| Show A or co amok es aae 1 T q A vt 4 t I 1 S q A 11 I 1 51 b F si y ass u american experts op 6 believe they th e can build a sea fighter that will astonish the horld if s a semi i submerged to torpedo apida cruiser r W S gr 4 HAT esthe la the next surprise that naval architects hakk have in store for the world 41 ilu jw Is It t possible impossible to td modify radically existing types tapes of battle craft has the naval strategist anything in mind that ehni willbe will be totally i unlike present wa warships ahl same something that will upset the prevailing alling order bi of battle tactics upon the sea these questions are asked by robert G sherrett SL errett in the new york sun and he goes an on to say that experts n answer n yes to questions two and three one of the foremost lore most of american naval officers said not long ago go 1 I belleve believe we twe can build a ship here that will make the whole world sit bit up and tak take e notice I 1 it if we want to do so this assertion was brought out by a debate on the subject of naval Inq Ino irease ease when the genesis of the modern bodein dreadnought dread naught was discussed an interesting light was thrown upon the origin and reason for being of that era making type of heavy ship of the line the disclosure illustrates how kindred forces may be 6 at work in calling into being another and no less startling departure in naval architecture according to the officer jn n question england has been criticized f for of inventing the chii type on the ground that it if she had not done so she would have maintained a greater preponderance over every other navy in 1 her pre dreadnought dread naught types an and d as the dreadnought dread naught typo I 1 Is fare far more efficient she therefore had to start s even with other oilier nations again the reply to that Is that shedid she did not invent the type but it was absolutely forced upon her ber in the e days dais when nhen we were firing at each other at 2000 or yards a dreadnought dread naught was not nata a logical thing atall at all because at those ranga ranges you could use on an eight inch gun with great effect or a six anch una but as robn soon as as admiral sir percy scott showed us how to train ln gun pointers with ills his new device it changed the situation materially ills his whole invention was a method of training gun pointers 1 we applied plied I 1 it t on outside our side andeel and we talked ed to people on this side and to people on the otter other side odthe of the atlantic abo about ut it I 1 went over lover boeng to england and talked to the guri gun people there and we finally tentatively going from onel one rangel rane to another found out that we could bit in a target if at or yards which were considered enormous ranges in those days ll 11 yon tou cannot hit anything with a six inch gun at those distances it was therefore perfectly I 1 illogical for them io to build any more mora battleships battleship i except with all big guns accordingly therall the all alg gun n shipham shi chip phad had tobe to be built we would have built the first one ton ion this side tf the authorities here had listened to td u us g england did ilot not invent t the ali all elg gun ship it was as adm admiral iral sir ir percy scott who thought though tout out howl how to shoot at a long range an and d the other fellows followed low edas as a natural consequence big guns are the 0 ply only anes ones that tho will do a any ny particular damage nt at long range the P present reiff conflict haa fins made li it plain that in actual warfare the nation with ith initiative will akil have n great advantage idenna annl germany has undoubtedly kept liet her foes guessing no one knas whai she ae Is likely to spring T axt culpher Opher Cu upon her antagonists but pi past t ant itt at certain possibilities t cap capt t william S sims thus describes it a difior thoroughly practicable advel order arder of b battle attle craft its theoretical advantages are so evident to the e experts that the likelihood of its appearing before long ismore Is more than a possibility if you build a ship of tons that has nothing but a protective deck and tind BO so flat that nothing could get under it that only hats has two io towers one f 0 arwa rd and one onea p aft t t id 6 control the olp bap and no gu guns ns ct at all but armed with eight bight or ten fo torpedo 3 tubes 0 on nolde n bide and cap allevi alak ehg 85 35 knots 1 I would like to know what a fleet I 1 bmw jr could do when one b of theril canies conies comes down in its midst h he e says 1 1 there would be hurt if you di dillap pen n to hit hie her and she could flie fire all the torpedoes she he wants to at you one of our young ofil cers cers recommended a vessel of that type natural conservatism ba on we the martof part of the older mew men who control the uppers upper end nd of all services and it is 19 the thel natural conservatism i cism of large bodies that control control our governa government at stands in