AMONG THE BATTLE MILLS

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 272, 10 August 1908, Page 9

AMONG THE BATTLE MILLS

THREE MILES OF WHITE ARMADA THREE MILLION TONS OF MUZZLE ; ENERGY. (Br A. Sfbkcb.) ill wo touch at Madagascar or continy to Alaskcr, " . JV 11 ™ i' l Auckland Bay? Asks you; J.liat s the question—What s tho answer? , ~„u es9 " 10 riddle if you can, sir, And 111 pass tho. information to tho crew. ' Oh, there isn't any knowing whero tho divvil we aro goin', tm- i! 10 Admiral remarks to mo— well, we won't bo solemn colic—it's a fight or it's a frolic, And wo ain't a-carin' which," says he).

Sixty-four million dollars worth of battleship with a muzzle-energy which could lift tho entire Union Company's fleet 26ft. into tho air in one second! £1,200,000 worth of 12-inch cannon and turret, to say nothing of humbler calibres representative of the multitudinous death cast in tho. arsenal ' of tho ovorlnsting antagonism of man to man I If 0116 had Aladdin's lamp, and desired to work the wonders of the Arabian Rights onco more, lie would only need to command sonio faithful genie to borrow tho Connecticut's fore, turret, for, with it, lie could master tho Southern Hemisphere. Its offensive potential is greater than tho combined potentials of the British Australian squadron, and those of the bloodthirsty navies of the little South American States.

■ When Admiral Evans raised his hand to his cocked hat in final salute to President Roosevelt. Uncle Sam " fully intended that'the might of his fist should be unmistakably apparent to tho world, and cortainly tho newspapers of tho world havo done their best to niake it seem so. But whether Japanese eyes turned towards Hampton Roads distended with sad .admiration whilst tho brown lips below moved in despairing hymns of praise, is altogether another question. It i 3 a long time sinco wo have heard from our ally, and, if ho could coat his ships with invisible paint,* wo should probably never havo known that, sinco 1905, ho Iwb slipped into the water no less than six leviathans, completed and .commissioned'them. More than -that, ho has torn out tho obsolescent 6-inch weapons from his previous vessels and. substituted tho " calibres which count," when it conies to breaking in Ivrupp contented-plates -'-at 8000 yards (4 J miles)—the rango at .which tho. naval actions .(if any)'of tho next'fiVo ydSrs' •will most probably, bogin. That being 30, a simple formula of mixed algebra and mechanics returns tho striking force of the inscrutable new iWer in tho East as linoxpectodly great. "A littlo greater than TJnclo Sam's!"' does some 0110 ask, with a slight gasp of astonishment? AVell, nearly twico as great I It is 596 against 332. The figures indicate units 1 of striking power at tho range mentioned above. No 6-inch or 7-inch guns, or 8-inch guns (except the newest) have been counted. With the bare' statement of this nasty; but invincible bit of mathematics, a rather uncomfortable subject may be sidetracked. ■

, " BORN !N BETHLEHEM." "Bethlehem Steol Works,-U.S.A.,",is the legend, stamped in brass, on the American ordnance, and though this may bci" viewed as . a grim comment on tho Christianity of Christians, it supplies tho word which helps us_ to meet tho White Armada in the right spirit—tho peaceful spirit breathed in the Christmas carol—"Harlc the Herald Angels Sing." 1 For, according to all American publications, it is a peaco fleet, .and 'its extraordinary desire for peace is ; by now, /well understood. Should any timid soul start' at the gaping ferocity of tho naked guns,' let him turn away from them, and givo car to tljo pleasant spouting mob of politicians who aro off to Auckland to help build the giddy jest that all is well with tho nations, it is even to bo remarked that tho floet is anchored iii column of divisions—tho least favourable formation which a fleet could be arranged for action, so if Admiral Sporry would only dump -hlfc magazines of modified cordito ororuoard. tho' peace illusion would bo perfect. And .so . . . bang! bang! from itlio Connecticut . . . bang! bang! bang! ;from tho Kansas . . . bang! bang! down itlio line, till tho funny little twin-turretcd'Kentucky, which is whipping in at tho tail of the column, has got-off .lier twenty-one squirts of black powder at the Auckland forts, for. what is a peace fleet if not polite ? ' k naval board might pardon an admiral for losing a battle, but, as tho famous "paint signal" of recent memory shows us, a broach of naval etiquette is not to bo thought A naval architect might make atrocious mistakes in construction, but' Heaven help him if ho forgot to put somo fourteen'pounders on his upper decks. Tho'so who romomber tlio career of tho old Dread-, now rusting in the Kyles of Bute, will recall tho scandal which was occasioned on a memorable dato in the seventies, when flying the flag of H.R.H. tho Duke of Edinburgh, she entered Cherbourg and discovered when it was too late to mend mattors, that sho had not n single pieco of light artillery 011 board with which to return tho French salute. '

