The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1917-04-11
COST or BIG SEA Fight
WOULD keep 1000
In Comfort Forever-I0,0 1000, 900
Pounds Sterling Cost Of One
Hours Battle.

| ltH BVuhAo hfVi
gold than 1000 strong men coult
we'll carry; sum which would
maintain 1000 families in reasona
bic comfort for ever; and 3 mucl
/ greater than the entire expenditure
on many of our smaller wars. Such
Is the estimated cost of a single
hours fight between the British and
the German fleets engaged at any.
thing like their ful! strength.
THAT this is no exaggerated esti-
mate is proved BY the fact that the
Jutland battle, in which only por-
tion of the two fleets took part, cost
over 100000, without counting
the value of the lives sacrificed in
IL. And, incredible as such state
mont must seem, it becomes intelli-
gible when We consider that a sin
gle well-directed shot can sink in a
few minutes a battleship that has
cost more than f2,000,000 to build
and equip.
In the Jutland battle we lost three
battle cruisers-the Queen Mary,
Indefatigable and Invincible-the
aggregate value of which exceeded
f5,25O,OOO. In addition to this We
lost three cruisers-Defense, War
rior and Black Prince-whose cost
G3,75O,O0O; and eight smaller YES
sells, whose value ranged from s100,-
900 to 100000. Thus our own bill
of costs, in destroyed ships of war
alone, amounted to more than s10,-
900, 900.
The German loss was greater still,
for it included four ships-the Kai-
ser, Hindenburg, Lutzow and Derf-
finger-not one OF which cost less
than f2,25O,OOO: thses four vessels
alone representing 100000. To
these we must add the Pommern,
e1,2O0,OOO; the Elbing, Wiesbaden
and Rostock, 100000 each; the
Frauenlob, s25O,O0O; nine destroy
ers, s1,200,000, and one submarine
at e10O, 00O-making a grand total
of s13.95O.OOO.
Thus in ships known to have been
destroyed the actual money loss in
this one battle amounted to nearly
100000.
But the number of ships damaged
and disabled was still larger and
the cost of repairing them must
have amounted to a very large sum.
The precise amount it is naturally
impossible to ascertain; but, Accord
ing to expert estimate, it could not
be less than 100000 thus rails
ing our bill of damages to e33,0OO,-
600.
And there are some formidable
items to follow. What of the noun
tains of ammunition expended in the
battle? Every time a twelve-inch
gun is fired with its S50-pound shell
and its 207-pound of cordite e1OO is
dissipated. The Indefatigable and
Invincible each carried eight twelve
inch guns, in addition to 16 Of four
inch. Each twelve-inch gun could |
fire three rounds in two minutes; so
that. assuming the maximum rate
of firing the expenditure on ammu-
milton would be at the rate of 81 200 |
a minute for one ship alone. For |
the Queen Mary, with her eight
thirteen-inch guns, the expenditure
would be greater still.
When We consider this, and the
fact that in the Jutland battle some
45 vessels were engaged for ten
hours or so, we can understand that
the bill for ammunition must have
to millions of pounds;
and can even credit the estimate of
27.5O0,OOO given by an expert.
Then there is the cost of fuel. A
battle cruiser at full speed con-
sumes 1000 tons of fuel in a day;
and when we consider the hours of
fighting, the long distances covered
to and from the scene of the battle
and the number of ships engaged in
both fleets an allowance of 100000
does not seem excessive.
Thus adding the items together
we reach a total of over 100000
600 for the actual money loss in this
one battle in which only portions of
the two fleets We're engaged. II we
add s20,0OO,OOO. the estimated val
ue to the nations OF the lives lost,
we reach the appalling total of over
s6O,OOO.OO0 as the cost of a few
hours modern lighting on the sea.
It'd Bits.
Nd don, COACH RITZ