Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1915-05-06
Heart Of a Batt]eship Is
Its Arnored Control Room

When a warshlp sails into action
us heart pulses and throbs as eager
for the fray as the hearts of any Of
It's crew. Yes, a warship has a heart.
Ihe heart of a warship is the con-
troll room deep down under the deck.
o o11aaf fsnn aft' \ as1 M1ifer a0 IN the the S san
francisco Chronicle describes it:
Even on big fighting ships the heart
is small. Generally. 1t is only 10 feet
by 6, and is almost noise-proof and eerily
quiet. 1t is really a steel vault, entered
by a door not unlike the door of a burglar
proof safe.
From floor to ceiling the walls are
lined with dials, wires, gauges, electric
bells. speaking tubes, switches and q
great amount of other apparatus which
keeps the commander in constant touch
with every corner of the ship. 1t is the
most wonderful and the most fearful
room on earth or sea.
1t is a fortress within a fortress. a
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 Wis.,
ltors seldom see, will keep alive as long
as there is a living soul on board able
TO hear and answer a call.
A Submarine is Sighted.
1t Is through the control room that the
commander issues his Instructions, OBJ
serves and notes how the battle is going,
calls the gun crews from place to place,
directs the engineers, steers the whole
fabric and supervises everything. If a
submarine is seen in any direction, it is
through the control room that it is re-
ported.
A little bell rings. a voice far away
speaks: Submarine on the port bow.
sir!' In an instant the answer thrills the
gun crews. Ware submarine on the port
bow! Enemy's craft! Ready The gun
ners have been ready for some time, and
when the chief gunner has laid" the gun
to his satisfaction, bang goes a message
the enemy will not forget if it hits him.
If a gun has to cease fire, the order
comes through the control room. II the
enemy lands a shell on deck or any
where in the warship, the doctors are
notified hat they are wanted at that spot
almost as soon as the men nave fallen.
II 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.
In the Coming Tower.
Though the captain himself is in the
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, Ii the captain 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 battle
ship. including operators and Junior Of
fcers.
The chief officer gives directions to the
torpedo operators, the gunners. the
searchlight m~anipulators and the officers
In charge of the ships equipment. Bat,
besides all this. there are a thousand
and one things to attend to during an
engagement.
Every order has to be given at an in
stant's notice; given distinctly. firmly,
without the slightest hesitation or furry.
1t Is only in the control room that one
learns what the phrase devotion to
duty" really means.
Everything goes with automatic pre-
ctsion in the heart Of a warship, and
as 1t Is the most vital spot on board,
special care is taken to preserve it from
harm.
Amidst the Shells.
Thfnk 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 disas-
ter, but the organization is so near per-
fection that mistakes are practically un-
known.
There is no rest for the officers in the
control room during a fight. They must
stay at the ships heart telegraphing and
te~lephoning to every part of the vessel.
without taking notice of the wreckage
that is being heaped up on every hand.
They know that when the men in turret
No. 1 or turret No. 2 cease to reply to
their signals something serious has hap
pened.
They know that aver when the coming
has been smashed by shot and she'll
and the bridge has been swept away they
must stick to their switches so long as
there is an officer, alive rs direct opera
TONS Not until the ship is blown up
os ranmed are thev allowed to leave that