The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-09-27
LESSONS OF WAR
LEARNED BY THE
NAVAL BUILDERS

American Navy Has Copied
British Designs, Says
English Expert.
(F'rom the International News Blu
10 reau, Inc.)
(By Hector Bywater, British Naval
Expert.)
Novel appliances on the battlefield
cannot long be kept secret, but con-
ditions are different in the naval war.
In this sphere each belligerent jeal-
usly guards it's secrets. and 1t viii De
many months after the conclusion Of
peace ere we are permitted glimpse
Of the new weapons which have been
employed in the struggle at sea. Tt
| may safely be said, however, that
technical progress in connection with
land warfare has been eclipsed by the
development of naval ornaments in
the same period. The war vessel of
to-day, be it battleship or submarine,
is vastly more powerful in every re-
| spect than its predecessor of 1914
Thanks to her blatant advertising
methods. Germany has managed to
spread abroad an idea that she is far
ahead of her rivals in such matters as
jShO1A1oAAAO uCok6A <tAO naval CQuSEIuCs
ton generally. This suggestion amhses
these who know something of what
has been accomplished In this coun-
try. Unfortunately, no details can be
given; but when in due time the cur
1 tain Is raised, 1t will assuredIy be
found that British shipbuf1ders, en-
gfneers and ordinance makers have
more than kept their former lead over
the corresponding German industries.
It need hardly be said that the
neutral Powers have taken full adj
vantage of the lessons taught by the
war, SO far as they can be known
| to outsiders, and have applied them
to their. own use. This is especially
true of the United States. where the
naval authorities have devoted care
full attention to the technical develop
| ments Of the conflict at sea- Thus 1t
| is possible to gain some notion of the
trend Of naval progress from the lat
est designs which have been prepared
for the American Navy.
Prior to the war the most powerful
battleship in existence was H. M. s.
Queen Elizabeth. Her displacement
formidable armament of eight 15-in..
guns. Her speed OF twenty-five knots
gave her a unique position among the
battleships of the world. whose aver
age speed was then tWenty-one knots,
and it Is doubtful If this average has
Undergone any marked increase so
| far as battleships of the world,
whose average speed was then TWEEN
ty-one knots, and it is doubtful If this
average has undergone any marked
increase SO far as battleships are con-
cerned.
In other respects, however, the
0Yr4 4<t -, -
classed by later foreign battleships.
The American Navy has now in SER
vice two vessels named the Pennsyl-
vania and Arizona, displacing $4,000
tons and armed with twelve IA in.
guns, while five further ships of the
same type are building. In this class
the armor plating is from 13 Ia in.
to ID In thick. Four later vessels,
which will be commenced in the next
month or SO, are to be still larger.
They will displace $4,000 tons and
carry eight 16 in. guns.
Following these come the battle
! ships of the current program, in
which the displacement is raised to
nearly 10000 tons and the battery to
twelve 16 In. guns. Mere figures con-
vey no adequate impression of the
power that is embodied in such mas
todons as these. The 16 in. gun is
almost IS #. in length and weighs
close upon 100 tons. It used q shell
only 40 lbs short OF ton. This pom
derous projectile leaves the muzzle
at a velocity of 1900 It. per second
and is capable of smashing into the
vitals of an enemy ship fourteen miles
away. If a full broadside of the
twelve 16 in. guns were fired, the
weight Of metal discharged would be
IL IA tons, and the salvo could be
repeated every fifty seconds. It is
only few years since the original
Dreadnought was talked of with bat
ed breath, yet the weight of her
broadside was little more than three
| tons.
The amazing increase In the size
and power of naval ordnance has not
been due to any mere craze for size,
but to sound, scientific reasons. At
long ranges, other things equal. the
largest gun will do the most accurate
lose its speed SO rapidly as a lighter
projectile which has been fired with
equal or higher velocity.
In 1914 the largest and finest bat
tle-cruiser afloat was the Kongo, built
in England for the japanese goveren-
| ment. She displaced 27,500 tons, was
| 704 feet long, carried a battery of
eight 14-inch guns and could steam
at twenty-eight knots. The American
gatt1e-cruisers authorized last year
will consist of ten 14-inch guns, and
the designed speed is thirty-five knots,
or more than forty miles an hour.
These American examples are cited
because they are the only important
warships of whose construction we
have had positive knowledge since the
beginning of the war. It does not
by any means follow, however. that
they are superior in battle power to
vessels which have been built on this
side of the Atlantic within the same
/ period. Most Of the novelties of 1914.