrete. Back of
of ~. r..4 this are the pits In
which the guns are
mounted and the rooms from which
their fire is directed. The armament of
such fortification consists in a bat
terry of primary guns of from eight to
twelve inches In calfber, including
twelve-iEch mortars and intermediate
battery of six-inch and five-inch and
four "a d-seven- tenth-inch guns and a
secondary battery of four and three
inch guns. In addition to these bat
teries the harbor or roadstead to be
defended is elaborately mined The
mines are placed from fifty to one hun
dred yards apart. Some of them are
contact mines which will explode auto
matically If struck by a vessel, while
others are fired by electrical connec-
tions from the Notifications.
The gunnery of our coast defenses
represents the highest development Of
the science of defense. The guns of
these fortif1cations are stationary and
their surroundings are known to the
gunners. This gives them an incalcu-
against which they are pitted. And
their craftsmanship may be said. with
out exaggeration, to be almost per-
feet. Up to 5000 yards. hundred per
Directing the fire Of these great guns
is matter of mathematics. A base
line 1000 yards long is laid out upon
the shore. At each end of this is a
telescope which shows the angle be-
tween this base line and a line drawn
from the base line to the enemy's ship.
These angles are telephoned to the
plotting room In the fortification. In
this plotting room. an officer with the
telephone receiver strapped to his head,
is bent over an exact map of the har-
bor. The information sent him by the
observers enables him to plot upon this
map a triangle of which the enemy's
ship Is the apex. while the fertilization
is at a known position on its base In
this way he knows the position of the
ship he is shooting at to dot. The
rate at which 1t Is moving may be ac-
curately computed Atmospheric con-
ditfons and the wind are taken into ac-
count. The gun Is then directed and
fired with almost certainty that it
Will find its mark.
The coast artillery game" invented
by Mai William Chamberlain, is a