IN LETTERS OF BRASS. Tho sterns of the battle factories adumbrato nothing very imposing in the way'of names. • No Thunderers, Implacables, Invmciblcs, Inflexiblcs, or haughty Imperiouses, appear. It is.provided by l.yv that "firstclass steamers " of the American Navy shall bp named' after the States of_tho Union, second-class after rivers and principal citios and towns, and third-class as tho President may direct. An amendment passed in 1898 directs that all first-class battleships ; and monitors " shall bo named for tho States, and shall not bo named for any city, place, or person until the' names of tho" States shall have been exhausted." By a special Act one battleship perpetuates the name of tho historic "Kearsage "—the valiant old tub which sent the Alabama to her dooni. Under these various provisions twenty-nine battleships, built or building, boar tho names of States. Ten more States iiavo furnished names to large, armoured cruisers, and four other States have to bo content with monitors.

The only commonwealths still unpron'ded for are Utah and Oklahoma, and of these Oklahoma has corno into the Union'since tho latest ship, tho North Dakota, was authorised. This descent selection of names is, perhaps, the one good tiling that can bo said for Congross with rospcot to its navy policy. Sihco 1.793 it has thwarted the views of its constructors, and now that something has' befallen it' which, sooner or later, ovortaltos every democracy which overrides its exports —its (loot is .1 littlo out of date I In what respect will ho explained l;itor. Hut on tho nhming of the ships Congress has always preserved a steady view. Great Tubal Cain, tho father of machines, need not bo ashamed of tho names nor of ( their guiding ouirit, It is truo that ho might not bo violently

taken with the beauty of Buch words as "Kansas" and ''Connecticut," for, grand old artist _ that ho was,'.'he'loved to "iVrap his plain implements, his hammers, and his melting pots, in a cloud "of- splendid invocation' before setting them to, .work, throwing a spell, around each and giving.. Jo capli a soul. But, tile homely State names ; arc "prcferablq * tothe unbridled democracy-of- America -immois talisod in staring letters'of brass, on. such 1 clean-lined hulls. The ;haud of tho, American tourist did not pause when it came to cutting his name on -the cedars of Lebanon'; therefore it is conceivable (but for tlio mCongisoßs) . Cramp's yard at Vi p 1 Sbtuc-day'havo launched a -Pork Baron," afni.qurcd cruiser, and a first-class battleship, .Wugg." . ! „ .' .'I ' " 1 FICHTING | BOB."r

It lias not been vouchpafciji tp.Jhe p£Qplo| ?. i, Dominion to see .the great, admiral,j Jtoblcy D. Evans. : The hospitable'deck of tlio lowa,, on which' ho'' received 'the 'sword' or Admiral CerveVa, and the little. cabin in!

