DEFENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 57, 30 November 1907, Page 10

DEFENCE NOTES.

(Br " Echelon.") Secretaries of Volunteer corps and rifle clubs arc invited to contribute items of interest for insertion in this Column. COAST DEFENCE. V. This is tho concluding article of tho scries on Coast Defence, published by "Garrison Gunner" in the "Haversack." , .. Admiral'Dewey, by adopting the. tactics of . Farragut, made a successful attack, oil ■ the harbour of Manila, and.we naturally look for a of those tactics in the Cuban campaign ; but on comparing tho topograph of Manila Harbour with-that of tho Cuban defended ports olio cannot help admitting that such tactics as Dewey adopted would not have been sound, and that Admiral Sampson was fully justified in not attempting to risk his ships by running past-forts, where the inner navigable waters of the harbours attacked were, not sufficiently extensive to justify such methods. Manila Harbour is best described as being similar to that of Wellington, but with a much more-extensive entrance, and more extensive; inner waters; while Santiago Harbour, tho chief port attacked in tho Cuban campaign, is similar to Lyttelton, with a nar-' rower entrance, tortuous Channel, and very limited inner waters. , The Santiago Forts were wisely mounted all at the entrance and on-high sites. There wore 24 guns of various calibres, but most of thorn were very antiquated and of.little uso; the heavier type, Gin. 8.L., however, were good enough to do a great deal of damage to i.a ship . at- tho short : ranges at which she would have to approach in order to pass the forts to get inside. The (Spanish fleet which had crossed the Atlantic took refuge in Santiago, leaving the defence of the port entirely to the garrison gunner, while the fleet remained out of range and out of sight of the blockading squadron'. The American fleet, after reconnoitring San Juan and Mantanzas, blockaded the harbour of Santiago, maintaining tho blockade for about seven weeks, during which , period the forts wero frequently bombarded at long, medium, and short ranges.- The object of \ these bombardments was to silence the-forts, tin order that Admiral Sampson might enter 'the harbour and attack the Spanish fleet, but ho was unable to, and the war was prolonged to tho disadvantage of tho attacker. The front, door was secure, and it was therefore necessary to land a large force and attack Santiago by the back door. .The achievement of the. Russian garrison gunner with modern guns in resisting Admiral Togo, for olovon months from entering Port-Arthur, and thereby ensuring security to the Tsar's Pacific Fleet in 1904, was, in the opinion of tho writer, no greater a feat than that of tho Spanish gunners at Santiago in 1898, where, with practically only six obsolete guns, they wero opposed for seven weeks by about otic hundred American modern guns. As previously stated, tho forts wero frequently bombarded, but the heaviest bombardment was carried out on June 6; when 8000 projectiles are said to have been fired by tho Americans, and the Spanish gunners covered themselves with honour. : '

The tactics of the fleet were similar to those at the commencement, of the bombardment of Alexandria: the ships steaming .in single' line ahead and closing to short ranges, and'moving'throughout. The shortest range was 1900 yards. The heaviest gun used in tho American fleet was Bin. 8.L., while the 6in. ,B.L. was the heaviest-.in tho Forts. The' storm of projectiles was so heavy that the Spanish gunners had to fall back from their guns. to . pits in rear, running out and firing tlioir guns ,only when, the ? bombardment slackened. liknrfi. Hobsori is reported to have said after the bonibardmcnt: "I realised tho impossibility of. ._,ships;.destroying, shore ba.tteri,cs.;!withou.t,:going^withiV)'.'hiacli'iiie-gun striko the gun itself in order, to put-It out of action. I saw some of our shells literally bury. ,tho guns... with,'dirt and. yet. do .no injury. Our..marksmanship was excellent, but not a sin'glfi gun was'hit."'

