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Show FUTURE SEA FIGHTS ENGAGEMENTS WILL BE FOUGHT AT EXTREME RANGE. I Immense Ships and Heavy Armament, In the Opinion of Naval Authorities, Authori-ties, Will Be Built by I All Nations. Of tho character of futuio battles between war fleets tho Scientific American sa)s: "The running fight which followed the sortlo of tho Russian Rus-sian fleet at Port Arthur, and tho decisive battlo of Tsushima strnlts, crystallized Into fact many theories of tho design and maneuvering of warships; ami settled, probably, for many years to come, the vexed questions ques-tions of the sire ot ship, tho typo of gun nnd tho best formntlon .In which to fight a naval action. Tho battlo ship .of tho future will bo of great Blze; displacement will bo not loss than 20,000 tons, and this will Increase In-crease ho rapidly that a 30,000-ton ship will piobnuly be afloat beforo tho closo of the next decade. Tho main armament will consist exclusively ot heavy guns of not less thnn 12 inches caliber and, unless the difficulty of erosion cannot bo oveicome, tho 12-Inch 12-Inch will give placo to 13-Inch and, possibly, to a 11-Inch piece. "Future engagements will bo fought at an extionio range, the extent of which will be limited only by tho ability abil-ity of tho lire-control ofllcor to seo tho fall of tho shots. Tho determination determina-tion of (ho r.ingo at which nn engagement engage-ment shall bo fought will lie with tho licet which possesses tho grentest speed. It Is to-dny tho almost unanimous unani-mous opinion of naval ofllcors thnt one tig Bhlp Is more effective than two smaller ships of half her size. Future engagements will be fought with the two fleets steaming In parallel paral-lel lines, In what Is known us lino-ahead lino-ahead formation; that Is, with each ship of a fleet steaming in tho wako ot the ono ahead, with an Interval of about 500 yards between them. "If, of two such fleets, ono were made up of four 20,000-ton battlo ships, each carrying eight 12-Inch guns, the wholo line would bo about 2,100 yards In length; and If the other fleet consisted of eight 10,000-ton ships each mounting four 12-lnph gunB, tho line would bo 6,600 yards In length, or over three miles. The fleet of larger ships would probilbly havo sufficient suf-ficient advantage In speed for tho admiral to maintain his four vessels abreast of the first four of tho enemy's ene-my's line; nnd, In this case, an eight-gun eight-gun ship would bo opposed to n four-gun four-gun ship, with the Inevitable result that the four smaller ships would bo silenced. "The fleet of larger vessels would then slacken speed nnd drop back, taking' tho ships of tho enemy In turn and smothering them with a superior gun fire. At tho opening of such an engagement tho fifth and sixth In line .of tho four-gun ships would bo able to direct a diagonal flro upon tho last of tho eight-gun ships, but tho range would be so great that It could not prove to be vory effectual. |