the flagship .which biicc ■ knew him so fanik liarly will .kpow hitfhifno more'.' Not tha,t thero is nothing wonderful -in the sobriquet 'Fighting Bob";'it is'oiilvah A'me-i I'icG.iusm, and really mean's nothing', very-' mulderous. The Anioricatt".,public, have al-' jvays ;loved to enjbody'W "Fighting"' Somebody 111 tho national play-bill; and the lonj;eye, of analogy -reaching back : into'''the,'dim-. nossos of 1862 sorts "out ''''''Fighting Job: llooiicr — tlio misfit .gdnci;al u ;of" : ,tho Civil: War. Kobker. had a/;habit of - leading"'illIns commdnd liko(a biill tf 'a'gato, aml'ilii's : caught this eye of; the"public'and'tho'United States. _ politicians'. A? ' the roar .of. public' onthusiasm, lifted him : frbm oiio • bjrado to another, ho grew tajkativo /and 1 critical of ; ins superiors, and a.t , \last''assumotiV'tho''pur-: pie as Commander of'®! Army! of. the "Mo-' mac. -Poor Ilookei:!,,".'/He :tho, ltapidan with truly Napoleonic"combinations, but was quickly struck, by r .LcG.. and .^Jacksoii ! at Chancdllorville and./'skipil tho..sponge.'.' Or rather, a • djsapoointod/.-'.Cbiigress: took thojv sponge . out of , .his..',,, Kami' and replaced him with' humble," etfl-rios^';aiid : enorgetic .George Meade only two tlays 'li-: fore tho great combat at" Ge.ttySbiirg.'. 'Bilt,;' if ono may judge physiognomy, as revealed >n photographs, Admiral /Evans "is • built of sterner stuff. He. was-born in-Virginia-of a slave-holding family, but .fought .on. tlie-Uui<j.n side against his own.brother,,and ,yas desperately wounded iu : - tlw' storming . o£; Fpit; Fisher. 11l a Federal-hospital,"where "Beg pardons" kerp infrequonii/and tlio..man-who had lost his powfcrs or protest .wad always liable to lose his ilimbs, at tho', hands of the rough-and-ready surgery of the times, young Evans rose from a blopdylheap of;-straw* and, with a revolver, held back; the. doc(!orsvv.'ho were advancing with intent tp/..cut-.his:Jeg" off; The neatest and truest "comnliment'/over paid him came from the- pen of llndyai'd Kip-' ling, accompanying a present of the author's works:— . ...

•" Zougbaum docs; tilings with the pencil, Anu I wita things with the • But you sit up in a conning tower Bossing SOO jnon. To him wlio hath shall bo /riven, ' And that's why these-hooks are sent,-' ?m you r* laTO lived'out-inore stories.'.' ;,.-, •than Zougbaum or; I;.ever .dreamt/'

