El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-02-09


cane a rumor. rather mystic
rious, OF an entirely new kind OF
fighting ship. secretly built ant
launched by the British nav. II wa.
described as a sort OF 'whaleback,'
its deck almost flush with the surface
Of the sea. extraordinarily swift, ant
armed with two huge II inch guns.
Barring the guns. the description
strongly suEg csts the -battleship de-
srrOyer" whose arrival IN maritime
warfare at no distant date was pre-
olcted a while ago by vice admiral
Sine.
II this new type Of vessel really ar
rives. II VIII (says Sims) make every
other kind Of Warship a back number.
Indeed. this falls far short Of express
ing the idea The most formidable
fleet Of super dreadnaughts viii be
helpless and ~ its mercy
Admiral Describes New Craft
The vice admiral described il briefly
2 few months aGos in talk before the
naval committee OF the house Of rep
resentarives. He said; If YOU build
2 ship that has nothing showing above
the water but protective deck, and
SO fiat that no projectile could strike
beneath, that mas two towers one for
ward and one aft. 70 control the yes
sci; and no guns at all, but eight or
that can make 50 knots I would ike
10 FnOw what a fleet could do when
such a craft came down IN its midst"
This description embraces so manv
new ideas that one does not grasp it
comprehendingly all at once Let us
see then, just what IL means.
A ship say 500 feet long tthe
length of a modern battleship), very
-ow because built for great speed.
Its curved deck, of whaleback form,
is the Only part OF II exposed above
ire s---fare OF the WITHDRAWING the
two coming towers already men
toned and the smokepipes- The deck
IS armored with heavy steel plates
There is no side armOr (such as 4
battleship carries): the sides OF the
shin are armOred by the water in
which Fl floats.
Vow do YOU get the fdea2 Not fully,
II is likely For there are certain in
cfdenIal, yet vitality important points
that must be taken into view
The up TO date dreadnaught is a
compromise She must carry just so
mrch weight. which IS distributed as
judiciousIy as possible among several
items-engines, great guns (Which are
enormously heaVy), turrets, arrnor and
ammunition Expansion in one direc-
tion means sacrifice in another
Well then, as much Of this weight
as is devoted. let US say. TO armor and
guns must be subtracted from what is
available for engines That is why
our battleships are slow The super
dreadnauEht Pennsylvania, for eN-
ample. the pride Of our navy. Is a
mighty formidable craft, but she
lacks speed "a most important essen
tial for fighting purposes because
her heavy armament leaves her not
sufficient weight bearing capacity to
sr-uDort and accommodate bigger en-
gines.
A destroyer is q type CT Warsnlp
that sacrifices ainOt everything to
speed It is a mere shell OF thin steel
built 20 hold engines Comfort OF liv-
ine quarters and everything else IS
sacrificed to this one end
Is Swift. TnTulnerable.
Here you have, in naval architect
ure, two structural opposites. But
how about the Whaleback fighting
ship=the newly conceived ship OF the
E-st line, that. without compromise.
is at once powerful, swift. capable Of
tremendous attack vet inVulneraple
10 the enemy's bloWs2
Vice admiral Sims declares that,
properly designed according 70 the
above suggested lines IL would pos
sess ali OF these qualities he goes 50
Tar as to assert that no number OF
superdreadnaught would be match
Gel rid Of ali the big weights-1or
armor, for turrets, for big guns
(Which are enormously heavy and for
big gun projectiles- The dreadnaught
Pennsylvania carries 1000 tons Of am
ununition. accommodation for which
alone demands 5000 tons Of displace-
ment And you have, what? Why
not a thing but q practically unre-
stricted opportunity for the develop
ment Of engine power
Engine power. OF course, means
speed. And speed is a prime element
Of the fighting ability Of the battle
ship destroyer, as figured out by
Sims and other experts who have
made a Theoretical study Of this mar
Felous Warcraft that according 20
their belief is destined soon to ap-
pear
TorpedOes More Effective.
It can easily travel 80 knots an
hour fabout 80 land miles, because
nearly all Of its tonnage viii go into
speed ArmOr protection, for the
reason mentioned. il does not need
barring the curved steel plates for its
upper deck For guns Il wiz have no
use. because torpedoes are far more
effective weapons; and Of these IL viii
have plenty
A torpedo weighs no more than
big gun projectile. Such a warship as
Is here described could carry hundreds
Of them OF course, the effective
ranPe Of q torpedo is small compared
with that Of II inch gun. but what