FIGHTING BY "WIRELESS."

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13998, 6 September 1909, Page 3

FIGHTING BY "WIRELESS."

SOME'STMKIA'C* *i^fURES v . <By Arnpld.WJiitel) If-De Ruyter or Van Tromp rcToited the "scene of their triumphs the installation of wireless on ' board the Indomitable* would astound the gallant ok! .Dutch sea dogs ot a day when ding-dong fighting was the rule front start to nnisn. In these days when ntanoeurring for position a mure than half' the game, wnen favourable or contrary gales exercme, tab influence ' in the conduct and' • disposition of squadrons and fleets is- of the highest "' possible importance, especially to the Admiral of the„stronger' .aide.' lb I^H^^A' eless room of the Indomitable not only to the public, but to the ship's company other than the i staff .told off wireless, dbties. K When'thelsßip'js at. sea'dwpatcliing and recerririg 'messages the conductor or jst*y hading from the -wireless room '<■ * of thetns on fire. has^made '. - greatSprogfess.m r ,jbW*aTy|auring " last, tfo ftrnM* young "--" hrainafpf tlnvidrpeda lieutenants hare' savpphßl with the difficulties of inter- " ruptsoat and of .unfavourable atntospherieiconditions. The iesiilt is tb*t to^vithe, Admiralty can talk to Malta • or'tetany ship within a' radius, of-a ' coupleiot thousand miles. ' The Admi- *~ ral at nee cannot talk back at the "A*U 7 auiattjlas far as. that,*but. be t Juw> complete Mcontrol "of ' communications ' thraogant a circle with'tho diameter; - > of 1,200 miles, -*a ~ ■ nionnted for naval purposes difficulties still- encountered 'by the cbmiuercial companies. The effect of wireless uk to torn naval «ar into chess with the ocean for a board,- Dreadnoughts for; queens, lnvinriMer\fo£ castles .and bishops, and two old 'meh in Upper rooms at their respective Admiralties as players. ' * 'One of the chief objectCof 'the In- . vincible class is to gite the Comman-der-in-Chief the power of finding out what the enemy is «h>«g without, losing a shiW, are to a fleet • what whisker* arc' to a cat.- The eyes of a .fleet are its.large artaodrcd •cruisers, not the small .-ones— that a why the policy of the-. Admirslly, hitherto has. been to build.larger cruisers than other nations. » If an enemy's cruiser of secondary value is scouting she* is practkairy lostlif sighted by an if the latter is well WHAT THE .GIANT ;CBClS«ai=] DO. The great speed of the Indomitable* confers the power of .cotacehtrating on the enemy', van; h -U he torus away it is a great strategical advan- • tage to be able to .turn A tbe enetoiy off the conrse he is, ;tryin« to take. The engine-room of the lndomltaWet IS interesting from its .'small Mae,, low temperature, cleanliness and absence of noise when tbc machinery is, .at work. By the. system of elfctric faus the temperature is little above that of the external air. ' Were the fans to 'stew tltf thermometer would rise to luO dcg. Fab. Were this catastrophe >0 habpen the engineer officers, artificers and stokers could not endure loiujer periods" of duty than half an hourlat a time. Top speed in the Indomitable, is a difficult operation, and strains the stanlina'aiia endurance of the whole of the engineering staff, although" the oil' fuel boilers are fed by turning"'* tap. j. The three chief points to note in the Indomitable arc—first, the gunncrv power—more tkait, twice as great as that of the prc-Drcadnougbt battlc- ". ships; secondly, the high speed that was only equalled by torpedo destroyers before the advetat* of the present Board of Admiralty; jihd, thirdly, the mysterious and efficient apparatus for the collection and despatch of information from the air. - * ' »

