Show I WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A MODERN MAN OF WAR GOES INTO BATTLE I < A Naval Expert Describes the Preparations For Actual Ac-tual Conflict and the Battle The battleship in action is not an untried un-tried factor in modern warfare We know something of its disastrous power in the hands of Chinese even hampered by tampered ammunition and other consequences of official peculation But just what to expect of a strictly modern mod-ern battleship in the hands of either European or efficient Americans is something too momentous to predlpt A modern battleship is the most typical typi-cal aggregation of all the fruits of present pres-ent cunning and the man that can utilize successfully all the powers placed there at his command will be able to deal such blows as only the most vivid imagination can begin to compass Awed as we are by natures working in the evidence of a thunderstorm thunder-storm still the worst fury of lightning is modest beside the individual force of some of the guns carried by a modern mod-ern battleship As the most formidable example of our commissioned battleships let us see how we have prepared the Iowa to give and take and try to follow in part what might reasonably be expected of ner in action Clothed in her peace time dress of white paint one scarcely imagines her a massive steel structure of something over 12000 tonsso lightly does she seem to rest upon the water and clothed in her war time garb of ghostly ghost-ly gray she would be even more delusive de-lusive But wait till she is seen to lie unmoved upon a whitecapped seat that makes her smaller neighbors rock and then her ponderous might is realized Think of the force within that must be generated to make her move along against wind and tide at the rate of 16 knots an hour and then try if possible to picture the blow that would fall upon the craft so unlucky as to lie across her rushing course The Iowa is really a navigable fortress for-tress 360 feet long a trifle over 72 feet wlie and omitting her smokestacks and bridges is 50 feet tall from her keel up to the top of her superstructure superstruc-ture amidships Laden for sea half of this body lies below the water line That she may be comparatively insensitive insensi-tive to moderate injury below water she has a double or inner bottom reaching reach-ing from the keel up to a short distance dis-tance below the load line and the space between these two skins so to speak is minutely subdivided into numerous water tight compartments to further localize injury Her loins for a distance dis-tance of quite twothirds of her total length are girded by a broad band of armor 74 feet wide about equally di divided above and below the waterline water-line Along the sides amidships for 15 feet this belt is 14 inches thick and proof against all but the heaviest of an enemys shell at very close range The outboard ends of this girdle then turn inboard at a sharp angle and terminate ter-minate on the center line where they form the main support for the ponderous ponder-ous barbettes that shelter the vital mechanisms of the big 12inch guns This formation results In a massive hexagonal bulwark of hardened steel which presents a well nigh invulnerable front to shot or shell from any point off the bow the stern or either of the sides Upon this sixsided wall is laid the middle portion of the protective deck 251 inches thick which houses over the vitals of the craft Below this deck behind many feet of sheltering coal so wisely is her supply of 1800 I tons distributed andbeneath the water lie her engines her boilers and her 370 tons of ammunition that await the coming of a foeman worthy of that i powder and hardened steel From the lower edges of the armor belt inboard the protective deck slightly thicker runs forward and aft to the ends and forms at the bow of the spine for the i ponderous ram which lies just far enough below water line to gore an enemy where he is weakest For a distance of 90 feet amidships and to a height of seven feet above the heavy water line belt the sides are of armor five Inches thick and it is from behind the protecting shelter of this steel wall that the two torpedo tubes on each side are worked The ends of this thinner belt also turn slantingly inboard and athwartships and terminate termin-ate likewise against the barbettes for the 12Inch guns Forward and abaft this lighter armor the sides are re enforced by a broad band of cornpith cellulose which will swell and automatically auto-matically plug all shot holes admitting to The whole interior of the craft is cutup cut-up into something like 140 watertight compartments and powerful pumps of great capacity stand ready to hold in check the consequences or accident or leak Woodwork is grudgingly allowed ground cork and white paint standing stand-Ing instead for appearances and healthfulness health-fulness and such as is present from the seamans dittybox to the admirals easy chair is fireproofed by a process of tried efficiency The fewest possible passages are cut through the protective deck and with the exceptions of the air passages to the engine rooms and fire rooms and the uptakes for the smokestacks are I covered by heavy armored gratings to keep out shell The rest of the openings open-ings are closed with solid coverings as heavy as the neighboring deck Heavy watertight doors seal the passages between neighboring compartments com-partments and offer a reasonable impediment im-pediment to unnecessary intercommunication Intercommu-nication Electric