the way 0 of f just such a proposition those men inen do not quite alike the radical idea but just the sa same me one of those novel er craft a ft will popup pop up one of these days and for all we know it will come out of wilhelmshaven Wilhelm shaven before this wari war Is over 11 I 1 it la Is a well known fact that the destroyer has haa proved the submarines worst enemy and fortio for two reasons first because of its speed combined with effective gun power and second owing to the dIfficult difficulties les of retaliation through th torpedo attack the submarines only sufficient clent answer to the ibe destroyers rapid more often than otherwise erwi sethe the underwater boats prin Upal weapon has hag sped harmlessly under the destroyer without scoring simply because the destroyer draws far less lesa water than the submarines intended quarry the big vessel c the torpedo la ordinarily setto set to run deep enough to strike well below in large ships phlp s armor belt and therefore Is apt to pass without hitting bitting below the keel of a destroyer IC it was tills this idea that captain sims had in mind when he said that the novel battle craft was to be built so that nothing could get under it I 1 there Is 6 nother another advantage too in this arrangement A ship so constructed would be able to operate in waters where ordinarily only light gunboats gun boats or destroyers could maneuver in ln Z safety Accordi accordingly nily it would be fie easy fora for n craft of this character either to hide where least expected ar or to run to cover when chii the odds offered by armored ships were too heavy against her great britain has found Is necessary to utilize monitors monitor s especially modified for the work in her I 1 offensive operations ope against the german gerany positions on the coast coaston coa of belgium shallow draft and fairly heavy armaments have made these vessels reasonably effective however Howe 11 however vei the monitors monelta rs have not been able to destroy the german naval st station at zeebrugge Zee brugge and the kaisers keisers kai sers designers have no doubt long been bu busy a naval foil to the british attack this probability tn in part Is warrant for cap tain sims assumption eption that something out oui of the ordinary was likely to tissue issue from Wilhelm wilhelmshaven shaven before the end endom ot the present struggle it 1 te takes the form suggested the ship will not be a formidable foe only for En glands monitors but it would certainly prove a very dangerous a antagonist tor for well nigil any of great Brit ains alnA heavy fighting ships As with so many things concerning our oui national de fences no secret has beta been made here of this proposed order of war craft captain sims has bus paid t it has been beffre our people fora for n long while it has been discussed at the war college and papers jiahe been written on it foreigners have bave undoubtedly nade made themselves familiar with everything that has been given out about the ship and certainly the type would could go a long way nay toward oft offsetting settIng the disadvantage in numbers under which the german fleet labors gabrs I 1 moreover there are economic reasons why a fighting fight lilg ship of this peculiar type would commend itself especially to a people circumstanced as are the germans now As captain sims says 1 I have always believed that a vessel could be d designed ek agn ed in that way alt without batary any peces necessity sity for a waste wast of side armor because she would havo have nothing above he her r w water line to protect thatis that Is substantially nothing she would have baye no turrets which cost BO much tn in wel MI eight gift and she would shave have iii big guns gang atch cost id in ite the weight of abiel he gun ammunition etc abe would carry two towers from either of which the i ship 9 could be controlled one 60 t to 0 bo be us used ed tn in ca case se the other was knocked out T they fiey would be of sufficient size ta to hald the people who maneuver the craft iler her smoke pipe would be armored so that tha t it ft could not be 66 shot awny ny so BO close to her deck as am to do any particular barange da range she cluid be armed with with eight torpedo tubes pa on h her e r side sl de and she phe could carry it a great many torpedoes for each knof those tubes at the naval avi var aleke strategic experts i have given this stig suggestion numerous theor theoretical edical tests at that institution them the ship Is commonly known as the schofield Scho flold because commander frank H schofield was yas the first to suggest the type ini the ifie strategic problems problem yvor worked ked outon out on the game board the ship ling has led to bortle some startling Ye results because armor Js Is not necessary tor for turrets weight Is not required for fon big guns gung and andas as the craft lies low inthe in the water it Is possible to give her a very effect effective iv defense against attack anait and it Is feasible to subdivide