A DIFFICULT PART OF THE STORY. ' r Kentucky and Kearsage disclose nohigher • freeboard than 13ft.; ■ and oven Connecticut 1 cannot, maintain dry dccks in moderate-wea- ' thcr ' Suppose,' then, that'one of tile foro guns took m a foot of water at tho 1 instant 1 of discharge I Tho consequcnees. might be . mterostiflg to tho world; though disastrous to tho crow. Tho interference with gas pres--1 sures which burst a sportsman's implement 1 when it is fired with an" inch of dirt in tho muzzle might reasonably bo expected to produce consequences'' on a greater scale;-It is now known that ono of the light guns of the Baltic fleet, engaged on tho Hull trawlers, ' swallowed a .fraction, of; the: North Sea and promptly coughed its-bewildered little soul out through a rent .in ,flic', sido. of the barrel. ; tins ■ introduces the doctrine of -compromises' which troubles nil naval architects rand leads U P. ™ a of the story which'it is l ineou-; ceiyably difficult to explain in any way that ■ Mitorost -tho geperalireader. :Every ves-. City of:.-Lost Notions, and .if, the'silver com of. truth/ lying at .tho bottom of the muddy pond of technics,.is to bo discovered,, it is necessary-to make'arshort.' swift divo through tho-icy Waters ofv hydrostatics. . An.illustration. will: help.: It was' oiico the practice to;pick- an All-England eleven on this principle .-- .first -a- . .wicket-' keeper, then four bowlor3,.'Lthen-.'foui-'ibats-; ■•nien. and lastly two- bits .of "fireworks.-' •;.wit is-plain, that if one element' in -;tho combina-.' tion ,!3 ir.flreased,HK,;somo " ■other-: W turo will necessarily.., have " to. -be v cut: (down. And the same with a. battleship'af' ono good point has-been eiiibodi6d : in her something elso has surely>been jettisoned.' Imagine, then, tho riddlo of. CEdipus l which taces every naval'.builders-even...builders cap-, able of turning out sftch beautiful notions as the Kansas, VcrmonVand Connecticut. Ho receives, an order for, say, £1,500,000 worth of fighting ship, and Ihen' must braco himself for a long wrestle,—tho wrestlo of cutting his material to tho best, advautago which his intellect and temperament-permit. If lie is a Scotchman his plans'-.will . run ..mostly - to boilers and engmes with a -certain;temperamental reservation loojsingvta' a-Jingo IwoigHt' of defensive armour. -. .This influenco- ofrtcmperamont on design is : no : "mythicaH thing. 1 One of tho ironclads,which.destroyed. andria happened to bo,-.armourod!;on:.ono sido by an English firm, -and; .by ." Brown's,of' Clydebank, on the other, and: she caught -a' good many Egyptian shots - on,-. her /English; sido to begin, with.. When the rivets'were' starting and, tho plates commencing to bucklo, : tho voice of practical "Jack i.'.soared.up from below: "For .'her' abaowt, and givo Brown'sarmour a chawnst!", If tho constructor happens-to be-'a French-, man, ho might be expected to.begin .with'-al plan of his _ upper deck, disclosing arrange--' lilents for his Beloved end-on- 1 ! . hroy almost' as pootic as tho cadenca of„tho Marseillaise.. Between theso oxtrcnics the. Englishman -.will'; compromise, while Amerioahs nnd Germans—: born copyists—will pirnto every.; new .notion going. But whatever-bo. the nationality of; the constructor, one 'terrible problem will haunt him always: "How far.can I keep tho ship's mctacentro abp.vo .ljec .centro.."of gravity!"' Stability depends. , on,/metacentric, height, and tho . higher her tho' lower that variablo point will sink.,." Many.of : tho Russian ships, whibji ; '. so' v .disapp'oint<kl; their' builders at Tsu-shima, had no metacentric margin worth mentioning, .although' their 30ft. of freeboard on a_ paltry displacement gave them an air of majesty, very much, like that of some well-dressed 'youth'who-can-catch all eyes' on'tile-block' but' cannot, pay; his tailor's bill. Almost .tho first-shot-fired ■ by tho Japaneso ripped open tho port bow:6fono of those vessels, and though her . star-; ' board magazine was flooded to right "her, her. small metacentric command of Ift. Gin. , was soon vanquished. , She turned south.out of tho lino with her smoke blowing forward oyer, her, and then, after resting on her sido for a minute and a half, turned slowly over and: bubbled down to the bottom.- Tho four Borodinos had a metacentric height of 3ft. Gin. on a freeboard of 30ft. ; and three of -them also capsizod. But, indeed, the matter-lias boon placed , boyond'. tho ■ range of theory. . Tho Japaneso marked' .tho- .steady .'.be-; . haviour of the American-buijt.. Itctvizan; : (freeboard, 24foet; m.h.,' 4ft. Gin.), when ! nor noso wag broken at' tho battle of Round Island on August- 10, 1904. So. they spent 3,000,000 yen in cutting down tho freeboard or the captured Orel. And, undoubtedly, they did not ask their, poverty-stricken country to furnish that sum .for nothing..,,,, Tho manner in which American constructors liavo contrircd; to keep the irietacentrd in tho'ascendant is one of "the strongest points about tho American fleet'. ' The m.h. of the Connecticut is sft. 3iri.on a .freeboard of 22ft. ; and that of tho ; Ken tuck/ and Kear's- 1 ace is over 6ft. on tho very small freeboard 1 already mentioned. If ono' of theso '• ships i should over disturb n 'mermaid's meeting by a swift descent, through bluo water tho sea' . ladies will, most likely seo her coming down j on a very even lteel. ( THE SINS THAT FOUND "UNCLE SAM" I OUT. ' But whothor tho morOcco-backed ohair that } holds tho tired draughtsnian of naval dc- i signs adorns ari office hi Philadelphia, or ' Newport News, at Clydebank; ' Harrow-in- r Furncss or La Scyne, or ovon ..in the lion- 1 communicativo ports of tho _cherry-blossomed . provinces of Sagami and Ilizeii, ; whether lie ib personally entrenched behind.- the stout waistcoat of ail Englishman,, tho long, lank t