alarms guard against fire and the dangerous admission admis-sion of water and a steam steering gear way aft and below the protective deck controls the ship safe from the reach of a foemans shot The main battery consists of four 12 inch and eight eightInch rifles of great power A secondary force of six four inch and 20 sixpounder rapidfire guns will guard against the approach of torpedo craft and sweep destructively the exposed positions and lightly armored ar-mored parts of an enemys deck The 12Inch guns are mounted In two massive turrets of 15inch Harveyized armorthe defensive equivalent of quite 20 inches of normal nickel steel These turrets revolve within barbettes or great columns of like material and thickness rising bodily from the protective pro-tective deck below Within this great tube of hardened steel rest the foundations founda-tions for the turrets and the mechanisms mechan-isms vital to the management of the turrets and the guns and up through this sturdy passage are brought the powder and shot from the sheltered folds of the magazines and shell rooms way below Each of these guns weigh 45 tons as It rests upon its carriage has a total length of 3S feet and a greater diameter diame-ter of nearly 4 feet at the breach The bore is rifled with 48 twisting grooves that bite into the copper band on the base of the projectiles and give them that rapid rotation so essential to accuracy ac-curacy of flight and high power of penetration pen-etration With an impulse of 430 pounds of powder the 850pound shot of hardened hard-ened fteel goes speeding on its mission of destruction with an initial velocity of 2100 feet a secondthe equivalent of something over 1400 miles an hour With the greatest elevation permitted by the turret ports i e 15 degrees each of these guns has a range of quite 56 miles Bombarding a city from that distance the shot would reach its destination des-tination In a scant 24 secondsthree whole seconds in advance of the sound of the discharge that sent it At the I muzzle one of these guns could send an armorpiercing shot right through 24 Inches of solid steel and a mile and a half away the same kind of shot would go undeformed through 19 inches of the same kind of material The destructive de-structive impulse latent In that shot as It leaves the gun is equivalent to the force required to raise one foot twice the total weight of the whole ship when heavy laden The 8Inch guns are protected by 5 and 8 inches of hardened metal and fire a 250yound shot with force enough to pierce 12 Inches of steel a mile away The 4Inch guns can fire eight 33 pound shots In a minute easily able to bore their way through 7 inches of steel 1000 yards away while the 20 6pounders could maintain a murderous hail of explosive shell Into open ports and upon the unarmored portions of a I foeThe torpedoes each with its deadly burden of 150 pounds of that threefold powerful gun cotton could tear their way through the toughest fabrication of steel and make the mightiest battleship battle-ship bow In submission These are some of the powers placed at the captains command Take your watch In hand and at the sharp shrill call of the boatswains whistle all hands are called to clear ship for action and scarcely before the last note has drifted off on the breeze every man Is at his post and hard at work except the prisoners stretching lazily as they are turned out from the brig You who have known the craft In times of peace and dress parade watch her now Down come all the shining railings and polished hatchway canopy frames and over the open ways in the wake of the guns are fastened battle plates of heavy steel All unnecessary ventilators are stored below and their deck holes filled with metal disks Great anchor cranes are turned down out of the way of shot and shell and the decks left bare but for the flash plates that take the first blast of the great guns The anchors are freed from their cables and the chain if not stowed below is wrapped for protection pro-tection about unarmored parts Boat davits are disattached and stowed either down along the sides or bodily removed beyond the sweep of the guns All awnings are soaked with water and either placed safely below to guard the ammunition supply from splinters and sparks or swathed about such of the boats as are not filled with water or set adrift Overboard go the turpentine and other inflammable stores and all chests furniture and other movable woodwork calculated to I shed splinters and cause Injury are sent below or stowed where they may do no damage Down below the protective protec-tive deck are sent the compasses chronometers chro-nometers and other delicate instruments Instru-ments of navigation and the public funds are placed in such shape that they may be either easily removed orj y T rrV 1 f I 7 I t j l llli l l r r tr Ukt 1 4 z AFTER DECK OF THE IOWA STRIPPED FOB ACTION J destroyed as the case may need All needless steam supply is cut off above the protective deck to prevent scaldIng I scald-Ing In case of accident and hose are coupled to fire mains and the pumps are set pulsing for instant use Into the tubes the torpedos are put with i their war heads on and by the magazines I maga-zines the men stand ready to pass up I the ammunition Down in the sickbay sick-bay or upon the broad expanse of the I wardroom table the surgeons have spread their instruments and dressings and a certain number of cots and lifts I have been prepared for handling the I wounded The signal books are clothed I in their weighted covers and