h her er below the water line In nto many compartments the th very number serving so to localize damage accordingly the schofield Is assumed to to be proof against torpedo toive p attack while ab above ve water waier hei heri 1 deck and sturdy sides would stand even from the largest guns because of glancing gancIn 9 blows that tha t bost hostile broj alles would galke strike possibly the best evidence of what t the he naval war college thinks about the I 1 sel schofield citi can be gathered from captain sim sims s own statement while admitting that he be did not know what such a vessel would actually do in time of conflict he ha plainly his apprehension of his chances if attacked by a craft of that order it alf I 1 were in command of a fleet and one of those things came down on me I 1 think 1 I would turn the vessel over to the second in command an and I 1 d gadow go down below 11 if it ii 18 not commonly understood by the baym layman ri that there are times when the torpedo e even en at long ranges stands a be better ater chance of bitting thaW the thebie big gun the big gun may be seriously handicapped or impaired in its efficiency by reason of the weather the torpedo on the other lind hand dives below the surf ace of the angriest sea and holds its depth despite tumbling ti 9 waves is as it speeds on towa toward idlis its target it Is for this ihli reason that the schofield Is armed almost exclusively with torpedoes A any y guns that might be placed on deck would be an only 1 j ra rapid pid intended to fa stand stan d off of destroyers or to deal with armed merchantmen merchantman merchant men or com commerce merc e raide maldeis ral deis rs success in a naval action depends very much upon gaining the advantage of position so far us wind and light aro are concerned in moderate mode ritte weather with a moderate breeze blowing g a commander wants to have the wind in his lits face that ts Is to say the wind win d should blow from the direction bithe of the enemy benemy be because calise then the smoke a and i nd gas from his own onn guns blow back find and away and leave the commander with an unimpaired view of his foe while walle the discharge hangs for a while on his lee and interferes with his vision and the e speedy working of his big ordnance ely R t Is not an 1 easy tiling thing to gain trie the position of advantage and halt half the success in doing this hinges upon invisibility A vessel like the schofield lying low in the he water and capable of making 35 knots an an hour would have the whip whai hand inthis instills particular because she ghe could slip ilip along at full speed unobserved whereas a ship rising higher above the surface would be sure to betray herself against the horl horizon zon the part that the weather plays in tattle battle tactics is thus described by one ot of the navys eminent officers it if you have e been fortunate fortuna I 1 te enough to get into position with the wind in your face and the foe to windward and incomes it comes on to blow and kicks up a sea sufficient to splash water up ov over er the sides of your ship cheh ben you are sten steaming M 20 knots then thereto there tr s another difficulty the spray will interfere very your firing beca because fejt it keeps your telescoped wet In instead of looking through a clear telescope the situation to Is not no unlike looking through the water when hen you are in swimming your vision ls obscured acu red water also may get into yur your turrets re ts and into your fire control connections and possibly pok sibly may put you tou at more or less of it disadvantage I 1 I 1 remember this fleets fight nowadays at very long m ranges ages and if you sight ightman an enemy that Is bearing east from you and the conditions ong of Winal and weather are such that you would diketo like to haven have him bearing west it would take you sou fill all that tiny day to get him there if he be does not abt want to boso doso do so be cause if you try to steam around him he simply pimply keers keeps you bearing abeam ahil while e turning in anc an enormous circle and after you haye have turned around about halt way he be will turn and go the other way in the tha olden days when they fought at short range it was possible b by certain beital i n to get the advantage of position on with reference to 1 the wind and sea etc it I 1 Is nowhere n near ea arso eo easy todd to do atno dijt now w ln in fait fact it Is practically imao impossible isible ss ible despite e superiority superiority in a speed pied w within r reasonable limits limits because of oc her ber unusual fen features tures a ship patterned after the idaia adf n of the schofield would not have to bolber so etc much h about advantage of position iveli ven while nearly burled buried under stormy seas it bould be practicable for her commander to bring his broadside of torpedoes to bear bear and 1 every oni one 1 or of weapons would be a good deal more mare than abad the 61 biggest agest of 6 or plure ere in ing 9 project its |