The casualties in' this bombardment were: Forts, 3 killed, 51 wounded; Ships, 5 killed, 14 wounded. The poor effect on the ships.is accounted for by the feeble armament, limited supply of ammunition, and defectivo range-finding. Tho effect on the forts is' worth . noting; as the' bombardment was one of the heaviest; known," and.' carried. out by' tho most modern artillery, yet the result was comparatively small. The bombardment of San Juan was merely a reconnaisance, in l order to ascertain if there were any Spanish vessels inside tho harbour, and to test the dofonces. Tho bombardment of Mantanzas was-also a reconnaisance, in which 200 rounds wore fired by the ships, the effect being, on both sides, practically nil. The lesson to be learnt from those bombardments is.the,same as that shown from Parker-aiid^Dupoiit's,attacks on Charleston; Porsano's bombardment of Lissa, Seymour's bombardment of Alexandria, and Togo's attack on Port Arthur, namely, that ships can rarely bo trusted to silence oven weak and ill-constructed batteries which are about 100 feet above sea-level. Although torpedo boatattacks by night should have been the normal method' of attacking the fleet in Santiago l Harbour, we have no records of any such attacks being made; there was, however, one torpedo-boat attack made on Cardenas Hay by daylight, when the attacking ljoat was disabled." A number of red buOys 'wore noticed ahead, in the channel by the crew, of the torpedo-boat, but they were unaware that theso buoys marked the ranges for a masked battery on shore fil ing smokeless, powder, and consequently the attack.failed, the boat being'disabled by a terrific fire on arriving at the first buoy. This dodge is worth repeating for any Quick Firing Battery in almost any harbour. i Thero wore also many instances of cutting cables in this war, most of which were successful. . In ono case they were unsuccessful on' account of having grappled a dummy cable and cut it instead of tho real cable—another dodge worth remembering^ In another case the attack was unsuccessful bccause a party of well-posted rifloinoii made it impossible for the men to carry oh their worls on the deck of the cable steamer. Admiral Makaroff has stated that any .warship can pick up cables on a smooth bottom. ' in depths, up to ,1200 foot;' this is worth remembering, when 'w'orking' out' schemes of defence. '■ : . .. ; The lessons of the war, however, show that we ought certainly to give some modest protection to tho shore ends of cables, otherwise they , are at the mercy'of the smallest vessel. ' . , \ * . Thoro were two attempts to block Santiago Harbour, both of which were carried out by night and which were unsuccessful. This form of attack on a harbour is a very likely ono in futuro wars, and while harbours have been easily blocked in peace,' e.g.', the French port of Bizerta in the Mediterranean, with well-trained garrison gunners it should be impossible,in war. The truo'rolo of tho garrison gunner is to keep his harbour open. Santiago was finally taken by a hind force which landed at Daiquiri, while feints were made at other points along the coast in order to deceive the defenders as to tho real point of attack, which was about 1G miles from Santiago. Unfortunately for Spain there wore no troops to resist the landing. It is recognised by competent indues that a well posted force of about 300 riflemen, with a battery of field'guns well concealed so as not to draw the fire of the heavier guns of a cruiser! should not only, have inflicted enormous losses on the disembarking forces, hut would have prevented tho landing. Such a force ought certainly to prevent a landing at most points on tile New Zealand coast. GENERAL NOTES. : Christie's Patent Aiming Card is the name given to an ingenious little contrivance, to aid in using the sights of the rifio. All N.C.O.'s should.bo provided with this card, as it cannot fail to convey to the mind tho principle of the sights. . It is.both simple and effective, and tho price, is .threepence only. f . At tho last Bisloy meeting a' now typo of bullet was tested by several experts;- with such wonderful results that, its adoptimi by tho War Office, in the noar futuro;-is regarded as highly probable. This now bullet

is known : as the. "Vclopex." It is tapered t4 a sharp point, and is much lighter than the bullet at present in uso. That bullet is flatnosed, and weighs 215 grains, It has a muzzle'velocity of 2000 feet per. 4eb6nd, and its point-blank range is only 500 yards. The new bullet weighs only 150 grains, and has a muzzle velocity of 2900 feet. It has the onormous advantage over the flat-nosed buljot that its trajectory is remarkably flat, and its point-blank range is 800 yards. This means that a man firing with a vclopex bullet can, without adjusting his sights, hit another man 800 yards away. In the excitement of war. this removal of-tho necessity.'for sight-adjustment, and distance-gauging over such a long range, is of tho. utmost importance. With tho present bullet, accurate range-finding and. sight-adjustment are essential if rifle-fire is to boi effective: at distances beyond 500 yards.' ' The new-bullet is made of the same materials as tho old —the outer jacket being- of nickel;.but -tho point of the hullct is filled .with wood qr aluminium, so that the weight- is rcducod, wjiile the bearing surface exposed to the air is not diminished. Tho pointed nose, however, materially lessens tho resistance of the air to,tho passage of the bullet, and this increases its velocity and flattons its trajectory.

