New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-20

Our First Dresdnouyhts
The English were thus the hrs, 10 L.,
a Dreadnought (for the name VA, 49,
ately adopted to describe an sn.b,
ship), but the idea OF one had been a;,,.' -
and sketched out in our Navy Dep,r,.'.
With the Dreadnought all existip, $50
ships became as much out Of data a. 49,
sailing man-of-war when the first s,.,, -.
of-war put to sea. The whole sei.ne, AL.
tleship designing instantly changed ,,a =
1--WE must admit it with regret) ver -,
ones to lead, as we had been with IA. M,
tor. And yet We had on the v,,, -,
launched in 1908 our first Dreadnsurs,. a.
Michigan and South Carolina tlsOOo ,,..'
with eight XII-inch guns in four tur,,,, -,
lowed in 1909 by the Delaware (2oka 49,"
a ship far superior to the Dread,,..., -
every way. She is, in fact, one Of II. s,..,
ships we ever possessed, with fv, u,,.,.
on the centre line, SO that all the run, ,..,
be fired on either side. She had reea,,..,
ing engines (the Dreadnought bad tursi,,.,
but the Utah, launched in 1909, had turs,..
We were not as much in favor Of hi. r....
Of propulsion as the English, whs hay. =,
piled it to all their new battleshipz ,...
ingly with great success. II will be ot,,rI
that We did not go as far as n. Is,us
in the number of guns on our first shin, i.
though ours could fire as many ru,,
broadside as the Dreadnought. But viii, a.
Delaware we, also, left tho old order es,.
pletely behind. In the end we built and a,
building larger and larger ships, un,Il ),
have outclsssed even the English navy /, d,
size Of our Dreadnoughts.
Again, great changes have been MAD.
our warships. We now have turrets with ,lr.
XIV-inch guns. We have replaced IA. r,,
of the usual pole type with fighting Ten, 4,
lattice masts, which are much less lksb /.
be destroyed by gunfire than even the EarA
tripod masts. Oddly enough, Russia Ls,
seems to have copied our design. S.,rchIfls
are placed SO that every gun Of the lam
secondary batteries " and VI inch) tu |.
ewn light. The sailors quarters ars. "a 1
have said, aft, not, as formerly, fsrvard, nj
like all other parts Of the ship, an al.
quately ventilated and brilliantly lighted N
electricity. Oil is used as fuel with and VII.
out coal. In fact, oil is used exclusively % IL
newer ships. Central fire control s.sds.
from which the gunfre is regulated hy h..
phone, and other such installations sr ur.
fully guarded secrets. There are nunh,.
less telephones in a modern warshp, yn
underwater receivers, by which lirhnku
with submarine bells, for example, ss lta..
ed in fog. Even the shape Of the isIl,
has undergone great changes, ram-bows bsrf
discarded and wide overhanging bows built
prevent the sea from coming aboard AID,
lastly, We have introduced the electric inp
system in place Of turbines or reciprocatig
engines in our largest ships now bdidii,
electricity being now used everywhere 10 tsr
the turrets, elevate the guns, hoist annV.
milton, cook food, and know no. vhit sl,,
The submarine, which is an American inysr,
ton and which has been the most effective
Of the new weapons in this var al SEA, Is
successful only by reason Of The possibility
of electric propulsion when under vsseFi
storage batteries being used to provide d,
necessary current.
The Navy Ready and Able
To-day we are again at war, war 81
magnitude undreamed Of in the worlds b.
tory. We are fighting nation whose ps'ia
devoted as they have have been to war PIP
arstions for a generation, are ms'sl9''r
resourceful, and whose navy is on sy.vH
plane of efficiency. The Germans WIZ
gle ships have eluded England's Nsym~
eral occasions; on one occasion they as'''sx
a small English squadron, and IN but one W.
action was the result for England resHJS
cisively in her favor With q ruthls'nS
and inhumsnity surpassed only BY meH"
brutal conduct on shore, the Germans ""
have waged a war on civilians and nss'''
which history will brand as infsmoa|
wars are not won by written or spoken w,
and the vsinglorious motto on inc sua
many an old monarchy, "Ultims Esu' hs'
las no small amount Of truth In " ~
and men and ships, not talk, WE ~
To-day, ready for action and onnee"s
manned by men than whom none ~ -
trained, none of higher character our ~
has the most powerful battle meet sn'ss
cept that of Great Britain. We ha,s
Navy list will show, q wonderful nee.
forty battleships of from l2,ooO
tons displacement, and armed with san' ~
XII to XIV inches cslibre. The ne. s.. 49,
$4,000 tons), the Pennsylvania lSitw ="
the Wyoming, the Illinois, the hi'.. :.
fact. all of our many Dresdnous's 4.
marvels of speed and power. itus =
principles of our Navy developed IN -. ..,a.
now are prepared TO resist attack ey
offensive. Our cruiser feet has pesn
TO. and we have a number OF supnH'n.J
here we are a triAe short OF ships' -
do not as yet possess any battle eru' go
we have GOLFERS in numbers ana even
ships. OF destroyers we have hh'
The Submarines Greatest EasV
The development Of the modern e'.I"
which is really merely an ENLARGE rs
boat. has brought about vessels Of I'VE
ooo tom, which travel at the s'''.
speed of from twenty-five to thirty
an hour, far faster than the Se"
road train. These graceful ersn 20
submarines greatest enemy. II WE AZ
surprise some who may read the" ~. a
there are battle cruisers Of thirty
tonnage of the destroyers which n.
weight knots an hour. The en0fpf
ereases in speed of ships and the INK IN
ranges at which actions are oessn ~