The sun., 1915-10-10

inch guns. as compared to the eight
1o-inch guns on the Invincible.
The Dreadnought has speed Of 81
knots. while the Invinciblc has Il
speed OF 25 knots. requiring engines
developing 4l,000 horsepower. against
those OF the Dreadnought with $4,000
horsepower. The higher speed of the
Invincible ecsssi;ates a longer ship.
but both vessels are Of practically tie
Same d!spla cement. the Invincible Of
1880 tons and the Dreadnought of
1890 tons.
The American battle cruisers will
be nearly twice this size. will have
more than 80 knots speed and will
carry li-inch guns though probably
not so many as eight.
The weakness OF the battle cruiser
lies in it's small and thin armor belt,
II cannot Withstand a heavy fire from
big guns. 1t Is intended not 80 mrcr
to engage in the first line of battle
as to constitute an bverwhclm!n"
force 10 send against the cnemy's
second line OF battle or his auxiliary
fleets. The battle cruiser need not
superior speed would elahp 1t to
avoid a fight On the other hand. T
necessary the battln cruiser can en-
gage IN conflict with battleships with
fair chances OF success. Its guns are
as heavy as those Of the battloSh!p,
and good craftsmanship may enable
/, To deal the battlcsh!p fatal blow
before the latter has succeeded in
penetrating the lighter armor of the
battle cruiser.
According to tho American theory
OF the purposes Of the battle cruiser
II should he used in divisions. Il Is
planned tn create in tho United Statrs
navy n division of this type of vcs-
sci just as soon as Congress pro-
vides the money, The division Of
battle cruisers Is supposed Il opcrat"
with the fleet. under the command Of
I the commander in chief. hut as Il sep
arate factor. The technical name for
such 4 division Is fast wlna." The
, battle cruisers would he distinctly
auxiliary to tho main battle fleet, hu;
would often operate separately fror
the feet for the attainment Of some
particular object incidental to Tie
main purpose Of seeking out and de-
stroying the enemy's battle fleet. Pos
session Of a division Of battle cruis-
ers might enable commander in
chief to infiict an overwhelming blow
against some weaker portion If the
er remy's line without lesscning or d.
viding his main battle fleet.
The value which may lie in
Z ha n isin
tain circumstance may be Illus
trated By the following example:
Suppose the United States is at war
with Japan. The American fleet is
| in the Far Pacific, operating against
Japan or seeking the japanese navy.
/ To maintain itself in such AN opera
ton it must be supported by II huge
supply transport, bringing fuel. am
munition, provisions, &c.
The japanese fleet, presumably. is
manPuvring against the American
! fleet, refusing fight until Il situa-
ton IN brought about in which Japan
has the advantage. Japan has II di-
vision of battle cruisers in being
the United States has none. The
despatch of the japanese battle
| cruiser division to threaten the sup
ply transport of the American fleet
would be Japan's first move un-
der these circumstances.
The high speed battle cruisers could
overtake and threaten the American
supply transport with ease. while the
American commander In chief would
have either to permit the destruction
Of his supply transports, and thus cN-
pose himself to helplessness in the
Far Pacific. or else to detach some
| Of the vessels Of his battle heet to
act as conveys of the supply trans
port. He would, of course decide to
detach some OF his battleships to
I convoy the supply train. and would
thereby weaken the strength of his
first line of battle. Unless the Amer
lean commander possessed an over
whe,ming superiority in battleshps
the japanese commander would make
that situation the occasion Of his at
tack