jowl of' an American, ' or i the meaningless smile of a Japanese, it is always open to him to throw', down his pencil, and his book of mochanical formulae without experiencing any cataclysm of conflicting omotions, without any definite sensation except a sheer sensation of failure begotten of a long and gloomy scrutiny of .tho hopeless horizon of mechanics which everywhere refuses to discloso a vista of tlio ideal ship. If ho lia3 given. his creation tho scorpion sting of mariy-gunsy then he has had to discard,a lot of armoured plating, and his main deck, like Iphigenia in Tauris, passively awaits tho 'sacnficoj V.'lHiis'. his'"vessel f both .guns and armour, then ho 'must' look out for her stability and exaggerate the beam. _ With a wider beam her engines will decline tho weary job of passing fclic speed trials, and so the whole thing revolves oil a meaningless orbit very much like tho politics and tho hot, flaming industrialism- of • tho present day. ■ . Only once, in the' last 30 years, '.has 'a naval' constructor looked like getting "ahead of things." That .was in, 1903 when Sir E. J. Reed designed the Triumph ; and- Swiftsure for Chili, but his. mechanical "triumph," ran up against a'.'swift' nnd sure ,discovery of its hollowness when John '.Bull, judging that tho "toys" .wore'too,terrible for a.South,American State to. : : play:' with, bought , them .at a cost, of £9-19,000 each. .At the;first'manoeuvres in Avhich tho Swiftsure t00k.,, pari the officer of the )vatch .rang , for. 152. revolutions—tho - maxiihum ■ performance' •of tho 'sorews. ;• It \vas ; pnly his fifth.br sixth ring ,that, dre\vi any. reply, and it came.in the 'shape rof-' an excited Scotch engineer who raced up jthe'. steil ' steps, from the engine-room "and thus addressed tho bridge: "Young moiij-1 dinna. kon. jipr ■ care whether yo're rin'gin' for 152,0r.a million, but I'in telliii' ye she'll'no Si)aun'. ; fnprp-; than., SO, and we'll no start a dpm vibration that'll, tear the inside Cot o' lifer .for :ony-manoeuvres whateffer!" And how mark how purely man is a-victim of his own meannesses! Wo havo seen that-tlio fleet -is all . right for stability, though a little' low in the freeboard> It is •«O v heavily-gunned' also. 'Even the little 'Alabama/,'launchid in'lßoß alid 'floating on a paltry dcsplacemciit'of 11,552 tons, carries more artillery! than tlio Britisli Forniidablcs, which ■'dlsplaco uo less than 15;000 tons. Of course, jtho Ahiprican/fleet, has. lost B.onicwhorp,. aiid 'm. s^or y of its loss is briefly as follows:— (Tlio 20,000-ton battleship . of' to-day is, aB 'most people know, the creation of Sir Philip Whtts,", who ( has successfully embodied-.the best ahttoul*, gun power, all-round fire, aiid speed in tho samp vessel. But tho designer who left the greatest mark on battlpshin design was Sir William White, who, as soon |a£ specially-hardened steel was available for ;tnm belts, gave to his country tho nine j'Majestics with no greater armament than -'■'four twelves' -and twelve sixes," - , hut a lot 'of' : other, copd ''feature? thrown in, for' lie knew that some, day his ships might need to steam - - far to reach some remote, battleground. Watching hi^oveiy' move as lie produced successive classes of ships, the Americans conceived the cute,notion of sacrificing radius of action in order to out-gun tho preations of this formidable British architect. The out-gunning takes the slmpo of tho secondary turrots containing tho eightinch' weapons .which dot tho Yankee decks It was a good idea prior to the Spanish War, for, up till then, it was not conceivable that an American fleet- could over bo-called on to .engage an :enemy- far from home. But with the embarrassing acquisition i,f the' Philip .tho growth of a no>r Power in the East, it gradually becamo apparent that the heavy American fist -might need a long arm behind it. It is to test the length of the arm, and practically, nothing else, that tho . present cruise'has been undertaken at enormous ..cost; So thus we havo tho original genius—Sir William White-and tho cop.ier of genius—"Undo Sam"—and lastly, the copier of tlio copioi—tho "little brown man. .in tlio ,East. The Japanese (never likfcly, to have to fight far afield) havo lately .altered , their, gunning in a way which gives them the formidablo firo-pptential indicated lit -the first paragraph of this article. Tho law of compensation is. a wonderful study uo< doubt, but there does not seem to* bo • much...-finality about-it. ' fi-.vv-,.