Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-28


" naughts are doomed--with their
Il own guns sounding their death
4 Y knell before october l, 1880.
they will receive from their
commander in-chief the signal your
services no longer required. Well
donel" which will bring to an end their
famous careers.
These vessels since their appearance
in the Atlantic feet in 1912, have con-
Stituted an integral part in the Nation s
first line Of defense, and their eventful
careers, which have covered a period
of more than 18 years, carried them
many thousands Of miles, at home and
abroad, in peace time and In war.
These battleshipS, the Florida, Utah
and wyoming, will FIRE farewell target
practice off the Virginia CapeS, and viii
then proceed directly to navy yards for
| the initial steps in their disarmament.
According to plans of the Navy De-
partment, the Florida will proceed to
the navy yard, Philadelphia, for de-
commissioning, not later than October
/. The Wyoming will also go to Phila-
| de,phia, and the Utah to the navy
yard, Norfolk. Va, where they will, BIZ
placed in a reserve (inactive) status
with approximately so per cent of their
normal compliments remaining on
board.
To Meet Terms of Treaty.
| Under the terms of the London naval
| treaty of 1880, the Florida is to bS
rendered unfit for warlike service with
in IL months from the coming of the
treaty into force, and to be strapped
within "a months. It Is planned to
convert the Utah to target use, and 10
In accordance with both the Washing.
ton and London naval treaties moi
more than one ship may be retained
by any of the signatories for target use
exclusively. Also, in accordance with
these treaties, the training ship must
be so altered as to not be an effective
unit of the feet.
Superdreadnaughts were the answer
to the dreadnaughts which the worlC
powers built soon after Great Britain's
modern battleship with an armament
OF 10 12-inch guns, the H. M. S. Dread
nougnt was completed.
Dreadnaugnts joined the fleets JUS
| as quickly as the architects could COM
plete their plans and the nations peck.
etbooks would permit. BY the end OIL
1911 Great Britain had 10 Of these
vessels, Germany Z, France 6, thu
United States and Japan 4.
The American Navy was the first tx
mount her main guns on the center
line Of the ship. This had the advan
tage of obtaining a full broadside II
either direction, although 1t somewhat
curtailed the fore-and-aft fire, which Il
seldom needed Other navies soon fol.
lowed, although most of them retained
two or more waist" turretS to increas,
the ability to IRE at sharp angles OF
the bow and stern.
Controversy Of Nations.
pertor1ty was rather peculiar discus
sion concerning the first country tt
produce such ship. This honor wa
credited to England, due to the build
ing OF this new type, the H. NJ. S
Dreadnaught. In November, 1910, how
ever, William Boerum Wetmore o
Allenhurst, N. j., in a letter addressed
to The Scientific American, elaine,
that the honor of first producing shil
that conformed to the definition of tn
word "dreadnaught" rightfully belonge,
TO America. The accepted definition o
the word "dreadnaught, in brief, bein
q ship OF al large guns" for its mali
armament. His claim was based on tn
fact that the United States had, ii
1868, altered the frigate Roanoke int
dreadnaught, carrying six guns
This claim was answered by Per
cival A. Hislam, who stated that Grea
Britain, during the years 1862-63, ha,
in a similar manner altered the oil,
frtgate Royal Sovereign into a dread
naught carrying five guns. AS the shil
antedated the Roanoke, it appeare,
that Mr.. Hislam had settled the mat
ter, and perhaps this claim would hav
stood but Tor further research by Mi
Wetmore.
However, Mr.. Wetmore write to Lor,
Brassey, one Of the worlds leading au
thorltleS on naval matters, asking hin
Tor all the partiularS concerning tn
conversion Of the Royal Sovereign
Lord Brassey's reply stated that the ex
act date Of her conversion was hard :,
determine, as the time required wa
long and the expense great, but that /
took place between 1862-64 After con
version the Royal Sovereign conductet
speed trials during which she attaine,
speed of IL knots. She later con
Quoted exercises and series of experi
mental firing trials and was used as ,
tender for H. M. S. Excellent, ALTHOUGH
she was never used as a fully commits
Toned seagoing vessel No sails wer
carried on the three pole masts of tn
Royal Sovereign after her conversion
She was armored all over, her side
being OF solid timbers feet In thick
ness, strengthened internally by diago
nal iron bands, and clothed externall
with 51s-inch rolled armor plates.
Mr.. Wetmore then produced the iron
clad Onondaga as finel proof that tn
first dreadnaught rightfully belongs
!. to the United States. Congress in 186
J authorized the building of the Onon
daga, which was one year prior to tn
starting Of the Royal Sovereign's con
|. version.
The modern dreadnaught was sue
ceeded by the superdreadnaughtS. "Al
big gun" batteries were followed by al
increased number of guns and tn
wyoming, which so soon will be retire,
from active service, was. the first /.
carry IL l2-inch 50-caliber guns.
Protection Reduced Speed.
The advent of the large caliber
armor- piercing projectiles augmente,
greatly the weapon of offensive power
so much sought after since the frs
! warship was employed. In 1908, armor
piercing projectiles (8-inch) were frs
used IN the United States Navy by tn
y. s. s. Oregon, of Spanish War fame
To defend their ship, however, aRains
|, this super projectile, required all nayie
to radically change the defensive prop
critics Of their battleships. Great belt
OF case hardened" arTnor were place.
in such positions SIS 70 protect tn
vitals of the ships, protecting the tur
rets, magazines, engines and fire rooms
The installation of this armor neces