New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-11

from - 10 ~ 1eey 'ieSs IMAM one-thlrd that
Of the dreadnought. A vessel Of the prouor.
ton Of length 70 beam Of 10 % is a yer,
narrow craft As they do not draw owe.
or 10 feet it can readily be understood tia.
they are quite unsteady, ard a long cruise on
such vessel is fairly trying on officers and
men; but they are very safe sea boat. ard
have gone all the way TO the Pacific Coa,,
without injury The space for the Office,
and men is necessarily very cramped, and Ii,
constant and rather violent motion OF the,,
vessels while in \ sea way often makes liz.
miserable: in fact, az times II prevents q.
proper preparation Of fool. In winter On
the English coast the weather il far wof,.
a a rule than on ours, but although the men
suffer from exposure, il is, of course, not
nearly as cold az on our northern coast. No
praise is too great to extend 20 The men who
90 through a winter Of pstrolling in North.
ern European waters, and our men will b.
just as efficient there IS they have been At
home in peace times
Originally the principal armament Of
destroyer was torpedo tubes, from which
torpedoes were fred. These tubes are on the
vessels deck and can be trained in almost
any direction. The torpedo Is expelled By
compressed air, and as II leaves the tube It's
own propollng engines begin 70 work and
drive IL at a very high rate o. speed through
the water. Like every other missile, excep.
the rife bullet. which has been made smaller
ard smaller, the torpedo has grown in size
until to-day our destroyers have three or
four twin or triple torpedo tubes. from which
10 fire torpedoes Of lS 10 u inches in diam
eter. They are upward CT 20 feet long AMI
travel as fast as 40 knots. K IS quite an art
70 shoot torpedo from a moving craft mi
make it hit a moving target. The effect Of
the explosion of such a torpedo against The
underwater part of ship is necessarily tire
mendous. The explosive is carried in the
head of the torpedo and is set of by primer
on contact with the ships side. Very ~
genious devices arc used 20 keep the TORPEDO
straight On its course and TO keep II a,
certain level below the surface Of the water,
hut they are too technical for this article.
In addition to torpedoes our Gestroyers carry
from four to Eve , or { inch guns, the
former firing a l3-poUnd projectile, the latter
one of 80 pounds. The nigh bows of these
craft are cut away at the sides to permit Two
guns to fire straight ahead. Besides these
guns there are also anti-aircraft guns, which
have been most effective or English ships,
even against zeppelins.
WI DutNNsolui WIN i'iPNN'No
With from ninety to hundred officers and
men on board these vessels have proved
themselves among the most successful -
modern naval craft. ! am not aware that
torpedo boats or destroyers have shown
themselves eminently successful in attacking
with torpedoeS. but this is mainly due TO the
fact that the danger OF a torpedo is 50 great
that the military inventive genius promptly
developed the rapid-fre gun, which soon be-
came a very dangerous antagonist for the
small craft. For, Of course, their sides are
but thin sheets of steel, and they are so filed
with boilers and engines that one small sho;
might disable destroyer completely. must
add that a lotilla Of destroyers is usually &C.
companied by mother ship" or tender,
veritabe floating workshop. full OF materia!
TO make repairs on the rather frsll destroy
ers
So the war goes on between the attack and
defence. and the end is not yet nor can any
human mind conceive of what in time may be
used for offence and defence on land or sea
Cruisers, submarines and destroyers all count
in a sea fight between fleets, but in the end
it will be the destruction of the battle fee,
and of its capital ships, they are called,
which will finally decide the worlds naval
supremacy #, or when, Germany puts it 70
a test again. Once out in the North Sea, each
side will encounter the same difficulties ana
lake the same chances with torpodces. in the
end the side that has the greater forces
handled with superior seamaushlp, will surely
win. In Nelson's day the line-of-battlc ships
won the naval wars, and il must in the cnd
be SO to-day. With the power which our
great ships can add to the English fleet, with
the fresh spirit, energy and resourcetuInes'
our men are bringing into the war, the cut
come on land and sea cannot well be doubted.
We shall have many hard fight and 30
doubt shall lose many a ship. Our enemy Is
himself able and resourceful, and no Yankee
ever despiSes his enemy. But We shall win'
And yet. no matter how daring and brave
the Germans may he. It is past comprehension
that they should allow their naval Uniform
to be besmirched by such foul deeds As those
committed by Their submarines against IN
armed civilians on merchant ships and help
less wounded men on hospital ships. We
cannot have it impressed too strongly on our
minds that we arc fighting people that .o''
crates such things.