are ready to be cast overboard when ordered I Look at the ship now In just one i hour and ZO minutes she has been I stripped to the waist so to speak and fI db dt fj all her bulky lines I stand out in bare relief doubly emphasizing the might of her murderous guns now peering straight out with anominous absence of tompions At the masthead in unspoiled un-spoiled beauty fluttecf the proud folds of old glory A few short taps of the drum gnd all hands hasten to their several stations most of the men bared to the waist for the sake of that freedom of movement move-ment demanded by nervous impatience The chaplain who has really endeared himself to the crew by a feeling of manly fellowship gqes about quietly taking first from one and then another of the men a little packet which is to be sent to the loved ones at home incase in-case anything should happen or exchanging ex-changing a few words of kindly helpful help-ful cheer to those that seek his greet ing In a few minutes he will go below I to help the doctors and to smooth the I chilling brow of some poor shipmate I With the delivery of the last report of readiness and with onewlde unrestricted un-restricted glance at those smoking specks just coming above the horizon the captain steps Into the conning tower and behind the sheltering folds i of Its 10Inch steel glances at the telltale tell-tale dials upon its rounded walls and reads the massages that come up to him from every part of that great craft beneath him through the armored tube that leads below to the protective deck With bared arms and naked feet the hc guns crews cluster about the larger pieces waiting with beating hearts for the moment that will bring the enemy in range and give to their tingling nerves the selfforgetfulness of activity and din while the crews of the lighter pieces are mustered handily behind the nearestprotectlon closer quarters may call them into service and the open exposure of the tops and superstructure About each gun a number of rounds of ammunition has been gathered and quickfooted bearers bring the fixed ammunition from the passages to the station of the waiting guns Silence reigns on all sides save for I the quiet commands of the divisional officer the rush of the water without the steady rumble of the driving engines en-gines and the pulsing sound of the running run-ning pumps Up on the bridges the men at the rangefinders keep them bearing on the approaching foe whom we near at the I rate of 30 knots an hour and down in the conning tower the turrets and before be-fore the principal gun stations the dials register the distances of the coming com-ing ships I Way belcw the protective deck the men stand ready at the ammunition hoists the shell whips and the passing rooms The shelf rooms and magazines are manned by nimble nakedfooted crews and by the torpedo tubes the men stand ready to launch their burdens bur-dens fraught with such irresistible force f In the engine rooms the steady roar of the machinery fills the ears and the air reeks with the hot smell of oil and escaping steam At the throttles stand the engineers and at every journal and crank a watchful assistant Shining pistonrods long steel arms and jig gering levers fly back and forth in and out with dazzling speed The journals and bearings foam like bits of champing champ-ing war horses The airpumps pant and wheeze The floor swims with oil and water spattered from the moving parts and but for the thundering life of the ponderous engines one might almost I most think the attendants ghosts as f their long shadows glide through that steaming mist backed by the ghastly glow of the electric lights Such are the conditions in each of the engine I rooms Forward through a watertight bulkhead bulk-head closing the door behind us we stand in one of the four great fire rooms Above us tower the cumbrous boilers and before us glare the glowing glow-Ing grates of the roaring furnaces In the half light of the swinging globes I the firemen and stokers rush back and forth bringing coal tending valves and I watching the pressure in the shivering gauges With averted heads panting breasts and blistering eyes they goad those seething beds of flames or throw into those flaring throats the coal that must satisfy their greed and keep the boilers pulsing with mighty pressure The air hot dry and at 130 degrees is laden with dust and grime as it rushes into the flaming pits backed by the impulse of great blowers and eagerly sucked upward by the draught of those great smokestacks towering 100 feet above A great cloud of smoke and a thin wreath of escaping steam way up at those funnel tops tell the story of the torment far below shut down below the protective deck Ignorant of the tide of battle and almost sure of certain cer-tain death in case of a blow from either torpedo or ram With the first flash and a momentary veil of smoke from the bow guns of the enemy still quite two miles away the game is opened and as the sharp cutting cut-ting splash flies inboard through the open ports of the 4inch guns our 12 I inch rifles belch a more telling response re-sponse From that time to the close found us victorious though badly shattered shat-tered everywhere but about the two big turrets the enemys shot tore great masses of our lighter armor from their fastenings and hurled them Inboard In tangled heaps of dismounted guns bleeding bodies and mazes of twisted plating Old Glory still waved but only over a modest part of the men that carried the ship Into action R G I Skerrett In St Louis GlobeDemocrat |