GUNNERY PRACTICE.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 23, 28 January 1928, Page 14

GUNNERY PRACTICE.

WARSHIPS' EFFICIENCY TEST.

SPECTACULAR AND THRILLING

MAR\ EL OF SrEED AND ACCURACY

"His Majesty's ships Dunedin and Diomcde, of the New Zealand Division 01 tlio Royal Xavy, returned to port last night after a, gunnery practice in the Hauraki Gulf."

Aucklanders have read such brief announcements often. They convey nothing of the spectacular nature of the gun practice, of the manner in which it is carried out, or, most important of all, the high standard of efficiency revealed. Yet 110 part of the Navy's work merits a. description more, ior none is more important. "All the tactical teaching of the war emphasises the immense, indeed the overwhelming importance of gunnery," says a well-known naval writer. "A rapid and accurate tiro is essential for victory. Xo system of control is satisfactory which docs not permit a high rate of fire."

In the Hiiui-iiki Gulf on Tuesday the Duncdin and Diomcde, in turn, teste.! the efficiency of their guns and their gunners. The Dioniede left Kawau at nine in t !io morning and moved out towards the Great Barrier, laying a srnokc-screcn behind her. Wartime Conditions. The object of the screen is to provide renditions approximating those whi':h might lie expected in wartime. The target is hidden from view, visibility is bad, and 011 emerging from the smoke the "enemy" is sighted suddenly. Ivapidity in opening fire is here of first importance, and in an ellicicucy test marks are awarded for it. When the "enemy" is sighted, so mr.ny things happen so quickly that the layman, even after preparation, cannot at once comprehend their order and significance. High up on the "spotting top" is the gunnery officer, who is in direct communication with the transmission station, a room equipped with apparatus for estimating, almost instantly, all the factors on which the accuracy of the shooting depend. Immediately the "enemy" is sighted, the gunnery officer, estimating roughly the direction, range and speed of the enemy, orders a "spotter," or sighting shot. Its position in relation to the target is observed, corrections are made accordingly and the shooting begins. As the ship entered the smoke-screen, the order had been £iven to load. As each gun is loaded the gunnery officer is automatically informed by the . glow of an electric bulb in front of him. When six bulbs, representing the six six-inch guns, are glowing, he fires the salvo by pressing a trigger. Six seconds later— sometimes less— the whole operation is repeated. Rapid Thinking. The preparation and practice necessary to achieve the standard of efficiency demonstrated in the gun practice can not easily be imagined. Some idea of it can be gained by watching a gun crew loading a shell weighing 100 pounds, closing the heavy breach, reopening it after the shot has been fired, and then re-loading —all in six seconds. This part of the operation is obvious. What is not obvious, and might go on unsuspected, is the quick and accurate thinking done in the "spotting top" and down in the transmission station. The first shot is the worst. There is a period of suspense, seconds only, but they seem minutes—while the layman (the only idle man in the ship) wonders if it is going to be as. bad as he was told to expect. Then come a crash, a blinding flash, a boom, a stench. The observer bends forward involuntarily, presses the cottonwool into his ears, and sees, far out to sea, a white column of water. He hears the yelling of orders, and then another crash as the next salvo is fired. It seems good shooting, for the white columns of water are leaping np close to the target—but they- may be hundreds of yards beyond it. Not until all the observers' reports are received and compared can the value of the shot be assessed. Nevertheless, it must be here recorded that one shot from the Diomcde 011 Tuesday afternoon severed the tow-rope of the target many miles away. The Silent Torpedoes. Soon after the order to fire was given, six torpedoes -were discharged at a target represented by the distance between the Laburnum and the Veronica, steaming in line. There is no noise or fuss associated with the discharge of torpedoes. Shot from their tubes on the upper deck, they shone in the sunlight before plunging almost simultaneously into the water. Their passage could be followed for some distance by means of six parallel white lines, but nothing more was heard of them until the ship picked them up soon after the shooting. The report of the umpire, received next day. showed that the torpedo crews' efficiency, like that of the gunners, is Tery high indeed. Repelling an Aerial Attack. But ten; was no time speculate about the efficiency of the torpedoes. The ship had, meanwhile, been attacked from,the air! High up in the sky there appeared a splash of whitish smoke, and then was heard the crack of the tourinch gun on the Dnnedin. It was a smoke shell, and presently another splash of smoke appeared, at a lesser altitude. Here were represented two aeroplanes, bent on destroying or crippling tho ship while her gunners were pre-occupied with the enemy on s«?a! The gunners were more than equal to the emergency. In a second the fourinch high-altitude guns had the range of tho higher plane, while the pompoms opened fire on the lower. Puffs of bluish smoke—contrasting with the white of the target —appeared near the 'plane. As fast as the eye could be fixed on one, another appeared, closer. Then one penetrated the target—and that, one may be excused for believing, was the end of the aeroplane. The fact must be emphasised again that these things were happening at one time, with the Ship sliding through the sea at a speed of 24 knots, and the bright sun shining over all. Imagine, not one ship, but twenty, thirty, or forty, at sea on a dark, misty day; ships armed not only "with six-inch guns, but with lixteen-inch guns. Imagine the ship next in line to yours blown up, as the Queen Mary was blown up at Jutland — twenty-seven thousand tons of her in a cloud of smoke and brilliant flames. Imagine, a moment two or three smaller ships quietly sinking, after, torpedoes have opened their hulls. Imagine, above all, the ear-splitting, body-shak-ing cracking and booming of hundreds of guns, and the thought that at any moment the fate of the neighbouring ship may be yours. If you can visualise these conditions, you will then have a fair (though, inadequate) idea of what is meant by a naval action at sea. You Till also he in the way of understanding why the British Navy must he efficient in gunnery. Ha