The Hcretaunga Mounted Rifles' annual encampment at Miramar was very successful. For the. first tho .weather was rather unfavourable,-" but for the remainder of the timo the conditions were all that could have boon desired. Staff Sergt.-Major Dovey was instructor;"and -some useful" work was done.. The men wero ' inspected- by Lieut.-Coloncl Bauchop, who put them through some skirmishing exercises on th'eihills; the tactics being based on ,tho presence of a hostile force in tho vicinity. Lieut;-Coloncl Bauchop expressed himself'as being highly pleased with the work done. Major Bolton, commanding No. 2 Battalion, also visited the camp. The health of the moil,.was excellent, and the camp cook has been duly credited with/a share in maintaining the physical, welfare of his patrons.'

, During their stay a sports meeting was hold. The following are the results of the various events:—Victoria Cross 1 . Rate: Pvt.. Biisch. 1: Sergeant Dewcnt, 2. Potato'Bace:, Pvt. McKendry,.' 1; Serpt.-Major Talbot,-, 2.Lemon Cutting Race: Sergt.-Major Talbot, I; Pvt. Pay,.2... Jumping by File:. Corp. Manning, 1; Pvt. Schock, 2. Tilting at the Ring: Pvt. McKendry, 1; Sergt.'Millet,'2.. Night Alarm: Pvt. ! Schock, 1: Pvt. Mason,. 2. Tent Pegging: Pvt/ Pay, 1; Corp: Harrington, ~2. ,Tue-o'-war (by fours): Sergt. Dewent.'.Corp.' Hare, Corp. Manning, and Pvt. Hill, ,1. ; , .Tent-Striking '- Competition: Nos. 1 and % events wore both won by Sergt'. Dewont, Corp;- Hare,. Corp! ; Manning, and Pvt. Hill. Tents were, struck on Sunday) November 24, and the corps marched back to town,, as escort to the' baggage- waggon. There was a unanimous feeling that the camp had been a most "onjoyable one.

The Dunedin Navals recently underwent their annual fort-manning, _ and firing, atr' Port Chalmers. The following are the results of the firing:—

Six-inch Signal Station Gun.—Lieutenant White, battory .commander; sis shots, five hits; figure of merit, 0.944. _ ' Six-inch Nordenfeldt Q.F. (first series).— Lieutenant .Phillips, battery commander; 20 rounds, 10 hits, in lmin., 49sec.; figure ot merit, 0.808.; - , ~r _ Six-inch Nordepfpldt Q.F. (seconiT series); —Petty-officer, Crawford, battery . commari-' dor; 18 rounds, 10. hits, in lmin. 49seo.'j figure of merit, 0.666..

Mr. E. Bezar, of Wellington,'contributes the following interesting extract from the "History of the .Die-Hards", (the 57th Regiment), relating to the rank of colour-ser-geant. Mr. Bezar'was a colour-sergeant in the Imperial ' Army Tho rank of coloursergeant was 'first : j instituted! at this:timoin a general order dated July 6,-1813, stating that:' .''''''

"His Regent was ous services .of; the, !nbh-cominlssloned officers of the army, and with a . view to extending encouragement'and; advantages to' those of the infantry' corresponding to the; benefits : which . the.; appointment' ,of. troop ;sergeant-'? major offered to the cavalry, to direct that tho pay of sergeant-major be raised to three ' shillings a day, and the; pay of one sergeant ■ in each company be raised to two shilling? and fourpencc a day, and that the said ser- ' gcahts be distinguished by an honourable badge of a' regimental colour, supported two cross swdrds.'' , Such sergoants wero to bo called coloursergeants, and were to attend the colours in tho field. '.

Mr. I). M. Poison, headmaster _of- the ; Northland school, has been officially informed,, that ho'has. passed his examination as Major , in the Defence Force. Major Poison • was • formerly Captain of the Boys' Institute Naval r Cadets'and for past three years has held; tht! position ■ of. officer' commanding No. -_I', Battalion Defence Cadets, Wellington. This . is probably.-the. bnly.'instance of a public school teacher !in 'Now. Zealand holding field - rank. . .' i