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Show FUTURE SEA FIGHTS ENGAGEMENTS WILL BE FOUGHT AT EXTREME RANGE. ,, !t Immense Ships and Heavy Armament, In the Opinion of Naval Author ties, WIN Be Built by All Nations. , Of the character of futuro battles between war fleets tho Scientific American Bays: "Tho running fight which followed tho sortlo of tho Russian Rus-sian fleot at Port Arthur, nnd tho decisive bnttlo of Tsushima straits, crystallized Into fact many theories of tho design nnd maneuvering of warships; and settled, probably, for many years to come, the vexed questions ques-tions of the size of ship, tho typo of gun and tho best formation In which to fight a naval action. Tho battlo Bhlp of tho futuro will bo of great Blzo; displacement will bo not less than 20,000 tons, and this will in-creaso in-creaso so rapidly that a 30,000-ton ship will probably bo afloat beford tho closo of tho next decade. Tho main nrmnment will consist exclusively of heavy guns of not less than 12 Inches caliber and, unless tho difficulty ot erosion cannot be overcome, tho 12-inch 12-inch will glvo placo to 13-Inch and, possibly, to a 11-inch piece. "Futuro engagements will bo fought at an extreme range, tho extent of which will bo limited only by the ability abil-ity of tho fire-control officer to seo tho fall of tho shot's. Tho determination determina-tion of tho rango at which an engage) I ment shnll be fought will Ho with tho fleet which possesses tho grcntest speed. It Is to-duy the almost unanimous unani-mous opinion of naval ofTlcers that ono big ship Is moro effective than two smaller ships of half her size. Future engagements will be fought with tho two fleets steaming In parallel paral-lel lines, In what Is known as lino-ahead lino-ahead formation; that is, with each ship of a fleet steaming in the wako of the ono ahead, with an Intervnl of about BOO yards between them. "If, of two such fleets, ono were made up of four 20,000-ton battlo ships, eaeh carrying eight 12-inch guns, tho whole line would be about 2.100 yards In length; nnd if the other j fleet consisted of eight 10,000-ton ships , each mounting four 12-Inch guns, the lino would be 5,600 yards In length, 1 or over three miles. The fleet of larger ships would probably havo sufficient suf-ficient advuntage In speed for tho admlrul to mnlntain his four vessels abreast of tho first four of tho eno-my's eno-my's lino; and, In this case, an eight-gun eight-gun ship would l)o opposed to a four-gun four-gun ship, with the Inevitable result that the four smaller ships would be silenced. "The fleet of larger vessels would then slnckcn speed and drop back, taking tho ships of the enemy in turn and smothering them with a superior gun fire. At the opening of such an engagement tho fifth nnd sixth in line of the four-gun ships would be able to direct a diagonal file upon tho last of tho eight-gun ships, but the range would bo so great that it could not prove to be vory effectual, "Unquestionably the victory In future fu-ture engagements will llo with tho fleet which is able to concentrate tho largest number of heavy guns within the shortest lino of battle. Hence, tho ralson d'etro of tho big Bhlp and henco tho certainty that tho navies ot tho world havo been forced Into a contest con-test of slzo, tho end of which no ono can foretell." |