' "'.The Invincible,' Inflexible, and Indomitable'may be distinguished from the Dreadnouguts by the two tripod masts far apart, and the three funnels between* them. Hie: Lord Nelson and ' 'Agamemnon, now lying astern of the Temeraire, are very powerful vessels, carrying four 12-inch guns and ten 9.2, -with hvc torpedo tubes ' and smallcf guns. The tunnels of the Lord Nelson look short because the quick-iiriug guns arc mounted'on high platforms. The target thus presented'to. the'en-.-' cmy is larger than in ship* of the Dreadnought type. The Lord Nelson and Agamemnon arc remarkable for their armour , protec- **?*•• * ,nc Dc 't' amidships is an inch thicker than the Dreadnought's thickest belt. •*»IS GERMAN STEEL BETTER? As^wirelcss' has its jealousy guarded secrets, so hns armour plating. It-is •aid, that the steel manufactured by Krttpp foi» the German navy % < of a Ju'glit, er.resisting strength-than that worked into British ships. Only the vitals of men-of-war are protected by thick armour. The Kelt forward is six inches - --'s' and tluuVaftv'four inches. Six ' '"*'!*,■ of DPBt Krupp. steel is equal to 18 inches of wrought iron...; .'.„•'; :.'. quick-firing guns' aire weapons * which can be loaded and discharged " *>th" great rapidity. The training of a- 6-inch-gun crew is a triumph of sportsmanship, and-when the thirteen men have learned to act together .the gun has been known to react the■■■ target, frith a hundred-pound shell eleven times in a minute.. The trained gunners of the Fleet 'lo not consist of individual geniuses, though some men are infinitely better - than.others in laying the gun, but in acting- together like - a polo team or a cricket eleven. . _ If u sixtyrthre ; ~of. the finest 'seamen~gu'nriers' in the Navy were placed in a turret of the Lord Nelson, and'pitted against a turret's crew pick- „ ed liaphaxard, but who had worked together for six months, the latter would f win~witli certainty. -V''; £ "-.'* , * , There is one weak siWnt -in.-' our Navy./ - Under a 'smart -captain and gunnery lieutenant a battleship reaches , a hick place in the competitive list of battle practice. At the end of the two years' commission the men are dispersed, join other ships, and . begin gunnery all over again under new officers and with strange mess-mates. A war that: broke out at the beginning of the" gunnery training season would find Great Britain with perhaps less than halt a dozen ships proficient and highly trained in gunnery. Continuity of efficiency conld be obtained'by maintaining the gunnery unit, and subjecting it to only minute and constant change {".the personnel., The gunnery of the Fleet could ho considerably improved by-abandoning the practice of breaking upi efficient guns' crews at the end of the commission. ' PROTECT OUR TRADE. The Minotaurs, the Warriors, the Black rrinccs, and tuc DraKcs arc artnQttrcU cruisers of great power and hi^- speed, and call tor no special rcinarlL Tho Donegal and the Ucrwick, however, belonging to the County Class, known by their three very tall lunnels, with their fourteen (i incii-guns in cascmMSß, " should be specially noted by Ldddjoners, as they are two of the ships told off to protect their oceau thoroiigii- ' lakes wJncii are as well defined as Flebt-strect. Witli half tho world's tonnage flying \ thiLßed Ensign the safety of the trade ! . routes of the world is a question of ' .bread and butter for Loudon. DrcadI ndnghts and Indomitables arc wanted ' for Other purposes than convoy. 'Jlie " dajf of convoy, indeed, is over, as is it " is unlikely that in the event of war frith 1 a Northern Power the enemy 1 wbuld squander liis cruisers on coin-' " metcc destroying. Britain controls the *■ fiyb fctartegic centres of the world—- - Straits of Dover, Straits of Gibraltar, t Cape of Good Hope, Straits of Malacca, * and the Sues Canal. The danger of k the-sea-borne trade of the British EmJ ,pire is not therefore from hostile cruisf 'ers, which cannot keep the sea for - want of coal, but from improvised itramp steamers armed with Maxims and

very light guns suddenly appearing on British trade routes. .Besides the- Berwick and the Donegal, anchored at the >iorc, England possesses sixteen similar cruisers, which help to maintain tho two-Power standard, not merely in tonnage or in pennants, but in tho solid and elfcctive elements of sea power—■ the safety of our trado routes. The Donegal and the Berwick, and their eistcrs, after tho first fortnight of war, should have dispatched every enemy's commerce destroyer to tho bottom of the sea, and have secured tho transfer to the British flag of every enemy's merchant vessel on blue water. The Arrogant and Talbot class are smaller cruisers, with speed of about 19 knots. The Scouts, with their threo or four funnels' and one mast painted grey, look like large destroyers. They exist to destroy the destroyers just as the destroyers exist to destroy torpedoboats, and torpedo boats «xist to complete the vicious circle by destroying battleships which long to destroy each other. The torpedo-boat destroyers, like tho torpedo-boats, are painted black, because they arc intended for night-use. - Tho command of a destroyer or torpedo-boat is tho making of our young officers, for winter torpedo work in the North Sea is about the most difficult and most disagreeable job in the world. Fifty-seven men arc pent up in quarters which on shore wotdd contravene the Housing Act. • But the men like the torpedo service because tho discipline, though strict, is ■ relaxed as regards smoking, uniform, and drill. Submarines, like wireless are ofifcial secrets. They are the '• vapon of the stronger power, and are the terriers of the Fleet, intended to enter the enemy's port and either force him into the open or-sink him.at anchor.